Gothika Page #7

Other patients have crowded around the scuffle.

CHLOE:

You f***ing cow giving me the evileye, huh? F*** you, you f***in'voodoo witch -- !

Irene and the orderlies yank Chloe off Consuelo. Chloe kicks

and screams like an animal. Consuelo meekly stands up.

CONSUELO:

(heavy Cuban accent)

Is okay, she's okay -- she don'tmean nothing.

CHLOE:

You bet your goddamn fat ass I

mean it, you're a witch -- !!

(CONTINUED)

37.

CONTINUED:

IRENE:

McGrath, that's enough!

The orderlies start pulling Chloe away. Chloe spits atConsuelo, full of venom.

CHLOE:

Take your voodoo sh*t back to

Cuba -

IRENE:

I said that's enough.

CONSUELO:

Irene, she's okay. Pobrecita, la

infeliz. It's a misunderstanding.

Pobrecita. I was only trying tohelp her -

CHLOE:

You wanna help me? You pity me?

(grabbing hercrotch)

Suck me.

The orderlies haul Chloe off. Irene disperses the crowd.

Consuelo sighs, embarrassed, wipes a bloody lip. Her

manner says she just wants to get back to her duties.

Excitement over, the patients resume whatever it is theywere doing.

Miranda stares at her bleak surroundings when somethingcatches her eye: Pete watching her from his officewindow. He quickly slides the curtain shut. Odd.

EXT. WOODWARD INSTITUTE - DAY TO NIGHT (TIME LAPSEPHOTOGRAPHY SHOTS)

A sunny sky grows dark as night envelops us with a SWOOSH -

INT. WOODWARD CORRIDOR

SLOW PUSH DOWN empty corridors. The air thick with dread -

INT. MIRANDA'S CELL - NIGHT

Miranda cries softly, unable to sleep. VOICES trickle in

from the corridor outside, wardens on their rounds, a

SOFT MOAN from another cell, a random SCREAM. She shuts

her eyes, repositions herself on her stomach.

(CONTINUED)

38.

CONTINUED:

As before, somebody seems to be watching her.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

INT. WOODWARD LIBRARY - DAY

Irene escorts Miranda into the library. A warden

follows.

IRENE:

How are we feeling today?

MIRANDA:

'We'?

IRENE:

Sorry I asked.

MIRANDA:

Doesn't seem like the best choice

of words when treatingschizophrenics.

IRENE:

Fitting right in, aren't you?

The library is pretty much empty at this hour except forthe LIBRARIAN and the odd janitor tidying up. An

efficient-looking man rises from a desk, briefcase inplace, glass of water -- this is attorney THEODORE"TEDDY" HOWARD.

TEDDY HOWARD:

Miranda.

MIRANDA:

Hi.

Irene checks her watch. The warden hangs back, keepingwatch.

IRENE:

She's due back in the rec room in

twenty, Counselor.

TEDDY HOWARD:

Thank you kindly.

Miranda sits. Waits until Irene is out of hearing range.

(CONTINUED)

39.

CONTINUED:

MIRANDA:

Teddy, I know you knew Doug well

and this is an extremely -

TEDDY HOWARD:

I'm here as your lawyer. So

whatever my relationship was with

Doug is no longer of consequence.

First things first, how are they

treating you?

MIRANDA:

Like I'm crazy.

TEDDY HOWARD:

You know this place better than

anyone. Anything out of the

ordinary?

MIRANDA:

Other than me being crazy? No.

TEDDY HOWARD:

The DA is pushing for a hearing as

soon as next week. They're eager

to resolve this situation because

-- well, crimes like this don't

happen that often around here.

Doug was a hometown boy who'd done

good, beloved high school

principal, a role model. Our best

shot -- scratch that, our only

shot -- is to claim temporary

insanity.

As he speaks, she starts fidgeting with her itchybandage.

MIRANDA:

Wait, wait, wait -- Teddy, you

know me. I wouldn't raise a hand

at my husband for the life of me.

Not even in self-defense. Isn't

it remotely possible a burglar

broke in or some crazed high

school student attacked Doug and I

went into shock?

Teddy shakes his head.

MIRANDA:

You're telling me there's no other

suspects in anyone's mind?

(CONTINUED)

40.

CONTINUED:

TEDDY HOWARD:

Frankly, no. Neighbors heard

screams. They have you at thescene, they have the murder weaponand they have your prints everywhere.

The only thing they don't have ismotive.

She keeps absently playing with the bandage. The

adhesive is giving. The bandage starting to peel off.

MIRANDA:

Because there is no motive.

TEDDY HOWARD:

And that's what's confusing them.

The fact that you're a brilliantpsychiatrist doesn't help either.

It fills their heads with ideas.

They figure if you were to plan amurder you might know how to fakeinsanity to get out of it.

She pulls off half the bandage, back and forth. Not

looking. BUT WE SEE the beginning of a pattern in herscarred skin -

MIRANDA:

I'm not faking anything.

TEDDY HOWARD:

Good. I pass no judgment either

way. The point is -

MIRANDA:

The point is I'm the only personwho doesn't believe I killed myhusband. I never thought I'd saythis, but I feel like I'm in the

middle of a conspiracy.

(beat)

Do you believe I'm crazy?

An uncomfortable Teddy takes too long before answering.

Miranda looks down, humiliated -- and now she sees it.

Perfectly carved into her arm, her scar reads:

"NOT ALONE."

Petrified, Miranda jumps back, knocks down Teddy's glassof water all over his papers, her chair topples over.

The warden and janitor look up -

Teddy tries for delicate:

(CONTINUED)

41.

CONTINUED:

TEDDY HOWARD:

It doesn't matter what I believe.

MIRANDA:

Forget it. Forget I asked.

PUSH INTO her face as involuntary tears roll down and we -

INT. PETE'S OFFICE - DAY

Miranda. Numb. Pete trying hard to get through. A

beat. We get a good look at the writing on her arm.

(The right arm.)

PETE:

I can't help you if you don't talk

to me.

Silence from Miranda. He is firm but not unkind:

PETE:

I can stand here all day. All

week. You're the one running outof time.

Nothing. He goes to touch her arm. She jerks it away.

PETE:

What does it mean?

She shakes her head, at a loss. Torn between her

suspicion and the need to confide in someone. Finally:

MIRANDA:

I didn't write this.

PETE:

Then who?

They stare each other down. There's definitely chemistrybetween these two. But the moment is far from romantic.

PETE:

You're going to have to trust me.

MIRANDA:

Why?

PETE:

Because no matter what's goingthrough your mind right now, Ihaven't done anything wrong.

(CONTINUED)

42.

CONTINUED:

MIRANDA:

Then you know exactly how I feel.

He starts to speak, stops himself. Switches tactics.

Their banter escalates in speed as their terms get moreclinical:

PETE:

You admit you're having a hardtime differentiating what'sreality from what's hallucination,

right? So isn't it at least

possible that -

MIRANDA:

As a doctor I agree with you.

Maybe -- and this is a big maybe-- all of this is just a deepepilepsy that extends to thelimbic structures, but I'm telling

you -

PETE:

How about this moment right now?

MIRANDA:

What about it?

PETE:

Is this a hallucination?

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