Page 75 of Vain
“I’m glad you have them, baby.”
“Me too.” I grin, and it’s true. “My life is better because I have them in it. They showed me what love and compassion were. They also taught me about self-worth and that saying no was my absolute right. Unlike my mother, who refused to let me say no to anything.”
“That’s a fucking dangerous thing to teach a kid.”
“You have no idea. I had to do auditions in front of directors and producers, grown men who were intimidating, and I was often alone. Before being shoved into a room with them, I was told to do anything they asked me to.”
“Fuck me,” he snarls. It’s no secret what can happen behind closed doors. Hollywood was built on the shoulders of skeletons that slid from the elites’ closets, many of which came to light during the Me-Too movement. Abuse might happen behind closed doors, but it’s an open secret that the movie industry is fraught with it. Exposing these monsters is not an easy feat. Many of the victims who spoke up found their careers over instead of the man who abused them.
“Nothing happened. Not one single time. There were no inappropriate touches or sexual innuendos, and if there wereany favors asked of me to secure a role, I was completely oblivious to it all.” I’m very fortunate to have worked with good people, especially during my formative years. Sometimes, they were strict and perhaps worked me harder than a child should work, but none ever crossed any sexual lines. For that, I’m eternally grateful. I have enough scars to deal with.
“So fucking lucky.”
“I know that now. As a kid, I didn’t know any different?—”
Tapping at the door cuts me off. It opens before I can say anything else, and two police officers enter.
“Miss Carson. Glad to see you looking a little better.”
“Thank you…” I leave the sentence hanging until he offers his name.
“Sorry. I’m Officer Nolan. This is Officer Sullivan. We want to ask you a few questions about what happened.”
“Sure.” I start to sit up, but Aiden holds me tight. “They can hear you just as well when you’re lying down.”
One of the cops chuckles, but I just roll my eyes, which, in hindsight, wasn’t such a good idea. That hurt like the dickens.
“Okay, Miss Carson, take your time. When did you first notice something was wrong?”
“We were talking. I can’t even remember what about now. I turned to look at Aiden and saw the truck barreling down on us. If Aiden hadn’t sped up, the car would have hit the driver’s side window.”
Officer Sullivan makes notes on his pad as Officer Nolan frowns. “So they weren’t aiming for you specifically.”
“I don’t know what they were thinking. Maybe they didn’t know I wasn’t driving. Maybe they wanted my guard out of the way so I was easy pickings. Maybe they just didn’t care who they hurt. All I know is that it wasn’t an accident. Aiden sped up when I yelled at him to watch out. Doing so meant that when they clipped the car, we spun. I thought we would die, but Aidenmanaged to steady the car again, god knows how. I thought we’d get away. I mean, it was a nice truck, but we were in a sports car. I just didn’t account for the stupid, winding roads. You can only go so fast around those bends. They just kept coming, and when we did manage to put some distance between them and us, they started shooting at us.”
I take a shaky breath as Aiden plays with a strand of my hair and fills them in on everything that happened up to the point the car flipped, and I smacked my head against the vehicle and blacked out. The only part I don’t tell them about is the photo I snapped of the license plate and sent to Banner. I’m not trying to be deliberately evasive, but if I give them that info, they might ask Banner to back off, and I have no faith that the police will find anything before he will, if at all.
I run through everything again, and so does Aiden. He’s able to give them more info about what happened while I was unconscious. By the time they’re done with their questions, I’m wiped out.
“Alright, Miss Carson, Mr. Church, we’ll leave you in peace. If you think of anything else, please give us a call. We’ll do the same if we find anything,” Officer Nolan states. If. Not when. Typical. I’m probably being unfair, but I feel like the cops never do anything until there’s a body involved, and I’d rather not have to die before they help me.
“Take care now,” Officer Sullivan adds as they head to the door.
They’re only gone a few minutes before a nurse bustles through the door with Reese right behind her. “Time for some pain relief, lovely.”
“That sounds pretty good, actually. My head’s throbbing,” I admit.
“You have a concussion. I’m afraid it might get worse before it gets better. Did the doctor fill you in on what to look out for?”
I nod, but Aiden is the one to speak. “I’ll keep my eye on her.
“You shouldn’t be up there,” she tuts at him, but he just ignores her.
“He almost lost me,” I tell her softly.
She sighs but lets it go. “Alright, take these.” She hands me a little cup with a cocktail of painkillers in it. I tip them into my mouth before she hands me a cup of water. I take a sip before swallowing the pills and then drinking down the rest of the water, not realizing how parched I am until now. “Get some rest. Visiting hours will be over shortly.”
“Someone will be staying with Matilda at all times. She has a stalker after her. It’s as much for her safety as yours and the rest of the staff and patients here.
