Cause and Effect

I am in a real nasty mood today. Therefore, today's post will be all bitching.
I never mentioned the person responsible for my injury.
Today, I plan to 'expose' the guy.


He was(is?) my friend. We used to be colleagues at the company where I started my career.
Incidentally, he was in USA at the same time I was.
We planned a trip. It might have all ended well were it not for one single moment of carelessness on his part.
I might have forgiven him had he sustained any injury at the time of the 'incident'. However, he just walked away from the whole episode without a scratch on him. And I stand maimed for life.
When the ambulance was taking me away to the nearest hospital, he was busy calling his car insurance.
He should have escorted me back to my apartment. Instead he took an earlier flight stating office emergency.


I will never forget that day at the airport in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I was strapped onto a wheelchair. With a broken back. All alone in an alien country.
I could not stop my tears from streaming down.


However, I was not aware of the long term damage done to my back. I just thought of my back injury as one broken bone which would heal in due course of time. Little did I know that spinal compression fractures literally change the entire dynamics of the spine. It messes up discs, nerves and muscles. I have had to retrain myself to deal with my back on a day-to-day basis.


And all this while, the 'cause' has been living his life - buying cars, recording music et all. He does call from time to time. Just routine calls. To let him know if I need any help. I am sure he has brushed off the guilt long time back. His calls are just a way of showing magnanimity.
The 'effect' is still trying to make sense of why God made her live that fateful afternoon.