Hannah and Her Sisters Page #10

DR. ABEL

(taking out Mickey's file)

So what's the, uh, problem this time?

MICKEY:

(offscreen)

This time I really think I have

something.

While Mickey answers him offscreen, Dr. Abel turns and walks

toward him. The camera follows the doctor's movements from

the other side of the wall, obscuring him briefly.

It moves across a dark examining-room wall to a second

doorway, where Mickey sits on a stool, continuing to talk to

the offscreen Dr. Abel.

MICKEY:

(onscreen)

I mean, I'm absolutely convinced

that-that-- You know, I mean, it's

not like that adenoidal thing, you

know, where I didn't realize I had

them out.

Dr. Abel walks back onscreen. Both he and Mickey are now

seen through the second doorway. Dr. Abel sniffs and stands

directly in front of the sitting Mickey. He stares down at

him as Mickey talks.

MICKEY:

(continuing, gesturing)

So, so, but it was when I was

younger, so--

DR. ABEL

(overlapping, interrupting)

You know, I saw your father this

week about his sinus...

MICKEY:

(folding his arms on

his chest)

Mm-hm.

DR. ABEL

(continuing)

...and, uh, he complained of chest

pains.

MICKEY:

Well, this guy's the real

hypochondriac of the family. I

mean, he's, you know, he's--

DR. ABEL

(interrupting)

You mentioned on the phone that

you'd had some dizziness.

MICKEY:

(rubbing his hands on

his knees)

Yes, a little dizziness, and I

think, I think I'm developing a

hearing loss in my right ear

(poking at his ears

and gesturing)

...or my left ear, my, my left...oh,

n-n-n-no. No, I'm sorry. It was

my right, my right, my right or my

left ear.

Dr. Abel chuckles.

MICKEY:

(nodding and gesturing)

Now I ca-can't remember.

DR. ABEL

Let's take a look.

An uptempo big-band sound is heard as the movie cuts to

Mickey's examination, beginning with a close-up of Dr. Abel

using an otoscope to examine the ear of a nervous Mickey.

Next is a hearing test. The film shows the doctors's hands

turning the dials on a sonometer. Mickey sits on a nearby

high stool, large earphones on his head. He listens with

such concentration that he squints his eyes. He holds up a

finger in response to the sounds he hears in his headset.

Finally, the film shows Dr. Abel hitting a large turning

fork with his finger. He puts the vibrating fork to Mickey's

ear. Mickey, looking up at the offscreen doctor's face, nods.

The music stops as the film cuts back to Dr. Abel's

consultation room. Dr. Abel walks from the examining room,

through the consultation room, to a second examining room

across the way. He talks to the offscreen Mickey as he walks.

DR. ABEL

Well, I'm sorry to say you have had

a significant drop in the high-

decibel range of your right ear.

MICKEY:

(offscreen)

Really?!

Dr. Abel moves offscreen in the second examining room. The

camera stays focused on the doorway to this room as the

doctor and Mickey talk offscreen.

DR. ABEL

(offscreen)

Have you been exposed to a loud

noise recently, or did you have a

virus?

MICKEY:

(offscreen)

No, I-I've been perfectly healthy.

You know me.

Dr. Abel briefly passes by the doorway.

MICKEY:

(offscreen)

I always, I-I always imagine that I

have things.

DR. ABEL

(offscreen)

When did you first notice this?

MICKEY:

(offscreen)

Oh, uh, about a month ago. Wha-

what do I have?

Looking preoccupied, Dr. Abel walks back into the

consultation room, holding Mickey's open file. He strides

over to his desk, revealing a frightened Mickey, sitting in

a chair opposite it. Still standing, the doctor leans over

the desk, his back to the camera, and makes a few notes in

the file.

DR. ABEL

You've had some dizzy spells.

(sighing)

What about ringing and buzzing?

Have you, uh, noticed any of that?

MICKEY:

(gesturing)

Yes, now-now that you mention it,

uh, I-I-I have, uh, buzzing and

also ringing. Ringing and buzzing.

Um, am I going deaf, or something?

DR. ABEL

(making more notes in

the file)

And it's just in one ear?

MICKEY:

(picking at his fingers)

Yes, is it, is it, uh, healthier to

have problems in both ears?

Dr. Abel chuckles as he closes Mickey's file and straightens

up. The camera looks past his back and shoulders to the

anxious Mickey.

DR. ABEL

(his face offscreen)

What I'd like to do, is to make an

appointment for you at the hospital.

I'd like to have them run some tests.

MICKEY:

The hospital? What kind of tests?

Dr. Abel lays his pen across Mickey's closed file. He walks

around his desk and sits on its edge close to Mickey.

DR. ABEL

(sighing)

Now, don't get alarmed. These are

just more sophisticated audiometry

tests than I can run here.

(gesturing)

I mean, it's, it's nothing.

MICKEY:

(gesturing)

Well, if it's nothing, then why do

I have to go into the hospital at

all? I mean, uh, I hear perfectly

fine, so I'm, so I'm a little weak

on the, on the high decibels. So

I, you know, I won't go to the opera.

DR. ABEL

(sniffing)

You know, there's no reason for

panic. I just want to rule out

some things.

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