Page 101 of Beyond the Bright Lights

It can’t be.

I waste no time and rush out my door, down the stairs, and over to the black suburban. The front end is smashed and the white sign that sits near the road to promote specials and bands for Lilies is a twisted mess.

I run over to the driver’s side window, which is rolled down, and I gasp.

“Mylan?”

He stirs at my voice. His head lifting from the now deflating airbag. A small cut on his forehead bleeds.

“Lana?” He palms his forehead and opens the door, struggling to step out of the SUV. He falls the moment his feet hit the ground.

I crouch down to help him up and he takes my face in his hands.

“I love you, donut.” My heart flutters because it’s the first time he’s said those words to me, and maybe I would have said it back if it weren’t for the strong odor of booze.

He’s drunk.

I stand, forcing Mylan’s hold on me to drop. His shoulders droop and his head hangs.

He's fucking drunk.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, still on silent from being on set yesterday. I never turned the ringer back on because I didn’t want anyone interrupting my time with Mylan. I forgot the ringer was off until now as someone frantically tries to get a hold of me.

An overwhelming sense of dread consumes me as I pull my phone out of my dress pocket and scan through the texts and missed calls from Ginger, Bruno, and Eloise.

The three are pulling up to the crash scene now, piled in Ginger’s car.

“What the hell is happening?” I ask Mylan. He looks up from the ground through glazed eyes. His skin is clammy and pale.

“Lana, please, don’t read the article.”

“What article?” I don’t let him answer. I go back through the texts, skipping the ones from my friend, Mylan’s bodyguard, and his assistant. Instead, I select the one sent to me by the gossip queen of Silo Springs: Cara Calloway.

Mylan begs please don’t, please don’t, please don’t, as I click on the link she sent.

My stomach dips.

Mylan Andrews’ Brush With Death

Written by: Angela Borrows, Entertainment Now

Sources confirm to Entertainment Now that the troubled actor’s latest stint in rehab was due to an intentional overdose. Mylan Andrews was rushed to the hospital after his assistant, Eloise Granger, found him unconscious in the living room of his Beverly Hills home. Sources tell us several empty bottles of pain pills and an empty bottle of whiskey were found next to Andrews’s body. Paramedics arrived on the scene to a frantic Granger performing life-saving measures. According to the police report we obtained, Andrews wouldn’t have survived had Granger not given him CPR.

I stop reading because I can no longer see through the tears. Ginger and Bruno stand nearby, not daring to say a word. Eloise is next to them, her eyes and cheeks glisten with tears.

By some miracle, there’s not a paparazzi in sight. I assume they’re all gone now that filming is done or maybe they found out where the wrap party is being held and are there now.

My eyes return to Mylan who is still on the ground, his back against the tire of the SUV. “You tried to kill yourself?”

He sighs and leans his head back, closing his eyes.

“Yes.”

It's all he says. I wait for him to explain. He’s not going to.

Eloise walks over to Mylan and hands him a water. He drinks it. All of it.

“Why?” I demand once he tosses the empty bottle the ground.

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