Sandra Ball is a young actress who’s career was propelled by appearances in two spy thriller movies. As the result of an accident she is injured, trapped, and alone in a wooded area. She is rescued but faces a shattered career and a vastly altered life. Will that life be cut short by men more dangerous than the spies she faced on the screen? Sandra is the first of a series of stories with a cast common to the whole series. Other stories in the series include Jan, Karen and Denise, the one that brings them all together.
Sandra showed Joan her legs. From just above the knees they were covered with scars of various dimensions and states of healing. There were two nasty patches of dead flesh over her knees and more larger ones on the back of her lower legs. Several attempts at skin grafts had also failed. “Not pretty?”
“Rehabilitation after injury is sometimes difficult.”
“I’m in more pain now than at any time when I was trapped. I’m taking far too much pain medication. I need it. Let me be honest. I need the medicine as much as I need the pain relief. I know I’m addicted.” She put her face in her hands. “I never took drugs till I this happened except right after my parents died. I tried them a few times, didn’t like what they did and quit. I got drunk a couple times and swore off alcohol. Now I’m an addict to legal drugs. If they stopped them right now I might try to get them somewhere else.”
“Have you talked to the doctors about being less aggressive to allow your body to heal between surgeries?”
“I’ve asked to delay procedures but the lawyer just comes in and says, “Tomorrow the doctors are doing a procedure,” they hand me a paper and I sign it.”
“They don’t tell you what they are doing, why it is needed and what the risks are?”
“No. The studio lawyer brings in the paper, tells me a procedure must be done, sometimes today, sometimes tomorrow and hands me the paper to sign.”
“The studio lawyer? Not a doctor?” Joan realized that Sandra had just said that but the idea was so foreign to her that she rejected it.
“Sometimes there is a doctor. But not usually. Even when there is one he doesn’t say anything and when I ask questions they say, “You don”t need to worry about that,’ and they leave. It’s like I don’t matter.”
“Is there a nurse with them, anyone else?”
“No.”
“So a lawyer comes in, you sign and you have surgery.”
“Yes. He told me I am in breach of contract with the studio if I don’t sign.”
“How’s that?”
“There are clauses about fulfilling contracts. I don’t understand them. My agent told me to agree to surgeries the studio wants or they sue me for not doing it.”
“Are you getting out of here for a while today?”
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