WRITTEN BY
Steven Maeda
DIRECTED BY
Kim Manners
AIRED ON
March 17, 2002
RUNTIME
44 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
438
LAST UPDATE
2024-08-29 02:05:19
PAGE VERSION
Version 4
LIKES
0
DISLIKES
0
SUMMARY
Agent Reyes is involved in a severe car accident that leaves her in a coma. While her body lies in the hospital, her consciousness finds itself in a surreal, empty version of the hospital, a liminal space created by Audrey Pauley, a hospital worker with the extraordinary ability to connect with comatose patients. Inside this dreamlike world, Reyes meets other patients in comas, all struggling to return to the real world. Meanwhile, in the real world, Doggett is determined to save Reyes, investigating the circumstances of her accident and growing increasingly desperate as her condition deteriorates. He discovers Audrey's unique gift and persuades her to help bring Reyes back. In a climactic effort, Audrey sacrifices herself to restore Reyes to consciousness. The episode blends elements of the supernatural with deep emotional resonance, exploring themes of life, death, and the power of human connection.
STORY
No story yet.
BEHIND THE SCENES
- Kim Manners began directing Audrey Pauley on January 16, 2002.
- This marked the 50th X-Files episode directed by Kim Manners.
- On January 21, 2002, DGA Magazine came on set to interview Kim Manners.
- The episode production number is 9ABX13.
QUOTES
FILMING LOCATIONS
TOPICS
No topics yet.
REVIEWS
Boring as hell
Written by
Pike on 2017-10-01
★
★
Boring
TRANSCRIPT
SCENE 1
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
(It's dark. REYES pulls her bronco up to the side of DOGGETT'S house. It's a two-story house with a white picket fence. The porch light is on. Out in front along the sidewalk is a lit lamppost. The two agents had just come back from going out after work.)
REYES: Thanks for the beer.
DOGGETT: Thanks for the lift.
(REYES unbuckles her seat belt.)
REYES: So, big plans for the weekend?
DOGGETT: Oh, huge. Microwave pizza, satellite TV.
REYES: Wow. Thanks for making my life sound exciting. Maybe we both need pets. They say people with pets live longer.
DOGGETT (confesses): I was thinking about getting a cat.
REYES: There's dog people, and there's cat people. You are a dog person, John.
DOGGETT: How do you figure?
(REYES chuckles.)
REYES: You're faithful, you're dependable, you're without guile, you're very comfortable to be around. So why a cat?
DOGGETT: Low maintenance. They don't expect much from you, so you can't disappoint 'em.
REYES: I don't see you ever disappointing anyone, John.
(The two look at each other, sharing the moment. The moment soon passes.)
DOGGETT: See you Monday?
REYES: Yeah. See ya.
(DOGGETT smiles at her and leaves. REYES puts her seatbelt back on. She drives off. DOGGETT stops to watch her leave.)
REYES (smiling to herself): John, John, John.
(She reaches an intersection about a block away when another car speeding through a stop sign hits her on the driver's side.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 2
(Trauma room. The EMT'S wheel REYES to the Emergency Room on a gurney. The ER physician and team are working on her. REYES' eyes are open.)
ER NURSE: One, two and three.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Miss... ?
ER NURSE: Reyes.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: How you feeling tonight? You with us?
(DR. PREIJERS shines his penlight into her eyes ... )
FADE TO WHITE:
SCENE 3
(Trauma room. We are close on REYES who lies with her eyes open. No penlight plays over her face now. The room is QUIET now, too - no on/off screen bustle of activity is heard. Reyes BLINKS, then blinks again. She focuses. She sits up. As she does, we ADJUST to reveal we are: )
(Inside the Doppel Hospital Trauma Room.)
(It's the same familiar trauma room, only this one is DESERTED - no doctors, no nurses, no one at all. It's not like everyone just split all of a sudden, either. The set dressing, or rather the dearth of it, makes it seem more like no one was ever here. )
(REYES looks around the room with some confusion. She touches the fresh trickle of blood on her head. She slides off the gurney, mildly surprised to find herself feeling fine. Feeling strong and well. REYES gets up. The ER room is empty. There's no one there. She's bleeding from a cut on her left temple.)
(REYES steps into the admitting area of the doppel hospital ER, also DESERTED. She wanders through, looking all around. This is getting weird.)
REYES: Hello? (a bit louder) Is anybody here?
(There is no answer. The place is eerily quiet, not a sound to be heard, not even the hum of room tone.)
(To differentiate it from the just plain HOSPITAL where REYES was first checked into, this place where REYES is will be called the DOPPEL HOSPITAL.. And here's a subtle but crucial note for our Art Department: there is no signage in the Doppel Hospital. No written words on the walls, on the Coke machines, on the equipment - none whatsoever. There's no DAY or NIGHT in the Doppel Hospital, either. None will be specified. We'll avoid seeing out any exterior windows. The light throughout this place is cold, steely blue-grey.)
(We are close on REYES again, her unease grows by the second. She looks into nearby rooms, checks behind the admitting desk. Nada, nobody, not a soul. She turns and walks quickly toward the exit. The automatic doors work fine. They open. She's stunned. There's nothing there but a blue sky or endless void outside ...
[OPENING CREDITS] [OPENING CREDITS] [OPENING CREDITS] [OPENING CREDITS] [OPENING CREDITS]
SCENE 4
(In the doppel hospital. REYES looks at herself in the small reflection of the paper towel dispenser. She dabs lightly at the bloodied cut at her left temple. In the distorted reflection, she sees a man behind her. He's dressed in pajamas. He approaches her cautiously.)
STEPHEN MUDOCH: Hello. (REYES is startled and turns around.) It's okay. I was a little freaked out, too ... at first.
REYES: Who are you?
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Stephen Murdoch. I-I don't even know if that matters anymore but my name is Stephen. Did you just look outside?
(REYES nods her head slightly.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH (gently): Yeah. Don't do that.
(MURDOCH turns and starts walking down the hallway. REYES follows.)
REYES: Where did everybody go?
STEPHEN MURDOCH: I think the question is, "where did we go?" Were you in an accident?
REYES: I think I was hit by a car on my way home.
STEPHEN MURDOCH: I came in with chest pains. Mr. Barreiro, someone new. I found Mr. Barreiro wandering around here same as you. He fell at a construction site where he used to work.
(MR. BARREIRO is a Hispanic man. The entire left half of his head is shaved and he bears a large 4-5 inch scar. REYES stares at him. Well ... not so much at him, but at the situation that they're in.)
REYES (to MURDOCH): You think we're dead.
(MURDOCH tilts his head slight as if to say, "don't you?" REYES looks at MR. BARREIRO. He looks as if he believes that they are dead.)
REYES: No. No, I don't believe that.
VAL BARREIRO: Have you ever been dead? So how do you know you're not?
(REYES turns and walks away from the two men.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 5
(In the real hospital. SCULLY enters the Emergency Room. She sees DOGGETT in the waiting room. He's upset. She sits next to him.)
DOGGETT: Hell of a thing to wake up to, huh?
(She puts a comforting arm around his shoulders.)
DOGGETT: We stopped after work. She had a beer.
SCULLY: Well, the man who hit her had fifteen. Don't do this to yourself, John.
CUT TO:
SCENE 6
(In REYES' real hospital room. The monitor hooked up to record REYES' brain activity shows no activity at all. All the lines are flat. All of them. REYES isn't on a ventilator. She does have a cannula on. SCULLY is looking through the ER chart. DOGGETT watches SCULLY from the side.)
SCULLY: It's true, John. She's gone.
DOGGETT: I don't accept that. Look at her breathing. Her heart's still beating. There's got to be hope.
SCULLY: There's no measurable electrical activity in her brain. Brain death is ... indeed death, John.
(DOGGETT looks down at REYES.)
SCULLY: I'm sorry.
(Behind DOGGETT, REYES appears outside in the blue-tinged hallway. She peers in. There's no recognition, nothing from her to indicate that she sees DOGGETT or SCULLY ... or herself.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 7
(In the doppel hospital, REYES sees an empty room through the glass. The bed is empty. There's no one in the room. She walks away to check the next room. It, too, is empty.)
(She stops at the nurse's station and pulls out a chart and looks through it. We get to see four different looking hospital forms. The pages are covered with hospital form gibberish. No, really. It's gibberish. If it weren't I'd probably transcribe the entire thing for you, too. The forms are all blank meaning that they're not completed. Not one of them is filled.)
(MURDOCH appears from the side.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: The thing is, it's not that bad, once you get used to the idea.
REYES: Have you seen this? It's nonsense, all of it. There's not a single sign on any of the walls here. Why is that?
(MURDOCH stands with his hands clasped. He doesn't say anything.)
REYES: You say we're dead. This seem like heaven to you? A big, deserted catholic hospital?
STEPHEN MURDOCH: I didn't say this was heaven. For all I know, it's ... it's hell.
(They're walking down the hallway.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: I don't know anything for sure. Maybe this place is a way station; to what comes next.
(REYES considers his words. She makes up her mind and begins to walk away from him with purpose.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Where are you going?
REYES: I'm finding a way out.
CUT TO:
(REYES stands near the closed ER door. She's looking outside. She looks thoughtful. She picks up a porcelain mud and drops it into the void. The mug falls. When it hits the end of the void, it disintegrates though what seems like an electrical force-field.)
(She walks back inside. The ER doors close behind her. She doesn't look back.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 8
(In REYES' real room. In front of REYES' bed, the ER physician who worked on REYES introduces himself.)
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Jack Preijers. I'm very sorry for your loss.
DOGGETT: Look, you two are the experts but there's got to be something more that can be done.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Well, I wish there were. And I don't mean to make this any harder but I do have information you both need to hear.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Your partner had a living will. She signed an organ donor card.
DOGGETT: Uh-uh. No way.
SCULLY: John ...
DOGGETT: Just slow down, all right?
DOGGETT: She's lying there in one piece. There's no fractures, no damage to her skull. Does that add up to you?
SCULLY: John, at the end of the day it doesn't matter. It doesn't change the diagnosis or her prognosis.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: In these situations time is always of the essence. There is a woman in Minnesota who can be saved by your friend's heart. In a real sense, she will live on.
CUT TO:
SCENE 9
(REYES is walking back down the hallway in the doppel hospital. Through a frosted wall, she makes out the shadow of a figure.)
REYES: Mr. Murdoch?
(The figure moves, but doesn't respond to her.)
REYES: Mr. Barreiro?
(The figure runs from her. REYES takes off after her. She rounds the corner and sees a woman running.)
REYES: You, stop!
(The woman stops. It's AUDREY PAULEY. She looks at REYES, then runs down another hallway. REYES runs after her. It's a dead-end hallway. The woman is nowhere to be seen.)
(REYES runs up to the wall and puts her hand on it. It is solid.)
(In the distance, she hears MURDOCH yelling for her.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Monica?!
(REYES leaves the wall to find MURDOCH.)
CUT TO:
(REYES runs through the hall as she hears a panicked MURDOCH calling for her.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Monica!
(REYES arrives. MURDOCH is standing some distance away from BARREIRO who is crackling with the same kind of electricity that the mug burned up in ... in the void. He's in obvious pain.)
STPEHEN MURDOCH: What's happening to him?
(MURDOCH and MONICA watch as BARREIRO screams in pain, crackles as the electrical force consumes him. He disappears from their sight.)
REYES: Oh, my god.
(Both MURDOCH and MONICA wonder if the same thing is going to happen to them.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 10
(Inside the real hospital in BARREIRO'S room. The steady tone of a heart monitor flatlined. BARREIRO is in the hospital bed. Surrounding his bed are his wife, son and daughter. Soft sobs can be heard.)
(DR. PREIJERS turns off the monitor and turns around to face the family.)
DR. JACK PREIJERS: I am so very sorry for your loss.
(The family continue to grieve. Outside, AUDREY PAULEY watches. She takes her flower delivery cart and continues down the hallway.)
[Fade to black]
SCENE 11
(Hospital. SCULLY is inside MONICA'S hospital room studying the monitor with the record of her brain scan. DOGGETT walks in. He looks haggard and worn.)
DOGGETT: They're burning up the phone lines down there. Arranging with all these other hospitals how to divvy up Monica. They say they could do it as early as tomorrow.
(He looks hopefully at SCULLY.)
DOGGETT: Is there anything ... anything at all?
SCULLY: I did note some minor swelling in the left anterior which is consistent with subdural haematoma.
DOGGETT: Minor swelling?
SCULLY: I-I don't know if that means anything. It's not like there's an exact formula for how much damage equals death.
(DOGGETT walks over to the table with other papers. He picks them up and looks at them. He's looking for anything that will stop the proceedings. He thinks he may have found something. He just doesn't know what it means.)
DOGGETT: What about this?
(DOGGETT pulls out a piece of paper. It's the brain monitor readout. It has some indicator numbers on it: 135/7 and 170/7. There is also a big 8:11 PM circled on the top. That's when the monitor flatlines and shows that she has no brain activity.)
DOGGETT: This was monitoring her brain activity, right? Electrical impulses.
SCULLY: Yeah. She had EEG monitoring after the point that she coded.
DOGGETT: Suddenly they just stop here. Right here. And if we can learn what this is maybe we can reverse it.
(DOGGETT takes the papers and walks out of the room to find someone who can answer his questions. SCULLY calls out to him, but he doesn't answer her.)
SCULLY: Agent Doggett.
(He ignores her and continues out of the room.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 12
(In the doppel hospital, MURDOCH and REYES are examining the hallway that AUDREY disappeared through.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Okay, so-so this woman you saw--she went through the wall?
REYES: I don't know. She was here, and then she disappeared.
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Disappeared? What do you mean, like Mr. Barreiro did?
(MONICA is still trying doors and examining walls. ) REYES: Different than Barreiro.
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Okay, okay, let's concentrate on one unexplainable event at a time here. What the hell happened to Mr. Barreiro?
REYES: My opinion? I think he died.
(MR. MURDOCH looks at MONICA as if he's heard one too many theories already. She continues.)
REYES: You can't die if you're already dead. Which backs up my belief that you and I are alive. I have no idea where she went.
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Hold on. If he's dead ... and we're not ... then where the hell are we?
(MONICA doesn't know.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 13
(At the nurses' station in the real hospital.)
DOGGETT: Dr. Preijers.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: I'll be there in one minute.
DOGGETT: I'm wondering about this moment on my partner's EEG tape--8:11 P.M., When brain death apparently occurred.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: You're reviewing our records?
DOGGETT: Well, no offense, but yeah. I just need to know if there was some change in Monica's condition leading up to this.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Agent Doggett, if you're trying to build a malpractice case against me or this hospital ...
DOGGETT: I'm not. I just want the facts.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Whitney, could you pull the code notes from earlier tonight, please?
NURSE WHITNEY: Mm-hmm.
DOGGETT: Look, Monica had a seat belt and an airbag protecting her through the crash. The ambulance crew said she was conscious at the scene. I just think there's something we're all missing.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Well, I don't think this will help you any but this describes what my team and I did to save your friend. You can take it, copy it, study it at your leisure.
NURSE (from behind): Dr. Preijers?
[CLOSED CAPTION: DR. JACK PREIJERS: If you'll excuse me ... ]
CUT TO:
SCENE 14
(In REYES' real hospital room, MONICA'S in bed with an undaunting number of tubes coming out of her. Next to her bedside is AUDREY PAULEY. She's just sitting there looking at MONICA. DOGGETT approaches the door and sees her. He walks in. AUDREY is startled. She stands to leave.)
DOGGETT (whispering): Oh, it-it's all right. (He indicates that she can stay.) You work here?
(AUDREY is a timid woman. She's shy and soft-spoken. She is awkward and quiet.)
AUDREY PAULEY: Uh, I-I'm a patient aide. I deliver the flowers mostly. Are you her husband?
(DOGGETT shakes his head, no.)
AUDREY PAULEY: You love her, though.
(DOGGETT doesn't say anything. She opens the door to leave, pauses and makes a decision to help comfort him.)
AUDREY PAULEY: She's not gone. Not her soul.
DOGGETT: I wish I could talk to her. I wish I could tell her. Guess I wish a lot of things.
(AUDREY looks at DOGGETT. She doesn't know what to say. She leaves. He turns to look at MONICA. DOGGETT stands next to her bed.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 15
(The elevator moves down to the real Hospital Basement. AUDREY comes out of the elevator. She goes to a room where a dollhouse sized model of the hospital is replicated. It seems as if she'd built the model. AUDREY hangs up her peach coat and sits in front of the model.)
(The camera pans from AUDREY'S room, passes through the model window and into the blue/gray-tinged Hospital where MONICA and MURDOCH are. MONICA is going from room to room looking for a way out. MURDOCH is following behind her.)
(We are now in the doppel hospital.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Come on. You're not giving up, are you?
(MURDOCH sees something behind MONICA.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Monica.
(MONICA turns around. It's AUDREY. AUDREY is standing half in light and half in darkness. Half of her is coloured and the other half is slightly blue-grey tinged.)
REYES (softly): Please. Don't run. Who are you?
AUDREY PAULEY: I'm Audrey. I-I work at the hospital.
REYES: Audrey, I'm Monica. Stephen and I just want to get out of here. Will you show us the way out?
AUDREY PAULEY: I can't. I can't help you.
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Why not?
AUDREY PAULEY: I came to tell you your friend ... loves you very much.
REYES: My friend? Did you talk to John? Does he know where I am?
AUDREY PAULEY: They all think you're dead.
(MONICA turns to look at MURDOCH. AUDREY has delivered her message. She turns to leave.)
REYES: Wait! Give my friend a message. Tell him he's a dog person.
(AUDREY looks at REYES. She will deliver the message. She moves down the corridor behind the wall blocking MONICA'S and MURDOCH'S view of her.
(They turn the corner and she's gone. There are tears in MONICA'S eyes.
CUT TO:
SCENE 16
(DR. PREIJERS is sitting at a small table in a tiny office. He's doing some paperwork. The faucet drips steadily. There's a small knock on the door and the nurse from the Trauma Room walks in.)
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Hey, Whitney.
NURSE WHITNEY: Doctor, it's not my place to say, but you might want to review the code notes for tonight.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Why is that?
NURSE WHITNEY: Well, there was an injection you gave Miss Reyes that wasn't in the notes.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: I don't think so.
NURSE WHITNEY: In trauma bay, I saw you administer the IV push. I assumed it was epinephrine.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: I have no memory of that. Anybody else see this?
NURSE WHITNEY: Just me. But it happened. My only point being, if there is an investigation that's the kind of inconsistency malpractice lawyers love to get hold of.
DR. JACK PREIJERS: Whitney, thank you so much for looking out for me.
(She turns to walk out, DR. PREIJERS moves incredibly fast. He stands, grabs her from behind and muffles her screams. He pulls out a small syringe and injects her with something in the neck. She goes limp and falls to the floor.)
[Fade to black]
SCENE 17
(DOGGETT is sitting alone in the hospital hallway. It's daylight and the hospital around him is bustling with activity. He is impervious to it all, trapped in his own mixed-up world of memories and might-have-beens.)
REYES (V.O.): There's cat people, and there's dog people. You are a dog person, John. You're faithful. You're dependable. You're without guile and you're very comfortable to be around.
(In his memory, he sees MONICA behind the driver's wheel in the car. She's smiling at him as she tells him exactly what kind of man he is.)
(There are unshed tears in his eyes as he remembers.)
REYES (V.O.): I don't see you ever disappointing anyone, John.
(In his mind, they are alone in the car, she's gazing at him. He's gazing at her. He slowly moves toward her. She moves toward him. His hand comes up to cup her cheek. Their lips touch ... )
(DOGGETT is pulled back to the cold, lonely hallway as a woman's screams fill the air. Medical personnel run toward the room.)
NURSE: Get me some help in here!
CUT TO:
SCENE 18
(In the real hospital, NURSE WHITNEY is lying on a table. SCULLY is there.)
SCULLY: What exactly are you thinking?
DOGGETT: She helped work on Monica. I started asking questions about what happened in the trauma bay and she very inconveniently drops dead.
SCULLY: You're thinking that somebody murdered her to cover something up.
DOGGETT: Well, if it were you, how would you go about it make it look like natural causes?
SCULLY: Well, I'd use a fast-acting barbiturate like pentobarbital. I'd use a small-bore needle to make it next to impossible to find an injection mark.
DOGGETT: Next to impossible ... That's why you're perfect for the job. Should probably test her blood, too, while you're at it, right?
SCULLY: Agent Doggett ... I'm happy to do this for you. Just don't kid yourself that this is going to somehow bring her back.
(He blinks. He leaves. SCULLY sighs.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 19
(DOGGETT is sitting next to MONICA'S bedside. He is tenderly brushing MONICA'S hair away from her eyes. He's interrupted by AUDREY.)
AUDREY PAULEY: Your name is John, right? She has a message for you. She says you're a dog person.
(AUDREY'S words hit DOGGETT. He is stunned. DOGGETT looks back at MONICA who is still unconscious. AUDREY walks away. DOGGETT rushes to catch her.)
DOGGETT: Wait. Where did you get that? Who said that to you?
AUDREY PAULEY: I told you. She's not gone.
CUT TO:
SCENE 20
(Back in the doppel hospital, MONICA'S looking through the garbled chart sheets. MURDOCH is standing by the ER door. He's looking outside.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Look, I went through every last page of that before you ever got here. It's just nonsense, just like you said. There's not a clue in it.
REYES: Maybe in itself it's a clue. This place looks pretty complete at first glance but really it's not. There's so much missing. Words, details. It's like a set. A movie set but like it was built by someone who couldn't quite grasp what it was they were recreating.
(MURDOCH starts to shake. Something's wrong. MURDOCH gasps for air.)
REYES: Stephen, you okay?
(MURDOCH falls to the floor. He reaches out to MONICA who grabs his hand. He continues to gasp for air.)
REYES: Stephen, talk to me.
STEPHEN MURDOCH (gasping): What's ... what's happening to m-me?
CUT TO:
SCENE 21
(In MURDOCH'S hospital room, the steady tone of the heart monitor drones in the room. DR. PREIJERS has turned off the life-support for MR. MURDOCH. He reaches over and turns off the monitor. MRS. MURDOCH is sitting next to his bed, holding his hand and weeping.)
MRS. MURDOCH: Does he feel any pain?
DR. JACK PREIJERS (shaking his head): Absolutely none.
(DR. PREIJERS disconnects the oxygen tubing to MR. MURDOCH.)
DR. JACK PREIJERS: It's just a matter of time.
CUT TO:
SCENE 22
(AUDREY turns on the lights to her room in the hospital basement. She walks in. DOGGETT is behind her. She closes the door.)
DOGGETT: You live down here?
(AUDREY stands by the door.)
AUDREY PAULEY: The-the nuns let me stay. I-I wanted to be a nurse, only I can't do much but they let me help out.
(DOGGETT studies the hospital model, the centrepiece of AUDREY'S room.)
DOGGETT: This is this hospital. You made this? (AUDREY nods.) Why?
AUDREY PAULEY: I like to visit it. I sort of go ... inside my head.
DOGGETT: You go into the model?
AUDREY PAULEY: I like it there. It's quiet. I used to have it all to myself but then some people showed up. Hospital patients. Your friend.
DOGGETT: This is where you say you talked to her? Right inside here?
(He indicates the model. She shakes her head. She tries to explain and starts getting excited at being able to talk about something to someone who will listen to her and maybe even understand her.
AUDREY PAULEY: Well ... not so much like tiny people in a ... in a model, but .. inside my head? Up here, I guess.
(She stops. She looks at him. DOGGETT looks confused.)
AUDREY PAULEY: You don't believe me.
DOGGETT: Audrey ... you said that you saw some other people besides my friend. Other patients? Can you tell me who they are?
(AUDREY looks at DOGGETT.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 23
(In the doppel hospital, MURDOCH is gasping for air. MONICA is holding on to him. They both know that he's about to die.)
STEPHEN MURDOCH: There's so much ... I'd do ... differently.
REYES: What?
STEPHEN MURDOCH: Life.
(Gasping.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 24
(In the real hospital, the elevator bell dings, door opens and DOGGETT walks out. He rounds the corner and finds SCULLY on the phone at the nurse's station.)
SCULLY: I'll call you back.
(SCULLY hangs up.)
SCULLY: Monica's parents are on their way from Mexico City. They're coming to say good-bye.
DOGGETT: Well, they can say "hello" instead. Nobody's shutting off her life support system. Not with what I got.
(He holds out a couple of file folders. SCULLY takes them.)
SCULLY: What are these?
DOGGETT: Patient files. Both men were declared brain dead, same as her. All three have something else in common, too. Check out the attending physician.
(DOGGETT pulls SCULLY off to the side. SCULLY opens the file. It reads: BARRIERO, VAL / Pt. ID # 106549 / Med # 659855589784. On the same sheet, DR. JACK PREIJERS' signature graces the form.)
SCULLY: Dr. Jack Preijers.
DOGGETT: The guy is some kind of Dr. Death. He gets off on pulling the plug on his own patients. He did it last night to this guy Barreiro.
SCULLY: Well, at the request of the family.
DOGGETT: But what I'm saying is what if he poisoned Barreiro in the first place? Same as this guy Stephen Murdoch, same as Monica. Tox screen will prove it.
SCULLY: How did you come up with these two men's names?
DOGGETT: If I tell you that, you'll think I'm crazy. But Monica's alive same as this guy Murdoch. And we got to help them both get back.
(SCULLY looks as if she believes DOGGETT.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 25
(In the doppel hospital, MURDOCH'S gasping for breath. He's no longer speaking.)
REYES: Steven stay with me.
(The electrical crackling engulfs MURDOCH. He's smiling at MONICA and its questionable whether he is in any pain. Steven disappears in MONICA'S arms.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 26
(In the real hospital. DOGGETT and SCULLY rush over to STEVEN MURDOCH'S room and peer through the glass. A sheet is being pulled over the recently deceased Mr. MURDOCH by Dr. JACK PREIJERS.)
(DOGGETT and SCULLY look at each other. DR. PREIJERS notices the two standing outside. DOGGETT looks angry or worried. He's running out of time and out of options.)
[Fade to black]
SCENE 27
(AUDREY is sitting on the floor of her room her back resting against her bed. She's curled into a ball. Someone is pounding on her door. She gets up.)
DOGGETT: Audrey, it's John Doggett!
(The pounding continues.)
DOGGETT: Audrey!
(She opens the door. DOGGETT walks in.)
DOGGETT: I still need your help.
AUDREY PAULEY: I told you their names. Mr. Barreiro and Mr. Murdoch.
DOGGETT: No, they're both dead now. Monica's the only one left. And inside an hour the hospital plans to cut off her life support. Now, I'm not going to let that happen--no matter what it takes. But I'm losing here. Nobody else believes she's alive. Nobody -- just you and me.
AUDREY PAULEY: I can't do anything. I only deliver the flowers is all I do. I can't help.
DOGGETT (desperate): You can talk to her, right? You can.
(DOGGETT looks at the hospital model where he indicates as where MONICA is. He holds both her hands. He pulls AUDREY toward the model. He pulls her down to the floor. They are both on their knees in front of the model.)
DOGGETT: Audrey, I need you to talk to her. I need you to tell her what's going on. I need you to tell her that they're going to pull the plug. I need her ... [to] ...
(DOGGETT swallows hard. His emotions are surfacing and the desperation is evident in his voice. He takes a moment to get hold of himself, then continues.)
DOGGETT: I need you to tell her to fight. I need you to tell her to show us some sign - anything -- that she's in there.
(DOGGETT continues to plead with AUDREY. His own words makes no sense to him. He swallows down his emotion unsuccessfully.)
DOGGETT: I need her to understand.
(He shakes his head.)
DOGGETT: I don't know what the hell else to do.
(DOGGETT simply runs out of words as the desperation of losing her finally hits him. Sitting in front of AUDREY, he hangs his head in defeat.)
(AUDREY is compassionate toward DOGGETT. She wants to comfort his pain, but she doesn't know how. DOGGETT takes a few steadying breaths. Without a word, without looking at AUDREY, he stands, opens the door and exits. The door closes behind him.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 28
(In the basement, outside the closed door, DOGGETT pauses to compose himself. He wipes his eyes and leaves.)
(In the open room next door, DR. PREIJERS witnesses DOGGETT leaving AUDREY'S room.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 29
(MONICA'S alone in the doppel hospital. She's sitting in the middle of ER on the cold tile. She's sitting there. Waiting. Or Thinking. Either way, she is alone and doing nothing but waiting for death to come for her. It's only a matter of time.)
(Behind her, we see AUDREY standing there. She's wearing a blue top and jeans. Her hands are clasped together and she's looking down. She's there to deliver DOGGETT'S message.)
AUDREY PAULEY: Monica?
(At the sound of AUDREY'S voice, MONICA jumps up to her feet.)
AUDREY PAULEY: John wanted me to tell you something.
REYES: You gave him my message?
(AUDREY looks at MONICA and nods.)
AUDREY PAULEY: He says you don't have very long. He says you have to give them some kind of sign.
(MONICA is at a loss of what to do. AUDREY is sympathetic.)
AUDREY PAULEY: I know, I ... I-I'm sorry.
(AUDREY starts to walk away.)
REYES (desperate): Are you really going to leave me here to die?
(AUDREY wants to help, but she doesn't know how.)
AUDREY PAULEY: Uh ... I can't ... do ... anything.
(AUDREY somehow feels responsible for these two whom she really wants to help. She starts crying with frustration at her inability to help.)
AUDREY PAULEY: There's ... there's something wrong ... you know, up here. And I can't help anyone. I deliver the flowers. It's all I do. And I have to even get help with that because I-I can't read what's on the little cards.
(AUDREY'S crying.)
(MONICA finally understands what's going on. She walks toward AUDREY.)
REYES: You can't read?
AUDREY PAULEY: I see it all jumbled up.
(MONICA puts it together. She opens the chart and shows AUDREY the chart.)
REYES: This is your hospital. It's you who created it. It's all you, Audrey.
(AUDREY looks down at the chart that MONICA has in front of her. Tears are running down AUDREY'S cheeks. She's no longer crying, but listening to MONICA.)
REYES: This place is all you. And that means you can make the rules work any damn way that you want them to.
(AUDREY'S looking around at the walls all around them. Whether she understands, it's not known. But she's definitely thinking about what MONICA is saying.)
REYES: You can help me escape.
(Tears fall down AUDREY'S face. She's thinking about what MONICA said.)
REYES: Audrey?
(We watch REYES'S face turn from hope to confusion. AUDERY has disappeared. MONICA'S alone again. The camera moves straight up and gives us a downward view of MONICA standing with her arms open and empty. AUDREY is nowhere to be seen.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 30
(AUDREY is back in her room in the basement. She is standing and looking down into the hospital model. A door opens behind her. She hears it and turns around. DR. PREIJERS is there.)
DR. JACK PREIJERS: You know, I've always wondered what was down here. I'm being accused of things Audrey. Terrible things regarding three patients of mine. Really, it's ... it's beyond the pale.
(He sighs and pulls out a small syringe from his pocket. Somehow AUDREY knows.)
DR. JACK PREIJERS: You're not going to yell out, are you, Audrey?
SEGUE TO:
SCENE 31
(Back in the Doppel Hospital, MONICA is walking the hallways looking for AUDREY.)
REYES: Audrey?
(MONICA turns the corner. The wind blows eerily. There's a low rumbling sound. MONICA turns the corner and stares in shock as the walls of the hospital visually shimmer. She swallows. Something is happening. Something is wrong. Something has happened to AUDREY.
(She swallows down her fear and continues to look for AUDREY through an unstable hospital.
REYES: Audrey? Audrey!
(She finally finds AUDREY standing inside the outside ER doors.)
REYES: Audrey, what's happening?
(AUDREY is different. Though she is still wearing blue, she seems to be cast in the same blue-gray tinged lighting that signifies the Doppel Hospital.)
AUDREY PAULEY: You have to go.
(The doors open and AUDREY PAULEY walks outside. MONICA follows slowly. They look out into the void.)
AUDREY PAULEY: This way.
REYES: No. If I do that, I'll burn up. I'll die.
AUDREY PAULEY: No. Not now. But you have to hurry.
REYES: What about you?
AUDREY PAULEY: I know now. I know who told me to build it.
(MONICA realizes that something has happened to AUDREY and that in probability she is most likely dead on the other side.)
(MONICA looks down into the void. She takes a deep breath, musters all her faith and falls in to the void to the life waiting for her on the other side. Behind her, AUDREY shimmers and disappears. MONICA continues to fall.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 32
(The monitors by MONICA'S bedside still show no brain activity. DOGGETT is sitting next to her. He looks worn. SCULLY walks in.)
SCULLY: The transplant teams are in place.
(DOGGETT stands up to face SCULLY.)
DOGGETT: They're not cutting her up.
(He turns to walk out the door.)
SCULLY: John ... I'm still waiting for your argument. If you have something to convince me to convince the doctors that somehow she's alive.
REYES: John ...
(Both DOGGETT and SCULLY turn at the sound of MONICA'S voice. DOGGETT moves to MONICA'S bedside. He gently grasps her hand.)
REYES (whispers): Audrey ...
(His look goes to worry at her message.)
CUT TO:
SCENE 33
(In the basement, DR. PREIJERS pockets the empty syringe. His head and body are suddenly slammed up against he wall. DOGGETT is holding DR. PREIJERS motionless.)
DOGGETT: Where're you going, doctor?
(DOGGETT opens AUDREY PAULEY'S room. She's lying on the floor ... dead.
DOGGETT: Oh, god. Oh, no.
[Fade to black]
SCENE 34
3 DAYS LATER
(DOGGETT'S driving this time. I want to say that he's driving her home from the hospital, but she doesn't have a bag with her. The car stops outside MONICA'S place. He comes around to open her door for her. MONICA exits. They stand there for a moment simply looking at each other.)
DOGGETT: Good night.
REYES: Good night.
(She turns to go up the stairs. She turns around to look at him. DOGGETT stands there and watches her as she enters her building.)
[THE END]
2024-08-29 02:05:19 -
Pike:
Added some trivia.
