2: DANICA
"...says that she was in the middle of interviewing Tia Santana when she passed out on set. Danica Maxwell, known by her modeling name, Nica, hasn't looked healthy for some time. She's always maintained a trim and toned figure because of her career, but lately, she appears to have lost more weight, and it looks unhealthy. Sources close to the former supermodel say that she hasn't been eating, and she's showing all the signs of an unhealthy alcohol and possible drug addiction."
"Turn it off!" I grumble.
"That's just one of the reports," Jade, my agent says of the report that was just aired on CLM, the Celebrity Life Magazine talk show. "Social media is going crazy with replays of you falling from your chair and Tia trying to catch you."
"There weren't supposed to be any images captured or videos taken inside of that studio! That's part of the agreement, Jade."
"I know that, and we're trying to get to the bottom of it now. I'm not sure who leaked it and who these supposed sources were, but we'll find out, and they will be held liable. In the meantime, we need to consider what we're going to do to get ahead of this and paint things in a positive light. You've signed the release allowing your doctor to discuss your health issues with me. We'll get a story together to paint this in your favor, Dani. I promise."
"What about the contract?" I ask, clearing my throat.
Briefly, Jade looks away, and I know that isn't promising. She's always been nothing but sincere with me.
"Honestly, this couldn't have come at a worse time, Danica."
There's the first telltale sign. She's called me by my name, and not just Dani or D, as she usually does.
"You think I wanted to get sick? This isn't my fault."
"The season is ending, and so is your contract. We're not sure if the network will renew after this fiasco."
"It's one time, Jade."
"One time, but you haven't been looking good for a while now. They have to work extra hard to get you ready for the show. You've had two DUIs in the last year, both of which we've been able to get you out of, covered up, and swept under the rug. God forbid, the media should get ahold of that."
"As if I'm the only one."
"No one said that you were, but you're the only one who we're talking about right now. The only one who is up for a contract renewal with the studios. The only one who passed out on national TV, and the only one whose career is in jeopardy."
"I feel like you're not going to bat for me. I feel like I'm being sold down the river," I grumble.
"Listen, don't ever question my loyalty to you. You got me?"
"Then damn it, show me your loyalty!"
She sighs and pulls her fingers through her hair, loosening her ponytail until her dark hair falls around her shoulders.
"It's temporary. Don't worry about it. You'll go and get the help that you need and be back on your feet in no time," she says.
"No, I don't want to do it this way. This is my show, and I'm calling the shots!"
Jade blows out a long breath. "I know that's what you believe, but that's not the reality, Dani. Marie, Don, and Kendall all agree that it's time to go a new route. I've spoken with them and poured my heart out on the floor, and they didn't want to budge. I promised them that you would go into rehab for a couple of months, and they said they might consider it."
"Might? Rehab? I'm not some damn drug addict, Jade! You know this."
Her light brown eyes swivel away from me, and she purses her heart-shaped lips. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I didn't say anything," she says, holding her hands up.
"You didn't have to. You can't even look me in the eyes, Jade. I mean, come on here. You've always kept it real with me. Don't start sugar-coating stuff now to preserve my feelings. I see you do that with your clients who are washed up. I'm not some has-been, Jade!"
She sighs. "No, you're not, but you're on your way there. You want honesty. Honestly, you're taking pills to wake up and pills to lie down. You take pills to get you through the day, and you're drinking four to five glasses of wine a day on top of that. It's not a good look, Dani. Mel says—"
"Mel? Mel says? You want to tell me about the one person who's handing them to me while everyone else is looking the other way. Isn't that a bitch?!!"
"Listen, I have a meeting that I'm running late for. I want you to relax and get your rest. I'll call you later when I'm done, and I'll be back to check on you in the morning."
"Are you seriously walking out on me right now?" I ask as she grabs her Chanel bag and hurries across the floor with her heels click-clacking.
"Look, I've got to go make money. I love you, Dani. You know I do, but nothing gets in the way of my money. I have a potential new client. I promise, I'll call later."
"You wouldn't have the money or the clientele if it weren't for me. I took a chance on you, Jade, when no one else would!"
She shakes her head, tugs her purse up her shoulder, and stops at the door.
"Get it together."
"Fuck!" I shout, throwing my water pitcher across the room.
Water splashes on the wall and the leather chair across from my bed, and the pitcher clangs to the floor just as she opens the door.
It doesn't close all the way, and I hear the soft murmur of voices. After several seconds, I begin to get glimpses of the conversation.
"...talk to her," I hear Jade saying. "They've recommended that she step down from the show for a little while. They'll be showing repeats, and if she doesn't get it together, then they'll find a new host."
"Can they do that? It's her name on the show," I hear my brother, Onyx, say.
"It'll be the same show for the rest of the season with special guest hosts. After the season ends, there will be a new show with a new host. They're already writing it in case she doesn't get the help that she needs."
"Okay...I'll talk to her."
I roll my eyes, pissed that Jade feels the need to speak with Onyx about my situation. My first inclination is to fire her as soon as I get a chance.
The doctor and nurse walk into the room, and I close my eyes, pretending to be asleep.
"Ms. Maxwell," Dr. Connors says. "Wake up," the doctor says, gently patting my hand.
I peel my eyes open slowly.
"How are you feeling?" he asks.
"Tired. I just want to rest," I mutter.
Dr. Connors checks my vitals before he proceeds to explain the tests they took.
"Your heart rate dropped, as did your blood pressure. We're going to be monitoring that for the next twenty-four hours along with getting you hydrated and detoxed," he says, wrapping up his explanation.
We already had this conversation when I woke up the first time. The last thing I need is this damn doctor in my face telling me the same things that I've heard from my agent a million times or more.
"Sure," I mumble, turning away as the nurse finishes taking my vitals.
I hear the doctor walking away, and then his footsteps stop in the doorway.
"Hi, Dr. Connors."
"Mr. Maxwell, it's been a while. I wish it were under better circumstances," Dr. Connors says.
"How is she?" Onyx asks.
Dr. Connors is one of my mother's colleagues. My mother is a neurosurgeon here at the hospital, and I can only pray that the doctor-patient confidentiality code is practiced in spite of her status.
If I had been awake when I was taken to the hospital, this would have been the last one I would have chosen, simply because my mother has a major presence here.
"Your sister was extremely dehydrated. She's going to be fine. You may go in and visit with her now. I think being in your presence might do her some good," the doctor says.
Rolling my eyes, I'm grateful that he didn't say more. My family is aware of the laxatives and diet pills that I take to keep the weight off which contribute to my dehydration. They also know that I have a bad habit of working out excessively.
It's a lifestyle that I became addicted to during my modeling years, and one which I still maintain.
"Dr. Connors, my sister's lifestyle, her drinking, and what I suspect may be an addiction to something else, I'm unsure what has to be addressed," Onyx says.
"Mr. Maxwell, you know that I'm not at liberty to discuss her health with you."
"I'm aware...I just...is there anything that we can do?"
"Just be here to support her however she needs you and whenever she needs you. You have a strong family, Mr. Maxwell. She's going to need all of you."
I hear the doctor shuffle out into the hallway as my brother steps further into the room.
"Hey, you," I greet my big brother from my bed, fiddling around with the nasal cannula and shifting to get more comfortable in the bed.
"Hey, you," he repeats.
That's how we greeted one another as kids whenever we would return from camp or a weekend away with friends. It's been a long time since I've greeted him that way.
He pulls up a chair on the side of the bed and takes my hand in his.
"Why am I not surprised that you're the first one here?" I murmur.
He presses my knuckles to his lips and kisses them.
"Ease up on the parents. You know they're in Italy. They're on the way."
"They don't have to be. You didn't need to come either. I don't know why Jade called you all. I hate that she always panics and jumps the gun. I'm thinking about firing her."
"Why? She's your agent and your best friend. Besides, she's got your best interest at heart."
Twisting my lips, I close my eyes, thinking about all the ways she's offended me lately.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just...she can't be making rash decisions like that, Onyx."
"She can when it's dealing with your family, Dani. We love you, and we just want you to be okay."
"I get that, but Mom. She doesn't need that worry. And Dad, I'll probably never hear the end of this from him. They were out of the country, for crying out loud. You were all the way on the West Coast. It was just dehydration."
"Dani, come on. It's me. You can tell me the truth."
"The truth is I was dehydrated! I told you that. Don't start with the conspiracy theories, please. I don't need that."
"Not a conspiracy, Dani. Just wondering what's really going on with my little sister."
"That," I say, pointing my finger at him. "That's what I'm talking about. You, Mom, and Dad are all in this conspiracy that I must be doing drugs or living this out-of-control life."
"That's where you're wrong. Mom thinks nothing of the sort. Me? I don't know what to think, and I don't like jumping to conclusions when I don't have the facts. That's why I ask the question first. It gives you a chance to be honest with me. Then, if you're not, I'll draw my own conclusions."
"Don't come down here looking for problems where there are none, Onyx. I overheard your conversation with the doctor."
"Baby girl, I'm not your enemy. I know that it may look that way from where you're sitting, but I love you. I'm here to make sure that you know that and to help in any way that I can."
"Don't need your help," I mumble, pulling my hand free of his.
"They said that you were dehydrated," he says, changing the subject.
Among other things, I think.
"Yeah," I reply weakly.
"Dani."
"Onyx."
I always hated it when he did that as a kid. It was a signal that he was about to lecture me for something as though he were my father and not my older brother.
"It's me, baby girl. What's going on with you? It seems like these last couple of years, you've been flying high and living life on the edge."
"I'm just living, Onyx."
"Yeah, but you're taking more risks now than you did all those years you lived in Italy. The modeling years appeared to be tamer than these years. What are you doing to yourself?"
"I'm not doing anything," I say, turning onto my side and away from my brother.
"You're hurting Mama and Dad. You're killing them, Dani."
Flipping over again, I glare at him and say, "I'm killing them?"
"They can't take the stress. They're up in age now, and they thought that by this time, their kids would be settled down. You're thirty-six, and you'll be thirty-seven if you live to see it this year. The DUIs were bad enough, but..."
"But what? Say it, Onyx," I ask, trembling and looking around for my purse.
"Look at you," he says, pointing at me.
"What about it?"
"Your hands are trembling, your pupils are small, your skin is pale, and your hands are cold. Are you on something, Dani?"
"No!" I deny. I'm unable to control the trembling of my hands.
"These last two years you seem high every time you come around, you're antsy, short-tempered, and you stay away from the family all the time. I swear it feels like I saw you more when you lived in Italy than I do now. And our houses are only twenty minutes from each other."
"Is this why you came? To lecture me?"
"No. I came because I received a phone call that my baby sister had passed out on set in front of a live audience, and that she was unresponsive. I came here because I was scared shitless at what I might find, and I needed to make sure you were okay."
"So that you can do what? Call Mommy and Daddy and report to them?"
"If that's what needs to happen."
I groan, closing my eyes and pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes.
"How are Cove and Summer doing?" I ask of my three-year-old nephew and one-year-old niece, changing the subject.
"They're growing, busy learning and getting into everything. I think they miss their Tee-Tee DD," he says, referencing the name that Cove calls me.
"They don't need to see me."
"What makes you say that?" he asks.
Shaking my head, I say, "I'm tired, Onyx. I need some sleep."
"Fine. Get some rest. I'll be sitting right here waiting for you when you wake up."
"You don't have to."
"I want to, Dani. Because I love you, and you need to know that."
He presses a kiss to my forehead as my eyelids drift closed.