A/N: Alright, enthusiasm for this new story. Lovin it. Thanks to Invader Johnny for planting the seed.
The whole debacle with Stan Weimer, the director, was based on the Twilight Zone Accident in 1982. John Landis was directing his segment for Twilight Zone the Movie and his constant need for bigger and more impressive special effects was getting out of control. It culminated in a low-flying helicopter hovering over intense explosives and three actors crossing a shallow river. One of the mortars damaged the copter's rotor blade, making it spin out of control, and crashing. The aircraft landed on veteran actor Vic Morrow and fresh-faced children Myca Dinh Le (7) and Renee Shin-Yi Chen (6), killing them instantly.
After a lengthy investigation and trial, director Landis and his cohorts were acquitted of charges against them. Despite the disregard for safety and illegally hiring children to work with special effects at night was totally out of bounds; nobody saw jail time.
This tragedy inspired actors and crewmembers to speak up when set conditions were perceived as dangerous and more regulations were enacted to prevent such reckless death. Unfortunately, life for the sake of art is an old tradition and even to this day, accidents still happen, but nothing this horrible should ever occur again.
Sorry for the rant but as someone who loves movies, something this terrible sticks in my craw. Just like Roman Polanski, it's hard for me to watch this director's work after a certain year because in the back of my mind, I'm like "you should've been in prison but no, you're back to work."
Anyway, I'm glad everyone's looking forward to the new chapter.
Unfortunately updating every few days has been difficult lately. I will at least come back weekly so I won't leave you hanging for long.
Jade woke up to the sound of kids talking.
Craning her head up, she could make out the tops of the heads of a handful of youngsters. They were all here to visit the kid in traction, Jamie. With all of them vying for his attention, how could Jade not pick up the kiddo's name?
His mom and one of his friend's moms reminded the children that Jamie had limited movement for the time being and it was best that they come to him rather than making him shift. They took turns, understanding that he was hurt but he would be okay.
"Yep, just a broken bone. Nasty fall but he will be on the mend eventually."
The group looked at the doctor as he walked to Jamie.
"How are we feeling, son?"
"Alright," he groaned. "Still hurts a lot."
He looked at his patient sympathetically.
"That will happen, Jamie. But in a few days, we will take another x-ray and see how much you are healing. Can give us an idea how much longer we will need to have you stay."
"I've been drinking my milk!"
The doctor and the other adults chuckled at the boy's declaration.
"Mom said its good for my bones," he added.
"Yes," the doc nodded. "That's very good. I have no doubt that will help."
His mother looked at the doctor as he made toward the door, holding his chart. Their eyes met and he nodded, indicating that he wasn't just playing it up for the kid. No sidebar for the parents. Jamie was doing fine.
"Where's dad?" asked Jamie.
"Oh, he called an hour ago," his mom answered. "He couldn't get on the red eye but he found the earliest flight he could. Should land this afternoon and he will come right here."
"Good," he smiled.
Jade observed all of this from the confines of her hospital bed. She continued to peak at this, refusing to use the remote to raise herself. She didn't want her being awake to be known.
(This afternoon?) she thought. (What time is it?)
Jade reached for her phone, which was still in her lap from the night before. Luckily, she had turned off all the open apps beforehand or her battery would be dead. She was pretty sure there was no way to charge her cell.
She checked the clock and sure enough it was Sunday morning, the next day.
Word should have reached everyone by now. No doubt the whole school will be buzzing about how Jade West fell like a rock in front of everyone. There was likely video of it. She knew she will never hear the end of it. This will be beyond graduation.
"Hey, remember the time Jade crashed? That was awesome!"
"Whatever you do, don't cast her as Peter Pan!"
"Jade's on this flight? I think I'll take a train."
People can be downright assholes at times like this.
But Jade typically could ignore the trolls because first of all, she was Jade-goddamn-West. And second, but not least, she had her inner circle. The ragtag group of friends, some of which she knew since junior high, would stick to her like glue.
(Where were they?)
Jade checked her phone again and there was only a missed call. And a voicemail.
Looking through the recent activity, she saw that both were from her mom.
First, she played the voicemail; a mere 12 seconds.
"Jade, this is your mother. A hospital called me and said that you were injured at school. What in the hell happened? Call me back soon!"
Jade selected the voicemail and deleted it.
Taking a deep breath, she bit the bullet and raised her bed to a more comfortable level. The happy bunch across the room didn't pay her any mind, which was fine with her.
Jade then dialed her mother.
It rang four time before she finally picked up.
"Jade?"
"Hey mom," she replied.
"So, what happened yesterday?"
"There was a stunt at the play, and everything went to shit..."
"Language!"
The two moms looked over at Jade and the goth made an apologetic face, mouthing "I'm so sorry."
So much for playing it cool and acting invisible.
"Everything went wrong, and now my leg is broken. I can barely move."
The line went silent.
"Mom? Mom!"
"Do you need me to come there?" she asked, rather deadpan.
"Uh...well..."
Jade was having more difficulty than expected getting the words out.
There was a heavy sigh on the other end.
"This is so damn typical of you. I have a very important conference and leave it to you to create a problem like this."
"Are you saying this is my fault?" Jade asked, stunned.
"It's just that trouble always seems to follow you. I thought, well my daughter is seventeen and in school. Could she keep it together for three days? I guess I was wrong."
Jade bit her lip and tried to bury her anger, not just out of fear of her mother. But the kids and other strangers didn't need to hear all this drama.
"No, mom. I'm not asking you to come back early. I know how much it means..."
"So I will see you Monday?"
"Yes. I'm sorry for calling..."
The conversation ended, indicated by a floating red circle on the phone screen.
Feeling defeated, Jade dropped her phone in her lap.
The same doctor from a few minutes ago reappeared and returned Jamie's chart to its rightful place at the foot of his bed. He then sauntered over to Jade with a smile.
"Sorry I was detained. I'm Dr. Fitzhenry. How are you holding up?"
Jade just gave a frowny thumbs up. She looked like that poster from Futurama that said, "You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do."
"I know it may not seem that way right now but you're actually very lucky."
"You're right, doc" sighed Jade. "I don't believe it."
"Well, it could have been so much worse."
"Oh yeah?"
"You could be in intensive care. Or the morgue."
That last thing made her turn her head and face the man for once.
"Yes, Miss West. If the circumstances were a tiny bit different, who knows what could have happened. So, when I say that you're very fortunate to fall the equivalent of a three-story house and only suffered a busted leg, you know I'm telling the truth."
Jade really let that sink in. She was more agitated and (naturally) in pain to weigh the implications of what had occurred. In another reality, who's to say she wouldn't have died right then and there? Jade West, the up-and-coming actress, well before her prime shedded this mortal coil in a jaw-dropping performance.
It would have been so metal if it weren't so sad.
The things she did to get that part. And for what?
Didn't even make it past opening night and she's laid up in the hospital. What's more, nobody has so much as come to visit her or drop a line.
Only her mother, but that was likely out of pure obligation. Jade loved her but pondered if she would do half the things she did in her position if there weren't laws in place to keep parents in line. Would she have fed her kids if it wasn't a crime to let them starve? Was there anything resembling a parental instinct in her? Maybe there used to be.
Dwelling on that didn't help Jade's depression.
She thought being alone in a hospital room was bad enough. But witnessing this bright little boy getting the love and attention from friends and family made Jade feel even worse. She might as well had been in the bottom of a dry well.
(Injured. Almost died, apparently. And nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care.)
This was dark, even for her. But you can't argue with reality any more than you can argue with crazy.
But she forced herself to hold out for a little hope.
It's barely been twelve hours since it happened. If everyone was asleep or sleeping in because it was Sunday; news can travel slow sometimes, right?
"Jade?" the doctor called.
"Huh, what?"
"Are you hungry? Did you want some breakfast? I assure you the food is tops for a hospital. We took the money away from making our medication taste good and allocated it into the kitchen."
Jade did that thing where she didn't laugh but made a little puff of air escape her understated smirk. Mildly amused.
"Not hungry," she admitted. "Got any painkillers?"
He made a face.
"Afraid I can only prescribe an 800mg ibuprofen. But it does a number on your system if you take it on an empty stomach."
Jade groaned.
"Okay, doc. You win. I'll have an oatmeal. And some milk. Vitamin D because who knows when I'll see the sun again."
"Oh, the nurses are gonna love you, I can tell," he smiled. "Take care, Jade."
The doctor left the room and Jade heard a ding from her phone.
Her eyes widened as she grabbed it to check it.
It wasn't a text or Slap post. It was her inbox telling her she got an email from one of those coupon sites.
Jade slunk back into her bed.
(Yeah, West. You really fucked things up this time.)