A âlong bad dream.â Though Vegas shooting lasted minutes recovery is far from over
Rosemarie Melanson
Steve Melanson and his daughter  Stephanie Melanson  discuss the Las Vegas massacre  which included the shooting of Rosemarie Melanson. The family outing to a concert on the Las Vegas Strip has led to an enduring struggle as the wife and mother remains in the hospital with grievous injuries. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
The tickets were a Motherâs Day present  but Rosemarie Melanson kept trying to give them away â to her kidsâ friends  their boyfriends. Finally Stephanie  26  put her foot down. Couldnât her generous mother just keep something nice for herself?
Stephanie Melanson discusses the shooting of her mother  Rosemarie Melanson  on Friday. Stephanie was with her mother and other relatives and friends at the music festival when her mother was shot in the chest. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
Stephanie  Paige and their friends were still kneeling over their mother when a man crawled toward them. He explained that he was a retired firefighter and helped the women turn  Rosemarie  onto  her  back to expose  her  thickly bleeding wound. Stephanie ripped off her sweater and handed it to the stranger  who pressed it into the hole in Rosemarieâs chest.
Stephanie put a hand to her motherâs face.  Rosemarie âs skin was cold   her  eyes glazed over.
They fled. Paige was put in an ambulance to the hospital to get her wound examined. Stephanie and her father then met up and headed to police headquarters  where officials were listing off the injured and where they had been taken. Hours passed  and  Rosemarie âs name didnât come. Desperate  they went from hospital to hospital  showing people a cellphone photo. More than once  Stephanie had to excuse herself to vomit.
They found her at the Sunrise ICU. It was past 9 a.m.  the sun high in a flawlessly blue desert sky.  Rosemarie âs face was bruised and swollen   her  abdomen still open from the first of two surgeries to repair  her  vital organs  and  she  had countless tubes coming out of  her  body.
â She  looked bad. Terrible bad â he recalled. But he thought to his wife: âOkay. You survived. Youâre here.â
Days later  the torturous not-knowing of those initial hours has given way to a dull  anxious ache.  Rosemarie  remains on life support and fragile. The doctors say  her  prognosis is good  that  she âs expected to make a full recovery. But when Steve asks when  she âll get off the ventilator  they say theyâre not sure yet. When he asks when  she âll come home  they say theyâre not sure yet.
Steve looks at his wife of 30 years and wants to lie down beside  her   hold  her  in his arms and tell  her  how much he loves  her . But the doctors tell him itâs better if he doesnât touch  her  too much. Being agitated isnât good for  her  condition. He contents himself with a kiss on  her  forehead and a whisper in  her  ear.
For Stephanie  who used to chat with  her  mother every day  âitâs hard to talk and not hear anything back.â So sometimes  she  says nothing at all  just sits in the chilly  dimly lit hospital room and prays.
Daily  they get reminders of their relative good fortune. On Tuesday  after giving an interview to a local TV station  Paige got a message over Instagram from a woman who said she knew the man who saved her mom. Within minutes  the family was videochatting with Don Matthews  a retired Los Angeles firefighter who remained with  Rosemarie  throughout the shooting  then carried  her  to an ambulance on a ripped up piece of fence.
Everyone on that call cried. They hung up after agreeing that Matthew would come back to Las Vegas for a reunion once  Rosemarie  was out of the ICU.
Stephanie Melanson and her father  Steve Melanson  walk toward Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center to visit Rosemarie Melanson. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
But  Rosemarie  is not in the video. And the breathing tube in  her  throat prevents  her  from speaking  even if  she  werenât sedated. Stephanie can only wonder  and wait.
Steve Melanson and his daughter  Stephanie Melanson  discuss the Las Vegas massacre  which included the shooting of Rosemarie Melanson. The family outing to a concert on the Las Vegas Strip has led to an enduring struggle as the wife and mother remains in the hospital with grievous injuries. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
The tickets were a Motherâs Day present  but Rosemarie Melanson kept trying to give them away â to her kidsâ friends  their boyfriends. Finally Stephanie  26  put her foot down. Couldnât her generous mother just keep something nice for herself?
Stephanie Melanson discusses the shooting of her mother  Rosemarie Melanson  on Friday. Stephanie was with her mother and other relatives and friends at the music festival when her mother was shot in the chest. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
Stephanie  Paige and their friends were still kneeling over their mother when a man crawled toward them. He explained that he was a retired firefighter and helped the women turn  Rosemarie  onto  her  back to expose  her  thickly bleeding wound. Stephanie ripped off her sweater and handed it to the stranger  who pressed it into the hole in Rosemarieâs chest.
Stephanie put a hand to her motherâs face.   [TGT]  âs skin was cold   her  eyes glazed over.
They fled. Paige was put in an ambulance to the hospital to get her wound examined. Stephanie and her father then met up and headed to police headquarters  where officials were listing off the injured and where they had been taken. Hours passed  and  Rosemarie âs name didnât come. Desperate  they went from hospital to hospital  showing people a cellphone photo. More than once  Stephanie had to excuse herself to vomit.
They found her at the Sunrise ICU. It was past 9 a.m.  the sun high in a flawlessly blue desert sky.   [TGT]  âs face was bruised and swollen    [TGT]   abdomen still open from the first of two surgeries to repair   [TGT]   vital organs  and   [TGT]   had countless tubes coming out of   [TGT]   body.
â  [TGT]   looked bad. Terrible bad â he recalled. But he thought to his wife: âOkay. You survived. Youâre here.â
Days later  the torturous not-knowing of those initial hours has given way to a dull  anxious ache.   [TGT] remains on life support and fragile. The doctors say   [TGT]   prognosis is good  that   [TGT]  âs expected to make a full recovery. But when Steve asks when   [TGT]  âll get off the ventilator  they say theyâre not sure yet. When he asks when   [TGT]  âll come home  they say theyâre not sure yet.
Steve looks at his wife of 30 years and wants to lie down beside   [TGT]    hold   [TGT]   in his arms and tell   [TGT]   how much he loves   [TGT]  . But the doctors tell him itâs better if he doesnât touch   [TGT]   too much. Being agitated isnât good for   [TGT]   condition. He contents himself with a kiss on  her  forehead and a whisper in  her  ear.
For Stephanie  who used to chat with  her  mother every day  âitâs hard to talk and not hear anything back.â So sometimes  she  says nothing at all  just sits in the chilly  dimly lit hospital room and prays.
Daily  they get reminders of their relative good fortune. On Tuesday  after giving an interview to a local TV station  Paige got a message over Instagram from a woman who said she knew the man who saved her mom. Within minutes  the family was videochatting with Don Matthews  a retired Los Angeles firefighter who remained with  Rosemarie  throughout the shooting  then carried  her  to an ambulance on a ripped up piece of fence.
Everyone on that call cried. They hung up after agreeing that Matthew would come back to Las Vegas for a reunion once  Rosemarie  was out of the ICU.
Stephanie Melanson and her father  Steve Melanson  walk toward Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center to visit Rosemarie Melanson. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
But  Rosemarie  is not in the video. And the breathing tube in  her  throat prevents  her  from speaking  even if  she  werenât sedated. Stephanie can only wonder  and wait.