Aware of my position at the end of the line, I immediately started looking for a gap in traffic in the lane to my left to merge into. I had looked for about five seconds with no luck, when I heard skidding tires behind me. I had about half a second to think "Oh Shit (tm)" before I was thrown off the bike and into several hard objects, finally coming to rest on the road.
I hurt. Mainly on my left shoulder and right knee, but generally all over. Someone stopped on the shoulder and came over to look at me, claiming that she was a nurse. I would like to add that I am grateful to everyone who stopped and looked after me. They asked if I wanted my helmet taken off - I said no, because you never know about the possibility of a neck injury. The standers-by listened, which was good. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking too clearly (blow to the head and all) so after keeping my helmet on, I looked back, and saw that the seat had come off my bike. The bike was still running and blowing smoke out of the left valve cover - it had probably gotten holed on the street which was funny because the bike was on its right side. Ever mindful of the possibility of engine damage, I asked some guy to turn it off, but he couldn't figure out how to work the key, so I leaned over and shut it down. This made the people around me yell at me to be still, so I did so, and waited for the emergency vehicles to arrive.
Arrive they did, many helpful paramedics and firemen. They removed my helmet, took off my jacket without cutting it (thanks!) and commented on the armor in the shoulders, elbows, and back. (Thanks FirstGear!) The gave me a cervical collar, stuck me on a backboard, but me on a gurney, and loaded me onto an ambulance, which whisked me off to the local trauma center.
There, I got to see the miracle of Western medicine firsthand. I was amazed at how everyone was able to poke, prod, and examine me, only to run out of the room so that the X-Ray machine on a giant arm could take pictures, then run back in and examine some more. It didn't seem like I had broken any bones, and much commenting on my lucky state was made. For once, I agreed. After a bit of that, they stuck me out in the hall where I waited for a while, called a friend, and got the doctor to talk to me. Finally, I was able to get dressed, and meet all of my friends in the waiting room. (Thanks Kat, Taner, Cupini, Josh, Andrea, Reza, Vicki, and TLane! (and Johannes)).
Taner drove me off to get my Vicodin prescription filled, and from then on it was a fun-filled weekend of lying on my bed staring at the ceiling, watching TV, and wondering why I couldn't think straight. Sunday one of my right ribs started hurting, leading me to believe I had broken it. X-Rays are being looked at now...