Dream Lovers (Part I)

A young man is driving home late one night after spending time with friends.
He turns down a road and sees a car coming his way in the distance. As the car gets closer he sees a small dog dart out onto the road. The approaching car swerves into his lane to keep from hitting it. It happened too quickly for him to do anything.
The cars collide head-on into each other. The impact causes him to hit his head on his windshield and he blacks out. A few moments later he awakens and regains his senses. He hurriedly pulls himself free from his car and stumbles toward the car that had just collided with him. As he approaches, he sees a young woman struggling to set herself free from her seatbelt. He pulls the door open and bends down on his knees to help free her from her bonds. She looks at him as the tears flow from her eyes and through a trembling voice, says," Please help me! I'm stuck and I'm scared. A dog ran out in front of me and I didn't want to hit it." She keeps crying and continues," I didn't mean to hit the other car. Is the other driver all right? Please! I've got to know! I didn't hurt anyone did I?" Her struggling makes it harder to free her so he tries to calm her down." Please quit moving so I can get you loose." The young man finally frees her from her seatbelt and carefully helps her out of her car. He takes her to the side of the road and helps her sit down on the curb.
She looks up at him with tears flowing down her cheeks and repeats," Did I hurt anyone? Please tell me!" He squats down and takes her hand and looks into her tear soaked eyes and replies," I was the driver of the other car and as you can see, I am fine. Don't worry about a thing. I saw what happened. If it were I that the dog ran in front of, I would have tried to miss it too. Don't blame yourself. It was just an unavoidable accident. Everything will be fine." He starts looking all over her and asks, " Are you hurt anywhere? Is anything broken?" She hesitates as if giving herself a quick examination and replies," Besides a slight headache, I think that I am okay. I must have hit my head on something." She rubs her head and asks," How are you? I didn't hurt you did I? Please tell me that you are all right." He stares at her and notices that, on the other side of her tears and running makeup was a beautiful young woman. In the rush to help her, he hadn't noticed that she was quite pretty. He smiles at her and rubs his head as if mimicking her and replies," Besides a little headache, I seem to be fine." He turns and sits next to her and continues," I guess we made out better than our cars did." They both sit and stare at their mangled cars, listening to the hissing of the steam as it escaped from the busted radiators making the sound of an old locomotive as it pulled out of the station.
The accident happened in a business section of town and all the places were closed so no one but the small dog saw the accident and he didn't stick around. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out his cell phone. He looks at her and says," I hope my phone isn't broke so we can call for help." She points at her mangled car and replies," My phone is in my purse on the front seat. If yours doesn't work, we can use mine." He smiles and pushes the buttons on his phone. He puts it up to his ear and nods at her and says," We have airwaves. I'll call 911 and report the accident."
After he made the call he notices that she is shivering and pulls his jacket off and puts it on her shoulders. She smiles at him and says," Thank you. You have been so kind to me after all that I have done to you." She points at his car and continues as her voice began to quiver with sadness,
"Look at what I did to your car. I'm so sorry." He lifts her chin and looks at her as the tears started flowing and softly says,
" It's just a car. I can always get a new one.
I'm just glad that we both made it without any major injuries. It is easier to replace a fender than an arm or something." He looks up at the sky and continues, " The Lord must have been watching over us tonight."
She stares at him as he is talking and finally sees by the streetlight. He was handsome. She hadn't noticed before. She was too busy being upset to even notice what he looked like. Not only was he her hero for pulling her safely from her car, he was also a perfect gentleman and a kind man; too bad she had to meet him under the circumstances that they were caught in.
She was sure that he would probably never want to see her face again.
He holds his hand out to her and laughs, " I guess it is about time that I introduced myself. I am Mathew Sanders."
She takes his hand and smiles, "Pleased to meet you Mathew, my name is Hannah Stevens." "My friends call me Mat, Hannah. Please call me Mat. I'm sorry that we had to meet like this;" he replied.
" Yea, it gives a whole new meaning to running in to each other."
" Are you from around here?"
" Yes, I live over on Oak Street. I have an apartment in the Cedar Oaks Apartments.
I am originally from Coos Bay, Oregon but moved here when I graduated from college last year."
" I graduated from college last year too. What college did you attend?"
" I matriculated at Oregon State where did you go?"
" I went to Southern Cal. I majored in computer science. What was your major?"
She starts laughing and replies," You've got to be kidding me! I majored in computer science, too. That is just plain weird."
" Not really, computers are the future. It's where the money is. Everyone is trying to get in on the ground floor."
"I guess you are right. That's why I took computer courses. Can't get a job without knowing something about computers."
" Is your family living in town, too?"
" No, I moved here because this is where I got the best job offer. I needed to get out on my own anyways."
" I just moved out myself. I stayed home as long as I could because I knew that once I was gone, my life would never be the same.
In a way, I miss living with my mom and dad. I miss seeing their smiling faces everyday."
" You must love them very much."
" Yes, I do. I still go over for Sunday dinner and catch up on everything. Mom thinks that I just come to do my laundry. I really go because I miss them. I use the laundry as an excuse to be there."
" I'm sure your mother knows that."
" She probably does."
" I try and go see my family whenever I get a chance. If they knew what happened tonight, they would have a conniption. I guess they will find out sooner or later."
" I am sure they worry about you a lot; you being by yourself and all."
" Yea, they wanted me to get a roommate but I like my privacy."
" Can't blame you there, I like my privacy too. I had a roommate in college and he kept the place a mess. I like to keep my place clean. My mom taught me that and now it is just natural for me. I don't like a messy place."
" I hate a mess too. We seem to be so much alike. It's amazing how much we have in common."
" I was thinking the same thing. It makes you wonder if tonight wasn't intended to happen."
" What do you mean? I don't understand."
" I believe in fate. I think that everything that happens to a person happens for a reason. If it is bad, it's to test your faith. If it is good, it is Gods' way of showing you his love."
He looks into her eyes and smiles, "Tonight, I think he is showing me his love."
" How did he do that? We almost got killed in a head - on collision. That's not my idea of love!"
He points at the mangled cars and back to her and replies," You can see by the damage to the cars, we should be hurt worse than we are. Instead, we are sitting here talking to one another. He saved us for a reason. Maybe he wanted us to meet each other, you know, fate."
" Well, you do have a point. We should have gotten hurt seriously but we didn't. He must have been watching over us. "
She smiles and stares into his eyes and continues," Maybe it was fate. Either way,
I'm glad that I am sitting with you now even if I lost my car."
" Me too."
He notices that she was still shivering. He worried that she might have a slight case of shock. He puts his arms around her to keep her warm.
" Don't worry, the police will be here soon.
You'll be home in no time."
" I'm not worried, I'm just a little cold."
She pretended to be colder than she really was. She liked the way his arms felt as he held her tight. She lays her head on his shoulder as she rested. She had just met him but it felt so natural for her to be so close to him. It was as if she had known him for a long time. He sat there holding her, feeling the same way.