The 9th Life of Louis Drax Page #7

because you are...

yourself exhibiting symptoms

that I'm familiar with.

And we wouldn't want the doctor

to end up being committed,

- now would we?

- No.

You comfortable?

Yeah.

Just want you to relax.

Follow my instructions.

Okay.

Would you raise your left hand?

No swinging clock?

Not for you.

Turn your palm towards your face.

Now I want you to focus on your palm.

Find a spot.

Notice the details

of that spot, the lines.

Now shift your focus

to the tip of your nose.

And back to the spot on your hand.

Close your eyes.

And lower your hand.

Fill your mind with a white screen.

And we're going to ask

your unconscious mind

to create a signal for "yes."

"Yes." Something simple.

A color... a logo.

And now a signal for "no,"

again, something simple.

Anything you'd like.

Only you will see it, nobody else.

We're creating a simple way

to have a conversation

between the conscious

and unconscious parts of your mind.

You will listen only

to the sound of my voice,

and from now on, you will answer only

with these signals, yes or no,

do you understand?

Is your name Allan Pascal?

Are you a woman?

Imagine yourself on a beach.

It's a sunny day.

Crowded with people. Children are playing.

A warm breeze is blowing off the ocean.

You can feel it on your face

along with the sun.

Waves are crashing in the distance.

And now you're on an empty beach.

If there is still someone with you...

on the beach...

I want you to raise your left hand.

Approach this person.

And when you're close,

you can lower your hand.

I'm now gonna ask to speak

to someone else.

And when I do, only they will answer,

not you, do you understand?

Louis?

Is that you?

It's me, Dr. Perez.

Can you hear me, Louis?

- Come on, it's time to get out...

- Louis?

Are you there?

Will you talk to me?

Would you like to tell me what happened?

What happened that day?

Rasputin came with us on a picnic,

but Mom said he had to stay in his cage.

Picnic?

What did you eat?

Food, duh.

Has your brain shrunk to the size of pea?

What kind of food?

Of course you would ask that, fatty.

Mmm, you want a list?

I bet it makes you hungry.

Sure. Give me a list.

We had bread and pepperoni and cheese

and beer for them and apple juice for me.

Mom wanted me to slow down

because she thought I'd get a stomachache.

She's always scared that I'm going to puke

or swallow a screw by accident.

That can happen.

I once ate a Phillips head by accident.

You ask her.

She'll tell you. I'm not a liar.

I know you're not a liar, Louis.

Tell me more.

About food? You want more food?

About anything.

There was birthday cake.

Chocolate. And you had to make a wish.

Mom wished that I'd be hers forever

and nothing bad would happen to me.

And your wish?

That my dad was my real dad

so he'd stay with us.

Did you tell them your wish,

or did you keep it to yourself?

Blah, blah, blah.

What does that mean?

It means blah, blah, blah.

Does that mean you kept it to yourself?

It means that I was going to say it,

but I didn't because Mom and Dad

started arguing about the candy.

Me first.

- What?

- Peter, I made these for Louis.

Louis, can I have one?

Can he have one?

No, you can't because...

I made these for Louis.

- Here.

- Stop it.

- What is your problem?

- Pack your things, come on.

- You always do this.

- Look at this, yet again.

- You know what? You're drunk.

- Oh, my god.

- Come on.

- Are we driving back with Dad?

Of course you're driving back...

We're not going home with you, okay?

- You're drunk.

- I'm not drunk...

Yeah, you're drunk,

and you're not allowed to drive like this.

What's wrong with these candies?

- Peter, give them back!

- What, I can't have one?

Did you put something in these?

- Stop it!

- Did you put something in...

What are you doing? Give it back!

Fine, fine.

All right, eat one. Eat one! Eat one!

- No, what? Stop!

- Stop!

What happened next?

I ran away, and she ran after me,

and he ran after her.

- Louis!

- Louis! Louis!

Louis, wait, Louis.

- Hey, buddy, wait.

- Stay away from us, Peter!

She dragged me to the edge.

It's okay, come here. You're too close!

Step back from the edge.

It's allowed, you know.

- You're too close, come here.

- What's allowed?

The right of disposal.

- Louis, come here. Let go!

- Louis! No, Louis!

Dad doesn't know the rules.

He didn't understand.

No! Wait in the car!

Why do you want to hurt him?

You need some serious help.

She gave him this huge push,

and he wobbled like a cartoon.

You can guess the rest.

He fell.

It could've been an accident.

I know a lot about accidents.

But... was it an accident, Louis?

Was it really an accident?

Maybe it was.

Maybe it wasn't.

Then what happened?

I did what she wanted, like I always do.

Louis.

Come to me.

What did you do, Louis?

I walked backwards.

She didn't have to help me this time.

I counted the steps.

Come with me.

It was only five steps.

It was easy.

One...

two...

three...

four...

five.

And then I thought there might be a six,

but there wasn't a six.

Instead of a six, I fell into the water.

- And I died.

Code blue on three!

Dr. Pascal, wake up.

Code blue in coma bay!

Repeat:
code blue in the coma bay.

Hundred. Are you charging?

Get clear.

Come on.

- No pulse.

- Okay, 150.

Clear.

Clear.

Again.

Clear.

Yeah, we got him.

Okay.

Pascal made the mistake that all men make.

He thought that because Mommy

is so beautiful,

then she must be good.

But she's not good.

That's why she

has to live in a hospital now,

just like me, and now she has to tell

Fat Perez all of her secrets.

We, uh, we put her in a private room,

but she's responding very,

very well to the treatment.

Misses Louis tremendously.

Did you ever conclude on her diagnosis?

Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Induced illness

is the correct terminology.

The victim abuses another,

usually a child,

in exchange for, you know,

love, attention.

When Louis was small,

she had actually injured him herself.

As he grew older,

he learned what she wanted,

you know, responded to her needs

in exchange for love.

She just had to be there, right?

He'd have an accident, and she'd save him.

And every time,

it would strengthen the bond between them.

She loved him, she hated him.

Couldn't live with him,

couldn't live without him.

Pascal has to live

with the choice he made.

Just like I did.

Live with the consequences.

There are always consequences.

Things work out in a funny way sometimes.

Not funny "ha ha." Funny unexpected.

"The island of Ceylon

disappeared under our horizon

during the course of the day, January..."

You shouldn't think, oh, poor Louis Drax,

because it doesn't suck too badly.

True story.

"Where on Earth

was Captain Nemo leading us?

And again, the tarnal sea is not the road

to get us back to Europe.

'Who ever said we were

going back to Europe?'

'What do you think

we're trying to do then?"'

All my life, I've been waiting for this.

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