The sun had quickly disappeared through the thick storm clouds, and Sipho was wrapping up his job as a trainee. He was repairing the telecommunication tower at the top of the mountain, and when he was finished, he packed up all his tools and put them into the van. When he was driving back to the office, the rain caught up with him.

On his way back to the office, the fog and heavy rain hitting the windshield blurred his vision, and as he was about to enter the little town of Kokstad, he vividly saw something jumping in front of his van. Hastily, he hit the brakes very hard, and the van skidded to a halt. He then rushed out to check on the matter and found a girl lying unconscious on the side the road, dressed in her school uniform. She was still breathing and, luckily, she was not bleeding seriously.

After a while, Sipho struggled to get the girl into the passenger seat, but they were both dripping wet from the rain by the time he finally managed to do it. He then drove to the local Hospital, and when he got there, they asked him a few quick questions, and then the nurses started with their work.

After a while, Sipho went outside to check the damage on his van. He found that the bumper was completely damaged and one of the fog lights had fallen off its region. He then reported the accident to his supervisor and the fleet office over the phone, but he could not shake off the worrying feeling that he would possibly lose his in-service training because of the incident.

When Sipho went back inside the waiting area, he sat patiently waiting to go in and see the girl. You could tell that he was very deep in his thoughts, and he did not even hear the sound of the high heels hitting the floor as the nurse approached him. She then tapped him on the shoulder when she reached him, and he jumped up startled.

“Nurse, hi,” he said, standing up. “I am sorry, I was just thinking. How is she? Is she awake?” he asked, sounding worried.

“She is awake,” the nurse responded. “Lucky for her, you were not speeding. She got her arm broken, and she had little pieces of broken glasses stuck on her head and neck, but she should be out in three days or less. She will not stay here very long.”

After the nurse spoke, she gestured for Sipho to go in and then walked away. Once Sipho was inside the girl’s room, he slowly approached her bed and slouched on the chair next to it. His mouth went dry when he saw her, and he could not speak, so he just stared at her.

“It was you,” the girl said, looking Sipho dead in the eyes.

“I … Uhm … I am really sorry about what happened. It was really an accident,” Sipho responded.

“You do not get it, do you? It was not an accident. Why did you hit breaks?” she asked.

“You are losing me now,” Sipho responded. “What do you mean it was not an accident, or why did I hit the breaks?”

“You screwed up, that is what I mean,” she responded, and then turned her back on Sipho and started sobbing. “Now I have to go back there again, and live with that monster of an uncle. You really should have just left me there to die.”

Before responding, Sipho went round the bed so he could face the girl. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “Do you have problems at home?”

Instead of responding, the girl just shifted her gaze from Sipho and put in on the ceiling, and then started at it without a word escaping her lips.

“Please talk to me,” Sipho said. “You have to let someone at home know that you are here.”

“My gran must be worried sick about me, but I would hate worrying her even more. Her helper does not work on weekends, but I told her that, if I am not back by 19:00pm, she should phone her helper,” the girl responded, speaking with a tear escaping her eye, and it must have dropped right into Sipho’s heart.

Sipho felt hopeless and desperate. “When are they discharging you here?” he asked.

“I do not know yet,” she responded, struggling to get her phone from under the pillow, and Sipho had to get it for her.

“Hey, let me get that,” he said.

Tell us: Do you think the girl jumped in front of the van on purpose?