Hearing the rapidly approaching wet skid, Ty turned to confront the noise and tried to jump out of the way, but only managed to get his left foot high enough to step into the open trunk before the collision. Having swerved left, the right corner of Dave’s front bumper hit Ty’s rear bumper at an angle, crushing Ty’s right leg in the vee of that angle. Losing consciousness, Ty’s last image of Claire had been that of an angel, her face illuminated by the bright oncoming headlights, and the metal ribs of the umbrella creating a halo framing her crown, reflecting the light.
Not wanting yet another DWI conviction, Dave fumbled under his seat and pulled out the survival knife that he kept ‘for protection’. He quickly hacked away the airbag from the steering wheel, pitching it over his shoulder to the back seat. Throwing the car into reverse, he backed up ten or twelve feet, releasing Ty’s leg from the vise-like grip between the bumpers. Dave then peeled out, ignoring the disembodied OnStar voice asking, ‘Mr. Weller, we have detected a crash. Are you in need of assistance?’ Ty’s limp body collapsed into the trunk. Twenty minutes later, the rescue squad located Ty’s car after his own OnStar operator received no response.
Another rescue squad had been dispatched to a second scene, located about a mile down the road. That was as far as Dave was able to navigate, after trying to rub the burning sensation from his eye and failing to negotiate a sharp curve in the road. This time, the airbag lying on the floor behind his seat didn’t help. The force of the crash caused the already weakened steering wheel to break away in his hands and what was left of the steering column penetrated nearly three inches into Dave’s chest cavity. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Coincidentally, his car lay on its roof in Ty and Claire’s side yard, after rolling three times.