Transcript
Lindsey Graham (0:00)
Hi, this is Lindsey Graham, host of American Scandal. Our back catalog has moved behind a paywall. Recent episodes remain free, but older ones will require a Wondery plus subscription. With Wondery, you get access to the full American scandal archive ad free, plus early access to new seasons and more. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's May 2003, in a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Gina Russo lies in a bed, staring vacantly up at the ceiling. She can hear the machines next to her beeping away as they measure her vital signs. And she knows her sister, Stephanie, is in the room because she can hear her voice, but she can't make out the words. And what she can't understand doesn't make any sense. When Russo first woke up in the hospital, Stephanie mentioned that Russo's son Alex had a baseball game, and Russo was confused. There's no baseball in February, but Stephanie explained that it was May, that Russo had been in a coma. Now, as Stephanie keeps talking, Russo tries to focus, but it's like her sister is talking through cotton. She catches Stephanie St. Nicholas. That's the name of Russo's other son. She desperately wants to pay attention, to engage, to hear how her kids are doing. They're only nine and six, but she's been away from them for so long, and she feels so foggy. Her doctors say it's all because of the pain medication she's on. So Russo takes a breath and tries to concentrate. She reminds herself what she knows. She knows that three months ago she went to a concert at a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. She knows that there was a fire and that she was severely burned. She also knows that her doctors put her in a coma and that when she woke up one week ago, it was suddenly May. She knows these facts, but they feel hazy and unreal, like all of this happened to someone else. And then suddenly, an urgent question rushes to her. She needs to know where her fiance, Fred Crisostomy, is. She remembers going to the club with him. Fred was the one who insisted they needed to leave when the fire broke out, but she hasn't seen him since she woke up. No one is talking about him. Russo licks her lips and prepares to talk, because while she was in a coma, she had a tube down her throat. The doctors have removed it, but it's still difficult to speak. Where's Fred? Gina? What was that? Gina, you say something? Where's Fred? I'm so sorry. You're hard to understand. Where is Fred? Russo can see that her sister has heard her and understood her. But she's not answering. Stephanie, it's okay. You can tell me. Is he in a coma? No, he's not in a coma. And where is he? Gina? You know there's nowhere Fred would rather be than by your where is he? Oh, Gina. Fred didn't make it. What do you mean he didn't make it out of the building? He died in the fire. How could that happen? He was right behind me. We don't know how any of it happened. We're just lucky you got out. A lot of families weren't so fortunate. How many? Nearly 100 people died that night. Russo stares straight ahead in shock, trying to absorb what her sister has said. But it doesn't make sense. She can't believe that her fiance is dead. He was the lover of her life, and now he's gone. All because they went to a concert.
