ACT III

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DAWN (HOURS BEFORE)

A luxurious hospital room. Oak wood floors. Large windows view a lake. HARD RAIN FALLS. An occupied hospital bed. The sound of RAGGED BREATHING. Monitors BEEP franticly.

Carter's hand dangles over the railing of the bed, black with puffy veins. Abnormal. He GROANS painfully. COLD RAIN FREEZES the windows; CRACKLING.

INT. HOSPITAL - CONFERENCE ROOM - LIGHT - MOMENTS LATER

FLAMES CRACKLES. A large conference room. Floor to wall fireplace. Windowless walls. RAIN POUNDS THE CEILING. A round table.

Three doctors are seated. Documents are scattered on the table. Readable data and non-conclusive tests. doctors share worried looks.

Doctor Peggy Rose (60) short, dark hair and eyes. Doctor Thompson Scott (45) average height, blonde hair, blue eyes. Doctor Marg Stone (33) short, brown hair, green eyes. All are dressed in work attire.

DOCTOR PEGGY
(CHINESE ACCENT)
Are there any new leads concerning Mr. Knox's condition?

DOCTOR STONE
I revisited his first blood exam, it appears to be an infection.

DOCTOR THOMPSON
(snaps)
This is beyond infection!

Doctor Peggy looks around at the two, perplexed.

DOCTOR PEGGY
The bacteria culture test would have detected the contamination if that was the case.

DOCTOR STONE
Not if it's an advanced culture.

DOCTOR THOMPSON
(indifferent)
I doubt that. Our technology is limited. I'm sure that's the cause.

Stone waves her hand at the door.

DOCTOR STONE
(frustrated)
Go take a look at the patient, his veins are black! Poisoned or infected. Please share what else it could possibly be??

DOCTOR PEGGY
Enough...let's get our heads on straight, shall we?

DOCTOR PEGGY stands, glaring down at the documents. The readable documents display high pain levels and increased vitals. A scan of crucial organs. Brain, heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs. All are blackened and inflamed.

DOCTOR PEGGY (CONT'D)
His pain levels are off the charts. A fever is dangerously rising. A virus is spreading rapidly through his body. Mr. Knox hasn't the need for life support, which is astonishing with how impacted his organs are. How is this possible?

DOCTOR THOMPSON
No clue...his heart should have gave out hours ago.

DOCTOR STONE
He shouldn't be alive...nor breathing on his own.

Stone eyes a nerve damage chart. Seddon's classification of nerve injury. Neurotmesis. Severe. Thompson plucks a document from the table, a graph of an inclined heart rate?

DOCTOR THOMPSON
His heart rate was slightly above average when he was admitted. Not drastically almost as if anxiety or exercise was the cause.

DOCTOR PEGGY
Did we receive any past health information on the patient?

DOCTOR THOMPSON
No, we did not.

The room goes QUIET. The group ponders. A clock TICKS on the wall; 6:05 am. The fire CRACKS. MUFFLED RAIN SOUND.

DOCTOR PEGGY
Who delivered the patient?
Her hand wrings heavily around her neck.

DOCTOR STONE
An older man. I don't think he was family, he left as soon as he brought Mr. Knox inside.

DOCTOR THOMPSON
This makes no sense.

SILENCE. The group frown, furrowing their brows.

DOCTOR STONE
What are we dealing with here?

DOCTOR THOMPSON
No. The question is what do we do?
Thompson and Stone gaze at Peggy.

DOCTOR PEGGY
He's ill and has blinding pain but is somehow withstanding it. Morphine is rendered useless.
(sighs)
I think the final conclusion is comfort. That's all we can offer.

DOCTOR THOMPSON
I agree.

DOCTOR STONE
Has his family decided anything? Have they been contacted?

Stone gives an emotional glance.

DOCTOR THOMPSON
He arrived with no phone just a wallet. I called his home address eight times but the line went straight to voicemail. I can keep trying.

DOCTOR STONE
Maybe once his condition is made public his family will arrive.

DOCTOR PEGGY
This case just keeps getting stranger.
The women nod in agreement.

DOCTOR PEGGY (CONT'D)
(grabs documents)
I believe we've done enough guessing with this case. I suggest sending a blood sample to the CDC. Hopefully they can solve the puzzle.

DOCTOR THOMPSON and DOCTOR STONE rise from their seats, collecting documents from the table. RUSTLING. SCRAPPING of chairs on a wood floors. All of the files are cleared from the table, the group EXITS the room.

EXT. DENTIST BUILDING - PARKING LOT - NOON - (HOURS AFTER)

Heavy snow. Sonya leans against an ambulance parked in Dental Care's parking lot. She wears a purple, puff coat. Shock drowns her face. A policeman stands before her with a notepad.

Police cars flash colorful lights onto the surroundings; illuminating the falling snow to a neon tint.

A group of officers stand near the vehicles. CONVERSING. Some citizens gather on the curb, recording with their phones.

OFFICER
Did you recognize any of the men?

SONYA
(shaken)
No.

Frost clouds puff from their lips.

OFFICER
Please take a breath, miss, it'll help.

Sonya INHALES. The OFFICER waits for her EXHALE cold air.

OFFICER (CONT'D)
Now describe, in your own words and best description. What were the men wearing? Their appearances and heights?

SONYA
I didn't see any of them. I just heard one of their voices. My friend, Elliot, told me there were six of them.

OFFICER
And how did your friend know that?

SONYA
He saw them, he said
it looked like a robbery.

The officers WRITES in the notepad.

OFFICER
What did you hear?

Sonya squints, focusing hard.

SONYA
He said that Elliot's mother was hurt and in the hospital. That he was an old friend.

OFFICER
Was any of that true?

SONYA
I don't know, but I didn't believe
him. Something wasn't right.

OFFICER
Yes, something is very
off about all of this.
(writes)
What is your friend's full name?

SONYA
Elliot Knox.

OFFICER
(writes)
So a man of this group caused all
of this trouble to get to your friend, Elliot?

SONYA
Yes.
(emotionally)
Now he's missing, they have him. When will you call a search??

The officer holds up a hand to stop her.

OFFICER
Yes, Miss, the station will conduct a missing persons case after 2 days.

SONYA
(perplexed)
2 days???

OFFICER
Yes.

SONYA
Why so long?

OFFICER
48 must past before
a person can be labeled missing.

SONYA
(furious)
I just told you he was taken against his will. The battered door, the smoke bombs!

OFFICER
48 hours is the protocol for any police station. Sorry, that's just how the station operates. Until then, I need to know more about Elliot. Would you happen to know his home address? So we can determine whether his mother is injured or being held hostage.

SONYA
I don't know it, sorry.

OFFICER
Okay, we'll just go
through his work records.

The man SCRATCHES a line on the notepad.

OFFICER (CONT'D)
Was he the only person in the
building that disappeared?

SONYA
Yes.

OFFICER
Was he, by any chance, involved with drugs or a suspicious activity?

SONYA
No.

OFFICER
Are you sure?

SONYA
(defensive)
Yes, I'm sure.

OFFICER
Do you have an image of Elliot Knox?

Sonya takes out an iPhone. UNLOCKING it and TAPS the photo app. Her index finger finds a selfie of her and Elliot at work. Candid. Happy. She TAPS the screen to enlarge it. The Officer SNAPS a picture with a cell.

OFFICER (CONT'D)
How long have you known Elliot?

Sonya CLICKS off her phone.

SONYA
Five months...and a half.

The officer WRITES.

OFFICER
And has he ever behaved in a suspicious or odd manner within that time? During work hours?

SONYA
(snaps)
No, he hasn't!

OFFICER
I just have to consider all possibilities, miss. In many scenarios as this one, people swore they knew a person by heart. The usual conclusion was always that they didn't.
(closes notepad)
Drive safely, get some rest. We'll do our best to find the men responsible for this disturbance.

SONYA
Thank you.

The Officer WALKS to join co workers, who huddle together, CONVERSING. The red, white, and blue lights hit the flicker against snow.

Sonya watches the aesthetic visual. Taking DEEP BREATHS. She CLICKS on her phone to call Elliot. DIALING. Sonya waits, clenching her jaw. DIALING.

No answer. She massages her neck roughly, ends the call, then REDIALS.