Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 25: Indescribale Injury

Renly's gaze fell on Rami's buttocks. In fact, their military uniforms had long since merged into one after being completely covered in mud, making it difficult to accurately distinguish between the waist and buttocks. But seeing Rami's embarrassed posture, a ridiculous thought arose.

"Rami?" Renly's gaze remained on that small branch, kneeling on the ground with both knees, then leaned close to Rami's ear and whispered, "Is something stuck in your buttocks? Or is it in the middle..."

Before Renly could finish speaking, Rami hurriedly interrupted, "Yes, yes." The anxious gesture made Renly unable to hold back a burst of laughter, followed by biting his lip tightly to avoid bursting into laughter completely.

Renly patted Rami's shoulder. "Sensitive areas need professional attention." The mournful look fell into Rami's eyes. He gritted his teeth fiercely but still didn't know how to refute, so he simply lay down again, burying his head in his hands.

"What's going on?" James frowned, his eyes showing concern.

Renly didn't immediately answer. Instead, he raised his head and said to the onlookers, "It's nothing, just a minor injury to Rami. He's just a bit inconvenienced."

Originally Renly meant that it was inconvenient for Rami to stand and walk. It could be an ankle injury or internal injury, using this as a reason to cover up for Rami. Unexpectedly, the onlookers all showed knowing expressions, their meaningful looks all directed sympathetically towards Rami, leaving Renly puzzled—did his words have a double meaning?

James leaned close to Renly's ear, lowering his voice. "Injured in the manly parts? Is it serious?"

Renly pondered the cause and effect in his mind, and widened his eyes, truly admiring everyone's imagination, and their thought processes were surprisingly unanimous. Looking at Rami lying embarrassed on the ground, Renly felt like he might have made things worse. But after careful consideration, he decided not to clarify this beautiful misunderstanding.

Renly whispered to James' ear, explaining Rami's situation briefly. This left James dumbfounded, looking incredulously at Rami. Getting confirmation from Rami with a nod, James gripped his thigh hard to prevent himself from bursting into laughter on the spot.

"So, I won the bet just now," Renly said solemnly, not forgetting their wager even at such a moment.

At first, James didn't want to admit defeat because Renly had bet on hitting the head, but now the position had shifted so much. But watching the medical staff lift Rami onto a stretcher as if carrying a corpse, Rami's legs straightened stiffly, looking comical. So, James nodded seriously, "You won."

"Renly? Renly?" Rami whispered softly, looking around, "Do the others not know, right? Huh?" But Rami received no response, looking around for Renly's figure, but the pain in his buttocks limited his movement, forcing him to lie down again. "Renly?"

Not far away, Renly and James had sneaked away to share the winnings—each with a cigarette.

Rami temporarily missed filming this scene due to injury, but it didn't have much impact. The real protagonist of this scene was James playing Robert Leckie. Everyone else was just extras. So, the crew quickly resumed filming. As expected, this scene couldn't be completed in a day, it was already late at night, and they had to continue tomorrow.

Rami lay on the bed, closed his eyes, exhaustion creeping in, sending him into a semi-conscious state. Then he heard noises like crows in his ears, "This is definitely the most exciting behind-the-scenes footage of the crew! Reporters during the promotional period will love such anecdotes." "Maybe it will be popular on talk shows too." "I think some fans might want to see the wound..." "Or maybe make Big Eyes reenact the situation, did you really see clearly at that time? Did the stick just 'plunge' in?"

The vivid and humiliating description finally made Rami unable to continue pretending to sleep. He opened his eyes, waiting eagerly for Renly and James sitting on the next bed. "You two!" Rami almost gritted his teeth, but because of the effort, his muscles twitched, and the muscles of his buttocks began to spasm, softening his momentum.

Seeing this scene, Renly and James burst into laughter, almost laughing themselves into paralysis on the bed, unable to get up. In pain, Rami wanted to complain, wanted to argue, but he had no strength.

"Man, to be honest, it's not easy to get injured in such an indescribable place," Renly said sincerely, his eyes full of sincerity. "So what was the situation at the time? Did you lunge forward and then raise your buttocks?"

While Renly explained, James reenacted the situation, lifting his buttocks high. "And then? Suddenly it 'bang'?" Renly cooperated by patting James' buttocks, and James exaggeratedly cried out and fell back on the bed, looking like something out of a Charlie Chaplin film.

Rami opened his mouth, thoughts swirling in his mind, but couldn't find an opportunity to refute. So he simply lowered his head and said, "Yes, that's it."

"Haha!" Renly and James laughed heartily, even high-fiving each other, which made Rami unable to help but laugh too. Then he gave up and shook his head helplessly, laughing heartily.

Finally, after the laughter subsided, Renly asked with concern, "Seeing your painful expression, didn't the doctor give you anesthesia? Or painkillers?"

Rami adjusted his posture. Laughing too hard just now made his stomach muscles ache, and when he tried to adjust, it pulled on his wound, causing excruciating pain. "No," Rami clenched his teeth. "Because the injury isn't very serious. Just resting for a night will be fine, so the doctor didn't give me painkillers."

"Then it's better if the injury was more serious," James joked from the side.

Rami didn't have the breath to retort immediately. He turned his head to refute James, but Renly gave James a disdainful look first. "Really, no consideration at all." Rami breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could feel relieved, Renly continued, "If the injury were too severe, it would be misunderstood by everyone."

Misunderstood, what misunderstanding?

Rami turned his head, looking at Renly and James speaking nonsense with a serious face, and under the excitement, he tried to sit up, but the pain from his wound swept over him. Renly stepped forward, pressing Rami's shoulder. "You need to rest well. Do you really want to worsen your condition?"

Rami felt that his wound was fine, but the internal injury was severe. If Renly continued, he might start spitting blood.

Seeing Rami's conflicted and depressed expression, James couldn't help but break the tension, laughing out loud. "Kid, I finally understand why Richard and his gang dare not provoke you anymore."

Renly spread his hands innocently. "I didn't do anything. I always insist on friendly relations. After all, I'm just a newcomer, with no experience or background. It's important to get along with everyone, isn't it?"

After the torment of training camp, Richard and the others quieted down for a while, but after arriving in Australia, they resumed their old ways, uniting to ostracize Renly. However, rumors in the crew said that Richard targeted Renly because he confessed his love to him but was rejected. This made things interesting.

Richard was completely infuriated. To him, this news must have been fabricated by Renly, so he confronted him. Unexpectedly, Renly politely expressed respect, "I respect everyone's right to love, regardless of gender or age. Unfortunately, I can't accept it, but I would advise that we're not high school students anymore, so expressions of emotion can be more mature."

Faced with Renly's proper behavior, Richard was completely at a disadvantage. He was eager to explain, accusing Renly of fabricating facts and even cursing. In contrast, Renly did nothing and remained unresponsive, tolerating everything generously. In the eyes of others, everyone believed that Richard had acted out of love, and lost his reason.

Richard missed the opportunity due to his impulsiveness, and after that, it was incomprehensible. Richard was a typical male chauvinist and a supporter of white supremacy, not only racially discriminatory but also sexist. So being looked at by others with strange eyes was even more uncomfortable than killing him.

"Renly, how long did you rest the last time you were injured?" Rami asked curiously.

"Uh, less than forty-eight hours," Renly recalled but found that his memory was a bit fuzzy. It was just a few weeks ago, but after staying in the crew for a long time, he gradually integrated with Eugene, merging with the hardships of the battlefield. Those detailed memories began to blur.

At the time, Tim told Renly: When you get injured, you'll feel lucky at first, then bored, and then guilty.

Renly finally understood what that meant. After being deeply immersed in the harsh environment of war, a strong sense of crisis becomes a habit, even a kind of instinct, which can never be eliminated. What's worse, his comrades were still fighting on the battlefield, their lives hanging by a thread, while he lay on the sickbed, barely surviving.

"Don't worry. You'll be able to resume filming the day after tomorrow, before this outdoor scene ends," Renly sorted out his thoughts and patted Rami's shoulder. "When you come back, you'll perform even better."