[hospital]
[Fraser is on a stretcher, in neck brace, being wheeled
quickly down a corridor]
Doctor:
Caliber?
Ray: Nine
millimeter.
Doctor:
Range?
Ray: Uh, fifty
yards.
Doctor:
Angle?
Ray: I don’t
know!
EMT: There’s no
exit wound. Bullet probably hit something.
Ray: Like
what?
Doctor: I want
him intubated, number eight
intratrachial tube. Get ready
to bag him.
[memory: diner, Fraser first speaks to
Victoria]
Victoria:
Hi.
[hospital]
Doctor:
Estimated blood loss?
EMT: About 2
units.
[memory:
diner]
Victoria: I
thought I saw you standing in the middle of the
road.
[hospital]
Doctor: Is he a
drug user?
EMT:
Negative.
[memory:
diner]
Victoria:
You
hungry?
[hospital]
Doctor:
Time?
EMT: Twenty
minutes down
now.
[memory: Fraser’s apartment, Fraser & Victoria
cooking]
Fraser:
[voice] It was
as though I’d known her
forever.
[hospital]
Doctor:
Vitals?
Nurse: BP 80
systolic. Pulse weak and
thready.
[flash between hospital activities and memories,
voice-overs]
Victoria:
Why doesn’t it have any sound?
Fraser: It’s
broken.
Victoria: How
could you do that to me, huh?
Fraser: What
aren’t you telling me?!
Victoria: I
did it! I shot the son of a
bitch. He was
trying to kill me.
Robert Fraser:
She’s not coming back to you, and why in God’s name would
you want her to?
Fraser: She
had the most beautiful voice.
Victoria:
Come with me!
Fraser: I made
a mistake once, and I can’t make it again.
Victoria: Come
with me!
Fraser: She’s
the only woman I ever loved, and I put her in
prison.
Victoria:
You’re gonna regret it if you don’t.
Ray: She’s got
a gun!
[hospital]
Doctor
: Are you next of kin?
Ray:
Why?
Doctor: You
might want to call somebody.
Ray: It’s
okay, right? He’s okay, he’s breathing, right?
Doctor: When
we know, you’ll know.
[memory: train
platform]
Fraser: I
should be with her.
[hospital]
Victoria:
[dressed as a
doctor]
He’ll be fine. Won’t you, Ben?
Ray: Benny,
I’ll be right out here.
Doctor: Coming
through!
[Music: ‘Plenty’ by Sarah McLachlan]
[hospital; Fraser’s
room]
[monitor beeps;
Fraser hooked up to a drip; there is a large fly sitting
on his big toe. He reaches for a
back-scratcher but knocks it
to the floor]
[therapist’s
office]
Bernice Miller:
The shooting team cleared you. That must have been
reassuring.
Ray:
Yeah.
Bernice: How
is he?
Ray: They
found the bullet. Near the T8 vertebrae, wherever that
is.
Bernice: The
thoracic region.
Ray: It’s too
close to the spine. They didn’t want to risk taking it
out.
Bernice: I’m
told he’s expected to recover fully.
Ray:
Yeah.
Bernice: Have
you talked to him about any of this?
Ray: He’s
barely conscious.
Bernice: Then
you don’t know how he feels?
Ray: Look
what’s to know, okay? All right, I shot him. He’s fine,
I’m fine, we’re all fine, all right?!
[Fraser’s hospital
room; Fraser has received an enormous stuffed bear, a
balloon with feet, flowers, cards. Dief is sitting in the
chair, watching through the window: an aerobics class, a
woman entering an office, a woman in labor yelling at her
husband. Dief
yips]
Fraser:
Listen, just because you can see them and their blinds are
open, it’s not to be taken as an invitation. It’s
unethical. It’s also against the law.
[Dief whines]
Fraser : Aside from which you’ll go blind. [chuckles]
[Dief grumbles & returns to the windows]
Fraser
: Oh, fine. Don’t listen.
[Dief
woofs]
Fraser: No,
you see this is
different. I
have a wound that leaves me no choice but to face the
windows. Uh, yes, I could close my eyes, but I’m not going
to do that, because I am not actually prying.
[Dief grumbles; Fraser sees the blonde aerobics instructor]
Fraser : Oh.
[they watch through the window: aerobics class, two men
smoking on the roof, doctor advising a patient]
[night; Fraser
awakens and turns off his lamp. He watches through the
window: the woman in the office and a man in lab coat
kiss...Fraser remembers being with Victoria...]
[Man leaves the office; the woman injects something into her thigh; a man stands in the room next door... Fraser falls asleep]
[Music: ‘Plenty’ by Sarah
McLachlan]
[day; Fraser
awakens]
TV Guy: There
you go. All hooked up.
Ray
: [holding remote
control]
Doesn’t this thing come with an automatic horizontal
hold?
[the picture is
fuzzy]
TV
Guy
: That’s extra.
Ray:
Extra.
[Fraser looks out
window, but finds nothing of interest]
TV Guy : Want to press the red button?
Ray
: Hey, this thing’s broken!
TV Guy: Hey,
that’s not my
department.
Call 217 for service.
[exits]
Ray: It was
never working in the first place!
[sighs & sits in
the chair]
I finally get you to say yes to the damn thing and it’s
broken. Three weeks. Twenty-one days staring at beige
walls with beige linoleum day in and day out.
Fraser: You
know you can leave, Ray. I mean you don’t have to come
here every day.
Ray: I know
that.
Fraser: I mean
you have a job. You should go to work.
Ray: I do go
to work.
Fraser:
When?
Ray: When
you’re asleep.
You do that a lot, you know.
Fraser: Oh.
Still, I think--
Ray: Look, you
start your physical therapy, you get your sea legs
back. In the
meantime we get through this the only way I know how.
[hits the TV, and
again, and
again]
Baseball.
[Vecchio swivels the TV around to face Fraser’s bed
(though the picture is still not viewable); he sits back
down in the
chair]
Fraser: Who’s
playing?
Ray: Who
cares? [dives into
a bag of chips]
Fraser: This is
great, Ray. Thanks.
[Dief
whines]
Ray: Don’t they
have rules about this sort of thing?
Fraser: Ah,
the nurses have all taken pity on him. They feed him, they
water him, they walk him
regularly.
They like him, he likes
them. He eats
better than I do. I think he’s even happier here.
Ingrate.
Ray: They
haven’t found her, you know.
Fraser: The
investigation?
Ray:
Officially, it’s still open; unofficially, it’s on the
back burner. The diamonds were recovered, and the murder
victim... He’s a convicted felon. For all we know she can
be in Afghanistan.
Fraser: I
still see her. I’m not sure what I see actually.
[Fraser reaches for pills by his
bedside]
Ray: Well, you
know, those painkillers...they can do it to you.
[Fraser throws the
painkillers in the trash]
[Dief growls &
barks at Vecchio]
Ray: What?
Look, no more, okay? It’s gonna to make you fat.
Fraser: You’re
in his chair.
Ray: Oh. Okay.
I’m gonna to get out of here. Can I get you
anything?
Fraser: No,
you’ve done more than enough already.
[Vecchio leaves and
Dief hops into his chair; Fraser tries the remote, then
just hits the TV, turning it off]
[later; Fraser is
sleeping, Robert Fraser comes in and leans in close to his
son’s face...]
Fraser
: Ah!
[waking up,
startled]
Robert Fraser:
Hello, son.
Fraser: You
gotta to stop doing that.
Robert Fraser:
More boring the other way.
Fraser:
Couldn’t you just have sent some flowers or a card?
Robert Fraser:
You’re just mad because I didn’t get here sooner.
Fraser: No,
relieved is more like it. If you had come sooner, I might
not have been able to tell which one of us was
actually...
Robert Fraser:
Dead?
Fraser:
Yes.
Robert Fraser:
It’s not a dirty word, son. Besides there are worse things
than being dead.
Fraser: Oh
really? Like what?
Robert Fraser:
Like you, for instance. You wouldn’t catch me moping
around here just because I was shot.
Fraser: I
suffered massive nerve and muscle damage. I was lucky to
survive.
Robert Fraser:
I’d’ve been back on the post next morning.
Fraser: I
hardly think so.
Robert Fraser:
You’ve been lying here for three
weeks. You
can’t stay in this bed forever, you know.
Fraser: I
don’t plan to. This is called recovery. I am
recovering.
Robert Fraser:
Mm. She got you good, didn’t she?
Fraser: No. I
was thinking of going home.
Robert Fraser:
To the Territories?
Fraser:
[nods]
I thought I’d rebuild your cabin.
Robert Fraser:
Huh. Whatever for?
Fraser’s
Grandmother:
[voice]
Robert?
Robert: Oh my
God.
Fraser:
What?
[she emerges from closet, holding patterned flannel
PJs]
Grandmother:
Here, tell him to put these on. They’re warmer.
Robert Fraser:
It’s 70 degrees. These won’t do him any good.
[takes the PJs (they’re
invisible to
Fraser)]
Fraser: Who are
you talking to?
Robert Fraser:
You don’t see her?
Fraser:
No.
Robert Fraser:
It’s your grandmother. She brought you some
pajamas.
[Grandmother leans in close & looks Fraser
over]
Fraser: Oh,
well, thank her for me.
Robert Fraser:
Of course.
Fraser:
Anybody else drop in?
Robert Fraser:
No, not so far.
Grandmother:
You’re babying him, Robert.
[smacks him gently (Fraser can only see Robert’s
reaction)]
Robert Fraser:
He’s been shot, Mother!
Grandmother:
Can’t stay in bed forever
[exits via the
closet]
Robert Fraser:
You didn’t see her?
Fraser: No.
How is she?
Robert Fraser:
Not dead enough, son.
Fraser:
Ah.
[knock
knock]
Jill: Am I
interrupting?
Fraser: No,
no, come on in.
Jill: Jill
Kennedy .
Fraser: Yeah.
From the, um--
[hooks thumb toward
window & aerobics class]
Jill: From
the--
Fraser:
Hospital.
Jill: Right.
I’m the --
Fraser:
Physiotherapist.
Jill: You
recognize me?
Fraser: No,
actually. That was, um, deduction.
Jill: You
deduced me?
[she pulls privacy
curtain]
Fraser: Yes.
Yes, I did. You see, um, your hands although small
are--
Jill: Excuse
me. [she pulls down
his blanket]
Fraser:
--uncommonly muscular. As are your triceps, biceps,
deltoids, pectorals,
latissimus
dorsi and abdominal rack.
[voice goes higher
as she examines & touches
him] Um,
this is not something you’d ordinarily encounter in a
nurse, unless she was accustomed to heavy
lifting. Also
there is--
Jill: May I?
[rolls him to
inspect his back]
Fraser:
--about you the scent of eucalyptus, which is a very,
uh...common ingredient in muscle
liniments.
[she pulls his gown
from his
shoulders]
And that is mixed with, um, eh, I would say chlorine,
which I would imagine would be from the whirlpool.
[she rolls him
back] Um.
And on top of that there is
[sniffs]
uh, coconut. Hand lotion.
Jill:
Shampoo.
Fraser: Ah!
There, you see. Well, all of that is very consistent with
a physical therapist who has very...very clean hair.
Jill: That’s
quite a talent.
Fraser: I’m
sorry.
Jill: That’s
okay. You’re a policeman, right?
Fraser: Yes,
from Canada. Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman.
Jill:
Ahh that would explain the
bowed knees.
Fraser:
Bowed?
Jill: I’d say
five-eighths of a centimeter. Quarter horse? 16
hands?
Fraser: As a
rule.
Jill: Mmm,
well you’ve got quite a few mementos here.
[she closely
examines his
legs] Left
leg’s been broken and reset. Mm, twice. Second one was
pretty nasty. Fell what, fifty, sixty feet?
Fraser:
[shakily]
Fifty-seven.
Jill: Off a
building?
Fraser: Off a
cliff.
Jill: Somebody
push you?
Fraser: I
jumped, actually.
Jill: Oh that
would do it. Oh, serious knife wound. Seven inch blade,
serrated edge. What was he hunting?
Fraser:
Me.
Jill: Hmm.
[pulls up blanket,
notices scar on
face] And
this is recent. A minor laceration. Small but deep. Glass
door?
Fraser:
Tempered.
Jill: Ouch.
And this is interesting.
[moves to scar on
chest]
It’s old. Maybe 20 years. There’s plenty of scar tissue so
it was deep. It’s an object, but it’s something soft, with
teeth and hair, maybe? This is gonna sound really silly,
but were you ever--
Fraser: It was
an otter, I was 10, it was dead, someone hit me with it,
can we move on?
Jill: Okay,
okay. You ever going to use this thing?
[unhooks handle
hanging above bed]
Fraser
: Thinking about it.
Jill: Keep
thinking, three months. Start using, a couple of weeks.
Turn over. [she
rolls him to the side again]
Fraser:
[flinches]
Hoh!
I’m sorry.
Jill: That’s
okay. Cold hands.
[she pulls the dressing off Fraser’s bullet wound; he grimaces]
Jill
: Another hunter?
Fraser: A
friend, actually. He was aiming for someone else.
Jill:
Who?
Fraser: A
woman. She had, um, committed a crime, and was attempting
to escape, he drew his weapon...
Jill: And you
just happened to step in between.
Fraser:
Yes.
Jill : Mm.
Fraser
: What?
Jill:
Nothing. You
just don’t strike me as the clumsy type.
[Fraser is looking out the window; she looks as well: aerobics class in progress]
Jill
: Nice pectoral muscles, don’t you think?
[their gaze moves
to woman in the
office; she
opens an envelope, which contain B+W 8x10s]
Jill: What is
it?
Fraser:
Photographs.
[the woman looks horrified; Jill & Fraser watch as the
woman pries off a ventilation
grate]
Jill: Well, it
is kind of mesmerizing.
[the woman burns the photos]
Jill
: Wow.
[rehab
gym]
Jill: Feeling
all right?
Fraser:
A-1
Jill:
Blackmail.
Fraser: Excuse
me?
Jill: Now,
grab the handle? Of course. What else could it be? Tell me
if this is painful. You’ll tell me?
Fraser:
Mm-hmm.
[Fraser lies on a
table, using a pulley system to exercise his
leg]
Jill
: You saw the photographs.
Fraser: Well, I
didn’t see what was in them.
Jill: You saw
how she reacted.
Fraser: Well,
perhaps it was a sad occasion.
Jill: That’s
what a person does when she sees sad pictures? Burns them?
So what else did you see?
Fraser:
When?
Jill: You’ve
been lying there staring in those windows for three weeks.
What else?
Fraser: I
guess my mind was elsewhere.
Jill:
Elsewhere?
Fraser : Mm.
Jill
: Like, you don’t want to talk about it. I get it. That’s
fine.
Fraser: No,
no, I think I’d pretty much--
Jill: That’s
okay, we can just keep this simple. You’re the patient.
I’m the physio. We don’t
talk. No
problem.
Fraser:
Okay.
Jill: Time’s
up.
Fraser:
Ow!
[Fraser uses walker to get to a set of practice
steps]
Jill: You’re
kidding!
Fraser: No,
I’m sure it’s nothing.
Jill: A
surgeon with a needle in her thigh, that is not nothing.
It’s drugs. And if it’s drugs that is professional
misconduct. Malpractice suits from every person she’s ever
treated.
Fraser: You
said there was a photocopy room next
door. Maybe
someone was making photocopies.
Jill: At two
in the morning?
Fraser: As for
the injection, she could be a diabetic or taking some
other kind of medicine.
Jill: She is a
junkie.
Fraser: I
think before we leap to conclusions, we should take a deep
breath and--
[he misses the
railing...]
[...and surfaces in
the hydotherapy pool; they
begin to walk along, slowly]
Fraser: You’re
being unreasonable.
Jill: I am
being perfectly
logical! What
we saw was a rich doctor, with a drug habit, who’s about
to be blackmailed.
Fraser: No,
what we saw was a woman opening an envelope and burning
the contents. We have no evidence an actual crime took
place.
Jill: Okay,
let’s get some. I have a friend in maintenance. He’s got
keys to all the offices.
Fraser: Miss
Kennedy, is it your custom to incite all your patients to
break and enter?
Jill: No. Do
you usually ignore a crime that has taken place right
under your nose?
Fraser: I am
not a police officer in this jurisdiction. And even if I
did have the authority to investigate, I’ve...I’ve taken a
leave of absence. Oh.
[Fraser flinches, obviously in
pain]
Jill: You
okay?
Fraser:
Mm-hmm.
Jill: Are you
sure?
Fraser:
Mm-hmm.
[she draws him into a floating position]
Jill: Threw in
the towel, huh?
Fraser: No. As
you can see, I just need some time to recuperate.
Jill: This?
Oh, this you’ll get over in no time. The other thing,
well... Maybe you’re right.
Fraser: What
do you mean?
Jill: You
know, the thing that we’re not talking about? Some guys
never recover from that. One good punch, and they’re
knocked out cold, and never recover.
Fraser: I have
no idea what you think you are talking about.
Jill: Of
course not.
[they begin to slowly climb out of the
pool]
Robert Fraser:
She’s a lovely girl.
Fraser: She’s
not a girl, she’s a therapist.
Jill: Excuse
me?
Robert Fraser:
Then one of us going blind.
[he’s in the pool,
in red serge & Stetson]
Fraser: It’s
nothing.
Jill: Still, I
suppose it is your choice.
Fraser: What
is?
Jill: Well,
you can ignore it if you want to, but she’s just not going
to go away, is she?
Robert Fraser:
By the way, son, could you see your way clear to thinking
of me in a pair of trunks?
Fraser: Do you
mind?
Jill: I mean,
every time you open your eyes, she’ll be right
there--
Fraser: All
right, that is enough. Thank you, Miss Kennedy.
Jill:
Jill.
Fraser:
Jill. You’re a very fine physical therapist,
and I have no doubt you’re a very fine, caring, and decent
person. And while I appreciate that, I would appreciate it
a whole lot more if you’d confine your comments and advice
to matters directly concerning my physical well being, and
left my personal life to me.
Jill: I was
talking about the doctor.
Fraser: Oh
well, that’s, um, that...is a completely different
thing.
Jill: It is
true, though.
Fraser: What
is?
Jill: I do
hate to see a good man go to waste.
Robert Fraser:
[floating now,
sings]
“Oh, Rosemary, I love you/ I’m always dreaming of you...”
[spits like a
fountain]
[Fraser’s hospital room; Fraser is opening a
present]
Fraser:
Ah!
Ray: It’s a
power saw.
Fraser: So it
is.
Ray: Top of
the line, guaranteed not to rust, with a lifetime
warranty.
Fraser: Hmmm.
What’s it for?
Ray: For your
dad’s cabin. I thought we’d go up there together and I’d
help you rebuild it.
Fraser: Oh.
Ray, you hated that cabin.
Ray: No, I
didn’t. I just
hated leaving it to go to the can, which brings me to
this. Pick one, my treat
[hands Fraser a
binder full of bathroom fixture brochures]
Fraser:
[flipping
pages] You
know, you really don’t have to do this.
Ray:
Ahhh trust me, I do. Okay, so
what, uh, I figured, we’d go up there maybe two, three
weeks. You get back your health and I kill maybe three,
four thousand mosquitoes. I’ll get
that.
[moves the TV out of the way & pulls down handle; Fraser grunts as he pulls himself onto the bed]
Ray
: You okay?
Fraser: Yeah.
[lies
back] Just
a little tired.
Ray: All
right, wait-wait-wait-wait.
[clears the presents off the bed and helps Fraser lift up his legs]
Ray
: You want me to go?
Fraser:
No.
[Vecchio sits down
in the wheelchair]
Ray
: Hey, this is pretty cool.
[rolls back &
forth a
bit] You
know, I think it’ll be good that we, uh, go up there for a
while... Try to put Victoria behind us... You know, it’ll
be like a do-over, you know, like a fresh start.
Right?
Fraser:
Right.
[memory: at Victoria’s hotel]
Victoria: I
had a really nice time.
Fraser: So did
I.
[she drops the snow globe, and it shatters...]
[Fraser’s hospital room]
Ray: It’ll be
great!
Fraser:
Yeah.
Ray: Hey,
where do you buy lumber up there?
Fraser: You
cut it.
Ray:
[laughs]
What, like from the forest?
Fraser:
Yeah.
Ray:
[chuckles]
You’re kidding me, right?
Fraser:
Nope.
Ray: Wow. You
know how to do that?
[Fraser swings his
arms like he’s chopping wood with an axe]
Fraser
: *clk,
clk*
Ray: Well. I
don’t have an axe.
Fraser: I have
an axe.
Ray: Well, I
don’t have to go buy you an axe. You got an axe for
me?
Fraser: Yeah.
I have two axes...Two.
[Fraser’s recovery
room; he’s picking at his hospital meal]
Jill: Hi.
Fraser:
Hi.
Jill: What’s
that?
Fraser: Oh,
well, tonight I believe they’re billing it at chicken
surprise.
Jill:
Oh.
Fraser: What
have you got?
Jill: Well, I
used to go to this place when I was a kid. They had the
best chili dogs in the city. I wasn’t quite sure what
you’d like so...
Fraser: All of
it. [Jill
laughs]
[Dief whines]
Fraser : You’d better give him something. He’ll just embarrass himself.
[she throws a wrapped package at Dief]
Fraser: You
really didn’t have to do this. I appreciate it, but I’m
sure you must have other plans.
Jill: You want
to know if I have a boyfriend? No, not at the
moment.
Fraser: Oh.
Pickle?
Jill: Ah, no,
thank you. I did a little digging. You can’t ignore this.
[dumps burnt paper
items onto Fraser’s
tray] The
contents of Dr. Carter’s garbage can. From my friend in
maintenance . Now technically, that’s not breaking and
entering. [Fraser
tastes a piece of
garbage]
Uh, you don’t know where that’s
been! Look at
this note.
Fraser:
[reading]
‘Office, tonight at 9pm.’ You know this
could mean--
Jill: Well,
wait five minutes and we’ll find out. A gift for you
[pulls out a pair of
binoculars]
Fraser: A card
would have been sufficient.
Jill: Not in
your case.
[she flicks off the lights and looks through binoculars to
the
office]
Fraser: This is
silly.
Jill: You had
plans?
Fraser: Well,
no--
Jill: Shh!
[the woman (Dr.
Carter) enters her office]
Fraser: Well,
she can’t hear us.
Jill:
Shh!
[the man enters the office]
Jill
: Oooohh! What’s this?
Fraser: It’s a
friend. I
think he’s a doctor.
Jill: No, an
intern. I’ve seen him on rounds.
[the couple embraces, but the phone interrupts them]
Jill : Right on time.
[Dr. Carter hands intern an envelope]
Jill : Bingo. I wonder how much?
Fraser : Oh now, we don’t actually know that there’s any money in there.
[intern checks the envelope]
Jill : You’re right. I was jumping to conclusions... She wants him to go in her place.
[Dr. Carter entreats intern to take a gun]
Jill
: He’s going to kill the blackmailer!
Fraser: No-no.
She gave it to him for protection. He would have checked
the chamber of he intended to use it.
[intern
leaves]
Jill: I do have
a cat.
Fraser: I bag
your pardon?
Jill: His
name’s Barney.
Fraser:
Oh.
Jill: She’s
gone!
[courtyard below; intern exits the building]
Jill : Look! At the fountains.
[intern meets a smoking man]
Jill : Now give him the envelope.
[intern points gun at man]
Jill
: He’s going to kill him.
Fraser:
No-no...
[intern laughs and puts the gun
down]
Jill: He’s in
on it.
[intern hands the man some papers (cash, it looks like); Dr. Carter sneaks into the courtyard, and sees the intern and man shake hands. Man walks away]
Jill
: Blackmail.
[Fraser’s recovery
room; day]
Ray:
Blackmail.
Fraser:
No.
Jill:
Yes.
Ray: Okay,
which is it?
Fraser:
Suspicion of blackmail.
Ray: You have
anything to back up your suspicions?
Fraser:
No.
Jill: Yes. Um,
photographs.
[spills the torn up, burnt photos onto the
tray]
Ray: Anything
else?
Fraser:
Strictly speaking? No.
Jill: Well,
there’s the photos, the drugs, the money. What more do you
want?
Ray: Something
physical. Something I can put in my hands, we call it
evidence? Okay... Benny?
Fraser:
[to
Jill] I’m
sorry, could you excuse us, just for...
[she cleans up the burnt photos & exits]
Fraser
: Thank you.
Ray: You want
to tell me what this is all about?
Fraser: I know
it seems odd, Ray--
Ray: Yeah,
odd, and she’s very pretty.
Fraser: Well,
I don’t see how that factors in--
Ray: Look,
what we have here is a series of coincidences, and a very
attractive nurse. She’s sympathetic--
Fraser: Ray, I
know it’s all circumstantial, but the fact--
Ray: Come on,
you’re a cop, you know how this works.
[Dr. Carter enters her office; Fraser looks through the binoculars]
Ray : That her?
[hands them to
Vecchio]
Fraser: Yeah.
She’s a doctor, he’s an intern, they’re lovers.
Ray:
So?
Fraser
: He’s betrayed her. She’s gonna kill him.
Ray: Benny,
not every woman with long, dark hair tries to kill her
lover.
Fraser:
Oh.
Ray: All
right. I’ll
ask some questions.
Fraser:
Thanks.
[walks toward the door as Jill comes back
in]
Ray: We’re
gonna ask some questions.
Jill: Oh hey,
you’ll want these.
[hands him the bag containing the burnt photos]
[hospital
corridor]
Dr. Carter:
Yes, I have a handgun, which I have a permit for.
Ray: And is
that permit current?
Dr. Carter:
Yes. Is there something wrong?
Ray: No, just
routine. Sometimes the computers spit out the wrong
registrations. One of the many potholes on the information
highway. May I see it?
Dr. Carter:
Yes. It’s here in my office.
[Fraser’s recovery
room]
Jill: He’s
in.
Fraser: Yes,
it would appear so.
Jill: Well,
this is very delicate. I hope he knows what he’s
doing.
Fraser: He’ll
manage.
[Dr. Carter hands Vecchio a
paper]
[Dr. Carter’s
office]
Ray: Great. May
I see the gun?
Dr. Carter:
Yes, of course. I work nights.
[she hands Vecchio the gun, and he checks it against the
permit]
Ray: Okay.
Thanks very much.
[hands her the
gun]
Dr. Carter: Is
there anything else?
Ray: You do
know how to use that, right? I mean, you take
lessons?
Dr. Carter: Of
course, why?
Ray: Well,
it’s always good to be prepared. And women tend to be easy
targets. We get a lot of reports of harassment and
assault, that sort of thing. You haven’t run into any
trouble like that, have you?
Dr. Carter:
No.
Ray: But if
you did, you wouldn’t hesitate to contact us, right?
Dr. Carter:
Oh, I’m sure I wouldn’t. Hesitate.
Ray: Good.
Well, that’s why we’re here.
[picks up a picture
from the
desk] Nice
family.
Dr. Carter:
This isn’t about my permit, is it?
Ray: No, it
isn’t, Doctor.
Dr. Carter:
Well?
Ray: We got a
report about an unusual occurrence in your office last
night. Something about photographs, you and a gentleman
arguing, a gun was displayed?
[Jill & Fraser watch intently as Dr. Carter closes her
blinds]
[Fraser’s recovery
room]
Ray: She’s a
diabetic.
Jill: And you
believed her?
Ray: No, I
believed her Medic Alert bracelet. So I ran it though the
DMV, and they confirmed it’s on her license.
Jill: What
about the drugs?
Ray: Insulin.
I checked the bottles
myself. She
lined ‘em up on her desk for me one at a time.
Jill: Well,
how can you be so sure that it was insulin?
Ray: That’s
what I said, so she gave me this for testing.
[pulls vial of insulin from his pocket & shows
her]
Jill: She must
have done something. She put hundreds of dollars in an
envelope, and he handed it to a complete stranger.
Ray: A
stranger. To who? Him, her, you?
Jill: That I
don’t know.
Ray: You got a
description of the guy?
Jill: Not too
tall, medium build.
Fraser: It was
dark.
Ray: So no
description.
Jill: She gave
him a gun to carry.
Ray: Not
according to Dr. Carter. It was in her desk. I
checked.
Fraser: Well,
she did give him a gun.
Ray: It was in
her desk.
Jill: What
about the pictures?
Ray: I was
getting to that. You’re right, they’re having an
affair.
Jill:
Who?
Ray: The
doctor and the intern. You want to stay with us? She’s
married and got a kid. A friend of hers took some pictures
at a convention last year where she and the intern were
getting a little too friendly, so she burned them.
Fraser: No
negatives?
Ray: She said
she could get ‘em for me if I needed them. I told her that
wouldn’t be necessary.
Jill: You knew
this?
Fraser: I saw
them.
Jill: Well, so
what? I mean, everybody has affairs these days. Why pay
blackmail when you can get away with an ‘I’m sorry’ and a
couple of extra therapy sessions? It’s got to be more than
that.
Ray: Look,
she’s got answers and you’ve got a bag full of ashes.
Either way, it’s your word against hers.
Jill: Oh, so
we’re just imagining things? Nothing we saw really
happened?
Ray: I didn’t
say that.
Jill:
[to
Fraser] Is
that what you think?
Fraser: I
think appearances can be deceiving.
Jill: I can’t
believe you’re going to let ‘em get away with this!
Fraser: He’s
right. We have no evidence.
Jill: A
pleasure to meet you.
[she exits, Dief follows]
Ray: I like
her. She puts
her cards on the table.
Fraser : Mm.
Ray
: Hey Benny. Victoria was not your fault. It could’ve
happened to anybody. You were blind-sided.
Fraser: I was
going with her, you know.
Ray: I
know.
[night; Fraser sits
on his bed, looking out the window; his Grandmother
appears in the reflection; she inspects him and nods,
smiling, then exits. Fraser smiles after her. He lies
back, and picks up a book, but doesn’t read it]
[meanwhile Jill enters Dr. Carter’s office with
Dief]
Jill: Okay.
Now, you stay here and guard the door.
[Fraser spots
Jill]
Fraser : That is the most contrary woman...
[he hops into his wheelchair & picks up the phone; she sees him...he holds up the receiver, but she shakes her head & begins to search the desk, knocking the phone off the hook]
Fraser : [into phone] Yes, internal extension for a Carter. C-A-R--
[Jill finds a locked drawer, gets a letter opener]
Fraser : Busy? No, I’m sorry. I don’t think that’s quite-–
[Jill pops the lock...Dr. Carter’s gun is gone; she smugly holds up the empty strongbox. Fraser holds up his phone receiver again, again she ignores him. She reaches further into the drawer, and finds a vial (insulin)]
[Fraser’s phone rings]
Fraser
: Hello?
Ray:
Fraser.
Fraser:
Ray.
Ray: It’s the
damnedest thing. I’m on my way home, and this call comes
over the radio, robbery, homicide. The dead guy’s in a
photographer’s loft. So I figured what are the odds?
Fraser:
And?
Ray: Ramirez,
David. Photographer. Not too tall, medium build.
Fraser: Jill
Kennedy is in Dr. Carter’s office.
Ray: I’m on my
way.
[holds phone receiver up once more, and Jill finds the
phone off the hook; it
rings]
Fraser: Get out
of there now!
Jill:
What?
Fraser: She
killed the photographer.
[quickly she puts the strongbox and insulin back into the
drawer; Dief sniffs around another cabinet, and growls.
Jill finds a stash of vials (morphine); quickly she &
Dief hide in closet just as the intern
arrives]
Intern: Your
phone’s been bus--
[realizes she’s not
there]
[checks the phone,
then goes to leave, but Dr. Carter enters]
Intern: Your
phone was busy, so I came up to--
Dr.
Carter
: Looking for these?
[holds up
negatives]
Or were you hoping to take a few more?
Intern: I’ll
talk to you later.
Dr. Carter: I
don’t think so!
[points her gun at
him]
[Fraser’s
room]
Fraser:
[into
phone]
Security? Yes, there’s a person in 104 with a gun...Yes, I
am a patient here...No, I am not medicated. I’m-- No,
I’m-- [hangs
up]
[Carter’s
office]
Dr. Carter:
Why didn’t you just ask me for the money?
Intern: Would
you have given it?
Dr. Carter: In
a heartbeat. I loved you.
Intern: I-I-I
couldn’t.
Dr. Carter:
What, you were to ashamed to let an older woman pay you
for sex? I am so stupid. I actually thought that you cared
for me.
[Fraser wheels quickly through a
corridor...]
Intern: I-I-I
do.
Dr. Carter:
Don’t lie to me!
[Fraser careens
around a corner and crashes into a janitorial cart,
falling out of his wheelchair; he pulls himself back
up...]
Dr. Carter:
Did you ever love me or did you plan the whole thing from
the start? The pictures? Or did you just roll over
suddenly one morning and see me lying beside you, and just
decide that you didn’t love me anymore. Is that it? That’s
the way you decide things when you’re twenty-five, isn’t
it? Or maybe it was Ramirez who talked you into it,
right?
Intern: Yes, I
owed him--
Dr. Carter:
Oh, the lies just roll off those beautiful lips!
[Fraser wheeling
again, and now he’s bleeding from a gash in his forehead;
he enters the stairwell & looks up...]
Dr. Carter: I
followed you. I wish I hadn’t. I don’t know-I don’t know
why. I keep asking myself why. I just--
[Fraser pulls himself up the stairs with great difficulty...]
Dr.
Carter
: You gave me such hope. The way you touched me...
Intern: It can
be like that again.
[they
embrace]
Dr. Carter: You
made me feel like a woman. It was so perfect. How dare
you. [gun
cocks] How
dare you!
[Jill screams; Dr.
Carter opens the door to find them]
Dr. Carter:
You get out!
[Dief barks &
lunges; the gun goes off into the air... Jill & intern
run, Dr. Carter runs after them, slamming the door, with
Dief inside... Fraser makes it onto the floor... Dr.
Carter fires the gun, hitting the wall. The intern stops,
and faces her...Jill ducks behind the nurse’s
station...Fraser appears behind the intern]
Fraser:
Dr. Carter. The police are coming, put down the gun.
Dr. Carter:
No. Don’t come any closer!
Fraser:
Perhaps we could talk.
[he hobbles a few
steps]
Intern: She’s
trying to kill me! She’s trying to kill me!
Fraser: I can
see that. You hurt her. I understand that.
Dr. Carter:
You don’t understand anything!
Fraser: I
understand that sometimes you can love someone so much you
are willing to do almost anything for them. The power of
that kind of love can be very frightening.
Dr. Carter: I
don’t care.
Fraser: Oh, I
think you do care. I think you care so deeply, that when
he betrayed you, you tried to do the only thing that made
sense. You tried to destroy yourself. Don’t let him do
this to you.
[Vecchio and uniforms are sneaking up on her from the
side]
Dr. Carter:
Who’s that?
[Gardino & Huey
arrive behind Dr. Carter]
Gardino: Drop
the gun, ma’am!
[slow-motion:
Fraser takes a step in front of the intern... Dr. Carter
squeezes the trigger... Vecchio leaps in front of Fraser
& intern just as Dr. Carter fires, who is shot herself
by Huey... Vecchio and Fraser fall, and Fraser realizes
that Vecchio has been shot in the back. He turns him
gently over...]
[Vecchio is taken
away on a stretcher... Dr. Carter is lead away by Huey
& Gardino, a nurse joins them... Jill helps Fraser
down the corridor]
[Fraser’s room;
Vecchio’s left arm is in a sling. Fraser, in a wheelchair,
is pushing Vecchio in another wheelchair over to the
window.]
Ray: All
right. Stop jerking it! Be careful. Okay, okay,
okay.
[Fraser wheels over & sits beside
Vecchio]
Fraser: Does it
hurt?
Ray: Of course
it hurts.
Fraser:
Thanks.
Ray: For what,
getting shot?
Fraser:
Yeah.
Ray:
[mutters]
Yeah, I figured you’d like that.
Fraser: Well,
I’m not proud about that, but I’ll admit I did get a
certain perverse pleasure out of it.
Ray: Aha, you
see? You were
mad at me!
Fraser: Well,
you shot me in the back!
Ray: Well,
that was an accident!
Fraser: Well,
I know. So was yours. I mean, it was an accident, wasn’t
it?
Ray: Yeah, of
course it was.
Fraser: Well,
there you go. Enough said. Even Steven.
Ray:
Even Steven?
Just give me those binoculars, will you? Even Steven.
Nobody says ‘Even Steven’ anymore.
Fraser:
Really?
Ray:
Yes.
Fraser:
Why?
Ray: It’s
juvenile.
Fraser: Oh
dear.
[Fade to
black]
Ray: Is there
something going on in that window over
there?
End