Julian was typing, and Dana was watching the evening news. She perked up upon seeing this item in the crawl: \u201cBestselling author of \u2018Amy Tells All\u2019 hospitalized after possible burglary.\u201d
\n\t\u201cHey, Julian. Your blogger\u2019s in the news again.\u201d
\nHe looked up. He looked at the screen, but by the time he did, the crawl had moved on.
\n\t\u201cWhat did you see?\u201d
\n\t\u201cIt said she\u2019s in the hospital. Something about a burglary.\u201d
\n\t\u201cShit. Mind if I flip looking for details?\u201d
\n\t\u201cNo, but it might be faster to Google it.\u201d
\nHe did as she suggested and Googled it.
\n\t\u201cShe\u2019s at Camden-Clark Memorial,\u201d he said, reading what was known of the nitty gritty. \u201cShe\u2019s in critical condition.\u201d
\n\t\u201cWhat else does it say?\u201d
\n\t\u201cThat she was found by her housekeeper and that there were signs of a struggle. It\u2019s not clear what the nature of the injuries are.\u201d
\nAt that moment, the TV news took up the story. More details came to light as it was learned that her ex-husband was now in custody. It now appeared to be an extreme domestic altercation. Her father, Damien Andersen, a dapper looking man, was doing his best to hold it together as he talked to a reporter.
\n\t\u201cShe was getting back from a book tour. She\u2019d been on Ellen. I don\u2019t know much yet. It seems as if her ex had something to do with it. He\u2019s been having a rough time lately. But Lana\u2019s tough. I\u2019m not a praying man, usually, but now I\u2019m plugging for her and praying. I\u2019m sure her fans are doing the same.\u201d
\n\t\u201cJeez, Dana. This is\u2026 very bad. I\u2019m tempted to go see her.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou think they\u2019ll let you? You\u2019re not next of kin. I would think they\u2019d be keeping a grip on stray fans and admirers.\u201d
\nShe saw Julian blinking. He looked like he might start crying. All of a sudden it washed over her again, that deep intuited feeling that her husband had it bad for this woman. Now, being sober, it being early evening, and considering the seriousness of the situation, she could only engage Julian in a heart to heart about his feelings and wishes. She watched him as he sat looking at the news as it moved on to other things. He looked again at his laptop. Sure enough, she observed, a tear rolled down his cheek and hit the keyboard. He wiped that one away, but there were others right behind that one. He put the computer aside and headed for the kitchen. Dana followed him. She found him starring out the window on the back porch, looking out at the stars behind the smudged glass.
\n\t\u201cJulian, did you have an affair with Lana Andersen?\u201d
\n\t\u201cAn affair? What do you mean by affair?\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou know what an affair is.\u201d
\n\t\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\t\u201cThen, apart from her obvious gift for language and her resonance with the culture at the moment, what about this tragic story is so upsetting? People get battered, unfortunately. Sometimes they get killed. It happens all too often, and you know that. So talk to me, Julian. Tell me the truth.\u201d
\nHe looked at Dana, and walked back in to the house. It was cold on the porch. He meandered, and Dana followed him. They ended up beside the fireplace. He stared at the cold black hearth and she stared at him.
\n\t\u201cYes. I fell in love with her. It happened even before I met her. I was in love with that blog. It was enchanting. My mood was black at that point. It was like I\u2019d been battered by my own process, my own imagination, and Amy was just the thing to show me light and grace. That she was so young gave me hope.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI remember all of that. Didn\u2019t you realize that I know you well enough to know when you are pining?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI knew you knew, because you\u2019d get fucked up and moan about it.\u201d
\nDana laughed.
\n\t\u201cSo, did you two do the nasty.\u201d
\n\t\u201cNo. Listen carefully to me, love of my life. This is not Clintonian bunkum. We spoke on the phone twice. I did meet her. She tempted me, but I resisted. I feel responsible at this point for what has happened. Her husband, I think, called my number. My dumb phone wouldn\u2019t let me get back. It was moments after that he hit her the first time.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou came home from that \u2018walk\u2019 of yours changed. At the time, I thought, \u2018that must\u2019ve been some walk.\u2019\u201d
\n\t\u201cI felt a bit bad about being deceptive, but pretty good about being pretty good.\u201d
\n\t\u201cPretty good?\u201d
\n\t\u201cWell, I was tempted.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI can see why. She\u2019s tempting. I\u2019m an old fat woman.\u201d
\n\t\u201cShut the fug up.\u201d
\nA lull.
\n\t\u201cJulian, she might die. She\u2019s critical. If you want to, need to go see her, I completely understand\u201d
\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t know. As you say, who knows what it\u2019s like trying to get in to see a sort of celebrity.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYeah. Who knows? But she\u2019s not like Michael Jackson or somebody like that. She\u2019s writer of only one best seller.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou want to come with me?\u201d
\n\t\u201cThe off-duty professor\u2019s wife?\u201d
\n\t\u201cDana, I don\u2019t know why I ever try to deceive you. You are too damned smart.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou are too damned transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others were appalled by what had happened to Lana and had convened in Parkersburg. Her father topped the list of visitors to her bedside at Camden-Clark, but it included Christine, Jason, Lisa, Ron, Anne, Bruce, and a contingent of people from New York. Her body was very bruised, but this was concealed beneath sheets. His beating had broken her ribs and damaged her internal organs, particularly her lungs and kidneys. The real threat came from the cracked skull and brain damage. The broken neck did not add to the dismal prognosis either. Her face was also bruised, and her hair had been shaved, her skullcap bandaged. Her arms and hands, at her sides, were exposed and still. Her right hand, the one that had held the broken glass was bandaged. She had not regained consciousness, and there was some serious question as to weather she would or could. The doctors had gone over all of this with Damien. He was thinking about signing a do not resuscitate order, should it get down to that. So far, she was breathing on her own. She was tough. Was toughness going to be enough?<\/p>\n
Her editor, Maya Espina-Goldbaum, had looked at her and turned away, doubling over. She looked again and sighed so deeply that a nurse looking on took a step towards her in the event that she should swoon. The New York contingent also included her agent. Anybody who had worked on that book was quite attached to Amy, the character, and Lana, the artist. Many who could not visit sent flowers. The room was full of these, and the smell was very rich.<\/p>\n
Christine and Jason came in with Lisa and Ron. Both Lisa and Christine cried quietly when they saw her. Jason looked down at her and leaned close. He said to her,
\n\t\u201cLana, we love you. We are all her waiting for you to come back to us. We wish that we could have stopped this. We are hoping that you can understand me. If you can hear me, please give a sign. Just a small movement of your finger would be so welcome.\u201d The nurse looked at him and smiled faintly. She\u2019d seen this tried before. Sometimes it worked. Usually, with this kind of trauma, it didn\u2019t. The more apparent effect of Jason\u2019s exhortation was to make Christine cry all the harder. When it was Ron and Lisa\u2019s turn, there was just the sound of Lisa crying.<\/p>\n
On another day, Anne and Bruce Sibley visited. Bruce was the one in this pair that became significantly upset. He\u2019d been the last one, he assumed to talk to Scott. He felt responsible in the sense that as he recalled what Scott had said, he might have done something to head this sort of thing off at the pass. What that might have been, he had no idea. The sight of her, all tiny and battered as she so profoundly was, made him weep. Annie, the schoolteacher, was made of tougher stuff. She was the one that took Lana\u2019s hand, the un-bandaged one and said some words to Lana\u2019s inert form.
\n\t\u201cMy dear, dear friend,\u201d she said, \u201cif you can hear me, I want you to know that we are all here for you. You have so many fans out there, but we\u2019ve known you for most of our lives, and we\u2019ve always been fans. We want you to write a dozen more of these funny, heartbreaking books. You just need to take the time to get better. No pressure. Let your body heal, and let your spirit soar.\u201d The thin lips offered no response. If anyone was home in there, she was very, very deep, and so very far away.<\/p>\n
Julian and Dana arrived and asked to see Lana Andersen at the desk. The nurse asked if they were family, and Julian said no, that they were friends. There was no such circus that Julian and Dana had imagined. It was just a quiet, small town hospital. Admitted to the room, the two professors looked at Lana, and then at each other. Julian asked the attending nurse,
\n\t\u201cCan she hear us?\u201d
\n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t know for sure, but we don\u2019t think so. We think she\u2019s actually unconscious. You know, \u2018out cold.\u2019 There\u2019s no sign of cognition.
\n\t\u201cJulian, do you want to be alone with her?\u201d Asked Dana.
\n\t\u201cYeah. I do.\u201d He looked at the nurse. She shrugged. She and Dana left the room and stood in the hall outside.
\n\t\u201cYou happen to read the book?\u201d Asked Dana of the nurse. The nurse shrugged and shook her head.
\n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t get much time to read,\u201d she said apologetically.
\n\t\u201cYou knew she was a writer.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYes, I know that she is a writer,\u201d the nurse corrected, not so subtly.
\n\t\u201cMy husband was sort of in the book.\u201d
\n\t\u201cOh. I see.\u201d
\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s the off duty professor.\u201d
\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s off duty now.\u201d
\nDana nodded.
\nJulian sat down beside Lana on the bed. He did this very carefully. He was aware of her broken body. He took hold of her left hand. He did not speak. He was not keen on speaking to an unconscious person. It was a bit too much like soliloquy. He was also a bit all cried out on the subject of Lana Andersen. He devoutly wished for a recovery. He had by now heard of the extent of her injuries and understood haw unlikely a recovery was. He hoped in some part of her being, deep in her brain at the stem, where the cells still thrived and beat her heart, his touch would do what words could not. Let her understand that I am here with her and that I love her. Finally, he put his hand beneath her nose. It was a way of recalling for her how she had once herself taken this hand and explored its scent. It was a deeper primal thing that he hoped to share with whatever was left of her. After this he rose and rejoined Dana in the hall. <\/p>\n
Julian went back to the front desk, and asked the attendant for a favor.
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m wondering if there is any way to make contact with Damien Andersen, Lana\u2019s father. I am a friend of hers, and want to meet her Dad.\u201d
\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s a bit unusual sir. Are you close to the patient, as in perhaps, in an intimate relationship with her? He leaned in closer, trying to get out of Dana\u2019s earshot. I was a character in her book. I think her father would like to meet me. Under the circumstances, which are extenuating, are they not?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m sorry sir, I can\u2019t give you that information.\u201d
\nIt was a nice try.<\/p>\n
They went out to eat, and tried to think of a way to meet more of the \u2018cast of characters.\u2019
\n\t\u201cCould we do a Spokeo search and locate Damien that way?\u201d Suggested Dana.
\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s worth a try.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, Bruce Sibley once again, had the dubious distinction of being the only person who went in to visit Scott. After he\u2019d turned up at Wood County, Scott explained his crime. He\u2019d been booked and held, he\u2019d contacted Bart, his long suffering attorney, mostly for shits and grins, since he now considered some prison or other his likely home for the foreseeable future, and he\u2019d resigned himself to this fate. He did not know that he had not killed Lana. He considered himself a murderer and not an attempted murderer. When he eventually found this out as the fact of the matter, meeting in his cell with Bart, he just shook his head at his ineptitude.
\n\t\u201cShould have got the poker and finished her off,\u201d he muttered.
\n\t\u201cKeep talking like that, Mr. Andrews, and I won\u2019t be able to do a damn thing for you. Are you going to plead guilty, as charged?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI might.\u201d
\n\t\u201cJust so you understand the charge, it\u2019s not yet murder. She\u2019s hanging on.\u201d
\nHe kept his mouth shut on the second go around.
\nThe police had promptly investigated on the basis of Scott\u2019s confession and found that the evidence matched his account, right down to the broken glass and the cats, now melted. Due to the media attention, the Sherriff prepared a statement. The Sherriff prepared it, and Wolf Blitzer ran it. Bruce got in to see him after Scott had been transferred to Greenwood. The one hope Scott had for representation was the transfer to some other prison in the WV system. Prisoners don\u2019t get the lockup of their choice.
\n\t\u201cI saw Lana, Scott.\u201d
\nHe looked away.
\n\t\u201cYou topped yourself.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou showed up to tell me that?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI showed up to see if you had a shred of humanity left. We used to be friends. I\u2019m going to need you to sign some papers. I\u2019m dissolving the partnership, remember?\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou send \u2018em, I\u2019ll sign \u2018em. If these maniacs in here will let me.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m not privy to many details about what happened there with Lana.\u201d
\n\t\u201cWhat? I made a statement. Didn\u2019t that get into the papers? Internet? CNN?\u201d
\n\t\u201cThe statement was that you attempted murder.\u201d
\n\t\u201cThere you go.\u201d
\n\t\u201cHow\u2019d you get so ripped up?\u201d
\n\t\u201cWhat\u2019s it say in her book? She\u2019s a cat. She\u2019s fast and she\u2019s got claws.\u201d
\n\t\u201cClaws?\u201d
\n\t\u201cWell. If you want the gory details, I\u2019ll tell you this. I got there and she wasn\u2019t home. I think my plan was to knock on the door, and when she answered it, beat her to death with a fireplace poker. I had that from before, when we had a potbellied stove out at the Field. That was the \u2018premeditation\u2019 part. But when I got there, she was not home. So I kicked in the door. The damn cats hissed. That little Siamese one took a swat at me. So, just to make things a bit simpler for hiding out in there and whacking her off, I grabbed the cats\u2026\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou didn\u2019t.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI put them in her freezer. There was plenty of room in there. She never was a big meat eater.\u201d
\n\t\u201cJesus. I don\u2019t know who you are.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m a lost cause.\u201d
\n\t\u201cSo by the time she showed up, after not more than a day and a half\u2026\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou were in that house for a day and a half?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI think. I wasn\u2019t thinking straight, paying attention to time. Things like that.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI had worked up quite a case of the ass.\u201d
\n\t\u201cSo how\u2019d you get all cut up, you still haven\u2019t said.\u201d
\n\t\u201cShe caught on about the cats. I sort of taunted her with it. I was steamed. I really did plan to kill her, you got that part down, buddy?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t get why.\u201d
\nHe looked away again.
\n\t\u201cYou are as bad as my lawyer.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m trying to get this. I need to know if I\u2019ve befriended Satan all these years.\u201d
\n\t\u201cCheck mark the yes box.\u201d
\n\t\u201cThe cuts.\u201d
\n\t\u201cShe grabbed a glass and broke it. She came at me with it so fast I couldn\u2019t even get in a poke shot. She chased me up the stairs. Things happened fast. I turned around at the top of the stairs and kicked her. A high kick to the stomach, if you want the true comics version.\u201d
\n\t\u201cShe cracked her head on the landing. I heard it. It was like a pop.\u201d
\n\t\u201cThat was it?\u201d
\n\t\u201cNo. Then I kicked the shit out of her.\u201d
\n\t\u201cJesus.\u201d
\n\t\u201cSatanic Scott.\u201d
\n\t\u201cBut, really, there\u2019s sort of an element of self defense the way it went down.\u201d
\n\t\u201cSo says Bart.\u201d
\n\t\u201cWhat do you say?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI say I\u2019m guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bruce never saw Scott again after that. He sent papers; Scott sent \u2018em back all signed. Bruce more or less kept the story about visiting Scott to himself. He let all the rest of it come out in the trial, which it did.<\/p>\n
Julian called Damien Andrews and introduced himself.
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m Professor Julian Gray. I know your daughter.\u201d
\n\t\u201cOh. Yes! I was hoping you\u2019d make contact somehow. She spoke of you quite a bit for a while there. I almost hoped you\u2019d, you know, take up with her. Of course, she said you were happily married. I don\u2019t wish your wife any choppy water.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI did, do, love Lana very much. I hope you can appreciate how torn I was and how torn I am now.\u201d
\n\t\u201cOh, I do. She\u2019s a gem.\u201d
\nAn awkward moment followed as the facts of the bad prognosis echoed around these wordsmiths use of the present tense. They both knew, deep down, that what Lana had been was over. Even if she lived, her brain was damaged, her neck was broken, and her body was ruined.
\n\t\u201cWe wish you all the best, my wife and I. I guess I just wanted to say how proud I am of Lana, of all her gifts and of all that she accomplished.\u201d
\n\t\u201cSo kind of you. Call me again, anytime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lana lived another two weeks, finally died of her injuries on March 4th 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Julian was typing, and Dana was watching the evening news. She perked up upon seeing this item in the crawl: \u201cBestselling author of \u2018Amy Tells All\u2019 hospitalized after possible burglary.\u201d \u201cHey, Julian. Your blogger\u2019s in the news again.\u201d He looked up. He looked at the screen, but by the time he did, the crawl had moved on. \u201cWhat did you see?\u201d \u201cIt said she\u2019s in the hospital. Something about a burglary.\u201d \u201cShit. Mind if I flip looking for details?\u201d \u201cNo, but it might be faster to Google it.\u201d He did as she suggested and Googled it. \u201cShe\u2019s at Camden-Clark Memorial,\u201d he said, reading what was known of the nitty gritty. \u201cShe\u2019s in critical condition.\u201d \u201cWhat else does it say?\u201d \u201cThat she was found by her housekeeper and that there were signs of a struggle. It\u2019s not clear what the nature of the injuries are.\u201d At that moment, the TV news took up the story. More details came to light as it was learned that her ex-husband was now in custody. It now appeared to be an extreme domestic altercation. Her father, Damien Andersen, a dapper looking man, was doing his best to hold it together as he talked to a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapters","comments-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}