"I-I don't know, we were walking in the park and there was a loud crack and she just fell onto the ground�" Zac explained to a cop in street gear as Ginger's body was quickly lifted onto a stretcher and taken into an ambulance. Zac and the cop followed.
"Did you see anybody?"
"No, I didn't see anybody! There was nobody else around! I said that already," Zac said in hysterics, his eyes following a hectic paramedics crew with Ginger's lifeless body. He had no idea how she was doing but it didn't look good.
"Calm down," the cop said. "I just need to ask a few things�"
"Can we do this later?" Zac asked. "I just want to know how she's doing." The cop relented and allowed Zac to ride in the ambulance with Ginger to the nearest hospital. He sat in the corner, watching, confused. The paramedics were talking their medical garble that he didn't understand. They were working on her, monitors screaming and people in a frenzy, as the siren blared overhead.
They made it to the hospital in record time despite LA traffic, where Ginger was rushed into a trauma room and Zac was forced to wait outside, gripping his hat in his hands, watching through a small window as the doctors did their work. For the first time in fifteen years he didn't care if anybody recognized him. He couldn't even locate his own mind at that point, his fear overtaking him.
It was a long time before he heard anything. A doctor or a nurse--he couldn't tell which--took off her bloody gloves and stepped outside. She looked up at him and he looked back down at her expectantly. "Well," she said, and Zac immediately knew it was bad news, "we've done everything we can at this point. We'll take her to ICU where we'll monitor her constantly to see if she improves or not. Right now it seems pretty bleak." He took in a deep breath. "If there's anybody you need to call, you should probably do that right now."
"�Okay," he said. With that he found himself on the phone in a private waiting area, waiting for someone to pick up. He was pacing. "Come on, somebody pick up. Come on�"
"Hello?"
"Kris?" he asked, his voice immediately filling with tears.
"Oh my God, where are you? Ginger said an hour and it's been way longer than that! What's wrong?" Kris asked. Zac took in a shaky breath.
"I don't know," he said. "I'm at the hospital."
"Oh my God."
"Ginger and I were in the park and�I don't know�something or someone or�I just don't know. Somebody shot her."
"Oh my God," Kris repeated. He could hear her crying. "Is she okay?"
"I don't know," he said again. "She's in the ICU." Kris let out a particularly wretched sob and it pushed Zac over the top as he began to cry. "I don't know who would do something like this!"
"Neither do I," Kris said. "What do you want us to do? Do you want us to bring Jenny?"
"Oh God," he said. He'd all but forgotten about Jenny. He didn't know what to do about her. "I don't know if I want her here or not."
"That's okay. We'll stay here with her and you call us if anything changes, okay?" Kris asked.
"Oh, I don't know, Kris. Don't you want to come down and see her?"
"Yes, but if you don't want Jenny there then I'm perfectly fine in staying here with her." Zac suddenly felt very guilty. Kris was only being polite because Zac didn't want Jenny in the hospital, but this wasn't just his wife. Ginger was Kris's best friend and had been since before Zac was in the picture.
"Actually, you know what, wake her up and bring her too. I want all of you here," Zac said. He explained what hospital he was at and where it was located before he hung up the phone and sat down, numb. At that moment he and Ginger were supposed to be on their way to the television show they were doing that night, but it was quite obvious neither of them were going. Somebody would call ahead and explain. He wasn't about to do it.
He stood up again and walked over to the window; Ginger was in the corner room and he had a window so he could see her without being in the room. They were just settling her in right now, so they could constantly monitor her and try to save her life. It didn't look good. She was fighting all right, but the gunshot wound was in the left chest; it had collapsed a lung and most likely punctured her heart.
As they settled her in a machine went off, he could hear the whining through the thick glass, and his eyes widened as he laid his gaze upon the flat line of her heart monitor. A rush of doctors and nurses flew in with more machines, more wires, more plastics to try to save her. They worked for a few minutes as Zac's eyes never left the flat green line until a doctor stepped back and began to take off his gloves. His eyes connected with Zac for a brief moment and it was all Zac needed. He took a step back.
"No," he said, unaware of the words that escaped his lips. The doctor went around to explain to Zac what had happened but as soon as the door opened Zac's hands were over his mouth and he fell into a seat.
"I'm sorry," the doctor said, causing Zac to let out a heart-wrenching sob. The doctor dropped his hands as the door opened behind him. He turned partially to see as Kris was frozen at the door. Taylor was carrying a still-sleeping Jenny quite difficultly in his arms. Kris looked between the apologetic doctor and sobbing Zac before she realized what had happened.
"Oh my God," she said and put her hands over her mouth like Zac in anguish.
"I'll leave you all alone," the doctor said. He left quietly as Kris rushed Zac, throwing her arms around him. They cried together, leaving Taylor to sit down with Jenny and try to keep himself quiet so she wouldn't wake up and discover her mother was no longer alive.
It was a long time before the tears died down, and Zac and Kris released each other. "Taylor." Zac's voice was bitter in the silence of the room. Taylor looked up. "Please give me my daughter." Taylor immediately obliged, handing over the sleeping girl. Zac sat with his daughter, the seven-year-old version of his now late wife and gently kissed her forehead.
Nobody noticed that the curtain had been drawn over the window so no one could see Ginger. The grief was isolated heavy in the waiting room, Zac seeking comfort in his sleeping daughter, Kris holding tightly onto her fianc� as if at any moment one of them could die as well.
A police officer disturbed the silence. He burst into the room without knocking, showing no remorse for anyone. He held himself in authority, showing that celebrity or no celebrity, a murder had been committed and it was his job to find as many details as possible. He spoke with Zac first, ushering out Taylor and Kris, but promising to get back to them shortly.
"I know this is a hard time for you," the officer said, although he had no idea whatsoever. "But I really need to ask you some questions. The more you answer, the better chance we have of finding whoever did this to your wife." It was the only reason Zac agreed to speak. He wanted to know who did this and why. Zac looked down at his daughter.
"All right," Zac said. "Go ahead."
"Explain to me what you saw when it happened in as much detail as possible." Zac took a deep breath and spilled everything he could remember about the past few hours. The officer paid attention with diligence, taking notes and nodding while Zac spoke softly, not wanting to disturb his daughter.
"So you didn't see anyone?" the officer asked. Zac shook his head. "Okay. Can you think of anyone who could have done this, or even anyone who had something against your wife?"
"No," Zac said.
"Are you sure? Is there anyone? It doesn't have to be recent." Zac took some time to think about it. Ginger was good with everyone. She didn't have any enemies, but his emotion was clouding his memory and he couldn't think straight.
"No," Zac repeated. "I can't think of anyone."
"All right. Thank you; I'll speak with the other two right now." Zac nodded. The officer left and Zac's eyes drifted over to his wife's room. The curtain was still closed. He was alone, and a wave of grief made him shake upon realizing he would be alone for the rest of his life.
The search for Ginger's killer was still going on the next day when it was released to the public that she had died. It was all over the news--people were taking it harder than expected--and some channels were playing her movies in tribute. Zac, however, sat in his hotel bedroom with Jenny, ignoring the television set that was on in the main room. He'd told Jenny what had happened and she took it very hard. He allowed the both of them to hang out in the bedroom and sulk, not being exposed to the outside world.
It was impossible to go outside. The media was itching for new information--Zac and Ginger's publicist made the announcement so no direct word from Zac was available. No new information had been given either. With the lack of other news in the country, Ginger's story was getting thin as reporters ran out of different ways to stretch the same information, and people were desperate to at least get a four-second sound byte from Zac.
Kris and Taylor were watching one of the televised movies Ginger made in the living room and every time Ginger's voice echoed through the walls, Zac cringed, until finally he'd had enough. Jenny was asleep next to him, so he carefully got off the bed and opened the door to the living room.
"Will you two turn that shit off?" he demanded. Taylor, who had the clicker, immediately turned the channel.
"I'm sorry, Zac," he said. "I didn't know you could hear it. We'll watch something else." Zac sighed. "Mom's going to be here soon. Why don't you get yourself dressed and get Jenny up?" Kris looked over her shoulder at Zac who was clad in a pair of sweatpants and not much else. It was obvious that watching the movie was a kind of therapy for Kris, unlike Zac who would end up having a nervous breakdown if he didn't learn to express his emotions.
"I'll make you lunch," Kris offered.
"Whatever," he said, and went back into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Taylor looked over at Kris, who turned back around to face the television.
"Put the movie back on," Kris said.
"But Zac--" She looked over at him. Her eyes were wide and glistening with tears, as everybody's had been. "Okay. I just don't want to make it any harder for him than it already is. After all, he does have Jenny in there." Taylor switched the channel back to Ginger's movie, but lowered the volume. This was the good movie, the drama about a resurfaced love triangle that earned her an Academy Award for writing. It was an amazing movie--her third--that she got Martin Scorcese to direct and somehow convinced Zac to write a song for. The movie was nominated for a number of Academy Awards (although only won for Best Screenplay) and the song won a Grammy.
"Why would someone do that, Taylor?" Kris asked. Taylor put an arm around his fianc�e to pull her closer to him.
"I don't know, sweetie. Some twisted freak." She laid her head against his shoulder. "Don't worry too much; I know it's a lot to handle but I'm here with you. We're going to find whoever did it and we're going to put him in jail." Kris said.
"I know, but we have nothing. Zac and Ginger were the only people around; Zac didn't see anything. We don't have any suspects!"
"It's only been a day, Kris."
"I just want to know who did it and why." She looked down. "That's all." Taylor agreed. The door opened and Diana Hanson walked in with her husband Walker. Taylor immediately stood.
"Oh, Taylor," Diana said. She embraced her son. "How is he doing?"
"Absolutely terrible," Taylor answered.
"That's what I thought. Kris, come here and give me a hug." Kris stood and hugged her future mother-in-law. Relations between Kris and Diana, even Ginger and Diana, were never good. Diana didn't necessarily care for either of the girls and never bothered to hide it. When Ginger and Zac got married it was mainly because of Jenny, which Diana immediately blamed Ginger for. Ginger had Jenny at eighteen and married Zac a few months later without Diana's approval. Things with Diana had been rocky since then, and since Kris and Ginger were such good friends, Diana figured Kris would be exactly like Ginger. It wasn't entirely true.
"It's terrible out there," Diana explained. "I can't believe the press! I've never seen it like that. Your father and I had to be let in through the back door with an escort so they wouldn't hound us with questions!" Taylor nodded.
"Yeah, we haven't been able to leave," Taylor said. "But it's not like we really have anywhere to go, so it's fine." He looked around. "Uh�I'll go get Zac." With an approving nod from his father, he went into the bedroom. "Zac?"
Zac hadn't changed or woken up Jenny. He was lying with her, absently stroking her long red hair. He didn't look up at Taylor. Taylor sighed in return. "Mom's outside," Taylor continued. "When you're dressed and ready you can come out to see her." Zac still didn't move. Taylor left and stepped back into the main room. "He'll come out when he feels like coming out."
"He doesn't have to," Diana said. She was sitting on the couch with Kris and Walker. "Is Jenny in there as well?" Taylor nodded.
"Yeah, but she's sleeping." Suddenly the door to the bedroom opened and Jenny came out. "Or not." Jenny ran over to her grandparents.
"Hi," she said, solemnly. She was excited to see her grandparents because she didn't see them often, however under the circumstances it was hard to be excited. Diana opened her arms to the little girl, who climbed into them to give her grandmother a tight hug.
"Hi Jenny. It's nice to see you again," Diana said. "Where's your father?"
"He's changing in the bedroom." Diana nodded. Not long afterwards Zac came out of the bedroom. He had put on some jeans and a T-shirt so he was more presentable, but was still obviously suffering.
"Hi honey," Diana said. "Come on over." Diana moved over on the couch, allowing Zac to sit down next to her. He did. Everyone else, including Jenny, found excuses to leave and Zac found himself alone with his mother. "I'm sorry," Diana said first.
"Of course you are," he said. He sniffed and wiped his nose. "Everyone's sorry. That doesn't mean anything to me." His eyes drifted to Ginger's movie playing on the television set. "Could you turn that off, please?" His demand this time was soft and pathetic.
"Of course." Diana found the remote and with a bit of trouble switched the television off.
"You know, it's bad enough my wife was murdered, but she's famous, and I'm famous, so that makes it a hundred times worse. They're playing her movies on TV, they're talking about her on the news, and there are hundreds of reporters outside that would do anything to ask me obscene questions about it! I don't want to talk about it! I just want to mourn quietly and find whoever did this."
"I know you do, honey. You don't have to leave the hotel and you don't have to turn on the TV."
"I know," Zac said. "And it's not like I want to do any of those things. I just want to be in my bed and deal with it by myself. It'd just be nice to have the option."
"Yes, it would." He sighed and looked at his mother.
"You know, even though you and Ging never really got along, it means a lot to me that you're here." Diana nodded.
"Zac, we may not have always gotten along, but she was a good woman. She was much better than I ever gave her credit for, and I only wish I could have told her that myself. She was a good mother, a good wife, and she loved you very much." Zac eyes filled with tears.
"Yes," he said. "Yes she did." Before either of them could say any more, there was a sudden hard knock at the front door. "Whoever it is, I don't want to speak to them." Diana got up to check. She looked through the peephole.
"It's some police officers," she explained. Zac's hope rose a bit, thinking it may be good news in the investigation when there was a second loud knock.
"LAPD, open up!" Diana opened the door and three uniformed cops and a homicide detective Zac had spoken to before barged in. Zac had spoken to before barged in. One of the officers ran to Zac and stood him up.
"Zachary Hanson, you are under arrest for the murder of Ginger Stevens."