The Accident

Out on a wild ride with Victor Mansfield, Rachel's car is wrecked, sending the beloved leading lady through the windshield and into a coma. Leo and Sweeney, anxious to protect their investment in the up-and-coming leading man, pay off everyone, from the cops, to the hospital staff, to gossip columnist Letitia Devine, to keep it quiet, issuing a statement that Rachel has been hospitalized for an appendectomy. Rachel's friends back on the lot find their own ways to cope with the tragedy. However, Victor's guilt is inconsolable. Unscathed by the accident, he defies studio orders to stay away from the hospital, and sneaks into Rachel's room, where he's spotted by her bedside. A quick call to journalist Milton Maxwell and the studio's cover story is blown – along with Victor's career.