Warning: This chapter contains psychological content that may not be suitable for some readers
As Penny began to warm up to Violet, she didn't expect TP to start his moves again that day. This time TP's motive was to get rid of Wayne. As he sneaked into the crew again, this time, he was aiming for the tower where a fight was supposed to happen between Wayne's character during a pursuit of the suspect where Sebastian was involved.
TP purposely kept all the screws on the floor planks loose during prop checks. Because of his eagerness and motive, he wasn't careful with his disguise this time. He was in a rush and maintained the same as before, which caught Violet's attention from afar. Though still weak from recovering from her cold, she was sure her eyesight was fine.
Penny noticed Violet was trying to fix her vision as she approached to nudge her. "Are you alright?" Violet rubbed her right eye a little before whispering to Penny.
"The guy… Don't look. He's up at the tower. He might be TP. I recognised his outfit." Violet finally met Penny's angry gaze.
The girls knew something was amidst the next set of high wooden pillars and that the figure did resemble TP indeed, as they both were on high alert during the filming. Violet wanted to sneak up to check on the props and surroundings, but there was not much time anymore.
As usual, Penny was stationed at the foot of the tower while Violet sneaked behind the director's camera so that she could get a good view of the setting. Violet was always mesmerised a little by Sebastian's look after he dressed up, but she quickly focused back on the camera's background. Penny averted her gaze when Wayne passed her to climb the tower at the foot of the tower. He noticed her disoriented self, but he had to focus on his job first.
The scene began with a confrontation with the culprits in the drama, where Wayne was to interrogate them. There may be one or two retakes, but that was normal. It was not when the fighting scene began that the planks' echo from their heavy footsteps was very loud, as though the planks were not locked in place.
Violet first monitored the screen, but soon she listened in and alerted the director that something was not right, with the noise in the background being so loud. Penny's eyes were filled with terror when she learnt of what was happening. She found screws dropping to the ground in front of her when Violet ran towards her while the director continued to monitor from the screen.
Penny pointed to the direction of the loose screws, but it was too late. Violet wanted to tell the director to stop filming cause the planks might fly off anytime soon, but she was reluctant to leave the tower or interrupt the scene which was almost completed. She urged Penny to run over to alert the director instead as she ran to the top of the tower right when the director yelled "Cut".
The take was in fact well done, but the safety of the rest of them was jeopardised as Violet held everyone in place. Some of the wooden planks had already come off, and most of them thought it was part of the filming.
"DON'T MOVE! The planks are not even. Now, one by one, you need to slowly shift to the edge here and make your way down." Violet instructed solemnly. There were a total of six of them, and the other actors were making their way slowly, avoiding one of the broken planks which had obstructed Wayne and Sebastian from crossing over.
Once the four of them were safely over, Wayne took Violet's hand to help him jump over. The plank they were stepping on broke even more and fell to the ground. Penny was already at the top of the tower guiding the other actors down as Wayne tried to give Sebastian a hand this time, given he had longer arms.
"Careful…" Violet alerted as the distance was wider than when Wayne crossed.
Violet's gaze met Sebastian's worriedly as he tried to focus on his jump. However, the plank Sebastian was stepping on flipped upwards when he jumped, causing Wayne to be lifted to the air.
The person who should have fallen was Wayne, but he held to the end of another edge, leaving Violet trying to catch Sebastian's arm at the last moment, only to fall into the hole with him from four stories.
Violet was on top of him in the air on the way down when she saw a loose beam land first before them. Her reflexes were quick enough to react while in his hug to spin him around so that he landed on top of her.
Her intense gaze into his terrified eyes reminded him of the first day she ever discovered them. She smiled, knowing he would be fine as he tried his very best to protect her when they braced for the impact of the fall. The loud bang from their crash sent everyone into a panic as he tried with all of his might to land on the loose planks with her, but her back still landed on that piece of loose beam.
"Vi! Vi, you're alright?! Stay with me!" Sebastian yelled when he crawled to check on her. He was shaking her to keep her awake, but her smile was slowly fading as she struggled to nod with a looming dizziness.
Sebastian was frantic when he found no blood on her back or head, but she was very disoriented. He was even more worried, thinking of internal bleeding as Penny could not fight her tears. Wayne and the rest of the crew were trying to get the medics around.
Wayne tried to keep Sebastian calm with Penny while they called Sam to inform him about the situation.
Sebastian tried to keep his composure because there was a possibility that it was arranged by Cao Tung, but he was not convinced of the reason. The agency had already been busy enough with trouble caused over the weekend. Wayne approached him with Penny to talk in private thereafter, and they also included the director.
"There's someone who threatens to attack me and has been harassing my assistant. As of now, we are not aware of who among the staff he is. But the case earlier was definitely by him…" Wayne updated as the Director frowned.
"Hmm, let's swap the schedule up a little to let your assistant recover as well. You seem to need to check on her too." The Director directed his suggestion at Sebastian, who looked relieved that it was not Cao Tung and nodded.
"Thank you…" Sebastian mumbled.
"But I cannot guarantee your agency and the recent…" The Director's words trailed off as Sebastian nodded, understanding that he might be faced with more work loaded from Cao Tung.
"The next outdoor filming site would be in the jungle, and that's in a week. Over the next few days, we will have the last bit of indoor filming…" The Director concluded as Wayne and Sebastian nodded.
"If you need any special arrangements by then, we will speak again. For now, I will conduct an investigation internally." The Director told Wayne, who nodded as he stepped away.
"Let us drive you to the hospital." Wayne offered as Sebastian nodded meekly, following the couple.
He was holding back his tears along the way at how terrified he was of losing Violet earlier in his arms. His mind crossed over the next few days. He was still scheduled for work, although he wanted so badly to be by her side.
His mother crossed his mind, and the safest place he had in mind was his family home with his mother. It was easier for him to visit her every night too. As he texted his mother to inform her of the arrangements, his legs were rushing to the room Sam texted him earlier, when Wayne dropped him at the lobby first to park with Penny.
He was very eager to see her. All he longed for was to hold her dearly with him.
Sam had been holding on to her hand the whole time with Jade by his side. Her cold was still recovering, yet she was injured. Fortunately, the injury was causing bruises, but there were no fractures. A mild concussion from the impact was the reason for her dizziness and disorientation, but she would recover over the next few days. Sam felt Violet's fingers moving as she jolted, calling for Sebastian, who rushed to her side.
"Sebby… No, no, Sebby, where's he?" She demanded while blinking vigorously to clear her blurry vision.
"Vi?!" Sam called out; on her left and right was Sebastian.
"Vi…" Sebastian's voice cracked, and she could tell while blinking away the brightness of the hospital room's light to have a better vision of them both.
"Vi, does it hurt anywhere?" Sam questioned worriedly as Violet struggled to regain her composure, ignoring the excruciating pain in her back and head.
The events during the fall crossed her mind as she panicked and strengthened her grip on her right arm, trying to get up with the help of Sebastian. She was trying to lessen the pain in her back, only to find a drip was on her left arm. It must be for her cold.
"Are you alright? Are you injured? The fall…" She widened her eyes and directed her questions worriedly to Sebastian before laying back on the bed, just to jolt back up, grimacing at the pain from the injury she had in her back.
"Don't move at all! Your back has a huge bruise from the fall. Everyone is fine except you. How could you?!" Sam vented as Jade stopped him.
"Sweetie… We will get the doctor to come and check on you first, alright?" Jade tried to appease her when she realised the filming had to continue.
"The advertisement filming… You have to go… Return and finish it… Or at least rest..." Violet urged Sebastian with a strong face, which made him frown at her endurance.
"But you…" Sebastian was reluctant because he knew there was an update from Sam that he needed to attend briefly about Lucky Clover and Cao Tung's arrangements for the advertisement's recording.
"I promise. I will be fine. Sam's with you, isn't he?" She turned her gaze to him.
"Yes, and Jade will stay with you for the time being," Sam added.
"I have also arranged for my mother to look after you. You will stay in my family's home for the time being, as Jade needs to attend to Lucky Clover's matters too." Sebastian updated her.
"Alright, see. I'm in good hands. Why don't you go? I will come see you when I'm better. Call me when you're free." She coaxed.
He gave her a hug gently while kissing her forehead before reluctantly leaving with Sam.