The 24th Day Page #6

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that anybody would have...

but most people

wouldn't take it this far.

You gotta think about this. Just

take the time to think about this.

This won't accomplish anything.

This is nobody's fault.

And later on and I still feel this way,

you'll have no trouble coming back?

You don't realize here

you're in deep trauma.

Trauma? I thought I was in shock.

This gets worse by the minute.

Look, I realize you're upset.

But you've got to put

some perspective on this.

Perspective...

People with HIV

lead happy, healthy lives.

its not a death sentence

anymore.

You don't have AIDS, Tom.

You are HIV-positive.

There's a difference.

Do you know the difference?

For someone who just had

a negative HIV test...

you seem overly concerned.

Im not gonna lie to you, Im

gonna get the f*** out of here.

What are you gonna do to yourself

when I walk out that door?

Thank you for the concern,

but at twenty-four days...

this is how I feel and

nothing's gonna change that.

Why did you pick me

that night?

Why'd you let that night

ever happen?

I have just one life.

I chose one set of

feelings over another.

And denied part of yourself.

I denied a part of myself so

I could keep the most important.

And what was that?

Your tough guy image,

your neighborhood pals?

My wife.

You said

you weren't married.

High school sweethearts.

Does she know?

Know what?

That I was with you?

The only time I was ever

unfaithful was with a man?

That Im HIV-positive?

I don't know.

She might have figured...

some of it out after a doctor

told her she had a Lupaninopathy.

There's a word a Lot of

Harvard guys don't know.

You're smart. Any idea?

Swollen glands.

It started causing

her pain under her arms.

She had night sweats

and she lost a few pounds.

We thought she was just worn down.

She always worked too hard.

They ran a Lot of tests.

It was just one test

to cover the bases.

Was she HIV positive?

Twenty-seven years old.

Have you told her about this?

I can't.

You have to.

Tom, you have to

talk to her about it.

She was a mess when

she left the doctor's office.

Son-of-a-b*tch

just let her go...

like he just got through telling

her she had a f***ing cold.

How do you tell somebody that

and just let them leave?

Wouldn't even call me.

She was confused.

She was upset.

How do you tell somebody that

and just let them leave?

She ran a light.

She was alive when the ambulance

got her to the hospital.

What must have been running through

her mind when she missed that light.

And what if it wasn't

an accident?

What if she ran it...

because of the pain it caused her

knowing I'd done something wrong?

Maybe a prostitute,

maybe another woman?

Maybe the truth?

Not being sure what to think,

not wanting to hear the truth...

so she runs a light and doesn't

have to hear it with her own ears.

Doesn't have to hear...

how the man she's

devoted her life...

to isn't the man

she thought he was.

And that's my biggest fear...

that when she went up

to heaven, she found out.

And right now she's

up there watching.

And she's so hurt. She so hurt

by what she knows about me.

I tried so hard

to keep it from her.

She wouldn't understand.

How do you explain that?

That you can be killed by

the person who you love most?

You just, you can't.

Now you ask me again

about perspective.

Doing this isn't

going to change anything.

We owe her.

What if she had it first?

its possible. She was showing

symptoms before you were.

She was showing symptoms

before you.

Swollen glands.

It makes sense

she had it before you.

It could have happened that way.

-It could have happened that way.

-Shut your f***ing mouth.

You're a real f***,

do you know that? F*** you!

What do you say

we get out of here?

Go back to your place?

You want to go back to my place?

No, we can't do that.

You know, it's true what

they say about older women.

What is that?

We do try harder.

No, I can't. I can't do it.

Im sorry.

its not personal.

I mean, you're cute,

but you're nothing special.

Sometimes you're just lonely.

You need to not be alone.

-You know?

-Yes. I know.

Open your mouth.

Open your mouth.

F*** you.

Hey, do you know why

most beer bottles are dark?

Sunlight.

The beer sits in the sun too long,

you get that ''skunky'' taste.

Do you know the purpose

of a skunk's scent?

A defense

against other animals.

That's right.

Very good.

Do you know how many

sonnets Shakespeare wrote?

A hundred and fifty-four.

I don't understand Shakespeare.

I have no idea what a sonnet is.

its a lyric poem,

fourteen lines.

Oh, I don't give a sh*t.

There was a time I did.

I got all those books

on strange facts.

A thousand and one things

to know.

Pretty stupid, huh?

There's something only a dumb person

does and that's to feel so dumb.

You know what that stuff is?

That's not no smarts.

its just dog tricks.

You roll over, you play dead,

that's not no smarts.

I'd go to the museums, I walk

around, I study the paintings.

But I never got it.

I tried.

I made an honest attempt

to make myself better...

to improve who I was.

And then this happens.

One night and it

destroys lives.

Send everything else away and

leave behind nothing but pain.

its all I have now.

Pain like nothing

Ive ever known.

It doesn't leave,

it never leaves.

There's so much...

I have so much pain...

So much...

I just want it to stop.

Im so sorry.

Im so sorry for everything.

its gonna be okay.

-its not gonna be okay.

-Im sorry.

Im sorry.

I wish I could hold you.

Just tell you

everything's gonna be okay.

It'll be okay. Everything.

-Son-of-a-b*tch!

-No, Tom...

You son-of-a-b*tch.

No, I was holding you,

that's all.

is this what you want?

You f***in' sneak!

You can't do this, Tom!

There's too many ways

this could have happened.

We killed her!

What if you're wrong?

All you have to do is pass

the test. Just pass the test.

Tests aren't fool-proof.

Mistakes are made all the time.

You are a perfect example of

what's wrong with this world.

No one will stand up and say

''its me. Im guilty, I did it.''

You live by your own rules...

and now you have to

pay for that.

Because I met you at a bar...

and I came back with you

that I deserve this?

You came home with me twice.

And that makes me

some kind of a monster?

By the way, if you remember,

you invited me back here.

You set me up.

You're always gonna play it

like you're the innocent one.

You think because we came back

here we were gonna f***?

is that who you are?

You f*** every guy you meet?

Trust me, you don't

want to get into this.

You've got this

idea about me.

And you're wrong.

You want me to be the evil one

'cause that makes it easier for you.

You really think you're a victim?

You're convinced of it, aren't you?

You know I am.

Dan, when was the last time

you had sex?

I don't see how that

has anything to do with this.

What is it, a secret?

Some danger to national security?

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