Breathe Page #4

any more. That’s why he can’t

talk.

Diana watches Robin’s lips: works it out.

DIANAHe says, ‘Bit of a bugger.’

27 SCENE DELETED 27

Breathe -Pink Revision -28 June 2016 18.

28 EXT. VERANDAH, NAIROBI HOSPITAL -DAY 28

Don McQueen stands at a chart showing a cutaway view of thebody, explaining to Diana and Colin Campbell what hashappened. Diana, very pregnant, sits on a chair.

DON MCQUEEN:

You inhale the virus from

droplets in the air, the same way

you catch a cold. It passes into

the blood stream, into the

central nervous system, and

attacks a group of big cells in

the spinal cord. The anterior

horn cells. These are the cells

that control the voluntary muscle

system. The result is you become

like a rag doll. You can’t move

anything from the neck down. You

can’t even breathe for yourself.

He stops. Silence, while they take it in.

DIANAHow long will he be like this?

DON MCQUEEN:

The paralysis is irreversible. A

good respiration system will

maintain life for a while. We’re

talking a matter of months.

Diana takes this in in silence.

COLIN CAMPBELLDoes it affect his brain?

DON MCQUEEN:

Not at all. Mentally he’s as

alert as ever. He can move some

facial muscles, as you’ve seen.

His digestive system’s

unaffected.

Diana looks up.

DIANACan he feel me if I touch him?

DON MCQUEENYes. He can still feel.

29 INT. ISOLATION WARD, NAIROBI HOSPITAL -DAY 29

Diana sits beside Robin’s bed, one hand reached out. She’sstroking his face very slowly. He has his eyes closed.

Breathe -Green Revision -8 July 2016 19.

The machine hisses and clicks beside them. The tubecarrying air to his throat twitches.

ON DIANA -She’s not weeping. She’s just hurting so deeply

she can hardly move.

30 EXT. VERANDAH, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, NAIROBI -DAY 30

The Governor, Evelyn Baring, and Colin Campbell, look on in

silence as Molly Baring sits with Diana, holding her hands.

MOLLY BARINGTell me what we can do.

Diana can’t answer.

MOLLY BARINGDo you want to go home?

DIANAAfter the baby’s born.

MOLLY BARINGWhat about Robin?

DIANA:

Him too.

MOLLY BARINGYou do know?

She looks round to her husband to say what she can’t bring

herself to say.

EVELYN BARING:

I’ve seen enough people paralysed

by polio before. The mercy of it

is, they don’t last long.

Diana nods.

MOLLY BARINGIt’s no kind of life.

Diana nods. Colin looks down. He can hardly bear this.

31 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM -NIGHT 31

ON DIANA -Her head on a pillow, her eyes closed. She turnsher head from side to side. Her face creases with pain. Nosound. She seems to be asleep, perhaps having a bad dream.

Then her suffering intensifies. She bangs her head fromside to side, her mouth opens in a silent scream, sweatglistens on her brow. It must be a hideous nightmare.

Breathe -Blue Revision -26 June 2016 20.

Then she jerks up, her eyes open, the pain unbearable. It

bursts from her in a scream of agony.

DIANA:

Aaa-aaah!

WIDE -Full sound. We now see we’re in a maternity ward inNairobi. MIDWIVES and NURSES clustered round the bed. Apool of light on the lower part of the bed, obscured bytheir busy activity.

A baby is being born.

32 INT. ISOLATION WARD, NAIROBI HOSPITAL -DAY 32

MOVING POV tracking down the bright corridor as before,

past the screens swaying in the breeze. Through doors andouter rooms.

The MOVING POV enters Robin’s room and approaches his bed.

Robin gazes AT CAMERA.

Diana holds the TINY BABY for him to see. The baby gazes

back just as gravely at Robin.

ON ROBIN -He gazes at the baby for a moment longer. Then

he closes his eyes.

Diana holds the baby against Robin’s unmoving cheek. A kind

of contact for a moment. Then she takes him away.

She watches Robin in silence. Kisses her baby’s cheek.

No movement from Robin. His eyes stay closed. The

respirator fills the silence with its hissing and clicking.

33 SCENE DELETED 33

34 EXT. RAF LYNEHAM -DAY 34

A TRANSPORT PLANE has just landed. The cargo doors are openand a tricky unloading operation is under way. RobinCavendish is being hoisted out of the plane, strapped to astretcher. A big battery powered respirator is beingunloaded alongside him. An ambulance waits to receive him.

Medics, RAF personnel and ground crew are gathered round.

MEDICEasy now. Take it slowly. Keepsome slack in the tube. That’smore like it. Down you come.

They get the stretcher onto the tarmac. Now the respirator

has to be man-handled into the ambulance.

Breathe -Blue Revision -26 June 2016 21.

MEDIC(to Robin)

Disconnecting you for a moment.

ON ROBIN -The sound of the respirator ceases. He is nolonger breathing. He takes it calmly, but for us the waitis unnerving. We hear the grunts and scrapes as the bigrespirator is heaved into the ambulance, and the sounds ofwires being clipped back into place.

Then Robin’s stretcher is on the move, into the ambulance.

The respirator starts up. The tube is replaced in histhroat.

Robin breathes again. His eyes close.

35 SCENE DELETED 35

36 INT. LOBBY, OXFORD HOSPITAL -DAY 36

Diana sits waiting with TID, her former nanny, called out ofretirement to help. A proud and capable woman. The pramstands between them.

A young Pakistani doctor, DR KHAN, approaches.

DR KHANMrs Cavendish?

DIANA:

Yes.

DR KHANI’m really sorry. This isn’t agood time. We’ve had to medicateyour husband. Perhaps you couldcome back tomorrow.

DIANAI don’t mind if he’s asleep. I’djust like to see him.

DR KHANI don’t think it’s a good idea.

DIANAI’m sorry. I don’t understand.

The doctor hesitates.

DR KHANYou know, with this sort of thingthe morale can drop pretty low attimes. Your husband is goingthrough a temporary depression.

Breathe -Blue Revision -26 June 2016 22.

DIANAI’d still like to see him.

DR KHANI’m so sorry. He doesn’t want tosee you.

Diana stares:
shocked.

37 INT. WARD, OXFORD HOSPITAL -DAY 37

Robin lies in his hospital bed, linked to his respirator.

It hisses and clicks as it pumps away.

SLOW MOVE IN on Robin. He lies with his eyes open, lookingup at nothing, tears seeping down his cheeks.

38 INT. HALLYWAY, OXFORD HOSPITAL -EVENING 38

Diana is on her way out of the hospital, with her baby in hispram, accompanied by Tid.

DIANAI’ll be able to manage from nowon, Tid. It’s not fair to ask youto do this.

TIDI don’t see why not. I lookedafter you when you were a baby,

didn’t I?

DIANAThe thing is, we’re not very welloff, I’m afraid. We’ve got somesavings, but there’s not a lotcoming in.

TIDDon’t you worry about that. Yourfamily’s my family, really. It’snice to be back.

39 INT. WARD, OXFORD HOSPITAL -DAY 39

TRACK into the ward. Six beds, each one surrounded bymedical apparatus, each one linked to a respirator, eachone hissing and clicking as it pumps away. This sound, asyncopated rhythm of overlapping beats, fills the air.

Diana’s brothers, Bloggs and David, sit on either side ofRobin’s bed. Robin is laboriously mouthing words. Bloggs isstruggling to understand.

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