EPISODE: 3
INT. CALI'S NURSERY - NIGHT
Hanging toy birds dangle over the baby, tinkling in a breeze.
INT. DALTON'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Dalton is sleeping too. Impossibly still. Lying on his back.
INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
Renai and Josh are entwined together. Josh is snoring. They
are both blissfully asleep...
...for now.
INT. KITCHEN - MORNING
Another day, another chaotic breakfast.
Foster waves a stuffed toy around. Josh charges in, bits of
tissue on his face from shaving cuts. Cali flails her arms in
her high chair. Renai is at the sink, whisking eggs.
RENAI
Foster, sit down honey.
She whips a look around.
RENAI (CONT'D)
Where is...? Hey Josh, could you go
wake up Dalton?
We FOLLOW Josh as he marches down the corridor to Dalton's
bedroom, poking his head inside.
INT. DALTON'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Josh knocks on the wall.
JOSH
Time to get up, my man. Come on.
Nothing from Dalton. He doesn't even stir. Josh rolls his
eyes and walks in. Nudges Dalton with his knee.
JOSH (CONT'D)
You're making me look bad here.
Outta bed before your mother comes
in and kills both of us. Nothing. He's really out.
Josh reaches down and shakes Dalton vigorously.
JOSH (CONT'D)
Dalton, get up. You've gotta get
ready for school.
Josh waits for a response, but none comes. Dalton is as slack
as a puppet. Something resembling concern crosses Josh's face.
JOSH (CONT'D)
Dalton...?
He kneels down, shaking Dalton hard. He listens for breathing.
JOSH (CONT'D)
Dalton? Dalton?! DALTON!!
His scream takes us into--
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM, ICU UNIT - DAY
--the stern sterility of a hospital.
Josh and Renai, eyes lined by dark circles, stand in front of
a dour neurologist, DR. JOEL SERCARZ (46).
Renai dabs her eyes with a tissue. They are red with tears.
Beyond a window in front of them, lying on a gurney in an ICU
chamber, is the unconscious body of Dalton.
DR. SERCARZ
Okay...as of yet, our tests have
not drawn any conclusive answers
for you. Repeated blood and CSF
cultures are normal, making an
infective origin highly unlikely.
Tests for Lyme disease and repeated
polymerase chain reaction are
negative. Systemic vasculitis was
ruled out. Dalton remains in an
areactive coma without focal signs
or abnormal brainstem reflexes.
Josh and Renai struggle to follow the cold, multi-syllable
medical terminology...like stranded tourists keeping up with
a foreign language.
DR. SERCARZ (CONT'D)
We've looked for bacterial
pathogens like Meningoencephalitis,
but haven't seen anything
(MORE) DR. SERCARZ (CONT'D) I wouldn't say we've exhausted
every single angle...but we're
close. The underlying cause is
still unknown.
Josh and Renai look in at their boy.
DR. SERCARZ (CONT'D)
The good news is that he's
breathing without the use of a
mechanical apparatus, and there are
no lesions or hemorrhages in any of
the CT scans.
JOSH
So...there's no brain damage or...?
DR. SERCARZ
None that we've detected. Technically,
he's in a coma. He doesn't respond to
stimuli, he has no sleep-wake cycle, but
there's no brain trauma or infection. His
scans are normal. To be honest, I've
never seen anything like it.
JOSH
That fall he took...I mean, it looked
like he hit his head pretty hard.
DR. SERCARZ
We definitely exhausted that
possibility, but it was always
doubtful. The cut was superficial,
there wasn't even a skull fracture.
RENAI
He can't just not wake up...there's
got to be something...
Renai sobs, tears streaming down her face. Josh looks like a
deer in the headlights. Stunned dumb.
Sercarz clears his throat. This part of the job isn't his
specialty.
DR. SERCARZ
I'm sorry.
JOSH
So what do we do now? Does he stay here?
DR. SERCARZ
We'll conduct some further testing, but
beyond that...I really don't know. His pager goes off. He checks it.
DR. SERCARZ (CONT'D)
Excuse me for a minute. I have to
step out. A nurse will be with you
in just a moment.
He leaves quickly. Josh and Renai press on the glass,
separated in body and spirit from their son.
FADE TO BLACK.
SUPERIMPOSE TITLE: TWO MONTHS LATER
INT. DALTON'S BEDROOM, LAMBERT HOME - DAY
A ghastly meld of hospital room and young boys bedroom.
Dalton lies on his bed, a heart rate monitor hooked to his
chest. IV tubes run into his arms, a Nasogastric feeding tube
into his mouth.
A young nurse, ADELE CHALFIN (30), checks the various tubes
as Renai watches on.
ADELE
Are you having any more trouble
with the feeding tube?
Renai looks broken, the life drained from her. A wilted flower.
She shakes her head, her voice a low rasp.
RENAI
(barely audible)
It's okay.
ADELE
Alright, well I'll be back soon.
I'll bring some new books. You're
probably sick of the ones you have.
RENAI
Did he respond to any of the tests?
Adele pauses.
ADELE
No...no, he didn't. But we have to
give it time. I've seen coma
patients with a much longer
inactivity time suddenly start
making noises. RENAI
He's not in a coma, remember? They
don't know what to call it. They
don't know what to do with him so
they've given up.
ADELE
No, they haven't. We're going to
figure it out.
Adele hugs her, then exits. Renai slumps down on a chair next
to her son.
The heart rate monitor pings. Dalton is as still as a statue.
INT. CORRIDOR - DAY
Renai shuffles down the corridor. She passes a bedroom door,
then stops and doubles back, pushing it open and going into--
INT. CALI'S NURSERY - CONTINUOUS
--the babies room.
She stares into the crib...at her other sleeping baby. She
sets the baby monitor and walks out softly.
INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
Renai slumps in front of her piano. Taps one of the keys.
She plays a discordant melody of low notes with one hand, not
present enough to hear it.
She stops and buries her face in her hands.
Then she hears it. Whispering.
It's so low you would miss it if the house wasn't absolutely
silent. Renai looks up, scanning for the source of the murmur.
It is coming from the baby monitor.
Confused, Renai picks up the monitor, turning up the volume
all the way up. The hissssssss of static fills the room.
She presses her ear to the device, then hears it again - a
hushed WHISPER, almost indistinct from the static save for
the whistle of sibilants. VOICE
(from monitor)
They see us...all of us...we have to be
quick...this life begs us to come back.
The whisper trails off....more static...
VOICE (CONT'D)
(from monitor)
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Renai drops the baby monitor, leaping out of her skin at the
sound of the scream. Nerves fried.
The monitor smashes on the floor. All is quiet.
Renai moves to the door, staring down the corridor at the
door to Cali's nursery.
It is open only a crack. She hears crying. Cali is crying.
We follow her as she bolts towards the nursery, smashing
through the door, eyes filled with terror, seeing--
--nothing.
INT. NURSERY - CONTINUOUS
Renai stalks into the room.
The room is empty, save for Cali, crying in her crib. Renai's
eyes land on the closet.
ANGLE FROM INSIDE THE CLOSET
Through a slight crack, we see Renai approach. Breath
quivering. Her hand reaches out. She FLINGS the door open.
It is empty.
INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
The family is eating. It's very quiet.
Foster keeps his eyes down as his parents eat in silence.
Suddenly Cali breaks the quiet, squealing happily.
CALI
Dadda!
Josh looks up, smiling. Amazed. JOSH
She said dad...
Neither Renai nor Foster even look up.
INT. FOSTER'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
A bedside lamp gives off a jaundice glow.
Renai gathers up scattered toys from the floor, relocating
them to a desktop covered in beakers and lab equipment.
Foster lies in bed beneath a large chart of the solar system.
Renai stops cleaning when she finds a certificate, crumpled
next to a school bag. It says IN RECOGNITION OF SCIENCE
SKILL, AWARDED TO FOSTER LAMBERT ON 3/14/10.
RENAI
What's this?
FOSTER
An award.
RENAI
That's today's date. You got this
today?
Foster nods meekly.
RENAI (CONT'D)
Why didn't you tell us, honey?
She sits on the edge of his bed. He stares at the wall. She
strokes his hair.
RENAI (CONT'D)
I know it's hard right now. But
things will get better. I promise.
Foster nods.
RENAI (CONT'D)
I'm going to show this to your dad.
She plants a kiss his forehead and stands up.
FOSTER
I'm scared, mom.
RENAI
Scared of what? FOSTER
Dalton.
Renai sits back down.
RENAI
We're all scared. It's normal to be
scared for him. But we can't give up--
FOSTER
Why do I have to sleep so close to
him? Can't I change rooms?
RENAI
Why would you wanna change rooms?
Foster swallows.
FOSTER
I don't know.
Renai stares at her son. She kisses him again.
RENAI
Your brother needs you. Goodnight
honey.
INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
Josh lies in bed, reading Foster's award. Renai is beside him.
RENAI
Something happened today. I didn't
want to tell you in front of Foster.
JOSH
What?
RENAI
I heard something coming from
Cali's room. A man's voice. On the
baby monitor...it scared the hell
outta me. I went in there and no
one was there.
JOSH
Could it have been interference?
RENAI
I don't know. It was so clear. I
was sitting at the piano and I
heard this...whispering on the baby
monitor. So I held my ear up to it SUDDENLY - a noise interrupts. An arrhythmic KNOCKING sound,
like a drunk pounding on a tavern door after closing.
It is the front door.
JOSH
Who the hell is that?
Josh knows it's his job to check, but he doesn't want to.
JOSH (CONT'D)
Stay here.
He gets up.
INT. FRONT DOOR - NIGHT
Josh approaches the front door, flashlight in hand. He peers
through curtains at the front step.
It's too dark to see anything.
JOSH
Hello? Who's there?
Only the wind replies.
He aims the flashlight at the glass, shining it into the
thick darkness. There is no one on the front step.
Josh presses the flashlight against the window, arcing the
beam across his front garden. Leans in close to the glass...
And then--
Nothing. There's no one there.
He makes sure the door is locked, then flips open a security
system panel on the wall, pecking at the buttons on it.
INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
Renai sits up in bed, listening. Hears nothing...
...until the low moans of a baby crying float out of the baby
monitor. Renai hurls the sheet aside.
INT. CORRIDOR - NIGHT
Renai pads down the hall, tentative. She reaches the open door to Cali's room. Sees the silhouette
of Josh standing over Cali's crib. Exhales with relief.
RENAI
Who was it, Josh?
Josh appears at the opposite end of the hallway.
JOSH
What did you say?
Renai SCREAMS as the silhouette recedes into the shadows.
RENAI
There's someone in there!
She RUNS towards Josh.
RENAI (CONT'D)
There's someone in Cali's room!
Josh BOLTS down the hall, flicking on the light, terrified.
The nursery is empty. Cali is sleeping. Terrified, Josh
enters the room. Scans around. Only toys and colorful
wallpaper.
He steps in further. He's not cut out for this.
SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!!!! SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!
The house alarm screams to deafening life, shaving a few
years off Josh's life in the process. He JOLTS, whipping
around.
JOSH
(to Renai)
Grab Cali and Foster!
Josh charges down the hall into the--
INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
--snatching up a fire poker from the fireplace and continuing--
INT. FRONT DOOR - CONTINUOUS
-- to the front door, which is swinging open. Holding the
fire poker aloft, Josh scans the area.
Renai races past, carrying Cali and dragging Foster behind
her. They barrel toward Dalton's room....