4- "Channel 18 KYLV"
"Hi, and welcome to Channel 18 KYLV. It is June 14th, 2004, currently 9:03 p.m. and 62 degrees. On today's show, Las Vegas Fire Marshall says this summer, though wetter, we still have forest fire risks, so we will bring you the top five fire prevention tips for the summer. Also, a new movie began filming on the Strip today, traffic suffered. Also, the story of a Las Vegas investigator who was attacked while on the job."
The tape went blank, and then opened up with a reporter standing outside a building that didn't look familiar at all. "Thank you, Janette. I am standing outside a double crime scene on the outskirts of Las Vegas. It was a beautiful day in late May when police and crime scene investigators were called to this homicide scene. A police officer, first on the scene, cleared the house but then suffered a rare, genetic seizure and died on scene. A crime scene investigator arrived and was attacked by the murderer who had never left the scene. Details are still being kept by police officers, but sources tell us here at KYLV that the murderer is dead and the crime scene investigator is in critical condition. More as events warrant. This is Joaquin Owens, for Channel 18 KYLV."
It went blank. Another tape was put in the VCR. Instead of starting on the beginning of the newscast, it started at a press conference. Sara immediately recognized her mother and father sitting amid the camera flashes.
Her parents had always been the hippie types. Sara still remembers early mornings at their Bed and Breakfast on Tamales Bay near San Francisco. Her parents were always so carefree, living in the moment. She hated that. She could never really meet her parents halfway... mainly because they never bothered to try. She loved her parents, but disliked them as people.
"Mrs. Sidle, what do you think about the pro-euthanasia rallies near the hospital with your daughter?"
Her mother paused, and then said, "Our daughter is comatose, and the doctor tells us... that she'll never wake. But we know that she can hear us. We talk to her, and she can hear us. She is a living, breathing human being, and pulling the plug will be murder. Please don't kill our baby."
Sara rolled her eyes in anger. The screen went blank, and then turned back on. It almost made Sara throw up.
It was a picture of her parents hovering over her body. Sara's head was covered in bandages. Her heart monitor beeped annoyingly. Her father had his head covered with his hands. Her mother wept at her side.
It was that moment when Sara saw a new thing: her parents being actual parents. Her mind was torn. On one hand, she had the parents she had grown up with, absorbed in themselves and the business, not in their kin. Then again, they could be changed. They could.
Sara frowned and continued watching the many TV shows into the night. Most were just tiny tidbits about her recovery, and eventually, the time in between segments grew longer, until six months ago, January. When Grissom finally got the hospital to notice.
"This is Joaquin Owens for KYLV Channel 18. I come here in a sober note in front of a local, Las Vegas hospital. After investigation into the critical care ward, we have found a male nurse by the name of Terrance Ventura had been sexually assaulting a comatose victim who has not been named. Sources tell us- Oh! Here he comes now, he has been arrested."
Sara leaned in closer to the TV as it showed a picture of police officers leading a tall, attractive man down the steps of the hospital. He had tears in his eyes as he was shoved into a cop car. The reporters all sagged in disappointment, and while the camera struggled to find someone to question, a picture flashed across the screen. Grissom could be seen exiting the hospital. His face was tear stained, and he looked so... helpless. It was the first time Sara had ever seen him cry. She paused the tape and looked deep into his eyes. He gave away nothing.
Sara quickly wiped the tear away that threatened to spill onto her chest. She felt so disconnected, like the comatose woman on the screen was someone else. The screen went blank again.
It was almost an information overload. Sara suddenly couldn't take anymore. She paused it on the black screen and took some deep, calming breaths. It didn't help. At all.
There was one more tape left. The one, undoubtedly, talking about her pregnancy. She couldn't bring herself to call the nurse in to play it.
That night, she had a dreamless sleep.
When she awoke the next day, she was met by the same doctor she always saw, but today there was a new doctor right next to him.
"Sara, this is Mary LeGrand, your physical trainer. We are going to start you stretching your muscles to prepare you for surgery. Unfortunately, we cannot anesthetize you while you're pregnant, so we decided to get a jump start on the training."
Sara practically jumped (figuratively) at the chance to get out of her hospital room for a reason other than tests, but that night, while lying in her bed crying because it hurt so badly, she finally grasped how much her life would never be the same.
She cried herself to sleep that night.
mdiym42 : note to self
mdiym42 : make sure your cat is not sleeping in the bass drum before you start