INFINITE (Eminem Fan Fiction)

Chapter 36: Shit Can Happen

The guards helped her backstage and Mark and Paul found her at the exact same time. Mark pulled up a chair for her and forced her to sit down, handing her a bottle of water while calling out for a medic. Paul seemed to be interrogating her.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

Riley struggled to get the words out and spoke carefully. “Fine… fell… too close to the edge…”

Paul cursed as two medics arrived and asked her where she was in pain. She motioned to her side as one of the medics unbuttoned her shirt and revealed the huge purple bruises that seemed to have formed instantly. They covered a palm sized swelling over her ribs. She closed her eyes, focusing on overcoming the pain. As she breathed, she started to feel better. While it was intense to breathe and talk, just sitting there, she didn’t feel too bad.

The medic shook his head, running a smooth hand over the wound. Riley gasped in pain. “I’m going to say that’s a clean break. Two ribs, on the side.”

Mark seemed horrified, “Break? Is she going to be okay?”

The medic nodded, “It’d painful but they heal on their own. There’s nothing you can do but check her into a hospital, get some x-rays to confirm, make sure she doesn’t have any complications or has hit a lung. Are you having trouble breathing?”

Riley wasn’t sure, “I’m okay,” She wheezed. At this rate she was going to ruin the whole show. She still had performances to do tonight. “It’s not...” She took in a deep breath, pain spiking up her side. “… easy but it’s tolerable.”

“We’ve got to get you to a hospital,” Paul insisted.

“No!” Riley practically yelled. Paul, Mark and the medics all gave her a surprised look.

“I have to…” She took another shallow breath, “Finish the show. Please. I’m fine.”

To prove it, she stood up and shook off the pain. It was hard to ignore but she knew if she focused on her performance, she’d be find onstage. Besides, the medic had said there wasn’t much he could do so there wasn’t much point in quitting.

Paul looked skeptical while Mark just flat out blew her off, “You’re crazy. You’re not going out there again.”

Paul was rubbing his chin, as if he could be persuaded. She practically begged, “I’ve caused so much trouble already. I can’t just cancel. I promise if I can’t handle it I’ll get offstage.”

Paul eyed Mark who didn’t seem convinced, “We don’t have a replacement and she says she’d okay.”

Mark was grinding his teeth together as if he absolutely despised the idea of her being out there injured. But Riley gave him the most reassuring ‘I can do this’ look and he caved, “Fine. But if you can’t take it you must come offstage, understand?”

Riley nodded and made a conscious effort to walk back to her dressing room normally. If she was going to dance and perform on stage, she had to start acting like she wasn’t in extraordinary amount of pain right then and there. She had to be professional and strong. She just had to make up from the fact that she’d ruined the whole skit by falling offstage. She only prayed that it would prove to Paul that she could do this.

After having to explain what happened to Sky and Barbie as she walked in, they helped her cover the bruise in heavy make up as gently as they could. With the skimpy outfit she was wearing, you could still see the bulge but she knew from a distance, people wouldn’t be able to tell it was broken ribs. Before she knew it, she was back on the side of the stage, ready to go on, heart set on proving everybody she could be professional no matter how much pain she was in. She just had to do this a few more times, then they’d all see.