Concussion Page #2

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 5.

BENNET (CONT’D)

That’s not mine-

Gracie fetches a different trolley. Brand new knives still in

plastic. Scalpels. The instruments longer, more delicate.

GRACIE:

(sidebars the trainee)

Dr. Omalu uses different stuff. He

makes less of a mess-

As Bennet sets the volume on his CD player-

BENNET:

Let’s undress her, please.

And feels the fabric of her shirt. The quality. The pattern.

TECH #1

(measuring head to heel)

Sixty-six-and-a-three-eighths.

BENNET:

Let’s please wash the body.

And as the Trainee reaches for a Brillo pad, Gracie hands

Bennet a sponge. And he starts carefully swabbing the body

himself. Pats it dry. Lovingly. As if dabbing a baby.

GRACIE:

(to the trainee)

He likes to do it himself.

(as--)

Bennet puts on head phones. Through his ears, and ours, come

the opening strains to Teddy Pendergrass’ “Love TKO”.

TEDDY PENDERGRASS (OVER)BENNET

Lookin' back over my years/I Bone saw, please-guessed,

I've shedded some

tears/ Told myself time and

time again/ This time I'm

gonna win-

JUMP TO:
Bennet hands Gracie an organ. We’re FRAMING high on

him, shoulders, elbows. We know but don’t need to see-

TEDDY PENDERGRASS (OVER)GRACIE *

Think I'd better let it Liver nine-hundred fifty-two

go/Looks like another love grams.

T.K.O.-

JUMP TO:
he hands her another.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 6.

TEDDY PENDERGRASS (OVER)BENNET

Takin' the bumps and the Small tissue container.

bruises/Of all the things of Freeze me a liver sample,

a two-time loser--please, Gracie. *

And lifts for the bone saw.

JUMP TO:
Bennet reaches toward the head. Cradles an orb off

to Gracie as if a fresh loaf of bread.

BENNET (CONT’D)

(Gracie takes dictation--)

Possible causal relationship

between early head trauma and self-

medication leading to narcotics

abuse and overdose-

SULLIVAN:

(from across room)

You’re not her shrink, Bennet-

BENNET:

If I know how she lived, I’ll know

why she died.

ANGLE on a window letting out on the chamber. Wecht standing

there watching, shirt and tie, cinching the knot, turning for

the stairs, as-

TEDDY PENDERGRASS (OVER)

Just tryin' to hold on, faith is

gone/It's just another sad song-

JUMP TO:
Gracie’s smock splashed with fluids and blood. (So

is everyone else’s). Bennet’s pristine. Until some small

fleck spray lands, and--

He immediately slips off his plastic smock. Gracie - knows

him - slips a fresh one on.

TEDDY PENDERGRASS (OVER) (CONT’D)

Takin' the bumps and the bruises/Of

all the things of a two-time

loser/See I try to hold on, my

faith-

Now silence. Body reassembled. Bennet’s fingers resting on

the girl’s hand. Feeling for spiritual pulse. On Bennet’s

face, peace. As Gracie zips up the body bag. And Sullivan

glares-

BENNET:

Careful, Daniel. One day I might be

rushing through your autopsy.

(MORE)

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 7.

(and throwing the usedknife into ‘hazardous

waste’--)

BENNET (CONT'D)

18 OMIT

19 INT. WECHT’S OFFICE - ALLEGHENY COUNTY CORONER - DAY

Sits across from CYRIL WECHT, Chief Medical Examiner. 60’s,

celebrity pathologist: array of pictures with Elvis’ body;

JonBenet Ramsey's files; at the JFK assassination hearings.

Both in suit and tie. Wecht’s eating a bagel. Pulls a bottleof Johnny Walker from his drawer and pours a couple.

WECHT:

You know the reason you’re not backin Nigeria?

BENNET:

I remind you of you.

WECHT (CONT'D)

Only less handsome.

Wecht motions to Bennet’s collar. Something there. Bennetbrushes it off. And we realize: they are in identical suits.

Except - Wecht points - to Bennet’s chest pocket-WECHT

(CONT’D)

I don’t have any. What the hell arethey for, anyway? Just fill up withschmutz-(

nods at autopsy chamber)

What the hell’s going on in there?

BENNET:

I’m doing my work. I’m fine.

WECHT:

You’re not fine. Danny hates yourguts. I’ve never seen anything likeit.

(pause)

You take too much time, Bennet.

BENNET:

The dead are my patients. I treatthem with respect.

WECHT:

Treat them however you want, but doyou have to talk to them? Maybejust talk to them in your headwhile you’re - you know - working-(

MORE)

*

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 8.

WECHT (CONT'D)

(Bennet’s giving nothing)

And we talked about the knives.

You’re still throwing them away.

They’re expensive. This is

Pittsburgh. We’re a public agency.

BENNET:

Would you want me to cut open your

mother with the knife I used on a

serial killer?

WECHT:

Don’t tempt me. I’d probably

request it.

Wecht sighs. Bennet’s not wrong. But still--

WECHT (CONT’D)

Danny may look like a butcher,

smokes three packs a day, but he’s

one of life’s unpleasant

necessities. You’ll probably do his

goddamn autopsy soon-

BENNET:

That’s what I told him.

WECHT:

I know you did. He told me. Why are

you antagonizing him?

(and looks at him)

You need a girlfriend. You have to

touch someone alive once in a

while. Living women are a pain in

the ass. But occasionally they’re

amazing.

(--)

So maybe just a little less of an

artist? Be yourself, just play the

game a little, okay?

(as he slides across a

thick file--)

BENNET:

(can’t do it--)

I have exams next week.

WECHT:

Death row case. The guy’s being

railroaded. A thousand dollars for

you.

Bennet looks at him.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 9.

BENNET:

How do you become a professional

expert witness?

WECHT:

It’s not a profession, it’s a

hobby. You and I have jobs, right?

So instead of watching baseball -

or playing bridge with my wife - I

do this. Besides, by the time your

balls are hanging as low as mine,

you better be expert in something.

BENNET:

You’re the best, Cyril.

WECHT:

Well, if you don’t piss everyone

off, you’re going to be better.

And Bennet leans into crime scene photos, police and

forensics reports. Young woman ripped and bloodied.

20 INT. BENNET’S OFFICE - COUNTY CORONER - NIGHT

Bennet in his shitbox storage closet re-fitted as an office.

(We clock the high-school quality microscope he’s been given.

The crappy ancient computer. All his framed degrees stacked

on the floor; no room to hang even one)

He roots in his pocket for a small rusty crucifix, sets it on

his desk, and settles in amidst boxes of files. Crime scene

photos. Bearing down into the paper with his machine-like

focus.

Then stops. Closes the file. Gets up, reaching for his coat-

Now, OVER this, in PRE-LAP, we start to HEAR the infinity

thud of contempo-dance, and we cut to-

21 INT. STATIC (DANCE CLUB) - PITTSBURGH, PA - NIGHT

8,000 sq. ft. of throbbing university jocks, yuppies, model

wannabes. Celo lights strobing to Kylie Minogue.

CAMERA FINDS BENNET flush to a speaker, gripping a Heineken.

Fastidiously dressed even here, pressed jeans, buttoned polo.

Good with rhythm, willing the bass and music to wash through.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 10.

But a man apart in every way: he’s black, but no one else

here is. Doesn’t notice, doesn’t care. Just grooves solo to

the mathematics of the music. His eyes close, and-

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