Ghost Town Page #8

Have you been chewing seal hide?

Yeah, well,

I tend to grind my teeth pretty hard

when I'm stressed and I'm...

I don't know.

Last night was a tough one.

- I came home and Gwen was...

- What?

- Gwen was...

- Oh, no, never mind.

No, you were gonna

say something about...

Well, she was just...

- No, forget about it.

- No, I can't forget about it.

- Just...

- Well, it's nothing.

- Can we just get this...

- Well, it is something

or you wouldn't have brought it up.

And, you know...

- It's personal.

- I know that,

but, I mean just to...

I'd rather not talk about it.

- Why don't we just...

- "Finish what you started" is my motto.

- I'm a good listener. Please.

- I'd rather not talk about it.

- Can we just...

- Well, can you wait a minute then?

- I'm in pain.

- Please.

Dr. Prashar?

Jahangir? That's his first name.

You're from a scary country, aren't you?

Excuse me.

- I'm from India.

- Yeah.

So you're not a Christian, like us.

No, I'm a Hindu.

How would you extract information

from a hostile?

Well, as a Hindu person,

I would ask them politely.

Yeah, I just need a technique.

- Doctor, I'm with a patient.

- Yeah. Okay.

So where were we?

You were telling me about Gwen.

Something...

- No, I wasn't. I meant my tooth, yeah.

- Tooth.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let's do this professionally.

All work and no play makes Jack

a valuable member of society.

Open up.

- That hurts.

- Did it? Well, take your word for that.

But it almost certainly would

in this situation.

Do you know the worst thing

in the world for teeth?

- Sugar?

- Secrets.

If you tell me what's on your mind,

you will feel better.

As I said before, Doctor, it's private.

I really would like to keep this

on a professional footing.

Yes, please.

We can play it any way you want to.

Actually.

That's not Novocain.

No, it is a little dab of nitrous oxide.

Nitrous? I didn't know you guys

still used nitrous.

- Are there any side effects?

- A few.

Some people laugh.

Some people get sleepy.

But they all talk.

Hey, Frankie! Fancy seeing you here.

You back on the job yet

or you need me to send more?

I got a couple Civil War

re-enactors that'll talk your ear off.

- They used live ammo.

- Didn't get the news.

Job's done. Richard's history.

- What?

- She dumped him last night.

- How do you know?

- He told me. The marriage is off.

So he's out completely?

Well, he wants to stay friends,

but she's done with him.

She said she was confused

about her feelings

and it wasn't right

to string him along, so...

Why would Richard tell you all this?

Because I gave him

- Is that a lot?

- No. It's not fatal till 750.

You know, I think this sounds

a lot like a premarital spat.

- I mean, young couples at this stage...

- No. Definitely not.

- Very normal for them to start...

- No, no, no.

...to get into this...

- She's taken the job in Egypt.

She's going there for six months.

It's the real thing. She leaves Thursday,

right after the exhibition opens.

- Well, this is great news.

- Yeah.

Yeah, we should maybe go celebrate,

I guess.

- I can't.

- Me, neither.

- Well, wait! What's in the bag?

- Nothing.

Is that from a jewelry store?

- Oh, my gosh. Is that for Gwen?

- It doesn't matter.

Well, whatever happened

to the "I will not interfere" thing?

There's nothing to interfere with now,

is there?

The relationship's over!

She doesn't love him.

And you think she's gonna love you?

A smock-wearing tooth jockey?

I mean, I'm sorry.

You said that if I broke up the marriage,

you'd leave me alone!

I broke up the marriage!

Leave me alone!

Well, you should at least let me

help you pick out something!

Do you have any idea how much

"Please forgive me" jewelry

- I bought her over the years?

- I can take it from here!

She loves Peruvian gold, but, Pincus,

- you're rushing things, I'm telling you!

- Frank! Listen!

Our time together, as we both know,

has been rather unpleasant.

But I will say this.

Even though you're a vulgar man,

boorish, distasteful, uncouth,

uneducated, stupid, at least...

- You gonna finish?

- Done.

- Okay.

- The point is this,

we finished what you had to finish.

And who knows?

One day, not too soon I hope,

we meet up again.

- Until then, this is our fond farewell.

- Yeah, but...

But why am I still here?

Construction crane dropped

two tons of steel on us.

That must have hurt.

It was a hydraulic leak. An act of God!

Why does he do those things?

But the crane operator,

he thinks it's all his fault.

Oh, therapy time!

Don't panic. It's nothing.

A key chain.

I needed a key chain!

- I love it!

- Oh, good.

I can't believe you remembered.

That is just...

What a strange

and practical man you are.

It was down to that

or a set of socket wrenches.

Well, I hope you didn't spend too much.

$140. The receipt's in the box.

No, well, you don't actually

have to tell people in that situation.

No, no, no.

I'm just saying it was no big deal.

It's not like

it's Peruvian gold or anything.

And the reason I say that

is because there was a set of earrings

made from Peruvian gold in the shop,

and I thought, "Gwen would like those,

"but sorry,

a little bit out of my price range."

So...

What? Stop giving me the pirate look.

I just got you a gift and, you know,

nothing ostentatious or pushy.

Just a little gesture to let you know

I've been thinking about you,

and I think you should accept it

in the spirit of friendship

with which it was given.

"Pirate look"? How could you

possibly know about that?

- I don't.

- You do.

- Common expression?

- No.

How do you know

about any of this stuff?

- Pirate look? Peruvian gold?

- Everyone knows about Peruvian gold.

And then the other night,

Frank's favorite drink?

Come on, take it easy.

- Don't tell me to take it easy.

- You hate that.

How do you know what I hate?

Lucky guess. Can we start again?

Why don't you just tell her?

Come on, spill it.

She's leaving anyway in a few days.

Gonna have to go with the truth,

Dentist, no choice.

You've got about 10 seconds

to start talking, buddy,

and then I'm out of here.

How do you know

this stuff from my life with Frank?

- It'll sound crazy.

- Try her.

Try me.

A couple of weeks ago, I went into

hospital for a routine operation,

but there was complications.

And I died. Just for a few minutes...

It's true! I can prove it!

He's here, right now, with us.

You know what? Just stop.

What you're doing, it's cruel.

How else would I know

all the things I know?

Well, you must have known Frank.

I don't know,

maybe you were his dentist.

Ask me something else, then.

Something that I couldn't possibly know.

- How do you get like you?

- Please.

One question, and if I get it wrong,

you'll never see me again.

Frank used to have this nightmare

over and over.

He'd wake up in tears and he never told

anybody else about it, but me.

What was it?

Drowning.

I'd dream that I dove into the water,

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