Chase Davis found himself in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable place. As Hollywood's hottest and most recognized young actor, he had surrounded himself with the usual array of agents, managers, chefs, maids, drivers and publicists; a veritable army of handlers to take care of the day to day activities. But as the polite nurse showed him to his stale, stuffy room at the Summer Garden Rehabilitation Clinic, there was no one there to help him. He was totally and completely alone. And he hated how it felt.
Having just completed his fifth feature film, Chase seemed to have the world at his feet. His face, in particular the unmistakable crooked grin, was recognized the world over, and was a fixture on the covers of entertainment magazines and the bedroom walls of teenage girls. He was introduced to all the sexiest people, attended all the sexiest parties...and did all the sexiest drugs.
But for the time being, there would be no parties; no premieres, no scripts. Only Chase Davis, alone in his cramped room at the rehab clinic, trying to understand how what had once been so right, had suddenly turned so horribly wrong.
First to the Water begins as Chase Davis arrives at the Summer Garden Rehabilitation Clinic. Early on, he struggles with his new-found independence while trying to piece together in his mind the events which landed him there. He is able to recall attending both the premiere and the post-premiere party for his latest film, remembering all of the events up to and including being introduced to April Mansfield, a beautiful young woman who catches his eye from across the party.
He next remembers waking up in a hospital, attached to tubes and machines of various size and design, with no idea of how he got there. His agent, Ryan Freel, eventually fills Chase in on the details, culminating in a horrific car accident which left the young woman dead. Though no charges were filed, a stint in rehab is determined to be necessary to salvage the actor's career.
Convinced that he has no problem with drugs or alcohol, Chase maintains a standoffish attitude that isolates him from both his fellow patients and the clinic's staff. This isolation, coupled with his inability to remember any details about the accident, or more importantly, the girl who died, begins to drive Chase into what he fears may be a descent into insanity. It is only after he begins to develop a strange friendship with a fellow patient; an introverted, self-mutilator named Brooke, that he is able to bring himself back into reality and set himself on the path to recovery.
As his relationship with Brooke grows stronger, Chase learns more about himself, remembers what it means to be human, and ultimately finds the kind of love that he never imagined could exist.
When his time in rehab is finally over, Chase returns to his Hollywood lifestyle only to find that the people he meets and the relationships he develops are unfulfilling, and pale in meaning to the bond that he forged with Brooke. He returns to the clinic, hopeful that he makes it in time to save Brooke from her own personal demons, just as she saved him.
Read the first three chapters:
