The Fisher King Page #28

JACK:

No.

ANNE:

No. So what time do you need? I love

you - you love me - you want to start

your career, great! I want to be a part

of it - I deserve that!

What do you need to figure out!?

JACK doesn't answer. PAUSE. ANNE is afraid she knows.

ANNE:

All right. I'm going to ask you one question.

(summoning up all her strength)

Do you love me?

PAUSE:

JACK:

I don't know.

SHE slaps him.

ANNE:

You can't even give me that. You were

just gonna organize your life...

(indicates the box)

...walk out that door, move in

by yourself and what - drop the news

when you find somebody else?

What were you planning to do Jack?

JACK:

I didn't know. I just said all I

want is some time.

ANNE:

(fighting back tears)

Bullshit! If you're going hurt me,

you hurt me now - not some long

drawn out hurt that takes weeks of my life

because you don't have the balls!

JACK doesn't answer.

JACK:

All right...I'll pack my stuff tonight.

ANNE slaps him again.

ANNE:

What have you been doing here!

HUH! I WANNA KNOW!

JACK:

LISTEN! We both got something out of

it, all right!

ANNE:

Oh yeah? What did I get? What did

I get I couldn't've gotten from

somebody with no name any night

of the week? You think your company

is such a treat? Your moods, your

(sarcastic)

"pain", your problems...You think

you're entertaining?

JACK:

Then what to you want to stay with

me for?

ANNE physically attacks him-

ANNE:

BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!...STUPID!...F***IN!...

JACK blocks her blows and holds her arms. ANNE surrenders to

her tears. HE is about to embrace her, when she pulls away.

ANNE:

No. You don't get to be nice.

I'm not a modern woman Jack.

I don't like being friends with

men I used to love. No way...

At that moment, THE PHONE RINGS. JACK answers it.

JACK:

Hello?..Yeah...My wallet, what do

you mean?...

(his face drops)

What?....What?

INT. BELLEVUE - TWENTY MINUTES LATER

JACK, ANNE and A DOCTOR talk as they walk.

DOCTOR:

He was brought in early this

morning. Must have been lying

there for hours. He's lost a lot

of blood.

HE opens the door to PARRY'S room.

PARRY lays in bed - his face bandaged, his arms in casts, his

chest rapped tightly. HE has been severly beaten.

JACK:

Parry?

DOCTOR:

He can't hear you.

JACK sits beside the bed as the DOCTOR fills him in.

DOCTOR:

I have his record here.

(he reads)

Henry Sawyer - brought in a few

years ago - catatonic stupor

rendering him non-verbal for over

thirteen months...

JACK:

I know. I know all about it.

DOCTOR:

Well, it says he was sent to a

psychiatric hospital.

JACK:

I know all this. Why are you

telling me this?

DOCTOR:

Well - his beating's bad but...

that's not the problem. I'm

afraid he's re-experiencing the

same symptoms of his earlier

condition.

JACK:

What are you saying?

THE DOCTOR pulls him aside.

DOCTOR:

Sometimes victims of tragedies

are subject to the brain's replay

system. The brain never loses

anything - it just stores it up

and waits. A person could

actually re-experience the full

effect of a tragedy, long after

the actual incident took place.

JACK'S goes numb. HE looks to PARRY, who is clearly in his own

world.

JACK:

Is there anything you can do?

DOCTOR:

Knowing his history, I'd say no.

Was he having hallucinations?

JACK:

Yes.

DOCTOR:

(reading the chart)

That's in keeping with the

diagnosis. The nervous system

has these - neural secretions that

actually cause hallucinations to

protect the ego from something

it can't handle.

JACK:

But he was happy.

DOCTOR:

There are people who have been

through great tragedy that have

a harder time with feeling good

than feeling bad. It's not as

familiar...it can bring back the

pain of what was lost. Are you

a relative?

JACK:

No. Just a friend.

DOCTOR:

Well, it doesn't matter then

anyway. We're going to have to

send him back to the same

institution. They have the

facilities there he needs.

JACK:

Well...What if I was a relative?

DOCTOR:

You'd have the option to care for

him at home, but it wouldn't be

the best thing for him. He needs

hospital care. I just thought

you could sign the necessary

releases, but the city can do

that. There's really nothing

anybody can do. I wouldn't feel

responsible in any way. There's

nothing you can do.

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