INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - MOMENTS LATER - LIGHT

A luxurious hospital room with a view of the lake. Sunny and clean. RASPY BREATHING ECHOES the area. In a hospital bed lies Carter Knox, now (50), sickly and unconscious. Protruding red veins and coal-black skin.

Doctor Peggy shows his family into the room.

DOCTOR PEGGY
I'm very sorry.
(hands over gloves)
Just for protocol.

Doctor Peggy EXITS the room. Tami and Elliot put on the gloves. RUBBERY SOUNDS. The door SHUTS. Tami takes a seat next to her husband who BREATHES RAPIDLY. Elliot hovers over his father. They both watch Carter.

ELLIOT
Three days. How is it even possible
for him to go on like this for that long?

TAMI
I don't know.

She averts her eyes, afraid to stare at his face for too long.

TAMI (CONT'D)
I never seen anything like this before,
not even in my years of nursing. Just look at him.

Elliot leans in closely to survey his father. Spooked. He doesn't gaze too long, instead he checks out the room. Anger working his eyes.

ELLIOT
(bitter)
I see he didn't mind spending a
pretty penny, even on his deathbed.

TAMI
Don't say that.

ELLIOT
Why not?

TAMI
It sounds wrong to say that under these circumstances.
With him like this. Just try to be a little less-

ELLIOT
Is something wrong?

TAMI
No.

ELLIOT
Yes there is, you never defend him.

TAMI
I'm not defending him I'm just-

Her son takes a few STEPS back and shakes his head.

ELLIOT
It seems like you are, which you never do, if anything
you blame him. "Blame him for everything", is what you always say.
Not to give a damn about him when he's dying.
(agitated)
As if I would!

TAMI
(stammers)
I just...I-I can't help feeling bad.

ELLIOT
Bad? Why? You didn't do anything wrong.

TAMI
(clutches her head with both hands)
I know I didn't...
(clutches neck)
but for some reason that's just how I'm feeling
right now... I bet you're feeling something too.

Elliot points to his father.

ELLIOT
(pissed)
No. There's nothing that can make me sympathize with this man.
Nothing. He doesn't deserve a care in the world.

TAMI
(snobs)
You don't mean that!

ELLIOT
I do...I mean it.
(grits teeth)
How he just left us, you were perfect. I know I was
just a kid but that...that moment right there;
installed something greater than hate.

TAMI
(wails)
I'm not saying forgive him, Elliot, you don't
have to do that! I'm just saying respect the dying.

ELLIOT
(huffs)
I can't do that...not for him.

TAMI
Then do it for me, please?!

Elliot SIGHS and then gazes back at Carter. INHALING for a few seconds. Then he watches his mother cry. Tears fall down her face as she watches her angry son, desperately.

ELLIOT
(weakly)
I can't.

Carter WHIMPERS in his sleep. Tami's eyes lock on him fast, alert, still sad. Elliot glares at his father, whose eyelids move round frantically while closed. Slowly. Weakly, the lids open to show bloodshot eyes. Eyes that go dizzily around the ceiling above. Out of focus.

Tami stands and covers her mouth. Elliot nears his father. Bewildered. Shocked.

His father's eyes land in him.

CARTER
(mumbles)
Son...

Carter's creepy eyes focuses on his son. Tami shivers but stays watching. Elliot hides his fright. Clenching his jaw.

ELLIOT
It's Elliot.

CARTER
(weakly)
No, you are my son.

Carter's gazes goes to his wife, he smiles at her, as he glances sideways.

ELLIOT
By name only.

TAMI
(fed up)
Elliot, stop!

CARTER
Tami.

He COUGHS up black liquid. It SPLATTERS from his mouth. Elliot JUMPS to the side, moving his mother up by the arm, out of the range of the liquid. Tami wipes her face of streaming tears.

TAMI
Carter??

CARTER
I'm so sorry...I-

ELLIOT
It's a bit too late for apologies.
Twenty eight years too late.

TAMI
(yells)
Why can't you just listen to me? STOP!

CARTER
(hoarsely/breathlessly)
No, he has every right to be mad at me. I won't try
to win your love, Elliot. I know It's gone.

ELLIOT
Long gone, just like you when you left!
(snickers)
Love? There wasn't any attachment between us,
if there were you would have never done what you did!

TAMI
He doesn't mean what he's saying...

Tami's cheeks shake, she tries to smile but is too emotional. Instead, the smile comes off as painful and quivering.

CARTER
He does.

His red eyes lower to the floor. Distraught.

CARTER (CONT'D)
(softly)
I know I won't gain back any trust. What I did
was wrong, I'm sorry....but I had to do it.

ELLIOT
Don't try to redeem yourself now. Even on your
deathbed you lie. How much lower can you steep?

TAMI
(snaps)
I swear, stop!

ELLIOT
What, are you buying this? After he claimed to love you?
It was all lies, ones you cried over for so many nights! I heard you.

CARTER
(dryly)
I didn't mean to make your mother...
hurting her...it wasn't my plan to-

ELLIOT
Right, keep telling yourself that.

TAMI
Please?

She begs her son.

ELLIOT
No, he doesn't deserve anymore more than what I'm giving him.

CARTER
Listen, I don't have much longer.

ELLIOT
Good, then you better hurry up, hell's waiting on you.

Tami's glossy eyes freeze on her son.

CARTER
There's something I need to tell
you both. Give me that at least.

ELLIOT
(fists balled)
No, we're done talking, so go ahead
and do us and the world a favor.

Carter's chests rises up and down quickly. LABORED BREATHING INCREASES. His fingers GRIP at the bed sheets. SCRATCHING. Horrid pain spreads across his face. Utter remorse. He SHAKES in the bed, his arms vibrating it, his chest JERKING...before he falls unconscious.

TAMI
(alarmed)
OH GOD, NOOO, PLEASE NOOO!!!

INT. CAR - MOVING - NOON - SECONDS LATER

Bryant DRIVES down a freeway. The YELLING from the hospital room EMITS from the earpiece attached on his ear. His finger PRESSES a button on the device and POWERS it off. DING. SILENCE. WIND MUFFLES against the car's exterior as it WHIPS. Bryant tails after the black SUV. He preys after it intensely. Through the back window of the vehicle ahead of him, the driver peeps back.

EXT. DENTIST OFFICE - PARKING LOT - AFTERNOON - (HOURS AFTER)

Sonya rests her head on the stone of the building of Dental Dreams. Frost leave her nostrils. Her hand holds the knob on the door that leads back in. Holding it for a second then dropping it. Her eyes shoot to a yellow Volkswagen in the parking lot.

INT. CAR - PARKED - SECONDS LATER

Sonya WEDGES a key into the ignition of the car. The engine PUTTERS on. She scans the blank screen of her phone before pulling out of the lot. Her assistant EXITS the door.

ASSISTANT - MALE
Ms. Myers, where are you going?!

The wheels of the car ROLL on the snowy ground and out onto the street.

INT. YMCA - POOL ROOM - LIGHT - MINUTES LATER

A gym's pool room, occupied with a few swimmers. Teens. Jim observes them as their bodies SPLASH in water.

JIM
Breaststrokes, widen those arms. That's where you all
are lacking, gotta get those stroke right for finals. Go again!

The teens SWIM back to the end of a pool, water SPLASHING with each movement they make. Jim STROLLS the side of the large enclosed, pool. Focused on the kids.

JIM (CONT'D)
Come on, let's get it right this time!

Jim's voice ECHOS. His phone RINGS, showing a contact name: Bae Job 👩🏾‍🦱, on the screen. He accepts the call.

JIM
Hey, what's wrong, why are you calling from work?

WOMAN
Mr. Carmen?

Jim pauses his WALK around the pool.

JIM
Hello...um...yes that's me is something wrong?

WOMAN
I'm calling to inform you that Sonya Myers left work, leaving unattended customers.

JIM (CONT'D)
What...that's not like her, are you sure?

WOMAN
Yes, I'm sure. I've tried contacting her several times with no luck.
Please let Sonya know that this cannot happen again.

JIM
Sure, I will. Thank you for
informing me. Goodbye.

He immediately HANGS up then DIALS Sonya's on his phone. RINGING. RINGING. RINGING. RINGING. The other end PICKS up.

VOICE THROUGH PHONE:

SONYA
Jim, listen.

JIM
NO, YOU LISTEN! Whatever you're
about to do is gonna end this!

SONYA
I'm trying to explain. Can you
just listen, baby? Please...?

He RUBS his forehead and cools down. His nostrils flare.

JIM
Okay, I'm listening, explain what you're doing.

A brief SILENCE. Windshield WIPERS SWIPE from the other end.

SONYA
I found out where Elliot is, something is
off though, and the police aren't engaged in finding him.

JIM
How did you found this out, from the news?
Or did the station tell you this?
If they lost interest maybe it's for a reason.

INT. CAR - MOVING - GAS STATION - BRIGHT

Sonya DRIVES the car from a Shell's gas station on North River Road, and onto a busy street. Heat WHOOSHES out of the car vents. Traffic ZIPS by.

SONYA
I called him...don't take it the wrong way.

VOICE THROUGH PHONE:

JIM
(furious)
You did what?! I don't believe
you, we talked about this!

SONYA
I know but I have a gut feeling...I'm
catching a flight to Washington.

JIM
This is fucking ridiculous so now you're
going to him? That's what you're doing right?!!

SONYA
I have a really bad feeling...

JIM
Why do you have to do this?

She focuses outside the window. Her face going pale and her lip quivering.

SONYA
(shaky)
Because my gut is telling me to, it's crazy I know, but those men...the things
they did and how they took him. Something is off...and I want to do more
then just sit here like the cops are doing. Please understand that it's
fear I'm feeling. Okay?...I want to do what I can to help out a friend.

JIM
(blows up)
He's a grown ass man, Sonya. He is none of your fucking concern!
Going to Washington isn't going to change anything.
What are you even going to do when you get there? Drag him back?

SONYA
I'll figure that out when I get there.

JIM
If you step foot on a plane for him, this is over.

SONYA
Look. Just let me do this, something is
telling me to. You have to trust me.

JIM
(upset)
Sonya, I can't do that...so turn around.

SONYA
Trust me, I love you.

She HANGS up and STEERS the car ahead. To O'Hare Airport.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NOON - LIGHT (HOURS BEFORE)

The hospital room is calm now. Doctor Peggy examines Carter. Elliot and Tami stand behind her.

DOCTOR PEGGY
He's stable, don't worry, the shock was
bound to kick in sooner or later.

She uses a stethoscope to check Carter's heart rate. Tami's jaw tightens.

TAMI
Okay, thank you....could you please give us the room?

Peggy removes the device from Carter's chest.

DOCTOR PEGGY
Of course, just avoid exciting him.
(gestures to the wall)
If it does happen again just press that button, alright?

TAMI
Alright.

When the door CLICKS close after she leaves, Tami SLAPS Elliot hard across the face.

TAMI
(bitter)
Now, I mean it. I'm not asking you,
I'm telling you. DO YOU HEAR ME?!

She takes a seat beside her husband and HUFFS.

TAMI (CONT'D)
Sit down and stop this shit!

Elliot obeys her and takes a seat. Slowly. Wounded. Furious. Broodingly. Carter red eyes blink open. He shakes his head at the ceiling like a mad-man. In complete horror.

CARTER
Something...something's coming.

His wife squints at him.

TAMI
What??

CARTER
I have to warn you...that's all I can do.

TAMI
What are you talking about?

She leans forward.

ELLIOT
He's not in his right mind.

CARTER
(erratic)
You two need to get away. GET AWAY! Promise me
that you'll run? Go underneath. UNDERNEATH!!!

TAMI.
Shh, relax, don't talk.

Carter stares at his wife and son, SOBBING.

CARTER
Humanity wont survive the...

Carter GAGS, his voice vanishing against his will, he strains to form words.

TAMI
You're not making any sense.

CARTER
(whispers/menacingly)
Look at the sky, can't you see?

His eyes pan to the window, out to the sky. Dead set on a spot in the clouds. Elliot goes to see what he's looking at. At the window he finds nothing. The sky is normal. A few airplanes travel far in the distance.

TAMI
You need to rest.

CARTER
(bellows)
GET AWAY, RUN!!!!

TAMI
I don't know what he means...

Tami covers her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut.

ELLIOT
Hey...

Elliot goes to place a hand on his mother's back. PATTING it lightly. Tami grabs his arm with both hands.

TAMI
(upset)
He's scaring me.

ELLIOT
It's nothing.
(reassuringly)
Just try to get some sleep, okay.

His mother nods. SNIFFLING. Carter's fingers edge to the side of the bed; ETCHING his nails at the sheets. SCRATCHING on them. His hand tries going underneath the mattress line, but fails to do so.

His arm goes limp.

END OF ACT II