4 MONTHS LATER, Justin & Nicole had been dating steadily. He was now acting in his 1st movie called ‘Edison’.
“Baby Girl, you don’t want to come to set today. It’s going to be pretty boring,” Justin said trying to talk her out of visiting him on set.
“I know your character has a girlfriend.” She wasn't fond of the man she loved kissing another girl but she knew it was all a script.
“Y-yeah, that’s why today is going to be boring for you,” he lied.
Justin didn’t want to tell Nicole the real reason he didn’t want her to show up.
“Fine. I’ll stay home.”
“Ok. I love you. See you later tonight.” He kissed her & walked out the front door.
LUNCHTIME Nicole knew Justin was nervous & hiding something. She found it weird he only let her read ½ the script but she figured he was nervous, seeing as this was his 1st big movie. She guessed he wanted it to be a surprise when the movie was finished.
Not really understanding why he didn’t want her onset, she decided to surprise him with lunch & tell him he was a great actor & didn’t have to be nervous.
What Nicole didn’t know was, Justin wasn't nervous about acting per se. He was scared to have her there. He didn’t want her to see what they were filming today because he knew how she'd react.
Nicole pulled into the driveway of the outside set where the film crew was. She guessed they were filming a scene where the actors had to be shown outside.[i] “Why wouldn’t he want me to see a scene where all they’re doing is walking around?”[/i] she thought.
She pulled her wheelchair out of the car. She used it when her legs felt tired. As she wheeled up to where he was filming, his back was to her. She watched as the scene played out. He was standing, talking to a co-star.
As Justin turned toward the camera, he saw Nicole & stopped mid-sentence. “Nicole, you shouldn’t be here...”
As soon as she saw the scar across his face, she freaked. She dropped the bags of food & immediately started rocking back & forth. The director called 'cut', noticing the interuption.
Nicole covered her ears crying out, “no, no, no, no...not safe. Not safe, not safe, not safe...”
“Sweetie, it’s ok. It’s ok,” Justin tried to soothe but he knew she was too frightened by seeing him the way he was.
He had to get her somewhere quiet & get that make-up off his face. She wouldn’t be able to calm down until he did.
“Rachael! Get her over by the trailer. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
He really didn’t want Nicole to be scared, especially since the make-up was for the movie. Rachael did as told but her trying to calm Nicole wasn't working.
Justin ran over to where the make-up people were & started taking the make-up off.
“What’s going on?” the director asked.
“I’m sorry, David. I have to get this off so my girlfriend calms down. If she doesn’t, she could put herself into an asthma attack.”
Within 5 minutes Justin had it off & was rushing to Nicole.
No one really understood what was going on, until they heard Justin talking softly to Nicole.
He kneeled in front of her & she was now sobbing. By now, her breathing was worse. “Nicole, Sweetheart, I’m fine. Everything’s ok. Nothing bad happened. See?”
“Nicole, listen to him. He’s fine,” Rachael said. Rachael herself didn’t quite understand why Nicole was acting the way she was, but Justin did.
Nicole’s heart was pounding, he could tell from her breathing. She swayed a little in her seat & he knew she felt dizzy.
Nicole felt like her arms were going numb. She started to shake.
“She’s stuck in that feeling,” Justin explained but Rachael didn’t understand. “Baby, I was just acting. I wasn't hurt, I wasn't like that, ok? Come on, I need you to breathe for me, ok? Just breathe, slow deep breathes.”
He gently took Nicole’s hand. She didn’t look up as she kept repeating quiet “no’s”. As he thought she would, she tried to pull away but Justin kept hold. He brought her hand up to his face & uncurled the tight fist. Her muscles always curled when she was scared. He ran her fingers where the mark was supposed to be.
“See? It’s not there. It was all make-up, I promise.” He kissed her palm lightly like he’d done so many times.
After a few moments, Nicole looked up at him, reached out & he brought her into his arms.
“I got you. You're ok. I promise I’m fine. No one will hurt us. Just keep breathing. Breathe, Baby. That’s it, breathe. Good, you're doing good.”
As a few agonizing minutes passed, all that was heard was Justin’s whispering as Nicole’s breathing returned to a normal pace.
She whispered a quiet sorry & he kissed her hair. “No need to be sorry.”
“Justin,” David started. “Why don’t you take her home & relax? We’ll pick up tomorrow.”
He nodded & thanked David.
[b]JUSTIN’S HOUSE[/b] Justin got Nicole settled in the soft, warm bed. She kept apologizing but he sang softly until she fell asleep.
After he returned to the couch, Justin put his head in his hands & sighed heavily. It had been a long day.
“Justin, why did Nicole have a panic attack?” Rachael asked.
Justin looked up at her with a look of guilt crossing his features. “It’s all my fault. I knew something like this would happen if she saw that. I should've told her that that's why she couldn't come to the set. She would've stayed home if I'd told her.”
“Why’s it your fault?”
“Nicole can tell the difference between movies & the real world & she doesn’t think twice about it. She’s smart, & her CP doesn’t affect her mind. You know that.” Rachael nodded & he continued, “but other times, this happens. She sees something dramatic or painful & the emotions override what she’s able to think. She knows I was just acting but subconsciously, her mind thought I was hurt. It's like she feels what the character feels. She felt too many emotions at once & her brain couldn’t sort them out.”
“Wow. That's scary for both of you.”
“Yeah. I hate seeing her scared. I caused it.”
“No you didn’t. Like you said, her brain was saying you were hurt even though she knew you weren’t. It’s not something either of you could control. It was a battle inside her brain. Her reaction may have been different than someone else's but that's because you 2 love each other. The love between you is stronger than anything that I've seen. You helped her back though & she’s ok.”
He hugged her. “Thanks, Rach.”
“Get some rest, you need it too.”
END OF CH3
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