TWENTY
MYLO
As I stepout of my hotel room, a wave of nausea hits me. I double back into my room’s bathroom just in time for my stomach to empty itself, sending my suppressant pill and a glass of water down the drain.
Fuck.Fuck.
I grab a spare pill, wrap it in a tissue, and tuck it into my wallet. Then I swallow another with as little water as possible, followed by a Dramamine.
My stomach roils, but I’m prepared this time, and I force the pill to stay down.
There’s a sharp knock at my door. “Mylo! Ship’s about to set sail!”
“Coming.”
I sling my backpack over my shoulder and join the crew.
One of the team leads, Johno, lightly elbows me, sporting a teasing grin. “Thanks for joining us mere mortals. Just ‘causeyou’re making out with the star doesn’t mean you don’t have to be on time.”
“Yeah yeah. I just forgot my wallet.”
I clamber into the van, bracing to spend the whole ride keeping my pills down.
What a great start to the day.
I’m sure the rest will only be even better.
When I getmy schedule for the day, I see that whether because of the re-writes or Bella looking out for me, I basically have the day off. I could go back to the hotel if I wanted.
I’d go stir-crazy. Christine is shooting all day, so she’ll be easy enough to avoid, and the stunt crew is happy to put me to work again.
On my usual gigs, I’m in the ensemble cast, helping move stuff around and killing time between takes, so it’s a nice return to normalcy.
Unfortunately, not going to Wardrobe means I don’t see Haley. I haven’t caught up with her since yesterday. I’m sure the crew told her I’m fine, but after Alanna, I want to assure her in person.
My shoulder is sore, but strength-wise, it’s back to normal. As long as Bella’s not looking, I carry stuff with both arms, same as usual.
There’s scattered gossip about the rewrites, but I mostly ignore it. I just…can’tright now. Andy or Bella will tell me what to do and when. Lana will correct me if she doesn’t like what she’s seeing. I don’t have lines, so it doesn’t really matter if I know the script or not.
By late morning, my hunger finally outweighs my nausea. I leave the stunt crew and venture to the craft services table set up in a temporary pavilion by the trailers, browsing for something light. I get down three apple slices and a couple grapes before my stomach churns.
Well, better than nothing.
As I head back toward where the stunt crew is working, I spot a PA struggling with a full pack of water bottles, a stack of binders teetering on top.
I jog over and swipe up the binders right as they start to fall.
Now that I can see the PA’s wincing face, I recognize him as the same guy who offered me water when Christine and I were training on the rig.
When he doesn’t hear the expected crash of the binders falling, he opens an eye—then smiles with relief as he sees the binders safe in my arms.
“Oh, thank you!”
“How about we trade?” I gesture with the binders.
“Oh, that would beamazing.”
I scoop up the pack of water bottles with my good arm and hand the binders back to the PA, who introduces himself as Tyler. He leads the way down the grade and through the trees to today’s filming location.
