Epilogue

I received an unexpected call at work from Terri several months later that winter. She had found my full name in the accident report, and tracked me down through my company. It turned out that she was flown to Atlantic City Medical Center and had surgery to repair the artery in her leg. She had been admitted to the hospital for several days, but had a fairly quick recovery, with only a nasty scar as a permanent reminder. She mentioned how the surgeon had told her that she was lucky that she hadn't bled to death, and she repeatedly thanked me for stopping and coming to her aid. She said that she wanted to take me to dinner at a fancy restaurant in Avalon when I returned the next summer. I took Terry's number and told her that I was relieved to hear that she had pulled through without any complications, and we exchanged goodbyes with a promise to get together down at the shore in few months.

As it turned out, for a number of unrelated reasons I decided not to sign on again with the Avalon house that year. I thought I had detected a slight interest in Terri's voice during that phone call when she had asked if I was still single, but as it turned out I had just begun seeing someone several weeks before she called. I would have definitely been interested in seeing her if I had been unattached at the time. I've only made it down to Avalon on occasional weekends over the past couple of summers, and I've never had any contact with Terri since. Thinking back on it now, I suppose that is just the way things were meant to happen. Timing plays a role in everything, especially in how and when we come into people's lives. Sometimes it can force us to take an unexpected detour, and then there are times when we may find ourselves simply passing each other by.