Chương 13
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
He began laughing.
Alessia stared at him.
“You're supposed to be concerned.”
“I am deeply concerned.”
“It was six in the morning.”
“That does not help.”
She started laughing too.
For several seconds, standing awkwardly on crutches in a wrinkled formal dress with a broken ankle, Alessia laughed about earrings in a freezer until tears appeared for a reason she could tolerate.
Then the laughter changed.
It left too quickly.
Her face folded before she could stop it.
Valerio's expression shifted.
Alessia looked down.
“Don't.”
He stayed where he was.
“I said don't.”
“I am not doing anything.”
“That is somehow annoying too.”
She wiped beneath one eye with the heel of her hand.
“I am so tired.”
“I know.”
“I hate that everyone saw.”
Valerio's voice softened.
“The fall?”
“Everything.”
He did not ask what everything meant.
That made it easier.
She lowered herself onto the couch badly and pulled the injured leg onto a stack of cushions Valerio arranged after receiving three corrections.
The fourth arrangement satisfied her.
He disappeared into the kitchen and returned with water.
“I don't need that.”
“You haven't had anything since the hospital.”
“I had pretzels.”
“Three.”
“You counted?”
“They escaped violently.”
She took the glass.
Valerio sat in the armchair across from her.
For a while, the apartment was silent.
The refrigerator hummed.
A car passed outside.
Someone above them dropped something heavy and then apparently decided not to investigate it.
Alessia drank half the water.
Then she said, “Give me my phone.”
Valerio reached into his pocket.
Before handing it over, he asked, “Are you sure?”
“No.”
He gave it to her anyway.
There were ninety-three unread messages.
Alessia stared at the number.
“That's disgusting.”
“Put it down.”
“No.”
She opened the screen.
The first notification was not from family.
It was from Nina.
I found something else in the video.
Alessia's exhaustion disappeared.
She opened the message.
A second line appeared.
Before Veronica pulls the chair, she looks directly at Paige and nods.
Alessia read Nina's second message three times before handing the phone to Valerio.
He watched the clip without sound.
His face did not change until the final second.
Then he replayed it.
“Do you see it?”
“Yes.”
“What does it mean?”
“I don't know.”
“That looked like a signal.”
“It looked like a nod.”
“To Paige.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't tell us why.”
Alessia took the phone back.
The video was longer than the seven-second clip circulating online.
Nina's original recording began with somebody laughing near the table and the quartet finishing a song in the background.
Veronica stood behind Alessia with one hand resting lightly on the chair.
Several feet away, Paige was half turned toward them.
Veronica glanced at Paige.
Paige raised her phone.
Veronica nodded.
Then the chair moved.
Alessia fell.
The sequence lasted perhaps two seconds.
It was not proof of a conspiracy.
It was enough to make Alessia's skin go cold.
“Call Nina.”
Valerio raised an eyebrow.
“You told me to stop organizing.”
“This is me organizing.”
“Excellent progress.”
She called.
Nina answered on the second ring.
“Are you okay?”
“I've been better.”
“I am so sorry.”
“Nina, what was Paige doing?”
Silence.
“That is why I messaged you.”
“What was she doing?”
“I think she was filming.”
Alessia looked at Valerio.
“On purpose?”
“I don't know.”
“Nina.”
“I really don't know.”
Her voice shook.
“I was looking at my own screen when it happened.”
“Why would Veronica signal her?”
“I don't know.”
A pause followed.
Then Nina added, “But Paige was laughing before you fell.”
Alessia felt something settle in her chest.
Not shock.
Confirmation.
“Did you hear them say anything?”
“No.”
“Did Paige tell you anything afterward?”
Another pause.
“Nina.”
“She said, ‘That was supposed to be funny.’”
Valerio's eyes hardened.
Alessia gripped the phone.
“When?”
“When the paramedics came in.”
“Did Veronica hear her?”
“I don't think so.”
“Where is Paige now?”
“She left.”
“Of course she did.”
Nina spoke quickly.
“Alessia, I don't think Paige expected you to get hurt.”
“That doesn't matter.”
The sentence surprised Alessia because she meant it immediately.
Nina went quiet.
Alessia continued.
“I don't mean it doesn't matter at all.”
She looked at her splint.
“I mean it doesn't turn it into an accident.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Nina sounded tired.
“I should have said something sooner.”
“You froze.”
“I did.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“It felt like it.”
Alessia closed her eyes.
For once she did not rush to reassure someone.
“You can feel bad about freezing without pretending you caused it.”
Nina breathed out.
“Okay.”
“Keep the original.”
“And please don't send it to anyone else.”
“I won't.”
After the call ended, Valerio remained silent.
Alessia leaned back against the couch.
“So they planned to film it.”
“Possibly.”
“That is a very lawyerly word.”
“It is an accurate one.”
She looked at him.
“You think I should do something.”
“I think you should sleep.”
“That is not what I meant.”
“I know.”
“What would you do?”
Valerio rubbed his hands together once.
“If I were you?”
“Yes.”
“I would not post tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because you are hurt, exhausted, medicated, angry, and being pressured from every direction.”
“That sounds condescending.”
“It is meant respectfully.”
“Poor execution.”
He nodded.
“I would keep the original video.”
“I would document what the doctors told you.”
“Fine.”
“I would not argue with strangers online.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“And I would decide what I actually want before choosing a weapon simply because everyone else has handed me one.”
Alessia looked down at the phone.
“A weapon.”
“Public attention can become one.”
She hated that he was right.
She also hated that part of her wanted to use it.
Not to ruin Veronica.
To make her feel, for once, what it was like to lose control of the story.
That desire embarrassed Alessia.
It also felt honest.
“I want her to stop.”
Valerio's expression softened.
“Then start there.”
May you like
Alessia slept badly.
Pain woke her twice.
