A/N : Many thanks for all the feedback regarding 'Jackson Crow'. In this chapter, we meet 'Jillian Nightingale'.
CHAPTER THREE – Unwritten
Faber est suae quisque fortunae.
Every man (and woman) is the the artisan of their own fortune. Now, she has no idea where she had learned Latin, but she firmly believed this phrase. That every person is the architect of their own fate.
I am a blank page of an unwritten story. I am the I am the artist of my own masterpiece. A blank canvas waiting to be painted. A clean slate. I can be whatever, whoever I want to be.
Waking up from a coma and finding out that you've lost every part of your past doesn't have to wreck you as a person. You can either remain stuck in a past the doesn't exist to you, or you can choose to move on with whatever that is left of your life. She chose the latter. To continue living without knowing who she was and where she came from was challenging and scary as hell. It was a good thing that she didn't have to do it all alone.
She was glad that she has Jackson Crow in her life. Jack is her best friend for only a couple of years, but feels like they've known each other from a whole 'nother lifetime. He was in the same ferry accident as she was a couple of years ago. They were both found floating in New York Harbor, unconscious, practically lifeless. No ID's, no memory, no family to claim them. They weren't in the registry of ferry passengers. Or in any other registry, for that matter. They found out later that they were in a coma for the same amount of time, and woke up at exactly the same time. They even went to the same support group for patients suffering psychogenic amnesia.
It didn't take long for them to become each other's family. They always felt the need to protect each other, and be each other's biggest fan. Jack was even the one who gave her the name, 'Jillian Nigthingale', because their names had to match, and he said that she sounded like a nightingale. She was more than fine with it. It was a move up from 'Jane Doe', the name given to her at the hospital after the incident.
She relished on playing the role of Jackson's BFF and little sister. She was also his constant defender against those who took advantage of him. The man had a big heart, and he is too damn nice for his own good. But between the two of them, Jack was the responsible and successful one. He was the one who worried about everything and everyone else. Maybe that was the reason why he has his heart condition. He has a tendency of taking everything way too seriously.
Not like she doesn't have her fair share of health problems. Not long after waking up from her coma, she was diagnosed with intracranial aneurysms. Multiple tiny blood balloons that scattered inside her skull. Doctors said it was inoperable...first opinion, second opinion, third opinion...they had all said the same thing. That they can manage it with the right drugs, but surgery was out of the question if she wanted to keep the full use of her eyes, since the some of the aneurysms were located dangerously close to her optic nerves. Not to mention that there's a high risk of her dying in the operating table. There's also a huge risk of her dying once the blood balloons burst. It's one of those 'Damned if you...Damned if you don't' dilemmas. Each options present a negative outcome for her. She's a woman without a past, and apparently living on borrowed time. But that doesn't mean that she can't have a future, for however short it might be. Because if she was indeed doomed, she only had two options in spending the remainder of her short life. She can either spend the time she has left dying, or living. She preferred to live...to live her life in her own terms, for however long it may be.
And lived, she did. She drank. She smoke. She partied. She broke hearts. She had her heart broken. She lived. She loved. She rocked the shit out of her life. And most of all, she dreamed. She dreamed until dreaming wasn't enough, she had to make it a reality. And in a move that can be deemed as a big middle finger salute to those who thought she should just curl up in a corner and die, she took a page out of Jack's book, and worked hard on making her dreams come true.
I am the master of my own destiny.
So, here she was, a couple of years later, sitting at the hall of one of Broadway's prestigious audition centers, while she waited to be ushered into a studio of Equity producers and casting directors of a theatre company, as she edged closer to achieving her dreams. After two long years of failed auditions, and rejections and being in chorus line after chorus line that didn't showcase her full potential, she finally has the chance to prove to herself and to everyone else that she can make it as a Broadway lead.
I'm no longer tied to who I was in the past. My past is a blank page, and I'm fine with that. I will not let fear hold me back from my future. Today is a new chapter of my life, and the rest is still waiting to be written.
Jillian had her eyes closed, as she kept silently repeating mantras of encouragement inside her head, while sucking on her lucky honey bear bottle that Jack gave her. It was good for her vocal chords, and even better for her pre-audition nerves. After a wait that felt like forever, one of the assistants finally called her name, and ushered her inside the studio.
She took a deep long breaths, and stood up. "You can do this, Jillian," she reassured herself. "You already got through the dance and the acting auditions. The singing part should be cake." She shook the nerves off, before walking into the room.
She stepped up front the producers and casting directors with a confident smile. She then handed her sheet music to the pianist, who was located at the side of the stage.
"My name is Jillian Nightingale, and today I will be performing 'The Past Is Another Land' from AIDA," she announced.
"In your own time, Miss Nightingale," the casting director told her.
After hearing this, she gave a nod at the pianist to inform him she was ready to begin the song. And with all her heart, she began to sing.
"You know nothing about me and care even less
How could you understand our emptiness
You've plundered our wisdom, our knowledge, our wealth
In bleeding us dry
You long for our spirit
But that you will never possess
The past is now another land
Far beyond my reach
Invaded by insidious
Foreign bodies, foreign speech
Where timeless joys of childhood
Lie broken on the beach
The present is an empty space
Between the good and bad
A moment leading nowhere
Too pointless to be sad
But time enough to lay to waste
Every certainty I had
The future is a barren world
From which I can't return
Both heartless and material
Its wretched spoils not my concern
Shining like an evil sun
As my childhood treasures burn
Shining like an evil sun
As my childhood treasures burn"
Once she was finished with the song, she took a small bow to the casting directors and producers, and thanked the pianist for his assistance, before she stepped off the stage.
As soon as she stepped outside the building, she immediately took her cellphone out. They weren't allowed to turn their phones on while inside the audition center, due to the distraction it provided. She proceeded to call Jack, but he didn't answer, and it went to his voicemail. She then checked her messages, and was surprised at one particular call.
"Miss Jillian Nightingale? This is Nurse Victoria Reis from Mercy Medical Center. I'm sorry to inform you that Jackson Crow was brought in to the emergency room earlier this morning after he collapsed at the subway station. You're listed as his emergency contact and next of kin..."
Jillian almost dropped her phone. The nurse's voice sent chills to her whole body, as she listened to the rest of the message. She looked at her watch. The message was from hours ago. She immediately dialed the hospital's number, but she was put on hold. She ran to the curb and hailed for a taxi. As one stopped nearby, she rushed to get inside, at the same time another person was trying to get in. She aggressively pushed her way into the cab, practically shoving the guy to the ground.
"Excuse you!" She dismissed the man and turned her attention to the driver. "Mercy Medical! Step on it!" she ordered.
As the taxi drove away, the young man that she pushed aside remained on the ground looking shocked.
"Bonnie?" he whispered. "BONNIE!" he yelled and ran after the moving vehicle, but he couldn't catch it, as it sped away.
~END OF CHAPTER THREE~
A/N :
-This is my version of what Bonnie would have been if she had no ties to supernatural world. I feel like we've been deprived of Kat Graham's voice, so I figured I'd write her character as a talented performer.
-'Jillian' was auditioning as the female lead of AIDA.
-Any guesses on who the guy was that recognized 'Jillian'?
-Song Suggestions : "The Past Is Another Land" from the musical, AIDA; "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield
-Again, many thanks for taking time to read this. Your feedback is very much appreciated.
