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A family in business try to get away with murder. |
INT. HALLWAY OF A HOSPITAL - DAY Harrison and Melissa are at the hospital, outside of Cheryl’s room. MELISSA Looks like I was right about waiting until after visiting hours. There’s hardly anyone here. HARRISON And do you see any guards around? MELISSA No. HARRISON I told you it wouldn’t be a problem. MELISSA Maybe. HARRISON All right, let’s do it. INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY They enter Cheryl’s room. MELISSA There she is. HARRISON Yeah. Look at her, hooked up to all that machinery. Just to keep her alive. What a waste of money. My money. MELISSA Don’t you mean the insurance company’s? HARRISON I paid the premiums. MELISSA Why am I not surprised you’d say that? HARRISON Well, there are better things to spend it on. Of course, there are worse things too, like welfare. Okay, let’s get it over with. Now I just have to find the outlet. MELISSA Wait a minute. I don’t think that’s the best way to do it. HARRISON Why? MELISSA First of all, you don’t need to literally pull the plug to turn it off. You can do it by just flipping a switch. And second, it might be hooked up to some kind of alarm if you try to shut it off. HARRISON So, what am I supposed to do? MELISSA (pulls out a syringe) Here. Use this. HARRISON What the hell is this? MELISSA It’s a hypodermic needle. HARRISON I know that. I mean, what am I supposed to do with it? MELISSA You inject it into her IV. HARRISON This is your solution? MELISSA It has an undetectable poison in it. It should be much quieter. HARRISON When did you come up with this? MELISSA Just last night. HARRISON All right, I guess. MELISSA I assume you can handle a needle. HARRISON Yes. Now go stand guard. Melissa moves to the door, then--- MELISSA Dad? HARRISON What? Is somebody coming? MELISSA No. HARRISON Then don’t interrupt me. Melissa tries to grab the syringe out of his hand. HARRISON (CONT’D) What are you doing? MELISSA I can’t let you do this. HARRISON Are you nuts? You know we can’t let her wake up. MELISSA It’s wrong to kill her. HARRISON You didn’t think so before. MELISSA And now I do. HARRISON Oh, great. I should have known your guilty conscience would rear its ugly head. MELISSA You really don’t have a problem with this? HARRISON Only if we get caught. Now let go of me. MELISSA No. A nurse hears the commotion taking place. She enters the room. Other people follow. NURSE What’s going on here? HARRISON (trying to hide the needle) We’re just visiting. MELISSA That’s not true. We came here to kill her. NURSE Excuse me? HARRISON Melissa! MELISSA I’m sorry, Dad. I have to do this. (grabbing the needle) You see, my father was about to inject her with this, when I stopped him. NURSE But why try to kill her? MELISSA Because we’re the ones behind killing Matthew, and the first attempt on Cheryl. HARRISON Will you shut up! NURSE Let me get this straight. So you’re freely confessing to murder and attempted murder? MELISSA That’s right. NURSE May I remind you, you have a right to remain silent, and anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Do you still want to confess? MELISSA Yes. HARRISON Why are you telling us that? Don’t tell me you’re actually a cop? NURSE No. I’m just making a citizen’s arrest. Plus, I always wanted to say that. A security guard puts handcuffs on Melissa. Another security guard handcuffs Harrison. HARRISON Thanks a lot, Melissa. INT. A PRISON EXECUTION CHAMBER - NIGHT Because of the unprecedented nature of their crimes, Melissa and Harrison are sentenced to death. The state has decided to do something also unprecedented: a double execution. They are seated back to back in electric chairs. MELISSA I guess it’s finally going to happen. HARRISON Yeah. MELISSA I didn’t think it would come this soon. Isn’t it supposed to take like fourteen years? HARRISON Only if you go through a bunch of appeals. We didn’t get any. MELISSA Uh-huh. It’s almost midnight. In a few minutes we’ll be dead. HARRISON You don’t need to remind me. MELISSA There is something odd, though. HARRISON What’s that? MELISSA Why are we being executed together? Isn’t it usually done separately? HARRISON That may be my fault. MELISSA How? HARRISON A few years ago, I suggested to the government ways to save money. This was one of them. MELISSA That figures. It sounds like something you’d do. You know, I shouldn’t even be here. HARRISON Why not? You’re just as guilty as me. MELISSA But I stopped you from killing Cheryl. That should count for something. HARRISON You also confessed to helping me kill Matthew. And trying to kill Cheryl the first time. That doesn’t count for anything. MELISSA I still think I should have gotten life, at most. HARRISON Stop whining. After several seconds have passed. MELISSA I hate this waiting. Do you want to talk about something? HARRISON Like what? The weather? MELISSA That reminds me. The weather forecast said something about thunderstorms around this time. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and there’ll be a power failure. Then they’ll have to postpone. HARRISON Don’t bet on it. Besides, that would only delay the inevitable. MELISSA Speaking of delaying things, I thought you had the governor in your pocket. HARRISON No, that was the old one. Didn’t get a chance with the new one. So I wouldn’t count on him saving us. MELISSA I hope it doesn’t hurt too much, and happens fast. HARRISON I wouldn’t count on that, either. The way they botched the last few. MELISSA What? HARRISON Oh, yeah. One of them they had to shock five times. It took twenty minutes to kill him. MELISSA That’s a pleasant thought. Maybe we should have tried to kill them in Texas. Lethal injection has to be better. HARRISON Even those they screw up. MELISSA A guillotine might have been nice. It happens so quick you wouldn’t feel a thing. HARRISON Well, then we should have done it in France in the eighteenth century. MELISSA In Saudi Arabia we’d be waiting for them to stone us. HARRISON In Utah it’d be a firing squad. MELISSA Uh, Dad. HARRISON What? MELISSA There’s not much time left, and there’s something I need to say. HARRISON Yes? MELISSA I know it’s a little late for it, but I want to apologize for having such a big mouth. You were right. I should have kept quiet. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that. HARRISON It’s all right. I kind of understand. You panicked. MELISSA It was more than that. I didn’t just panic. I really did feel guilty about all that’s happened. HARRISON I should have known better than to drag you into it, that you wouldn’t have the stomach for it. You’re just too soft-hearted, like your mother. MELISSA Sorry about that. HARRISON Don’t be. That’s what I liked about your mother...In a way, maybe we deserve this. MELISSA Yeah. HARRISON Maybe resorting to violence to fix problems isn’t the way to go. MELISSA I’m surprised you’d say that. So just now you’re developing a conscience? HARRISON I guess facing death does that to a person. Melissa looks at the clock. MELISSA Here it comes. (counting down) Ten...nine...eight...seven...six... five...four...three...two... Just then the phone rings. There’s a look of shock on their faces. INT. A JAIL CELL - DAY After the stay of execution, Junior visits Melissa and Harrison in jail. HARRISON I still can’t believe the governor stopped the executions, and commuted our sentences to life in prison. JUNIOR And you can thank me for that. HARRISON How? JUNIOR I talked to him and convinced him to do it. HARRISON That’s it? It couldn’t have been that easy. JUNIOR I just did what you would have done. I bought him off. Apparently, he’s just as corrupt as the old governor. HARRISON That’s my boy. Like a chip off the old block. I hope it didn’t cost too much. JUNIOR I did have to liquidate one asset, in particular. MELISSA What asset? JUNIOR I sold the TV network. MELISSA You prick. JUNIOR Just be glad you’re not dead. MELISSA I suppose it doesn’t matter, as long as I’m going to be stuck in here. HARRISON Speaking of that. Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate being alive, but I hate the thought of being here the rest of my life. JUNIOR Don’t worry. I’ve been working on that, too. It’s just a matter of time before I get to the parole board. HARRISON That’s what I love about this country. Everyone has his price. MELISSA I don’t believe this. Haven’t you learned anything? HARRISON Yeah. If I have enough money, I can buy anything I want. MELISSA Uggh. |