Paramedical Phenomena: Act One
May. 17th, 2012 06:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kasihyaLike I said, I'm only doing the scenes I feel like doing - namely, the ones that depend on character interactions, rather than research. Because fuck research, I just want to see people bounce off of each other. So here are the fun parts from Act One. It's in script format, although without the indentation because that would take actual, you know, effort. It's easy enough to read anyway, I think.
COLD OPEN:
INT. HOUSE — LIVING ROOM — DAY
The scene opens up on our heroes in the late afternoon, sitting in the living room of a friendly old couple and talking to them about the local history. The husband comes in with a plate of crackers and cheeses, things like that; while Sam interviews their informants, Dean proceeds to eat like a dying man, probably earning reproving looks from his brother.
INT./EXT. — HOUSE — PORCH — DAY
SAM and DEAN leave through the front door, accompanied by the ELDERLY COUPLE.
SAM
Thanks for your time, m’am.
OLD WOMAN
(with a grimace)
Good luck with your research.
SAM and DEAN walk to their car.
DEAN
Well, that was a freaking waste of time.
SAM
(getting into the car)
You think?
EXT. MOTEL — PARKING LOT — CAR — DAY
DEAN drives the IMPALA to a motel parking lot in [SMALL TOWN, NJ]. Inside, he and SAM talk.
DEAN
So who’s next on our list?
SAM
I don’t know. It’s almost too perfect, you know? The town’s got practically no crime rate, no disappearances of children or adults in the last hundred years, and the oldest couple in the oldest house in town can’t remember the last time there was even so much as a fire.
DEAN
Maybe it’s got nothing to do with the kids getting snatched. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that no one’s touched this town.
SAM
(with a derisive look)
You seriously believe that? Every other town in the area has had children go missing in the last three months, except this one. You don’t think that’s just a little weird?
They park the car and get out, heading for one of the outside doors of the motel.
DEAN
(fumbling for the door key)
Nah, I think it’s weird all right, I’m just not sure what to do about it. We’ve been looking for almost a week now, and we got nothing. Until we find evidence that there’s something wrong with this town, I’m gonna assume they just got lucky and focus on finding whatever took those kids before it comes back.
He opens the door. They walk inside.
INT. MOTEL — MOTEL ROOM — DAY
SAM
I’m thinking it’s some kind of fairy. All of those other couples, the ones we talked to in [next town over], they said they’d found woodchips around the windows, right?
DEAN
Sort of like a modern twist on the whole replacing dead bodies with wooden ones, you mean.
SAM
Yeah. I’m thinking we could go around the woods tomorrow, check to see if there’s any signs there that we may have missed. If it’s trying to blend in, it might not be exactly what we’re looking for.
DEAN
Great. Undercover fairies. I’ll tell you what, I’m not too hungry right now. I think I’m gonna sack out and grab food later.
SAM gives him a look that says something to the effect of “Really? Really? That’s what you get for eating so much of the food that those lovely people gave us. Leaving none for me, incidentally.”
SAM
Sure, whatever.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
INT. MOTEL — MOTEL ROOM — NIGHT
SAM wakes up, startled, and checks the clock. The time is 3:12am. He gets up, looks around, and sees that DEAN is not in his own bed. With an increased sense of urgency, he moves around the room, and eventually to the bathroom. He stops at the entrance of the bathroom. DEAN is on his knees over the toilet, coughing up obscene amounts of blood, cursing. He turns around, sees SAM.
FADE OUT.
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
INT. HOSPITAL — CONFERENCE ROOM — DAY
CAMERON, CHASE, and FOREMAN sit grouped around one end of the conference table, sorting through a pile of dark blue folders with labels on them. HOUSE enters the room.
HOUSE
Good morning, my children! I see you bring me gifts. And I’m happy to tell you that this year, I’ve elected instead to direct all contributions towards the Kidney and Liver Donation Society. Thank you very much.
CHASE
(opening a folder)
We’ve got a thirty-eight year old female experiencing symptoms of drug withdrawal, no history of any kind of substance abuse.
HOUSE
She’s lying.
CAMERON
Twenty-six year old male, admitted last night after he nearly drowned in his own blood, but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong … aside from the fact that his lungs were full of fluid.
HOUSE
They’re not looking hard enough.
FOREMAN
Nineteen-year-old transwoman in a motorcycle accident caused because, she says, she suffered temporary paralysis in her legs. No sign of a stroke, currently hospitalized for injuries sustained when the motorcycle landed on top of her.
HOUSE
Really? This is all you could come up with?
FOREMAN
The woman has a family history of mental illness and [physical hallucinations, I know those are caused by something specific].
HOUSE gives FOREMAN a long look and holds out his hand to CAMERON
HOUSE
Let me see that.
CHASE and FOREMAN exchange significant looks as HOUSE rifles through the file.
FOREMAN
Only lower-body paralysis? Don’t you think that’s at least a little interesting?
HOUSE
Nope.
FOREMAN gives him an exasperated look, to which HOUSE flips the file shut. Time to remind these people who is running this operation.
HOUSE
(smugly)
Sorry, [stereotyped black character/actor]. This is the real world, and I’ve been socially conditioned to feel more empathy for my fellow white male than those scary gender-benders. Plus it’s likely [solution to this based on her medical history].
FOREMAN snatches up the woman’s file and leaves the room.
FOREMAN
(over his shoulder)
I’ll be back.
HOUSE looks at CAMERON and CHASE with an expression of mock joy.
HOUSE
And then there were two.
HOUSE raises his eyebrows and walks out of the room. CAMERON and CHASE follow.
INT: HOSPITAL — HOSPITAL ROOM — DAY
The hospital bed is occupied by a pale, tired-looking DEAN. He is sitting up, wearing a hospital gown, and holding a bucket in his lap, coughing intermittently. SAM sits on a chair pulled up next to the head of the bed. They are bent close together, talking quietly.
HOUSE leads CHASE and CAMERON into the room. Upon their arrival, SAM and DEAN stop talking. SAM stands up.
HOUSE
Hello, Mr …
(checking paper)
Hutton. What seems to be the problem?
DEAN gives HOUSE an incredulous look, and turns to SAM, raising his eyebrows. SAM scowls and steps forwards.
SAM
Hi, are you Dr. House?
HOUSE
The one and only.
DEAN coughs into the bucket, wipes his mouth on the back of his hand, and grimaces at the blood left there. CAMERON hands him a napkin.
SAM
So you can tell us what’s going on?
HOUSE
That is what I get paid to do. Though personally, I think they just keep me around because of my rugged good looks.
HOUSE walks over to DEAN’s bed. He procures a stethoscope from the bedside table, hooks in, and holds it to DEAN’s chest. DEAN watches him skeptically. CAMERON stands at the foot of the bed.
CAMERON
We’d just like to ask you a couple more questions, so we can get a better idea of what we’re looking for.
DEAN
(in an undertone to SAM)
I thought that was our job.
CAMERON
Sorry?
DEAN
Nothing.
HOUSE removes the stethoscope from his chest with panache.
CAMERON
Okay. It says here that you were staying in [town name], doing … research?
DEAN
Yes, m’am.
SAM
It’s for a project we’re doing, investigating reports of paranormal phenomena across the country.
CAMERON
So you do a lot of traveling. Have you been outside the country in the last five years?
SAM
No.
DEAN
No wait, there was that one time we ended up in Canada …
SAM
That was six months ago, that wouldn’t be important, would it, doctor?
CAMERON
Probably not.
FOREMAN
When you say paranormal phenomena, do you mean like, ghost sightings and haunted houses type of stuff?
There is a pause that’s just long enough to register as being suspicious before anyone speaks.
SAM
Yeah, for the most part. We, uh, there was, I mean, it’s nothing really. It’s mostly just looking at the history, trying to figure out why some places have legends associated with them, and why others don’t. You know, anthropology stuff.
FOREMAN
Uh-huh.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
INT. HOSPITAL — CONFERENCE ROOM — DAY
The team goes about doing their brainstorming thing, while gossiping about the patient. They come up with a couple of different ideas, and go to get samples and do their tests.
INT. HOSPITAL — OTHER ROOM — DAY
The team has decided that they ought to scan DEAN for any way that the blood is getting into his lungs. They pump them dry so that they have some time where he can lie on his back for the scans before he starts drowning again.
INT. HOSPITAL — CONFERENCE ROOM — DAY
The tests tell them that, basically, he’s losing blood, and it’s going into his lungs, but again, no particular reason why. It just is.
INT. HOSPITAL — HOSPITAL ROOM — DAY
SAM has been waiting in the room the entire time that they’ve been doing tests and getting their results. He jumps on them as soon as CAMERON and CHASE come back into the room.
CHASE
So, good news is, you’re not hemorrhaging, and we can’t find anything wrong with your lungs.
DEAN
Sounds good to me, doc. What’s the bad news?
CHASE
Well, we still don’t know why you keep —
DEAN coughs again, interrupting CHASE. SAM puts a hand on his back.
CHASE
— doing that.
SAM
But you know what’s not causing it, right?
CAMERON
We’ve ruled out a few possibilities.
SAM
So then, you must have a better idea of what it could be. If it’s not one thing, it’s got to be the other.
CHASE
It doesn’t really work like that, I’m afraid.
CAMERON
(to DEAN)
Right now, our main concern is making sure that you don’t lose too much blood while we do figure out what’s causing this. We might need to look at the possibility of doing a blood transfusion.
DEAN
Like hell I’m not. Putting some dead dude’s blood in my system?
SAM
(aside to DEAN)
Might make you immune to vampires.
DEAN
Yeah, or turn me into one.
CHASE
What?
DEAN
Look, I appreciate the thought, but I’m not at that point yet, am I?
CAMERON
There are blood donation banks, we draw our blood from there.
DEAN
(coughing)
How do I know that it’s safe? I knew this guy, he … uh … he got contaminated blood, he was dead a week later.
SAM
(warning, to DEAN)
Mike.
SAM claps him on the shoulder and walks over to CAMERON and CHASE, away from the hospital bed. The following conversation takes place sotto voce.
SAM
Look, how long do you think it’ll be before you can figure out what’s going on?
CHASE
We … don’t know.
SAM
Okay … What’s the next step?
CAMERON
We’ll need to run some more tests for some of the less common causes. It could take up to a day, and in the meantime, until we can figure out where the blood is coming from, it’ll continue to fill his lungs.
CHASE
What was your brother saying about vampires?
SAM
Oh, that. It’s just a joke, you know. A lot of lore says that if you feed a vampire dead man’s blood, it poisons them.
DEAN coughs.
CHASE
Didn’t sound like he was joking.
DEAN
Hey, I can hear you over there.
CHASE extends a hand, palm-up, to indicate peace. What is initially a casual glance becomes a frown, and a more prolonged stare.
SAM
(to CAMERON)
Look, he’s got personal reasons for being a little leery of blood transfusions, if you could —
DEAN
What?
CHASE walks over to the bed and leans in towards DEAN. CAMERON and SAM turn around to watch.
DEAN
Dude, you’re freaking me out. Do I have something on my face?
CAMERON
Oh my god.
CAMERON rushes over.
ALL look at DEAN, who has gradually emerging patterns on his face and arms. They are faint sets of red herringbone marks about three inches long. DEAN looks down at his arms, spreads them out before himself, and looks up at SAM.
DEAN
You think …?
SAM looks uncertain, glances at CAMERON and CHASE.
END OF ACT ONE
COLD OPEN:
INT. HOUSE — LIVING ROOM — DAY
The scene opens up on our heroes in the late afternoon, sitting in the living room of a friendly old couple and talking to them about the local history. The husband comes in with a plate of crackers and cheeses, things like that; while Sam interviews their informants, Dean proceeds to eat like a dying man, probably earning reproving looks from his brother.
INT./EXT. — HOUSE — PORCH — DAY
SAM and DEAN leave through the front door, accompanied by the ELDERLY COUPLE.
SAM
Thanks for your time, m’am.
OLD WOMAN
(with a grimace)
Good luck with your research.
SAM and DEAN walk to their car.
DEAN
Well, that was a freaking waste of time.
SAM
(getting into the car)
You think?
EXT. MOTEL — PARKING LOT — CAR — DAY
DEAN drives the IMPALA to a motel parking lot in [SMALL TOWN, NJ]. Inside, he and SAM talk.
DEAN
So who’s next on our list?
SAM
I don’t know. It’s almost too perfect, you know? The town’s got practically no crime rate, no disappearances of children or adults in the last hundred years, and the oldest couple in the oldest house in town can’t remember the last time there was even so much as a fire.
DEAN
Maybe it’s got nothing to do with the kids getting snatched. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that no one’s touched this town.
SAM
(with a derisive look)
You seriously believe that? Every other town in the area has had children go missing in the last three months, except this one. You don’t think that’s just a little weird?
They park the car and get out, heading for one of the outside doors of the motel.
DEAN
(fumbling for the door key)
Nah, I think it’s weird all right, I’m just not sure what to do about it. We’ve been looking for almost a week now, and we got nothing. Until we find evidence that there’s something wrong with this town, I’m gonna assume they just got lucky and focus on finding whatever took those kids before it comes back.
He opens the door. They walk inside.
INT. MOTEL — MOTEL ROOM — DAY
SAM
I’m thinking it’s some kind of fairy. All of those other couples, the ones we talked to in [next town over], they said they’d found woodchips around the windows, right?
DEAN
Sort of like a modern twist on the whole replacing dead bodies with wooden ones, you mean.
SAM
Yeah. I’m thinking we could go around the woods tomorrow, check to see if there’s any signs there that we may have missed. If it’s trying to blend in, it might not be exactly what we’re looking for.
DEAN
Great. Undercover fairies. I’ll tell you what, I’m not too hungry right now. I think I’m gonna sack out and grab food later.
SAM gives him a look that says something to the effect of “Really? Really? That’s what you get for eating so much of the food that those lovely people gave us. Leaving none for me, incidentally.”
SAM
Sure, whatever.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
INT. MOTEL — MOTEL ROOM — NIGHT
SAM wakes up, startled, and checks the clock. The time is 3:12am. He gets up, looks around, and sees that DEAN is not in his own bed. With an increased sense of urgency, he moves around the room, and eventually to the bathroom. He stops at the entrance of the bathroom. DEAN is on his knees over the toilet, coughing up obscene amounts of blood, cursing. He turns around, sees SAM.
FADE OUT.
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
INT. HOSPITAL — CONFERENCE ROOM — DAY
CAMERON, CHASE, and FOREMAN sit grouped around one end of the conference table, sorting through a pile of dark blue folders with labels on them. HOUSE enters the room.
HOUSE
Good morning, my children! I see you bring me gifts. And I’m happy to tell you that this year, I’ve elected instead to direct all contributions towards the Kidney and Liver Donation Society. Thank you very much.
CHASE
(opening a folder)
We’ve got a thirty-eight year old female experiencing symptoms of drug withdrawal, no history of any kind of substance abuse.
HOUSE
She’s lying.
CAMERON
Twenty-six year old male, admitted last night after he nearly drowned in his own blood, but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong … aside from the fact that his lungs were full of fluid.
HOUSE
They’re not looking hard enough.
FOREMAN
Nineteen-year-old transwoman in a motorcycle accident caused because, she says, she suffered temporary paralysis in her legs. No sign of a stroke, currently hospitalized for injuries sustained when the motorcycle landed on top of her.
HOUSE
Really? This is all you could come up with?
FOREMAN
The woman has a family history of mental illness and [physical hallucinations, I know those are caused by something specific].
HOUSE gives FOREMAN a long look and holds out his hand to CAMERON
HOUSE
Let me see that.
CHASE and FOREMAN exchange significant looks as HOUSE rifles through the file.
FOREMAN
Only lower-body paralysis? Don’t you think that’s at least a little interesting?
HOUSE
Nope.
FOREMAN gives him an exasperated look, to which HOUSE flips the file shut. Time to remind these people who is running this operation.
HOUSE
(smugly)
Sorry, [stereotyped black character/actor]. This is the real world, and I’ve been socially conditioned to feel more empathy for my fellow white male than those scary gender-benders. Plus it’s likely [solution to this based on her medical history].
FOREMAN snatches up the woman’s file and leaves the room.
FOREMAN
(over his shoulder)
I’ll be back.
HOUSE looks at CAMERON and CHASE with an expression of mock joy.
HOUSE
And then there were two.
HOUSE raises his eyebrows and walks out of the room. CAMERON and CHASE follow.
INT: HOSPITAL — HOSPITAL ROOM — DAY
The hospital bed is occupied by a pale, tired-looking DEAN. He is sitting up, wearing a hospital gown, and holding a bucket in his lap, coughing intermittently. SAM sits on a chair pulled up next to the head of the bed. They are bent close together, talking quietly.
HOUSE leads CHASE and CAMERON into the room. Upon their arrival, SAM and DEAN stop talking. SAM stands up.
HOUSE
Hello, Mr …
(checking paper)
Hutton. What seems to be the problem?
DEAN gives HOUSE an incredulous look, and turns to SAM, raising his eyebrows. SAM scowls and steps forwards.
SAM
Hi, are you Dr. House?
HOUSE
The one and only.
DEAN coughs into the bucket, wipes his mouth on the back of his hand, and grimaces at the blood left there. CAMERON hands him a napkin.
SAM
So you can tell us what’s going on?
HOUSE
That is what I get paid to do. Though personally, I think they just keep me around because of my rugged good looks.
HOUSE walks over to DEAN’s bed. He procures a stethoscope from the bedside table, hooks in, and holds it to DEAN’s chest. DEAN watches him skeptically. CAMERON stands at the foot of the bed.
CAMERON
We’d just like to ask you a couple more questions, so we can get a better idea of what we’re looking for.
DEAN
(in an undertone to SAM)
I thought that was our job.
CAMERON
Sorry?
DEAN
Nothing.
HOUSE removes the stethoscope from his chest with panache.
CAMERON
Okay. It says here that you were staying in [town name], doing … research?
DEAN
Yes, m’am.
SAM
It’s for a project we’re doing, investigating reports of paranormal phenomena across the country.
CAMERON
So you do a lot of traveling. Have you been outside the country in the last five years?
SAM
No.
DEAN
No wait, there was that one time we ended up in Canada …
SAM
That was six months ago, that wouldn’t be important, would it, doctor?
CAMERON
Probably not.
FOREMAN
When you say paranormal phenomena, do you mean like, ghost sightings and haunted houses type of stuff?
There is a pause that’s just long enough to register as being suspicious before anyone speaks.
SAM
Yeah, for the most part. We, uh, there was, I mean, it’s nothing really. It’s mostly just looking at the history, trying to figure out why some places have legends associated with them, and why others don’t. You know, anthropology stuff.
FOREMAN
Uh-huh.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
INT. HOSPITAL — CONFERENCE ROOM — DAY
The team goes about doing their brainstorming thing, while gossiping about the patient. They come up with a couple of different ideas, and go to get samples and do their tests.
INT. HOSPITAL — OTHER ROOM — DAY
The team has decided that they ought to scan DEAN for any way that the blood is getting into his lungs. They pump them dry so that they have some time where he can lie on his back for the scans before he starts drowning again.
INT. HOSPITAL — CONFERENCE ROOM — DAY
The tests tell them that, basically, he’s losing blood, and it’s going into his lungs, but again, no particular reason why. It just is.
INT. HOSPITAL — HOSPITAL ROOM — DAY
SAM has been waiting in the room the entire time that they’ve been doing tests and getting their results. He jumps on them as soon as CAMERON and CHASE come back into the room.
CHASE
So, good news is, you’re not hemorrhaging, and we can’t find anything wrong with your lungs.
DEAN
Sounds good to me, doc. What’s the bad news?
CHASE
Well, we still don’t know why you keep —
DEAN coughs again, interrupting CHASE. SAM puts a hand on his back.
CHASE
— doing that.
SAM
But you know what’s not causing it, right?
CAMERON
We’ve ruled out a few possibilities.
SAM
So then, you must have a better idea of what it could be. If it’s not one thing, it’s got to be the other.
CHASE
It doesn’t really work like that, I’m afraid.
CAMERON
(to DEAN)
Right now, our main concern is making sure that you don’t lose too much blood while we do figure out what’s causing this. We might need to look at the possibility of doing a blood transfusion.
DEAN
Like hell I’m not. Putting some dead dude’s blood in my system?
SAM
(aside to DEAN)
Might make you immune to vampires.
DEAN
Yeah, or turn me into one.
CHASE
What?
DEAN
Look, I appreciate the thought, but I’m not at that point yet, am I?
CAMERON
There are blood donation banks, we draw our blood from there.
DEAN
(coughing)
How do I know that it’s safe? I knew this guy, he … uh … he got contaminated blood, he was dead a week later.
SAM
(warning, to DEAN)
Mike.
SAM claps him on the shoulder and walks over to CAMERON and CHASE, away from the hospital bed. The following conversation takes place sotto voce.
SAM
Look, how long do you think it’ll be before you can figure out what’s going on?
CHASE
We … don’t know.
SAM
Okay … What’s the next step?
CAMERON
We’ll need to run some more tests for some of the less common causes. It could take up to a day, and in the meantime, until we can figure out where the blood is coming from, it’ll continue to fill his lungs.
CHASE
What was your brother saying about vampires?
SAM
Oh, that. It’s just a joke, you know. A lot of lore says that if you feed a vampire dead man’s blood, it poisons them.
DEAN coughs.
CHASE
Didn’t sound like he was joking.
DEAN
Hey, I can hear you over there.
CHASE extends a hand, palm-up, to indicate peace. What is initially a casual glance becomes a frown, and a more prolonged stare.
SAM
(to CAMERON)
Look, he’s got personal reasons for being a little leery of blood transfusions, if you could —
DEAN
What?
CHASE walks over to the bed and leans in towards DEAN. CAMERON and SAM turn around to watch.
DEAN
Dude, you’re freaking me out. Do I have something on my face?
CAMERON
Oh my god.
CAMERON rushes over.
ALL look at DEAN, who has gradually emerging patterns on his face and arms. They are faint sets of red herringbone marks about three inches long. DEAN looks down at his arms, spreads them out before himself, and looks up at SAM.
DEAN
You think …?
SAM looks uncertain, glances at CAMERON and CHASE.
END OF ACT ONE
