Chapter
13: Bad Day
A cool, calm hand gently graced Daniel’s cheek as he lay helpless in
the arms of his savior. Chance was a comfort even though she had been the cause
of all these misfortunate events. Her voice carried a subtle soothing quality
that only matched his mother’s.
“Danny, wake up,” she softly whispered. Daniel opened his eyes,
staring up at her face even though nothing came into focus. “That’s it. Just
listen to my voice and don’t fall asleep until I tell you to,” Chance added
encouragingly.
To Daniel’s surprise, she continued to comfort him even as she took off
his wet, dirty clothes. The cool air of the condo graced his hot body, calming
him as he felt Chance leave his side. She came back with a thick blanket and
wrapped it around him. Feeling the peace of the room radiate throughout him, he
slowly began to drift off.
“Come on, Danny, stay with me,” Chance said. Daniel tried to keep his
eyes open, but tiredness was beginning to take its toll on him. All too
suddenly, a warm, damp cloth gently made its way down the contours of his face.
He groaned not wanting to stay awake any longer, but stayed up to please Chance.
“When the visions around you bring tears to your eyes, and all that
surrounds you are secrets and lies, I'll be your strength, I'll give you hope,
keeping your faith when it's gone. The one you should call was standing here all
along. And I will take you in my arms and hold you right where you belong. Until
the day my life is through, this I promise you. This I promise you,” Chance
softly sang into his ear. She stroked his hair a few more times then whispered,
“Good night, sweetie.”
~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Daniel found himself still wrapped in the warm blanket
that Chance had wrapped around him. He shifted around a little then opened his
eyes to find her hovering above his head. He realized he was still in her lap
and said, “Chance?” in an almost inaudible voice.
“Hey, Danny,” she replied softly. Her eyes filled with relief as she
stared down at him. Chance reached down and stroked his flushed cheek.
“I hate you,” Daniel said with a smile. He knew she’d understand
what he meant.
“I know you do,” she answered. “Do you feel sick?”
“A little.”
“You’ve got a fever. Maybe you should stay in bed for the rest of the
day,” Chance said as she started to move her feet out from under him.
“Don’t you want to know what happened?” Daniel asked when her felt
her warm body slip out from underneath his back.
“Why don’t you tell me now? I’ve got plenty of time to listen,”
she answered, stretching out her feet and resting them on the coffee table.
“You were right about everything. She was a phony. All she ever did was
feed me lies, and I’ve only got myself to blame. That’s why I left
everything behind and took a long trip to God knows where. I can’t even
remember half of the things I’ve done,” he explained. “I just remember
finding out you were in LA auditioning for that TV show and that Darren bought a
condo out here for you guys to live in. Otherwise, everything else is a blur. I
don’t even know how you found me.”
“That was easy, you were sitting at our doorstep drinking a bottle of
beer when we found you near death and soaking wet,” Chance told him. She
wiggled her toes, the blood beginning to bring the color back into her legs.
“Is there anything else you wanna tell me? Anything about Alexia?”
“Don’t you ever say that name again. She’s the last thing I need to
think about.”
“Okay, don’t worry. I promise you’ll never hear it from me,”
Chance swore. She stood up and walked around the living room for a while before
she headed down the hall and to the room she shared with Darren. She stood at
the door for a while listening to what was going on inside the room. The
expression on her face led Daniel to believe something very strange and wrong
was happening behind that door.
Chance walked back into the living room and said, “You never told
anyone you left?”
“No, I was too drunk to actually even remember buying my plane
ticket,” he answered.
“Oh, my God! This pisses me off so much,” Chance said.
“What?” Dan replied.
“Not you, it’s the fact that Darren knew you were missing, but
wouldn’t tell me. I can’t believe him.” Chance began to pace the room in
an angry fit. She chewed on her nails trying to figure out what to do next.
Moments later, Darren walked out of the bedroom and headed towards her.
“Good morning,” he happily said as he passed Chance.
“You little piece of shit!” she yelled at him.
“What did I do?” Darren asked, confused.
“You withheld information from me, and you lied to me in my face,”
Chance hissed. “Are you gonna lie to me again and tell me you have no idea
what I’m talking about?”
“Chance, let me explain,” Darren begged.
“You know what I want you to explain? Why do you always lie to me? Do
you think I can’t take bad news without trying to kill myself?” she yelled.
“Well, you know what, I can. I’m not that stupid anymore. I don’t do
impulsive things.”
“I was just doing what Rebecca told me to do. She didn’t want you to
get worried,” he answered back.
“But this is Dan we’re talking about. How could I not get worried?
He’s my best friend! What if something happened to him? Then what would you
have done? What would you have told me?”
“Nothing happened, so let’s not get into that part of the
discussion.”
“Well, too bad, we’re already there.”
“I’ve had enough of this, I’m leaving,” Daniel said as he stood
up without Chance or Darren seeing him. He quietly slipped on his clothes and
wobbled to the front door. He knew he wasn’t well enough to walk, but he
didn’t care. He wasn’t about to get in the middle of a fight between Chance
and Darren. That was dangerous territory. Daniel wasn’t ready to side with
anyone just yet. He needed rest, and was going to get it at any cost.
As Daniel walked out the door, his head began to spin from his hangover.
The world became cloudy and blurred, yet he pushed himself to keep going. He
knew it was a bad idea. The further he walked, the more the world began to spin.
‘What was I thinking?’ Daniel asked himself when her realized he had made a
mistake. Unfortunately for him, his mistake of leaving was going to cost him
more than just a headache. As he walked forward a few more inches, he felt his
foot leave hard ground and step on air.
It took Daniel a split second to realize he had missed the first step of
the stairs. By now he was already halfway down the staircase and heading for the
ground fast. Tumbling down the last few cement blocks, he finally hit the floor
with a hard thud. The last thing he could remember was feeling his head slam
into marble tiles.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Where am I?” Daniel groaned as he woke up to the sound of something
beeping in the distance. As he opened his eyes and tried to turn his head
towards the sound, he realized that his neck wouldn’t allow him to turn.
Lifting his right arm, Daniel felt the cold, hard brace around it. “Oh,
shit,” he nearly cried. Suddenly his left side began to hurt. Daniel looked
down to find both his arm and leg in a cast.
‘What’s happened to me?’ Daniel’s mind screamed. Thinking back to
earlier that day he remembered the nasty fall he took from the stairs at
Chance’s condo. ‘Oh, I am so stupid,’ he thought. ‘Stupid. Stupid.
Stupid.’ He felt like slapping his head with his hand, but knew it would be a
bad idea because he already had a headache.
A tall, large framed woman walked into the room. She wore a plain white
nurses outfit with little white shoes and white gloves. The lady looked at
Daniel for a second then went back to her work.
“Excuse me,” Daniel said. The nurse raised her head towards him as if
to listen. “Could I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, just make it a quick one. I have a lot more stuff to do,” she
replied.
“Could I speak to the doctor?”
“I’ll page him.” With that, the nurse walked out the door and
disappeared down the hall.
Moments later, a tall, lanky young man with a white lab coat walked into
the room. “Hi, my name is Austin Blake. I’m your doctor. I think I know what
you’re going to ask me. Just give me a moment to review the charts and I’ll
be right with you,” he said.
‘Great,” Daniel thought as he waited for the guy to flip through his
thick notebook and read for a few minutes.
“First off,” Dr. Blake said without looking up from his notebook,
“you have a sprained neck. You were very close to paralysis. You were very
lucky to come out of that fall with just a sprain. Second, both your left arm
and leg are broken. Third, you suffered from a concussion, which was the reason
you were knocked out. I recommend you restrict any movement for the next six
weeks. Otherwise, you’re free to leave tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, great,” Daniel replied in relief. “One more question you left
unanswered.”
“Which was?”
“Are my friends here?”
“Yes, they’re waiting to see you. I’ll bring them in right now.”
Dr. Blake left the room and within a few minutes returned with Chance and
Darren.
“Danny!” Chance cried as she carefully wrapped her arms around him.
“Thank God you’re okay.”
“So, will you guys ever stop fighting?” Daniel asked.
Chance and Darren laughed. “Don’t worry, we made up,” Chance
answered.
“Good,” he replied.
“Since this was all our fault, we want you to stay with us until you
get better,” she said. “And I don’t want to hear you complaining about it
because I know you lost your home and all your stuff, so this is the least we
could do.”
“I don’t object to that,” Daniel told her. “Changing the subject,
I heard you were going to be on ‘Roswell.’”
“Yep, I start filming tomorrow. Isn’t that so cool!”
“Very.”
“I can’t believe the only way I got the part was by accident,
literally. The girl who actually beat me out was involved in a car crash, so the
producer called me as a backup and of course I accepted,” Chance explained.
“That reminds me, I gotta send the poor girl something to cheer her up. I feel
bad about what happened.”
“Do it later, I want to spend some more time with you,” Daniel said.
“I haven’t seen you in a very long time. I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too, Danny. And I’m sorry about what happened.”
Chance looked down at her watch and realized it was getting late. “This
totally sucks. Darren and I have to get going because I need to memorize my
lines for tomorrow.”
“Don’t forget to pick me up in the morning,” he said.
“We won’t. Goodbye for now,” she replied, bending over and kissing
his cheek.
“Bye.” Daniel waved to them as they left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~
Daniel surfed through the channels once again as he waited for Chance to
arrive from her first day of filming. It had been a long and boring day without
her. He was eager to find out what had delayed her so much and how it had gone.
That morning, Chance had left him with enough food and water to last him the
entire day, but all he wanted was some company. Soon Daniel heard the key turn
the lock and the door open.
“Chance!” he called from the couch in the living room.
“It isn’t Chance, but two of her friends,” an unfamiliar voice
called from the door.
A young blond girl who appeared to be in her 20’s walked into the
living room wearing a black halter top and a pair of faded jeans with her hair
up in a ponytail. “Hi, I’m Majandra,” she said, holding out her hand.
Daniel tried to extend his right hand, but was restrained after feeling a
painful jolt from his back. “Dan,” he just said, hoping she wouldn’t take
offense.
Another young dark haired girl walked into the room a few minutes later.
She looked exactly like Chance except for the fact that she had longer hair and
wore clothes that looked a little more modest, a pair of dark jeans and a light
blue baby tee.
“Chance?” Daniel asked, wondering how his best friend could have
gotten such long hair in such a long time.
“No, Shiri,” the girl replied. “Why is it that everyone mistakes me
for her?”
“Probably because you look so much like her,” Majandra replied,
sitting down on the sofa across from Daniel.
The phone rang before Shiri had a chance to say anything else. Daniel
picked it up and said, “Hello?”
“Hey, Danny, it’s Chance,” came the response from the other end.
“I just called to warn you that two of my friend are coming over because I
can’t leave the set.”
“We’ve already met,” he replied.
“Great! They’re already there. That’s good. I told them not to
bother you too much because of your condition. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it
out there. The director was pissed since we still hadn’t shot my scenes yet,
so he made me stay. Majandra and Shiri volunteered to take care of you while
I’m shooting. I’ll hopefully be home in another hour. If I’m not, I’ll
call you, okay?” Chance said.
“Okay,” Daniel answered.
“I’d better get going. The director is going to kill me if he sees me
on the phone between setups. Bye,” she replied.
“Bye.” Daniel hung up and let the phone slide onto the floor.
“Let me guess, Chance?” Majandra asked.
Daniel nodded. He tried readjusting his position on the couch only to end
up hurting himself more. He let out a sigh and quit. Shiri noticed and walked
over to him.
“Need some help?” she asked, her deep brown eyes meshing with his
emerald green ones. A strange calm feeling swept over Daniel, one that was only
brought about when he and Chance were together. Shiri was definitely making an
impression on him. She gently fluffed the pillows under his arm, neck, and leg,
then sat down on the floor beside his couch.
“So, what happened to you?” Shiri questioned.
“I took a nasty fall down a flight of stairs,” Daniel answered.
“I’m lucky to be alive, let alone not be paralyzed.”
“Oh, wow. You are lucky,” Majandra said.
“I was so disoriented from consuming too much alcohol the night before
that I just didn’t see the first step and fell. That’s not the only thing
that was running through my mind. I saw my fiancé kill herself and I guess my
only way of coping with it was to get drunk and go crazy,” Daniel explained.
“Was her name Alexia?” Shiri asked. Dan nodded, flinching at the
sound of her name. “I saw the whole thing on the news! Were you really about
to turn her in?”
“Something like that,” he said. “I pushed Alexia into telling the
truth after Chance sent me an article about her wrong doings in New York. She
broke down when she found out I knew her secret and told me everything. That was
when she decided to hit me over the head with a crystal vase. I was knocked out
for a few minutes. When I woke up, I saw her holding a piece of glass up to her
neck. I tried to stop her, but it was too late.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Shiri said as she took Daniel’s hand and held
it. They smiled at each other, happy to share comfort and pain.
“So, what’s it like traveling the world and performing?” Majandra
changed the subject seeing that Alexia’s death was still touch and go.
“It’s a pain in the ass,” Daniel said. “Spending so much time
with the same people on the same bus for nearly a year can get on your nerves,
especially if Darren’s one of them.”
Shiri and Majandra laughed as Daniel continued. “He gets all the
attention from the fans and the road crew just because he can be such a flirt,
but all that has changed since he went solo and met Chance. Those two are a
perfect match. I’ve never heard two voices compliment each other the way
theirs do. And Chance is incredibly talented. Not only does she sing and act,
she can play guitar and piano. The girl is a prodigy. Give her an instrument and
she’ll learn it within minutes. I know from experience. I taught her to play
the piano while we were recording some of her music at her parents’ studio.
I’ve never met someone with such promise. She’s incredible.”
“You talk so highly of her, you must have a crush on her,” Majandra
speculated.
“No I don’t,” Daniel rejected. “There’s no way the two of us
would ever get together. We do share a special bond, but it’s more like
brother and sister than boyfriend and girlfriend. Besides, that’s Darren’s
job. He’s madly in love with her and will do anything to keep her happy.”
“Aw,” Shiri replied. “I wish I had a boyfriend like that, but
there’s no such thing as the perfect guy.”
“Yeah-huh,” Majandra complained. “Look at Brendan.”
“Oh, please. With the number of fights you two get into, he’s not
perfect,” Shiri retorted.
“Well, he’s perfect for me. That’s all that counts,” Majandra
replied.
“Then I guess I’ll never find the perfect man.”
“What makes a guy perfect in your terms?” Daniel asked.
Shiri blushed. She hadn’t expected him to ask that question. “He has
to be kind and sweet. He has to be able to sweep me off my feet with the little
things he does to show his love for me. He has to have a gentle heart. He has to
have nice hands. He has to have a cute smile and very cute eyes. Hmm… What
else?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, Shiri’s never ending list of qualities she
wants in a man,” Majandra joked as Shiri tried to figure out a few more
qualities she wanted in a guy. Before she had the chance to retaliate, the door
swung open and in walked Darren, cold, wet, and hungry. He walked right past the
living room, only glancing for a moment at Daniel, Shiri, and Majandra, then
heading into the kitchen.
Darren ran back out and asked, “Who are you, and Chance, where did you
get that wig?”
“Okay, for the second time, I’m not Chance!” Shiri yelled. “I
wish all of you would just stop getting the two of us confused.”
Darren’s cheeks turned rosy red as he backed into the kitchen, his
embarrassment showing more than ever. “I’m so sorry,” he hollered from the
fridge.
“That’s okay,” she replied. “I’m Shiri, and this is my friend,
Majandra. We’re both from ‘Roswell.’ Chance sent us here to take care of
Dan while she was shooting her scenes.”
“Pleased to meet both of you, and I’m sorry for confusing you with
Chance,” Darren told Shiri as he walked out of the kitchen with a glass of
water in his hand. “ I’ll be right back,” he added, heading for his room.
A few minutes later, Darren reemerged wearing a Star Wars t-shirt and a pair of
sweats instead of his soaking wet suit. His hair was slicked back making him
look even more out of place among the rest of the crowd.
“My, you must feel comfortable,” Majandra observed as she slid onto
the floor making herself more at home.
“I am,” he replied, sitting down on the recliner in the corner of the
room.
“When did it start raining?” Shiri asked.
“About 10 minutes ago. Where’s Chance?”
“Still filming her scenes, which have probably been cut short now that
the rain has set in. She should be home soon,” Majandra answered. Seconds
later, the door flung open and in walked in completely soaked Chance.
“This has been the worst day of my life!” she cried, dropping her
soggy coat onto the floor beside the door and walking into the living room.
Darren stood up and walked over to her, then wrapper his arms around her
cold body as he asked, “What happened?”
“I was the outcast for nearly the entire day, then when I got to know
everyone, the director wouldn’t let me come home to check on Dan because we
hadn’t done my scenes yet, it started to rain about 20 minutes ago, so we
could all go home, but my car was all the way at the back of the lot, so I was
completely drenched by the time I got to it, and then I couldn’t find a
parking spot down the street, so I had to find one a block down, only to get
even wetter when I was walking home,” Chance complained as she walked into her
room and began to change into something warm and dry.
Hearing about Chance’s bad day, Majandra stood up and began to head for
the door. Shiri stood up also, not realizing that she had been holding
Daniel’s hand all along. They let go of each other, unable to break eye
contact even as she made her way out the door.
Chance walked back into the living room in her favorite pair of black
track pants and sweat shirt noticing the two leaving. “Hey, you’re
leaving?” she asked.
“Yeah, we need to get home. It was nice meeting everyone,” Majandra
said.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow, Chance,” Shiri added as Majandra pushed her
out the door.
“I owe you guys!” Chance yelled as they closed the door. “So, did
they bother you much?” she asked Daniel once they were gone.
“Not really. They were pretty nice,” he replied.
“That’s good. I’ll ask them to give me a hand tomorrow if I can’t
make it home on time again,” Chance said, turning to Darren. “So, what did
you think of Shiri and Majandra?”
Daniel tried to hold in a laugh. Chance started back at him wondering
what was so funny. Noticing the expression on her face, Daniel answered, “He
made a total ass out of himself in front of them. He thought Shiri was you
wearing a wig!”
“Darren!” Chance sharply screeched, then exploded into laughter.
“You idiot!”
“Well, excuse me if you and her look so much alike I can’t tell you
apart,” he retaliated. Chance and Daniel kept laughing as they saw the
embarrassment on Darren’s face.
“Okay, enough!” he yelled, hopping on top of Chance and tickling her
until she could take it no more and recanted her statement.