The view switched again to show both anchors for a moment and they looked at each other as Bethany replied, “Well, Simon, reports are coming in from around the country about what some are calling the miraculous recovery of some previously seriously ill patients.” They both smiled and tilted their heads with the sheer joy of it all and Simon took his cue, “Wow, sounds like a miracle to me. Why don’t we go over to Robin at Jacksonville General and find out what it’s all about? Robin?” They both smiled, their sparkling eyes wide with faux curiosity as the scene shifted.

A smiling woman stands in a hospital room holding a large WPPI News microphone up to her beautiful face.

“Thanks, Simon and Bethany. Yes, that’s right, folks, I’m here at Jacksonville General with Armondo Zorilla, a patient who, until recently, was in near critical condition with effects of advanced Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.” The reporter frowned a moment, because that is what reporters have to do when they mention AIDS, and then turned to the patient, who was standing in his regular clothes to her right.

“Mr. Zorilla,” she said to him, still very serious, “I understand you were diagnosed HIV positive some years ago?”

She thrust the microphone under his chin and he stammered a moment, unsure whether to look at the camera, or her, or the floor. Choosing the floor, he said, “Yes, that’s right, Robin, I was diagnosed back in 2006 with HIV, but apparently I had already had it for a while and it progressed to full-blown AIDS last year.”

Robin did not like her interviewee’s sullen tone, or his use of the acronym AIDS, which research showed was not good for ratings. For that matter, the fact that the man had used the term ‘full-blown’ was also far from what they had discussed before the interview. She decided to redirect the conversation.

Reclaiming the microphone when Armondo paused to breathe, she turned to the camera again, and said, “But things have taken a turn recently, isn’t that right, Mr. Zorilla? Can you tell us a bit about that?”

She turned back to the patient and he stammered again, “Err, yes,” he managed to aim a small smile at the camera, then looked down again as he went on. “There’s been some, well, some good news over the last three weeks.” He smiled again and then stared at the camera in silence, apparently having to choose between speaking and smiling.