Sleepless over the What If's

I overheard DH on the phone Sunday night about 11:30.  I knew it had to have either been one of the older kids or one of his siblings, and knew it wouldn't be good. DD#1 hit a deer coming home from her job. She works in one rural community and lives about 15 miles away in another with long dark stretches of woods between the two. She was not hurt, but panicky about how to report, should she drive home, how does she call insurance, and dozens of other things running through her head the first 15 minute after an accident happens.. I won't go into more about her mindset, but the experience just amplified her struggle with deciding if where she is working and living is working out. She drove the car back to our house yesterday morning-probably shouldn't have, and the insurance adjuster ruled the car was totaled. The cost to repair would have been ore than double the car value.  She has a rental for a few days to figure out what is next for a car.  

When I saw the car, last night, all I could think about was how a split second difference could have meant a head on collision. I thought how another car on the road could have meant her veering into another car. Accidents are just that, no one's fault.  She is a good driver, but the dark roads this time of year, with deer even flightier because of hunting season makes hitting a deer feel like it is inevitable to happen to every driver around here at least once.I hit one when I was 19. I have lost sleep two nights now. It was well after 1:00 before I finally went to bed Sunday, getting little sleep, and the racing thoughts kept waking me up last night. DH will help her find a new car, and she will be able to work from home a couple days so problem resolved. I plan on getting a full nights sleep this evening, knowing at least for tonight, she will be sleeping safely in my house.

This is what my mind visualized last night.   It was too dark to get pictures and then the car was towed away.  She had no head light, and the front corner of the fender, leading into the drivers door was smashed in, making the door useless. There were cracked parts under the hood. She should not have drove it the 80 miles home.