Awakenings Page #3

Sayer is delighted but the expression on Kaufman's face is that

of one who has long ago learned and tired of simple card

tricks. Dismissing the phenomenon —•

DR. KAUFMAN

A reflex.

SAYER:

If she batted it away I might call

that a reflex. She doesn't bat it

away, she catches it.

DR. KAUFMAN

-It's still a reflex.

..•.:
••'.•".'

SAYER:

I'm sorry, if you were right I'd

agree with you.

Kaufman, understandably, takes some offense at the comment.

Sayer, however, is unaware that he has caused any.

SAYER:

It'sasif ... havinglostall

will of her own on which to act,

she borrows the will of the ball.

Awkward silence. Eventually—

DR. TYLER

The "will of the ball?"

.

Sayer nods. Kaufman and the other doctors concur with glances

that the theory and theorist are absurd.

DR. SULLIVAN

Excuse me.

Sullivan has better things to do and leaves the room. So does

Tyler. Kaufman and Miss Costello remain.

DR. KAUFMAN

(hopefully)

You're tryyingg to make a ggood

impression. That's it, isn't it?

You're still settling in.

You're tryyingg to make a ggood

impression. That's it, isn't it?

You're still settling in.

.

Sayer isn't sure if he should agree or not. He does neither.

DR. KAUFMAN

Miss Costello, you'll see that Dr.

Saver's patients waiting out thereare rescheduled for tomorrow?

Yes, sir.

MISS COSTELLO:

DR. KAUFMAN

Good night.

Sayer watches Kaufman leave. So does Miss Costello. Lucy,

looking less like a woman than a Diane Arbus photograph of one,

doesn't.

18. EXT. PARKING LOT -BAINBRIDGE -LATE AFTERNOON

C'\

-*©

Sayer climbs into his Toyota and, as he buckles his seat belt,

recites in a mumble to himself —

SAYER:

One...

(he turns the key)

Two...

(puts on sunglasses)

Three .. .

(releases the brake)

Four ...

(shifts out of'park')

Five. .

*

.

Just as he's depressing the accelerator, someone raps on hiswindow. He slams on the brakes. Miss Costello's face appears

at the window. Recovering, Sayer rolls it down.

SAYER:

What'd I forget?

MISS COSTELLO:

I just wanted to say to you Ipreferred your explanation.

r ( ) It's unclear whether he knows what she's referring to.

MISS COSTELLISS COSTELLO

And that I'll look after thinggs

for you until you've "settled in."

Good night, doctor.

She leaves. He stares blankly out after her, then at his

dashboard. To it eventually, quietly —

SAYER:

Thank you ...

He glances to his rear view mirror and can see her walking away

toward her car. To the reflection -

SAYER:

Thank you very much.

18A. EXT. SAMMY'S FISH GROTTO -ESTABLISH -NIGHT 18A.

19. INT. SAMMY'S GROTTO, CITY ISLAND, THE BRONX -NIGHT 19.

Sayer at a table eating dinner alone. He should've brought

along something to read. He glances at the little "Catch of

the Day" notice on his table for the tenth time, then absently

in at an eel in a fish tank, which seems to be peering back out

at him.

SIDNEY V.O.

I am not mad ... not mad ...

20. EXT. SCHOOLYARD & BAINBRIDGE HOSPITAL -DAY 20.

A tether ball dangling from a rope, resting against a pole.

The chains of a swing. Pigeons scavenging scraps on the

asphalt of the elementary school playground, deserted.

•

SIDNEY V.O.

I know the difference between what

is real and what is not . ..

Beyond a chain-link fence, across the field, on the roof of one

of Bainbridge's brick buildings, peering down from the edge of

it, coat over his smock, hat on his head, an elderly man.

21. INT. SIDNEY'S DAYROOM -DAY 21.

Tight on the elderly man's face.

SIDNEY:

The voice was real.

REV.12/12/89 (PINK) Pg.14

21.C0NT. 21.

Sayer nods in agreement though he is not altogether as certain

of tne claim. They are in a ward crowded with many patients

who are mad, obviously and irretrievably so.

SAYER:

What did the voice say?

SIDNEY:

"Mr. Titch, get your coat and hat,

go up to the roof and jump off."

SAYER:

Did you recognize it as belonging

to a person? Or was it just a

voice?

Sidney considers Sayer suspiciously ... then smiles slyly. *

SIDNEY *

You don't deny it was you. *

SAYER:

Me? *

Sayer is taken aback. As is Sidney. One of them, and Sidney

believes he knows which, is lying or crazy.

''•* SAYER ' .

I do deny it. It wasn't me.

It wasn't real.

(pause)

We've only just now met, sir. »

Sidney, suddenly completely disoriented, withdraws.

SIDNEY:

Ifthat'strue ... I'mina

predicament.

22. INT. STAFF CAFETERIA -BAINBRIDGE -DAY 22.

Sayer in line with Drs. Tyler and Sullivan, both younger than *

himself. He seems distracted, Sayer, lost in the color of the

beets on his tray. Or a thought.

Like George telling Lenny again about the rabbits:

DR. SULLIVAN

We'd be high up -40th, 50th *

floor, nice midtown view -suite *

of offices, carpeted, good-looking *

receptionist -*

REV.12/12/89 (PINK) Pg.15

22.CONT. DR. TYLER

ffpp\\

\\_JJ))

quuaarriiuummiinn tthhee wwaaiittiinnggrroooomm,,

G,

George.

DR. SULLIVAN

We could have all that ... but

we'd miss all this. We'd miss the

wards.

DR. TYLER

The smell of them.

DR. SULLIVAN

We'd miss this place (

this cafeteria)

We'd miss this . . .

(the plate of mush as

it's set down onto

his tray)

Whatever this is. .

SAYER:

Yes....

•• AAq

Sayer glances up at them, having paid attention to nothing

theyy've said, and nods at some other thougght.

. ' SAYER

Yes. .. , '

He leaves his tray where he stands, and heads out of the

cafeteria. v

23. INT. SIDNEY'S DAYROOM -DAY 23.

Sayer back with Sidney.

SAYER:

Did you see me when-1 "spoke?"

Sidney thinks about it, tries to remember, to summon back the

moment in question, to picture it exactly as it happened, or

didn't happen.

SIDNEY:

No.

SAYER:

You see me now though.

SIDNEY:

Yes.

REV.12/12/89 (PINK) Pg.l5

23.CONT, (continuity only)

Sidney turns to a patient, an elderly woman in a wheelchair

beside him. Her state resembles that of Lucy's, that is, she

appears to have no awareness of Sidney, Sayer, or anything else

in her environment. It is only now, in fact, as Sidney spoons

soup into her mouth, careful not to spill any, that Sayer

notices her.

CONTINUED:

sr^ SAYER

(y--\ If it happens again, Mr. Titch, I

v_y want you to llookk aroundd. IIff you

don't actually see me, if you only

hear me, you can be sure that I'm

not real, and you can ignore me.

Sayer smiles, pleased with his solution.

SIDNEY:

Unless you use the P.A. system.

Sayer's smile fades. Sidney is still in a predicament and

Sayer hasn't the answer.

24. INT. NURSES' STATION -DAY ; 24

Sayer dials the hospital operator.

SAYER:

Maintenance, please.

Waiting to be connected, he notices another "statue" (BERT).

What's unsettling about this one, apart from the man's ghostlike

appearance, is the angle of his wheelchair. It's like an

P~-\ askew painting, as if whoever was wheeling it simply let go of

\TS? the chair and this is where it and its cargo happened to come

*to rest, facing the wall.

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