Family Matters - E27

INT. MOTHER'S NEW HOSPITAL ROOM – MIDDAY

The room is brightly lit today, light pours in from outside with the shades open. This seems to be a slightly different room, as the ceiling shows no sign of past collapse. MISS ROOMIE sits in bed and reads a bible in her hospital gown, she is an older woman with gray hair and tired eyes. The curtain is pulled completely around Mother's bed. A double KNOCK comes at the door, then again. Miss Roomie puts her book down with a sigh; she cannot see or be seen from the door.

- Roomie
Yes?

The door opens and Doctor White Coat enters.

- White (bored)
Ma'am, were you aware that your Do Not Disturb flag was up?

- Roomie
Now I wouldn't very well expect those hooligans to visit me.

- White
So you did not put the flag up.

- Roomie
Maybe if I had a nice bunch like that Family woman, visiting nearly every day, I would have reason to put the flag up.

- White
So do you suppose Mrs. Family put the flag up?

- Roomie
No, she said - about an hour ago - that she was on her way to a test, and I haven't seen her since.

Doctor White opens the curtain around Mother's bed and reveals that the bed, which someone has made very tidy, is empty.

- White
So Mrs. Family left an hour ago?

- Roomie (unsure)
It may have been an hour and a half.

- White
So Mrs. Family has escaped again.

- Roomie (innocently)
Oh I'm quite sure she wouldn't, certainly not after the scolding you gave her last time.

- White
I'll leave you alone ma'am, I have a patient to find.

Doctor White closes the door with a SNAP. Mother slowly stands up from her spot hidden behind Roomie's bed. The bandages around her head are gone, but she now speaks slower than before.

- Mother
Thanks Miss.

- Roomie (cheerful)
Oh it's no problem. Anyone who can make my hooligans stand in line to introduce themselves is fine by me. And I am glad you've stopped trying to actually leave.

- Mother
Only in the mornings. The afternoons are still fair game.

- Roomie
I wish you wouldn't! It worries that nice husband of yours.

- Mother
That's his thing, worrying. But he knows he can't -

Mother falls silent as the door suddenly opens, Doctor White is back in the doorway. He cannot see Mother.

- White
Ma'am, are you sure Mrs. Family left an hour ago? The desk attendant didn't see her in the hall.

- Roomie
Well I did say it might have been an hour and a half.

- White
The desk attendant didn't see her an hour and a half ago either.

- Roomie
From what I hear that desk attendant is always on some chat with her older boyfriend, so she probably didn't.

- White (nonplussed)
Thank you ma'am, I'll leave you alone now.

White leaves again, this time he closes the door less loudly. Mother sighs with relief, then crosses the room to lay down in her own bed. She moves slowly, like she is underwater.

- Mother
Doesn't help that I'm bored out of my mind here. I need my rig!

- Roomie
You didn't say you drove a cargo truck!

Mother closes her curtain but leaves the section toward Roomie open, then pulls an old laptop to her lap from the nightstand.

- Mother
Not a truck, my computer. This piece of shit doesn't have the speed I need for work, and the speakers – don't get me started on the speakers!

- Roomie
No good for audiobooks?

- Mother
Metal sounds like folk through these.

- Roomie
Have you considered -

The door opens and Doctor White sticks his head in.

- White
Ma'am, the video security people were – were you talking to someone?

- Roomie
To someone? No, although I sometimes read aloud.

- White
Ah. Well, the video security people wanted to know, exactly what time did Mrs. Family leave this room?

- Roomie
The time exactly? It must have been over an hour ago, but I doubt it was three, I wasn't awake then.

- White
So between one and three hours ago?

- Roomie
Yes, definitely … unless I've lost track of time again, in which case it was last night.

- White
I'll leave you alone ma'am.

He closes the door with a sharp, hurried SNAP, and after a moment Roomie laughs. Mother joins her with a slow chuckle.

- Mother
You're good at this.

- Roomie
I really shouldn't be. Now, what was I saying … yes, have you considered reading The Good Book?

Roomie holds her bible up for Mother.

- Roomie
I've read books all my life, but I always come back to this one. And with recent events …

- Mother (apologetic)
I'm not very religious.

- Roomie
You don't have to be! This book has stories about people just like any other, all of them interesting.

- Mother
But I suppose they're all stories about finding Deity. Not just looking for Him, but really finding Him.

- Roomie
That is something of a reoccurring theme. Although sometimes they've already found Him.

- Mother
I wasting a year once trying to find Deity. Me and some friends traveled the world, until a monk made us see that if Deity could be found, we would find Him in the States as well as anywhere. And at least here we could always speak the language.

- Roomie
That's true, a spiritual journey can take place at home or abroad.

- Mother
It was more like a crusade … an anti-religious crusade. We wanted to find Deity and punch him in the balls. Those hooligans of yours? That's exactly what we were like. They're lucky to have someone like you.

- Roomie
Do you think I've been an old biddy my whole life? Back in the sixties, I was in a quilting gang! We could quilt faster than anyone … So did you ever find Him?

- Mother
Deity? Not hide nor hair, though we did find the other things we were looking for.

Mother looks up to the ceiling, a reminiscent look on her face.

- Mother
Our leader wanted to find proof that the world was as strange as we were, and she did. My good friend wanted to find strength, and she did too. And I found all the opponents I could ever wish to fight. But never Deity … so eventually, we all gave up.

- Roomie
I'm sure Deity knows you tried. No matter what you wish to do, Deity loves anyone who takes the time to look for Him.

- Mother (disdainful)
Deity is a teenager then. Only a teenager would hide what they feel from the person they love.

- Roomie (smiles)
You say that as if Deity has never told us that he loves us.

Mother scowls and closes the curtain between them. Roomie smiles and continues to read the bible.

---

INT. FAMILY HOME TV ROOM – EVENING

The room is brightly lit for once. Father half-reclines in a modular chair, his feet up as he pores over an old photo album. Another few modular chairs have been pulled together to form a play pen for Baby, who plays with blocks. Daughter quietly opens the door to the room and enters, then walks over to stand behind Father and look over his shoulder.

- Daughter (surprise)
I haven't seen that album before.

Father jumps in his seat, guiltily closes the album, then slowly opens it again. Daughter raises an eyebrow at this.

- Father
Daughter! Oh, I … this is an old album. I don't look at these pictures very often.

- Daughter
Did you put these pictures here to forget them?

- Father (confused)
Forget? You take pictures to remember memories pumpkin, not forget them.

- Daughter
You might take a picture to remember, but you put pictures in an album to forget them. And when you want to remember again, you can look through the album.

Daughter points to a picture before Father can think of a good way to reply.

- Daughter
Who's that?

Relieved to have a question he can answer, Father angles the album so that Daughter can see better.

- Father
My boss, back at my old job. Right over here you can see me, behind him.

- Daughter
That's you?

- Father (confused)
Yes?

- Daughter
You look a lot younger in this. How long ago was this?

- Father (a little hurt)
Five years.

- Daughter
When did Mom make you get rid of that airhead haircut?

- Father
That haircut was just like the one a famous movie star had!

- Daughter
I bet it made the movie star look like an airhead too. Are you losing your hair now because you used to put so much gunk in it?

- Father
Now that's – pumpkin, hair loss is genetic.

- Daughter
So when did your dad begin to lose his hair?

Father looks pained and blinks away sudden tears.

- Father
He didn't. Or I don't remember if he did. He died when I was very young.

- Daughter
Oh. You've … never mentioned him.

Father smiles and starts to flip through the album at random, his thoughts elsewhere.

- Father
It was a long time ago, and it's not like I knew him very well, but growing up without him … really made me realize how different my life would have been if he -

Daughter suddenly interrupts Father and points at a picture in the album.

- Daughter
Is that … Godfather Family?

- Father
Yes, it is. You recognize him, but not me from five years ago?

- Daughter
When was this picture taken?

- Father
Ten years ago … possibly the last time any of us saw him.

- Daughter (nods)
The last time I saw him.

- Father
He was an important person in the Navy, semi-retired by the time you were born but they still called him just to ask questions. One day they requested he oversee a mission aboard an experimental submarine, one they thought could visit the bottom-most reaches of the ocean.

- Gran (softly)
Turns out it couldn't.

Father and Daughter both quickly turn, to see Gran Family behind them in the doorway. Gran smiles and waves; she looks slightly older in person and her eyes do not glow, she wears purple-tinted shades and a casual suit.

- Gran
Hey there pumpkin, hi mini-pumpkins!

Father stands and walks over to hug Gran.

- Father
Mom! I … you're here!

- Gran
Hope you don't mind, I let myself in.

- Father
Of course not! Why didn't you say you were visiting?

- Gran
Well I did pumpkin, I told Mother I'd be visiting for the week of the 4th, didn't she get my emails?

Gran's eyes widen as Father pulls away from her.

- Gran
Oh dear, is she all right? What - ?

- Father
There was … an incident. She's recovering now, but she can't get her email at the hospital.

The room is silent for a moment, then Father looks up at Gran.

- Father
Did you just get in then? You must be hungry, I'll make you … something.

- Gran (grins)
Famished pumpkin, and a sandwich with all the trimmings would be perfect.

Father nods and leaves the room. Gran sighs, a troubled look on her face, and sits in one of the chairs. Daughter sits nearby.

- Daughter
Don't worry. The shooter was captured, he was misguided but not part of anything larger.

Gran looks at Daughter with a puzzled expression.

- Daughter
I ended up being slightly involved.

- Gran
Slightly? … I see you're doing well.

- Daughter
Better than I was. And you … you know more about Godfather.

- Gran
You could pry less, mini-pumpkin … the truth is that he survived that voyage. Physically, anyway. Mentally … I found him in a hospital halfway around the world, but he wasn't himself anymore. Something down there broke him. He couldn't remember where he was from, who I was or even who he was; he's an empty shell now. I still receive the occasional status report from the hospital where he sits in a padded cell talking to himself, but for all intents and purposes, Godfather Family is dead.