STAY Page #3

SAM:

Why were you so reluctant to tell

me that?

HENRY:

I don't want to fit into your grid.

I don't want you saying, "Okay,

paranoid schizophrenic. Two hundred

milligrams of Risperdol should do

the trick."

SAM:

You don't want me making

assumptions about you, right?

Henry nods.

SAM (CONT'D)

But aren't you making assumptions

about me? You think I want to fit

you into a grid?

(MORE)

14.

SAM(cont'd)

I don't make grids. I want to know

the particulars about Henry Letham.

You hear voices. All right, that's

important information. What are the

voices saying?

Henry shakes his head and looks out the window.

SAM (CONT'D)

I think it might be helpful if you

start writing it down.

HENRY:

Writing what down?

SAM:

What the voices are saying. Write

down the exact words when you hear

them. Okay? Henry?

Henry hasn't been listening.

HENRY:

What?

SAM:

Write down what the voices are

saying.

Henry grabs a pen and a pad of paper from the desk and begins

writing.

SAM (CONT'D)

They're talking to you now?

Henry continues writing furiously. When he finishes he stares

at his own jagged cursive

SAM (CONT'D)

Can I see?

Henry hands the pad over. Sam studies it, straining to read

the handwriting.

.

SAM (CONT'D)

(reading)

"Write down what the voices are

saying... They're talking to you

now?"

(looking at Henry)

That wasn't a hallucination, that

was me talking.

15.

HENRY:

You come inside my head, Doctor,

and show me how to tell the

difference.

SAM:

(continuing to read)

"Stay, Henry, stay. Stay. Stay.

Stay."

(looking at Henry)

You're hearing this voice now?

Henry nods, rubbing his palm over his scarred forearm.

SAM (CONT'D)

Do you recognize the voice?

HENRY:

Yes.

SAM:

Who is it?

HENRY:

I don't know.

SAM:

You just said you did.

HENRY:

It's a woman. I know her, but I

don't know who she is.

SAM:

I don't understand.

Henry says nothing, only scratches his forearm. Sam notices

the fresh burn on Henry's arm. He stands, goes around the

desk, gently takes Henry's arm and inspects it.

SAM (CONT'D)

What's this from?

HENRY:

I burned myself.

Sam looks closer. He notices the old burn scars that

constellate Henry's forearms.

SAM:

(more firmly)

What are these scars from?

16.

Absently, Henry looks at his forearms.

HENRY:

Cigarettes, I guess.

SAM:

Why do you have cigarette scars on

your forearms?

HENRY:

Because I keep burning myself.

Sam nods and studies Henry for a moment. He releases Henry's

arm and sits on the edge of the desk.

SAM:

Why do you want to hurt yourself?

HENRY:

I guess it's practice.

SAM:

Practice for what?

HENRY:

For Hell.

Sam takes a deep breath and exhales.

SAM:

You think you're going to Hell?

Henry nods.

SAM (CONT'D)

Why?

HENRY:

Because of what I did.

SAM:

What did you do?

Henry shakes his head, stares out the window.

SAM (CONT'D)

Whatever it is, we-

.

HENRY:

I know you're trying to help me,

Doctor. And thank you. But it's too

late.

17.

SAM:

Why is it too late?

Henry stands and grabs his bookbag off the floor.

HENRY:

Saturday at midnight I'm going to

kill myself.

He rubs his arms and smiles.

HENRY (CONT'D)

I need to get ready.

He walks out, leaving a stunned Sam alone in the room.

INT. COLUMBIA PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL -- AFTERNOON

Sam walks down the corridor of the Mental Health Ward. He

knocks on an office door marked: Mobile Crisis Unit. No

answer. As he's about to knock again he hears a commotion at

the end of the hallway.

Two strapping PARAMEDICS are wrestling a fiercely agitated,

heavy-set woman, DAISY, toward one of the rooms. She appears

to be homeless, wearing layer upon layer of filthy clothing,

her hair matted, her skin dirty and bruised.

Standing beside the paramedics, DOCTOR SCHLEGEL, a gaunt man

with a sparse goatee, tries to calm the woman.

DR. SCHLEGEL

Come on, Daisy. We've got your

television turned on and

everything. Take it easy.

DAISY:

I AM NOT A NAZI! I AM NOT A NAZI,

GODDAMN YOU!

DR. SCHLEGEL

Nobody's calling you a Nazi, Daisy.

Come on, now.

Sam hurries down the corridor toward the disturbance. Daisy

falls to the floor and the paramedics, unable to force her

into the room, try to hold her still as she thrashes in their

arms.

Dr. Schlegel has prepared a hypodermic and now crouches,

waiting for an opportunity to stick Daisy.

18.

DAISY:

I AM NOT A NAZI!

DR. SCHLEGEL

I know it, Daisy, I know it.

DAISY:

(beginning to sob)

You can't treat me this way. I am

not a Nazi! I don't deserve this.

.

DR. SCHLEGEL

Believe it or not, sweetheart, it's

for your own good.

The paramedics hold her tight and Schlegel sticks the needle

in Daisy's arm.

DR. SCHLEGEL (CONT’D)

If you'd remember to take your

pills, we wouldn't have to go

through this every month.

DAISY:

I'm not a Nazi. I'm lovable.

DR. SCHLEGEL

You are.

DAISY:

(already beginning to

fade)

I'm lovable.

The paramedics hoist Daisy to her feet and lead her

peacefully into the bedroom.

Dr. Schlegel sees Sam for the first time and smiles, a little

embarrassed.

DR. SCHLEGEL

Hey, Sam. The glamorous world of

psychiatry, huh?

They shake hands and Schlegel leads Sam back toward the

Mobile Crisis Unit office.

DR. SCHLEGEL (CONT'D)

So what brings you to Club Meds?

SAM:

I wanted to check the protocol on

involuntary committal.

(MORE)

19.

SAM(cont'd)

I've got a student threatening to

kill himself.

DR. SCHLEGEL

Jesus, tell him to take a number.

Well, the rules are pretty

straightforward. If he says he's

gonna hurt himself or someone else,

we can take him in. But we can only

hold him here for forty-eight

hours.

SAM:

Forty-eight hours? What are we

going to do in forty-eight hours?

They stop outside the MCU office.

DR. SCHLEGEL

Hold his hand, feed him some pills.

(beat)

If we catch him in the actual

attempt, that's different. He's

broken the law. But just based on a

threat? Without a court order, we

can't keep him for long.

SAM:

He wants to do it Saturday at

midnight. If we take him in now

he'll be out by then.

DR. SCHLEGEL

What, he's got an appointment to

off himself?

.

SAM:

That's what he told me. Saturday,

midnight.

DR. SCHLEGEL

So maybe we should pick him up

Friday, hold him through the

weekend.

(shaking his head)

As you just saw, it's not a real

fun process. If there's any way to

avoid it, avoid it. What do you

have him on?

SAM:

He won't take any pills.

(beat)

(MORE)

20.

SAM(cont'd)

He wants to die, Jeff. I've got

three days to convince him not to.

EXT. TWELFTH STREET -- DUSK

Sam is walking home when he stops to watch PIANO MOVERS at

work. Using ropes and pulleys, they hoist a Bechstein baby

grand toward the open windows of a fourth-floor apartment.

PIANO MOVER 1 acts as the foreman, issuing commands.

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