I wake up slowly, but I don’t open my eyes –not yet. I can tell I’m in a hospital bed, though. I can hear the beeping sound of the monitor nearby. Everything hurts, but I can tell that they have morphine pumping in me; otherwise, it would be way worse. I’m afraid to open my eyes and see the damage. I move my head slightly, and I realize I have a neck brace on as well as a bandage around the top of my head. My face is throbbing, so I guess that I, at least, have a broken nose. Just what I need; I model for my supplement line, and now my face is probably jacked up.

When I move my head, I let out a slight groan. “James?” I hear Eddie’s voice.

I decide I have to face reality eventually, so I slowly blink my eyes open. I’m honestly surprised to see Eddie sitting by me. “What the hell?” I grumble.

“Damn,” Eddie sounds somewhat relieved to see me awake. “You all right, man?”

“My head….” I grumble slightly, and when I move my right arm, I realize it’s in a sling. “What happened?”

“You got into a car accident on your way to the factory.” Eddie says, “Hold on, let me go get a doctor now that you’re up-”

“Wait.” I say, “What happened at the company? What are the reporters saying?”

Eddie had started to stand up from his seat beside my hospital bed, but after I had asked for an update, he started to sink slowly back into his chair. He sits and nervously wrings his wrist, “Nothing good. The cops are swarming the factory now.”

“Then why are you here?” I ask, “One of us should be there.”

“Because you got into a car accident.” Eddie says, “Man when they called me, they made it sound pretty bad. Your car flipped five times and hit a telephone pole. The other driver has a broken spine. You’re lucky you’re just walking away with a broken nose and a few hairline fractures.”

“Everything hurts,” I complain as I slowly sit up.

Eddie puts a hand to my chest, “Lay down. You need to rest.” He gently pushes me back, and I do as he instructed.

“Eddie, did you talk to the reporters?” I ask.

“Not yet.” He says, “But it looks like I’m going to have to now.”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” I say.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t.” Eddie sighs, “I’ll send the head PR guy out to give a statement.”

“All right. That works.” I groan again, “You really should go to the factory while the cops are there. Oversee that, and see what it is they find. I need you to get on the phone with my lawyer for me.”

“I can do that,” Eddie says.

“Have my assistant call me. I need to talk to her about what we’re going to do next.” I groan again; seriously, my bones feel like they’re almost burning. “Would you mind telling a nurse I could use some stronger pain killers too?”

Eddie nods, but he seems frozen in his seat for the time being. There is something else on his mind. Maybe he is just worried? I am worried, so why shouldn’t he be? But there is something else bothering him. Maybe I freaked him out. I had been on the phone with him during the accident. It probably sounded pretty horrifying from his end, but I don’t think that’s it either. I finally ask, “What’s wrong, Eddie? We’re going to figure this out. What’s with that worried look on your face?”

“Were you trying to kill yourself?” Eddie asks, and I can tell he is serious.

“What?” I question, “No. Why would you ask that?”

“That’s what they’re saying on the news,” Eddie says, breaking the news to me about the ridiculous borderline tabloid material.

“What?” I sit up, and instantly I am overcome with pain. I grit my teeth, but I refuse to lie down this time, “They’re saying I tried to kill myself? Why would they say that?”

“They’re saying you found out about the lawsuit… that you had a guilty conscience and tried to kill yourself to avoid the lawsuit.” Eddie explains, “You don’t know anything about this whole poisoning thing, do you? There’s nothing you’re not telling me, right? You didn’t sign off on anything sketchy did you?”

“No, of course not.” I say, “You got to squash those rumors, Eddie. It was just a car accident –nothing more.”

“If you say so.” Eddie stands. He stretches his back slightly and stares down at me, “I’m glad you’re all right.” He says half-heartedly. I can tell he means it, and I can also tell that it kind of killed him to say it.

“Thanks,” I say. “Just get back to the factory and try to calm things down. Just don’t make it worse, all right?”

“I’ll do my best. I’ll send your nurse in.” Eddie heads out, assuring me that he is going to handle things. I lay back down, still feeling sore.

I relive the moment over and over again. I have a professional driver; from now on, I’m using him. I clearly suck at driving. Although, it was not my fault. I had gotten hit by a driver running a red light, so that wasn’t my fault. It was horrifying –the accident. I thought for sure I was a goner for a second there. I should probably find the name of that random guy who came running to the rescue before the emergency vehicles showed up and thank him. I can’t believe I got into a car accident. I can’t believe the media are accusing me of trying to kill myself –who do they think they are? That’s just what we need right now; if people believe that, it’s going to make all this sketchy business look all the more suspicious.

Everything is just falling apart. This is the last thing Eddie needs too. He is already dealing with debt. His life is stressful enough dealing with me as a younger brother. I don’t know why, but I start thinking about my dad. I am still so angry with him for what he did to Eddie. He had raised Eddie as his own and then had dropped the bombshell in his will that Eddie was a result of our mother’s affair and had really cheated him out of much inheritance –leaving him a crappy summer home, a tiny fraction of his fortune, and a lot of questions. Eddie has been dealing with his shitty half-siblings he has only recently learned about –more bastards belonging to his biological father. They put enough stress on him always asking for money, and recently I have not done much to make it any easier on him. Now he has to deal with this too, and he has to deal with it without me for a while since I’m out of commission. This is not what we needed right now.

The door to my room opens, and a young male nurse enters. Just my luck. I can’t even get a hot nurse to take care of me. I get stuck with the young college graduate. I sigh. The nurse is kind enough to turn on my television for me and show me how to work the remote after giving me some pain killers. The news is on, and I grimace slightly. Of course, the story about the faulty supplements is playing over and over again on the local channels. I don’t know what to do.