Helping Hands

[DisneyGirl]

"You mean there is a chance I may never be able to walk again?" Anna asked, the weight of her situation sinking in and consuming her.


"Oh, God. I need a drink." She said, her hand on her forehead.


"I don't think that would be best for your condition---" A nurse said, awkwardly putting her hands on Anna.


Anna shooed her away like fly, and replied, "It's my medicine, and it works better for me than any of that crap I have been taking since I have gotten here. Oh, God. I need Vodka."

 

[lafeae]

It was like a chorus of sighs, and Jacques motioned for the nurse to take leave, if only because needed to find a way to calm to girl.


"This is the place where you go when....nothing else works." Said the doctor. He sat sat beside her and, quickly, reached over to take her hand. This was devastating.


"You want me to knock you out with mess for a while? I can. Or you can think it over."

 

[DisneyGirl]

"I just don't understand what I did to deserve this." Anna said, squeezing his hand. "I don't know what I'll do, how I will live, if I can't walk."


She sighed, laughing a little to herself to ease her pain.


"I'm so lonely, Jacques. I don't have a single person who cares for me, and now I could be paralyzed for life. My fans are the only ones who love me, but if I can't continue acting, who will love me then?"

 

[lafeae]

The laughter in patients was never a good thing, because it felt like they were in denial about everything. As if their own minds couldn't handle it.


But he never let go of her hand. As he looked around he noticed the lack of flowers or balloon, or cards, because he never let fans send things in. He didn't figure most people needed it, when it came to celebrities.


"I'm here for you; I'll love you." Said Jacques.

 

[DisneyGirl]

"You will?" Anna asked, excitedly. Women in their right mind would be freaked out by such a comment, but Anna wasn't exactly in her right mind, was she?


"You'll love me?" She repeated, like a small child scared of the monsters hiding underneath her bed. Only, the monsters hid inside her mind.

 

[lafeae]

Nodding, Jacques realised how crazy he sounded right now. He knew the gravity of the things he said, and how and being in heir sane mind wouldn't say that.


But he understood. He understood loneliness, and that feeling like no one would ever be there for you in your worst time of need. "Yeah, I'll love you," he said. "You know, as much as I can right this moment."

 

[DisneyGirl]

"Do you think I'm beautiful?" She whispered, tilting her head to the side.


How desperate little Anna was. She could not walk, and yet all she could think of was what it would be like to be with this man. She needed therapy and medicine, but all she wanted was alcohol and kisses.

 

[lafeae]

Jacques looked to her out of the corner of his eye. Was she beautiful? Of course she was, she was a TV star. Did he think she was? Of course. But this soon? She was still likely concussed. Did that make him a bad person? A little bit.


"Of course you are," said Jacqies, and he let go of her hand at the sound of his pager. Staring at it, he paused, sighed, and looked back over at her. "I have to go, Anna. I'll be back later."

 

[DisneyGirl]

There was nothing much for Anna to do in this little hospital room she was stuck in. She could have watched television, but it just reminded her of the life she might never have again; she could read, but all this place had was gossip magazines with her face on it, and reading lies about yourself from "close friends" didn't sound appealing.


So she just closed her eyes and slept.


It was Mike's voice that woke her.


"Whaddya mean you don't know when she will be better?" Her agent screamed at a nurse. "That's my client! That's my biggest star!"

 

[lafeae]

Jacques hadn't meant to be gone more than ten minutes, by minutes stretched to nearly an hour and a half.


By the time he returned, he came just in time for the screaming match. And he wasn't the only one around them who'd taken notice.


"Can we please tone it down?" He asked, approaching them. "What's the matter here?"

 

[DisneyGirl]

"You!" Mike cried, pointing at the doctor. "I want her walking by next week, dammit. She's got a series and three films to shoot in the next six months, and I have a Malibu mansion and a Bentley to pay for, kid. Ya hear me?!"


That was all Anna was for him, a walking bank account. But at least someone had shown up, right?

 

[lafeae]

Undeterred by Mike, his shoulders maybe squaring a little more, Jacques frowned, waiting for it to draw in silence before saying: "Too bad," said Jacques, and taking in a breath. "Can't happen. You see 'kid' she's about broken her back, not exactly something you walk off."


Gazing to the nurse nearby, and then back, he couldn't imagine what kind of people Anna put up, but he's dealt with the unrealistic brutish types before.!

 

[DisneyGirl]

"I have millions of dollars on the line here!" Mike continued, grabbing Jacques by the collar. "Millions and millions of dollars that I can not afford to lose. Now you let her out of this hospital or I will."


And with that, Mike fought his way past nurses and into Anna's room.


"Mike?" Anna said, as he lifted her out of bed. "Mike, what are you doing?! Stop! Stop it, Mike!"

 

[lafeae]

Holding onto his neck where the shirt collar and tie had dug into it, Jacques braced himself against the doorway and went spreadeagle, trying to fill as mc much if the door as he could.


"I need security!" He called, and briefly let one of the nurses flee out the door for help before filling it again. It wasn't like he was large, but it would be hard to bulky by someone with another person in your arms. "She's hurt, badly, and you're only going to make her worse by doing this. You're adding months into recovery, not helping her. Please, be reasonable, put her down."

 

[DisneyGirl]

Terrified, Anna screamed.


"Let me go! Please! Let me go!"


Security was there in a second, and Mike, seeing he was outnumbered, put the girl down.


"Is that all I am to you? A paycheck?!" Anna yelled, before slapping the man.

 

[lafeae]

The security stood behind Jacques, and he approached Mike, not fearful in the slightest, and he nudged the man away from Anna so she could actually rest, and security continued where he kept a distance between them.


"Keep him away," Jacques said. "Unless he decides he wants to actually be reasonable." And the doctor stared Mike down.

 

[DisneyGirl]

Mike, being whisked away by security, called out to Anna, "Mark my words, you will regret this! You're nothing without me, you hear me? Nothing!"


Shaking with anger and confusion, Anna stayed silent and stared at the floor. She had to get away, somehow.

 

[lafeae]

Jacques paused, watching as the cartoon-villain like man was taken away, and he returned to Anna, sliding on his knees beside her, his hand behind her back and setting an arm beneath her legs. "I got you, everything's alright," he said, and picked her up, cradling her close to his chest.


"I don't know what I can do to make you safe, save for putting you in my house."

 

[DisneyGirl]

Anna would go crazy if she was kept here. No way could she stay in this hospital with all these nurses and machines. She needed normalcy. She needed her freedom.


"I...I don't want to stay here anymore." She said, holding close to Jacques.

 

[lafeae]

Even though he had so many things telling him all of what he shouldn't do, knowing all the oaths he took, and then realizing that he had a certain amount of power. The ability that he could act as her power of attorney in some way or another for her. There needed to be some semblance of privacy for her.


;


Hugging her lightly, trying not to aggravate her injuries, Jacques said: "I have an idea; not my place, but maybe until you're better, we'll move you into an apartment suite, somewhere high up so they can't peek in the windows. What do you think?"

 

[DisneyGirl]

An apartment suite with a comfortable bed and real food in the fridge (and if she was lucky, alcohol), sounded better than this dump. So, she replied, "That would be splendid."


Then another thought came to her.


"I wouldn't be alone. Would I?"

 

[lafeae]

"Not all the time," said Jacques. She was sucking him in and trying to get them together with her allure. And he knew that she was the kind of person that would use em and lose em, but maybe his own loneliness didn't care about that.


"I'll have to go to work, but I can take care of you. As long as your...manager guy isn't in our face all the time."

 

[DisneyGirl]

Anna chuckled at that.


"Thank you." She replied, her spirit feeling a little more at ease.


A day later, she had been brought to a quiet neighborhood by the beach, and placed in a cozy, one bedroom apartment. There was no alcohol, but plenty of good food and a balcony with a great view of the ocean. When Jacques wasn't with her, she had her nurse, Maria, taking care of her.


Even if the woman couldn't speak a word of English, Anna loved not being alone.


Though, she longed for Jacques and wanted desperately to see him.

 

[lafeae]

The man had hard time readjusting. Moving his things over into the private suite without actually moving in. A suitcase sat by the bed, where he often slept when he wasn't working elsewhere. But the hospital gave him plenty of leeway with his private patient, knowing the money was good, and the salary hadn't really changed.


Though he was afraid, because this was all moving too fast for him to be able to comprehend himself. He'd never had, in the course of week or two, had so much happen to him. Yet, it was the kind of change he needed in his life. Something that wasn't the same simple routine again and again. The same restaurants at night, no need to cook for himself with no one there to care, the same car, the same route. Same. Same. Same.


And then Anna came along.


Knocking on the door before entering, not sure why he did, Jacques unlocked the door and walked in, locking the door behind him. A gust of warm ocean air hit him in the face from the balcony. "Anna? You decent?"

 

[DisneyGirl]

Anna giggled at the question, and answered, "Of course I am, darling. Now stop being such a tease and sit down with me. This view is lovely!"


And it quite was. Anna loved being able to watch families with children run around and play in the water. Their laughter brought a happiness to her she hadn't known before, living in an isolated mansion in the Hollywood Hills.


Just then, she heard dishes crash and a woman scream in Spanish.


Maria.


"Don't worry, dear! It's only Jacques!" Anna called out.