Chapter Sixteen: The sleep of the innocent

When you have nothing to lose, the consequences of your actions mean little or nothing. But when Ava jumped out of the window she didn't expecting to survive the fall, she didn't want to survive the fall. This wasn't your standard 'cry for help' suicide attempt; this was the real deal, her last resort because Ava couldn't see any other way out. As she pushed herself forward and let go off the frame she decided if she couldn't live life the way she wanted then she didn't want to live at all.

If Ava Carson had died that day the magazines would have been full of the news, there would be flowers, people crying and consoling Josh and for years afterwards people would speculate about the reason she jumped without knowing the truth. Most importantly our story would end here.

The next day, John was in the hotel gym with his headphones on in some ill perceived notion that it would drown out all the voices in his head. Unluckily for him he caught a radio news broadcast.

"Hollywood is rife with speculation today following a bizarre accident involving Oscar winner Ava Carson."

John stopped dead on the treadmill and as a result nearly fell off.

"Emergency services where called to the Carson Mansion late last night where Ava was found unconscious in the garden. She was taken to a hospital where surgeons operated to set a broken leg. It's not known the cause of the accident, but it's claimed the actress will return home tomorrow."

John's first thought was to call her and check she was ok, to get the real story. But then he remembered the last time he'd seen her she'd slap him and called him an asshole. He wasn't going to stop him worrying about her, he may not be with her but he still loved her. Maybe, and this was only a very shaky maybe, he could call to check on her. John wasn't going to try any of that 'let's be friends' crap, him and Ava could never be just friends, no matter what she told her agents. He just wanted to make sure that was alright, and that she didn't hate him, though he knew it would be easier if she did. John was sure Ava had hated him once, even if it had only been for awhile, he was sure she could do it again.

But presently, hating John was the furthest thing from her mind because after arriving home from the hospital, Nathen began paying a private doctor to keep her sedated, the doctor didn't ask for a reason, just took the cheque and nodded. For three weeks Ava's life was a blur of things and she wasn't sure whether or not she was dreaming half the time. She was pretty sure the presence of her father was imaginary, but the visits from a figure in lime green she wasn't too sure of. The first solid thing she was sure was happening was when she woke up to find some women giving her a manicure.

"Who the hell are you?" she rasped, her throat was really dry.

"Mrs. Carson," the women jumped out of her chair but said nothing more, deciding to rush out the room. Ava let her go, her head was having and her leg stiff, it was only when she tried to get up did she notice the cast on her leg and everything came flooding back to her. As you can imagine, Ava felt like crying. It hadn't worked, she was stuck. Josh appeared at the door, followed by Nathen, Gloria and the manicure women. Ava raised a hand and they all stopped.

"If any of you come through that door I'll do something so bad it will make jumping out of the window look like art."

There was instant whispering and for once Josh wasn't apart of it, he simply held the others back and stepped into the room alone, closing the door behind at him. Ava glared at him, hell she was frowning so much it made up for all the years she had been forbidden to do it.

"You're, or you where very sick. One minute everything is fine then you smash up the hall and take off. The next you're talking about divorce and John and then you jumped out of the window. It scared me Ava; this was for your own safety."

"This? What is this?"

"Keeping you sedated, in the long term we knew it wouldn't help but we needed to come up with a plan. There where so many stories I had to tell to cover up for you."

"So your plan was to keep me asleep so I wouldn't go telling people the truth?"

She tried to stand up again, but fell back on the bed.

"It was to keep you safe." Josh went on. "I didn't want you jumping out of any more windows and there was the baby plan to consider."

Ava went cold, which wasn't surprising since the air conducting was on and she was in her underwear.

"There was no baby plan, remember?"

"We had no choice, the press where getting worried, so…"

"So while you where keeping me drugged you thought you'd take advantage of the situation?"

Josh sighed, Ava thought she was going to be sick and why not? She had woken up from one nightmare right into this. She couldn't believe it, she knew some weird stuff went on in the world but this was ridiculous. Josh couldn't have seriously been sleeping with her while she was out for the count.

"It was the only way."

"To do what?"

"To save our marriage."

"I told you before this marriage is a sham and a baby will just be the final nail in the coffin. If you even come near me again I'll sue you for statutory rape."

"Ava, stop."

Here it comes, we can all tell what's coming next and not just because Gloria and Nathen have been planning it forever, or that Josh is a jerk for listening to them, but because we already know that Ava is unlucky and because we know that, before Josh has even said it, we know Ava is already pregnant but it will be awhile before anyone else does.