I woke up this morning and let my feet hit the floor with all the anguish of me waking up miserable. I slammed them down so abruptly on the hardwood floors that all the demons in hell would have known I'd woken up. I'm not a morning person, so this 5:30 AM alarm was going to be the death of me, but it was all worth it because I was going home to see my family and friends after months away from them. I was packed from two nights before and I was excited to see them. The drive back home was refreshing, especially because I knew what was in store.

I never made it home to them and they were devastated. While making my way there, I was stopped by an on-scene accident that caused me to rush over and help whoever might have been hurt. There was a white car, flipped over and I could hear the painful moans of the passenger. In that moment, I was unsure what to do, but I called 911 and they assisted me. However, they were about 15 minutes away from the scene and the car was beginning to smoke. I paced back and forth and then jumped into action. I started to talk to the driver to see if he was responsive enough to climb out of the car. He didn't seem too wedged inside the vehicle so I was sure he could be saved. I asked him if he was okay and he told me he couldn't feel his legs. I knew immediately that was a bad thing so I tried to console him in the best way, at least until the rescue team came. He told me about his wife and how she just had their third baby girl. He also kept repeating, "if I die, tell her I'm sorry" and I kept reassuring him that he'll be able to tell her himself. This went on for what felt like an hour before he was being cut out of the metal death trap and carried away on a stretcher. Since no one was there with him, I went in the ambulance just so he could have someone to talk to while he was potentially going in and out of consciousness. The paramedics were telling him about his possible broken spinal cord and internal bleeding. I could see tears rolling down his cheek as he weakly reached his arm towards me and repeat the line for his wife. It was muffled by the oxygen mask but he'd said it so much, I either assumed that's what he said or knew for sure by the sounds.

We arrived at the hospital and the rushed him off into surgery to see if anything catastrophic could be fixed. I waited at the hospital until his family showed up just to let them know that he wasn't alone for all of this. His wife, the kids, and both parents on each side showed up and I consoled them throughout what might have been a 4-hour wait. Soon after, the doctor came out and gave the family the news. Right after I'd heard them gasp, unsure if it were good or bad, I passed out.

When I woke up, my arms were chained to the bed, there was an officer outside of my door, and a lady sitting there with her head in her lap. The lady, who I still don't know, told me the driver died from his injuries shortly after making it to the hospital and I was being charged with vehicular manslaughter. In a strange turn of events, when I left my car behind to go with the driver, the police investigated the accident and learned that I was involved.When I passed out, the doctors were tipped off by police to admit me and run a blood test to see if I was impaired in any way. However, all of my tox screens came back clean, but I was indeed the cause of the accident. Police found my belongings feet away from the accident and although my phone screen was shattered, they been able to make out that I was texting and driving.

I had caused a man to die because I took my eyes off the road for seconds to reply, "lol, I just [left]" to my friend. In seconds, my car swerved into the other guy, knocking him off course. It caused the other car to flip over numerous times until it hit a pole. My car, on the other hand, I steered off the road and barely got a scratch. I wound up only hitting my head from the situation and blacking out for a brief moment. When I'd woken up, it seemed as thought I just pulled over for a nap, which is why figured nothing was wrong. The other details are a blur, but when the officers explained my charges, some of them came back in flashes, clearly letting me know I was guilty. In the end, I was the one telling his wife and children, "I'm sorry!". Now I go from high school to high school in my prison uniform and shackles telling teens to "save a life or even your own. Don't text and drive!"

This one is for you, Risi. Happy Birthday!