Chapter Five
Chapter Five
The sky was a gloomy shade of shale grey. Lou had tried to insist that she drive to wherever they were going, but Orlando had not relented. He was driving fast down a country road far from where they were staying. Lou had a growing sense of suspicion, she had never been into this area, and it was un-nerving driving with Orli - he drove like a three-fingered blind man.
"So, are you sure you don�t want to tell me where we are going?" Lou said slowly. Orli only turned, patting her knee and smiled. "Watch the road please." She said quickly. She didn�t usually backseat drive, but he was going awfully fast.
"Yes Mum.� Orli laughed. He pulled into another dirt road. This was getting more and more worrying.
Lou was looking out the window into the sky, hoping she would see some sign of what they were heading towards.
"Put this on please." Orli said throwing her a scarf and pointing to her eyes.
Lou tied the scarf over her eyes, figuring that it would only do her more damage to fret and worry about where they were going. Orli kept driving, overhead Lou thought she heard a plane buzzing, and her grip on Orli�s hand tightened. Somewhere in the distance she thought she heard water running, very fast, very rough. But it didn�t mean anything; it was the plane that worried her.
Finally the car stopped, she heard Orli�s door open, someone running around the car, and then opening her door. Orli pulled her out gently guiding her across the gravel to a stop.
"Open your eyes now." He said, whipping the blindfold off her face.
Lou�s heart skipped a beat. Lodged in the ground in front of her was a sign reading:
Roy�s rapids.
"What do you think?" Orli said excited. He was jumping up and down like a little kid beside her.
"It's not skydiving." Lou said thoughtfully.
Orli pulled her towards him, kissing the tip of her nose. "I didn't know you liked skydiving!" he said, missing her point entirely. "But what do you really think?"
"I think you�re crazy. But you�ll have fun." She said. There was no way she was white water rapiding, not in this weather, not ever for that matter.
He looked sadly at her. "What do you mean 'I�ll have fun'? You�ll have fun too. We�ll have fun together." He said quickly. Lou was almost swept along by his excitement. But the thought of plunging down a freezing cold waterfall quickly quelled any romantic images of her and Orli. No, white water rafting was a definite no-no. Up high on the list with spider farming and becoming a pilot. It was totally out of the question.
"I�m not going white water rafting with you, Orli. No way in hell will you get me into one of those little dinky death traps." Said Lou pointing to one of the state of the art inflatable duckies sitting on the shore beside a little wooden hut.
Orli grabbed her hands and pulled her towards the hut, smiling. For some reason she couldn�t seem to make her feet turn away from him.
"Fine. I�ll remember that. But this isn�t white water rafting. It�s black." He said opening the door to what looked like the office.
"Is that anything like a black run in the snow? Because if it is�then it�s not better. And you can�t make me." Lou crossed her arms like a child and stood her ground. Orli was talking to a small middle-aged man behind a counter who Lou took to be Ray.
"It�s perfectly safe, Lou." Orli called over his shoulder. His face was a study of contrived innocence.
Come on
*
Despite her refusal Lou still ended up standing on front of the raft in a wet suit waiting for Orli to emerge from the men�s change room. Lou kicked at the ground bitterly. How did she get roped into these things? And why did she always attract men who were dangerous, and further more, put her life in danger? All her thoughts where forgotten as Orli came bounding towards her with child-like enthusiasm. He was wearing a red wet suit, and Lou couldn�t help noting that although she had seen Labyrinth, and had never been able to take David Bowie seriously since, Orli in a wet suit seemed to�fit. She rolled her eyes as he clipped himself into a life jacket and offering her one edged backwards towards the boat, like he was luring her to the water.
"Fine. But if anything goes wrong. I�m never going to forgive you." She said as he clipped the jacket around her and grabbing her hand pulled her into the boat. "Never!"
Orli paddled them down the stream behind Ray�s boat, leading them into the caves. There were two other boats with people in them behind them, but as per usual Orli didn�t notice anyone but Lou, sitting beside him cross-legged biting her lip and clutching his arm for dear life.
He patted her hand affectionately. "Lou, this isn�t quite the crisis situation you make it out to be." He said as they entered the caves. The last thing he saw was Lou shuffling closer to him and shaking her head with a solemn expression on her beautiful face.
Orli smiled, even though he couldn�t see her, he could feel her breath, and smell that fragrance about her that always made him crazy. Seeing her standing next to the boat as he came out of the change room Orli realised his real motives behind taking her rafting. It was a chance for them to be close, which he loved, and for him to be the hero, plus she looked amazing in a wet suit.
"This isn�t so bad. I don�t mind this." Lou said softly to herself. It wasn�t though. It was just very dark. Every now and again she could see Orli�s teeth flash in a smile, and following that beacon she gave him a kiss. "At least it wasn�t skydiving." She said to him.
Orli�s face furrowed in a frown. "I thought you said you liked skydiving?" He said, just as they reached a small ledge in the flow of water that let them down quickly like a step.
From the first boat Ray yelled back that it was time for them all to turn on their lights. With this Ray himself turned a nob on his helmet and a small but powerful light came on. The others all followed suite quickly.
Lou worried her face into an intense frown and looked towards Orli. "What does he mean 'a little more dangerous'? And what is that sound?" But she soon found out.
After a few seconds the narrow tunnel they had been following for about half an hour widened into a massive cavern. Devils� Arch. The water ran much to fast for Lou�s liking through this part of the cave, and it seemed to dip and curve at every angel in the middle of their coarse.
Orli laughed and steered them through the arch and out into the light of day. He was paddling hard from the moment they exited the cave, and couldn�t help noting that this water was extremely hard to control, and he began to have the slightest of doubts about his ability as a boatman. And after all his training�
"I hate you." Lou yelled over the roar of the water as they tipped down another little waterfall that led them into a complicated maze of aquatic obstacles. Orli was to busy keeping the boat up to notice what she was saying. He just smiled and winked.Why is the water so high? Isn�t this a little more than unsafe? Lou thought to herself.
"Ok Folks, just steer to the left, there�s a rock coming up in the river that would unsettle a wild boar." Ray said over the roaring water.
Lou saw the rock coming, it was a glazed looking black hippo in her mind, she could see it moving closer and closer, and Orli didn�t seem to have heard Ray saying it was there. "Orli!" Lou said, grabbing his arm to force him to the left. At that moment Lou felt like everything moved in slow motion.
*
Orli was sitting with his head in his hands when Mr Perez arrived at the hospital. It had been two hours since he had sat in Ray�s Rapids office and watched as Ray called an ambulance. He'd sat with Lou cradled in his arms, the wet crowd of other rapiders whispering behind their hands in worry. He kept seeing the same thing playing over and over in his mind. Lou�s beautiful face twisted into a pained gasp, Lou being pulled from the boat into the water, and hearing the sickening thud of her head against the rock over the roar of the water. He sat silently cursing himself for being so stupid and believing Ray about the water being safe. He had seen it. He had seen the water, known it was much too high, but he had still gone. Thought it would be fun with Lou. He had thought it would be fun to play the hero.
Lou lay in the hospital bed unconscious. She looked normal, but she had that sickly hospital shine to her skin, and she looked a little paler. Looking through the glass window at her, he could see her left arm cast in a ridiculously thick plaster. Mr Perez listening to the doctor, telling him what Orli kept hearing in his head.
"She�s not in a critical condition. She�s a very resilient girl. And lucky. It's a mystery to me how the force of that blow didn't split her skull in half. It's likely her system got a shock from the cold an inch of a second before she hit, and so I suppose the impact didn�t have a full effect on her skull. If she had of been conscious when she hit�well, I can�t say what would have happened. The important thing is that the worst that can come from this is a broken arm. Thank your lucky stars that Mr Bloom got to her when he did, though." Said the doctor giving a grateful glance at Orli, who had securely plastered himself to the window.
Mr Perez looked up at Orli and said a silent thank you to the doctor. He got up and walked outside just as Peter Jackson arrived at Lou�s door. "How is she Perez?" Peter said.
"She�s fine. Broken arm." Said Perez. He seemed tired. Filming such an important movie was taking the life out of him and he felt an amazing relief that Louise wasn�t worse off.
Peter turned to Orli. "Orlando. Please tell me again how, and why you two were rafting in this weather." Peter said indicating with a sweep of his hand the rain that had started to pour the second they reached the hospital.
"We�I invited Lou rafting. And it was fine. The guy, he said it would be fine�" Orli trailed off. He didn�t like the look on Jackson�s face. Or Perez�s for that matter.
"This is going to cost some money Orli. It�s pulling us away from filming. I was busy today, and I'm stretched as it is, between multiple sets, I don't need to be stretched to a hospital as well. This is what the rules are for, Orli�what were you doing dating someone on set?" He said quietly.
Orli stared at Lou in her bed. He knew what was coming. He wished she were awake so he could apologise.
"Loathed as I am to say this Orli, because I love you both dearly, but one of you has to go. I can�t have hassles like this." Peter said half to himself, half to the gaunt actor looking forlornly into the hospital room. "It can�t be you Orli. It�s out of the question. I don't like having to do this, you have no idea how much trouble it is going to be to find someone equally trained to replace Louise..." Peter trailed off. " I think we both know the only other answer is for Louise�And I think, in time, you'll realise it's the best for you as well�"
"No! She didn�t want this to happen." Orli said. He sounded so lame.
"Well obviously she didn�t." Perez interjected.
"No, you don�t understand. She didn�t want to see me, and I convinced her, don�t take her job from her because I�m an arsehole." Orli said sadly to Peter. But he could see that Peter had already made up his mind. " Can�t we just�not see each other? I�ll use someone else. She�ll make-up other people." Orli said desperately. " There has got to be a way to work around this.
"No Orlando. This is how it must be, this is what a contract is, you sign, you follow the rules. You�re lucky I�m not taking legal action. Ok? It�s all in the contract." Peter said turning and walking away. Perez followed him.
*
Orli sat slumped in the driver seat of Lou�s beaten up rental. Lou was opening the door to her motel and walking towards the car, opening the car door.
"Thanks for coming to pick me up." She said quietly. She tried to pull the belt down, but couldn�t with her arm. After a minute Orli reached over and pulled it down for her. Lou could feel his breath he was so close, but it didn�t bring back happy memories of their time together. It brought back the pain of seeing Perez sitting next to her bed saying she was going home to Australia. She clicked the belt in and turned towards the window. Orli sat in silence for a second before turning the ignition and driving away from the motel in the direction of the airport.
"I�m sorry Lou�" he started but she cut him off.
"No." she said quietly. "This the way it has to be."
They sat in silence until the airport came into view.
Pulling into the loading area that said �International Departures' in brightly-lit letters Orli put Lou�s bag onto a trolley and wheeled it into the airport.
He waited for Lou collected her ticket, and to come walking towards where he was sitting, beside the big windows that showed the planes. His heart stopped in his chest when he saw her walking towards him. She looked thinner and paler than when he had first seen her, also in an airport. But so much had happened. Back then she had been full of excitement, as had he. Like someone had switched off a little button in her, that light had gone out. Back then there had been attraction from the beginning, now�after all that had happened, there seemed to be nothing.
Lou sat beside him in a chair and fiddled with a little piece of plaster that was coming off her cast. She looked so young, so vulnerable with her long, messy hair and signatured cast. The only 'goodbye' missing from her white, stone-like arm, was Orli's.
"What are you going to do now?" He said after a few minutes.
"Well, they offered to pay for me to go home to Sydney, with Mum. But I decided I�m going to go stay with some friends in London for a while. There�s a job there�not that it�s any of your business." She said loftily. She had been like this since she had woken up in the hospital.
Again there was silence between the two. Orli felt tears prick his eyes. "Can I call you there?" He choked out. Why does this have to be so hard?
"I think you know the answer to that question, Orlando." She said simply. Her words stung as the speaker over head announced that 'those boarding flight 297 to London must alight now'. She always called him Orlando when she was angry with him. Standing, Lou walked towards the boarding doors. Orli grabbed her hand.
"Don�t leave like this. Stay here with me." He said quietly.
She pulled her hand from his and turned to walk towards the boarding gate without a word.
"Lou!" Orli called.
She turned around to look at him while the attendant checked her ticket.
"I love you." He said.
Lou just looked at him like she was made of stone. And turned. She continued walking towards the door, down the tunnel.
Orli wiped at his eyes and turning walked back towards the exit. This can�t be the end.
*
Inside the plane Lou sat in her seat. Huge, ravenous sobs rolling through her body. When she hadn�t cried from Orli saying he loved her, she thought her heart had turned to stone. How could she not respond to the pleading in his eyes? He had never looked at her like that.
***
A journey through another world.
The water was getting faster now, an every few seconds Lou thought she saw a light as if at the end of a tunnel. She could hear the increased pressure of the water now roaring along beneath the duckie. "Ok, just ahead is what they call the Devil�s Arch, and then we come into the real fun." Ray yelled back. Orli smiled and paddled a little harder. Lou frowned and grabbed hold of Orli�s arm. "The water level is very high right now from the rain, it�s a little more dangerous than usual, but also a lot more fun for you folks." He said.
She saw Orli�s hand slip from the paddle, and the paddle fall with an almost silent slosh into the river swallowed at a moment's notice. She saw them being quickly pulled towards the rock by an invisible rift caused by the mammoth stone.
They bumped along for a lifetime, Orli reaching around to grope for the paddle, Lou only looking forward in silent horror as they moved within inches of the rock. Two milli-seconds before they could hit it , the basic human impulse for protection kicked in, and She pushed out her hand against the rock, she felt the duckie whack against her arm and felt the bone break in her left arm. Lou felt the flimsy boat buckle with the action of her arm twisting against the rock, which flung the boat sideways against the rock, capsizing the entire craft.
Lou was pulled into the water by her trapped arm, and she only noticed the cold for an instant before her head hit the rock, and then there was nothing but a warm and endless darkness.
It all kept playing in his head, over and over and over until he couldn�t handle it any more and he found himself wishing she had never met him.
But she didn�t see the old Orli any more. All she saw was that rock, like doom looming towards her. And an amazing pain. She just wasn�t sure if it was from her arm. Or her heart.
Lou lowered her head in tears as the plane took off.