Fame & Consequences

by Reese A. Stephens

  I hear Carter grumble. “Thanks a lot, dude. She just got over being mad at me.”

  If Elijah says anything, I don’t hear it. The whole situation is awkward and uncomfortable. I’m sure everyone around the fire can sense it because no one has said a word since they came out here, not that they were all that loquacious before. After some time has passed and we’ve all eaten our hotdogs and sides, we are once again sitting idly in quiet awkward silence. This is so stupid. I get up and grab the stuff for the s’mores. I can sense their eyes on me, but I get my marshmallows ready for the fire and my graham crackers and chocolate ready for the roasted melty goodness before sitting back in my chair. I glance up to see Elijah staring at me. He mouths sorry, and I nod so he knows I heard him.

  “What’s the plan now?” I ask no one in particular.

  Hutch clears his throat. “We should definitely change our route. It may add a day or two, but we have time.”

  I nod my head. It sounds smart. “What about the threats? Have you received anymore?” I ask.

  Elijah adjusts in his chair uncomfortably. He leans forward with his elbows on his knees and looks at me. The fire gives him an unearthly glow, making his features seem a little scary. “Yes.”

  “I want to read them.”

  “No,” he says decisively.

  Calmly, I pull my marshmallow from the fire and put it between the chocolate and crackers. I hand it to Jared, stand, and walk back inside the RV, slamming the door behind me. I’m so angry. I grab Elijah’s laptop and phone on my way to the bedroom, shutting and locking the door. I pull up Adam’s number and dial.

  “Hey, E-Man. What’s up?” He says in a cheery tone.

  “It’s Sophie.”

  His mood sombers quickly. “Is everything okay?” He’s worried now.

  “No. No, it’s not. I have learned that there are death threats against me that are being taken seriously because of my injury. I want to read them. I want to know what they say.”

  “That’s not a good idea, Sophie. I wouldn’t have even shown Elijah if it wasn’t for your accident. I always handle these things behind the scenes.”

  “I want to read them,” I insist. “I’m tired of everyone hiding everything from me. I need to know what’s going on!”

  “Okay, calm down. It can’t be good for you.” That makes me even angrier. What’s with these idiots trying to protect me from everything?

  “Don’t tell me what’s good for me!” My voice raises and so does the pressure and pain in my head. “Ow.” I groan, pressing my hand to my head and sitting heavily on the bed.

  “Sophie? Are you okay?”

  My head is pounding. Something wet trickles down from my nose. I touch my face and pull my hand away to see that it's covered in blood. I grab a towel, but I falter as my focus wavers. I'm so woozy when I lean forward, I lose my balance and fall to the floor with a sharp ‘thwack!’

  “Sophie!” I hear Adam calling, but I can’t answer. Everything is spinning and my vision starts to darken until everything goes black.

  A rhythmic beeping wakes me. I blink several times, but I can’t focus. “Sophie.” Elijah’s voice is like a soft caress against my skin. I groan, but I can’t seem to make my head stop spinning. “Baby, can you look at me?”

  I open my eyes again; I can see him, but there are several images of him. I can’t focus on which one is really him. “Dizzy,” I mutter.

  I hear someone calling for the nurse, possibly my brother, but I’m not sure. My eyes close. I can’t open them again, and without trying, I fall back to sleep. The next time I wake up, things are clear and I see my brother, Carter, and Elijah sitting around what appears to be a hospital room.

  “What happened?” I croak.

  Elijah is on his feet and by my bed in a split second. “You passed out and lost a lot of blood. You scared us, baby.”

  “I’m sorry. What’s wrong with me?” I squeeze his hand.

  “You had a hemorrhage. They say you’ll be fine and there wasn’t any further damage, but I won’t be relieved until we get to San Francisco and see the neurologist.”

  “Can we get out of here?” I ask.

  Elijah grimaces. “Word got out. The hospital isn’t prepared to deal with paparazzi. They’re working on the situation. Plus, the doctor hasn’t released you yet. Can you tell me what happened?”

  I rub my head. “I was yelling at Adam.”

  Elijah nods. “Yeah, that’s what he told me, but what happened, what made you pass out?”

  “I’m not sure. I was really upset and my head started to hurt. When I saw the blood, I passed out.”

  “The doctor said it wasn’t the most terrible thing to happen, because the swelling that was present in your last MRI is not there now, and bleeds like this are sometimes common with your type of trauma. You got lucky.”

  I rub my forehead, trying to relieve some tension. “Too bad my memory didn’t come back.”

  Elijah nods his head. “But it’s good you didn’t lose any more memory.”

  “Yeah, that’s true.” There’s a slight awkward pause. I hold my hand out to Elijah. “I’m sorry. You guys were trying to protect me from what happened, but my stubbornness made it happen, anyway.”

  “You were right though, we should have kept you in the loop. I promise I won’t keep anything from you again.”

  “It’s okay. I understand why you did it. I obviously couldn’t handle it.”

  Carter clears his throat. “You could have handled it a little at a time, it was the sudden onset of information that put you over the edge. We should have told you.”

  I shrug, because none of it matters now. “It’s over. Can we move on? We have more pressing things to worry about with the media swarming,” I tell him.

  Elijah brushes hair out of my face as he tenderly strokes my cheek. “You’re right. We need to concentrate on getting to your appointment and moving on with our lives.”

  It turns out that getting out of the hospital was easier than we planned. The local police department helped tremendously. Hutch and Danny were able to plan out a different route that would take only a day longer, but we’d still arrive in time for my appointment.

  Back in the RV and after we’ve gotten back on the road, Elijah pulls up the emails from Adam with the death threats. Some are generic like, ‘I’ll kill you if you don’t break up with Elijah.’ Others are full of profanity and in-depth descriptions of what they’ll do to me if I don’t do as they’ve asked. One even asks for money from Elijah to keep me alive. The most troubling one is the one from the person who put me in the hospital. Elijah explains that it was found taped to the PVC potato launcher. It’s unclear if it’s a man or woman, but whoever the person is, experienced great satisfaction in taking me down.

  “I bet it’s Clarissa,” Carter jokes. “No one hates you as much as she does.”

  Elijah’s eyes pinch slightly as he rubs his chin lost in thought. He’s not shaved in some time. His scruffiness makes me want to run my fingers over it. I shake off the thought and return to the conversation.

  “You really think she’d do that to her family?”

  “No one else in the family, but I can totally see her doing that to you,” Jared says, leaning forward in his seat.

  “We checked her alibi, but there’s no tracing the notes. They were mailed from a post office in New York, but that means nothing really,” Danny adds.

  “I’d hate to think she’d do something so vile. You said something about Krystal the other day, Eli. What about that?” Danny stiffens. I turn to him. “What is it?”

  He runs a hand over his bald head and takes a long drink from his water bottle. “I’m not sure, Sophie. We’ve been out a few times. I don’t want to believe she’d do something like that, but I don’t know.”

  Sighing, I lean back onto the sofa. “I can’t imagine her doing something like that. She’s always been there for me.”

  “Money does strange things to people. You have money now, people
are jealous and want what you have. They’ll do crazy things thinking they’ll get something. I’ve seen it happen way too often,” Hutch explains.

  I sigh. “I have no clue how much money I have. I can’t even get access to my bank online because I don’t know the login.” My comment is offhanded and not really asking for help, but Elijah grabs his iPad and after a few taps hands it to me.

  He looks a little worried. “All you had to do was ask, babe, but we’ve already been over your accounts and money.”

  “I ... I don’t remember that.”

  He picks up my hand and kisses my palm. “It’s okay. Don’t stress about it.” I nod. He pulls up my account then turns the computer toward me. I stare at the screen with my eyes wide. “I told you how much money you had.” Elijah is taking way too much joy in being right or at the very least knowing more about my life than I do.

  “I have no words.”

  Jared leans over and whistles loudly. “Dang, sis. I want a raise.”

  I try to hide my smile but it’s useless. I’m in shock. Major shock. “Is most of this from the book to movie deal?” I ask Elijah.

  He nods. “Yeah, you got fifty-five percent of what we paid the company for your book rights.”

  “So my book rights sold for over ten million dollars?” I say in disbelief seeing the huge transfer equaling a little over half of that amount, which I assume is from the movie deal, because my royalty check deposits aren’t close to that.

  He grins. “Yep. Amelia may be a pain, but she’s an excellent negotiator.”

  I nod, knowing that is pretty accurate. We chat about the movie for a little while, but once I start yawning the guys insist that I head to bed, and I don’t object. I’m exhausted and as soon as my head hits the pillow, I am fast asleep. I hope that once the swelling is completely gone, I won’t be so tired.

  ~*~

  The days on the road are long, but the rest of the trip is smooth sailing and, to be honest, boring. I don’t mind though. I’d rather have peace than be swarmed by the paparazzi bees again. We make a pit-stop for gas and food about four hours from San Francisco and find a small restaurant that’s off the beaten path, but has really good reviews online. I’m excited to try it out. I’m not a foodie, but I love little off the wall individually owned places.

  After my big outburst that landed me in the hospital, I’ve been pretty quiet. I’ve asked questions about the case, but I’ve kept to myself. I’m embarrassed by my actions, and asked them to forgive me, even though everyone says there’s nothing to forgive. Elijah feels it’s his fault for not keeping me in the loop. I hate that he carries so much guilt.

  I’ve had a few nightmares, and to add more to my embarrassment, Jared has been sleeping with me. Elijah was dead set against Carter sharing a bed with me anymore. I get it, he’s probably right. Elijah offered, but I’m not ready for that. It’s one thing to take a nap with him sitting there working on his laptop, but it’s infinitely more intimate to both be sleeping. Carter mentioned I’d confessed to him that I’d been having a lot of anxiety and trouble sleeping before my accident. I wonder if my subconscious mind isn’t leaking some of that in with my new found anxiety and fears.

  Once we are all seated around the three tables that the servers have pulled together, we place our drink orders. I can’t help the smile on my face or the joy in my soul, being in this place. It’s the coolest little restaurant I’ve ever been to. It is eclectic in design with barely any space between items. It would probably seem overdone, but it somehow works out perfectly, from the disco balls, to an antique pickax hanging from the ceiling.

  “You love this place, don’t you?” Elijah leans towards me, smiling.

  I’ve been a lot nicer to him the past few days, much to his relief. I hated being angry with him, but I feel so out of control as it is, that it was my instinct to buck any interference. I’m trying to let it go though. He’s only looking out for my best interests.

  “I really do.” I wrap my arm around his and give him a little squeeze. “Thanks for picking this spot.”

  He grins at me. “Anything for you, sweetheart.” He winks.

  I can’t help it. I totally swoon. He really is the most handsome man I’ve ever met. Today he’s wearing beat up jeans and a rock band tee with a baseball cap, sunglasses, and scruffy face. It does something to me. I can’t stop staring at him. I’m completely fangirling over him, and it seems like people around us are just as enthralled. I’ve caught several ladies and even a few men staring at him as well.

  “Peaches, they have your favorite meal.” Carter’s smirk lets me know that he’s totally lying. He shows me his menu and I roll my eyes. I have been so wrapped up in Elijah and the decor that I hadn’t even looked at the menu.

  “Ew, I only like Gran’s because of her chowchow.”

  I’m not a fan of pinto beans or cornbread, but my Gran makes the best topping. It’s a pickled mixture of veggies that is tangy, tart, and sweet all at the same time. My mouth waters just thinking about that green goodness.

  “You like a bowl of chowchow with beans as a topping.” Jared snorts.

  “So.” I really could eat that stuff straight from the jar as a meal. I look at my menu. “Seriously, thinking about the colossal pancake with strawberries and homemade whipped cream.”

  Elijah glances over at me, elbowing me lightly. “Get it. I bet you’ve lost about five pounds through this whole mess. You can’t afford to lose anything else, babe.”

  I scrunch my nose at Elijah. I do not want to talk about my weight, especially in public, but he’s right. However, I was actually considering losing a few more pounds, maybe I’ll work on toning instead. I’ve never been concerned with my weight, but there is a strange pressure to do something about my appearance. I wonder if pre-accident me cared about that?

  “Sophie.” Elijah’s sing-song voice breaks through my thoughts and I smile at him, blinking away the thoughts and focusing on him. “There you are. Where’d you go?”

  I shake my head. He gives me the disapproving eyes. I really wished I hadn’t promised to tell him what I was thinking. He’s so worried I’ll over analyze things. I’m sure he’s right, but it’s still annoying.

  “Before, did I care about my appearance? Like was I trying to tone or lose weight?”

  “You care, but you weren’t worried about it. We exercised together, and Josh was teaching you Krav Maga, so you are pretty toned.”

  “I don’t feel toned.”

  “Getting back into a routine will help you. Try not to worry until we get home.”

  Home. That’s another thing that’s up in the air. I have no home, but Elijah is dead set on buying the home that we’d talked about prior to the accident, but I’m really not okay with that. We aren’t engaged right now, so I’m not comfortable buying a house together. What if I don’t remember and my personality changes? It’s one of the side effects I’ve read about. I can’t do that to either of us.

  “Hey, where’d you go again?” he asks, handing me my food.

  Wow, that was fast. “Uh, nothing. Can we talk about it later?”

  “Sure.”

  We chat about nothing important as we eat, and when we are finished, the guy’s head out to the gas station. Carter, Elijah, Jared, and I decide to head over to the market beside the restaurant to grab a few snacks for the guys while they wait on my appointment to finish later today. Not long after, we’re back on the road and to the neurologist in no time. My nerves have started to get the best of me, but I try to relax. I’m sure it’ll be fine. It has to be, right?

  19 Is it over?

  M y doctor’s appointment goes really well. The swelling is gone, and he’s given me a medicine that will help with the blood flow and clotting as I heal. It could help me get my memory back. Apparently, the hemorrhage I suffered was because as you heal your blood rushes to the injury to heal it, but with brain injuries it sometimes works overtime, so that blood really had nowhere to go. The bleed probably would have happe
ned regardless. The doctor is optimistic I’ll get my memories back. He said that the memories that have already returned are right on target for one-hundred percent healing, but nothing is guaranteed. Don’t you love how they throw that in there too?

  Elijah smiles when I come back into the waiting room. The office is pretty empty, thankfully, but he still wears a baseball cap and he’s put on his reading glasses. I smile. “I’m ready, Clark.”

  He chuckles. “Hey, you’d be surprised how well this works.”

  I wrap my arm through his as we walk outside. “I’m sure. I mean, no one finds out who Superman is.” I roll my eyes at him. “So what now?”

  “You tell me what the doctor said. Did you ask about your book signing?”

  “I did. He says I’m okay to fly, but he’d prefer I wait another couple of weeks to do it, he’s going to fax a letter over to Amelia for me.”

  His smile is warm as he kisses my cheek. “That’s great.”

  I go on to tell him everything the doctor said. I don’t mention that he’d recommended therapy, because I’m not sure how I feel about that yet, and I don’t want anyone to pressure me into doing something. Call me stubborn, but these fools make me crazy with all their mothering.

  “Where are we going now?” I ask as we make our way to the RV.

  We parked it in a big chain store parking lot, and then Mike drove us to the appointment. We thought it might be a little too obvious driving the huge vehicle to the hospital plaza.

  “That’s up to you. We can find somewhere to stay tonight, or we can drive home. It’s about three hours, possibly four with traffic.”

  I’ve tried to avoid thinking about ‘home’ as I’m still unsure about the whole living with him thing. I blow out a small breath and glance at him. “When you say home?”

  “My house. You can use the spare room.” Elijah looks at me, his face full of expressions I can’t even describe. Hope is probably the most dominate one.

  I can’t say no. He’s so guileless and sincere. We were engaged. We love each other. It was the plan before my accident. That has to mean something, right? “Just until I find something.”