With Love...

24: Pains

She didn't notice it until they ran through fight call. A throb in her ankle. She tried to keep going. She really did. But when her ankle gave out, she gave out a cry and collapsed. Everyone stopped staying completely silent until they processed the situation.

" JoJo!" Ben came barrelling from across the stage. She clenched her eyes closed, refusing to cry.

" JoJo, tell me now, how bad?" Mr. Calhoun ran onstage.

" Bad." She said through clenched teeth, gripping onto Ben's arm while Josh came to her otherside.

" Okay, stay put. I'm gonna call an ambulance." He said, already pulling out his phone.

oOOo

The whole way to the hospital, JoJo only thought one thing. Please don't be broken. Please don't be broken.

Ben stayed with her the whole time. She held onto his hand like it was her lifeline.

Then doctor came in, saying everything she didn't want him to say. 3 weeks she'll be out of commission, at best. JoJo looked anywhere in the room but at the doctor or Ben and especially not the blue cast around her right ankle.

" I'm sorry." He said, stepping out of the room.

" JoJo-"

" Ben, three weeks. They're gonna kick me off the tour Ben." She felt tears slip from her eyes. Her hand fiddled with her sapphire necklace that William had gifted her years ago.

" No, they're not." He shook his head.

" Yes, they are. Melissa can't understudy for me for three weeks." JoJo was near sobbing. Ben sat in the gurney next to her, pulling her into his arms. He held her until she fell asleep. Ben carefully slipped out of the bed.

" Ben? How is she?" Mr. Calhoun asked.

" Not too good, I'll her explain. Can you have Melissa and Daniel go on for us tonight. We'll be by before the end of the show to explain." Ben replied, glancing at her sleeping form.

" Of course. Is she gonna be out for a while?" He questioned.

" Yeah, she's scared she'll get kicked off the tour." Ben responded.

" No, she won't be. We might just need to find a filler for the time being but, she will still be welcome to travel with us until she gets better." Mr. Calhoun said.

" That's good. She'll love to hear that. We'll see you guys later, thank you so much." Ben sighed.

" Not a problem, see you guys soon."

oOOo

Ben and JoJo walked in the main entrance of the theatre fifteen minutes before intermission. Almost everyone was seated.

" Hey, who are you?" A security guard demanded.

" My name's Ben Cook, this is JoJo Bachmann." Ben replied.

" I meant, what are you doing here and where's your ticket?" He rolled his eyes.

" We don't need them, we're performers." JoJo shook her head.

" Nice try, the performers are on stage, you aren't one of them." The security guard scoffed.

" We are, he plays Race and I play Snyper." JoJo said.

" I can see that." He said, looking at her cast. JoJo immediately stopped, fearing what she might say if she opened her mouth.

" Excus0e me? You wanna try that again? Because she injured her ankle earlier today durning fight call. We're the two performers that got rushed to the hospital." Ben lost it.