DISCLAIMER:I do not own, or have anything to do with Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, or anyone/anything associated with them. I also do not own Matchbox Twenty. Somara, Raina, and their parents belong to me.
*summary: Uses the song "Bright Lights" by Matchbox 20. When tragedy strikes down an acting prodigy by the name of Raina Johnson, can her sister, Somara - along with Orlando's help - pull everything back together in time to save the film Raina was working on...and herself?
THREE
...baby, baby, baby
when all your love is gone
who will save me
from all i'm up against out in this world...
In the months that followed, Raina moved in with me. I watched her closely, and even though she seemed normal, she grew significantly weaker as time went on. For a while we would go out to the Mall, the only one in town, and shop around just like we used to do back in high school, but eventually even that would tire her out too much. We began going out to movies, and took Orlando to the airport when he had decided his services were no longer needed to care for Raina...
"Rain...you call me if you need anythin', okay luv?" Raina simply nodded, as she hugged him tightly.
"I will. Be careful, Orli. When are you coming back?" Raina inquired, casting a glance in my direction. He followed her glance and gave me a nervous smile.
"Two weeks if all goes well. Just a couple of re-shoots for Return of the King, and I should be through. I'll be back before you know it," Orlando turned to me and pulled the baseball cap down over his eyes. "Somara, it was great meetin' you. Call me if you need my help before I can get back...I'll try my hardest to..."
I held up a hand. "Thank you, Orli...but you're not skipping out on your contract for us. Just come back when you're done," I pulled him into a reluctant hug. "Thank you for everything already. You've been wonderful."
He then gave me that grin that I'd seen the first time I'd met him, the OrliGrin, as I'd come to call it, and I felt my knees go weak once more. Gods, I knew he was beautiful, and there was definitely chemistry there, but my sister came before my happiness, and Orli seemed to recognize that. He nodded and slipped his carry-on bag over his shoulder.
"All right then, loves. I'm off," he gave each of us a peck on the cheek, and turned to walk through the metal detectors. After he was through, he cast another glance in our direction, smiled, and gave a wave to us before turning and heading for his terminal that would take him to Dallas, Texas, and eventually back to LA to pack for his re-shoots in New Zealand.
I turned to Raina, who just looked at me angrily.
"What?!" I shrugged, laughing at the face my sister was making at me.
"I may be sick, but I am not stupid, Miss Somara. You love him, do you not?" Raina's voice cracked, but never wavered in intensity.
"Ray...I wouldn't say love..," Raina shook her head.
"Girl, you are so blind. By the time this is all over, you two had better be together. By God, if it is the last thing I do on this Earth, you two will at least have gone out on one date, have had one kiss, and a blast in the process. You will fall for each other, if I have to do it from beyond the grave. Somara, you two are perfect for each other. Why don't you see it?" Raina continued to plead with me as we made our way out to my car. "And don't you dare say that it's because you're too concerned with me and my health to have a love life, Somara Kali!"
I remained quiet for a moment, simply looking at my weakening. "Then I suppose I have no answer."
Raina flung her hands up in the air and twisted around to sit correctly in the front seat. "I give up on you, Somara!" She laughed. "I love you, you are my sister, but you...are impossible!"
I laughed as I got into my car and started the engine. "Okay, Ray. When he comes back, I'll go out with him, deal?" I watched Raina bounce in her seat out of the corner of my eye. She giggled just like the sister I had always known, and turned to me as I pulled away from the toll booth and out into the street. "BUT - it's on one condition."
"What's that?" she replied with a grin, batting her eyelashes at me in the most absurd manner possible.
"Orli has to ask me out...you know I don't ask guys out! You will get him to ask me, or no deal! And one other thing," Raina raised an eyebrow at me, and I lowered my voice. "No more of this 'when this is all over' crap. It scares me, Ray. I'm not losing you."
Raina took my hand in hers and squeezed my palm lightly. "It's a deal. I promise...not another word about it." I nodded, and the two of us drove home in silence.
*
Orlando arrived at his home in LA about four hours later, and had begun to pack for his flight back to New Zealand when the telephone on his night stand began to ring.
"Bugger," Orli cursed as he picked up the phone. " 'Lo?"
"Orli? It's Lij."
" 'Lo, 'Lijah. How are you?" Orli replied as he ran his fingers through his unruly curls and listened for the reply from Elijah Wood. Elijah had fallen hard for Raina after he'd met her, and the news of her cancer had been hard on the poor guy. Lij hadn't ever gotten up the courage to ask her out, and just when he had...Raina had broken the news to them all.
"Great, you? No...nevermind you, how's Raina?" Elijah asked softly, finding himself wanting to know the latest news, and yet not wanting to know anything at all about what was transpiring halfway across the country.
Orlando frowned. "Good, I suppose. She's getting weaker, Lij, and I..." Orli paused and thought about what he was going to say. For the first time, he was coming face-to-face with the all-too-real possibility of Raina's death. "I'm afraid she might not make it, Lij."
'God,' Orli prayed silently. 'Help Raina...please...'
*
Raina took a turn for the worse a month and a half after that trip to the airport, and gave me a bit of a panic. Orlando's return trip had gotten postponed, and it was the night before he was booked on a flight to return to us, that she became even worse than she had been before. It was as if she didn't want to even acknowledge me...and that scared me to death.
I called Orlando first thing, and begged him to get back to Lubbock as soon as he could manage. He was on a plane less than an hour later bound for Raina and myself. As soon as I hung up the phone with Orli, I was on the line with her doctor, and he told me to bring her in. I did, and they ran some tests. As I was waiting for the results, my cell phone rang out in the waiting room.
"Hello?"
"Somara?" I smiled despite the situation.
"Hello, Orli. What's..."
"Where are you?" His voice was persistent, and I knew he wasn't in the mood to joke around.
"University Medical Center. ER waiting room. Orli I..." I paused and sighed. "Where are you?"
"The airport. We'll be there shortly." I squinted at nothing in particular.
"WE? Orli...who's with you?"
"Ah...Elijah Wood," My jaw dropped. THE Elijah Wood? Okay, see, I could deal with Orlando, but having Elijah Wood coming over to sit at Raina's bedside was just over the top. Raina had had the hots for Elijah since we were children, and he had been in Flipper.
"Elijah...? No way..," I squeaked. "You're kidding right?"
"No, why?" Orli laughed slightly.
"You mean you don't know?" I inquired, listening to Orli's highly skeptical voice.
"Don't know what, Somara?" Orlando prodded from the other end of the line.
"That Raina has been madly in love with Elijah for years now..," I replied quietly, but still maintaining my matter-of-fact tone.
"Oh, really?" I could hear Orli's smile over the line, and I couldn't help but smile in return. Not only would Orlando and I have a date, but Elijah and Raina would be having one as well, if I had anything to say about it.
*
Shortly after hanging up the phone, the two actors rushed into the waiting room impatiently, their eyes scanning every occupant in the room for a familiar face. I felt my lips twitch with the beginnings of a smile, but I stilled them before the smile could spread.
"Orli. To your left, love." Orlando and Elijah whirled around to face me, Orli with a grin on his face, and Elijah with a dropped jaw. "Elijah Wood. I'll be damned," I smiled. "How are you?"
Lij fumbled for words, and I couldn't contain my laughter. "No worries. I've been waiting on you guys. Come on, let's go see Ray." I extended my hand for Orlando, and he accepted it with a smile. Elijah looked from Orli, to me, and then down to our joined hands with a raised eyebrow. I shooed him along, and pulled Orli beside me as we stalked down the hall to Raina's room.
When we made it to the room, Elijah dropped into the chair nearest Raina's bed, where she lay asleep, and let his head fall limply into his hands. Orli and I exchanged knowing grins as he pulled me into his arms. I breathed in deeply, inhaling his wonderful scent. Definitely the perfect Orlando Bloom scent...I made it a point to remember that scent, let me tell you. I smiled against his chest as he placed a light kiss to my temple and hugged me closer.
"She'll be fine, love. Just watch...she'll be up again tomorrow. Promise."
I let out a soft laugh as a tear fell down my cheek unbidden. I wiped away the traitorous droplet of water with the back of my hand and raised my hazel eyes to Orlando's deep brown ones.
"I hope you're right, Orli. I can't lose her..." I whispered, moving to wipe away another tear from my eye. Orlando batted my hand away and wiped his thumb across my cheek, taking the tear with it.
"No tears, Somara...no cryin', you hear me? She'll be fine." Orli pressed a soft kiss to my forehead and the bridge of my nose before hugging me to him once again.
The night was spent by Raina's bedside with Orlando enveloping me with caring whispers and caresses, all of us praying for Raina's recovery, and hoping for a miracle...
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