THE JACKET
Written by
Massy Tadjedin
Based on a screenplay by
Marc Rocco
April 15, 2003
A pure white screen. Idyllic stillness. All of it looking and
feeling like the heavens are supposed to.
After some seconds of calm, water seems to mist the screen
and the slight shifts to the left and then the right suggest
this is a man's P.O.V. Then, suddenly, the white screen is
tugged and we see it was a sheet covering a presumably dead
man.
WILLIAM STARKS (V.O.)
I was 25 years old the first time I
died...
INT. HOSPITAL, KUWAIT, DAY
One more tug on the sheet and we see, and suddenly hear, from
William Starks' P.O.V. the CHAOS of the hospital around him
as DOCTORS and NURSES tend as best as they can to the injured
soldiers.
Our glimpse of STARKS reveals a red stretcher -- soaked in blood --
and the severe head wound where a bullet's minced his skull.
Then, slowly, steadily, a heartbeat is heard over the muffled
sounds of the hospital and, as his pulse quickens, so does
the pace of the world around him.
INT. HOSPITAL, KUWAIT, DAY
WILLIAM STARKS (V.O.)
I remember there was so much white
everywhere. And I felt peace...even
though there was war around me. And I
felt alive, even though I knew I was
dead.
INTERN #1
Come on, come on, let's tag these
guys and get them out of here.
An INTERN, clipboard in hand, stands above STARKS' unmoving
body with another INTERN (2) beside him. INTERN 1 pulls
the rest of the SHEET off of STARKS as the OTHER searches for
his DOG TAGS and gently closes his EYES with her hand.
INTERN #2 [Reading from the TAGS]
Starks, William. Born December 25,
1966.
INTERN #1
Wait, so how old?
INTERN #2
25.
INTERN #1
[Searching through records] Here he
is. William Starks. Born in Vermont.
He hasn't got a family listed. The
naval hospital'll figure out what to
do with him.
As the INTERN puts the TAGS back down, she meets STARKS' wide-
open EYES -- now filled with surfacing tears, sadness, and life.
She stares at them curiously and, after some seconds, STARKS
blinks and a TEAR runs down his cheek -- jarring her.
INTERN #2 [Calling out]
Oh my God! This soldier is ALIVE!
Code blue! CODE BLUE! This man just
blinked!
INTERN #1
He's been tagged already. Worry about
the others... [then seeing STARKS
blink] Oh shit! Shit! CODE BLUE! We
need a doctor! Get a doctor over here
now!
As the MEDICAL STAFF rush over to STARKS, preparing NEEDLES
and OXYGEN MASKS, STARKS merely closes his eyes and we follow
the now BLOODIED white sheet as it falls to the ground...
EXT. IRAQI VILLAGE, DAY
A NEWSANCHOR interviews CAPTAIN ROBERT MEDLEY (30s) -- a
particularly photogenic and affable participant.
CAPTAIN MEDLEY
The level of arms on the ground
really depends. [Answering a
question] But no, I'd have to say we
haven't had to engage on the ground
as heavily as we might have expected.
NEWSANCHOR
Have you lost any men today, Captain?
CAPTAIN MEDLEY
No. One of my Corporals took a bullet
to the head, but it looks like he
might make it. Looks that way...
FLASHBACK TO:
EXT. IRAQI VILLAGE, DAY
We see only the HAND, and not the man to whom it belongs,
enter the frame and pull the TRIGGER on a gun. The sound
pierces the air, and the bullet hits the side of STARKS' head
in a FLASH, shaving the skin around it right off.
EXT. AMERICAN NAVAL HOSPITAL, DAY
STARKS convalesces in a navy hospital bed -- his head heavily
BANDAGED and his arms suited with I.V.'s and dressings -- as a
MAJOR, a LIEUTENANT and a DOCTOR stand above him.
STARKS' face -- now cleaned of the blood that masked it before --
is alert, and striking. Even with the bandages, he remains
well-built and strong, like a shot straight to the head would
have been the only way for an enemy to take him down.
DOCTOR
Sergeant Starks was very lucky. A
little more to the right and it
wouldn't have wanted to come out...
MAJOR
But he's never gonna be able to
remember what happened?
DOCTOR
It's hard to say. Sergeant Starks
could have retrograde amnesia
or... [lowering his voice] any form of
psychological suppression. It's very
common with traumas like this.
STARKS [Cutting him off]
Sergeant Starks is in the room,
[beat] and I want to know when I'm
going home.
When he speaks, STARKS maintains the sharp, steady gaze of a
man assured of himself, even if he is lost among his
surroundings.
LIEUTENANT
Sergeant, you have no surviving
family in the States. I'm sure you
have friends or distant relatives,
but unfortunately we have no record
of them yet.
MAJOR
Captain Medley has recommended you
for the Purple Heart, Sergeant.
STARKS lets the tribute roll right off him. He spots the
CIGARETTES in the Lieutenant's pocket.
STARKS
Can I have one of those?
LIEUTENANT
Of course.
The LIEUTENANT lights one for him.
DOCTOR
There is help for you, Sergeant.
LIEUTENANT
Of course there is.
Their VOICES start to fade as STARKS smokes his cigarette,
blowing the SMOKE upwards and following it with his eyes.
He's finished with these men and everything they stand for.
STARKS [V.O.]
I didn't know where my home was. I
just knew I didn't want to be there
anymore.
EXT. HIGHWAY, RURAL VERMONT, WINTER, DAY
STARKS -- recovered now -- walks by himself along a long
highway. He seems to be walking away from things even if he
can't remember what they are yet.
EXT. HIGHWAY, RURAL VERMONT, WINTER, DAY
JEAN PRICE (30s) -- a hippie who happens to be a mother -- and
her daughter, JACKIE (8) tremble in the cold next to their
stalled car. JEAN sits next to the car, holding her knees to
her chest, more like a child than her daughter.
JACKIE runs her little gloved hand over her mom's ski-hatted
head as she cautiously watches STARKS approach them. He cuts
an arresting figure against the empty landscape.
JACKIE
Come on, mom. Don't fall asleep...
STARKS
You two ok?
JACKIE
Our car won't start.
STARKS [Looking at JEAN]
What's your mom's name?
JACKIE [Cautiously]
Jean.
STARKS takes off his backpack and kneels down.
STARKS
Jean? Jean, can you hear me? I need
you to try to wake up, Jean.
JEAN opens her eyes, stone red.
STARKS
Your mom take anything before this
happened?
JACKIE
Yeah, but I don't know what.
STARKS
[Beat] What's your name?
JACKIE
Jackie.
JACKIE decidedly sticks out her gloved hand. STARKS smiles
and briefly shakes it. STARKS rubs a hand over his chin and
cheek as he thinks of what to do.
STARKS
Nice to meet you, Jackie. Why don't
you wrap this scarf around yourself
and try to keep your mom awake while
I take a look at your car.
EXT. HIGHWAY, RURAL VERMONT, WINTER, DAY
As Starks works on their engine, JACKIE anxiously watches her
mother throw up in the distance. STARKS sees her watching and
tries to distract her.
STARKS
What do you think of all this snow?
JACKIE looks at him curiously.
JACKIE
[Beat] Nothing.
STARKS looks at her and smiles at her honest answer; Jackie
turns her head back towards her mother.
JACKIE
But I like it I guess.
STARKS
Hey, can you reach the gas pedal?
JACKIE
Yeah.
JACKIE gets behind the wheel, crouching down in the seat just
enough so her foot reaches the pedal.
STARKS
Go ahead, turn it on. Keep pushing
it.
JACKIE revs up the engine and, a few coughs and sputters
later, the car settles into a nice, working hum.
JACKIE [Smiling]
It works!
JACKIE steps down. She looks like she could hug Starks and,
unexpectedly, decides to. As STARKS awkwardly returns it, he
sees JEAN lifting her eyes to see him holding her daughter.
JEAN
Get your fucking hands off my
daughter!
JACKIE
Mom, he just fixed our car.
JEAN
Jackie, get in the car. NOW!
JEAN reaches for a RIFLE in the back of the truck but
stumbles from the nausea before she can pick it up.
JEAN
Look, I don't want any trouble, so...
STARKS
Neither do I, ma'am. I'll be on my
way.
JACKIE
Mom, you've got it wrong...
STARKS motions for JACKIE to stop as he collects his bags.
JACKIE
You're just gonna walk?
STARKS
Yeah, I'll hitch a ride or something.
[Beat] Let her throw it all up before
she gets back behind the wheel.
STARKS' DOG TAGS are tied to the ZIPPER of one of his bags.
JACKIE
What're those?
STARKS
Dog tags. [Off her blank look]
They've got your name and date of
birth for identification.
JACKIE
What for?
STARKS
[Beat] In case you get lost, or can't
remember who you are.
JACKIE [Still looking at them]
Hm.
STARKS unties them and gives them to her. She reads them.
STARKS
I think I can remember what's on
them.
JACKIE
William Starks. [Beat] Thanks.
CUT TO:
INT. COURTROOM, SMALL TOWN VERMONT
STARKS faces the screen with nothing but a cryptic BLACKNESS
about him and a confused look on his face as a MENACING VOICE
questions him.
VOICE (O.S.)
"Jackie" and "Jean" are the only
...things you know for certain about
that day?
STARKS nods.
VOICE (O.S.)
Are you aware we have no last name,
no place of residence, and no record
of any physical presence for these
"friends" of yours? How's that
possible in this day and age?
STARKS nods as a muffled "Objection" flickers away in the
background...
VOICE (O.S.)
I may need to actually hear that
answer, Mr. Starks.
STARKS
[Beat] Yes.
With Starks' answer, the background of the courtroom is
suddenly illuminated and we see that THIS IS STARKS' OWN
TRIAL. The VOICE belongs to a satisfied PROSECUTION who turns
to face a medium-sized CROWD watching on...
INT. COURTROOM, SMALL TOWN VERMONT
There are three KEY WITNESSES called to the stand: CAPTAIN
MEDLEY, Starks' commanding officer in the Persian Gulf; DR.
HALE, a psychiatrist; and OFFICER NASH, the cop who first
came upon the crime scene. Their three testimonies are
intercut to present the case against Starks quickly and
confusingly -- just like it appears to himself.
OFFICER NASH [Emotional]
Eddie [correcting himself], Officer
Harrison, was lying in a pool of his
own blood -- on his back.
DR. HALE
William Starks could be blocking the
incident. It would explain his well-
systematized scheme about the little
girl and her mother. A delusion as
complex as that can often replace the
reality of an incident like this.
OFFICER NASH [Cont'd]
Officer Harrison'd been shot three
times. He was long dead by the time
we got there.
DR. HALE
I have heard of Gulf War Syndrome.
The medical community is only
beginning to gather information about
it.
PROSECUTION
Gulf War Syndrome? What the...Why
don't we start diagnosing Hard Life
Syndrome while we're at it? I've
gotten a lot of convictions we could
overturn with that logic...
CAPTAIN MEDLEY
Sergeant Starks was awarded the
Purple Heart. That award doesn't
applaud violence or murder. [Beat] It
applauds honor.
DR. HALE [Cont'd]
His subconscious is blocking it, the
same way it began to in the Gulf,
particularly as something similarly
traumatizing happened to him then.
The following summations are punctuated by the BLACK FADES
between them and the simulated BLACK around them as they
speak -- like STARKS, at the beginning of his own testimony.
PROSECUTION [Disdainfully]
It's not a question of whether or not
he was sane when he did it?! He
absolutely was. Three bullets in one
man are three moral failings in
another.
CAPTAIN MEDLEY [Incensed]
War isn't a CNN Special. Half the
shit that went on couldn't be tidied
into a top of the hour headline --
either 'cause it couldn't be said
neatly or 'cause it couldn't be said
at all. It was ugly. And they don't
put ugly on TV. [Looking at Starks]
If Starks did kill that officer
... [Beat] You can't hold a man
responsible for a damaged mind.
DEFENSE
For God's sake, my client said he
thinks he's already died once. He
doesn't know what's going on.
FLASHBACK TO:
EXT. MURDER SCENE, HIGHWAY, VERMONT, DUSK
STARKS lies bleeding -- eyes half open -- by OFFICER HARRISON'S
dead, bloodied body as falling SNOW slowly whitens them both
and covers any FOOTPRINTS that may have been left behind. We
hear a distant gavel delivering a distant judgment...
STARKS [V.O., nearly whispered]
I don't know how it happened.
STARKS' eyes finally close as he lapses into unconsciousness.
INT. COURTROOM, SMALL TOWN VERMONT
The JUDGE nods as he hands the JURY FOREMAN back the verdict.
JURY FOREMAN
On the count of first degree murder,
we find the defendant, William
Starks, not guilty by reason of
insanity.
EXT. HIGHWAY, RURAL VERMONT, WINTER, DAY
In his mind, STARKS is walking out of the woods as the sun
sets and bounces off the snow all around him. We see JACKIE
watching him walk away into the woods.
JUDGE (O.S.)
I hereby sentence you to be committed
to a facility for the criminally
insane, where I hope that doctors and
the proper treatment can help you...
INT. COURTROOM, SMALL TOWN VERMONT
The JUDGE sentences STARKS, who stares back vacantly, like a
man who checked out of his life long before this judge
decided he had to.
EXT. ALPINE GROVE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, DAY
A white VAN pulls up to Alpine Grove Psychiatric Hospital -- a
bleak, dated facility embellished only by the barbed wire
that seems to be everywhere around it.
STARKS' anatomy instantly and intensely separates him from
the staff of the hospital and the infirm patients who might
be in it. TWO MEMBERS of that STAFF lead him in.
JUDGE [O.S.]
Mr. Starks, I hope that someday you
might be well so that we will have
lost only one life in this tragedy.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM, ALPINE GROVE MENTAL HOSPITAL
DR. THOMAS BECKER (overworked, dogmatic, disenchanted), DR.
BETH LORENSON (30s, unassuming, perceptive), and DR. GRIES
(20s, green) are convened with other STAFF at a routine
hospital meeting. These doctors deal in the currency of
madness every day and wear the heaviness of that burden on
their faces.
CHIEF OF STAFF
I'd certainly say he should be
considered violent, just given his
case...
DR. BECKER
How'd he dodge a conviction?
CHIEF OF STAFF
His defense argued post-traumatic
stress and delusional disorder. He
evidently couldn't account for a
similar incident during his service
in Desert Storm.
DR. BECKER
[Beat] So why isn't he just in the
psych ward of the county jail?
CHIEF OF STAFF
Apparently, he's a decorated vet. And
had another one testify for him. Who
knows? [To DR. BECKER] Tom, do you
mind taking him?
BECKER shrugs a nod as the Chief moves on to the next order
of business...
INT. STARKS' ROOM, WARD, ALPINE GROVE, DAY
STARKS is shown to his room by NURSE HARDING -- stern, senior --
and her henchman, DAMON -- a BURLY ORDERLY who relishes his
command, however diluted it may be.
DAMON unceremoniously puts Starks' UNIFORM on the bed. He and
NURSE HARDING wait at the door for Starks to change into it.
DAMON looks at STARKS -- his eyes inadvertently conceding that
Starks is more threatening than the common senile he
marshals; STARKS stares him back -- deliberately conceding
that he's right.
STARKS turns around -- only then looking stunned in the
sterile, cotton-white room, wondering where his life
disappeared to.
INT. DR. BECKER'S OFFICE, ALPINE GROVE, DAY
STARKS sits opposite DR. BECKER in a harsh, tiled office.
STARKS wears his blue uniform and BECKER wears a doubtful
expression. From STARKS' P.O.V.: the DRUGS they've already
started giving him BLUR his vision of Becker.
BECKER
William? William, can you hear me?
STARKS nods groggily.
BECKER
I've given you some drugs to help
with your adjustment...
STARKS [Cutting him off]
What kind of drugs? [Beat] 'Cause
these seem pretty...pretty serious.
BECKER
Well, your condition's pretty
serious.
STARKS
[Beat] So they say. [Off Becker's
steady gaze] What?
BECKER
I'm just looking at you. Does that
make you uncomfortable?
STARKS
Depends on what you're seeing.
BECKER eyes STARKS mistrustfully.
BECKER
You said you couldn't remember
killing Officer Harrison. Correct?
STARKS
[Beat] You don't believe me, do you?
BECKER
It's not my job to believe you.
STARKS [Squinting to better see]
You're a doctor. I would think...
BECKER [Cutting him off firmly]
It's not my job to believe you or to
understand you. It's my job to try to
cure you and if that's a no-go, then
to...take some kind of care of you.
STARKS [Flatly]
Lucky me.
BECKER looks at Starks -- his eyes casting shame upon the
alleged murderer that sits before him.
BECKER [Stupefied]
You shot a man three times: first in
his heart, then in his stomach and
then...point blank, in the back of
his head. And then you just...forgot
all about it. A whole life erased
with three easy little words: I.
Don't. Know. What would it be if we
could all not know what we didn't
want to have to face.
BECKER glances at his WATCH and gets up -- still blurred in
Starks' P.O.V. It's only as he's walking off that Starks
notices he has a limp.
FADE TO:
INT. HALLWAY, ALPINE GROVE, DAY
From STARKS' P.O.V., we follow him walk down the hospital
halls, even hazier from the medication than before. FORMS
blur into one another and, on either side of him is a crazy
world with crazy patients who've lost their way in it.
STARKS reaches for the WALL and runs his HAND over it, trying
to keep his balance. He's walking towards BECKER who stands
at the end of the hall, talking to other PATIENTS.
STARKS [Softly]
I don't belong here. I don't...
STARKS falters but stays up. He turns to see a shell of an
OLD MAN looking right through him with wooden eyes. STARKS'
eyes stay so completely fixed on the old man's haunting sight
that he doesn't see what's ahead of him.
He bumps right into a HYSTERICAL PATIENT whose sudden,
earsplitting SCREAMS peal interminably through the air.
STARKS [Mumbling]
I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I'm
sorry. I didn't mean it.
STARKS' fumbled efforts to help the PATIENT only feed his
hysteria more. The SCREAMING is intolerable.
STARKS [Forced to yell]
Will you listen to me? I'm not going
to hurt you. Please. I didn't mean
to bump...I'm sorry.
ORDERLIES and NURSES, followed by DR. BECKER, surround them
now, violently pulling STARKS off the patient. BECKER,
familiar with the PATIENT (HAROLD), tries to calm him.
BECKER
It's ok, Harold. It's ok.
STARKS searches their blurred faces and stops on Becker's as
they restrain him and give him more drugs.
STARKS [To Becker]
I don't belong here...
BECKER [Angrily, to the ORDERLIES]
Get him to his room.
FADE TO BLACK.
INT. STARKS' ROOM, ALPINE GROVE, LATE NIGHT
STARKS is slowly rebounding from the drugs when he hears
disquieting FOOTSTEPS in the hall, coming closer and
closer...
What follows happens too quickly for STARKS to react.
DR. GRIES, NURSE HARDING AND DAMON -- enter Starks' room.
They close the door and deftly administer a TRANQUILIZER and
a GAG.
STARKS has no idea what's happening to him as they drag him
out, and his STIFLED CRIES ensure no one else does either.
NURSE HARDING
Come on, army boy. Time for some
therapy.
INT. MORGUE, BASEMENT, ALPINE GROVE, LATE NIGHT
The first face STARKS sees as the world comes into focus is
NURSE HARDING'S. Around it loom those of DR. BECKER, DR.
GRIES and DAMON.
A shot of the room shows a constraint-ridden apparatus
hanging sternly on the wall. It is THE JACKET: an apparatus
designed to encase a man's body. Made of coarse, sickly-
stained red ands brown canvas and velcro restraints that would
first chafe, then forever burn, the skin they're wrapped
around, the JACKET looks medieval. Its appearance suggests
its purpose: to slowly STRANGLE THE LIFE OUT OF A MAN.
STARKS has been stripped of his blue uniform and is lying
nearly naked on a burial slab in the cold of the basement.
Even under the tranquilizers, STARKS formidably resists them
as the ORDERLIES wrestle to strap him in. Then Starks,
sensing as anyone would, that something bad is being done to
him, wisely stops resisting long enough to petition them.
STARKS
Wait. Wait a minute... Please.
BECKER motions for them to stop with his hand. STARKS blinks,
trying to bring the faces above him into focus...
STARKS
I, I don't belong here.
BECKER looks into Starks' eyes. Sanity stares back.
BECKER
No. I don't think you do either.
[Beat] But neither of us can do
anything about that.
BECKER barely nods and STARKS is trussed in the JACKET with
METAL CLAMPS. BECKER writes some details down, presumably
about Starks' treatment.
A CADAVER DRAWER -- just barely deep enough for a body or tall
enough for the height of a nose -- is slid open and STARKS,
already dreadfully sheathed in the JACKET, is crammed inside.
The ORDERLIES slam the cadaver drawer into the wall.
INT. CADAVER DRAWER
STARKS is literally entombed alive. Silence. Stolen breath.
They bolt the drawer and the CLANG echoes through his body.
The BLACKNESS and CLOSENESS of the space choke him as his
heart beats the frantic rhythm of his struggle.
We see only the WHITES of a pair of petrified EYES on a man
who's losing it -- hyperventilating, suffocating... for all
intents and purposes, dying the worst kind of a death.
Combing the walls for any sign of an explanation of what's
happening to him, STARKS sees a single white DOT -- almost
like a fleck of dust -- flitting between undecided SHAPES in
the blackness until, slowly, it grows bigger and bigger...
INT. JACKET/TUNNEL PASSAGE
It's now a PATTERN of WHITE DOTS that changes the more STARKS
stares at it. Beneath it seems to be a smaller pattern with
formless shapes and figures that STARKS tries to discern
before they change into something else. Only after STARKS
blinks does he start to see the WHITE of the DOTS is SNOW
from a picture that is slowly and terribly coming together in
the following glimpses, each hardly longer than the time
between BLINKS.
1) A little river of RED marring the snow around it,
spilling from...
2) OFFICER HARRISON'S mouth just seconds before his last
breath. His eyes close and STARKS sees and hears a FLASH...
3) From the barrel of a GUN fired near him.
BLOOD sprays STARKS' hands as he looks down at them and
realizes he's in the scene and not just watching it. He looks
up from his hands and sees in similar flashes...
1) The snow beneath the BLOOD changing to DIRT as STARKS
stares at it. This time, the little river of RED comes
from...
2) The BODIES of IRAQI villagers, all still except one...
3) That of a IRAQI WOMAN. She unflinchingly lays her
hand in the entrails of a CORPSE and smears its
blood on her face just before she lies back down among
the dead, content to be one of them.
The only SOUNDS during these dreadful images have been a
trapped man's anxious BREATHS and the BEATS of a HEART
pumping so fast it could be a drum...
The screen goes BLACK and QUIVERS as STARKS clenches his eyes
shut.
INT. CADAVER DRAWER
Just then, as the MUSCLE beneath his eyes starts to VIBRATE,
something terrible and wet falls from the ceiling of the
drawer. PING! Right on his eye. The drop of WATER is enough
to send this man right over the edge.
STARKS' EYES roll back into his head and start to flutter,
shaking the SCREEN right along them until...
INT. MORGUE, BASEMENT, ALPINE GROVE
STARKS stands outside his body, looking at the wall of
drawers he is in. He bends down to look more closely at a
STAIN on the floor -- DRIED BLOOD -- and as he runs his HAND over
it and stands back up, he is back in the...
INT. JACKET/TUNNEL PASSAGE
IMAGES RACE PAST HIM too fast for him to catch anything but
fleeting clips of them. The IMAGES are his MEMORY and, no
matter how badly he wants to slow them down, he can't...
FADE TO BLACK.
INT. DINER, SMALL TOWN VERMONT
STARKS sees JACKIE, 8, sitting by a window in the diner. She
turns her head towards the ENTRANCE and, as she looks there,
so does Starks. That is when he first lays eyes on a woman, a
WAITRESS -- worn but still lovely -- leaving the diner. He is
taken with her and, for the first time since he's been in the
Jacket, seems calm. Just then, however, the reverie is
shattered...
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. MORGUE, BASEMENT, ALPINE GROVE, LATE NIGHT
The drawer is yanked open to reveal STARKS' still, drenched
face. BECKER, GRIES and the ORDERLIES stand above him.
BECKER
Take him out of it.
The ORDERLIES unstrap the JACKET from his body. Blood from
his chafed skin drips onto the burial slab. STARKS' eyes
remain closed.
BECKER
William. William, can you hear me?
We hear BECKER's voice as it sounds to STARKS...MUTED.
STARKS' EYES open only enough for him to see the PEOPLE'S
FACES morph chillingly into one another's.
DR. GRIES [Less muffled]
Pulse is 16, temp, just a hair under
90. 'Bout right for three hours of
psychosis.
NURSE HARDING
That's not enough, is it?
BECKER looks at STARKS' battered body.
BECKER [Wearily, indifferently]
It's enough for now. Take him to the
infirmary and let him recover there.
INT. WARD, ALPINE GROVE, NEXT MORNING
STARKS sits, totally disoriented, in the ward with the other,
more vocally INSANE patients. He runs his hand uncertainly
over the SCARS on his arm from the Jacket and looks around --
not knowing where his PARANOIA ends and REALITY begins.
The OLD MAN from the previous day is moving slowly with the
aid of his walker. He is far less threatening to STARKS
today...just a senile man about to walk into a wall.
STARKS [Getting up to help him]
Let's get you a destination other
than this wall.
RUDY MACKENZIE -- 40s, smart eyes, fidgety, with an innocent
face -- watches STARKS help turn the OLD MAN around.
MACKENZIE
That's Kingsley. Old bastard hears
us, I'm sure. He just doesn't want to
bother answering so he makes us think
he can't talk. I know. I tried it on
my mother for two months once before
she fished out my tongue. Literally.
[Beat] You're the cop killer, right?
STARKS
Yeah, guess so. How'd you know?
MACKENZIE
TV. Helps numb [makes a "crazy
gesture"] any active mind. [Sticking
out a jittery hand] Rudy MacKenzie.
(MORE)
MACKENZIE (cont'd)
Welcome to the village, William
Starks.
STARKS doesn't offer his hand, just looks back at MacKenzie.
STARKS [Looking away]
I'm not really in the mood to talk.
MACKENZIE
That's too bad. I don't believe in
disposable language either -- you
know, the small talk, the little
talk. Chit. Chat. Useless. The game's
something else though. Think about
it: What can we trade with each other
in the air between us? This...
[running his hand through the air] is
our court. [Beat, so eager it's sad]
I'm ready to throw the ball. Come on.
STARKS looks at MACKENZIE and sees that the constant flow of
words from his mouth only masks the tragic hesitation in his
eyes. A dead arm hangs limply by his side, like a weight.
STARKS [Relenting]
What are you in here for?
MACKENZIE
I tried to kill my wife.
STARKS
Don't you go to jail for that?
MACKENZIE
I tried something like 30 times.
There is, as STARKS rightly figures, no suitable response to
that.
MACKENZIE
She's bigger than me, and she's
stronger than me. And I never planned
on doing it. It was always in the
heat of the moment. I didn't beat her
or anything. Hell, she beat me. But
when we'd start fighting, I'd go for
the knife. Then she kept threatening
to have me put away, and [looking
around] she finally did.
As he talks, MACKENZIE notes the SCARS on Starks' arms. Dr.
LORENSON observes STARKS and MACKENZIE talking and starts
walking towards them.
STARKS
Yeah, well 30 times probably would
make you seem crazy.
MACKENZIE
Or just plain stupid. You'd think by
the twentieth time, I'd have found an
alternative method. Maybe a more
effective one, if you know what I
mean.
DR. LORENSON
Morning, gentlemen. How are you doing
today?
MACKENZIE winks discreetly at STARKS before he replies.
MACKENZIE
It's a hard one for me, Dr. Lorenson.
[Finally turns to face her, grimly]
The world around me, it's shrinking.
There's not even room for light to
make its way in. [Beat] Da-da-bum! Da-
da-bum! I feel like the horseman of
doom is coming for me, Doc. Only
today, he's not carrying flowers.
LORENSON reprimands MacKenzie by turning to Starks.
MACKENZIE
What? It's better than fine.
DR. LORENSON
And you, Mr. Starks?
STARKS [Already on the defense]
I'm fine.
DR. STARKS
Mr. MacKenzie, do you think I could
talk to Mr. Starks privately?
MACKENZIE
Of course you can, Doc. William, it
was an absolute pleasure. Thanks for
playing.
Just before he walks away, MACKENZIE turns around nervously
and uncharacteristically looks STARKS right in the eye.
MACKENZIE
Hey...when they talk you out to the
woods tonight and invite the wolves,
dance with them. [Beat] They don't
eat you when there's music playing.
STARKS looks at MacKenzie briskly, wondering if his words
were directed or just the meandering of a nut. But MacKenzie
just nods his farewell and starts humming as he walks away --
dead arm in tow.
DR. LORENSON
So you're ok?
STARKS [Still distracted]
What?
DR. LORENSON
I asked you if you're ok.
STARKS [Suspiciously]
I don't know. You tell me, Doc. You
think there's anything wrong with me?
DR. LORENSON
I don't know. You're not my patient.
STARKS looks away. Lorenson gives him a once over.
DR. LORENSON
You look like you've lost some
weight. Are you eating?
STARKS
I am. One of the few things I
remember doing is eating. So I guess
I must be exercising it off in my
dreams.
STARKS looks at LORENSON, seeing if he'll respond. LORENSON
looks back curiously at STARKS' pointed stare.
STARKS
You done with your small talk?
DR. LORENSON
Sure.
STARKS
Good.
STARKS walks away slowly and WEAKLY -- a fact that doesn't
escape LORENSON's observation.
INT. MEN'S ROOM, ALPINE GROVE HOSPITAL, DAY
STARKS walks into the bathroom, keenly eyeing the thin slit
of WINDOWS at the top of the wall. He walks closer to them,
when he suddenly hears some STRAINED BREATHING from inside
one of the stalls. He checks the first stall, pushing it
open. It swings both ways since it doesn't have a lock.
The sound continues. STARKS walks slowly past the second
stall to the third and then... WHACK! The door swings all the
way towards STARKS. BRUTALLY. He falls backwards -- his head
just barely missing a fatal confrontation with the sink.
DAMON, the ORDERLY, walks out.
DAMON
I'm sorry, Starks. Must have not seen
you coming there.
STARKS writhes in PAIN -- straining for his own breath now.
DAMON [Leaning down close to him]
Were you worried about me? [Smiling]
That's so sweet. Thanks.
With that, DAMON walks out, leaving STARKS on the floor.
INT. STARKS' ROOM, ALPINE GROVE, NIGHT, CHRISTMAS EVE
STARKS sits in his room, listening to the silence of the
night interrupted by first faint, then approaching,
FOOTSTEPS. Closer and closer...then harmfully near until
DAMON and HARDING enter his room.
They pause -- awaiting a reaction. STARKS doesn't give them
one.
NURSE HARDING
You gonna get the fuck up?
INT. HALLWAY, ALPINE GROVE, NIGHT, CHRISTMAS EVE
STARKS walks stoically down the cold corridors to his own
torture -- flanked by HARDING and DAMON on either side.
INT. MORGUE, BASEMENT, ALPINE GROVE, CHRISTMAS EVE
They're all in the room. STARKS seems pretty calm. Only in a
C.U. do we see his eyes register the JACKET...
BECKER
I'm glad to see you're cooperating
this time, Mr. Starks.
STARKS looks at the WIDE, STURDY restraints on it. They would
really hurt if you hit someone as hard as you could with
them. They might even knock someone out...
DAMON and HARDING move to undress him, when STARKS makes a
move to do it himself. They look to DR. BECKER who NODS that
it's all right.
DAMON begrudgingly lets go of Starks but not before he steps
on one of Starks' bare feet.
STARKS doesn't flinch. He merely turns away from them and
bends down to take off his pants. On his way up, he GRABS THE
JACKET OFF ITS HOOK and, using it like a weapon, aims to
smack it across Damon's face. DAMON deftly ducks and the
JACKET hits BECKER instead. The force of the blow sends
Becker down, and as he falls against the wall, DAMON and
HARDING leap to restrain Starks.
BECKER opens and closes his eyes, trying to get them into
focus. His right cheek is cut pretty bad. DR. GRIES helps
BECKER to his feet and picks his BROKEN GLASSES up off the
floor. BECKER puts them on.
DR. GRIES
Hold him while I get the
tranquilizer.
DAMON
Fuck the tranquilizer! I got a foot.
DAMON KICKS Starks hard in the back, nearly sending him down.
BECKER
No. That's not necessary.
BECKER looks down and sees his own BLOOD fall on the floor.
He looks up at STARKS who, even in his pain, looks shocked at
the force he just used.
BECKER
Let him go. [More firmly] I said, let
him go!
As soon as they let him go, STARKS lunges for BECKER --
pushing him up against the wall. STARKS stops, presumably
about to harm Becker but unsure, even to himself, of what
he's capable of doing...
BECKER looks fearlessly into Starks' eyes.
BECKER [An inch away from his face]
What, Starks? What are you going to
do? End me just because I'm an
inconvenience to you? [Beat] Just
like you did with Officer Harrison?
STARKS' face registers the meaning in Becker's words and a
look of self-doubt crosses his face.
BECKER
The only thing your mind is missing
is a conscience.
STARKS lets go of him and, as soon as he does, DAMON and
HARDING restrain him. BECKER calmly wipes the BLOOD from his
face, looks at his hand, shakes his head and walks out.
DR. GRIES
Wait...Dr. Becker, how long do you
want us to leave him in for?
BECKER doesn't answer. He doesn't even turn around. DR. GRIES
goes after him.
DR. GRIES
Just strap him in for now.
And DAMON and HARDING start to...
INT. BECKER'S OFFICE, ALPINE GROVE, CHRISTMAS EVE, SOME TIME
LATER
BECKER turns around from the window and we see that his cheek
is BANDAGED. He opens a drawer, takes out some SCOTCH and
pours himself a SHOT. He swallows some pills with it.
After he drinks it, he looks up to see GRIES standing
opposite him, watching.
DR. GRIES
You ok?
BECKER
I'm fine.
DR. GRIES
[Beat] Listen, I hate to bother
you...
BECKER
Then don't.
DR. GRIES
But... what about Starks?
BECKER
What about Starks?
DR. GRIES
Should we be...
BECKER
Should we be what? Trying to change
him any way we can? [Beat] Yes.
DR. GRIES
But the Jacket? I mean...should we be
leaving him in like that?
BECKER [As if stunned by the question]
Leaving him in? [Beat] The medication
I'm given him is intended to adjust --
maybe even reset -- his violent
proclivities. You know, peel away
some of those layers of hate. The
Jacket's merely a safe place for that
to happen. The grounds and the halls --
where I can't monitor side effects I
can't predict -- aren't.
DR. GRIES [Still doubtful]
But, but...what about...
BECKER [Mocking Gries]
But...but what about the gun? I mean,
should he have been firing away like
that? [Shaking his head at GRIES] You
can't fuck up a life that's already
been fucked up. [Turning away] There,
there's the insurance you're looking
for.
DR. GRIES
I'm not looking for anything.
BECKER shakes his head, laughing inside at the world's
stupidity.
BECKER
[Beat] It's Christmas Eve, Justin.
Don't you have somewhere to be?
BECKER doesn't wait for an answer, just turns back towards
the window and takes another sip of his drink.
CUT TO:
INT. HOSPITAL LOUNGE, ALPINE GROVE, CHRISTMAS EVE
NURSE HARDING turns on the television as DAMON sits in one of
the lounge chairs.
NURSE HARDING
Ah, man, look, It's A Wonderful Life.
DAMON
You got any booze?
HARDING takes out a FLASK from her BACKPACK.
NURSE HARDING
'Course I do. [Smiling] And it is the
season for giving so let's get to it.
DAMON smiles and rubs his hands together eagerly.
INT. MORGUE, BASEMENT, ALPINE GROVE, CHRISTMAS EVE
A shot of the WALL OF DRAWERS, with no one in the room, just
someone in the wall...
INT. CADAVER DRAWER
STARKS finds himself in the physically wrenching place once
more. But nothing happens for some seconds. He breathes
anxiously, not knowing what to expect. His heart beats
steadily: THUMP...THUMP, until, finally, with each beat, a
SMALL WHITE FLECK becomes two flecks...then, two
dots...then, two circles...then, the WHITES of a pair of
EYES with a terrific meanness in them.
The EYES blink, then disappear like they were never there.
The pace of STARKS' heart quickens, and the inexplicable
madness surrounds him once more...
EXT. MURDER SCENE, HIGHWAY, VERMONT, DUSK
The SOUNDS of BOMBS RAGE around him but he's in the middle of
the murder scene, watching OFFICER HARRISON lie on the floor.
He turns to look over his shoulder and sees...
EXT. IRAQI VILLAGE, NIGHT
Through a PHOSPHORESCENT GREEN NIGHT-VISION CAMERA, we see FIRE,
FLESH, and RUIN littering the sand. Slowly the
terrifying images shift to a naturalistic, real-time
documentation of the action -- the ruin -- as it's occurring.
As STARKS blinks, TEARS fall and he hears, over it all, a
counseling voice...
MACKENZIE (O.S.)
When they take you out to the woods
tonight and invite the wolves, dance
with them.
The TERRIBLE SOUNDS become less terrible as they fade away.
MACKENZIE (O.S.)
They don't eat you when there's music
playing.
The scene morphs slowly and the following IMAGES appear
vaguely -- forming the walls of the TUNNEL around him.
1) C.U. A WOMAN'S NECK and a small child's HAND
2) INT. STAIRWAY, OLD HOUSE (STARKS' CHILDHOOD HOME)
3) C.U. A black and white PHOTOGRAPH
4) EXT. CREEK: A shot of clear water, not too deep...
5) EXT. A NEW ENGLAND BEACH
6) EXT. DESERT, IRAQ: A sublime sunset...
STARKS walks up uneasily to the wall and touches the IMAGES.
They move like they're liquid and, when they settle, the
whole wall is replaced with one large IMAGE of a BEAUTIFUL
WOMAN -- a waitress -- standing at the counter of a COFFEE
SHOP, moving a STRAND OF HAIR out of her face with her hand.
STARKS blinks slowly -- struck by this dream of her. He reaches
out and closes his PALM around her like he might catch hold
of the moment with this simple gesture.
The whole WALL OF IMAGES twinkles marvelously, as we...
CUT TO:
EXT. DINER, SMALL TOWN, VERMONT, CHRISTMAS EVE
The WAITRESS (early 20s) -- tired, with kind eyes, soft skin
and a beautiful mouth that hasn't smiled in a long time --
emerges from the diner. Even with no effort, she is
remarkably pretty.
From her UNIFORM, we know that her day was spent there.
STARKS simply stares at this WOMAN who seems markedly removed
from the world around her. The only fact she wears on her is
that she's tired.
She spots STARKS and can't help but do a double-take. Both
are momentarily taken with each other, though she tries to
hide any indication that she is.
INT. WAITRESS' CAR
She gets in her old car and starts it. As it warms up, she
looks for STARKS in her REARVIEW MIRROR and sees he's still
there.
He starts to walk over to her when she jumps out of her car.
EXT. PARKING LOT, DINER, VERMONT, CHRISTMAS EVE
The WAITRESS treads angrily towards STARKS.
WAITRESS
Where do you think you're going?
STARKS looks at her. He doesn't know anymore than she does.
WAITRESS
You gonna answer me?
STARKS just stares.
WAITRESS
If you're deaf, read my lips...I
don't need a psycho following me
today.
STARKS
[Beat] I'm not deaf.
WAITRESS
Good.
She turns and gets back in her car, slamming the door shut.
She starts to drive and STARKS stares after her.
After a few hundred yards, she SLAMS on the brakes and turns
the car round, coming back. Then she jumps out of the car and
heads back in the diner, without looking over at STARKS.
EXT. DINER, SMALL TOWN VERMONT, SOME SECONDS LATER
She comes out -- this time PURSE in hand -- and sighs at
Starks.
WAITRESS
[As if she owes him an explanation] I
forgot my purse.
STARKS nods slowly. The WAITRESS gets in her car and looks
again at STARKS in her REARVIEW MIRROR. He has hardly any
winter gear on him -- no gloves, no hat, no coat -- just jeans
and a flannel. He looks lost among his surroundings, as much
because he doesn't know where he is as because he doesn't
look like he belongs there.
She reverses towards him.
WAITRESS
In case you hadn't figured, it's
Christmas Eve. You're never gonna get
a cab here.
STARKS
[Beat] Thanks.
She looks him over and then rests her hands on the wheel.
WAITRESS
All right. [Beat] You got somewhere
you need to go, Mister?
STARKS
I'm not sure.
WAITRESS
Let me ask you that again. This time,
look around and consider your
options.
Being cold and freezing are his options.
WAITRESS
[Beat] You got somewhere you need to
go, Mister?
STARKS [Nodding slowly]
Yeah, I do.
WAITRESS
Great, get in.
INT. WAITRESS' CAR
WAITRESS
So, where do you want me to drop you?
STARKS rubs his hand over his chin and cheek as he thinks it
over. She watches him curiously.
STARKS
I'm not sure.
WAITRESS
You don't have anywhere to stay?
STARKS
I don't think so.
The WAITRESS takes out a FLASK and a sizable SWIG from it;
she swallows it smoothly, like someone used to doing so.
WAITRESS
Well, where are you from?
STARKS
I'm not sure. [Beat] I don't really
know.
WAITRESS
Of course you don't know.
STARKS
Why "of course"?
WAITRESS
Because in my life, it wouldn't make
sense for me to pick up some normal
guy with a place where he's from and
a place where he's going to. It'd be
too simple. I probably wouldn't know
how to handle a situation like that.
STARKS
Well, you definitely didn't pick
normal or simple this time either.
She looks over at him -- momentarily suspicious. He looks back
innocuously; there's something innately safe about him.
WAITRESS
At least you're honest. That's some
kind of start.
STARKS sees her take another DRINK from the flask. She pulls
out a CIGARETTE, and STARKS lights it for her with some
MATCHES.
WAITRESS
That's great. You're not sure where
you're from or where you're going,
but at least you've got manners.
She laughs, noticeably more relaxed now after the drink.
WAITRESS
Well, you got a coat or something?
STARKS [Looking down at his clothes]
No. Doesn't look like it.
WAITRESS
Well, how'd you get here?
STARKS
[Beat] I was dropped off.
WAITRESS
Do you have a motel or something?
Money?
STARKS feels his pockets.
STARKS
No.
WAITRESS
Well, don't you somewhere? Stuff?
Belongings?
STARKS
No. [Beat] Not around here.
She casts a long sideward glance at STARKS, taking him and
her circumstances in for herself. He looks back gently.
WAITRESS
All right, we'll get to my place and
call around, see where I can take
you. [Beat] Just don't think of
trying anything.
(MORE)
WAITRESS (cont'd)
I have the biggest defense for gun
control living upstairs from me.
She's armed and angry even when she's
asleep.
INT. WAITRESS' APARTMENT, EVENING
She is on the PHONE, calling various shelters. Her apartment
has some pieces of mismatched furniture, along with a string
of lopsided CHRISTMAS LIGHTS strewn around the WINDOWS in the
room. They, more than anything else, light the place.
WAITRESS [Pleading tone]
I could have him there in 15 minutes.
[Beat, disappointed] Hmm. Yeah,
thanks. Merry Christmas to you, too.
She hangs up the phone.
WAITRESS
Great. That was our last option. What
am I going to do with you?
STARKS
Nothing. [Getting up] Thanks for
bringing me this far.
WAITRESS
Where are you going? You'll freeze
out there. You don't even have a
coat.
STARKS
I'll manage.
WAITRESS
No, you won't. You'll die of cold out
there and then I'll have to feel
guilty. And I've already got more
guilt than I know what to do with.
[Beat] Do you want something to
drink?
STARKS
No, I'm ok.
She leaves to the KITCHEN to fix herself a drink and STARKS
stares after her. Suddenly, a SMASHING SOUND is heard as
something falls in the kitchen. STARKS' whole BODY TENSES UP
as he wonders whether he's being taken out of the Jacket.
WAITRESS
Shit! That was one of my good
glasses!
As she presumably cleans it up, we stay on STARKS who slowly
gains hold of himself. She comes back, DRINK in hand and
pushes the STRAND OF HAIR in her face back the same way she
did when he saw her in the tunnel. Even through her
weariness, she looks radiant under the Christmas lights. She
takes a long SIP.
WAITRESS [Noticing he's shaken]
Hey, you ok?
STARKS
[Beat] Yeah, I'm fine.
WAITRESS
You know what? It's Christmas Eve.
And you look clean -- I mean, you're
normal-looking. [Resolutely, for her
own benefit] It's Christmas Eve, and
I have a couch.
And sadly, no plans for the evening anyway. She looks back --
her EYES even more tired from the liquor.
STARKS
I'm not gonna hurt you.
WAITRESS [Softly]
I know. [Clearing her throat] I'm
gonna go take a bath. Make yourself
at home. You know, fix yourself
something to eat if you're hungry or
anything. There's nothing to steal,
but don't be a jerk and take
something anyway. And don't snoop,
ok?
STARKS
Ok. [Beat] My name's William by the
way.
WAITRESS [Shakes her head]
No, no. Let's not do the name stuff,
'cause you see, I don't want to meet
you. I may want to help you tonight,
but I don't want to know you. Honest.
STARKS nods as she walks out.
EXT. YARD BEHIND WAITRESS' APARTMENT, EVENING
STARKS, still without a coat, collects some WOOD...
INT. KITCHEN, WAITRESS' APARTMENT, EVENING
STARKS looks in her fridge. There's not much to work with --
just some JARS and plenty of VODKA.
INT. LIVING ROOM, WAITRESS' APARTMENT, SOME TIME LATER
STARKS has lit a FIRE and set out a feeble dinner for them
when the WAITRESS comes out of the bedroom in sweats.
WAITRESS
What's this?
STARKS
The best I could do with what was in
your fridge.
She looks and sees a SANDWICH on a BUN in one plate and a
SANDWICH on two different colors of TOAST on the other.
Then she looks over at the fire; it's obvious from the way
she looks at it that it's been years, if ever, since
someone's done something like this for her.
STARKS
I only lit it because it was so cold
in here. I'm sorry if...
WAITRESS
No, it's fine. [Beat, swallow]
Thanks.
She turns and goes in the kitchen, calling out to him...
WAITRESS
You want a drink?
STARKS
Sure.
INT. KITCHEN, WAITRESS' APARTMENT, NIGHT
As she makes their DRINKS, a curious LOOK crosses her face,
just for a second.
INT. LIVING ROOM, WAITRESS' APARTMENT, A LITTLE WHILE LATER
They've sat down to eat under the blinking CHRISTMAS LIGHTS.
WAITRESS
This is pretty good. Considering...
STARKS
Thanks.
They eat quietly for a second. STARKS looks at her, then down
at his food, still subtly stunned by it all.
STARKS
So you're a waitress, right? I
mean...from the uniform you were
wearing.
WAITRESS
Yup. That's me.
STARKS
You like it?
WAITRESS
[Beat] I do it.
STARKS
Have you always been a waitress?
WAITRESS [Remembering sadly]
No. I used to be a nurse.
STARKS
[Beat] Why'd you stop?
WAITRESS
Shit happens, and your life changes.
'Bout the best explanation of a lot
of things that happen. [Beat] So how
come you don't know where you're
coming from?
STARKS
I don't know, but I think part of
it's...
STARKS looks around as he decides to be honest with her.
STARKS
That I don't really know what's real.
She stares at him until a small sympathetic smile appears on
her lips.
WAITRESS
Well, good for you.
STARKS
[Beat] Why?
WAITRESS
[Beat] Real is overrated.
STARKS smiles back uncertainly.
STARKS
You don't think that's crazy?
WAITRESS
Maybe. [Beat] Maybe not.
She holds up her glass somewhat sadly.
WAITRESS
Sometimes I don't know the difference
myself. And, you know something? I
think I like it better that way.
[Finishes her drink] You want another
one?
She goes to the KITCHEN, and STARKS clears their PLATES.
INT. LIVING ROOM, WAITRESS' APARTMENT
STARKS goes in the KITCHEN as she comes out with their
drinks. He hears her turn on the RADIO. She lands on an
OLDIES station that's playing "Girl of North Country" by Bob
Dylan.
INT. KITCHEN, WAITRESS' APARTMENT, NIGHT
STARKS smiles a little, then realizes he remembers, and
likes, the song. It's the first familiar thing for him in
days.
He walks out slowly to the living room, where the WAITRESS
sits on the couch, drinking. STARKS moves closer to the
radio, leaning into it, listening and forgetting, for a short
while -- only as long as a piece of song -- everything else.
BOB DYLAN
If you go when the snow flakes storm
When the rivers freeze and summer
ends.
Please see she has a coat so warm
To keep her from the howlin' winds...
STARKS listens close -- smiling a small, sad smile. Over the
HARMONICA, we pull back and see two very lonely people
passing time together the way people sometimes need to be
able to.
STARKS
This is a great song.
WAITRESS
You remember it?
STARKS [Nodding slowly]
It's like I feel like...I know who I
am. I just can't remember anything
that made me this person.
When STARKS looks at her then, he's so close to a meltdown
that it takes him a moment to fight his way out of it.
STARKS
But hey, who can forget those words?
The man just wants simple and good
things for his woman -- that she be
warm and happy. How hard can that be
to remember?
WAITRESS
May be easy to remember, but not easy
to get. Being warm, maybe -- but,
look, you don't even have a coat and
I still have to chop wood to make a
fire. [Beat] And, being happy...you
tell me if that's simple.
The CHRISTMAS LIGHTS flash drowsily to their own tempo.
WAITRESS [re: the lights]
Why don't I try to get them to stop
blinking?
INT. LIVING ROOM, WAITRESS' APARTMENT, AN HOUR OR SO LATER
She is visibly drained, after the day and the drinks.
STARKS
They told me I joined the army when I
was seventeen. That's when my father
died and, before that, it was
apparently just me and him since I
was born 'cause my mom split.
WAITRESS
So you never knew your mother?
STARKS
I guess not. But, as of now, I never
knew either.
WAITRESS
I'm sorry.
STARKS
Yeah. [Beat] How about you?
WAITRESS
Never knew my father. I grew up with
my mother. Actually, I grew up around
my mother. She was great though. I
mean, the way she was with her
friends... She was this woman who had
so much life in her, she had to find
ways to kill some of it just to be
like the rest of us. [Beat] She died
young.
STARKS
How?
WAITRESS
She fucked herself up day after day
and then, one day, she fell asleep
with a burning cigarette. [Beat] I
came home from work and she was gone.
The TEARS still run after all these years.
STARKS
I'm sorry.
WAITRESS
Yeah, me too. [Softly] Every day for
the last ten years.
STARKS
That when you stopped being a nurse?
She is surprised that he gleaned the connection -- and that he'd
been listening so closely.
WAITRESS [Exhausted]
Yeah, that's when I stopped being a
nurse. I never thought I could stop
being one, I wanted it for so long,
but... you just can't do it anymore
when you lose someone like that. You
can't take care of other people.
She closes her eyes and finally passes out. STARKS watches
her face, lit serenely by the FIRE and the Christmas lights.
It bears her grief even in sleep.
He covers her with a BLANKET then looks around and spots the
only PERSONAL EFFECTS in the room on her mantle. He walks
towards them, tripping slightly on a CORD from the LIGHTS. He
stumbles but regains his balance by reaching for the wall.
As he pulls himself up, he spots what is only inches away
from where his hand landed on the wall: HIS OWN DOG TAGS,
given to Jackie, only a couple weeks ago, hanging from a
single NAIL tacked into the wall.
Stunned, he stares at his NAME and BIRTH DATE scored on the
metal. He looks back at the WAITRESS and then to the few
PICTURES on the mantle: they are of JACKIE and her mother,
JEAN. STARKS runs his hand through his hair, trying to
swallow the improbability, and inexplicability, of the
situation.
STARKS' EYES search the room for ANYTHING that could help him
figure out what's happening. On the console is an OLD PAPER
and some MAIL. Totally disoriented, STARKS nearly STUMBLES on
his way to the PILE.
The label on the first BILL reads "Jackie Price." On the
second, the same. And the third...until at the bottom of the
pile, STARKS spots an OLD NEWSPAPER with the answer on its
DATE: December 3, 2004.
STARKS is absolutely stunned.
STARKS looks over at JACKIE and, just then, the HARSH SOUND
of the DRAWER being opened rings deafeningly in his ears and
the image of her starts to DISSOLVE at this worst moment. He
is being taken out of the JACKET...
INT. MORGUE, BASEMENT, ALPINE GROVE, LATE NIGHT
It's DR. GRIES, racked with guilt, who pulls Starks out...
He winces at the sight of the BLOOD and SWEAT streaked across
Starks' face. DR. GRIES checks his pulse and cleans his face
as best as he can with a WET TOWEL.
DR. GRIES
William, can you hear me?
His VOICE echoes in the morgue, sounding to Starks, as it
does to us, faint and distant. DR. GRIES drips some WATER in
Starks' mouth. As some of it trickles out, it runs into the
JACKET, burning STARKS' chafed skin.
STARKS' EYES flutter and DR. GRIES pushes the drawer back in,
afraid of what they've done to this man...
INT. CADAVER DRAWER
STARKS clenches his face and pleadingly closes his eyes. FIVE
SECONDS OF TOTAL BLACKNESS and SILENCE and he's back in...
INT. LIVING ROOM, WAITRESS' (JACKIE'S) APARTMENT, NIGHT
Only now, he's kneeling beside her sleeping FACE, just
looking at it. STARKS doesn't know what's going on but her
serene, sleeping face steadies him. He can only call out the
name he thinks she might respond to...
STARKS
Jackie? Jackie?
Sure enough, she answers with a STIR in her sleep.
JACKIE
Hm...
We see, in STARKS' eyes, the unbelievable connection: she is
the same little girl he met only a few weeks ago in 1992.
STARKS [Swallowing, softly]
Jackie? [Beat] What year is it?
JACKIE [In a drunken slumber]
What?
STARKS
What year is it?
JACKIE [Barely opening her eyes]
2004.
STARKS looks around as JACKIE moves in her sleep, almost
falling off the couch. STARKS picks her up and, in her sleep,
she WRAPS her arms around his neck.
INT. BEDROOM, JACKIE'S APARTMENT, NIGHT
STARKS tenderly lays her down on the bed...
INT. LIVING ROOM, JACKIE'S APARTMENT, NIGHT
STARKS picks up his DOG TAGS from the console, looks around,
spots the TELEVISION and fumbles a bit as he figures out how
to turn it on. STARKS sits down, throws back the rest of
JACKIE'S DRINK and another shot and looks around nervously,
unable to explain what's happening to him...
FADE TO:
INT. BEDROOM, JACKIE'S APARTMENT, CHRISTMAS MORNING
JACKIE sits in her sleep as she wakes up, clearly hung over.
INT. BATHROOM, JACKIE'S APARTMENT, CHRISTMAS MORNING
As JACKIE closes the MEDICINE CABINET, she sees her hungover
reflection in it.
She puts her face under the WATER and lets it restore some
color and life in her. As she comes up, that's when she
remembers the night before and the voice she barely heard in
her sleep.
STARKS [O.S., echoing distantly]
Jackie? [Beat] What year is it?
She SHOOTS UP from the sink, staring at her reflection.
INT. LIVING ROOM, JACKIE'S APARTMENT, SECONDS LATER
JACKIE spots STARKS asleep on the couch -- newspaper strewn
all around him and the TV still on. He's holding the TAGS.
She kneels down close to his face and stares at him for
awhile before STARKS is jarred. He defensively GRABS HER
WRIST as his EYES BURST OPEN, startling her.
JACKIE [Desperately]
Who are you?
STARKS lets his GRIP loosen.
STARKS
[Beat] I'm William Starks.
A short look of SHOCK cross her face before she leaps up.
JACKIE
Get the hell out of my house!
JACKIE grabs the nearest object -- the IRON FORK from the
FIREPLACE set -- and holds it, shaking, against STARKS. STARKS
stays calm; he hardly expected a different reaction.
JACKIE
What'd you do? Snoop all over the
place? You had no right. You had no
right to go through anything.
STARKS
[Beat] I know it doesn't make sense.
It doesn't even make sense to me.
JACKIE
If you don't get out of my house
right now, I'll call the police.
STARKS [Remembering]
Your mom was passed out on the side
of the road when I found you. Her
name was Jean. [Beat] She was dizzy
the whole time...
JACKIE [Trembling]
Why would you do something like this?
I tried to help you.
STARKS
Jackie, I'm William Starks. I can
prove it.
JACKIE
What? Now you're gonna show me some
kind of driver's license?
STARKS
No, I don't have anything to show
you. I'm here from a mental hospital.
JACKIE
Well, you belong in one.
STARKS [Solemnly]
[Beat] You and your mom were in a
truck and she kept a rifle in the
back of it...
JACKIE
Stop it! Stop it!
JACKIE covers her ears and looks at him, pleading with her
eyes. STARKS' eyes plead right back.
STARKS
I'm sorry for upsetting you, [beat]
but I'm not lying to you.
JACKIE
You can't be William Starks. He's
dead.
STARKS
[Beat] What?
JACKIE
William Starks is dead... [Beat] I've
been to his grave.
STARKS
[Beat] What?
JACKIE
His body was found New Year's Day,
19...1993. At Alpine...
STARKS [Finishing for her]
Alpine Grove. That's the mental
hospital. How do you know that?
JACKIE
I looked it up.
STARKS
How?
Then he remembers -- understanding with a chill that what she
is saying could entirely be true.
STARKS
I gave you my dog tags.
JACKIE
No, you didn't. They found William
Starks' body dead in the snow.
STARKS
How'd he die?
JACKIE
I don't know. But he did die.
STARKS falters under the news. JACKIE looks around, through
her now blurred eyes, like she might find some help in the
apartment. She settles for the BOTTLE of VODKA on the table,
lowers the iron fork and takes a long heavy drink, then
laughs nervously as she looks up.
JACKIE
I know what this is...I picked you up
when I was drunk and you probably
thought I'm just fucked up enough to
fall for this. But the thing is I
know what I'm doing when I drink. I
just usually don't care. Right now, I
do though. And I want you out. Now.
STARKS
It's December 25th, 1993 today.
JACKIE
No, it's not. [Beat] It's December
25th, 2004.
STARKS [Desperate]
That can't be. That's...just, I
mean... You're telling me I died in
less than a week in the time I'm in.
JACKIE
I'm telling you I don't care what
time you think you're in. You're not
William Starks. [Beat] I don't
believe in many things, but I believe
in death. And it doesn't give back
what it takes. So whoever you are...I
did a nice thing, you've made me
regret it enough already, so please,
just leave.
STARKS
I'll leave. But look at me. Look at
my face, Jackie. I'm not lying. I met
you and your mother. I told you then
that I'd lost my memory. [Beat] There
was no one for miles around so I know
you know there's no way I could have
known that from a pair of dog tags
you had lying around.
JACKIE
Please...
STARKS looks at her tenderly before he turns to leave.
JACKIE, a little calmer, looks at the door like he's still on
the other side of it and calls out softly, and sadly...
JACKIE
Happy Birthday.
INT. JACKET/TUNNEL PASSAGE
STARKS looks around him and, we see, from bottom up, the
exterior around Jackie's house melt away as STARKS suddenly
faces the massacred village in Iraq. Shocked at what's
happening to his body, he looks up, petrified. His body is
wound as tightly as a knot.
EXT. IRAQI VILLAGE, NIGHT, 1991
Again, we're glimpsing the scene through PHOSPHORESCENT GREEN
NIGHT VISION intermittently negotiated with real-time images.
Opposite Starks stands a CRAZED IRAQI SOLDIER -- seething in
anger and pointing his gun at a LITTLE BOY, presumably
belonging to the MAN not five feet away. Next to Starks is an
angry CAPTAIN MEDLEY, ordering STARKS to follow him. STARKS
is watching himself in the scene.
MEDLEY
You walk on. They pick up their guns
and fire at you, you stay. They pick
up and fire at each other, and you
walk on!
STARKS
He's got his gun pointed at a kid.
MEDLEY
That is not our problem.
STARKS
Yeah, well, none of this is our
fuckin' problem.
STARKS turns and aims his gun at a CRAZED IRAQI SOLDIER
threatening to shoot a child. We hear him YELLING in Arabic.
What STARKS doesn't see is another IRAQI SOLDIER (2) aiming
his GUN at STARKS.
MEDLEY
We are leaving this site right now.
STARKS doesn't hear him; he's busy perfecting his aim.
STARKS [To the first Iraqi soldier]
Hey!
At the force of the word, the SOLDIER lowers his gun and the
LITTLE BOY flees.
STARKS, who is now in the scene himself, lowers his gun
slightly as he approaches the SOLDIER. Neither speaks the
other's language but they're both saying everything with
their eyes. Neither moves his off the other.
Just then, though, we see the SECOND IRAQI SOLDIER get a
clear aim at STARKS.
He takes his SHOT before anyone else does. STARKS goes down
as the skin off the side of his head is shaved off.
He falls to the ground. As the rest of the picture fades to
black, all that is left is previously mysterious, still
haunting PAIR of EYES that we now see belonged to the
CRAZED IRAQI SOLDIER.
And over it all is the now more distant CLANK OF METAL as the
drawer is opened and the nightmare momentarily ended...
FADE TO BLACK.
INT. MORGUE, ALPINE GROVE, CHRISTMAS DAY
DR. GRIES, DR. BECKER, DAMON and NURSE HARDING enter the
room.
BECKER
You left him in all night?
NURSE HARDING
Shit, he's probably dead.
DR. GRIES [Defensively]
I tried to ask you if we should leave
him in yesterday...
BECKER
Don't get all worked up, Justin. I
expected some common sense on your
part and clearly I was expecting too
much. [Beat] Just open the drawer.
DR. GRIES
We never should have done this to
him...
BECKER
Well, what are we gonna do about it now?
Nothing is Gries' answer. Still, Becker seems to share the
concern.
BECKER motions for them to open the drawer. They pull him
out. STARKS looks cold and wrecked.
DR. GRIES
Is he? [Impatiently] Is he dead?
BECKER feels for a pulse and seems surprised to find one.
BECKER
No. [To Harding and Damon] Get him
upstairs.
INT. WARD, ALPINE GROVE, CHRISTMAS DAY
DR. LORENSON walks into the ward to check on STARKS. The
attending NURSE is walking around the ward.
LORENSON
Where's William Starks.
NURSE
I'm not sure. Dr. Becker had him
moved.
INT. HALLWAY, ALPINE GROVE, DAY
DR. LORENSON walks anxiously down the halls of the hospital,
peering into every room, looking for Starks.
INT. ANOTHER HALLWAY, ALPINE GROVE, DAY
DR. LORENSON spots BECKER walking out the DOORS of the
hospital and RUNS after him, in only his white coat...
EXT. PARKING LOT, ALPINE GROVE, DAY (CONT'D)
LORENSON [Calling out after him]
Dr. Becker! Dr. Becker!...Tom, wait!
DR. BECKER stops walking and waits a moment, registering the
voice, before he turns around to face Dr. Lorenson.
LORENSON [Out of breath]
Where's William Starks?
BECKER
He's recovering on the third floor.
STARKS
Are you kidding me? He's not
psychotic!
BECKER
Then how would you describe him,
Beth? Merely rebellious?
LORENSON
He'll be a zombie in a few days, Tom.
His behavior's hardly suggested he
needed neuroleptics.
BECKER
And you know that from what, a couple
two-minute stares across a room?
LORENSON [Firmly]
He didn't need anti-psychotics, if
that's even all you're giving him...?
BECKER ignores Lorenson's insinuation and merely turns his
CHEEK all the way round towards Lorenson so he can see the
BANDAGE from the CUT Starks gave him.
BECKER [Steadily]
After he slashed me with a hospital
instrument, I determined, in my
professional opinion, that Mr.
Starks, needed a little placating.
LORENSON
[Beat] You sure he wasn't provoked?
BECKER
You sure you want to begin making
that kind of insinuation? [Beat] I
took five stitches during a routine
therapy session.
LORENSON
I'm sure he took some, too.
BECKER [Smirking, unphased]
Happens sometimes when you've got to
restrain them. You watch the rest of
us work. You know that.
LORENSON [Appealing to him]
Our patients are sick.
BECKER
Yes, they are.
LORENSON looks at BECKER; he knows he's hiding something.
LORENSON
He's not gonna end up like Casey,
Tom. Whatever happened to him is not
going to "happen" to Starks. I don't
know what you're trying to do here
...but he's not a lab animal, Tom.
You can't reprogram him no matter the
drugs or the treatment.
BECKER
Jesus, you really don't let up, do
you? Just because you failed your
patient doesn't necessarily mean the
rest of us did, too. [Beat] Sorry to
tarnish your war hero's image, but he
is psychotic.
LORENSON looks back, starting to grasp Becker's misshapen
beliefs.
BECKER
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's
Christmas, and I have a family I'd
like to see.
INT. ROOM, INTENSIVE CARE UNIT, ALPINE GROVE, CHRISTMAS DAY
STARKS, IV in arm, lies asleep in bed, recovering...
INT. HOSPITAL, VERMONT
JACKIE walks in a hospital -- with many aspects parallel to
the mental hospital. White on white and, for Jackie
particularly, the presence of painful memories.
INT. ROOM, INTENSIVE CARE UNIT, ALPINE GROVE, CHRISTMAS DAY
LORENSON walks closer to STARKS and carefully examines the
BRUISES and BURNS on a body that's been badly beaten. His
eyes bear his guilt.
INT. NURSE'S STATION, HOSPITAL, VERMONT
JACKIE waits until a nurse, CLAIRE, greets her perfunctorily.
CLAIRE [Not looking up]
How can I help you?
JACKIE
Hi, Claire.
CLAIRE looks up, astonished to see her. She smiles warmly.
CLAIRE
Jackie, hi. How are you, honey?
JACKIE
I'm ok. [Beat] I need a favor.
CUT TO:
INT. STARKS' HOSPITAL ROOM
STARKS is asleep when a DARK FIGURE walks, like a GHOST, past
the WINDOWED DOOR of his room. STARKS opens his eyes and
snaps his neck in its direction -- fearful of everything at
this point. When he looks, there's nothing there; he's not
sure there ever was. The room starts to blue as he looks
around it, not knowing if he is crazy...
RETURN TO:
INT. OFFICE, HOSPITAL, VERMONT
JACKIE peruses HEADLINES and ABSTRACTS pulled up on the web:
"ALPINE GROVE INVESTIGATION into the mysterious death of
William Starks..."
"The body of WILLIAM STARKS, the former war hero who was
charged with the murder of OFFICER EDWARD HARRISON, was
found on the grounds of ALPINE GROVE on January 1, 1993.
STARKS was believed to have died from a wound to the
head."
The words and PHRASES that confirm Starks' story RISE from
their couched places on the computer screen.
"Local Doctor charged with medical malpractice." "Dr.
Thomas Becker resigns..." "It involved the recreation of
a womb-like environment." "Former patients testify to
being put in instrument known as the 'Jacket'"...
"Patient Rudy MacKenzie testifies..."
"WILLIAM STARKS, laurelled war hero..."
As JACKIE keeps scrolling, her face wears her disbelief that
what STARKS was saying may have been true. Then, she sees,
archived in a state newspaper, a mention of Dr. Lorenson and
a particular patient, "Eugene Yazdi."
"Local Boy, Eugene Yazdi, Overcomes Absence Seizure
Syndrome to Win Mathematic Decathlon...with the aid of
Local Doctor, Dr. Loel Lorenson." "Panelists for
National Epilepsy Conference include Dr. Lorenson,
Alpine Grove Hospital."
INT. STARKS' HOSPITAL ROOM, DECEMBER 26TH
A NURSE is checking on STARKS as he slowly wakes up.
STARKS
What the hell kind of drugs are you
people giving me?
STARKS is asking the NURSE, but it's BECKER's voice that
answers though Starks can't see him.
BECKER [O.S.]
Just something to help you sleep.
STARKS panics when he hears the voice. He looks around
nervously but the BRIGHT SUNLIGHT pouring into the room is
blinding. He swallows as he looks at the NURSE'S FACE as she
continues adjusting his pillows.
STARKS [Swallowing nervously]
Did you say something?
The NURSE shakes her head lightly and just then BECKER steps
out of the LIGHT.
BECKER
I said the drugs were to help you
sleep. [Beat] Did you sleep well?
Becker is remarkably calm, further confusing Starks' sense of
reality.
STARKS [Doubtfully]
But I wasn't asleep. Was I?
BECKER
Yes. You were. You were asleep for
nearly a whole day. It's December
26th, William.
STARKS sits up groggily, remembering what happened to him and
wondering how much, if any of it, was real.
STARKS
It's December 26th?
STARKS examines himself -- looking at his arms, spotting the
BRUISES on them.
BECKER
That's right, William.
STARKS [Slowly figuring it out]
1992?
BECKER nods. STARKS sits up -- his predicament and the room
slowly coming into focus.
BECKER
Yes. [Caustically] And that's the sun
and you're on earth. [Beat] And I
know you know better.
STARKS begins to piece if together. BECKER, as we begin to
see, is right. It is 1992 in Alpine Grove.
STARKS
I don't know better. All I know is
that you left me in there.
BECKER
In where?
STARKS
[Uncertainly] In that thing...the
Jacket.
The NURSE gives Becker a knowing look -- suggesting Starks
really is delusional. Becker doesn't even flinch as STARKS
tries to get a better look at Becker's face.
BECKER
We were forced to use restrains if
that's what you're referring to.
STARKS
That wasn't a fucking restraint.
BECKER
Actually, that's exactly what our
equipment is.
STARKS' EYES widen with alarm as BECKER reaches for the I.V.
in his arm, lingering on it long enough that Starks braces
himself for an ATTACK of some sort. But Becker just looks
back innocently as he adjusts it.
BECKER
Relax.
STARKS
Don't act like I don't know what's
real. [Beat] I'm not the one that's
crazy here.
BECKER
[Pointedly] Of course you're not.
Then he clarifies, wryly enough for Starks to catch it.
BECKER
You're just suffering from delusions
that are unfortunately part of your
condition.
STARKS
Don't give me that. I know what's
real, goddamnit! You strapped me in
something and stuck me in a drawer.
BECKER nods diagnostically. The NURSE's nonchalance about it
as she LEAVES the room further disquiets STARKS.
STARKS
I didn't dream it. I may have been
asleep but it wasn't a dream.
BECKER sits down in a CHAIR, half-shrouded in the light.
BECKER
I had a patient a few years ago. His
name was Ted Casey...
STARKS
I don't give a shit about your
patient!
BECKER
I wasn't pausing to see if you did.
[Beat] But, incidentally, you should,
because you're birds of a feather.
STARKS squints as he searches out Becker's face.
BECKER
Ted raped and sodomized a seven-year
old girl. [Beat] His lawyers asked me
to have a look at him because, after
his deeds were done... he climbed
into the trees of the forest where he
killed her and woofed like a dog. He
couldn't even remember his name when
I spoke to him, but, curiously
enough, he could speak back. [Beat]
Ted never went to prison because
everyone -- including me -- was
convinced he was sick. So he came
here.
BECKER leans into Starks' view to make sure he's listening.
STARKS is.
BECKER
Then one day a little girl came with
her mother to visit a relative and I
caught Ted stealing looks at her --
the kind you really have to steal if
you know what I mean. [Beat] I asked
Ted then if he could remember what
the little girl who he had... slain
...was wearing. [Beat] He gave me a
look I'll never forget, and, when he
answered, it wasn't with a color or
any sort of physical description I'd
expect. "Oh yes," he said. "I remember
it. I remember it well." [Beat] Those
were actually his last words I think.
BECKER's expression bears a hunting mixture of anger and
remorse as he recounts Ted's tale.
STARKS
We are not birds of a feather.
BECKER
Maybe not. [Beat] But I do think
you're in a tree... woofing like a
dog. And I'm just trying to help you
the only way I can think of.
BECKER gets up and, as he moves out of the light, STARKS sees
his BANDAGED CHEEK, reinforcing his memory of what
happened...
STARKS [Provokingly]
What happened to your cheek, Dr.
Becker?
BECKER
I was careless. Happens sometimes.
FADE TO:
INT. STARKS' ROOM, RECOVERY WARD, ALPINE GROVE, DAY, 1992
STARKS looks out on the SNOW-COVERED GROUNDS from his room on
the third floor. He seems pacified for the moment.
INT. HALLWAY, RECOVERY WARD, ALPINE GROVE, DAY
Everything about the dingy hospital punctuates the sad
mechanics of managing madness. CATATONIC PATIENTS and dated
equipment litter the hall and, as we follow a NURSE who walks
among them, we spot STARKS -- ARMS suspended in air and GLAZED
EYES fixed on the ceiling -- pretending to be one of them.
His ARMS fall and he wipes his dried MOUTH as soon as she
passes. STARKS has successfully made it out of his room. She
turns one corner as STARKS hustles to turn another...
INT. DAY ROOM, ALPINE GROVE
STARKS is almost there. As RANDOM ORDERLIES pass him, STARKS
lets his posture collapse as he despondently hangs his head
down so low they can't see his face. They pass, and STARKS
starts scuttling towards the door to the outside.
As soon as he reaches it and is outside in the cold -- with
only his BLUE PATIENT UNIFORM -- Starks walks normally, like
he no longer remembers the risks. Instead he remembers what
Jackie told him.
JACKIE [O.S.]
They found William Starks' body dead
in the snow.
STARKS [O.S.]
How'd he die?
JACKIE [O.S.]
I don't know. But he did die.
EXT. GROUNDS, ALPINE GROVE
STARKS leans down -- seemingly oblivious to the cold -- and
lifts some snow to his mouth, TASTING it like a man who needs
to affirm he is still alive. He's so rapt that LORENSON's
VOICE takes him by surprise.
LORENSON
Hey. You're not supposed to be out
here.
STARKS stiffens as he realizes he could be in the place where
his body was found. The terrible question asks itself on his
face: Is this when Starks is killed?
STARKS [Turning around sharply]
What are you going to do to me?
LORENSON
Well...
As LORENSON reaches into his POCKET for something, STARKS
anxiously holds his breath. It's BLACK when it comes out and...
a SKI HAT when it opens up. STARKS lets out his breath,
relieved.
LORENSON [Nonchalantly]
I thought I'd just ask you to come
back inside with me.
STARKS
And if I didn't want to come?
LORENSON
I guess I'd ask you why.
STARKS
Because I don't think I'm crazy.
LORENSON
You're not crazy.
STARKS is surprised by Lorenson's agreement.
LORENSON
You suffer from delusional disorder.
That doesn't mean you're... crazy. It
just means you're confused. And
you're here, instead of in jail,
because that was determined to have
played a role in your killing of a
police officer.
STARKS [Correcting him]
Alleged killing of a police officer.
LORENSON
You were convicted of the crime.
STARKS
That conviction doesn't convince me
of anything. Until I know that I did
it, I'm not going to accept that I
did.
LORENSON
You may never remember at all. [Beat]
Your mind's grasp of reality and the
real events that have happened to you
has been damaged.
STARKS
No. The real events that have
happened to me have been fucked up.
Not my mind.
LORENSON seems to realize -- at least for an instant -- that he
is looking at a desperate man who is persuasively, and
cogently, staring back at him.
STARKS
[Beat] William, I'd like to ask you
something if I can.
STARKS
Since when do people around here have
to ask permission to do anything?
LORENSON [Suspiciously]
How's your treatment progressing with
Dr. Becker?
STARKS still doesn't know how much Lorenson knows, and if he
should trust him.
STARKS
Fine. [Beat] Why made you ask?
LORENSON answers first with his eyes looking over Starks'
body. STARKS merely stares back tersely.
LORENSON [Carefully]
I just hope you'd let me know if that
wasn't the case.
STARKS
Why, what would you do?
STARKS
I could try to...make it stop.
STARKS
No. I don't want it to.
LORENSON
So it's helping?
STARKS [Choosing his words carefully]
[Beat] It's making me feel like a
different person.
LORENSON -- sensing she's not going to get any more from
Starks -- turns around to go back inside. It's only as she
turns her face away from STARKS that we see how nervous she
is. But you'd never guess it from her tone...
LORENSON [Casually]
You comin'?
STARKS looks towards the FENCES locking him in from every
direction. LORENSON waits until she hears STARKS' FOOTSTEPS
following her. She waits until STARKS has reached her.
LORENSON
You should be careful. You could be
killed if they found you out here.
STARKS
Believe me, I know.
INT. PATIENT CAFETERIA, WARD, ALPINE GROVE, 1992
STARKS and MACKENZIE are eating opposite each other.
STARKS
What were you talking about the other
day?
MACKENZIE
I wasn't talking about anything.
STARKS
Yeah, you were. What you said about
them taking me out to the woods...
MACKENZIE clams up slightly at the mention of it...