Behind The Spotlight Chapter 2
Collin East weakly opened his eyes and groaned. He felt like his head was going to pop. The pain had lessened, but it was still uncomfortable. The white lights stirred his vision, it didn't help his situation at all.
"Ugh."
"Doctor, my son is awake!"
A female voice frantically raised her tone. It was someone Collin recognized. He heard his mother's voice, full of worry about his condition.
"Mom…" A single word escaped from Collin's mouth. His lips were dry and cracked.
"Son, thank God you're alive. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you too," she cried as tears streamed down her face. She cupped Collin's cheeks as her emotions unraveled.
Then, Collin fell asleep again. His body was still weak and needed more rest. His vision returned to darkness. His mother's voice slowly faded as he lost consciousness.
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When Collin woke up for the second time, the first thing he saw was the white ceiling. He blinked slowly. A familiar scent lingered in the air. It was the sterile and pungent scent of medicine.
He weakly raised his head and found his mother sitting next to his hospital bed, sleeping in an uncomfortable position. Her head had fallen to the side, her arms across her chest.
"This is the second time you woke up. Hopefully, you won't fall asleep again."
Collin turned to his right and found his younger sister glaring at him. Even though she wore makeup, it was obvious from her swollen eyes that she had cried a lot.
Collin gave a weak laugh and apologized. His throat was dry and sore.
"Yeah, sorry about that, Aida."
"Dummy, you don't have to apologize. Just… just take care of yourself."
She sighed with emotion, a mixture of relief and worry that her brother was awake and alive. She knew how much Collin had been working these past few months. They were in debt after their father died.
Their father had cancer, and the family made sure that he received treatment. Unfortunately, after years of battling the illness, going through treatments and surgeries, Tony East, their father, still died. It had been a heavy blow to the family.
In the process, they lost their money, their father's saving, insurance, and their house. But the most painful loss was their father. That was the hardest part.
They were already in debt when Tony died.
Being the man in the family, Collin stepped up and worked hard to provide for them. He was the eldest, and he knew he had to do something for the family. If they gave up on life, their father would be sad in the afterlife.
Collin made sure that his sister would get into college no matter what. He also made sure that his aging mother would never work again. He took all the responsibility on his shoulders.
"The doctor said you overworked yourself. You need to stay in the hospital for three days."
"Three days, huh? That's great to hear. I thought I'd have to stay longer in this place… You know how expensive hospital bills are."
He bitterly laughed. They all knew how hospitals worked.
The medical industry in the United States of America was a complete scam. Sometimes, it felt like people would rather die than face their medical bills, because everyone knew how costly treatment could be.
"Don't worry, your medical insurance covered most of the expenses."
"Ah, thank God."
Collin sighed in relief. He was genuinely happy when he heard that.
"Don't scare us like that again… Bro."
Aida, Collin's younger sister, sniffled and couldn't control her emotions. She tried hard not to cry, but she failed. She choked as she wiped her tears. For a moment, she thought she was going to lose her brother too.
"Don't worry. I'll never do it again."
"You better be."
She sniffled, trying to stop her tears, and walked out of the room. She wiped her face as she approached the nurse's station. The nurses were giggling and talking about a patient.
"Excuse me, um, the guy in room 69 is now awake."
"We will examine him later," the nurse replied.
"Thank you."
The doctor and nurse entered the room and checked Collin's condition. His mother woke up and was overwhelmed with joy when she saw her son awake and responsive.
It took a minute for Aida and Collin to calm their mother down. It had been very hard for their family since losing Tony last year. It would've been devastating if they lost Collin too.
The examination ended with a positive result, Collin could leave the hospital in three days. He was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. He just needed to rest and stay hydrated. Everyone was relieved to hear it.
Their mother, Evelyn East, decided to stay at the hospital to take care of Collin. Aida had to go to school, so she could only visit during her free time.
The siblings tried to convince Evelyn not to push herself too hard, but their mother was adamant. Most likely, it was because she was extremely worried about her son.
In the end, the siblings gave in and agreed.
Just like that, two days passed, and Collin was on his last day in the hospital when one of his clients came to visit. Collin had already regained most of his strength, and he could move around without much trouble. Although his mother was still adamant about him resting.
The visitor was Wyatt Bray. The young, chubby assistant director wanted to see if his agent was doing alright after hearing about Collin fainting.
Wyatt was sincerely thankful to Collin, who had helped him land a big opportunity, his first real job in the film industry. Yes, his current role on Director Esteban's movie was still as a freelance assistant director. There was no official confirmation that the job was permanent. He was more or less in an internship.
"Wyatt, how's your day?"
The agent joyfully greeted his client, the one who had the most potential to make it big in the industry. Collin didn't forget to wear his usual bright smile, the most used expression in his entire career.
"Good morning, Collin. I brought some fruits for you."
Wyatt still wasn't used to seeing his agent in person. He was honestly confused as to why someone as handsome as Collin East had chosen to become an agent instead of an actor. Collin definitely had the face for the big screen.
In fact, Wyatt had overheard a group of nurses outside talking about how incredibly handsome and hot Collin was.