Sarah left Gene to cover the trial and went shopping, hoping to escape the pain and the sickness that was enveloping her. Right now, she’s standing in the mall, in line at Starbucks, waiting for her tall double latte with soymilk. But wouldn’t you know it, there are TV monitors all over the mall, and all of them tuned to the trial. Apparently As The Stomach Turns can wait for a while. That’s okay; I’m sure the trial will be over long before SueAnne finishes delivering that baby.
Although she refuses to watch, and tries not to listen, Sarah can’t help but hear Crawley decline to stipulate that AZT causes AIDS, and Judge Watts instructs Messick to call his next witness. Sarah finds an empty table and sits down to enjoy her coffee and bran muffin. But there’s no escaping it; the sound of Messick’s voice permeates the entire mall. He is questioning an older woman whose son died from AIDS in 1989, and she is describing her son’s condition near the end.
“...the lesions from the Kaposi's Sarcoma were so ugly.”
“Your son was a homosexual?”
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Bennett, do you know whether he used something called ‘poppers’?”
“I’m not sure, Mr. Messick. What did they look like?”
“They used to be glass vials that had a smaller neck you broke off to get to the amyl nitrite, which made a popping sound when you broke it – hence the name ‘poppers.’ Then they started to come in small brown bottles.”
“Well then, I guess so, because after he was gone, I found a lot of little brown bottles in his room. Why?”
If Sarah had been watching instead of just listening, she would have seen Crawley, looking puzzled, asking Dr. Gallo ‘Why?’ as well.
“That's fine for now, thank you. Mrs. Bennett, when did your son start taking AZT?”
“I think it was in February of 1989.”
“Not long after he got sick with the KS – Kaposi's Sarcoma?”
“I think so. It’s been a long time ago to remember those kinds of details, Mr. Messick.”
“I know, Mrs. Bennett, and I appreciate how hard you’re trying.” He pauses for a second. He is very conscious of the time; he’s got a lot of witnesses to get through, and he didn’t want the jury to get tired or bored, much less the Judge. “Did the AZT make your son’s KS lesions go away?”
“No. They were with him until shortly before he died.”
“I know this is difficult, ma'am, but you brought a picture of your son not long before he died?”
“Yes, I did.”
Messick picks up a poster-size photograph showing a very disturbing picture of her son and puts it on an easel in front of the witness and the jury.
“I hope you don't mind, but I had it enlarged so it was easier for the court to see.”
Mrs. Bennett winces a little, seeing her son’s deformed image bigger than life.
“When did your son die, Mrs. Bennett?”
“In November, 1989.”
“About 9 months after he started taking AZT?”
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Bennett, in your non-professional opinion,” Messick looks across at Crawley to make sure he heard the disclaimer, “as his mother who saw him every day for those nine months, do you think the AZT helped him?”
Suddenly, Sarah has lost her appetite for even the coffee and muffin. She gets up, dumps them both in the trash, and starts walking down the mall to shop as Mrs. Bennett tries to answer the question through her tears.
“He never got any better, Mr. Messick. He only got worse, even taking the AZT. The AZT obviously did not cure him – he's dead. It didn't seem to help him at all, either. It didn't act like any treatment I know of. I mean if the AZT would have even made the time he had left a little better – given him a little more quality of life for the last few months – it would have been worth it. But I can't say the AZT helped at all. And from what I'm hearing these days, I’m beginning to think the AZT hurt him instead. A lot.”