Written by Michael Crichton FIRST DRAFT February 18, 1994

h) An account of 24 hours in a Boston hospital emergency ward on March 17, St. Patrick's Day.

RICHIE GREENE ROSS PETER BENTON BETH LEWIS JOHN CARTER MORGENSTERN TRACY YOUNG The Day Shift TIMMY (Clerk) HATHAWAY (Head Nurse) HALEH HOMAYOJIAN (Nurse) WENDY GOLDMAN (Nurse) MALIK (Aide) Hospital Personnel SPECIALIST MORT HARRIS ANAESTHETIST RADIOLOGIST RESIDENT KELLY ADMINISTRATOR SCRUB NURSE #1 SCRUB NURSE #2 ANAESTHETIST #2 SURGEON #1 SURGEON #2 CHERYL (OR Nurse) OR NURSE LEE (Greene's Cute Tech) RACHEL GREENE JENNIFER GREENE PAUL (Lewis's Ex) 5 The Night Shif JERRY (Clerk) OLIGARIO (Head Nurse) LYDIA WOODWARD (Nurse) PAM PEREZ (Nurse) PAULIE (Aide)

CAST (CONT'D) PATIENTS Act One TROOPER WILSON (severed hand) JACKSON (chest injury) WOMAN (vomits blood) BARR (hits on Lewis) FITZKEE (workman's comp) REZEK (shoulder fracture) CANELLI (his father's dead) Act Two HARPER (woman w/cut) MOTHER (kid w/infected ear) ERVIN (Black who wants tests) GRANDCHILD (with sword) MARTIN (cop who shot himself) LOGAN (tense mother) MRS. MARTIN (cop's wife) INTERPRETER CABBY PREGNANT WOMAN Act Three CONFUSED WOMAN (one line) MRS. O'ROURKE (librarian) KAREN (kid swallowed key) CHILD (key kid) ELDERLY MAN (security) PARKER (man with cancer) Act Four MRS. RASKIN (hangnail) GIRL (ectopic pregnancy) FATHER (arguing over kid) WIFE (arguing over kid) Act Five ROOMMATE (Hathaway's) SUZANNE (wrecked dad's car) DAD LILY (mother insists on shot) KID Act Six WAITRESS TEDDY (appendicitis) LAWKOWSKI (scared guy) HARVEY (aneurysm) MRS. HARVEY Act Seven PRETTY GIRL (burn legs) LLEWELLYN (insomniac) ANNETTE (abused child) COP (brings in diabetic) MURPHY (drunk)

ACT ACT ACT ACT ACT ACT ACT III v Vi VII ER OF DA 5:00 AM TO 8:30 AM 9:00 AM TO 11:30 AM 11:30 AM TO 4:00 PM 7:00 PM TO 10:00 PM 10:00 PM TO 12:00 AM 12:00 AM TO 2:00 AM 2:00 AM TO 5:00 AM

ERIORS: HOSPITAL Room Treatment Room Corridor Waiting Room Admitting Area Corridor Ambulance Entrance Examining Room Another Examining Room Surgical Examining Room Another Surgical Room Hallway Doctor's Lounge Cafeteria Lab Suture Room Lobby Surgeon's Changing Room ANOTHER HOSPITAL (MODERN) Harris Group Office EXTERIORS: HOSPITAL Emergency Entrance

ER ACT ONE BLACK SCREEN (INT. HOSPITAL ROOM) Sound of SNORING. Flash on MAIN TITLE. BRING UP a low MURMUR of non-specific b.g. noise. A glaring white rectangle appears, and a silhouetted female figure: nurse has opened the door, WOODWARD. WOODWARD (silhouetted) Doctor Greene... Doctor Greene. GREENE (0.8S.) Uuuuh. What is it? WOODWARD Patient for you, Doctor Greene. In the light of the open door, we see RICHIE GREENE, a a medical resident in his mid-thirties, lies sprawled on a stretcher in his whites. Without opening his eyes: GREENE Can't the intern take it? WOODWARD It's for you, Doctor. Greene groans, coming awake. GREENE What time is it? WOODWARD Five o'clock. As she speaks, he sits up, looks at his watch. GREENE All right. Can't the intern take it? WOODWARD It's Doctor Ross. GREENE (yawning) Oh, Doctor Ross. All right. Find me a room and an eye-vee set, I'll be right there. He stands, looks at his watch, shakes his head, and exits the room; CAMERA FOLLOWS. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 1 He comes out into a relatively blindingly white corridor of a big city emergency room, and walks along it, still barely awake. Distantly, we hear SOMEBODY SINGING "WILD THING." Greene comes around the corner to find a good-looking MAN in his thirties, leaning across the clerical desk, singing vigorously. The night clerk, JERRY, is looking a little disgusted. The man wears sportcoat and tie, and is very drunk. Greene walks up behind him, puts an arm around his shoulder. GREENE Come on, Tom. ROSS Richie-boy... ocooh, did I wake you up? GREENE (yawning) Come on, Tom. ROSS You're a real friend. I want you to know that, a real friend, to get out of bed for me. GREENE 'Sall right. We have a room? JERRY Room three is free. ROSS Room three is free. Three is free, free for three. GREENE Come on, Tom. He leads Ross down the corridor. Ross flings an arm over Greene's shoulder, and starts singing again: "Wild Thing." They go down the hall, and into a room. INT. TREATMENT ROOM 2 Woodward is setting up an I.V. stand by the bed. Greene is rocking back and forth, half asleep on his feet. Ross is taking off his sportcoat, and talking. The whole thing has the aspect of a well-known routine. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 2 ROSS I want you to know, Richie, I really appreciate this, you may have noticed, I am a little under the weather... (to Nurse) Dee five W, no sterile solution, I need the dextrose. GREENE (absently) Give him six hundred milligrams of ASA. ROSS Aspirin, that's a good idea, I almost forgot aspirin, that's good thinking, Doctor... While he is talking, he's rolling up one sleeve, and lying down on the couch. Greene is tourniquetting the forearm, and swabbing it. Ross lies back. ROSS Oh, Richie, you should have seen her, you should have seen the knockers, I mean the rack on that girl, and she said to me, 'I didn't know pediatricians could be so sexy,' and I said, 'honey, you ain't seen nothing yet...' (winces, looks over) Everything okay? GREENE (inserts needle) Just lie down, Tom. ROSS Gimme a fast drip, I need the hydration.. GREENE Don't worry, Tom. Ross lies back, then suddenly sits up again, drunkenly solicitous. ROSS How is Jennifer, Richie? How is your beautiful wife? (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: (2) GREENE Jennifer's fine, Tom... ROSS You settle your problems? GREENE Everything's fine, Tom, just lie back. ROSS That's good, Richie. We'd hate to lose you in the ER. (sighs) I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, I really do... Ross is out cold. Woodward comes in with the aspirin and a cup of water. WOODWARD Here's the aspirin... She looks, stops. Greene is taping down the IV needle. GREENE Give him two thousand cc's in a fast-drip, keep an eye on it, don't let it run dry. WOODWARD Does he always do this? GREENE Only on his nights off. (turns to leave) I'm going to bed. Wake me at six-thirty. He leaves. Woodward steps forward, adjusts the flow valve on Ross's IV. INT. CORRIDOR 3 TRACKING Greene as he goes back to his room, enters, closes the door, and lies down on the stretcher again in all his clothes. He sighs, and drops to sleep. Almost immediately, a rectangle of light crosses his body. WOODWARD (0.S.) Doctor Greene. (CONTINUED)

3 CONTINUED: Woodward enters the room and shakes him gently. The rectangle of light disappears. Dark again. GREENE Uuuuh. WOODWARD (0.S.) Doctor Greene. GREENE (dreaming) I told him I wouldn't buy that refrigerator, and I won't. WOODWARD Doctor Greene. Richie. GREENE (coming awake) What is it? Can't the intern take it? WOODWARD Can I give Mrs. Williston more morphine? She's complaining of pain. GREENE Give her ten milligrams eye-em. WOODWARD Thanks, Richie. immediately: WOODWARD (0.S.) Dr. Greene. Greene rolls toward the light. GREENE What is it? WOODWARD (0.S.) It's six-thirty, Doctor Greene. Almost He gets up, rubs his face. CAMERA MOVES CLOSE TO him. BRING UP sound of SIRENS.

TV IMAGE - A SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSING - DAY In horrific SLOW MOTION, a scaffolding begins to buckle, the workmen slipping, clinging and then falling, some of them free-fall as boards and steel rods slam down like missiles, striking cars and pedestrians below... Mayhem Screams. .. TV ANNOUNCER (V.0.) This was the scene at 8:15 this morning at a construction site on the Loop, where a scaffolding collapsed during rush hour. A local cameraman took this extraordinary footage of the tragedy, which so far has left at least twelve people injured... THE WAITING ROOM PETER BENTON, a cocky surgical resident, coming to work, sees the TV set. He immediately spins to: INT. ADMITTING AREA TIMMY, the day admitting clerk, is talking on the phone, writing. TIMMY Yes, well, how many do you figure? You got any estimate of the extent of the injuries? Yeah, okay. How long until they arrive? Oh yeah? That soon... He hangs up. SIRENS still BUILDING. Timmy turns to HATHAWAY, the attractive day head nurse: TIMMY Notify the floors, scaffolding collapse on the Loop, they're bringing in ten people, seven critical. BENTON (breezy) Good day for us surgeons... Benton keeps going. Hathaway goes to a wall phone and dials; Timmy also dials. SIRENS BUILD. INT. A CORRIDOR Greene give morning orders to his STUDENT, who makes notes. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: GREENE Mrs. Williston in room four needs a crit and count; the man in five has a question A.M.I. and ought to have a sed rate, $.6.0.T., L.D.H., cardiac enzymes and another 12-lead. The guy in six needs a rectal for bleeding, he may have a C.A. of the bowel, you better rush him for a set of lower GI's, X-ray will say they can't do it but convince them, then the woman in seven is a possible pancreatitis, so we want enzyme levels. Dr. Ross is in eight, sleeping it off, wake him up and get him out of there. In nine, I need a uric acid, a blood sugar, and a -- With SIRENS BUILDING, Benton strolls past them.: GREENE -- you know what that's about? BENTON (nonchalant) Scaffolding collapsed on the Loop, they're sending a dozen hot ones. GREENE (to student) Forget all that stuff. Who's on now? BENTON Just us, guy. GREENE (to student) Call Beth Lewis, call the seventh and eighth floor, tell 'em we need anybody they can spare. INT. AMBULANCE ENTRANCE DOORS As they slam open, and blue-uniformed STATE TROOPERS wheel in the first of the stretchers with blood-spattered victims. As they pass the admitting desk. TIMMY Room three... that way! (CONTINUED)

10 11 CONTINUED: The troopers wheel the stretchers. Hathaway with a clipboard trots alongside it. The patient is a man in a suit; most of his body is covered with a blanket, but his shoulders and a part of his face are bloody. HATHAWAY What's your name, sir? Tell me your name! AMBULANCE ENTRANCE DOORS Another patient on another stretcher, banging through. Timmy passes out forms: TIMMY Room six... That way! The troopers hesitate. TROOPER Which way? TIMMY (pointing) That way! AN EXAMINING ROOM Ross is sitting up, pulling out his I.V. A bloody body wheeled into the room next to him. ROSS Och boy. Good morning. THE AMBULANCE ENTRANCE The doors swing open again, another patient: TIMMY Surgical one, down to the end and right, first door to the right. The patient, EDWARD WILSON, a middle-aged and distinguished-looking man, appears neat and trim except for his left hand which is wrapped in a bloody towel. CAMERA STAYS WITH the rolling stretcher. The nurse is new, uncertain, GOLDMAN GOLDMAN What's your name? (CONTINUED) 10 11

11 CONTINUED: 11 WILSON Edward Wilson. GOLDMAN (writing) Mr. Wilson, what is your address? WILSON Forty-seven. .. (wincing) forty-seven... GOLDMAN Mr. Wilson... uh, sir... uh... We come around the corner and suddenly, Benton is there, directing, totally in charge. Not casual now. BENTON Come on, come on, get him in here, how you doing, sir? Everything's gonna be fine. Is it your hand? Wilson nods weakly. BENTON Okay, let's have a look at it. Light! Light! Let's get moving now. Sorry about your suit, sir... A team of workers has descended upon Mr. Wilson, including several orderlies who are cutting away his expensive suit. BENTON (unwrapping towel) You'll be fine, Mr. Wilson, just think pleasant thoughts. (to team) Let's have a crit and count, cross match and get it to the bank, we got a pre-op here, notify the OR and get us a room, call vascular... (glancing at hand) ... and call orthopedic, get them hopping, this is their lucky day. Your hand's still attached, Mr. Wilson, not by much but it'll be okay. I want an EKG and a BUN, now let's move it. You feel anything in your hand, Mr. Wilson? Wilson shakes his head weakly. (CONTINUED)

11 12 13 10. CONTINUED: 11 BENTON We're gonna save your hand for you, Mr. Wilson, don't you worry about a thing. AMBULANCE ENTRANCE 12 The doors swing open again, and another victim, a woman of forty, gray hair, and streaks of blood in it; there is a bandage over part of her face. TIMMY Room seven. Room seven. (watches stretcher go) What a way to start the day. Morning, Dr. Lewis. BETH LEWIS, thirties, is running down the corridor. LEWIS Hiya, Timmy. EXAMINING ROOM 13 Clusters of people working on the injured patient: cutting away the clothing, removing shoes, taking blood pressure, drawing blood, starting an I.V. line, sometimes as many as three people working on a single arm. The patient, JACKSON, is a man. Dialogue is fast. GREENE (close to his face) Mr. Jackson, where does it hurt? JACKSON (weak) My chest. GREENE Does it hurt when you breathe? Jackson nods. Greene picks up his stethoscope. GREENE Have you coughed any blood? JACKSON No. GREENE You ever been in a hospital before? (CONTINUED)

13 14 11. CONTINUED: 13 JACKSON Once. Broke my leg. GREENE (stethoscope to ears) Let me listen. He applies stethoscope to chest. While he listens, Lewis appears in doorway; they exchange glances, she moves on. ANOTHER EXAMINING ROOM 14 Ross, still in his street clothes, shirtsleeves and tie, drawing blood from the gray-haired WOMAN with streaks of blood. A nurse stands by, HALEH HOMAYOJIAN. ROSS Can you move your legs? Move your legs for me, ma'am. He continues to draw blood, while looking back to see a leg move, then another. ROSS Very good. You have any pain in your head? Your neck? WOMAN No. ROSS Very good. Now I want... Explosively, she vomits blood all over his shirt and tie. It's shocking but he barely misses a beat. ROSS . I want you to tell me if it hurts you to breathe. WOMAN No... no... ROSS (to Haleh) She's going into shock. Cover her up, get her matched and start two units as soon as you can with pressure bags. Get the surgeons in here. This is no place for a pediatrician. (CONTINUED)

14 15 16 12. CONTINUED: 14 Only then does he look down at his bloody shirt and tie, noticing it for the first time. AMBULANCE DOORS 15 slamming open, and another body coming through. A young man, 20's, bearded, workshirt visible above the blanket, BARR. The clerk asks: TIMMY How many more? TROOPER At least two. Third one's decaptitated. HATHAWAY (to Timmy) What'd he say? TIMMY He said two more coming. SURGICAL EXAMINING ROOM 16 Two SPECIALISTS examine Wilson's injured hand, which still lies in the bloody towel. Benton delivers a speech to their backs. BENTON No sensation radial, median or ulnar, no pulses, temperature and color as you see, we elevated it, he's gotten five hundred cc's of saline by push, crit's thirty-two- five, he's been sent for typing and cross matching: X-ray is waiting, and the O0.R. says they'll have a room for you in twenty minutes. SPECIALIST Okay. Let's get him out of here. The Patient is wheeled out of the room. The Specialists start to leave with him, but Benton pulls one back. BENTON Listen, you think you can keep that hand? (CONTINUED)

13. 16 CONTINUED: 16 SPECIALIST It looks pretty good. I think so. BENTON That's good. I told him you'd keep it for him. He's counting on you. SPECIALIST Peter, you're a smartass. (leaning close) You'd like to do this case yourself, wouldn't you? Benton is caught -- that's exactly what he wants. He covers with a joke, imitating Rocky: BENTON I could do it. Yeah. I feel strong. I feel ready. I could do it, yeah. SPECIALIST You're just a second year resident, Peter. Hyper down. 17 CLOSEUP - BEARDED PATIENT'S FACE 17 He's the man we've seen earlier, Barr. A woman's hand touches the forehead. LEWIS (0.S.) You got a two centimeter incision there to sew up; call the stud, get him going. Her hand moves down, turning the head left and right. LEWIS (0.S.) Neck okay? BARR Yeah. LEWIS Now you have this abrasion on your shoulder but it's minor. How many fingers? She holds up three fingers. (CONTINUED)

17 CONTINUED: BARR Three. LEWIS What's your name? BARR John Barr. LEWIS Where are you? BARR Cook County Memorial. LEWIS What day is this? BARR St. Patrick's Day. LEWIS You're fine. (to assistant) Get a set of plain skulls and keep him for observat ion in case he has a fracture. Vital signs Q-fifteen for two hours. (to patient) You're going to be just fine, Mr. Barr. 14. Barr is grinning at her, half in relief, and half in a sexual come-on. BARR You're beautiful. LEWIS Thank you. BARR You married? LEWIS No. I'm a doctor. BARR Well then, listen -- LEWIS (patting arm, smiling) Take care of yourself. You don't want to fall on your in one day. face twice 17

15. 18 ANOTHER SURGICAL ROOM Benton gently palpates the abdomen of the gray-haired Woman. BENTON How much did she vomit? HALEH Couple hundred cc's. All over Dr. Ross. BENTON Deep breath, ma'am... that's good... now another... any pain? No? How about here? The patient winces abruptly. He pauses Almost as on a run, BENTON All right, ma'am, it's going to be fine... (to Malik) Call the O0.R. and get a room. Have Ashley and what's-his-name get a look at her if they're around. What's her crit? MALIK Twenty-three. BENTON Forget Ashley. Get her up to the floor right away, you got a crush injury to the duodenum and... to look at the Woman, who is unconscious. BENTON Ah hell. (touches her neck) No pulse, she's coded. Code blue! he speaks, PEOPLE begin pouring into the room taking up positions around the body. BENTON Get a time, it just happened. HALEH Six forty-seven. (CONTINUED) 18

18 19 20 16. CONTINUED: 18 BENTON I knew I should have had breakfast this morning. Paddles! Come on! I want four milligrams epinephrine and 275 lidocaine, now! (takes paddles, looks at monitor) That's a shockable rhythm. Come on! What do you think this is, the World's Fair? NEAR THE AMBULANCE DOORS 19 The doors swing open, and two more stretchers fly in. TIMMY Surgical two, and surgical three, down and around to the right. (to Goldman running past) We got anybody in those rooms? Goldman just shrugs. Hathaway comes up to Timmy. HATHAWAY Call Pathology: we got a customer who isn't going to be charged for services. IN AN EXAMINING ROOM 20 CLOSE ON AN ASHEN DEAD FACE as Lewis closes the eyes and pulls the sheet over the man's Italian face. In the adjacent bed, Greene is probing a man's back, FITZKEE. Fitzkee's on his side, away from the death. But Greene has seen. GREENE Hurt there? All right, now, I'm going to check your kidneys... (pounds lower back) That hurt? FITZKEE No. GREENE Okay, you can lie back. You know what? All you've got is a fracture of your ankle. Everything else is fine. (CONTINUED)

20 21 CONTINUED: FITZKEE Hey, Doc, do I get worker's comp? Greene looks disgusted. He turns to leave. GREENE The story is, you're still alive. FITZKEE Yeah, I know, but I got a few bills, and -- As Greene moves away, the patient sees the dead body beside him. FITZKEE Oh. GREENE (leaving) Yeah. INT. BENTON'S SURGICAL EXAMINING ROOM An aide, Malik, sticking his head into the room. MALIK Dr. Benton, you have patients in surgical two and three, one of them looks bad. BENTON (still resusicitating) That's nice, but you see, this lady's heart's stopped and she needs it pretty badly. Call the AR. MALIK The other residents are in surgery. BENTON Well, get some of them out of surgery. (flaring anger) Can't you see I'm busy? Time? HALEH Two minutes. BENTON (to patient) Come on, honey. You're making me a little nervous here. 17. 20 21

22 18. INT. SURGICAL EXAMINING ROOM 22 A MAN SCREAMING on a stretcher, writhing, sweating: MR. REZEK. REZEK Aaaah! Give me something! It hurts! Ah, God! TWO UNIFORMED TROOPERS stand helplessly at either side of him, not knowing what to do. Lewis enters the room. LEWIS Okay, what've we got? (examining patient) Get his clothes off him. The Troopers look perplexed. LEWIS Come on, get his goddamned clothes off him! She herself is unbuttoning Rezek's shirt and pulling away his tie. He is screaming. REZEK Gimme something! I can't stand it! LEWIS Just a minute, sir, everything is going to be... She hesitates -- she has uncovered his shoulder: exposed white jagged bones piercing the flesh. LEWIS just fine. We'll get you something for pain, just hold on. Does anything else hurt? REZEK My knee. Bad. Aaaah! At this moment, HATHAWAY comes into the room. She goes past the troopers slipping off the man's shoes, directly to Lewis' side. LEWIS Get the bloods, start an IV, notify X-ray we have at least one fracture and call orthopedics. HATHAWAY Okay, Beth. (CONTINUED)

22 23 19. CONTINUED: 22 LEWIS And give him half a cc of tetanus and five of morphine right away. Ross sticks his head in the door. The cops stare at his bloody shirt front: he looks like a butcher. ROSS Anybody need help? LEWIS Check his knee. THE WAITING AREA 23 Greene comes out, reads his filecard. GREENE Mrs. Canelli?... Anybody here named Canelli? Anybody here a relative of Mr. Antonio Canelli? A young man of 25 stands. Tense. Dressed in a Bekins uniform. CANELLI I'm his son. GREENE I'm Richie Greene, hi. As they shake hands, Greene steers him away from the others, quietly. CANELLI My father... he's here? GREENE (quietly) As you know, Mr. Canelli, he was in the accident this morning. If you would come with me... CANELLI (shouting) No! Just tell me! 1Is he here! Tell me! Greene tells him, a whisper. The reaction is immediate. Canelli lunges, begins to pound Greene with clenched fists. (CONTINUED)

23 24 20. CONTINUED: 23 CANELLI You bastard you bastard you bastard, don't say that! My er! What are you bastard damn. .. Greene deflects the blows, which are wild. Canelli turns and starts to pound and kick the wall. Greene tries to comfort him, to keep him from injuring himself. Others waiting are staring. GREENE I'm sorry, Mr. Canelli... CANELLI You're sorry?... The others in the waiting room stare dully; they can't hear the words but they know what's happening and they could be next. Canelli sits, starts to cry. Greene comforts him. SURGICAL EXAMINING ROOM 24 Rezek is still writhing. Hathaway withdraws a needle. LEWIS Okay, Mr. Rezek, you should feel better in a minute... REZEK What'd you give me? LEWIS Morphine. We're going to get you -- BENTON (entering with Malik) OR's waiting for him. Sir, we'll take you up right now. Let's go. They start to wheel him out. The trolley bumps the door, the man winces and cries out. BENTON Easy there! Sorry, sir, but you're going to be just fine, you'll be good as new... (etc.) Ross and Lewis are alone in the room. They both sigh, exhausted, and an ORDERLY comes in to clean up; they hurry out of the room.

25 INT. THE HALLWAY They come out into the hallway. gone. ROSS There any others? HATHAWAY (passing) No, that's it. LEWIS (incredulous) That's it? HATHAWAY Yeah. Last two were D.O.A. LEWIS So that's it. HATHAWAY Yeah. For now. END OF ACT ONE FADE OUT. 21. It's clear, stretchers 25

26 22. FADE IN: THE DOCTOR'S LOUNGE 26 A cheaply furnished room off the waiting room. Here the interns and residents write their reports; there is a coffee machine in the corner; newspapers and patient charts scattered all over the place. Benton, Greene, and Lewis slumped on couches and chairs, watching TV. TV ANNOUNCER (V.0.) And now, here are the headlines for nine o'clock this March seventeenth, St. Patrick's Day. The Japanese Prime Minister said today that Tokyo would end tariffs on rice and other agricultural goods, drawing immediate response... The NEWS continues over. The three stare dully at the set. When they finally talk, their conversation is desultory; they are exhausted before nine AM. GREENE What happened to Ross? BENTON He went to change. Somebody barfed on him. That lady. LEWIS That lady who arrested? BENTON Yeah. LEWIS She make it? BENTON Yeah. We got her going again. She's in atrial fib, but she's going. She's only fifty. GREENE What about that guy's hand? BENTON Still in surgery. They'll be working on that all day. Anybody want any coffee? (CONTINUED)

26 23. CONTINUED: LEWIS Yeah, I do. BENTON How do you take it? LEWIS The same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. BENTON (getting up) They call me a smartass. LEWIS (to Greene) You get any sleep last night? GREENE About an hour. LEWIS I wish you could buy a sleep in a can, like a beer. I'd buy a six pack. BENTON (yawning) The day is just beginning... (no coffee) Damn it, the nurses have been in here again, raiding the coffee. Why don't they make their own. I'm going to tell 'em... He storms toward the door. GREENE LEWIS Never mind. Never mind. He stops, hand on the knob. BENTON Yeah, never mind. He pauses, then kicks the door hard, wincing, his foot hurts. He heads back. GREENE Don't we get some new students today? (CONTINUED) 26

26 CONTINUED: (2) LEWIS Ross and I do. hope they're good. The last two were really hopeless. 24, Hathaway comes in the room with a stack of charts. Greene gets up to get it. Greene looks at his watch, winces. Everybody concerned. HATHAWAY Is something wrong? BENTON You bet there is, we're out of coffee again, because the nurses have been taking it, that's what's wrong. HATHAWAY (shrugging) Make some more. BENTON Make some more. We work thirty- six hours on, eighteen off, which is ninety hours a week, fifty-two weeks a year, and for that we are paid twenty-three thousand, seven hundred and thirty-nine dollars... before taxes... and... we also have to make the coffee. HATHAWAY (leaving) My heart is breaking. BENTON Well, it's true. Where's the filters? GREENE In the fridge. GOLDMAN Dr. Greene, your wife is waiting in the cafeteria. GREENE Damn. Be right there. Goldman sticks her head in. He forgot. in the room looks over at him. Openly (CONTINUED) 26

26 27 CONTINUED: (3) GREENE It's fine. Everything He exits. INT. HOSPITAL CAFETERIA - MORNING CLOSE ON RACHEL, a girl of four, 25. is fine. spooning cereal as her attractive mother, JENNIFER, watches. RACHEL I don't want any more. JENNIFER Just a few more bites, Rachel. Greene comes up, rubs his daughter's head. GREENE Hi, Rach. (kisses wife) Sorry, Jen, we got busy... RACHEL Dad, I don't want any more. JENNIFER You're always busy. GREENE (sitting down) Yeah, I guess we are. RACHEL It tastes ucky. JENNIFER It's so hard to plan, I thought we were going to have breakfast together. .. GREENE We had a big one. Scaffolding collapsed, twelve major cases, lotta trauma. JENNIFER (concerned) You getting any sleep? GREENE Oh, sure. I'm okay. (CONTINUED) 26 27

27 CONTINUED: JENNIFER You look tired, Richie. RACHEL Yeah, Dad, you look tired. GREENE (joking; to daughter) Oh I do, do I? JENNIFER Your eyes. RACHEL And your ears, too. GREENE (smiling) My ears are tired? Sounds terrible. GREENE 26. Sitting beside his daughter, he points to cereal. You going to eat any more of that? (she shakes "no" Can I? He starts eating the rest of her cereal. RACHEL It's ucky. Jennifer is watchful through all this. agenda today. JENNIFER So: what have you decided, Richie? GREENE About what? JENNIFER About the meeting today. With Harris. GREENE I'll go. JENNIFER You won't forget? Or get too busy? She has her own (CONTINUED) 27

27 28 29 30 27. CONTINUED: (2) 27 GREENE Promise. JENNIFER Because I know they're looking for a new associate, and this could be the perfect time -- GREENE Jen, I'll go. Really. JENNIFER I just think, you join a practice, and we could have a life, you could come home for dinner, see your family, be a normal human being. .. GREENE (edge) I'1l meet Harris today. Okay? JENNIFER Okay. Good. just... I hope you like it. Greene nods, eats. Doesn't answer. THE DOCTOR'S LOUNGE 28 The TV shows preparations for the St. Patrick's Day parade. Benton, and Lewis now have coffee. Benton stands by the door, looking through the little window in the door out at the admitting area. BENTON Oh, will you look... at... that. The others get up to look, crowding around the window. WHAT THEY SEE 29 Standing by the admitting desk is a young man with a white coat, obviously A MEDICAL STUDENT. He is in every respect immaculate. He is asking questions of Timmy. BACK TO SCENE 30 GREENE That's the first tailored white coat I've ever seen. (CONTINUED)

30 31 32 CONTINUED: 28. BENTON Isn't he lovely? Lovely. LEWIS GREENE Think he knows anything? LEWIS He knows how to dress. Well, he's my out. BENTON student, I'1l1l find He goes out the door. We see Benton go up and greet the Student. They shake hands. BENTON AND THE STUDENT John Carter. Peter Benton. student? STUDENT BENTON You're the surgical CARTER (STUDENT) Yes. Third year. (rapid BENTON fire) Well, we'll be spending a lot of time together. Let me show you around, so you'll be oriented. This is the admitting desk, if you need somebody paged or a chart called up, get it here. This is Timmy, he cracks under pressure, don't bother him. (as Timmy frowns) Now this way is the lab... He leads Carter off. THE LAB Small, efficient, messy. They poke their heads in. (CONTINUED) 30 31 32

32 33 29. CONTINUED: 32 BENTON We do crits, counts, spindowns, the technician's on until two A.M., otherwise do it yourself. Chemistries get marked with these slips and put at the desk. Mark everything 'stat' whether you want it fast or not. The chem lab is 7022 and the heme lab is 6944, memorize 'em, you'll be on the phone a lot. He exits. Carter hurries to follow. THE HALLWAY 33 They walk briskly. Carter confused, as they stop at a cart. BENTON We have four IV carts. 1In this place, everybody gets an IV the minute they come through the door. Use an angiocath with a sixteen needle, you need a large bore in case they're bleeding and you have to transfuse them by push. You know how to start an IV? CARTER Actually, ah... No. BENTON I thought you were third year. CARTER All I've done is dermatology and psychiatry. BENTON (disdainful) The well-dressed specialties. You'll find that surgeons actually try to help people, not just bill them. Benton picks up some of the IV paraphernalia in disposable plastic packets, which he tears open while talking at breakneck speed. (CONTINUED)

33 CONTINUED: Carter is BENTON Okay, here's your angiocath, the best way to go is low, pull the 30. skin tight so the veins don't roll, and slip it in. Once you're in, pull this gizmo back, and tape the thing down. Now... this is Barbara Hathaway, she's the head nurse, John CARTER Hi. HATHAWAY (passing) Hi. BENTON ... she's terrific, keep your hands off her, she goes with an orthopod who was a Big Ten tackle and looks like King Kong. Now once you have the angiocath in the vein, you hook it up to your tubing here, like so, here's your flowball, up is faster, down is slower. Got it? confused, nods. Benton still going fast. BENTON You want a slowish drip, maybe once every second or two. (picks up bottles) IV fluids are dee-five W and sterile saline and if you mix up antibiotics, you inject it straight into the bottles, and be sure to label 'em, with the date, use tape. You know how to tear tape. CARTER Well, uh... BENTON Man, you don't know anything important about being a doctor. To be a doctor you got to tear tape right, the patients are looking to see if you know what you're doing. Pull like so, and tear vertically. Hmm? (MORE) (CONTINUED)

31. 33 CONTINUED: (2) 33 BENTON (CONT'D) Before you put the IV in tear a few lengths of tape, put 'em by the bedside, so you're ready to tape up as soon as you're in the vein. Armboards are in every room, that's all there is to it. Okay? He drops the needle and tubing in Carter's hands, walks on. Carter follows, examining it. CARTER Okay. .. They pass a stretcher in the hallway. A small boy is curled-up on it, in street clothes. He looks isolated. Nobody around him. BENTON (to Goldman) Get Dr. Ross. this kid alone? Is his family here? I mean, he's all alone here. GOLDMAN Dr. Ross is off the floor. BENTON Never leave a kid alone like this. They walk on. BENTON All along here are medical examining rooms. This is where the pill-pushers kill their victims. But if the surgical EKG is on the blink, you can steal one of theirs. You know how to do an EKG? No? Get one of the girls to show you, I can't do everything. Here's the surgical rooms... 34 INT. SURGICAL ROOM 34 BENTON This is where the real action is. We use this phone to call the O.R.: extension 6440, memorize it. X-ray is around the corner, they're a bunch of idiots, they scare the shit out of the patients and make 'em wait too long, so whenever you can, go with your patients to X-ray and don't let 'em get scared or hurt.

35 BACK IN THE HALLWAY Moving briskly. Carter is visibly sagging. BENTON Mark all X-ray requisitions stat and call for readings. The X-ray residents are always out taking a leak or something, you have to keep on them. Coming the other way is MORGENSTERN, 59, stocky and sarcastic. BENTON And this is Dr. Morgenstern, the head of the ER, don't mess with him, he eats students for breakfast. Morgenstern shakes hands in a friendly way. MORGENSTERN Al Morgenstern. CARTER John Carter. MORGENSTERN When did that severed hand go up? BENTON Vascular took it, an hour ago. MORGENSTERN (to Carter) Dr. Benton is one of our best residents. Learn everything you can from him... except attitude. They walk on. Despite himself, Benton is a little wounded. BENTON He didn't really mean that. MORGENSTERN (0.S.) Yes, I did. They come to the entrance to the suture room. BENTON Here's your room, where you'll be sewing people up. You know how to suture? No. (MORE) (CONTINUED) 32. 35

35 36 33. CONTINUED: BENTON (CONT'D) Okay, I'll show you that one. (to a passing Haleh) We got anybody to sew? HALEH How would I know? BENTON There's a great spirit of camaraderie around here, everybody helps out. Here's the suture room, let's see... INT. SUTURE ROOM It looks like a small version of the surgical room. A fortyish housewife, HARPER, is waiting there with her hand under a RUNNING FAUCET. BENTON Good morning, ma'am, I'm Dr. Benton and this is Dr. Carter. Let's have a look... How'd you do this? HARPER I broke one of the breakfast dishes. BENTON It's a clean cut, we'll have you fixed up in no time... He leads her smoothly along to the little table. BENTON That's it, ma'am, just sit down... Adjust your light so you have plenty of light. Now you'll have to fill out the record, describing the position of the injury and its nature, superficial one point five centimeter laceration of left digital finger, allegedly occurred doing breakfast dishes. Get that alleged in there, remember the patient's chart is a legal document, you don't know whether the story is true or not. Get the injury exposed and test for any damage to nerve and tendons. (MORE) (CONTINUED) 35 36

36 CONTINUED: BENTON (CONT'D) You know how to test for... well, here's how you do it. (pricking with pin) You feel this? HARPER Yes. .. BENTON Can you move your finger? HARPER 0f course, it's just a cut. GOLDMAN (sticks her head in) Dr. Benton, we have a policeman coming in with gunshot wound to the lower extremity. BENTON Put him in room two, notify X-ray, I'll be right there. Meanwhile he has been taking out a suture kit. BENTON Now, here's all your stuff. Ask the patient if she's allergic to locals or any drug. This is Lidocaine but say Novocaine, they've heard of that. You have to ask, it's malpractice if you don't. You allergic to Novocaine? HARPER (hasn't been listening) What's that? BENTON Novocaine, like at the dentist. HARPER My teeth are okay. BENTON I know, but are you allergic to Novocaine? No reactions, rashes, anything? 34. (CONTINUED) 36

36 CONTINUED: 37 SCREAMING perhaps fo and twists otoscope. As Ross st late twent 35. (2) HARPER (as if it were obvious) No, of course not. BENTON Fine. Now you inject both sides of the wound, expelling as you go, now you have to put on gloves by yourself, sterile. You know how to put on gloves? No? Great. INFANT urteen months old, bellowing. Ross writhes , trying to peer into the kid's ear with his ROSS And he tugged on his ear all night? MOTHER (0.S.) He was pulling on it, yes. ROSS Aaaah... there it is, nice and red. .. (straightening) He has otitis media, we'll give him a shot and he'll be fine. raightens, the CAMERA SEES the MOTHER, in her ies and very pretty. ROSS (to Haleh) I want a hundred units procaine pen G for this fellow... (to Mother) he should be fine by tonight, if he's not better by morning, give me a call, okay? Nice to see you. Bye, Tiger. And he's gone from the room. MOTHER He's very handsome. HALEH He knows it. 36 37

38 39 36. INT. HALLWAY Ross strolls down, hands in pockets, smiling at everyone. He sees an attractive young woman, TRACY YOUNG, in a white coat, and smiles more broadly as she comes up to him. YOUNG Dr. Ross? He can't believe his good fortune. ROSS At your service. YOUNG (shaking hands) I'm Tracy Young, your third year student. ROSS (all charm) Well, hi, Tracy Young, nice to meet you. For the next few weeks, we'll be working closely together, so -- YOUNG (crisply; dropping his hand) Not that closely, Dr. Ross. But I'l1l do my best to help you out. Now, if you'll tell me what to do I'11 get started... ROSS (wounded) I'm just trying to be friendly... YOUNG (still crisp) I have all the friends I need, thank you. Shall we get started? INT. ADMITTING ROOM JOHN ERVIN, a black man in worn overcoat sits with his hands in his lap; very proper, very rigid. Greene 1is talking with him. GREENE So this happened when you woke up? ERVIN Yes, when I got up from bed. (CONTINUED) 38 39

39 CONTINUED: 37. GREENE And are you still seeing double now? ERVIN No. GREENE How many fingers? ERVIN (correctly) Three. GREENE How long did it last? ERVIN About an hour. GREENE You ever have trouble with your eyes before? ERVIN No, never. GREENE Did you have any pain while you were seeing double? Headache? (Ervin shakes no) Trouble with your balance? Funny taste in your mouth? Flashing spots before your eyes? Weakness in your arms or legs? ERVIN No, none of those things. No. GREENE Well, I'1ll tell you, Mr. Ervin, I can call a neurologist to go over you, but that'll cost you another two hundred dollars. you don't have any symptoms now, I'd leave well enough alone. Come back if you have any further trouble. ERVIN (sudden anger) You're just saying that because I'm black. (CONTINUED)

39 40 38. CONTINUED: (2) 39 GREENE Mr. Ervin, I'm just trying to save you some money. You don't have insurance and -- ERVIN -- You wouldn't talk like this if I wasn't black. You Jewish, right? GREENE (resigned, to Timmy) Call a neuro consult for Mr. Ervin, cee-cee transient diplopia, and bill him. At that moment, the ambulance doors swing open. A COP is wheeled in on a stretcher, his leg bloody. He groaning with pain. TIMMY Room five, down and around. HALEH (coming up) These are stat chemistries, phone them in, Timmy. The chaos in the room is growing; Greene looks at his watch. GREENE Timmy, I'm going off the floor for a while. I promised my wife I'd go to an appointment... TIMMY (distracted) Okay, fine... (shouting) Not there! Room five! Five! GREENE Get Beth to cover for me. He walks through the waiting room, past people in the cheap metal chairs with ragged vinyl cushions. As he goes out, he passes A CONSTRUCTION WORKER pounding a Coke machine, and swearing. SIRENS build in the background. INT. HOSPITAL LOBBY - DAY 40 A large modern entrance. Greene crosses to the elevator bank.

41 42 43 39. INT. ELEVATORS They are clean, wood-panelled. This is the private wing of the hospital. PATIENTS, all well-dressed. Greene tugs at his tie, suddenly feeling rumpled and grungy. INT. HARRIS GROUP OFFICE Contemporary, spacious offices in trendy post-modern style: purple and gray walls, lots of glass brick and Italian lamps. It looks incredibly rich. The PATIENTS waiting are expensively dressed in Armani; pimply 41 42 teenage kids twirling car keys, etc. Soft soothing MUSIC: it's another world. Greene goes up to the curving reception desk, where FOUR RECEPTIONISTS sit: one black, one white, one Asian, one Hispanic. All with beautiful skin. GREENE I'm Dr. Greene, I'm here to see Dr. Harris... MOVING THROUGH THE OFFICE COMPLEX Greene walks with MORT HARRIS, 60, who looks like a movie star in a two thousand dollar suit. He's ultra smooth. Spanking clean hallways crowded with white- suited AIDES. HARRIS We have our eleven treatment rooms along here... you see a lot of support staff, you won't waste valuable time on trivia. (chuckles) We like to keep our productivity up -- before the damn government starts messing in patient care... The office for our next associate's here... Through an open door, a richly appointed office: 19th Century desk. Greene's impressed. HARRIS As junior man, you'd do all the calls and weekends for a year or so. Compensation, we start you at a hundred and twenty thousand a year, plus bonuses. Senior people make anywhere from two hundred up. (MORE) (CONTINUED) 43

40. 43 CONTINUED: 43 HARRIS (CONT'D) The group has a condo in Jamaica and another one in Aspen. Al Morgenstern says you're the sharpest guy the ER ever had, and you probably like the action. But this is a nice life, Richie. And we find the practice intellectually challenging, so we send our physicians to all the major conferences -- last year, Maui, Paris, Rome... We're proud to practice the best medicine we possibly can here. They have come back to the main entrance, now arriving behind the curving reception desk. We see A LOT OF PEOPLE DOING BILLING. GREENE (mixed feelings) Seems great... HARRIS You like it? We had Predock redesign it. We redesign every couple of years, keeps us looking fresh. GREENE Terrific... Harris sees he's staring at the financial aspects of the office. HARRIS We're very efficient with billing. (beat) Everybody's got a family, my wife wants to shop, kids get older, you need private school, college... You've got to think of all that, Richie. ER's a young man's game. You think you're doing good, but... there's a lot to life. And a lot of responsibility. Think about it. GREENE I will. (CONTINUED)

43 44 41. CONTINUED: (2) HARRIS You have time for lunch? We could go to the Crown Club... They've got a great porcini pasta, no oil... GREENE I've got to get back. HARRIS (shaking hands) Maybe next week. Think about this, Richie. We'd love to have you. Oh, Mrs. McCormick, how are you? (he moves to her) I thought the Field Museum ball went beautifully, you must be proud. Margo loved the flower arrangements. .. Greene is abandoned, makes his own way out. At the door, he pauses, and looks back a moment at the elegant tranquility. INT. ER PATIENT AREA NOISY and chaotic, a babble of VOICES and ACCENTS. Greene enters, back in the thick of it. He goes to the desk, gets the next file, comes back to an elderly Polish woman. She has her GRANDCHILD on the floor, playing with a plastic Ninja sword. GREENE Mrs. Kosinski? I'm Dr. Greene. What's your problem? The kid repeatedly whacks Greene on the legs with the sword. GREENE Mrs. Kosinski? (to kid) Would you stop that? GRANDCHILD No. You can't make me. GREENE Would you ask him to stop it? (MORE) (CONTINUED) 43 44

44 45 46 CONTINUED: The woman GREENE (CONT'D) Mrs. Kosinski? What's your problem? 42. answers in rapid Polish. Greene blinks. THE SUTURE ROOM Benton and Carter working on the suture. Carter looks stricken. strides out. forceps. BENTON Now, when you're tying off, make your sutures loose, because remember the tissues will swell over the next forty-eight hours. I like to space 'em the way you see them here, and. .. HALEH Dr. Benton, the policeman is here. BENTON Coming. .. (to Carter) You finish up. CARTER Now, this isn't going to hurt at all. Benton strips off his gloves, Carter picks up the needle holder and His hands start to shake as he begins working. THE NEXT ROOM Benton, striding into room where the Cop is writhing in pain. BENTON (heartily) I'm Dr. Benton. What have we here? HALEH (cuts away pants) This is officer Martin. He's got a gunshot injury to the medial calf. (CONTINUED) and 44 45 46

46 47 43. CONTINUED: BENTON (bending over wound) How'd this happen, Mr. Martin? MARTIN (COP) I did it. BENTON (poking around wound) What'd you say? MARTIN I said, I did it, I shot myself in the goddamned leg. BENTON Oh. How'd that happen? MARTIN Will you just fix it...? I had a fight with my wife. BENTON (probing) That make sense... Can you wiggle your toes for me? ANOTHER EXAMINING ROOM A solemn-faced boy of eight is sitting up on the cot. Ross stands to one side letting Tracy Young talk to the kid while the mother, SARAH LOGAN, a shrewish tense woman, hovers. YOUNG (gently) Now what happened, Billy? LOGAN His school sent him home, they said he vomited blood. YOUNG Can you tell me how it happened, Billy? LOGAN He's a very high-strung child, always has been, very tense, very nervous. YOUNG How did it happen, Billy? (CONTINUED) 46 47