Tuesday morning, Lelah awoke with a pounding headache. It wasn't an uncommon ailment for her during stressful and hectic production days, but this one came complete with a small niggling voice, a voice which reminded her that while the rest of 21twelve's cast and crew had all been immunized, she had been far too busy to get her own shot. She showered, dressed, and grabbed a bagel, coffee, and three Tylenol on the way to the set. They were in the home stretch now, doing location shots in and around the Marketplace, which was standing in for fourteenth-century London. Only three weeks remaining in the schedule and then the film was on to editing and post-production. The December release was so close she could practically taste it.
During the first few hours of shooting, Lelah's headache faded into the distance as she directed Aimee and Lasse through some of her favorite scenes of the entire film. When they broke for lunch, however, the Tylenol she took earlier that morning wore off with a frightening suddenness, sending her to her trailer where she promptly closed the blinds and laid down for an hour, bargaining with God to make the pounding in her head lessen just a little. She couldn't afford to be sick now. She literally could not afford any delays in the shooting schedule. This film had to wrap by the end of the month or else the studio would be utterly bankrupt and people would be out for her blood.
Her rest did nothing to calm her headache and when she answered Liv's tentative knock on the trailer's door, telling her that the cast and crew were getting antsy with the delay, Lelah collapsed suddenly into a heap on the cobblestones of the Marketplace, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth and eyes. Liv, God bless her soul, kept a calm head on her shoulders as she barked out orders ? Lelah was to go immediately to the nearest hospital or clinic, shooting on all units would be canceled for today and probably tomorrow as well, and Daniel had to be notified that his girlfriend had collapsed.
The next few hours passed in a fevered blur for Lelah. She had vague images of masked doctors bending over her and peering down into her face, of needles being pushed into her arm while she screamed for them to stop, terrified that they were giving her some sort of opium-based painkiller, of Daniel's soft gray eyes filled with worry and the cool callouses of his hands a sharp contrast against the feverish skin of her face, of him arguing with the doctors, begging them to let him stay with her. He was an Alpha Lycanthrope ? he could not contract whatever Lelah had. The medical staff finally relented and allowed him to remain at her side while they worked on her.
Bits and pieces of conversations floated into her fevered brain. Daniel answering doctor's questions as they tried to pinpoint what was wrong with her ? ?We ate venison last week. I caught one, cleaned and dressed it, and she cooked it. Yes, the carcass is still at the cabin. Yes, you're welcome to it if it will help her.?
A nurse just finished taking Lelah's temperature reported it at 105. ?RBF case confirmed, Doctor."
The masked doctor nodded severely and announced, "Let's get her into a quarantine room.? Daniel stepped in before they could wheel Lelah away, begging to be allowed to take her home with him. His cabin was isolated; he owned 10 acres of unpopulated land and his nearest neighbor was more than half a mile away; he couldn't get sick; he needed to take care of her. The doctors, knowing that they would soon need all the beds they had, finally agreed and loaded Lelah into her Alfa with Daniel behind the wheel.
Once home he carried her upstairs to the master bedroom and saw her carefully tucked in with a saline drip IV in her arm. Then he returned to her carriage house and picked up Oscar and some of Lelah's things. He used Lelah's Blackberry to phone Liv. He asked her to take care of the studio while Lelah recuperated. And then he shut off the Blackberry and stuffed it into a drawer in the kitchen, knowing Lee would want her phone the instant she woke, something he could not allow for fear of her pushing herself too hard. He returned to the bedroom and sat in a chair, staring at her while she slept, willing her to pull through.
During the first few hours of shooting, Lelah's headache faded into the distance as she directed Aimee and Lasse through some of her favorite scenes of the entire film. When they broke for lunch, however, the Tylenol she took earlier that morning wore off with a frightening suddenness, sending her to her trailer where she promptly closed the blinds and laid down for an hour, bargaining with God to make the pounding in her head lessen just a little. She couldn't afford to be sick now. She literally could not afford any delays in the shooting schedule. This film had to wrap by the end of the month or else the studio would be utterly bankrupt and people would be out for her blood.
Her rest did nothing to calm her headache and when she answered Liv's tentative knock on the trailer's door, telling her that the cast and crew were getting antsy with the delay, Lelah collapsed suddenly into a heap on the cobblestones of the Marketplace, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth and eyes. Liv, God bless her soul, kept a calm head on her shoulders as she barked out orders ? Lelah was to go immediately to the nearest hospital or clinic, shooting on all units would be canceled for today and probably tomorrow as well, and Daniel had to be notified that his girlfriend had collapsed.
The next few hours passed in a fevered blur for Lelah. She had vague images of masked doctors bending over her and peering down into her face, of needles being pushed into her arm while she screamed for them to stop, terrified that they were giving her some sort of opium-based painkiller, of Daniel's soft gray eyes filled with worry and the cool callouses of his hands a sharp contrast against the feverish skin of her face, of him arguing with the doctors, begging them to let him stay with her. He was an Alpha Lycanthrope ? he could not contract whatever Lelah had. The medical staff finally relented and allowed him to remain at her side while they worked on her.
Bits and pieces of conversations floated into her fevered brain. Daniel answering doctor's questions as they tried to pinpoint what was wrong with her ? ?We ate venison last week. I caught one, cleaned and dressed it, and she cooked it. Yes, the carcass is still at the cabin. Yes, you're welcome to it if it will help her.?
A nurse just finished taking Lelah's temperature reported it at 105. ?RBF case confirmed, Doctor."
The masked doctor nodded severely and announced, "Let's get her into a quarantine room.? Daniel stepped in before they could wheel Lelah away, begging to be allowed to take her home with him. His cabin was isolated; he owned 10 acres of unpopulated land and his nearest neighbor was more than half a mile away; he couldn't get sick; he needed to take care of her. The doctors, knowing that they would soon need all the beds they had, finally agreed and loaded Lelah into her Alfa with Daniel behind the wheel.
Once home he carried her upstairs to the master bedroom and saw her carefully tucked in with a saline drip IV in her arm. Then he returned to her carriage house and picked up Oscar and some of Lelah's things. He used Lelah's Blackberry to phone Liv. He asked her to take care of the studio while Lelah recuperated. And then he shut off the Blackberry and stuffed it into a drawer in the kitchen, knowing Lee would want her phone the instant she woke, something he could not allow for fear of her pushing herself too hard. He returned to the bedroom and sat in a chair, staring at her while she slept, willing her to pull through.