Totally was rear-ended on the freeway this morning.

The section of freeway in question has a reputation for going from 60MPH to a full stop in no time flat.  That happened, it went off ok, but I realized that the guy in front of me stopped... really quick.  So we get up to about 35MPH, and it's again with the nigh-instant stop.  I stop.  Lady behind me... well, to be fair, she did stop.  But hitting the back of the work truck certainly helped that for her.  I had enough time to make sure my foot was firmly on the brake and to fling my arm out so my bag wouldn't go flying before impact.  Thankfully the seat belt in the work truck is on a hair-trigger (ok, normally that's annoying, but it's like it is for situations like this morning) and I keep the headrest up, so whiplash should be minimal.

So we limp to the side of the freeway, I call work (get my sister, tell her to tell the boss [dad] that there's been an accident, where it was, and that I got hit fairly hard), call 911 to get the police out to the accident scene, pick up my water bottle from where it was flung into the footwell and spilled water all over, take a call from my dad wanting to know what has happened, call him back and ask for paper towels.

Next I get out of the truck (on the passenger side, eep, freeway!), grab the insurance card, close the door, and walk towards the other lady's car.  I pick up two pieces of headlight casing and a clip, then go to put them back in the truck (no littering!), realize I don't have the keys, see that the driver's door is unlocked, go around to get the keys (eep, freeway SO CLOSE).  The other driver saw me get out of the truck and took the pieces from me as I pondered having to walk around the truck. 

I grab the keys from the ignition then go back around to talk to the lady who hit me.  She gets a hug.  She's been crying, she apologizes sincerely and profusely, and I try to make her feel better.  She gives me a business card, and we talk (mostly about how this was not something either of us wanted, but me not wanting to make her feel worse than she does).  The state patrol officer shows up at this point and asks for license, registration, proof of insurance.  I go back to get the registration (fumbling to find the right one; not the best plan to keep four year's worth of registrations) and there's more commiseration.  Her car... well, the antifreeze was leaking all over the freeway, so hers wasn't drivable.  The work truck has a well dropped bumper, some cosmetic damage to the back hatch... and some severe dents/paint cracking where the bed of the truck slammed into the cab.  But it drives just fine, so that's a bonus on my end. 

Dad and my brother showed up at about the same time as the second state patrol guy.  I collected hugs and we looked at the car and made sure that things should work ok.  Time passed as we waited for the report to be generated, her best friend was driving on the other side of the freeway and saw the accident, circled around, and hugged her friend before she continued to work (nice of her, I thought).  Eventually the report was done, we were firmly advised to go to the doctor and get checked out (>.>  Um.... ) for possible damage.

My neck was a bit sore after the accident, and after driving off the muscles on the right under my jaw seemed a bit swollen.  I held my tea mug by my neck, and by the time I got to the customer's I couldn't tell any difference between the two sides.  I did end up taking the afternoon off to go shower/bathe/nap/relax to try to get ahead of any swelling/unhappiness.  My right shoulder is a touch sore, but not to the point where I could tell if that's due to the accident, or due to stitching over-much.  I've not stitched since Monday which makes the second option unlikely, but it could be tight just because I carry stress in those muscles.  So I'll keep an eye on it, and if it gets any more unhappy I'll know.  Ideally I'll be fine and happy and all, but I'm still coming off the whole adrenaline thing and as that recedes I'll see what it was masking and might no longer be able to live in the happiest state of all (denial!)