Viera was so hysterical while driving that she was having a hard time seeing the road in front of her. She couldn’t believe what she had heard and didn’t understand how everyone was involved in it.
This much she knew: JC admitted that he had caused the wreck that sent her to the hospital and in the end - losing her memory. That was the way Shelly had died - she finally got that answer. Holly, Brooke, and JC had all lied about it to cover it up for some reason. She figured it was because JC’s career would be over if he was charged with vehicular homicide so he had to keep quiet but why Holly and why Brooke? How did they play into this? Was JC making them stay quiet or what?
There were too many questions that had to be answered but she couldn’t stand by and look at him now to get them. There was a part of her that never wanted all the answers if it would mean she had to see JC again. She wanted to rip his head off at that moment but knew that would get her nowhere.
She drove through the night, wondering where to go and who to talk to about all of this. She had NO ONE to turn to, no one to trust, no one at all. She was alone. She had to deal with this on her own.
She let her mind wander as far back as she could, trying to find anything in her mind that would help this situation.
She thought about her sister. Thought about the scar that appeared on her head this afternoon. Remembered the voice of her sister in her room telling her that she would find the answers soon and when she did to listen to her heart. Well, Viera’s heart was broken and it just wasn’t saying anything to her right now.
She laid her head on the steering wheel of her car for just a second before she heard the honking of cars. She snapped her head up and realized that she was still driving. She immediately pulled over to the side of the road she was on and turned the car off.
Her breathing was shallow and short. She was within inches of repeating the same accident that claimed her sister’s life by letting her mind get away from her. She looked around to make sure she was safe, then let her head rest again on the wheel.
Her eyes were open and she began to stare at the passenger’s side of the car as her cheek laid on the cool wheel. Her mind was still clouded but suddenly, something caught her eye and she squinted to see it lying in between the seat cushion.
She slowly raised her body up then unlatched her seatbelt to lean over to the other seat. She let her fingers reach for the object that was sticking out where the back meets the seated part of the chair.
Viera pulled the small object but it grew larger until she had it out in the open. Her eyes widened when she saw what it was and her head began to spin. In her hand was a blue piece of cloth and that small silky material made Viera’s mind race.
“Shelly’s scarf.” She said as she let it run through her fingers. “It must have torn off when we hit that tree.” She repeated then realized that she had just remembered hitting a tree.
That thought bled into another one that would make them all come crashing down. “No, Shelly wasn’t wearing it, I was.”
This made her shake with fear. She hadn’t been driving, Shelly had and…
The memories began flooding her mind so fast that she began looking around the small car, searching for air but there was none for her lungs to pull in. She whipped the door open and fell out onto the ground, gasping for the coolness to enter her body and revive it.
***************
Viera raised her head off the concrete after what seemed like forever. Her life was once again changed - but what should she do now? Her mind had opened so the memories could file themselves back in but what she found in them, terrified her to the point that she wished she HADN’T remembered any of her past.
She looked around the darkened street and had no idea of what to do or where to go next. She couldn’t go home - there was too much missing out of that apartment that she had to know why Shelly’s things were missing - and WHO took them out.
She couldn’t go see Holly or Brooke - they were with her in that car wreck - and played a BIG part in this whole mess but she didn’t know how.
She couldn’t go to her family - they hadn’t had any contact with her since she lost her memory. Maybe they didn’t care that she survived since Shelly was taken away from them.
And she couldn’t go to JC - he had lied to her about having a relationship with him and that was something she couldn’t forgive him for - yet.
She didn’t understand why he let Holly and Brooke talk him into portraying the role of a loving boyfriend and she didn’t know if he had been making everything up or if he really did have feelings for her.
He was so kind and loving to her that she knew that he had either fallen in love with her - or was the biggest bastard known to man, who just played her from the start. She hoped for the first choice but didn’t know what to think right now.
The memories of that ill-fated night played over and over in her head and she had to tell someone about what happened, but who?
She chose the lesser of the evils, picked her tired body off the ground below and slid back into her car, only to head a short distance to the one person’s home that she had felt so much comfort in - when she thought she was someone else. Hoping that it would bring that same comfort again, she prayed that its owner would be there and welcome her inside.
************
JC drove around town looking for any sign of Viera. He had no idea where to start since he didn’t know where she liked to go - even if she did remember. He felt like the biggest jerk and didn’t know that she had been standing inside her apartment listening to Holly and him yelling at one another.
He had done what he thought he would never to able to do. He had admitted a loud that he had caused the crash that led to the wreck and it killed one sister while making the other lose her mind…literally.
He never meant for any of it to happen but after he hit their car, it went flying across the road and smacked into a nearby tree. He didn’t even see them until it was too late. He wanted to stop and make sure that they were okay but his friend Scott who was in the car with him, said that if the police knew it was him, and that the two of them had been drinking, then JC would be in jail for sure. JC tried to argue with him about it but knew he could be charged with a DUI along with the wreck. They didn’t know anyone was killed or seriously injured because it didn’t look like that bad of an accident and JC allowed himself to be persuaded into leaving the scene.
Once he had found out that Shelly had died, he didn’t know what to do but then he got a call from Brooke informing him that she and Holly had been in the car as well and would tell the police everything unless he went along with their plan for Shelly’s sister when she regained her memory. The girls didn’t like Viera and knew that they could make her suffer for Shelly’s loss if JC helped and he had no choice. It was well into the second month after the accident and since the police had been told that Shelly lost control and hit a tree - by Holly of course - JC wasn’t looked for by them.
The girls blackmailed him into doing what they wanted or they would change their story and he would be charged with vehicular homicide for sure and that was something that JC couldn’t get out of and still remain in the music business. The guys knew about it too and could be charged for withholding information so they all were screwed unless JC more or less sold his soul to the devil(s) - that would be Holly and Brooke.
His thoughts were interrupted when he drove into his neighborhood. He didn’t know where to go and although he wanted to head back to Viera’s, he didn’t even know what to say if she was there.
He rounded the corner that led to his place and slammed the breaks when he saw her car on the side of the road. She had driven to his place and was now parked outside it. He didn’t bother turning his car off but put it in park and jumped out. He rushed over to hers and as he came closer, he noticed her slumped body in the front seat. She appeared to be sleeping at the wheel so he knocked lightly on the window. That got her attention and she jerked her head up to look at him through the glass.
Her eyes were bloodshot, hair mangled and she looked like she had gone about ten rounds and had LOST.
He reached for the handle of the door and heard it click as he pulled it. When it opened, her body slid out and he had to react quickly in order to catch her. He let his body be pulled down on the concrete with hers next to his and he merely held onto her as she sat lifeless in his arms.
“Viera please say something. Sweetheart, just say something to me.” He pleaded as her body began to stiffen against him.
He had to strain to hear her when she finally spoke. “I did it.”
“You did what? Viera, you did what?” He asked, not knowing what she was talking about.
She shifted her body and pushed off him. She hung her head towards the ground and played with her fingers. “I killed Shelly.” She said, under her breath.
JC was able to hear her. He reached for her hands and clasped them with his own easily. She wasn’t putting up a fight any longer. “Viera, you didn’t kill your sister. It wasn’t your fault…it…it was…it was mine. I hit your car, making it go to the tree. I…I did this then lied about it to save myself.”
She slowly raised her head and he could see the tears streaming down her face. He wanted to wipe them off but she began speaking before he could. “JC, you may have hit us but I made my sister cross the road in the first place.”
He still didn’t get what she was saying. “What are you talking about? Viera, it doesn’t matter if Shelly was driving and she lost control, I should have been paying attention and…” He tried to explain but she stopped him by interrupting.
“No, it does matter. I was fighting with her in the car. I did this. I caused her to lose control. If I hadn’t done what I did, Shelly would still be alive.”
JC still didn’t get what she was meaning by her mumbling and had to get a straight answer out of her. “Viera, honey I don’t get it. So you were fighting with her. So what? I was drinking that night after our show. I wasn’t watching the road and smashed into your car to push it into that tree. You didn’t…”
“JC would you listen to me. I DID IT.” She began as she pushed away from him and stood up. She started pacing in front of him, stumbling every other step, trying to get her balance but continued to yell.
“I started a fight with her after Holly told my sister that I was going out with her boyfriend. That guy in the pictures was Mark Stevens. My sister’s boyfriend. The girl wasn’t my sister. It was me. Holly found out and told her after the concert where we met. I started yelling at Holly, begging my sister not to believe her but the three of us got so out of hand that I told Shelly to just take me home.”
Viera stopped pacing and stared straight at JC. “She said no but I yelled back, grabbing the wheel and making her turn around but she jerked it back and that’s when she lost control, crossed the lines and headed right towards your car. I caused this, JC. I was going behind my sister’s back and seeing her boyfriend. I did this. I did, not you. You did nothing at all.”
JC heard her and saw the hurt in her eyes mixed with such sadness that it broke his heart. She must had gotten her memory back and wondered if him yelling at Holly had triggered it but for now, he could only watch her crumbling before him.
Granted, he was still to blame for this and would have to take the consequences later, but Viera’s blame was just as high that whatever a judge handed her would be nothing compared to what she was going through inside.
He didn’t know what to say or what to do but simply stood and approached her worn out form. She held her hands out to push him away but he wasn’t allowing that to happen. He grabbed her hands and brought them down and back around her own body until he had a hold on her then let go of her hands.
They merely flung down, lifeless and her body leaned into his to keep it up. “How did you remember?” He asked into her ear.
Her eyes rolled around involuntarily as her voice was low and muffled. “I found something.” She replied. JC pushed her away slightly and asked her to explain. “I found a piece of the scarf I was wearing that night after your concert. It was Shelly’s and I had worn it the night I went out with Mark for the first time. I wore it so he would think I was my sister. He didn’t figure it out until I told him later that night that I wasn’t my sister. By then, he was taken with me and didn’t care cheating on her. I wanted him since the day Shelly brought him home and I got him.”
His arms brought her closer to him, holding her tighter. He couldn’t believe that this wonderfully kind woman in his arms would be capable of hurting her sister that much. When they had met at the meet-n-greet before the show, JC was intrigued by Viera. She appeared so nice and down-to-earth and he found himself wanting to see her again. How could he have been so wrong about her?
But she wasn’t like that any more. She wouldn’t be that way now. She was changed and he wondered if maybe Shelly’s death hadn’t made Viera change for the good.
“Come inside. You need to sleep.” He told her again in her ear.
She shook her head, denying the fact that her body craved sleep. “I…I can’t sleep. Not after what I know. I have to tell someone who can help me. I have to go tell the police.”
JC pushed her back and held her at arms length this time so he could look at her in the face. “You are NOT going to talk to the police tonight. Viera there is no way I’m letting you go anywhere until you sleep. Please come inside and rest. We can talk about this tomorrow.”
She wanted to fight him. She wanted to punch him for his lies. She wanted him to leave her there in the road, hoping that a car would run her over. But most of all, she just wanted him to hold her and make it all go away.
Her body gave in and she began to fall into his arms. She was giving up the struggle to stay awake and JC was able to react in time and held onto her as she fell. He balanced himself and her then helped her into his home to allow her at least one night’s sleep before dealing with what tomorrow would bring.