Never Tell Me the Odds

When I began my new physical therapy treatment on April 17, I was interviewed by my therapist, Alex. I shared with him my ailments and how my doctor thinks that with my stimulator, perhaps my mobility can be improved. I also shared how this all started, you know the part where I was hit head-on by a semi-truck.

Anyway, I know Alex is a Blackhawks and Cubs fan. He currently lives in Oswego, grew up in Joliet and even was in school at NIU in DeKalb during the same time I worked for the newspaper there. He's married with at least one child and they have two dogs. His brother is getting married soon in Arizona. Last weekend, Alex went to Kenosha for fertilizer because he likes a green lawn, and even secretly competes with his neighbor for 'best lawn' on the block. He watches reality television and loves Game of Thrones. I know way more about Alex than I should.

During therapy today, I was watching another individual working on occupational therapy. I mentioned to Alex that I had to go through that after I awoke from my accident and two of my fingers were numb and didn't work right. My wife thinks that a nurse who inserted one of my PICC lines into me failed miserably and that's why I lost feeling in those fingers, as well as a blood clot that needed to be addressed for about six months afterward. Alex said he had a PICC line in him one time, too. This piqued my interest, so I asked what happened to him. Casually, Alex answered that he was in a vehicle accident.

"They are the worst, right?" I said. "What happened?"
"I was hit head-on by a semi-truck. I passed out from the heat and then it happened," he answered.
Wait. WHAT!?! Are you fucking with me? "You were hit by a semi, head-on?"
"Yes," Alex answered, again.

Now, my brain doesn't work as well as it used to and I was having difficulty processing this information. I'm ready to ask if he wants to go get a drink and to commiserate at this point.

"Where did it happen?" I asked.
"Near Route 52 and 47," he replied.

I couldn't believe it. My accident occurred just two (yes, exactly 2.0) miles north of his (I used Google Maps to be precise).

I told Alex that was incredible. I asked if he could appreciate the odds of us both surviving a head-on collision with a semi-truck only a couple miles from each other and we have been both brought together at this moment because of that? He agreed that it was a coincidence and then he went back to massaging my bad leg/foot. No big deal, I guess... wasn't that battle way too dark to see anything during Sunday night's Game of Thrones* episode? Hell yeah it was! That show is the best, amirite!?!

* I've never seen an episode of Game of Thrones. In fact, every time I'm flipping through the channels on Sunday night and it's on, it's either a sex scene or a fire-breathing dragon flying in an EPIC-looking sky. I don't get it. I only heard the episode was too dark while watching the news the next morning.