Never Really Meant It When We Said 'Goodbye'

Comfort You

The blue and red lights were all over the place as Tara made her way through the scene, catching a young woman sitting down and crying. An officer stood next to her, consoling her, as the reality was setting in for her. It was a nasty accident, with one man passing away well before the paramedics and officers arrived. Another DUI victim suffering all because people can't fucking learn from all the incidents and consequences of drinking and driving. This was going to be a difficult night, no doubt in it.
"What do we have?" Tara said as she walked up to a group of officers who were currently talking through the information they had all gathered.
"Well, as you can see it's a DUI. Suspect had 0.12% of BAC in their system. They were also on probation for a DUI and their license is suspended. The first hit car's driver died on impact, and the other car hit, everyone walked away with little injuries, just some cuts and bruises." A young female officer informed.
"We're getting the dash cam footage from all drivers that witnessed the crash as well." Another officer, a man well in his thirties, added.
Tara nodded, "Do we have any more information on who was in the first hit car?"
"Yes, we do." The female officer said, looking over at the girl who was being consoled by another officer. It was difficult seeing and hearing her cry, but nobody could comment on it now. "That woman's name is Adriana, and the driver was her uncle, James Smith. They were going home from an arcade."

Firefighters still worked on getting the body out of the car. The vehicle was so badly smushed on the driver's side, having collided with the divider upon impact. A fire was started as well, from what Tara heard as she first got on scene, and she did see the firefighters putting the fire out. The short haired woman watched as they cut through the metal with a saw, trying to pry the door off and get the driver out. DUI scenes like this were always the worst ones, as they never ended with a happy ending. Even if the driver of the hit car somehow survived the crash as the one they were looking at now, they always ended up passing away either on the way or at the hospital.
"Suspect has been arrested and is currently en route to the station." The other officer told Tara, who had no idea what to even think about the young girl who just lost a family member. It reminded her of her own experience, and the pain that comes with it is never easy to deal with. It's not something you can truly heal from, either.

"Got it!" A firefighter shouted as the door finally came off. The voice was rather familiar to Tara, and she instantly knew who the firefighter was as she listened to him talk. It was Chad, who the short haired cop completely forgot was on shift today.
"I'll let you guys finish up here. I'm going to talk to the victim." Tara said, turning on her heel and walking towards the still crying woman. She knew she wasn't able to take away the pain, but she could try making it a little easier to deal with. "Hi, I'm Officer Carpenter."
The young woman looked up, tears streaming down her face, while Tara gave a subtle nod to the officer that was consoling her, silently telling him she's got it from this point onward.
"I hear it was your uncle in the car with you?" The woman was actually a teenage girl, still too young to have to experience such a traumatic event, but old enough to understand and remember it. "I know that telling you 'I'm sorry for your loss' isn't going to do anything for you right now, as what you most likely want is to get your uncle back, but I have something else to offer. I don't know if it'll make you feel better, but I do hope it can help you deal with this."

"What?" The girl sobbed, her mascara running.
With a sad smile, Tara gently placed her hand on the teen's knee, "The pain of losing someone you love so dearly will never go away, but I promise it will get a little easier with time. I lost my dad in a tragic way, too. I was about your age, maybe a little younger or older, I'm not sure how old you are, but I've been in your shoes. Losing him hurt like hell, and for a very long time, I wasn't sure how to deal with that pain. But, I found an outlet for expressing myself and all I was feeling and thinking on the matter by doing what I knew he would want me to do. He wanted me to follow my own path and do what would make me happy and satisfied. It didn't matter how many times I failed or succeeded, what mattered was that the path I put myself on would fulfill my life in every way. So I put my mind to it and did what he wanted me to do, and that helped me heal and deal with the pain better. I can't guarantee that the same thing will happen for you as I do not know what you and your uncle talked about and what he wanted for you, but if you can take it as a lesson, then I think you'll be able to manage the pain better."