Mr. Roberts by Gary O. Bennett
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM
Fade in on a blank wall. Dina walks into frame. She looks
directly at the lens. Dina wears the uniform of a nurse.
DINA
How are we feeling today, Mr. Roberts?
There is no response.
DINA (cont’d)
Mr. Roberts? Do you hear me?
There is no response. Dina waves her hand in front of the
lens to prompt a response. There is none. Dina raises the
wrist of Mr. Roberts and feels for a pulse. Dina appears a
bit agitated.
DINA (cont’d)
Tess. Tess.
Tess walks into frame and stands next to Dina.
TESS
What’s up?
DINA
There’s no pulse.
Tess takes Mr. Roberts wrist and checks his pulse.
TESS
He’s dead. Your first one?
DINA
He can’t be dead. Look at him. He’s
looking directly at us.
TESS
People can die with their eyes open,
Dina.
DINA
But I don’t understand. Mr. Roberts was
fine yesterday. How come the alarm
didn’t go off?
TESS
Look. It’s turned off.
DINA
Oh my God. What have I done?
TESS
It’s not your fault, Dina.
DINA
What do you mean it’s not my fault. He’s
still warm. He must have died in the
last few hours, while I’ve been on duty.
I’m getting off in an hour. What do I
do? How do I explain this?
Tess leans down and turns the cardiac alarm box on.
TESS
There. It’s now on. You say the alarm
went off and you responded by trying to
revive him.
DINA
But what about the station nurse. She’ll
know it didn’t go off?
TESS
Set it off now.
DINA
What?
TESS
Set it off now and we’ll pretend to be
attempting to revive him.
DINA
I’m not an actress, Tess.
TESS
Mr. Roberts is dead. There’s no
audience. I wouldn’t worry about your
performance.
Tess leans over again and pulls the alarm. It goes off.
TESS
Go on. Pump his chest. I’ll tell the
station you have it under control.
Dina hesitates. Tess leaves. Dina starts pumping Mr.
Roberts chest. The camera jolts up and down with each pump.
Dina keeps pumping. Suddenly the camera moves sightly and
there is a moan. Dina stops pumping.
DINA
Mr. Roberts!
Dina takes a pulse. Tess walks back in.
TESS
Everything’s under control.
DINA
He’s alive.
TESS
He can’t be.
DINA
He moved. He made a sound. He has a
pulse.
Tess moves infront of Dina and checks Mr. Robert’s pulse.
Tess looks directly at Mr. Roberts.
TESS
There’s no pulse, Dina.
Dina reaches for Mr. Roberts’s wrist. Tess pushes her away.
TESS
I said there’s no pulse. Aren’t you off
duty? I’ll attend to this.
Again, the camera moves slightly and there’s a moan. Both
Tess and Dina stare at Mr. Roberts. Tess’s face seems to
grow increasingly tense. Tess suddenly, with great force,
slaps Mr. Roberts hard in the face. The camera moves quickly
with the slap. Rapidly, the camera moves back, Tess having
grabbed Mr. Roberts chin so she can look directly in his
eyes.
TESS
Listen to me you bastard. You’re
supposed to be dead, and you’re going to
be dead. You hear me. So don’t try to
crawl out of this hole you’re in.
Tess steps back to look at Mr. Roberts.
DINA
Tess…I know you’re my supervisor, and I
have learned a lot from you, believe
me…I wouldn’t be the nurse I am today
without having had your guidance and
help. So I don’t want to sound
ungrateful, and I certainly don’t want to
question your professional conduct, but
could you possibly elaborate on what you
are doing so I can learn from it.
TESS
Have you ever been raped?
DINA
No.
TESS
Neither have I. But if I was raped, I
believe I would be justified in killing
my attacker. Do you agree?
DINA
I guess it depends on the circumstances.
TESS
Stop thinking like a nurse and start
thinking like a woman. Would I be
justified?
DINA
Yes… I guess.
TESS
Good. Then you agree with what I am
about to do.
Tess pulls a hyperdermic needle from her pocket. Hols it up,
plls back the plunger. There is obviously nothing inside the
chamber. Tess leans in with the needle towrad Mr. Roberts’s
neck.
DINA
What are you doing?
TESS
I obviously didn’t inject a large enough
air bubble into his carotid artery. But
this time I’m giving him a whopper.
DINA
You can’t expect me to go along with
this.
TESS
I expect you to listen to your supervisor
and correct an injustice.
DINA
What did he do?
TESS
He raped my baby sister and got away with
it. But he was stupid enough to get
appendicitis and end up on my floor. He
should be dead in fifteen minutes. Come
get me when it’s over.
Tess moves behind Dina, and Dina moves in close to Mr.
Roberts. Before departing, Tess turns to Dina.
TESS (cont’d)
You’re going to go far in this hospital,
Dina. I think a promotion is due.
Tess leaves. Dina leans in close to Mr. Roberts.
DINA
In your next life, if you have one, try
to remember not to fuck with a nurse…or
her baby sister. Particularly if you’re
a patient. The bubble will start to
block the blood flow to your brain and
you will slowly fade into death. It’s
supposed to be painless. That’s what the
books say anyway. Goodbye Mr. Roberts.
FADE TO BLACK.
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