Chapter 696 - 21: Accident

The shooting of the movie continued with the plot being Jasper gradually falling in love with Elizabeth.

Today, Acton wanted them to shoot a scene where Elizabeth would rescue Jasper after he locked and trapped himself in her house, which required some aerial movements, which Angela was excited for. 

"Angelo, are you ready?"

Hearing Acton's inquiry, Angelo put the script aside, made a gesture of OK to him, and walked in front of the green screen backdrop. The staff gathered around him, some fixing his makeup, and others helped him hang the wire and harness. Together, they lifted him up. 

Angela felt a jolt run through her; she had always enjoyed roller coasters and other wild rides, but the thought of being in the air with the solid ground below her made her giddy with fear and adrenaline. She decided to wiggle around to ensure the harness was tight enough.

As soon as she moved around a bit, Angela felt her harness sliding down slightly. The fear intensified, and she was sure she had a petrified expression on her face. 

Seeing Angelo's stupefied expression, Acton thought maybe he was afraid of being lifted high, just like those actors who had just started working in the entertainment industry. Thus, he quickly comforted him, "Angelo, don't be nervous. You just need to do a few simple actions, and you'll be down in a jiffy!"

Just when Acton stopped talking, Angela felt the harness tug and come loose. Even though she was only about twenty feet in the air, Angela felt like she was falling from a skyscr.a.p.er. The world rushed by in a blur, and she knew the pain was coming. It went by fast, yet slow, almost suspended. Then impact. Angela felt the bone in her arms move within her body as she collided with the ground. The mattress did little to break her fall. Then, everything became black as the air pushed against her face. Angela closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

The room was absolute pandemonium as Angela's petite body fell to the ground. Several crew members rushed to catch her, but they were too late. She had fallen and hit the ground lying on her broken arm like a rag doll.

Acton tried to remain calm, but the sweat droplets on his forehead gave it away. Even though he had encountered his stars getting hurt on the set before, no director liked to see them get hurt like this where it could be the fault of his equipment. Acton did not even want to think of Drake, he shuddered to think what the brother's response would be.

"Quick! Call an ambulance!" Acton shouted, urgently trying to calm everyone down.

The ambulance arrived within five minutes, and Angela had woken up by that time. However, her face was frowning due to the pain in her broken arm. Others were surprised to see her relatively quiet, only whimpering in pain when the paramedics manipulated her arm. She was carefully transferred on a gurney and wheeled out, and taken to the hospital.

Angela tried to be brave even though the pain in her arm was intensifying every second. Her head was pounding and slightly bleeding. The paramedics around her were trying to help her, but Angela thought they were only making the pain in her head worse. As she was wheeled out, Angela tried to smile and wave to the worried crew members who watched her with pity and fear. 

Acton walked over and inspected the harness. Why had it broken? He only ensured the best equipment was used on his sets to avoid accidents like this and, of course, litigation.

He frowned when he saw Angelo's phone at the side of the room, along with the rest of her things. Taking the opportunity, Acton briskly dialed Drake in a hurry from Angelo's phone. It was better to get this over with now than later in case he found out from another source or, worse, from social media! 

Drake, who was having a meeting at the moment, scowled when he saw Angelo was calling him. Did she not know he had an important meeting today?! He thought he could leave the room to talk, but his employees were talking about the latest operation plan of the company. On second thought, he rejected the call and put his phone back in his pocket, poker-faced.

Acton did not know what to do, saying to himself in a hurry, "Why isn't he answering?" he called Drake a few times again, but still no one answered. He was at a loss; just at that moment, he received a call from someone named 'Hale.' 

Acton quickly answered, but before he could say anything, he heard someone speak, "Angelo, what do you want to eat tonight?"

Acton replied, "This is not Angelo. This is Acton Moore, his director. He had an accident today and was injured. She has been taken to Hopkins Hospital."

"Oh, God! Is she alright!?" Hale asked. Despite Hale not liking Angelo previously, he was starting to get a soft spot for the Thorne family's adopted child ever since he had started to aid him in the kitchen. Hale felt sorry for him at times since Angelo did not have a family of his own and tried to be kind to him. And now, when things were finally starting to go Angelo's way, this happens! 

"Yes, she was awake when she left for the hospital. I believe she only has a broken arm," Acton replied, praying that was the extent of her injuries. "I can't reach Drake. Can you please let him know to come to the hospital?"

Hearing this, Hale was stunned for a moment but agreed and hung up.  If something happened to Angelo in the past, Drake would not have taken it seriously. But recently, everyone could see Drake's attitude towards Angelo had transformed, so she dare not neglect it.

Hale first called Drake's secretary and told him to immediately transfer the phone to Drake's line. However, he informed him Drake was in an important meeting. Hale did not know what was worse – interrupting Drake's meeting or delaying letting him know Angelo was hurt and in the hospital. 

After hanging up the phone, the secretary walked into the conference room with trepidation. He hated to interrupt the meeting, but this was dire news. As soon as he walked into the door, the meeting paused, and all occupants turned to look at him. He could tell by Drake's frown that he would be talked to about this later. Ignoring the stares, he confidently strode towards Drake and whispered this news to Drake.