Today marked Cierra's three-month anniversary since transmigrating into the book. After filming her last scene with Trevon in "Spring Dream In City." Trevon's role was officially wrapped. He was the first to finish filming, aside from Lettie, who had been expelled.
The crew held a simple farewell party for Trevon. He was surprised to receive a box of beautiful macarons from Cierra. "Did you make these?"
Cierra's eyes gleamed with pride. Tilting her head, she smiled and said, "Of course. Thanks for taking care of me these past months." She would never tell him that Basil did eighty, no, ninety percent of the work from mixing the ingredients to baking. All she did was give instructions.
Thus, the entire set enjoyed a joyful afternoon. Basil generously gave the crew a day off, announcing that filming would resume the day after tomorrow.
Tonight also happened to be Darnell's birthday. They had planned to have dinner together, but when they arrived at Darnell's house, no one answered the doorbell. Neither Darnell nor Zander answered their phones. Cierra, holding another box of macarons, whispered to Cierra, "Do you think they started celebrating early?"
Basil chuckled to herself.
It seemed this woman had become mischievous, with her thoughts turning wicked. But he liked it.
"Oh, I meant they might have gone to buy cake and presents to celebrate early. What were you thinking?" Cierra put her hands on her hips. Seeing Cierra's expression, she knew he had misunderstood her.
Now, Cierra rarely called him Bas. She usually just called him "hey" or "you," making Basil once think he had lost his charm, causing her to take him lightly.
"Let's go wait in the car. It's stuffy here," Basil said, taking Cierra's hand and heading toward the elevator. Just then, his phone rang.
"It's Darnell," Basil answered the call, immediately asking, "You and Zander—"
"Basil, Zander fell down—"
★
Rushing to the hospital, they found that Zander had already been moved from the operating room to the ICU for observation.
They found Darnell outside the ICU, still trembling.
Cierra draped a thin jacket over Darnell, sat beside him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Darnell, don't worry. Zander will be okay." She spoke slowly, fearing that if she didn't, the sob in her voice would be noticeable and make Darnell less brave.
Basil didn't say anything. He just walked to the nearest nurse's station to ask when they could visit the patient. He figured Darnell's mind must be a mess right now, so he needed to remember these details for him.
Then he walked over to Darnell and firmly pressed his shoulder, indicating that he was there for him and that there was no need to worry.
Darnell buried his head in his hands, his low voice seeping through his fingers, "Thank goodness you came, thank goodness you came."
He kept repeating this sentence without looking up at Basil and Cierra. They knew Darnell was just too scared. All they could do now was stay by his side and be there for him and Zander.
Visiting hours for the ICU were at 8 PM and only lasted fifteen minutes. Zander's family was far away in the southern part of the city. Even if they rushed over tonight, it would be past 9 PM. So, when Basil informed them, he had already booked a nearby hotel for them to stay in, planning for them to visit Zander at the 10 AM visiting hours the next day.
At this time, it was only natural for Darnell to visit Zander. But Darnell hesitated, "What should I do, Basil? The doctor said he hit the back of his head and hasn't woken up yet. I'm scared he might never wake up..."
Darnell, who always smiled, broke down crying like a child, tears and snot covering his face. This was a side of him that never showed, as he always valued his appearance more than anything else.
Cierra cried too.
She felt that Zander's accidental fall from the half-built third floor was her fault because the story was written by Cynthia, who was her biological mother—
