DEATH SENTENCES

The task was to write a script of about 1000 words.  I never wrote a script before but I liked doing this one, then erased it in error, so I thank Matt Hooper for finding a copy in his endless email files and sending it back.  It is like finding a lost pet...   It is locked in the blog and can't escape now.

DEATH SENTENCES

The scene:  

·         7:30 am in the after-party open plan kitchen of a Headingley flat.

·         The room is in dismal disarray and the remnant stale stench of a boozed up crowd lingers.

·         Phil leans with both hands on the edge of the crammed sink, The hot tap is running into an overflowing kettle jammed under it. He stares out blankly at the littered back yard.

A toilet flushes, bathroom door opens, Karl enters:

KARL:   Hey, that was some farewell bash huh?. …..Hey, Phil,! ...Snap-to it mate, kettle’s not getting any fuller.

PHIL: Wha..? yeah,,,,, Oh shit. … Wanna a cup?

KARL: As you asked, sure. You got a cup?

PHIL: Uh, think so, top cupboard.

KARL:  Back yard’s a fuckin waste-land isn’t it? Suppose we will have to sort it, in here too, the whole place is trashed. Who’s the girl on the sofa?

PHIL: The sofa? Dunno. Ask her.

KARL: She’s not up for conversation, tripped over her as I walked past, didn’t wake her. I moved her legs back onto the cushions, never stirred. She’s no-one I know.

PHIL: Get a cup out for her then, we’ll have to get her going before we head off..

KARL: Shit!...Its Monday…. I gotta stop joinin’ in your weekend blow-outs, thank god you’re leaving that place.

PHIL: Yeah, probably best for all. Pass that milk will you…..(sniff) . Wonder if she takes sugar, she’ll need it huh? Go over, wake her up, I’ll bring the tea.

KARL: Hey, you,(shake), wakey wake. Blimey, she can sleep. HEY ! (face-slapping) WAKE-UP!

PHIL: Jeezus! Don’t slap her, for shit sake. You got no fuckin class? Oh Christ! It’s bloody Jenny.

KARL: Jenny who?

PHIL: Jenny….Jenny fuckin Wiles,,, the bitch, she’s been sabotaging me at work for months , I reckon that's what got me on the redundancy list.  What is she doing here? Bloody hell… she’s a mess… What’d she get into last night?

KARL: Dunno but she’s only just breathing.  Man! .. She’s wasted Phil… Here, help me sit her up.

PHIL: Bugger it, clear a space where I can put these teas down….. Right. Let’s be having a look at you then girly,,, Uuuuppp we go….

KARL: She’s as white as a ghost Phil,

PHIL: Bloody cold too.  Shit ... I think we have a problem here….

KARL: You think!? Try and get her to drink something, how hot’s that tea?

PHIL: it’s fine. Hey Jenny, here you go, open your lips, here is some tea for you…….. Shit, Karl, she’s out of it. Go get a blanket, we have to try and warm her up. Here you go, try and take a sip.

Jenny: Cough, garp, hack, moan …cough hack.

KARL: Fuck what are you doing? Trying to drown her? Get outta the way you Neanderthal. Hey there,  gorgeous, how you doing? You OK?

PHIL: She’s not with us Karl. Fuck, this is all we need. Shit it. I have to get ready for work.Shit shit shit. Like I needed this on my first day.

KARL: She’s going yellow! Christ! Call an ambulance Phil, ….DIAL 999!. Don’t just stand there! Hey, come on sweetie, wake up.

PHIL: OK, (into phone) Um, yeah sure. Phil Linksman. Huh? LS6-3PT, What? … Nature?  Oh, right,  A girl has passed out in our flat, she’s pale, going yellow, and, and, she’s hardly breathing …. Yeah, Ambulance I suppose, yeah, number 8, flat 2 . Thank you, yeah we’ll stay by the phone. Okay. ….. (to Karl) They said a response crew will be here in five…. Hey, Karl, here, take the phone, I   gotta get dressed, keep her warm, and keep trying to wake her. I’ll come back and take over.

KARL: (into phone) What? No he’s passed the phone to me. What? Karl Mussen, ….No just  sharing. He’s gone to the bathroom….to get ready for work….. She’s barely breathing, all cold. No.  No drugs, I don’t think, plenty of booze though probably….

JENNY: crkra cough, uuurrr…….(soft groan, exhale).

KARL: Oh shit! What the?...I, I think she’s stopped breathing….What do I do? PHIL!! GET THE FUCK        BACK OUT HERE!

PHIL: What the?!?

KARL: What’d I do?  ... She’s pissed herself, and, and,  oh christ, she’s stopped breathing.

PHIL: Quick. Lay her down. I’ll give her CPR

KARL: OK, …okay. Shit, where did you learn to do that?.... Aren’t you supposed to……                         
(sound effect :: KNOCK - KNOCK - KNOCK, door opens) …..                  

Zoe: We’re the Ambulance Response unit, We were just up the road when we got the call, Where’s the patient?

KARL: Thank god, Come through, she’s over there….

Zoe: Right. Move away sir. Steve!, Oxygen! Now! And prep 100 mill adrenalin ….. Status report. No Pulse, No respiration….. Re-commencing CPR, Get me a saliva kit Steve,   we need to know what this one’s been on.

Steve: Oxygen, mask attached. Flow 200. And Zoe, … I’ve hot keyed  for police support. Will I take the         swab now?

Zoe:  Good thinking. Pulse not detected, no respiration…. CPR continuing, ... Yeah quick, take the swab.     OK….Now, ... Gentlemen…..Has she taken any drugs?

(KARL: PHIL: together)
KARL: I don’t think so,
PHIL: not since she’s been here.

Zoe: Were there any drugs here, any at all guys?  This is important, we need to know so we can treat her.

PHIL: There were no drugs, … Shit ... Unless she bought them.

Steve: Swab indicates PCP and amphetamines,,,,,, they’re off the scale Zoe.  She's OD.

Zoe: Right. Adrenalin, administering, one shot. …. CPR ongoing….. Steve, check for pulse.

Steve: she’s not responding.
(sound effect: KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, door flies open again)

Carol:  I’m Sergeant Tanner, responding to a fatality callout at this address. Who’s in charge here?

Zoe: (still pumping CPR)   Me, officer. But you got the wrong message, I have not declared yet.  Drug test showed positive for PCP and amphetamines. Not responding to CPR.

Carol: Who owns the premises?

KARL: Phil does.  

Carol:  Who are you Sir?

KARL:  I'm Karl,  Mussen,  .... I’m here,,, just as a, well a guest of Phil's.

Carol:: Did either of you give her, or see her taking the drugs?

KARL: No

PHIL: No!

Carol: Dispatch is radioing in my ear, they tell me you, are you Phil?

PHIL: Yeah?

Carol:  Phil, on your call in to dispatch, they tell me you handed the call to Karl so you could use the bathroom . Is that correct? 

PHIL:  Yeah, I had to get dressed. 

Carol:  Will you accompany me back there while the team look after your guest please? And…Karl is it? .... You stay here with the medical crew. Do not leave the room okay?
(they move off into the adjoining bathroom)

PHIL: I was only in here getting ready to go to work officer.

Carol: Did you use the lavatory?

PHIL: No. Not this one, I have one next to my room.

Carol: So you wouldn’t know what this syringe is doing in the bowl then?

PHIL: SHIT!!! ... NO! I, I… I,…I’ve never seen it before.

Carol: But you were in here just before the medical team arrived is that correct?

PHIL: Well yeah, all my shaving stuff is in here.

Zoe: (from outside) Officer Tanner? I am declaring mortem at 7:57am.

Carol: Philip Linksman, I am arresting you of suspicion of knowingly contributing to the death of a female in your premises.

PHIL: NNOOO!!  ... THIS IS BULLSHIT !!!

Carol: You have the right to remain silent, but anything you do or say in your defence may be used in          evidence against you.

PHIL: You’ve got it all wrong…. I’ve never seen that needle. I don’t do that shit… it was someone             else…. Let me go, I wasn’t me, I have to get to work, it’s my new job .... This can’t be happening….

Carol: Come along sir it will be best if you didn’t resist. (into lapel microphone) Dispatch?, send backup and forensics to secure this address, there has been a suspicious death. Suspect has been detained.

KARL: What the hell is going on?

PHIL: I’m being arrested for killing Jenny. Shit ! I didn’t do it Karl. Get me some help will you?

KARL: (grinning weirdly) Sure Phil, don’t worry. I’ll look after it ….. Leave it all to me. . .

PHIL: (slowly dawning, then trying to escape the grip) Karl? Did you? Why…would?…….

Carol: (grunting) Come along sir don’t make this any worse for yourself than it is………