Testament of Youth Page #13

They finish, and stand back - as we PULL OUT to realise

they’re in the long hospital corridor, now filled wall to

wall with newly prepared beds, with barely an inch between

them.

BETTY:

What now?

VERA:

We wait.

102 EXT. STREET, 1ST LONDON GENERAL - LATER 102

Vera and Betty emerge from the hospital to see a gaggle of

nurses outside, standing still and listening. They join

them.

VERA:

What is it-?

One of the other nurses holds her hand up for quiet. They

listen.

A distant, muffled BOOM resonates. Vera looks down at her

sensible lace-up shoes. The pavement beneath her feet is

shuddering.

Betty looks at her in disbelief.

BETTY:

It can’t be...

Another boom resonates, the pavement shakes.

VERA:

It’s France.

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103 INT. WARD, 1ST LONDON GENERAL - DAY 103

A scene of barely contained chaos. Vera and Betty balance

medical trays as they squeeze their way between the tightly-

packed beds, which are now crammed full of groaning,

wounded men. Blaring, jaunty gramophone music goes some

way to drowning the cries.

104 INT. ANNEXE - LATER 104

Vera is arranging surgical instruments on trays at one end

of the annexe.

SISTER JONES:

Brittain!

Vera whips round. The Ward Sister’s beady eye sweeps across

the trays - then an exhausted Vera.

SISTER JONES:

Good work, Nurse. Make sure you

get your rest.

Vera nods, pleased - some praise, at last.

105 EXT. LONDON STREET - DAY 105

Vera is walking along a street in the city of London, past

a wall covered in propaganda posters.

VERA’S VOICE

There’s news of Geoffrey, Roland.

Edward’s asked me to go and see

him.

One poster, repeated over and over, shows a man sitting in

an armchair with a little boy on his lap, and the caption:

“Daddy, what did YOU do in the War?”

106 INT. FISHMONGER HALL - LATER 106

Vera is sitting next to Geoffrey, in a cramped little space

partitioned off from other invalids in the huge, vaulted

hall.

Geoffrey has changed, and it’s shocking. He’s seated in a

chair, next to a bed, a blanket over his knees. His face is

grey, his expression haunted, and he’s shaking.

VERA:

Can I get you anything?

GEOFFREY:

Edward...?

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She knows what he’s asking.

VERA:

We had a letter yesterday, he’s

well.

A pause. Geoffrey’s mind wanders.

GEOFFREY:

It’s the way the men watch your

every move, as though you have the

answers, as though you have a

clue...

He stops, breathless, almost choking.

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GEOFFREY:

When we went over the top...I held

it together for them.

VERA:

You’re very brave.

She tries to take his hand but he pulls it away, unable to

bear human contact.

GEOFFREY:

I need to get back there.

This baffles Vera.

VERA:

...Why?

GEOFFREY:

The fear of going’s the worst.

(Pause) Nothing will be better

until it’s over.

107 INT. CORRIDOR, FISHMONGER HALL - ANOTHER DAY 107

Vera is helping Geoffrey to walk - he has the strange,

flailing walk of the shell-shocked; a toddler’s stagger in

the body of an old man.

VERA’S VOICE

He was at the front just eleven

days. It’s taken three months for

him to even start to walk again.

108 INT. WARD, 1ST LONDON GENERAL - EVENING 108

Vera is on night duty in the dark, quiet ward. Her duties

finished, she sits down and eagerly pulls out a letter from

Roland. She starts to read.

ROLAND’S VOICE

Good news. My Christmas leave has

been approved. I’ll be home to

make you my wife!

Vera is delighted.

ROLAND’S VOICE (CONT’D)

And I have a surprise, something

I think will please you.

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VERA:

(whisper to herself)

What?

ROLAND’S VOICE

You’ll see when we meet. I’ve

been posted to company

headquarters, three miles behind

lines. I’ll be here until my

leave. I’m safe, Vera.

VERA:

Safe...

109 INT. WARD, 1ST LONDON GENERAL - EVENING (WINTER) 109

Vera and other nurses move between beds of sleeping men,

hanging up Christmas decorations - tinsel and some holly.

As she’s next to one bed - the occupant, Billy, calls out.

BILLY:

Nurse!

Vera turns to look at the man, his expression warm.

BILLY:

You’re walking on air, Nurse!

Vera smiles.

BILLY:

Go on, spill the beans.

Vera hesitates, then decides to tell him.

VERA:

I’m going to Brighton in the

morning to meet my fiance, we’re

getting married.

BILLY:

Over there, is he, fighting the

Boch?

She nods.

BILLY:

Now you’re a reason for a man to

get through, Miss, if you don’t

mind my saying.

She tucks him up with a smile.

VERA:

Settle down and get some sleep.

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110

INT. HOTEL LOBBY, THE GRAND, BRIGHTON - DAY (BOXING DAY 110

1915, WINTER)

An excited Vera is fixing a hat on, in a large gilt mirror

in a corner of the elegant, high-ceilinged lobby. Her

mother is with her, helping. Around them, we get a sense of

the coming and going of guests, and smart, uniformed staff.

Muffled, discreet elegance. A phone is ringing somewhere.

VERA:

How do I look?

MRS. BRITTAIN

(adjusting her)

Positively bridal.

Vera glances at a clock.

VERA (CONT’D)

Half an hour to go. He’ll have

had a long journey, he’ll be

tired.

A HOTEL CLERK in black comes over.

HOTEL CLERK:

Miss Vera Brittain?

VERA:

Yes.

HOTEL CLERK:

A telephone call for you, Miss.

VERA:

(surprised)

That must be him! I hope he’s not

going to be late.

She follows the clerk over to a desk, where apricot pink

flowers sit a blue glass vase. Her mother watches, with a

trace of anxiety.

ON Vera’s hand as, in slight slow motion, she reaches for

the receiver. She lifts it to her ear.

VERA:

Hello?

The line is fuzzy, but no one replies the other end.

VERA:

...Roland?

She hears a sob - someone is crying. Anxiety floods her.

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VERA:

...What?

MRS. LEIGHTON’S VOICE

(choking sobs)

Vera...Oh God Vera...Oh God...

Vera’s blood starts to turn to ice. All other sound cuts

out - just the throbbing pulse of her heart.

Around her, the lobby FREEZES - people stopped in their

tracks, the hotel clerk, her Mother -

-The world at a standstill.

MRS. LEIGHTON’S VOICE

(choking sobs)

He’s dead...Roland’s dead.

Vera’s EYES - staring at a silent, frozen world. A breeze

tinkles the ceiling chandelier - then ruffles the flowers

in the blue vase, their colour so dazzling bright, it hurts

the eyes.

111

OMMITTED. 111

112pt1

OMMITTED. 112pt1

112pt2

EXT. BEACH, BRIGHTON - DAY 112pt2

Gulls, flying against a grey sky, keening angrily.

112pt3

Vera, standing on the beach, gazing stunned and numb 112pt3

into the waves as they crash and suck at the shingle...

112pt4

A small crab scuttles across her shoe, Vera barely 112pt4

noticing

CUT TO:

112pt5

HOTEL BEDROOM - A numb, blank Vera sits in an armchair,112pt5

anxiously watched by her parents, a cup of coffee in front

of her. There’s still no sound.

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