"I never should have stood up"

It was a sunny Saturday, I had just finished buying the cutest pair of sunglasses when my friend Brad called to ask if I wanted to meet him for lunch on the Upper West Side. I said "sure" and made my way to the M104 bus, that goes up and down Broadway.

I got on the bus and slipped into a two person bench. At the next stop a woman boarded and plopped down next to me.

She wore those huge black glasses that people wear over their regular glasses when they drive, and she smelled kind of like chicken.

We made our way uptown and as we got close to my stop I turned to her and said "I'll be getting off at the next stop".

"OKAY OKAY" she said loudly and immediately stood up.

"Ma'am, you don’t have to get up yet" I said.

"No, No!"

We rode two blocks with her standing in the middle of the aisle not holding on to the rails.

As we crossed the intersection to my stop, a car made an illegal turn in front of the bus and the driver suddenly slammed on his breaks but it was too late, the bus slammed into the rear bumper of the car.

The woman who was not holding on to anything pitched forward and rolled down the aisle of the bus, landing in between the driver and the bus doors.

There was a chorus of "Oh My God" "Are you okay?" "Don’t Move!" "Call 911!" etc.

She went to stand up, but people told her not to, so the woman just laid on her back, occasionally lifting her head to look around.

My phone rang, it was Brad "Girl, that better not be your bus!" he said. He was across the street watching the drama from the restaurant window.

"It is!" I hissed into the phone "I don’t know if we can get off, lemme call you back"

After about 10 minutes on his walkie talkie, the bus driver opened the doors and people began to step over the woman and exit the bus.

As I exited the bus I looked at her hesitantly.

"Will you be okay?" I asked.

Then she raised her head, lifted her big glasses from her face and mumbled

"I never should have stood up... I never should have stood up...."

She continued mumbling and shaking her head as she laid it back down.