The Bystander by John David

Author:John David
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thriller
ISBN: 9781966593768
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2025-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

2 p.m., Tuesday, The Medical Center

Bobby the photog and I arrived at the medical center and saw a small lectern set up outside the main entrance. Best to keep the reporters outside the hospital. I had a sense of dread when I approached Angie Irwin.

“The scuttlebutt is that Stephanie Singleton passed,” she said. “But we don’t have confirmation.”

“That’s what I figured,” I said. “So sad.”

“Yeah. It’s like your grandma just died. This could get ugly.”

“We’ll see.”

My phone rang. Olivia. I stepped away from Angie as Bobby continued to set up.

“How’s the mood?” Olivia asked.

“Ominous,” I said.

“The boss wants me to have something up as soon as possible,” Olivia said. “The Evening Star is already reporting that she passed. When do you think it will start?”

“I’m thinking in a couple minutes. Do you want me to FaceTime it?” I suggested. “So you can hear it as it’s happening, and then you won’t need me to report it back to you.”

“That’s a good deal,” she said with an audible sigh. We were all tired.

“I’ll call you when it starts,” I said.

Television reporters spend an incredible amount of time waiting around. And it’s tough in Florida because even in October, it can be incredibly hot and sticky. In the summertime, forget it. There’s nothing worse than sweating on camera, so we really try to wait in a car or the truck until the last possible moment. We had some shade, and my experience with the medical center was that they generally ran on time, so I toughed it out, sweat be damned. And I needed the fresh air.

I chit-chatted a bit more with Angie Irwin, and she admitted that her station was not willing to put a lot of resources behind the Waterfront story anymore. They seemed to think that it was over. The same with the other affiliates. It seemed like the other news directors believed the story would soon slip into memory, and they would be on to the next thing.

I disagreed.

A few minutes later, a spokesperson for the hospital approached the lectern. I FaceTimed Olivia and pointed my phone toward the lectern as a woman approached.

“Thank you for coming. My name is Amanda Franklin, and I’m the director of communications for Jacksonville Memorial Hospital. With deep sorrow, we are announcing that Stephanie Singleton succumbed to her injuries and passed away about ninety minutes ago. As you know, she was the victim of a gunshot last Friday night at the Jacksonville Waterfront. By all measures, for which you will hear more in a few minutes, she put up a gallant fight. I’m going to turn things over to our on-call surgeon, who will give some details, and we also have a representative from the family who would like to speak as well.”

I noticed a well-known Black pastor from Jacksonville named Cyrus Johnson standing nearby. This might get interesting.

Franklin then introduced Dr. Stuart Weiss.

If the goal was to be boring, antiseptic, and almost completely lacking in compassion, they had the right guy.

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