Never Crossed My Mind

The camera panned over the pool behind Knoxville's house and over to the ramp that led up to the fence. Everyone except Olivia and Julie was inspecting the structure of the ramp or what angles to shoot from. Olivia was trying to convince herself this was going to be just fine, and Julie was trying her best to be encouraging.

"Tell us what you're doing here," Jeff prompted when the camera was focused on Olivia.

"Shit that was definitely not in my job description," she sighed. "Bam has been teaching me some skateboarding basics, and I wanted to do a stunt. So, we decided it would be a good idea for me to go down this ramp and land in Knoxville's pool. I'm trying to remember what possessed me to agree that it was a good idea."

"You'll be fine," Jeff assured her.

"I don't know, I have a really horrible feeling about this."

"It's nerves, don't worry."

Olivia shook her head, certain it wasn't just nerves. Before she could back out though, she trudged up to the top of the ramp where Bam was waiting with a skateboard in hand.

"I don't know what it was," Olivia said. "But something was telling me this was going to end badly. I should have listened to my gut."

"All right, now just remember. This is all about not freaking out. The longer you stay on the skateboard, the further you're going to go. All right?"

Olivia nodded and looked directly into the camera. "This is a bad fucking idea. I'm Olivia Moore, and this is skate 'n' swim."

She took a deep breath and set up just the way Bam had taught her. She tried to focus as everyone on the ground shouted encouragements to her. Olivia thought it was funny that they were so encouraging of her doing this really stupid thing, but figured that was pretty much in character for this group.

There was no turning back now. She pushed down on the front of the board and went sailing down the ramp. Her balance held all the way down, but got shaky once she was in the air. Her arms flailed and she bailed off the board just seconds sooner than she should have. She took a deep breath to prepare for hitting the water, but wasn't prepared for the left side of her body to be so close to the wall of the pool. Just as her head disappeared under the water, a pale pink tint appeared in the water and gradually turned darker.

"She's bleeding," Wee Man observed before they all ran over to the pool.

Olivia came back up from under the water gasping for breath. Johnny and Bam pulled her out of the pool and she laid back on the cement.

"At first no one could figure out where she was bleeding from. Then we took a good look at her arm," Preston winced. "That was probably one of the gnarliest things I've ever seen."

"I hit my arm on the edge of the pool," Olivia said between deep breaths. "It stings."

"Call the medic," Jeff instructed.

When Olivia heard that, the look on her face went from being relieved to be alive to panic that they were calling the medic. "Why?"

"You've got a bone fragment sticking out of your arm," Johnny told her.

Finally realizing the extent of her injury, Olivia looked over at her arm, then quickly turned the other way to puke.

"Let's turn the cameras off," Jeff instructed.

***

As soon as the medic saw Olivia’s break, he told the crew she would need to go to a hospital. Julie ran inside to gather some things for Olivia, saying she would catch a ride with someone to the hospital if Johnny wanted to ride in the ambulance. No one questioned the decision, out loud anyway. Once her arm was in a splint, they loaded her into the ambulance and Johnny climbed in behind her, holding her good hand.

“I told you I had a bad feeling about this,” Olivia grumbled.

“And yet you did it anyway,” Johnny chuckled. “Like a true jackass.”

“I’ve certainly been spending too much time around you guys.” The ambulance hit a bump in the road and Olivia groaned. “This blows.”

Johnny squeezed her hand and tried to comfort her as much as what was possible. With the type of injury she had though, she was looking at a very painful day, followed by a painful couple of weeks.

A doctor and nurse were waiting to take Olivia back to an exam room and assured Johnny she was just fine in their care. While he was slightly concerned about parting from her, Olivia was in too much pain to care.

He was still waiting for the doctors to return when Julie, Jeff, and Ehren arrived at the hospital. Johnny informed them that he was till waiting to hear from the doctors, but that she had only been in the back for maybe fifteen minutes.

“I’m going to see if I can’t get back there to check on her,” Julie said, heading for the nurses’ desk. She left the three men behind to wait.

“I guess that could have happened whether she was nervous or not,” Jeff sighed. “I just feel bad. She kept saying how she had this horrible feeling about doing the stunt, but we told her it would be fine.”

“It’s not like we’ve never had crazy injuries from a stunt,” Ehren said. “Olivia’s tough. Hell, she didn’t even realize how bad it was until someone pointed it out.”

Julie came out a few minutes later. “They’re doing x-rays right now to see how bad it’s splintered on the inside, then they’ll take her into surgery. She’s going to end up with a rod and screws, possible a plate to stabilize the bone.”

Jeff winced. “Poor Liv. She’s going to be in bad shape.”

They made small talk until a nurse came out to retrieve Julie. Johnny started to follow, but the nurse told him that friends would have to wait until after the surgery. Julie exchanged a look with him, knowing that Olivia would want to see him, but unsure of what to tell the nurse. Finally, Ehren spoke up.

“He’s her boyfriend.”

The nurse nodded and motioned for Johnny to follow along with Julie back to where Olivia was being readied to go in for surgery. They had already started the medication, so she was more than a little drowsy.

“All right, they’re getting ready to take you back,” Julie said. “We’ll be here when you get out.”
Olivia nodded, trying to keep her eyes open, then realizing Johnny was in the room. “Okay. How’d you get back here?”

“Ehren told the nurse I’m your boyfriend.”

“I wish I was already under when I had to hear that. Isn’t Jeff here?”

Johnny nodded. “Don’t worry about that now. You get through this surgery and then we’ll take care of it, okay?”

“All right.” She briefly returned the kiss he leaned over to give her, just before everything faded out.

***

Julie and Ehren retreated to the cafeteria while Johnny sat to talk with Jeff. He wasn’t sure, at first, what to say, but then it seemed all there was really left to say was to apologize.

“We weren’t trying to go against you or hide anything from you. Olivia just wanted to make sure we were actually going to be happy and that it wasn’t just a fling before we told anyone.”

Jeff sighed. “When I first said something to Olivia about the two of you fooling around, it’s because I thought that’s all it was. I didn’t realize you two actually cared about each other. How long has this been going on?”

“Since the beginning, really. We were attracted to each other in New York, and I went to her hotel room after supper that night. Nothing serious happened because I walked out; I just couldn’t do it. We spent the year thinking about each other every day but we had no contact. When she showed back up for this project, I just couldn’t stay away. About a month ago, we decided to give it a shot for real.”

“You know the press is going to jump on this. You haven’t had a relationship or been seen with anyone for a few years now. Are you both ready for that?”

“I worry more what they’ll say about this being Olivia’s first project. I don’t want anyone to think she came on board just because of this.”

“It’s more than likely going to happen that way. What’s important is that you both remain adamant that nothing came of your attraction until she’d already been working with us for awhile.”

“Make sure she knows you don’t hate us when she gets out of surgery and is a little more coherent,” Johnny told him. “She was pretty concerned when I told her you knew.”

Jeff chuckled. “Of course she was. I wouldn’t say Olivia cares what everyone thinks about her, but certainly the people that matter. Just a suggestion, Knoxville, don’t spread the word. Don’t deny it, but don’t go offering up information.”

“Noted. Thanks, Jeff.”

“All right. I’m off to update the rest of the crew.”

“See ya later.”

Johnny and Jeff shook hands, then Johnny left the waiting room to find Julie and Ehren in the cafeteria. It was more than likely going to be a couple of hours before Olivia was out of surgery, and he’d be on pins and needles till then.

***

She was groggy and felt nauseous. Her arm felt heavy but not painful, and the smell of antiseptic was stinging her nose. She hated hospitals.

“Hey there,” Olivia heard Johnny say softly. “How are you feeling?”

“Uhh …” Olivia groaned. “Like I’m going to lose my lunch. Again.”

“They said the anesthesia might do that. You want a bowl or something?”

She shook her head. “No. Just want to go back to the house and sleep.”

“You’re going to have to stay here overnight but we’ll get you right back to the house tomorrow morning.”

“Where’s Julie?”

“She’s out with Ehren getting some supper. They were going to come back tomorrow, unless you want to see her now.”

“It’s fine. You should go, too.”

“Come on now,” Johnny said with a small smile. “Now that everyone knows you’re my girlfriend, I don’t think it would go over very well if I left you.”

It took a few moments to process what he’d said, and then she remembered. “I’d almost forgotten. Is Jeff pissed?”

“No, actually. He thought that we were just messing around, he didn’t realize we wanted to be together. We’re supposed to not offer information, but we don’t have to deny it or hide it.”

That news brought a tired smile to her face. “That’s good.”

“I’m going to get the nurse and I’ll be right back, okay?”

“All right. Oh, and will you call Nick? Tell him to keep filming until I can come back, and we’ll get commentaries later.”

Johnny chuckled. “Always about work.”

***

Because he had to be on set the next day, Johnny had to deal with letting Julie get Olivia home from the hospital. He knew she was a nurse, but he couldn’t help but be concerned. He did his best while filming and then, as soon as he could, caught a ride with Bam back to his house.

“Hey, if you don’t mind, I want to talk to her real quick,” Bam told him.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll have Julie update me on how she’s been doing.”

Bam hurried up the steps, crossing paths with Julie halfway. “Johnny’s waiting for an update downstairs. I just wanted a few minutes to talk to her real quick.”

“I think she’s sleeping, but you can try.”

He pushed the door open slowly, slightly weirded out by seeing Olivia in Johnny’s bed. She was awake, checking her text messages, so he went ahead and laid down next to her.

“Hey Liv,” he said quietly, waiting to get her attention.

“Hey,” she greeted as cheerfully as her drugged mind could allow. He didn’t say anything else, and she saw the sad look on his face. “Why are you looking at me like I just killed your dog?”

“You could have told me, you know.”

Olivia took a deep breath and pushed herself up on the pillows. “Bam, you have to understand. We didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t want to be one of those Hollywood flings that people think was just about sex.”

“I understand that, but you couldn’t have thought that I would just go ratting you out. You and Knoxville are close, but I thought we sort of were, too.”

“I’m sorry, Bam. Really. It’s not that I don’t trust any of you, and you’re right -- you and I are relatively close. You were the first one to have faith in me back in New York, after all.”

Bam’s disappointed countenance began looking up. “I forgot about that. None of us ever thought that you and Knoxville were a bad idea, we just like giving you shit about it. We’ve been in the spotlight a lot longer than you have. You’re not even really in the spotlight yet, but you’ll get there. You’ve just got to have more faith in all of us, especially your pal Bam.”

“I will from now on, I promise.” She took a deep breath. “So, tell me how you’re doing.”

“Better,” Bam shrugged. “It’s always going to hurt, you know. He was my best friend, and the first real loss I had to go through. You have people in your life and you always think they’re going to be there, but it’s not always like that.”

“You’re right, it’s not. I’m glad you’re doing better. You can always talk to me, too. Don’t forget that.”

“I promise,” Bam replied, leaning forward to hug her.

Johnny walked in then and feigned surprise. “What’s going on here you two? We’re not even out of the relationship closet for forty-eight hours and you’re fooling around with Bam in my bed.”

Olivia giggled. “He’s just so irresistible.”

“Must be my witty charm,” Bam added. “Speaking of that, Liv, I was wondering. How serious do you think this thing between Ehren and Julie is?”

She exchanged a look with Johnny, knowing exactly where this was going. “I’m not really sure, we haven’t had much of a chance to talk about it. I was a little busy getting a metal rod put in my arm.”

“Very funny. Maybe you could figure that out and let me know.”

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can find out. You sticking around for awhile?”

“Nah, I’m going to go find some trouble to get into, I think.”

“Thanks for coming by, Bam. I appreciate it, Olivia smiled. She accepted another hug from him and laughed while Johnny shook hands with Bam.

“Getting her right in front of me, just not right. I’ll see you tomorrow, buddy.”

Bam left the room, and Johnny bunkered down next to Olivia on the bed. “How are you feeling, pretty girl?”

“You know, funny you should ask. I kind of feel like I flew off a ramp on a skateboard recently and ended up with a compound fracture and now have metal parts in my arm.”

“All right, smart ass. Can I get you anything?”

“Yeah, get Jules. I want to talk to her about Ehren.”

“You’re a busybody when it comes to this stuff, aren’t you?” Johnny smiled.

“Hey, I’m not the one who was encouraging her to seduce Ehren.”

“Ah, that’s right. That was me, wasn’t it?”

Olivia smiled. “Mmhmm. Are you going out tonight?”

“Nope. I’m going to be right here, with you.”

“One more thing then?”

“Okay, but only one.”

“You haven’t kissed me yet.”

“What a horrible, terrible boyfriend I am,” Johnny teased. He positioned them so that she was resting with her cheek on his chest, broken arm laid across his abdomen. He pushed the hair off of her face and kissed her sweetly.