Shocking Sapphires - Ann Omasta Page 0,10

let fans hang out in my room and babysit my son.

The medical equipment, puce green walls, and antiseptic stench made it seem like a real hospital room, but had these two loons somehow managed to kidnap me and Scout?

Panic surged through my veins as I worried that we might have been stolen from our lives. Not caring how much it was going to hurt, I scrambled to sit up, so I could have a look out the window.

Molly’s eyes were filled with concern as she warned me, “Don’t try to move.”

The fear that I’d been experiencing was nothing compared to the sheer terror that overwhelmed me as the realization swept over me and I shouted, “I can’t move my legs!”

8

Grant

The doctors had tried to explain it to me, but the blood was rushing too fast in my brain to absorb it all. Frightening words like traumatic spinal cord injury and permanent paralysis were tossed around like they meant nothing––even though they actually meant the end of life as I knew it.

The good news was that I did appear to be in a legitimate medical facility. The bad news was that the chance of me ever walking again was pretty much nonexistent. The doctors refused to use absolute words like ‘never,’ but I could tell by their grim expressions and the sobering statistics they shared that they didn’t believe me regaining the use of my legs to be a true possibility.

I couldn’t comprehend that this was my new lot in life. It simply couldn’t be right. I stared at my limp, useless legs as the physicians droned on. This had to be a terrible mistake or frightening nightmare, but nothing the doctors said gave me any hope that I would wake up from this horror any time soon.

Molly, the crazed fan that was somehow left in charge of my baby, at least had the decency to leave my hospital room while the doctors shared the devastating prognosis with me.

Once the doctors finally left, I stared up at the ceiling. Before, when I’d wanted to stay awake and get answers to my questions, I couldn’t manage to keep my eyes open. Now, when I craved the blessed oblivion of sleeping and the potential relief of never waking up, I couldn’t doze off.

I silently cursed my up-until-now blessed life. Perhaps if I’d faced some serious trials and tribulations before, I might be more prepared to deal with this horrific new reality. But I’d been the golden boy since my acting debut as a teenager. I had starred in blockbuster hit after hit after hit. People couldn’t get enough of me, and I lapped up the attention like a starving man.

I was the it guy in Los Angeles and everyone knew it––especially me. In an instant, that had all been taken away, never to return.

I wasn’t strong enough to handle this. Hollywood would turn its back on me just as quickly as they had crowned me king. No one would cast a leading man in a wheelchair. My agent and manager would both drop me.

My entourage of friends would quit calling as soon as they found someone new to spoil them in the manner to which they had quickly grown accustomed. My family had proven long ago that they only cared about my money and the many ways they could use me to get their hands on more of it.

Eva would dump me. Granted, our relationship had been mostly for the cameras, but some part of me had always kind of hoped that deep down she truly cared about me. Seeing me like this would obliterate any warm feelings the gorgeous, vivacious actress might have harbored for me.

Once word of this leaked out, my life would be over. I would have nothing left to live for.

A vision of innocent, trusting blue eyes popped into my head. Scout.

My son deserved better than a cripple for a father. My eyes squeezed tight at the offensive word. It wasn’t anything I would normally say––or even think––but now that I was one, it was the only word that accurately described how I felt. I was half a man now, and I would never be whole again. This wasn’t fair. Nothing about this was fair at all.

My pity party for one was in full swing when Molly breezed back into my room carrying Scout. I didn’t want her or my son to see the tears streaming freely down my cheeks.

After swiping angrily at the wetness on my face, I