What They Left Behind

Gennie was so happy for Ben. Finally, she thought, he found someone. She hoped his life with Annie would be as wonderful as her life with Rory. She didn’t know why but she was thinking about him all the time lately. He had been working extra-long hours on the set. Usually by the time he arrived home, she was already in bed. He loved doing the show though. He had gotten more involved in the inner workings of it. He wrote a couple of episodes and now he was actually doing his own stunts. His agent cringed when he told him, but Rory believed it made the show more credible. Gennie supported him in that belief. She figured he was working in controlled conditions and that everything was perfectly safe.

  The third season finale had Rory’s character flying a helicopter in order to capture a felon who had kidnapped the governor’s teenage daughter. Rory asked the director several months before the episode was shot if he could be the one to fly the helicopter. At first, the director was wary of the idea because of insurance reasons, but after some persuading, allowed him to do it. Rory then spent most of his weekends training to be a helicopter pilot. Though Gennie missed him, she was excited for him at the same time. The day he was officially licensed, they went for a grand tour of Los Angeles via helicopter. Gennie thought it was fantastic and Michele had a ball.

  “You know,” Gennie mentioned to Rory after the helicopter ride was over, “If this acting thing doesn’t pan out, you could always fly a helicopter for a living. Maybe you could cover those high speed chases for the news.”

  The scene was going to be shot in Death Valley in the early evening and Rory invited Gennie and Michele out there to watch. They rarely came on location, because usually it was extremely boring, but Gennie and Michele were there for this one.

  The director insisted that Rory wear a helmet and even though he protested, the director won out.

  “Do what he says, Rory,” Gennie told him.

  “See,” the director replied, “now there is the voice of reason.”

  “All right,” Rory said, plopping the blue and red helmet onto his head. “I hope there’s no close up shots because I look like an idiot in this thing.”

  “You look fine,” Gennie said.

  “I think you look cool,” Michele replied, “like Evel Knievel.”

  “One minute!” the producer shouted.

  “Wish me luck,” Rory said.

  Gennie gave him a kiss, followed by Michele.

  “I love you,” Gennie said.

  “I love you too Sweetheart,” he replied, “and I love my Michele.”

  “I love you, Daddy,” Michele said.

  They waved good-bye to him as he entered the helicopter. The producer gave him a thumbs-up to fly before the scene began filming. So much sand kicked up from the liftoff that everyone headed for the large tent set up about fifty yards away. Gennie covered Michele’s eyes as they ran toward it.

  When the helicopter turned back toward the crew, the producer signaled the car driven by the actor playing the felon to start the car and take off. The seventeen-year-old girl who was the kidnapped daughter waved to her mother from the back seat of the car.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be in the helicopter, Serena?” Gennie asked the star of the show.

  “I should be,” she said, with a touch of annoyance in her voice, “but Richie won’t let me. He said it was too much of a liability.”

  “Well, that doesn’t make a lot of sense, especially since he let Rory fly the helicopter.”

  “To tell you the truth, I think it was a bullshit answer. He’s just being jealous. I tried to explain to him that’s nothing’s going on between us, but he won’t listen. Actually, the writers wanted our characters to go to bed with each other by now, but Richie won’t have any of that.”

  “I wouldn’t have minded. I know it’s just a job,” Gennie said, though she was glad that future love scene would never happen.

  The crew watched intently as Rory gingerly lowered the helicopter. He was supposed to land on top of the car while it was moving. Filming would stop then Rory would take off again. The actual rescue scene would be filmed tomorrow.

  The helicopter began wobbling strangely all of a sudden. The tail bobbed at an awkward angle. Gennie grew concerned but she was confident that Rory would land the helicopter safely. Then, the helicopter suddenly spun out of control and hit the car.

  The crew watched the explosion in stunned silence. Not until the girl’s mother screamed that it hit Gennie what had just happened.

  “It must be a stunt,” she mumbled to herself.

  “Mommy,” Michele said, her eyes filled with tears, “Daddy’s all right, isn’t he?”

  She had no idea what to say.

  “I…” she began then fainted away.

  Chapter 55: May 1