8. The Crash

In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 9 (page 83-95)
Diary Entry
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; After a plane crash, Billy is in the hospital and while his wife is on her way there, she dies. Billy time travels while he is in the hospital to after the war, then is brought home. He goes to NYC to be on the radio, then is back on Tralfamadore.)

Dear Journal,
Here is what happened after the crash.
Well, Valencia died. It was quite tragic really. I, unfortunately, was not even awake during most of what happened, and could not attend her funeral.
I was in a hospital in Vermont. When Valencia heard of the crash, she was hysterical. They told her I might die and that really shook her. On her drive to the hospital, she missed a turn off and braked, then got slammed from behind.
Both drivers were fine, but our Cadillac suffered. The trunk and fender were crushed, and the exhaust system was on the floor.
Valencia didn't care though. The other driver came to see if she was okay, but she was sobbing too much, then she sped away to the hospital. When she drove up people heard the car. It roared, and people thought it was some sort of bomber.
I guess when she turned off the engine, she slumped against the wheel. Some doctors came out to find her unconscious from carbon monoxide, and an hour later, she was gone. So it goes.
I was too sick to go to the funeral, however I was no longer unconscious and delirious. However the old man in the hospital next to me, Rumfoord, thought otherwise. He honest to God thought I had Echolalia. Him and his way-too-young-wife were talking about Dresden, and when I told them that I had been there during the war, he thought I was mental.
Anyways, while in the hospital I had done some time traveling back to a couple days after the war. What an experience that was. Once I was back to the hospital after the crash, Barbara took me home. I wasn't suppose to go out of the house or do anything for a while, but what is the fun in that? I went to New York. This is where I went on the radio to talk about Tralfamadorians and Time. Long story short, they kicked me out during a  commercial. Maybe they were just busy.
Then I was back on Tralfamadore with Montana Wildhack. She was feeding our baby.
She had an interesting necklace on. It said "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference." Maybe that was her piece of Earth.

Billy