Chapter 281 - 281: 281 | An Unfortunate Accident

<🎧 Song Recommendation: São Paulo by The Weeknd, Anitta>

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(Friday, November 6th, 2020 — Rogers Arena, Vancouver)

By early afternoon, the crew was already running through the final changes to that night's show. Von had spent most of the morning in the rehearsal room, while David moved between the stage and loading dock with two radios clipped to his belt.

One of the motorized floor carriages used to move a wide illuminated arch had failed inspection during load-in. The technicians had removed it from service, and a local production supplier had offered a compatible replacement with its own inspection paperwork.

David wasn't happy about the timing, especially since the supplier's paperwork had arrived before his request for an independent inspection could be completed.

"We can cut the effect," he told Emily beside the production desk. "It'll change the transition, but nobody in the audience will know."

Emily checked the revised schedule on her tablet. "The replacement is already here, and their supervisor says it's been inspected."

"Their supervisor says a lot of things. I asked for an independent check."

"And he sent the certificate. I've forwarded it to our rigging team." Emily turned the tablet so David could see the supplier's confirmation. "If your people reject it, we cut the effect. But I'm not holding the replacement for another outside inspector when the supplier and our own crew have already cleared it."

David studied the document before nodding reluctantly. "Fine. But I'm not sending Von anywhere near that thing until the crew signs off."

"Good. Because I'm not interested in explaining to him why we've spent half the afternoon arguing over a metal rectangle."

She signed the expedited acceptance form, accepting the supplier's certification in place of the independent recheck David had requested. Their own crew ran the replacement carriage through a movement test and reported no problems. With the technical sign-off in hand, David gave the rehearsal team permission to continue.

Von arrived a little after two with Alex and Conor, carrying a water bottle and complaining about how cold the arena was.

"Why is it always so damn cold here?" Von complained, rubbing his hands together. "I've been freezing since I got out of bed."

"It's November, genius," Alex replied, checking the tuning on his guitar.

Conor grinned from behind his drum kit. "Wait till we get back to Chicago. I'll show you cold."

"I didn't ask for a competition, bro."

Kiana called them into position before the argument could get any worse. The section they were rehearsing required Von to come off the circular runway, cross the main stage and join the dancers as the illuminated arch moved into place behind him. They had performed the sequence several times already on the tour. Today, they only needed to check that the replacement frame moved at the correct speed.

The first pass went well. Von crossed the marked section of the stage, completed the turn with Kiana's dancers and stopped when David called for a reset.

On the second pass, a harsh metallic sound came from the moving arch. Von heard it and turned his head just as the structure jerked sideways. One end dipped, dragging its support into the path he had been crossing a moment earlier. A technician shouted for everyone to clear the stage, but the frame was already falling.

Von threw himself away from the dancers. He was fast enough to avoid the upper section, which struck the floor with a crash that shook the stage beneath him. But the lower support clipped his side and caught his right leg against the raised edge of the runway.

CRASH!

The impact drove the air from his lungs. He tried to pull free and felt something give inside his leg, followed by pain so sharp that his vision blurred.

"VON!"

Someone was screaming his name. The music stopped, and boots hammered across the stage as the crew rushed toward him.

He could hear Emily too, much closer now, arguing with someone who was telling her to stay back. Von tried to answer her, but drawing a breath hurt so badly that he couldn't get the words out.

David dropped to his knees beside him, speaking into his radio while the technicians held the unstable frame in place.

"Don't move him! Get the medics here. Now!"

Von looked down and saw his leg lying at an angle it definitely wasn't supposed to make.

'Oh, fuck.'

He tried to keep his eyes on David, but the overhead lights blurred together until he couldn't see anything at all.

When Von opened his eyes again, the first thing he noticed was the ceiling. It was white, unfamiliar, and far too bright.

He tried to move and immediately regretted it.

"Ah... shit."

Pain shot through his right leg, and a second ache caught him along the ribs as he instinctively tried to sit up. A monitor beeped beside the bed, and he stopped moving long enough to realize there was a thick splint around his lower leg.

"Von?"

Emily was in the chair beside him. She stood so quickly that the chair scraped across the floor, then reached for the call button before he could say anything.

"Hey, don't move. Please. The doctor said you need to stay still."

He blinked at her. "Where am I?"

"Vancouver General. You've been here a few hours." She brushed a hand over her face and looked toward the door. "God, you scared the hell out of me."

"The stage..." Von glanced down at his leg again. "How bad?"

Emily hesitated, glancing toward the door, and his stomach sank before she could answer. A doctor entered with a nurse and went through the findings while Von listened.

His right tibia was fractured, two ribs were broken, and there was extensive bruising from the impact. He'd also lost consciousness, although the initial head scans had shown no bleeding. Orthopedics still needed to determine the best way to stabilize his leg, and they were keeping him under observation.

"When can I get back onstage?" Von asked.

The doctor looked at him for a moment. "Mr. Varley, we need to concentrate on getting you walking safely again. You're looking at weeks of recovery at a minimum, and returning to strenuous activity could take considerably longer."

"Weeks?"

"Yes. And that assumes there are no complications."

Von stared at his splinted leg. He'd been worried about missing tonight's show. Now the doctor was talking as though the rest of November might as well be erased.

"Where's David?"

"Outside with Olivia," Emily said. "He's speaking to the promoter and the insurance people. They're preparing to postpone tonight. Depending on what the doctors say, we might have to suspend the rest of the tour."