The Greatest Showman - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Indescribable

Renly’s eyes fell on Rami’s buttocks, in fact, their uniforms had long since been completely joined after the backside was covered in mud, so because of that it was difficult to tell whether it was the waist or the buttocks but looking at Rami’s embarrassing posture, an absurd and comical idea was born.

“Rami?” Renly’s eyes remained on that branch, kneeling on both knees, then leaned close to Rami’s ear and inquired quietly, “Did something stab you in the flesh of your ass? Or was it in the midsection……”

Not waiting for Renly to finish his words, Rami anxiously interjected, “Yes, yes.” That feverish and anxious gesture made Renly trying to stop himself from laughing, poofing out a burst of air, he clenched his lower lip, which prevented him from laughing out loud.

Renly patted Rami’s shoulder, “sensitive parts, it is better for professionals to come and handle.” That mourning look fell into Rami’s eyes, he gritted his teeth fiercely, but in the end, he didn’t know how he should retort, and simply went back down on his back, burying his head under his hands.

“What the hell is going on?” James frowned and asked with worry in his eyes.

Renly did not immediately answer but raised his head to the crowd of onlookers and said, “It’s okay, it’s okay, Rami only suffered a little injury, and it’s not very easy for him to move.”

What Renly originally meant was that it was not convenient for Rami to stand up and walk, and that could be because he hurt his ankle, or maybe he suffered an internal injury, and all of this was in order to cover up for Rami. Unexpectedly, the onlookers showed understanding expressions all at once. Those meaningful expressions all showed sympathy for Rami. Renly wasn’t quite sure why – was there an ambiguity in his words?

James approached Renly’s ear and said in a lowered voice, “Did he hurt the man parts? Is it serious?”

Renly reversed the cause-and-effect connection in his head twice, and stared blankly, he really had to admire everyone’s brains, and everyone’s thought circuit was actually so identical. Looking at Rami, who was lying on the ground in shame, Renly felt that he might have backfired, but on second thought, he decided not to clear up this beautiful misunderstanding.

Renly whispered in James ‘ear and explained the situation of Rami briefly, this time it was James’ turn to be dumbfounded, looking at Renly in disbelief, and the outcome was confirmed by Renly’s nod, James pinched his thighs hard, which prevented him from laughing out loud on the spot.

“So, the bet earlier, count me as the winner.” Renly said in a serious manner, even at such a juncture he didn’t forget their bet.

James at first did not want to admit defeat, because Renly was betting on hitting his head, however, now that the location is so far down, and yet watching the medical staff carry Rami on the stretcher like a corpse, Rami’s legs were taut and straight, that appearance was really too comical. So, James nodded seriously, “You win.”

“Renly? Renly?” Rami called out in a small voice, looking around, “No one else knows, do they? Huh?” However, Rami got no response and propped up his upper body slightly, looking around for Renly, but the pain coming from his hip restricted his movements and he had to lie down again, “Renly?”

Not far away, Renly and James chatted with each other and went to the side to share their bet – a cigarette each.

Rami was temporarily absent from the scene because of an injury, but the consequences were not significant. The real star of the scene was James as Robert Leckie, everyone else was just a sidekick. So, the crew quickly returned to the shooting, but as expected, this scene could not be shot in one day, it was late at night, and they will have to continue tomorrow.

Rami plopped down on his bed and closed his eyes as exhaustion assaulted him, sending him drifting off into a half-sleep, half-awake state before a raucous voice like a raven came to his ears, “This is definitely the best blooper reel from the crew! The reporters during the promotional period would love this kind of hilarity.” “Maybe it will be popular on talk shows too.” “I think there may also be fans who would like to see the wounds ……” “Or maybe have Big Eyes repeat the moment… wait, did you see the situation clearly? That wooden stick went straight ‘poof’ into there?”

That humiliatingly vivid depiction made Rami finally unable to continue pretending to sleep any longer, his eyes opened as he viciously waited to be seen by Renly and James sitting in the hospital bed next to him, “You two!” Rami was almost gritting his teeth, but his temper softened again when his muscles cramped up and the muscles of his buttocks began to twitch due to too much strain.

Looking at this scene, Renly and James burst out laughing, and almost got paralyzed by laughing too much, also they didnt have any energy left to stand up. Rami, who was amidst his pain, wanted to complain and argue, but did not have the strength.

“Man, honestly, it’s not easy to get hurt in such an indescribable part of the body.” Renly’s eyes were full of sincerity, “So what the hell happened then? You lunged forward and arched your buttocks?”

As Renly interpreted, James recreated the situation, puckering his buttocks up high, “And then this? All of a sudden there was a ‘bang’?” Renly slapped James’ buttocks so hard that James fell into the hospital bed with an exaggerated wail, looking comically like Chaplin when he was alive.

Rami opened his mouth, his thoughts spun around in his head, but he didn’t manage to find a rebuttal, so he simply hung his head and said to himself, “Yes, that is so.”

“Haha!” Renly and James both burst out laughing again and actually high-fived each other, which made Rami also couldn’t help but smile, and then also gave up and shook his head helplessly and let out a loud laugh.

After laughing, Renly asked worriedly, “You look like you are in so much pain, did the doctor not give you anesthetic? Or maybe painkillers?”

Rami adjusted his posture, a moment ago he laughed so hard that his stomach muscles hurt a little, not wanting to do this adjustment, which then strained his wound, suddenly he grimaced a little, “No.” Rami clenched his teeth, “Because the injury is not very serious, as long as I rest a night it will be fine, so the doctor did not give me painkillers.”

“That might as well be a serious injury.” James was joking as he stood nearby.

Rami failed to catch his breath, as he turned his head to retort to James, only for Renly to give James a disdainful look first, “What a thoughtless thing to say.” Rami breathed a slight sigh of relief but did not have time to rejoice.

Renly’s later words immediately followed, “If the injury is too serious, people will misunderstand.”

Misunderstanding, what misunderstanding?

Rami turned his head and looked at Renly and James, who were talking nonsense in a serious manner. In agitation, he tried to get up, but as soon as the wound was involved, the indescribable pain swept over. Renly stepped forward and pressed Rami’s shoulder, “You have to rest well. Are you really planning to make your injury worse?”

Rami felt that his external injury was all right, but his internal injuries were the one that were very severe, and he was going to vomit blood if Renly continued to talk.

James finally stopped holding back and broke into laughter when he looked at Rami’s tangled and depressed expression, “Rookie, I finally know why Richard’s group is afraid to mess with you these days.”

Renly spread his hands with an innocent expression, “I didn’t do anything, I always insist on a friendly and cordial relationship, after all, I’m just a newcomer, I don’t have much experience or a resume, but I still have to get along with everyone, don’t I?”

After the unbearable torment of training camp, Richard and the others ceased to do anything for a while, but after they arrived in Australia, they returned to their old ways and joined forces to isolate Renly. However, things got more interesting after rumors started to spread that Richard was targeting Renly because he had confessed his love for him and had been rejected.

Richard was completely enraged, in his opinion, the news must have been fabricated by Renly, and he approached Renly to confront him. Unexpectedly, Renly politely expressed his understanding, “I respect everyone’s right to love, regardless of gender and age. Unfortunately, I can’t accept it, but I would still like to advise you that we are not high school students anymore, and the means to express our emotions needs to be more mature”.

Facing Renly’s appropriate and polite behavior, Richard completely lost the momentum, after that he was eager to give an explanation, accusing Renly of fabricating facts, and even swearing at him. In comparison, Renly did not do anything and did not respond at all, tolerating everything and generously giving his forgiveness, falling in the eyes of others, everyone believed that Richard lost his mind after he was rejected.

Richard missed the opportunity because of his impulsiveness, and after that, he was all just talk. Richard is one of those typical macho men and a supporter of white supremacy, being not only racist but also sexist. So being looked at in a different light by other people was worse than killing him.

“Renly, how long did you have to rest last time you were injured?” Rami asked curiously.

“Uh, less than forty-eight hours.” Renly tried to recall, but he found out his memory was a little bit blurry. In fact, it was only a few weeks ago he injured himself, but after staying in a crew for a long time, he gradually become one with Eugene and gradually began to blend himself with the hardships of the battlefield, so, all those details at the end of the list of memories started to become faint.

Tim told Renly that initially: when you get hurt, you feel grateful, then you feel bored, and later you start to feel guilty.

Renly now finally understood what that means, after the grueling environment of war penetrates deep into one’s blood, a powerful sense of crisis can become so habitual that it even becomes a kind of instinct that can never be eliminated. What’s worse is that one’s comrades are still fighting on the battlefield, with their lives hanging in the balance, while he is lying in a hospital bed, staying alive.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be back on set tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, before this open field scene is wrapped.” Renly gathered his thoughts and patted Rami’s shoulder, “You’ll do even better when you get back.”