The Barbarian Invasions Page #2

A lot of men don't bathe,

you know.

Yes, l know.

You know the proverb,

"Christmas in the scanner,

Easter six feet under."

Hello?

l have the scan.

lt doesn't look good.

Not good at all.

We can't be certain,

but the margin of error...

lt's almost nil.

ls he in a lot of pain?

Why don't you bring him here?

We don't perform miracles,

but he won't suffer. We'll make sure.

l'm sorry, buddy.

Baltimore's not far.

Seven hours by car,

an hour by plane.

l won't go into exile.

No goddamn way.

Wouldn't you like your own room,

chairs for visitors,

a bathroom, CDs?

What CDs?

So you can listen to music.

They have that

in civilized countries.

Know what that costs?

- Nothing. l'll look after it.

- l won't know a soul.

We'll all go tomorrow.

No, we won't.

l'm not going to the States,

to be murdered

by rabid Mohammedans.

He's crazy.

l voted for Medicare,

l'll accept the consequences.

Only idiots refuse to change.

l want to be with my friends.

Your friends? Where are they?

- Dominique's away, but Pierre--

- You've no one.

Aside from that lunatic

this morning.

- Which lunatic?

- lt's irrelevant.

The tears, rolling eyes:

"My Rmy!"

- Who's he talking about?

- Marlne Dupire.

You didn't sleep

with Marlne Dupire?

She's a certified nut,

everyone knows!

You wrecked your family

for her kind?

l wrecked nothing.

You ruined mom's life,

my adolescence, Sylvaine's...

Blaming me for her failure?

She loves the sea, she sails the world,

delivering yachts.

Beats a third-rate university

in some backwater province.

You may be a millionaire,

but you know nothing!

l know l won't end up like you!

She's the reason l'm here.

She raised me, not you!

l'm here for her, not you!

Don't you have a plane

to catch to Hong Kong?

l don't need you,

not for one second!

Go to hell!

F*** you!

Go to hell!

F***!

We're returning to London.

You can't!

We offer him the finest hospital,

he refuses.

You heard him.

He'll never change.

Plan to have kids?

Definitely.

Until you're a parent,

you'll never understand.

He changed your diapers.

He called your teachers

every month all through school.

You never knew that.

He so wanted you to do well.

When you had meningitis

at age three,

he rocked you in his arms

for 48 hours non-stop, without sleep,

to keep death at bay.

You can't remember that.

What should l do?

Find his friends.

Find him a comfortable room.

That shouldn't be hard.

The Ministry

forbids changing hospitals.

Anyway, they'd park him

in a hall in Emergency.

- The floor below is empty.

- Two years, now.

Could he move there?

lce cream with your pie?

You can always ask

at Administration. Good luck!

Thanks.

l'll leave you now.

You're lucky

to have such a caring son.

You think so?

Look around! See many children

at their parent's bedside?

l'm here every day, so l know.

They never stay long.

l never see mine.

And your dad?

Was he hospitalized?

- At the end.

- Did you visit?

He lived in Chicoutimi,

l was in Montreal.

You came from England?

London, Chicoutimi, for you...

same thing?

Are you becoming confused?

When it's over, press End.

That stops it.

lt's hard, but if you concentrate,

you'll manage.

Hi, Dad!

See, the Pacific Ocean.

We sail from Sydney

to New Caledonia,

on to Easter lsland

and finally Valparaiso.

l'm sending you lots of sea air.

They say it's good for your health.

l have to go.

Satellite connections cost a fortune.

l'm sending lots and lots of kisses.

Bye for now!

Hi, Dad!

See, that's the Pacific--

Badge?

Security badge?

Ms. Pelletier?

Lloyd's of London.

Didn't they give you one?

- No.

- This is Administration.

Last door on the right.

But next time you need a badge.

Hello.

Pauline Joncas-Pelletier.

Please have a seat.

So you're with Lloyd's of London?

Not at all,

l said that to get in.

My father's here.

l'd like to move him to the empty floor.

Set up something

more comfortable.

That's wonderful!

lt complies with our awareness

programs involving family members.

But unfortunately

our allocation of infrastructure

is determined by the Ministry's

ambulatory thrust.

lt is absolutely impossible

to target our responses

in terms of individual beneficiaries.

l'm sure our staff--

l prepared this file.

You must understand,

our resource allocation

aims at prioritizing

responses according

to diagnostic parameters

defined by the Region 02

consultations.

This is silly.

We're not in the Third World.

Think it over.

Even if we close our eyes,

we'd require union integration.

And that is problematic!

l'll handle them.

This file will be updated weekly.

l'll come back tomorrow.

Thank you!

There's a room

on the empty floor.

lt'll take 5 minutes.

l just want to show you.

l'll be back in 5.

Sorry, take the next one.

Here.

l want to set up a room

on this floor. We could--

Look, nothing happens

without the union.

lt starts and ends with the union.

Understand?

l came to you, right?

You'd have to paint it,

scrub the floor...

clean up.

- Just a sec, man.

You're talking overtime,

you realize.

And my guys don't--

- Paid in cash.

Cash?

Cash. One painter.

Two.

Six hours.

Eight.

What's the rate?

$40.

$35.

l want a bed, curtains, chairs--

Look, man, we don't do that.

You hire a crew,

supervise the work.

And charge me a reasonable fee.

Reasonable?

Let's say 25%..

Here's $2,500 for starters.

We'll settle up every two days.

- What's wrong?

- Where's my laptop?

- What?

- My computer.

- On the floor.

- lt's not there.

- lt must be.

- Nothing there.

The floor, not the locker.

l'm not crazy.

- lt's not there.

Someone must have taken it.

- Who?

- l don't know.

l've had 50 e-mails.

How'll l recover them?

My entire deal with Norway.

There's no backup.

Do you know what l do?

- No.

- You should.

- You never told me.

Why bother? You never listen!

There were, what, 3,000 dead?

Historically,

that's insignificant.

As a U.S. example,

at the Battle of Gettysburg.

What is significant,

as my old teachers said,

is they struck

at the heart of the Empire.

ln previous conflicts - Korea,

Vietnam, the Gulf War -

the Empire managed

to keep the barbarians

outside its gates, its borders.

ln that sense,

people may look back on 9/1 1 ,

and l stress may,

as the beginning

of the great barbarian invasions.

Alain Lussier, thank you.

My pleasure.

Excuse me,

my computer was just stolen.

Oh yeah?

Fill out this form.

What for?

lt's for the police.

Look, l've had all these

since Monday.

The police ever investigate?

No, only when

there's physical violence.

Last week a woman was raped

in the old laundry room, so they came.

Otherwise, they'd be here 24/7.

lt's easy to rob patients.

They're asleep half the time.

And the union

protects the employees.

There's not much we can do.

Ronald?

Excuse me.

What can l do for you, pal?

l lost or misplaced

my computer.

Maybe in my dad's room.

So, on the off-chance

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