Opening nights always made Jamie nervous. It wasn't a bad nervous, more like butterflies of anticipation. She knew that she wouldn't mess up, but she wasn't too sure about Mariette's replacement. True, she did dye her hair to get more into character and Jamie applauded her for effort but she barely knew the lines. Jamie stepped into the spotlight. She knew that Justin was in the audience supporting her, but she wished that she could see him. She was worried about her task.
JS~Flub lines opening night.
Of course she wouldn't. The guy playing Danny just happened to be named Justin, but he was a pale imitation. The whole play went fine. Even the girl playing Frenchy did an adequate job. Jamie ran backstage for her final costume change. Suddenly September popped out of nowhere.
"Hey!" she whispered.
"Hey!" said Jamie, struggling into the tight pants.
"Did you like the way I painted all the little people at the carnival?" asked September, referring to the last scene's backdrop.
"Oh yeah! I couldn't take my eyes off of them!" she said sarcastically. "If you had hung playboy centerfolds up I wouldn't have noticed!"
A mottled flush spread over September's face. Her hand flew out and she slapped Jamie across the face before turning on her heel and storming away.
"September!" called Jamie. "Wait! I didn't. . ."
She heard her cue being said and she walked onto the stage. She had to casually lean against the backdrop, careful not to put her whole body weight against it. She placed her hand on the wall lightly and balanced her weight on her left foot.
But something wasn't right.
The wall should have been able to support all of her weight if necessary. For some reason the wall couldn't even support the weight of her hand.
The wall fell.
Jamie fell with it.
Pain flooded through her body as she rolled onto her back. A glint of metal that caught her eye. It was where the wall should have connected to the ceiling, had the backdrop been real. But in it's place there was a heavy metal chain supporting the lights.
The chain snapped and the lights swung down. The heavy, wired, metal bar and electric bulbs fell directly toward her face. There was no time for her to get out of the way. Her arms instinctively went up to shield her face. A large yellow bulb crashed onto her hand, crackling around her knuckles. She could feel the shards of glass raining about her face.
Her body arched with sudden agony. He fingers were tangled in the exposed wires, the hot current vibrating through her nerves and up her spinal cord. Her hands were lacerated and blood dripped onto her costume.
Justin was the first to reach her side. He grabbed the bar and pulled it away from her, cutting his own arms in the process.
"Looks like I flubbed my lines," was the last thing she said, before everything went black.
JC wearily opened the door to their townhouse. It was one AM, and the second time within a week that they had made a trip to the emergency room. Jamie was fine, just scratched up. She would be released from the hospital the next morning. Mariette sleepily climbed up the stairs behind JC. He was already in bed by the time she reached the bedroom.
"I'm gonna take a shower," she said, pulling off her tank top and jeans.
She turned on the hot water and sat on the floor of the shower stall. She was too tired to move. She eventually drifted off because the next thing she was aware of was JC lifting her into his arms and placing her on the bed.She cuddled around his warm body. She could feel his hardness jabbing insistently against her thigh.
"Oh Josh," she mumbled, "I'm too tired."
"I'm not Josh," said a familiar male voice, that wasn't JC's.
Mariette opened her eyes and gasped at the person staring back at her. She opened her mouth to scream but her lungs were full of liquid. She was drowning.
"Marie?" asked JC, lifting her out of the shower. "Wake up Marie! It was just a nightmare!" She clung to his shirt sobbing hysterically. "It's OK," he said, soothingly, laying her on the bed.
"The baby!" she sobbed. "Don't let him hurt the baby!"
"What baby?" Mariette seemed to gain control of her senses and she stopped crying and wiped her eyes on his shirt.
"No. . .nothing," she said. She relinquished her death grip on his shirt.
"Tell me," he encouraged her.
Suddenly Mariette wanted to tell him. She broke down, sobbing out the whole thing. He looked down at her critically.
"Are you sure?" he asked steadily.
She nodded her head, unable to meet his eyes.
"I know that if you don't want to have this child. . .I'll understand. You're too young to ruin your life like that," she whispered.
JC stroked her hair. "How could you think that? I love you. I love our baby. I am staying with you for the rest of my life." He kissed her lips and then her stomach.
"My parents are gonna kill me!" she said, sobbing again. "They think that I'm staying with Jamie to keep her company!"
"I'm here for you. We'll tell them together, when the time is right." Doubt filled Mariette's eyes.
"My father will punch you."
"Hey that's OK. It's not like I've never been punched before!" he shrugged his shoulders.
Mariette's eyes filled with tears again and JC tenderly kissed them away.
"Josh, hold me," she said, pressing her naked body against his.
JC held her the entire night, knowing that all the love in the world would not shield her from the nightmare that lay ahead. . .
