Just for a Moment

97 | Tumbling

"Tim, get me down from here!!" Joshua yelled, swinging across the theater. The rope on his left was now broken, which gave him enough momentum to continue moving back and forth across the stage.

"Get him down!" Tim was shouting to the crew. They were pulling on the ropes, trying to loosen them, but it wasn't working.

The rest of the cast were all in a frenzy as they ran to the stage. "What do we do!?" Olivia said frantically.

"Catch him if he falls!" Tim instructed.

"I'd really rather not!" Joshua yelled.

"Dude, you can let go of the basketball!" Larry shouted. Joshua did so and almost nailed Larry in the face.

"Sorry!"

Everyone was scrambling on the ground, pulling on the ropes in an attempt to bring him back down; it looked like a swarm of bees.

The distress and chaos continued as the stagehands ran around to every rope, accidentally dropping bags too while trying to figure out how to get him down. "All the blood has rushed to my head!" Joshua shouted.

"They're working on it!" Julia hollered.

"Work faster!!"

Eventually, the other half of the harness rig gave out, and Joshua came tumbling down in a screeching mess... right on top of Matt.

The other seven still standing crowded around the two to see if they were ok. Joshua rolled onto his back off of Matt with a groan, holding onto his left shoulder and staring at the ceiling. "Fuck... that didn't feel great," he mumbled.

Matt slowly sat up, holding his stomach where Joshua's hip had hit him. "What the hell was that?!" he screamed. "What happened to all the quadruple-checking to make sure everything was secure?"

Joe and Sofia helped Matt stand while the others went to Joshua. "How bad is it?" Olivia asked him, sitting on her knees next to him.

"The room's still fucking spinning," he grumbled. He was holding onto his upper left arm; his hips and lower body landed on Matt, leaving the rest to crash straight into the wooden stage floor.

They heard pounding footsteps on the stage and saw Tim come running over. "Oh my god!" he heaved. He dropped to his knees by Joshua. "Are you ok?"

"Well... I'm still alive after that," he answered.

"D- Do you need to go to the doctor?"

"I, uh... It wasn't that far of a fall."

"A- Are you sure? I really think someone should at least look you over."

"I just really want to lay down right now."

"Ok. Yeah, ok." They helped him to a standing position, and he almost lost his footing because his brain was still spinning. "Liv, can you take him to his trailer?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, of course." She looped an arm around his waist and stood on his right side to avoid touching anything that would be sensitive.

Once the pair was gone, Tim instructed the crew to try and fix the ropes, pulleys, and overall lift system and identify what went wrong.

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The walk to the front of the school was slow; Olivia didn't want to rush him and accidentally hurt him while Joshua was just flat-out in pain and walking steadier. Luckily, his trailer was fairly close since his last name was first.

When they made it to the trailers, Joshua let go of his left arm to find his keys in his pocket before remembering that he was still in the Troy Bolton jersey. "Livvy, my, uh... my keys are with my phone," he said, abashed.

"Don't worry about it," she said, noticing that he was turning shy. "I'll run and get everything."

She gave him a quick smile before darting off back toward the front doors of the school. Joshua sat down on the steps of his trailer, his arm absolutely killing him. Maybe I do need to have it looked at.

He tried stretching to straighten it, but that only hurt more, resulting in him recoiling in pain and pulling his arm back. The only comfortable position was holding it against his chest; that even hurt if he moved it too much in the wrong direction though.

Joshua played the last moments in his head repeatedly; he couldn't understand how this scene had gone so far south, especially with all the checks that the crew had done. It was a bit of a safety hazard anyway that there was nothing placed underneath him if that were to occur, but it wasn't too far off the ground, and it wasn't like anyone was expecting that to happen.

Chills went down his spine when he realized he would have to do this again for the actual episode; everyone was supposed to be standing below him, so there wasn't room for something to be placed to save him if he were to fall again. Maybe it could somehow be two different takes edited together.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he saw Olivia running from East High. She stopped almost directly at his feet. "Sorry," she heaved, "I... I couldn't find it... at first." She was bent over on her knees and panting.

Joshua chuckled and said, "You look like you just ran a marathon."

"Yeah, well..." she panted. She finally stood up straight and held his keys and phone.

Joshua stood up, wincing a little, to let her unlock his trailer door. Once it was open, Olivia gently helped Joshua to lay down on the small couch; well, it wasn't really a couch either, just some cushions placed on top of a box. Unfortunately, there were no pillows or armrests either, but it was better than nothing.

Joshua slowly laid on his right side, still holding his left arm. He was praying that it wasn't broken since staying in a cast for weeks indefinitely wasn't on his schedule. He hadn't actually fallen that far, so he was hoping the pain was instantaneous and would be gone (or at least better) by tomorrow.

"Is there anything else you need right now?" Olivia asked.

He didn't want to take any more of her time, knowing that she probably needed to head back inside to continue filming. The only thing was that he was afraid all the spinning would catch up with him. "C- Can you bring that trash can over? Just in case."

Olivia smiled and did so, chortling to herself over the fact that he sounded like a child whose parents were trying to introduce them to someone. "There," she said, placing it near yet not directly next to his head. "Are you going to be ok in here alone?"

He nodded. "Mhm. I'll be fine."

"Ok." She squatted down to his head level, his eyes locked on her face. "Don't hesitate to call anyone, ok?"

He nodded once again. "I will."

She squinted at him. "Promise?"

"I will," he emphasized like a child that's being scolded for doing something wrong. He even moved and stuck his pinky out. "I swear."

Olivia giggled and interlaced their pinkies, finding it strange that that simple contact was enough to make her feel something else. This boy.

Neither let go, waiting for the other to do so first. Both of their faces became scarlet as they slowly released their grips. "Um..." Olivia murmured, "I should probably, uh..." she stammered, sticking her thumb in the direction of the door.

"Yeah. No, yeah, probably," Joshua agreed, also struggling to make a sentence.

"So, I, uh... I'll see you later, Joshy."

"Yup, see you in a bit."

Olivia swiftly left the trailer, gently pulling the door closed as she stepped down and away from it. She ran her hands over her face and rubbed her temples, trying to chill out some. Literally, nothing happened. You're so overdramatic.

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I was watching Victorious clips on YouTube and gained inspiration from that one episode where Trina flies around a set because the equipment was sabotaged and everyone is trying to figure out what happened. (S2E9 - "Who Did it to Trina?")