Chapter 5 - The Great Depression
(...a hotel room...later that night...)
The room is a very nice one, or at least it was; it's now in kind of a shambles. Chairs have been turned over, snack wrappers and pillows stained with tears litter the floor. The light bouncing off of the items is currently the only one in the room: that of the television set.
Lila, wrapped in a bedsheet, is flipping through the channels, where she runs across a variety of programs: an episode of "According to Jim", the movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and a music channel, playing "You're Gonna Miss My Lovin'" by Lou Rawls. The song sets Lila on another crying jag. Through her tears, she picks up a nearby phone and dials room service.
"Hello."
"Yes, Ms. Lipman?", a female voice replies. Lila thought it best to use a fake name.
"Could you please send up some cookies and cream ice cream?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Actually, make it a lot."
"Right away."
Lila hangs up the phone and turns back to the television.
(...the hotel room...15 minutes later...)
Lila is lying on the bed, groaning. She's just finished off five cartons of ice cream. She soon looks toward the open minibar and sees a bunch of little bottles of champagne. After stumbling out of bed, she approaches the cabinet and grabs three bottles, quickly emptying their contents.
Lila ambles toward the sliding door window and opens it. She steps onto the balcony, which overlooks the swimming pool about three stories up. Lila leans too far over the railing and falls over the edge.
She lands in the pool below, amidst several happy swimmers. One of them swims under to rescue her.
"Somebody call an ambulance!"
...are the last words Lila hears as she slips into unconsciousness.
(...a hospital room...the next morning...)
Lila is lying in a hospital bed. She can hear the voices of the staff overlap in a weird chorus:
"What do we have?"
"Young woman, early 30s, took a fall from a hotel balcony."
"And we found empty champagne bottles in her room."
"My God. How is she now?"
"In stable condition. She's slipping in and out of consciousness."
"If you ask me, that girl is damn lucky to be alive."
A younger nurse walks by the room, but seeing Lila draws her in.
"Oh my God. She's that actress: Lila Sawyer. What a thing to happen to someone so talented."
Just then, the intercom buzzes and a voice says:
"Nurse Hershey, please report to the O.R. Nurse Hershey to O.R."
Lila watches as the nurse leave as best she can; in her weakened state, she can only watch the ceiling and move her eyes during her moments of consciousness.
Just as her vision starts to get blurry, she can hear the sound of footsteps approaching her bed. Lila can barely make out a figure looking over her. The figure puts a hand on Lila's head then takes out a bottle and pours its contents in Lila's mouth. The figure sits her up to ease the swallowing, then lays her back down.
(...the hospital room...a few days later...)
Lila is resting in her bed. She no longer slips out of consciousness. She seems to have recovered fully.
Nurse Hershey, holding a paperback book, walks in to check on her.
"Miss Sawyer..."
"Call me Lila."
"Lila, you look better."
"Thank you. I feel healthier, too."
"No, you really look better."
The nurse hands Lila a mirror and she is surprised by what she sees: her red hair is bouncier with added luster, her lips are poutier and her eyes give off a weird sparkle.
"Wow. Did somebody give me a makeover while I was asleep?"
"Not that I know of."
Lila notices the book in the nurse's hand.
"What's that book you're reading?"
"Oh, it's 'Love in the Time of Apathy' by Helga Pataki. It's really good."
"May I read it?"
"Certainly, Lila. My break's almost over, anyway."
Lila picks up the book and reads it. It's your basic romance novel, enlivened by some sharp dialogue. Around page 146, Lila notices a familiar looking passage:
You don't honestly think that you deserve all of this, do you? You may think you do, but let's be honest: you're not that pretty, you're not that interesting and you're not that talented. It will be a good day for both of us when you finally wake up and realize that this good life is based on a solid foundation of pity. Outside of that, I don't know what I ever saw in you.
It's the letter "from Arnold", verbatim.
Lila thinks for a moment and arrives at a conclusion:
"Helga did this!"