VIII. A PICTURE'S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Helen looked up startled by the light suddenly pouring through the window of her son's room. She peered at her watch, 6:18AM. She had been lost in thought for over an hour and a half. She walked over to Dash; still no change, but at least he was resting peacefully now. Examining the room she realized her husband was no where to be seen. 'Did he go to bed?' she thought. 'That's not like him.' She walked out into the hall where she could see the door of their bedroom ajar. From there she could see their bed; her side nearly untouched, and his disheveled by the abrupt movements of his panicked waking the night before. 'He obviously hasn't been back.' She wandered down the hall until she could smell the odor of freshly brewed coffee as she neared the kitchen.
Bob greeted her as she walked in. "Coffee?" he asked.
She nodded and sat down beside him as he stood to pour them both a cup. It was then that she noticed the morning paper which had obviously been captivating her husband's attention before she entered. The front page ran a large picture of Dash's battered body and a single headline. 'Incredible Tragedy' it read. Bob sat back down, gave her the cup and began to sip on his. An uncomfortable silence developed between them. "How bad is it?" she finally asked him glaring at the paper.
"Well it's not good," came the response. He thought about it briefly. "The whole story focuses on the accident. The part about catching the crooks got a grand total of one and a half paragraphs on a page and a half worth of reports. Actually most of the article focuses on the dangers of crime fighting and-." He bit his lip.
Helen stared up at him. She knew what he was trying not to say. "And what?" she asked in a dreadful tone.
"And-" he stuttered, "-and how supers make awful parents for allowing their kids to participate."
She buried her face in her hands. When she looked up she realized Bob had turned the page where she saw the headlines to two more related stories. 'Where's The Dash' read one. She thought about that for a minute and even smiled as she thought back to the first time he had called himself that. The smile quickly faded though. The other read 'Elastigirl Should Be Ashamed.' As she read the words guilt streamed down her body and she broke down.
Bob quickly put down his paper and drew his wife to him trying to comfort her; but his thoughts were elsewhere. The paper had turned back over to the grizzly picture of Dash lying in the pile of rubble. This wasn't going to help the plight of the supers any; and it certainly wasn't going to help his son either.
