Duke was relaxing in a memory of warm May sunshine when the wall hit.
"Here we go again," he muttered, as the sunshine dissolved into roaring flames. Like he'd done the day he hit the wall at the Brickyard, he held his breath and flung himself out of his '49 Novi.
The bright light of the event threshold dimmed to reveal a hospital treatment room. The shade of a young man hovered uncertainly, looking down at his mortal remains.
"Nobody dies in crashes anymore." The young man looked at Duke, pleading. "Right?"
Duke shrugged, feeling his charred driving coverall rasp across his burned body. He held a broiled hand up in front of his face. It was happening again. He looked at the body on the treatment table, seeing the fatal crash through the driver's memory.
"Well, technically you didn't die in the crash. You died right there, in that hospital. Sure was a helluva crackup, kid. You musta been doin' two hundred miles an hour when you went into that wall. Car flew apart like it was made outta plastic."
"Carbon fiber,' the young man replied. "And they're supposed to come apart. Keeps the kinetic energy of the impact from reaching the driver. That's why nobody dies in crashes anymore."
"They do when the wheels fly off and shatter their helmets. You got your skull busted by a wishbone."
The youngster gazed mournfully at his misshapen head.
"Well, those doctors seem to think they can put it back together. At least I didn't burn."
"Neither did I," Duke snapped. "But you're an open wheel racer, right? Somewhere in your memory you've seen the footage of my crash. Got filmed by a real Hollywood movie company, my crash. Used it in a racing movie they made that year, about a kid wants to race in the Five Hunnert. They saw my crash and put in a crazy story that a driver tries to win the race by not having to refuel so often. Of course this fella hits the wall, ruptures his giant gas tank and goes out in a blaze of glory. What you couldn't see in that film footage, on account of that wall of fire, was me jumping out of the car on the other side. Character in the movie burns to death, so everyone thinks I did, too."
"You sure about that? Because you look pretty well done. Crispy, even. For a guy who says he didn't burn."
"Got blistered a bit, course I did. You don't leave a wall of fire across Turn 3 of the ol' Brickyard without gettin' singed. That's why we never wore our seat belts. Better to break than burn. The two guys who died in the race that year were both thrown out when their cars flipped. That was the choice we made in those days."
The new arrival was not convinced. "Look at yourself, man. You obviously didn't make it out of that car."
"Just because you didn't see it in the film, doesn't mean it didn't happen. Ask my grandkids. Oh wait, you can't You have a strut in your skull."
"No way, Crispy. Look. They're jump starting me right now."
"Yeah, they might get yer ticker going again for a minute or two, but what about your brain? Not to mention the fact that your neck snapped when the wishbone smacked you upside the helmet."
Duke pulled a Zippo from a pocket he didn't have, lighting a cigarette which sprouted between his teeth.
"Hey!" the kid protested. "You can't smoke in here! This is a hospital!"
"No,"Duke replied quietly, smoke rising gently through a section of exposed rib cage, "it isn't. This is your memory of a hospital. This is you figuring out you died."