I could hear voices asking me if I was alright. At first, when I tried to open my eyes they felt too heavy to open. I willed my eyes to open. What had happened? Where was I? Why were there people around me asking if I could hear them? All the questions bombarded my mind as fast as the pain gushed throughout my body and head.

When I finally got the strength to open my eyes, there were strangers standing over me. "Over here, someone yelled, she's alive."
Another person was talking on their cell phone giving a play by play account of the car wreck.

"Please, come quickly! Her injuries look serious!"

Within minutes there was the shrill sound of an ambulance with it's bright red lights keeping rhythm with the sound of the sirens, pulling into the field where I had landed beside the highway.

The EMS driver and his partner were at my side with their black bags assessing my condition and then, they had me on a gurney sliding me in the back of the truck. The partner, a slim blond woman hooked up my I.V. As the driver took off to the hospital. She worked fast as she asked me a dozen questions that I could't answer. The equipment inside the van shook vigorously as we traveled at a high speed. I felt every jerk and jolt.

As we approached the ER nurses were waiting to take me into the hospital.

The skinny blond woman screamed out my vitals to the nurse as they transferred me to the ER.

"Thanks, we'll take it from here." A nurse that seemed to be in charge said.

"Wait! Here is her I. D. that was found lying next to her in the field where she was thrown from the accident. She has't been able to talk."

I heard the nurse who was rolling me to the operating room say to the other nurse, "Six-teen-year-old female. First name; Sandra. Last name; Miller.

No, I wanted to scream. I'm Brooke Pennington! Sandra is my best friend. Before I could get my voice to work I passed out from all the pain.

I dreamt of Sandra and how I had always envied her. She was pretty, fun, popular and had the cutest guy in school for her boyfriend, Hugh Jamison. He was so adorable. I had always wished that I could trade places with Sandra.

When I woke up in my hospital room, Sandra's parents were by my bed on one side and Hugh Jamison, Mr. Good looking himself was on the other side of the bed holding my hand.

"Mr. Miller, Mrs. Miller! Sandra's awake!"

Sandra's mom and Dad came up to the bedside. Mrs. Miller began to cry. They hugged each other.
Mrs. Miller took my other hand. "Sweetie we are here. We'eve been waiting for you to wake up." She smiled her kind motherly smile at me.

"There's been a mistake," I'm not Sandra, I'm Brooke. "

Everyone in the room looked puzzled, the doctor had joined us by now and he began to explain about head injuries and how they can cause confusion.

"I'm not confused. You all are the one's confused."

The doctor suggested that everyone leave the room for awhile to let me get some rest.

A nurse came into the room. I asked her to let me see a mirror. My entire head except for my nostrils and eyes were in a mummy wrap. The nurse explained that I had to have extensive reconstructive and cosmetic surgery on my face/ she explained that the doctor used the I.d. Picture they found near me after the wreck to reconstruct my face.
Oh, no! I realized that they had made my face to look like Sandra's I.d. Picture.

" Where is my friend that was in the wreck with me?"

The nurse turned her eyes down to the floor. "I'm sorry.. she didn't make it. Her face was completely unrecognizable when her parents came to identify her body."

A few weeks later my bandages were taken off. Chills ran through me as I looked into the mirror to see my best friend's face starring back at me. Fate had twisted my life from one of being poor and unpopular to one of beauty, wealth and a gorgeous boyfriend. I decided to accept what everyone else had. I let Brooke die in that hospital room that day that the bandages came off and I never looked back.