Away from Her Page #8

39.

70 INT FIONA’S ROOM -JANUARY 2004- MORNING -LATER 70

Grant and Fiona lie in each others arms. He clings to her.

She kisses him lightly on the forehead.

FIONA:

Go now. Go now.

He kisses her passionately. Pulls himself away. Awkwardly

puts his clothes on. He is clumsy. He does up his shoes. It

seems to take forever. Fiona just watches him. He gives up,

leaving his shirt open, his pants undone. He leans in for one

final kiss. Tears himself away. Leaves the room. Fiona waves

lightly at the closed door.

71 INT CORRIDOR -JANUARY 2004- MORNING 71

Grant stands outside the door doing up his pants. A nurse

passes by. Looks shocked. Grant shrugs awkwardly. Walks down

the hall.

72 INT CONSERVATORY -JANUARY 2004- MORNING 72

Grant sees Kristy, the managing nurse, tending to an old man

in a wheelchair. The man has vacant eyes. He tentatively

approaches her.

GRANT:

Hello there.

She warmly extends her hand.

KRISTY:

Kristy. We met on your tour. Is

Mrs. Andersson settled in?

He nods noncommittally.

GRANT:

I was wondering if I could talk to

you for a minute. Ask your advice.

KRISTY:

Sure. Mr. Bark and I were just

reading here. Maybe when I’m

finished this chapter I’ll come

find you in the check-in area?

How’s that?

GRANT:

Yes. That’ll be fine thanks.

40.

Kristy goes back to reading to this almost comatose man.

Clearly, and without condescension.

73 INT MEADOWLAKE DINING AREA - JANUARY 2004- MORNING 73

Grant sits nervously on one of the plush chairs. He watches

as Eliza speaks in sign language with a woman in her 30’s who

appears to be her daughter. They are animated and involved.

Madeleine peeks her head out the door.

MADELEINE:

Is she ready for the tour?

GRANT:

Uh. I’m not sure. I need a moment

to think about all this.

Madeleine comes and sits beside him.

MADELEINE:

If I may say so Mr. Andersson. Your

wife seemed quite happy to come in

today. It can be much more

difficult than this. It almost

always is. I can’t emphasize enough

how valuable a lack of drama can be

in a situation like this.

Grant smiles a little. Dumbfounded at her insensitivity.

MADELEINE:

I’ll give her a few minutes and

then I’ll go and see how she’s

doing.

Madeleine leaves. Grant watches as FRANK, male resident is

slowly escorted in the doors by BETTY, the nurse. FRANK

speaks quickly and constantly as he comes through the doors.

FRANK:

And we’re moving down the centre,

and young Betty is helping me, and

we’re going back up, back up to the

second floor and we’re moving past

the dining room...

KRISTY:

Hi there Mr. Andersson. Now how can

I help you?

41.

She takes a seat beside him. She notices him watching the

male resident.

KRISTY:

Oh. That’s Frank. He used to be the

play by play guy for the Winnipeg

Jets.

Grant watches him as he goes, still doing a play by play of

his every movement. Dumbfounded.

GRANT:

Really.

Kristy smiles.

KRISTY:

He loved his job too much to

retire.

She shrugs.

KRISTY:

Frank’s on the second floor.

GRANT:

I just... My wife has always been a

different sort of person. And I’m

wondering. I was told that

Alzheimer's can’t be confirmed

until after... And on the way here

today, she just... We passed the

conservation area where we went on

a walk last spring. There were

these gorgeous flowers. These skunk

lilies.

KRISTY:

Those are beautiful aren’t they.

GRANT:

They really made an impression you

see. And today, even though the

whole place was covered in snow,

she said “Oh. Remember.” Now that

was quite recently. About nine

months ago. Isn’t the short term

memory the thing that goes first?

42.

KRISTY:

Well. Yes. But not all at once. And

what’s comforting is the long term

memory sometimes stays for quite a

long time.

Grant looks uncomfortable.

GRANT:

Yes. Her long term memory seems

very intact.

This has a weight to it. She looks at him carefully.

Absorbing his tone.

GRANT:

When she said that. About the skunk

lilies. It was all I could do not

to turn the car around. What if...

What if all this is just

her...being herself? She’s so young

to...

Kristy lets him think in silence for a moment.

KRISTY:

She is young. And this is hard. No

doubt about that. A month is a real

long time. Between you and me, I

don’t know about the policy myself.

I think it makes it easier on the

staff is what I think. But look.

Here’s my pager number. You can

call me whenever you want. Call

every day if you feel like it. I’ll

let you know how she’s doing. And

I’ll keep a special eye on her.

She sees he’s still nervous.

KRISTY:

Look. We’re pretty nice around

here. I don’t know about the ones

in charge. But the ones that will

be in direct contact with Mrs.

Andersson. We’re a pretty nice

bunch if i do say so myself.

He sighs.

GRANT:

I don’t know what to do.

43.

Madeleine enters again.

MADELEINE:

Mr. Andersson. Here’s a note from

Mrs. Andersson. She asked that I

pass it along.

He opens it up. It reads: “Go now. I love you. Go now. Fona.”

He stares at the spelling mistake.

GRANT:

(whispering)

Okay. Okay.

He turns to Kristy.

GRANT:

Thanks so much.

He leaves the building. Kristy looks after him

compassionately.

74 EXT COUNTY ROAD -JANUARY 2004- MORNING 74

K.d. Lang’s version of “After the Goldrush” plays over the

next several scenes.

Grant drives home sadly. He passes the Skunk Lily Hollow.

Looks at it solemnly.

74A INT ANDERSSON’S BEDROOM - JANUARY 2004- NIGHT 74A

Grant reads from a book on Alzheimer’s. This voice over

continues over the next few scenes.

GRANT (V.O.)

Throughout much of the thinking

brain, gooey plaques now crowd

neurons from outside the cell

membranes, and knotty tangles

mangle microtubule transports from

inside the cells.

75 INT MEADOWLAKE DINING AREA -JANUARY 2004- MORNING 75

Kristy introduces Fiona to the man in the wheelchair with the

vacant eyes. She greets him warmly. Sits down beside him.

76 INT ANDERSSON’S KITCHEN -JANUARY 2004- NIGHT 76

Grant does the dishes. When he goes to put the frying pan

away he pauses. Looks at it. Then puts it in a cupboard.

44.

77 EXT LAKE JANUARY 2004- MAGIC HOUR 77

Grant skis around the lake all by himself. He skis around and

around as the sun goes down and leaves the sky pink over a

countryside that seems to be bound by waves of blue-edged

ice. He stops on the other side of the lake from the house.

Stares at the house. Extremely wide shot of Grant standing

alone in the snowy field staring at his lonely cottage.

GRANT (V.O.)

All told, tens of millions of

synapses dissolve away. Because the

structures and substructures of the

brain are so highly specialized,

the precise location of the

neuronal loss determines what

specific abilities will become

impaired. It is like a series of

circuit breakers in a large house

flipping off one by one.

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