Usually, the sight of a crying woman was enough to get Richard to shut up, stop whatever he was doing, and go straight into damage control. For that matter, so was the sight of a crying man. Tears meant that something had gone very wrong, that he had lost control of a situation in the worst possible way. They also reminded him of his mother. The best possible response was to make them stop as soon as possible.
Now, seeing Vanessa's face wet in the lights of the road, they just made him even more angry and almost disgusted. He remembered (was it a memory? A dream?) crying tears that burned his cheeks and temples from eyes that felt as though they were being hollowed out. It was almost a sense memory, the pain in his eyes, and he realized that it was probably the beginnings of a migraine. That was the only thing that made sense, much more sense than whatever she had just said about night terrors. And wasn't that just exactly what he needed right then.
He turned to look at the crumpled hood of the truck, the mangled rear of her car, and the rage just boiled out of him. "You couldn't SEE? Well, that's EVIDENT, isn't it? And don't try to excuse yourself!!" He pointed at her accusingly. "You ran that light like it wasn't there. The only way a nightmare could have anything to do with it is if you were asleep at the wheel, which wouldn't surprise me!" He spun away, looking at his watch. "Shit, I do not have time for this!" He stepped away, pulling out his cellphone. He was going to have to call work to apologize for missing the meeting and explain that he would miss tomorrow, and possibly the day after. And the cops, he would need to call them too.