36. Maybe Not That Bad

Another bystander, who was in a neutral state—not panicked or adrenaline-fueled-—would probably think of doing something more risk-minimizing than what Ashley was doing at the time. At least, whatever step was most likely to save the old woman, but also not hurt herself at the same time. As unlikely as it may be, however, people who intend to save someone from danger should understand to take the option with the least risk of harm.

Even if the situation calls for the rescuer to sacrifice themselves, it should not be in the way like what Ashley just did.

Instead, she jumped up and became a shield for the other person, and then afterward tried with great difficulty to carry the old woman’s body away from the car. But because she didn't take into account her weak strength and the weight of the fatty old woman, when she stepped out frantically, she automatically fell down and rolled along with the old woman.

The people in the vicinity who were initially unaware, stopped what they were doing, and shifted their focus due to Ashley's screaming voice.

Some screamed, some took their cell phones and recorded, then the rest just stayed glued while watching the continuation of the incident.

Meanwhile, Ashley, who realized that she and the grandmother might not survive, hugged the grandmother even tighter and closed her eyes.

In Ashley's mind, the biggest thing she could think of at that moment, was indeed only how to save the old woman. As for keeping herself unharmed, or finding the safest way to minimize injuries, it was already completely out of her ability and radar. Then looking at the current situation, it seemed that her intentions would not be able to be carried out properly. She was baiting herself and would probably make the two of them the target of many car crashes there.

A split second later, after Ashley had fallen and was lying on the street, various kinds of voices appeared noisily there.

Shouts of surprise from bystanders, screeching car tires, honking horns that wouldn't stop blaring, and various sounds that she couldn't translate the source of.

One of the silver sedans, which was originally speeding and was in the closest proximity to the scene, amazingly managed to brake and turn more than ninety degrees to avoid Ashley and the old woman. The distance between them was truly alarming. If only the person driving the car had been a second slower to step on the brake pedal and turn the wheel, Ashley's would have been the first to get hit.

The shocking incident made several other cars immediately brake and stop from a distance. The good vigilance of the drivers there made them avoid a head-on collision that could have happened if one of them was caught off guard.

A middle-aged man behind the wheel of the car quickly recovered from his shock and checked on the condition of the person behind him in the passenger seat. His hands immediately unfastened his own seat belt and looked back.

“Sir, are you alright?” his voice and face showed immeasurable panic. Fear mixed with worry creeped up and enveloped him when he saw his boss grimacing in pain.

Without wasting any time he quickly got out of the car and opened the back door. Helping his boss unbuckle his seatbelt and asking once again, about whether he had bumped into anything and which part of his body hurt the most.

The boss held his shoulder and upper chest which were compressed by the seat belt that had tightened when the driver had braked very suddenly. The pain was quite intense there, but he was relieved when his hand could move properly as he tried to lift and rotate it.

"It's okay. It just seems to be compressed."

"Are you sure, Sir? But you look like you're in pain. I think it's necessary to go to the hospital to get checked out."

The expression on his face that was uncomfortable from the pain could not lie. But he just shook his head. "Let's take a look at the conditions outside first. Check if anyone is injured."

The middle-aged driver couldn't help but obey his boss, "Alright, Sir. I'll pull the car over first."

Accompanied by the honking of other vehicles eager to get on the road so they could continue their journey, the driver hurriedly parked his car on the edge. Then, immediately, he ran to the crowd of people he assumed were surrounding the victim.

He darted inside, and found the girl he had seen earlier lying on the ground hugging an old woman. There was a pool of reddish liquid around them as well as splotches on the young woman's white clothes.

With only a little courage left, he tapped the girl on the shoulder and called out in a trembling voice. “Miss, miss.”

Not getting an answer from the girl, he then shouted, “Has anyone called an ambulance? Please call an ambulance immediately!"

As he remembered, with his full consciousness, he had not hit anyone at all earlier. But after witnessing the scene that looked so horrifying, the man was increasingly unable to control his panic. His head looked up at the people surrounding them with an equally panicked expression but just watching and doing absolutely nothing.

But finally, not long after that, there was a middle-aged woman who said that she had gotten a response from the ambulance and they would be coming there soon. 

A slight sense of relief crept into his heart. Afterward, he tried to tap again and call out to the girl in order to wake her up. His hands cautiously tried to pull the shoulders with the intention that the girl could lie down in a better position.

Ashley, with the shock slowly fading, started to open her eyes when someone touched her. She felt dazed at that moment. Like someone had lost consciousness due to shock, because she really couldn't remember anything for a while, because she didn't know how and when all those people were already around her.

Her hand that was holding the old woman also loosened.

Then, without checking her own condition, Ashley quickly looked at the old woman and helped correct her position with the help of a few people.

The old woman winced as she groaned in pain.

“Grandma, which side hurts?” Ashley tried to figure out her condition by ascertaining which parts of her body were injured.

Ashley realized they hadn't been hit, but since she had fallen earlier, there was a possibility that she had some minor bumps or scratches on her body. But the old woman didn't answer anything, she just frowned as she closed her eyes in pain, with a low groan that kept coming out of her mouth.

"Miss, how about you? You're covered in blood," the middle-aged driver reminded Ashley that she should see her own condition.

Ashley who heard that information was instantly gasping and immediately checked herself. She actually didn’t feel any terrible pain. Even so, she was still trying to feel where the wound was that made her bleed like that.

“Mr. Kwak,” the young man called the driver, who was currently sitting limply near Ashley. He wondered what was really going on—because he wasn't paying attention to the road conditions and had no idea what caused his driver to slam on the brakes and make such a sudden maneuver—and why that middle-aged man needed a lot of time to return. 

Then with a deep frown, he was surprised to recognize the girl who had just had an accident.

“Ashley?” He called her.

Ashley turned her head towards the voice that called her name. 

She couldn't guess at first because the voice didn't sound familiar to her. Even when she looked at the man who called her, she still had to think for a while to summon her memory of who that person was.

Then her eyes rounded at the time when she finally remembered him—Josh's eldest brother, Jason.