Philadelphia Page #11

JOE:

Correct. I don't.

Andrew rises, thoroughly business-like.

ANDREW:

Thanks for your time.

JOE:

Beckett? I'm sorry about...

what's happened to you. It's a

f***ing kick in the head.

ANDREW:

(a smile)

Don't send flowers, Joe. I'm

not dead yet.

Andrew exits.

CONTINUOUS CUT TO:

ANDREW LEAVES JOE'S OFFICE, MOVING DOWN THE CORRIDOR

(DAY) ...

IRIS:

(still uncomfortable,

as Andrew's leaving)

Have a nice day.

Andrew nods, passing one of Joe's colleagues, a hustler

named FILKO, who STARES SHAMELESSLY.

Joe approaches Iris's desk.

JOE:

Find out if Armbruster can see

me this afternoon.

FILKO:

(still staring)

What the hell's wrong with him?

CUT TO:

THE STREET:
ANDREW EMERGES FROM THE LAWYER'S BUILDING

(EXT./DAY). CLOSE ON ANDREW, standing there as an endless flow of

people passes by. He watches them go, thinking...

CUT TO:

A SUBURBAN DOCTOR'S OFFICE IN A MIDDLE-CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD

(EXT./DAY) ...

DR. ARMBRUSTER (OS)

You had contact with someone who

has AIDS, and you're worried.

CONTINUOUS CUT TO:

A DOCTOR UNRAVELLING A BLOOD PRESSURE GAUGE (INT./DAY)

JOE:

I'm not worried. What are you doing?

Joe sits in his shirtsleeves on the examining table.

DR. ARMBRUSTER

Checking your blood pressure,

relax.

The DOCTOR wraps the blood pressure unit around Joe's arm.

JOE:

I didn't have contact. What do you

consider "contact?" We were sitting

in the same room, three, four

feet... What if you shake hands?

Wait. I know the answer. Only sex,

or sharing needles. I know that.

We didn't shake hands, anyway.

Dr. Armbruster squeezes the blood pressure pump,

DR. ARMBRUSTER

The HIV virus can only be transmitted

through the exchange of bodily

fluids, namely blood and semen.

JOE:

Right.

Joe begins rolling down his sleeve.

DR. ARMBRUSTER

Leave that.

JOE:

Yeah, but Doc, isn't it true they

keep finding out new things about

this disease? So you tell me, today,

there's no danger, and I go home,

and I hold my baby, and six months

from now I hear on the news: "whoops!

We were wrong.' You can carry it on

your clothes, your skin, and now I've

got to worry about my kid. What

are you doing?

Dr. Armbruster has been preparing a syringe.

DR. ARMBRUSTER

We're going to draw blood.

JOE:

Why are we going to do that?

DR. ARMBRUSTER

Joe. I don't care a whit about your

private life.

JOE:

You want to give me an AIDS test?!

Joe HOPS off the table.

JOE (CONT.)

The guy sat in my office! You can't

get AIDS that way, right?

DR. ARMBRUSTER

Right.

JOE:

It doesn't travel through the

air, by breathing, or touching,

right?

DR. ARMBRUSTER

Not by touching, or shaking hands,

or hugging, using the same toilet...

Even kissing someone with AIDS is

safe. But it there's something in

your past you're worried about...

JOE:

Thanks, Doc, but I don't need an

AIDS test. Are you crazy? But

thanks for the information. Really.

Joe throws on his jacket, opens the door... then TURNS BACK:

JOE (CONT.)

In my past?

ARMBRUSTER:

IV drug use.

Joe shakes his head.

DR. ARMBRUSTER (CONT.)

A homosexual encounter.

JOE:

Get real.

DR. ARMBRUSTER

Unprotected sex with a prostitute.

JOE:

(thinking it over)

Uh.... No. Not really.

DR. ARMBRUSTER

Or unprotected sex with someone you

didn't know very well, any time

during the last twelve years.

A MOMENT.

Joe returns to the examining table, and rolls up his sleeve.

CUT TO:

ESTABLISHING:
JOE'S HOUSE IN THE SUBURBS (EXT./NIGHT) ...

LISA (VOICE OVER)

You have a problem with gays,

Joe.

CONTINUOUS CUT TO:

JOB CRADLES HIS BABY AGAINST HIS CHEST (INT./NIGHT) ...

JOE:

Not especially.

Lisa eats standing up, at the stove, while Joe walks the

BABY in their modern kitchen.

LISA:

How many gays do you know?

JOE:

How many do you know?

LISA:

Lots.

JOE:

Who?

LISA:

Karen Berman. Aunt Teresa. My

cousin Tommy who lives in

Rochester. Eddie Meyers from the

office. Joe Cantwell, he's one of

the partners. His lover, Greg.

Stanley, the guy who's putting in

our kitchen cabinets.

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