CAROLINE HART
has just left the hospital when a car comes around the corner and is headed
straight for her.
CAROLINE
Oh my
God! (screams out)
The car
swerves and Caroline dives out of the way.
CAROLINE
(screams)
Ah…
Cyrus sees
this from inside the hospital and runs out.
CYRUS
(yelling)
Ms.
Hart. Are you okay?
CAROLINE
(breathing
heavily)
Yes. I am.
CYRUS
That car
almost hit you. I saw everything from
inside. What happened?
CAROLINE
I have no
idea. It was like they were
intentionally trying to hit me or something.
CYRUS
(gasps)
Wait. I was right.
My premonition was right. You were in danger!
DR. ANGELA
GIVENS is talking with NURSE KAREN GRISSOM at the nurse’s station.
KAREN
So give me
more details. What is Brian like in
person?
ANGELA
Well, he’s
very charming, and funny, and handsome.
He seemed perfect online, and I figured I’d find something wrong with
him when we met in person. But it didn’t
happen.
KAREN
I know I’m
skeptical on these internet dating things, but I’d be happy to be wrong if you
could finally find someone who will make you happy.
ANGELA
He seemed to
have a good time too. We’ll see if he
calls today.
KAREN
I’m sure he
will.
ANGELA
I wanted to
tell Manny to stop sending me flowers and letters, but I didn’t want to say it
in front of Brian.
KAREN
So you’re
sure it was Manny?
ANGELA
It had to be
him. Who else would do something like
that?
Cyrus and
Caroline run up.
CYRUS
Dr.
Givens. We need your help. Ms. Hart was almost hit by a car.
ANGELA
What?! Caroline, are you alright?
CAROLINE
I’m okay.
KAREN
What
happened?
CAROLINE
I just walked
outside the psych ward and a car came out of nowhere and started coming towards
me.
ANGELA
Did the
driver not see you?
CAROLINE
I’m not
sure. I dove out of the way and the car
kept going.
KAREN
The driver
didn’t even stop.
CAROLINE
No.
ANGELA
Cyrus, did
you see who it was?
CYRUS
It was a blue
car. I’m not sure what type. I don’t know that much about cars. I’m sorry.
ANGELA
That’s
alright. Maybe somebody else saw
something.
CYRUS
Ms. Hart, I
tried to warn you.
KAREN
What are you
talking about Cyrus?
CAROLINE
Angela, is
this guy for real with these premonitions?
He told me I was in danger and now I almost got run down by a car.
ANGELA
Cyrus, is
this what you saw in your premonition?
CYRUS
I didn’t know
what the danger was going to be, just that something terrible was going to
happen. I didn’t want to be right. I swear.
BARBARA is in
the family room alone when MIRANDA walks in.
MIRANDA
Hello, Ms.
Whitman.
BARBARA
Oh, hi
Miranda.
MIRANDA
Do you know
if Paul will be home soon? The cook
wants to know when he should start dinner.
BARBARA
He said he
wouldn’t be gone long. I don’t
know. Look, Miranda, there’s something
I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why is it
that you call Paul “Paul” but you call me “Ms. Whitman”? I don’t get it.
MIRANDA
Oh, I don’t
know. I’ve worked here so long, and he
told me to call him Paul soon after I started.
You haven’t said anything before, but if you’d like me to call you
Barbara, I certainly will.
BARBARA
No. I actually prefer Ms. Whitman, but
thanks.
MIRANDA
I’ll be in
the kitchen.
Miranda walks
away.
BARBARA
(to herself)
Ms.
Whitman. Hmmm. How about Mrs. Ramos?
Paul walks in
with a worried look on his face.
BARBARA
Paul. What’s going on? You look like your best friend just died.
PAUL
I don’t think
I can talk about it, Barbara. I’m going
to go upstairs to lie down.
BARBARA
My God, you
were so happy earlier when you found that damn key. What happened?
PAUL
I’m not sure
what I was expecting, but what I found out is worse than I could have ever
imagined.
BARBARA
Paul, you can
trust me. Why don’t you just tell me
about it? It might make you feel better,
you know.
PAUL
Oh,
Barbara. I wish that were true. But nothing can fix this.
BARBARA
Can you give
me a clue? We’ve been dancing around
this subject for way too long. Tell me
what the problem is here, maybe I can help.
PAUL
(takes a deep
breath)
Barbara. It’s Dante.
BARBARA
Paul, if this
is about Dante coming to work for you again…
PAUL
No, it’s not
that. It’s… about his father.
BARBARA
What? I don’t get it. You’re
this father.
PAUL
No, Barbara,
I’m not. I’m not the only person in this
family not raised by their biological father.
Julia and I adopted Dante as a baby.
BARBARA
Dante is
adopted?!!! Really? I had no idea. Does he know about this?
PAUL
NO! And if I have my way, he never will. The only other person who knows about this is
Caroline Hart. And as long as she keeps
her mouth shut, he never has to know.
BARBARA
But Paul, why
wouldn’t you want Dante to know? He’s
all grown up now. What do you think
he’ll do?
PAUL
Barbara, I
know what it’s like to feel unworthy because of blood ties, or lack thereof,
and I don’t want to do that to him.
BARBARA
Come on,
Paul. You’re not the insecure type. You seem to have turned out just fine knowing
that Richard Ramos wasn’t your father.
PAUL
Regardless,
this is not something I have ever told anyone, and I don’t want you to even
think of breathing a word of this, do you understand?
BARBARA
Of course I
won’t. But what happened today? What has made you so upset about this?
PAUL
It’s a long
story that I don’t want to get into, but basically, my cousin Carlos had a
journal that belonged to my wife. She
had found out who Dante’s biological father was just before she died and his
name was written in that journal. When I
help Carlos’s ex-wife move his things, I managed to locate information about a
post office box that I knew Carlos had kept the journal in. He as much as told me so himself last fall
before he died.
BARBARA
Why did
Carlos have this information and not you?
PAUL
He found the
journal in an old antique dresser that I gave him when he moved into his
house. And once he had this information,
he tried to use it to extort money from me.
BARBARA
But wasn’t he
a doctor? Why would he need your money?
PAUL
Apparently my
cousin had run up some pretty big gambling debts in his last year on earth and
that’s when he confronted me about the journal.
He threatened to tell Dante the truth if I didn’t help pay off his
debts. So I did.
BARBARA
I can’t
believe all this was going on, and you still managed to keep this a secret from
Dante.
PAUL
I wasn’t
going to let Carlos or anyone else bring this secret to light. And now that I have the journal back in my
possession, I can carry this secret to my grave.
BARBARA
So who is
it? Who’s Dante’s father?
PAUL
Barbara, I
can’t talk about this any more. I’ll be
up in my room.
Paul walks
away.
BARBARA
(to herself)
Wow.
ANGELA has
just arrived home from work and puts her purse down on the kitchen table when
the phone rings.
ANGELA
Damien, this
better be you returning my call.
Angela picks
up.
ANGELA
Hello.
BRIAN
Angela, hi,
it’s Brian.
ANGELA
Brian. How are you?
BRIAN
I’m
good. It’s been a long work day.
ANGELA
How’s your
sister?
BRIAN
She’s on her
way back to
ANGELA
I hope
everything is alright.
BRIAN
It will be.
(beat) Look, I’m just calling to tell
you what a wonderful time I had last night with you. I’m glad we finally got to meet in person.
ANGELA
Really?
BRIAN
Come on, you
know I couldn’t take my eyes off you the whole night.
ANGELA
I was telling
my best friend earlier how well it went.
She was quite skeptical before we met.
BRIAN
That was
probably the right attitude to have. But
you never know when things are going to turnaround and go your way.
ANGELA
You’re
right. And I think things are starting
to really turn around for me.
BRIAN
I think the
key is to rid yourself of all the negative energy in your life. I’ve been trying to do that and it seems to
have worked for me.
ANGELA
That’s a good
philosophy to have. I think I need to do
the same.
BRIAN
Look, I have
to run, but again, I had a wonderful time, and I hope we can see each other
again soon.
ANGELA
Definitely. I can’t wait.
BRIAN
Okay. Take care, Angela.
ANGELA
You too,
Brian. Bye.
Angela hangs
up.
ANGELA
Brian’s
right. It’s time to get rid of all the
negative energy in my life.
Angela picks
up the phone and calls Manny.
MANNY
Hello.
ANGELA
Manny, it’s
Angela.
MANNY
Ang!
How did you get my number?
ANGELA
I got it from
Caroline Hart earlier. I was thinking
about calling you and she didn’t think you’d mind.
MANNY
Of course
not. Does this mean you’re ready to talk
to me? About us?
ANGELA
Actually
no. I’m calling to tell you to stop
writing. Stop sending me flowers and to
stay out of my life.
MANNY
Flowers? Writing?
What are you talking about?
ANGELA
You heard
me. Now Goodbye. For good this time.
Angela slams
the phone down.
DANTE RAMOS
and ARDEN MORGAN have just checked into a room.
Dante, thank
you so much for getting us this hotel.
DANTE
It’s getting
late and we can’t do anything until tomorrow anyway.
I don’t mind
sleeping on the floor.
DANTE
I don’t think
it would be right.
DANTE
If you’re
uncomfortable with us sharing a bed, then I’ll sleep in that chair over
there. Chivalry is not dead, you know.
(impressed
with him)
I guess it
isn’t.
DANTE
It’s been a
long day. Why don’t we catch some Z’s.
I’m not sure
I’ll be able to sleep knowing I’ll have to face my mother tomorrow and what
I’ve done.
DANTE
We’re going
to face it together. I said I would look
out for you and I will. Try to get some
rest tonight. I’ll be over here in this
comfy chair.
No,
Dante. You don’t have to sleep over
there. I guess we’re both adults
here. We can share the bed.
DANTE
Score! Just kidding.
You stay on
that side and I’ll be over here. Got it?
DANTE
Yes, mam!