Chapter XXXIX
Lights, Tunnels and All That Stuff
Dr. Grayson Smith walked out into the waiting room. He'd been operating for five hours and thirty two minutes. He was sweaty, exhausted and completely spent. Even then, he looked a hell of a lot better then the group gathered in the waiting room. They all sat up straighter and looked at him. There was a mix of hope and despair in their stares. For a moment he didn't know what to say. One man, a Texan, looked at him. "Did Sara...is she?" He almost choked on his words. Smith held up his hand and actually smiled, "Miss Sidle is recovering now." A huge sigh of relief tore through the room. "She can take visitors, limited of course, when she wakes up."
Brass looked up, his eyes suddenly wary. "Doc, she's not...she's not in a coma is she?" The surgeon rubbed his weary eyes, "What? No, no, she's just sleeping off the anesthesia. There's an observation window...but I must warn you, Miss Sidle doesn't look all that good right now."
Sofia stood. "I want to see her." No one argued with her.
It was unnatural. Sara Sidle lying still just was not supposed to happen. She was still, though, as still as death. The respirator pushed air into her chest and the heart monitor beeped, mechanically ticking off her pulse. Sofia pressed her hand against the glass between them and then rested her forehead against the cool window. Sara was alive.
The first thing that broke through the unrelenting darkness was the beeping. Her alarm was going off. God, she wasn't ready to get up. She went to hit snooze, but couldn't get her hand to respond. She opened her eyes. That was a slow process and when they were finally opened, she was confused. There was something in her throat and a horrible pain in her back. A face came into her vision. "Welcome back, Sara. You're at Desert Palms Hospital. You've got a tube down your throat to help you breathe. I'll go get the doctor and we'll get it taken out.
Everything was coming back in bits and pieces. After they had gotten the tube out of her, she had to ask. "Lindsey, is Lindsey OK?" One of the nurses looked at the her, "Which one is Lindsey? You've got a whole fan club in the waiting room, not to mention the press."
Sara blinked, "The press?" Her voice was wheezy and it croaked and cracked. The nurse nodded as they adjusted her bedding. "Oh yea, we were watching it in the lounge, you're on CNN. They're calling you a hero." Sara blinked. The morphine must have been more powerful then she'd thought. She wasn't a hero.
"This is Maria Rymer with Channel 5 News. Bringing you the News you need to know first." The redhead stared into the camera. "Tonight's top story, The Doll Collector has finally been brought to Justice. Madison Daniels, Senate hopeful, was revealed as the killer who has been terrorizing Clark County. Reports indicate that there are at least eight more deaths that can be attributed to her sadistic killing spree. Lindsey Willows, the latest victim was found in the basement of Daniel's home this afternoon, relatively unharmed. The same could not be said for her rescuer, though. CSI Sara Sidle of the Las Vegas Crime Lab is currently undergoing surgery at Desert Palms for injuries sustained during the rescue. She is listed in critical condition." The reporter's face grew grim. "According to sources, Sidle had brought Daniels in for questioning earlier this week, going so far as to get a psychological profile on the woman. The Mayor, Sheriff and Assistant Director Conrad Ecklie of the Lab ordered Sidle to release Daniels despite evidence. While reports are varied, it is known that Sidle went to the Daniel's residence and found Lindsey Willows there, alive and well. Madison Daniels was shot during apprehension." There was a pause, then Maria Rymer began speaking again, the picture green-screened in behind her was of the Mayor, Sheriff and Conrad Ecklie, at a press conference. "The most disturbing aspect of this story is the fact that our leaders have decided that politics are more important than our safety. That power trumps justice. Tonight a real hero is on the brink of death because she did the right thing, now we all have to wonder, how safe can Vegas be when the police are caught up in red tape? The Mayor and Sheriff have a lot of explaining to do and all of Vegas is listening."
The Sheriff turned off the television and rested his head on his hands. "Fuck me." On a purely political and shallow viewpoint, it was an election year. On a more moral view...he had made the mother of all mistakes. This entire case had been a series of fuck ups. Drunk SWAT jockies, the media circus, two of his deputies fucking on his time, and then there had been Sidle's Madison Daniels theory. It had been right; he knew that now. The entire nation, no the world knew. Sara Sidle was a hero and he was wearing the dunce cap. That stung, but what stung worse was the fact that he deserved to wear the dunce cap. He massaged his temples and tried to figure out the best way to run interference and do damage control.
He had done many autopsies, but never had he actually hated the person he was cutting open. Hate, that was exactly what he felt at the moment. Madison Daniels had killed all those innocent little girls, and stabbed Sara Sidle in the back. He didn't want, couldn't handle, the idea of Sara Sidle lying in one of his drawers. He could clearly remember, like it was yesterday, doing the post on Holly Gribbs.
He supposed that Holly was on a lot of people's minds. That in itself was ironic. Sara had come to investigate Holly's death...and now she had come almost full circle.
He shook his head and dragged his thoughts away from the morbid idea of Sara dying and looked down at the woman who had stabbed her. In death, Madison Daniels did not look powerful or evil or even insane; she was simply dead. Her body was riddled with bullet holes, some one had emptied a clip into her. He hoped it hadn't been Sofia. The two women were close, their embrace in his autopsy bay had told him that. To kill for one's lover was supposed to be a noble thing, but he knew that it could fester and ruin their relationship and that would be a pity.
He looked into Daniel's empty eyes, checking for hemorrhaging and he saw something. A contact lens. He carefully peeled it off of her eye and blue turned to hazel. As he was familiar with the case, that piece puzzled him. He went further and the more he went on, the deeper his confusion. Just who was Madison Daniels?
He typed up his final post report. There had been no word on Sara, though as soon as he turned this in, he was heading to the hospital. With the technical out of the way, he began to add his thoughts.
Subject, Madison A. Daniels, died from multiple gun shot wounds, while it is impossible to isolate exactly which one killed her, there was a direct hit to the heart and that will be listed as the kill shot and COD. Furthermore, while the meaning of this is beyond my expertise, it is notable that despite outward appearance she kept, Madison Daniels was a natural brunette with hazel eyes.
Beside him, the phone rang and he picked it up. When he laid it back down again, a few moments later, he had to smile. Sara Sidle was alive and she was awake. He printed out his report and signed it. The dead could wait a little while longer, he had a friend to see.