If Crash hadn't already been confrontational enough for most audiences, it is about to take another turn toward the obscure and surreal.  Faced with her husband’s injuries incapacitation, Catherine is seen sitting beside his bed, fulfilling the roles of mother, whore, and wife.  She comforts him, fills him in on the details of their lives beyond the hospital walls, and satisfies his sexual desires.

Earlier in the film we experienced Catherine and Ballard exchanging stories of their sexual encounters, arousing each other with their tales.  Obviously Ballard's injuries at this point preclude them from having full-on sex, so they settle for mutual masturbation.

As before, this session is accompanied by the retelling of a past experience.  However, both Catherine and Ballard has made their grand entrance into the world of Crash, and the story told is almost a celebration of their first crash conquest.  Rather than relaying the tale of the encounter in the aircraft hangar, or some other casual sexual event, Catherine recites a description of the state of Ballard's crashed vehicle.

"Both front wheels and the engine were driven back into the driver's section, bowing the floor. Blood still marked the hood, streamers of black lace running towards the windshield wiper gutters.

Minute flecks were spattered across the seat and steering wheel. The instrument panel was buckled inwards, cracking the clock and the speedometer dials. The cabin was deformed, and there was dust and glass and plastic flakes everywhere inside. The carpeting was damp and stank of blood and other body and machine fluids."

As she speaks, in a distant almost dead pan way, she fondles him under the bedclothes while he places his hand between her thighs.  Finally he reaches climax.

From the very outset of the movie, Cronenberg has thrust his audience into the world of Crash.  If an unsuspecting viewer hasn’t already been derailed, this might well cause them some confusion.  Not only are the details of a crashed car not erotic for most of us, but the delivery from Catherine doesn't seem designed to be overly erotic – yet Ballard clearly reaches orgasm. 

Once their sex is over, they discuss the funeral of Remington's husband:  “they bury the death so quickly - they should leave them lying around for months."  Ballard asks if she has met Remington, and Catherine explains that she hasn't, because "I feel too close to her."

Sex and crashes is already welded into their minds and relationship, a mutual journey.