Lean on me

Chapter 13

Sloan sits up in a cold sweat, her breath rapid and slightly uneven. There's a pounding at the door, making the girl jump. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to calm herself before standing up and walking to the door. She unlocks and opens it, revealing Jensen on the other side. The first thing she notices is the light red stain under his nose and she's immediately flooded with guilt.

"I'm so sorry." She tells him, tears coming into her eyes as she remembers what she did. 

"It's alright. You didn't mean to." He says, stepping into the trailer and closing the door. 

"I guess I ruined everything didn't I?" She asks with a chuckle, trying to make light of the situation. Jensen doesn't find it very funny and sighs, walking over to the couch. 

"You should have told me that you couldn't handle the scene." He tells her. Sloan starts to object but he stops her. "Don't tell me you were fin. You obviously weren't fine." 

"I was fine. I was handling it fine." She argues. "If it wasn't for whatever that sound was I never would have freaked out."

"Well, they're giving you the rest of the day off. Maybe tomorrow too." He tells her. "They don't want you back in front of the camera until you're 100% better." Sloan looks at him in disbelief. 

"'100% better'?" She repeats with a scoff. "Dad, I'm never going to be 100% better. I'm always going to have scars and memories of what happened. And even if the scars fade and the memories don't haunt me as much, I'm always going to be stuck with this." She takes off her jacket and gestures to where her arm used to be. Jensen sighs and tilts his head slightly, looking at the stump. "This is never going away. And I can't do anything about it. But what I can do, is my job. So please, don't make me stop working." Jensen sighs again and rubs his hand down his face. 

"Fine." He says. "But you don't work until tomorrow." Sloan nods. 

"So everybody saw, huh?" She asks as she sits on the couch. She's not sure how she'll be able to look everyone in the eye again. 

"Yeah." Jensen says. "But they understand." 

"No they don't." Sloan mumbles, so quietly that Jensen can't hear her.

"What?" He asks. Sloan shakes her head. 

"Nothing. I have some work to finish for Mr. Turner." She says. "Let me finish it and I'll find you when I turn it in." 

"Alright. Text me when you're ready." He instructs and Sloan nods. Jensen stands up after planting a kiss on the girl's forehead. 

Sloan sighs and grabs her book bag before pulling out her homework. It takes two hours to do all of the work and those two hours are some of the best of her day. They kept her from thinking about what happened earlier and kept her from being able to think about anything other than her work. When she finishes, Sloan gathers her papers and walks out of her trailer, going across the lot to the portable where the teenagers do their schooling.

Knowing that if she handed the work directly to Mr. Turner she'd have to talk about what happened, Sloan decides to slide all the papers under the door before walking back to her trailer. She changes into her clothes from the morning and takes her costume back to the wardrobe trailer, setting the clothes on a chair when she finds the trailer empty.

On the way back to her trailer, Grayson catches up to her. Sloan tries to ignore him but he won't let her walk away, grabbing her elbow and making her face him. 

"Sloan, don't shut me out." He says. "I can help you. Let me help you." Sloan shakes her head. 

"This isn't some schoolwork that I don't understand, Grayson. You can't help me with this. No one can." She says. "Please, leave me alone." She starts to walk away when he grabs her hand, making her stop again.