“‘Day 8,'" said Gowdy. "Need I say more?"
He was answering a question from Hannahlee, who talked as she treated Leif's wounds. The question she'd asked Gowdy was this: "Why did you leave Hollywood?"
The next thing she said was, "Yes, you do need to say more, actually."
Gowdy, who stood on the other side of the bed, holding Leif down, let out a sigh. He looked at Dunne and sadly shook his head. "Prophets aren't always appreciated in their own lifetimes."
Dunne frowned. He was standing beside Hannahlee, handing her the implements she needed when she asked for them. "So what exactly happened with Day 8?" he said.
"Let's start at the beginning." Gowdy stared into space for a moment, fiddling with his ruby-red glasses...then snapped back to reality. "How does a TV producer like me follow a smash flop like Superclown, you ask? My fifth smash flop in a row, when I have one chance left to save my career?
"I copy what's hot, of course. And what was hot in the 80s? Newsmagazines.
"CBS had 60 Minutes. ABC had 20/20. So I came up with Day 8. Like an eighth day of the week to catch up on the news from the previous seven." Gowdy narrowed his eyes. "Only I decided I needed a gimmick."
"Sponge," said Hannahlee, reaching out a latex-gloved hand.
Without a word, Dunne placed a piece of alcohol-soaked sponge in her hand. Hannahlee ran it around the edges of the wound in Leif's shoulder, mopping up blood.
Though Leif had a couple shots of strong whiskey in him, he still groaned and squirmed when the sponge touched him. Gowdy had to work harder to hold him down as he kept going with the story. "My gimmick was to make the news a drama. Boost the entertainment value. Bring in actors. Play out scenes that weave together the week's stories. Help people better understand the news and identify with the subjects.
"In retrospect, this was not one of my better ideas."
"Needle and thread," said Hannahlee.
Dunne handed them to her. "Day 8 got great ratings at first, didn't it?"
"The best ratings of my career," said Gowdy. "It was the top-rated show of 1983! But instead of glory, it led to disaster."
"I remember it was controversial," said Dunne.
"To say the least!" said Gowdy. "The critics declared war! So did the newsmen, the academics, the clergy, and every two-bit self-proclaimed arbiter of so-called taste in America!"
Dunne looked away from Leif's shoulder as Hannahlee sewed it up with the needle and thread. "Hard to believe they made such a big deal about mixing news and entertainment back then."
"I was ahead of my time." Gowdy shifted position as Leif writhed in his grip. "Nowadays, we've got infotainment all over the place. But in those days, they were ready to nail me to the cross for 'blurring the line between fantasy and reality.'"
"Scissors," said Hannahlee.
Dunne watched as she snipped the thread at the end of the suture. It looked to him like she'd done a pretty good job, especially considering the circumstances.
"Ratings were amazing, but advertisers pulled out," said Gowdy. "We were cancelled after thirteen weeks. Which was too bad, because the key episode never got made."
"Gauze," said Hannahlee.
"Key episode?" Dunne handed her the gauze from the first aid kit.
Gowdy's eyes widened, and he leaned across Leif. "The one that was going to explain what the series was really about. The one that would reveal the true artistic vision of what was secretly a meticulously designed masterpiece."
"Tape," said Hannahlee.
"'Day 8.'" Gowdy leaned further toward Dunne. "Think about it, son."
Dunne frowned and shook his head.
"Think," said Gowdy. "Day...8."
"Back...off." Hannahlee snapped forward, and Gowdy had to duck back to avoid a head-butt. "You're contaminating my sorry excuse for a sterile field...and you're not holding my patient still."
"But you're the one who brought it up in the first place," said Gowdy.
"Before I remembered what a blowhard you are," said Hannahlee.
"Okay, okay." Gowdy smiled and nodded obligingly...then winked at Dunne. "Think about it." He said it quickly and softly as a secret. "I'll tell you later."
Dunne felt let-down after Gowdy's build-up. He knew Hannahlee still had another wound to sew...but he couldn't resist one more question. "How about giving me a clue?"
Gowdy tightened his grip on Leif as Hannahlee moved to the wound in his side.
"Sponge," said Hannahlee.
"'Godseye.'" Gowdy nodded. "Yes, that's as good a clue as any."