Part 2

by Chris

Okay, Part 2 will be less detailed... sorry I'm so late, but I was very busy last week and away for most of the week-end!

At the hospital, Matt is in a kind of unpadded cell kneeling on the floor and marking Bible passages or rocking slightly throughout the scene, with Billy and Lucas sitting on chairs in the adjoining room watching him through a window. Lucas says he feels sorry "for the poor bastard." Billy asks: "Sorry or responsible?" Lucas asks what made him say that, and Billy mentions he saw him come out of Tippett's house just before he got sick. Lucas asks if Billy thinks he made him sick, to which he answers that he thinks he is the missing link somehow. "Kinda playing God." Lucas says if he means the little tussle over the plasma, he figured Billy was new and needed to know who the players are. Billy says Lucas reminds him of a Rwandan warlord named Fassell. While the people were dying "by the pantloads", he held up deliveries of medical supplies until he'd taken his cut. Lucas grins and sayse he's not looking for a cut. Billy asks then what? Lucas thinks moment, then says, "Respect. Obedience." (Here he looks pointedly at Billy.) Then he stands up and looks at Matt. "Who's playing God now, Doctor?" Billy gets up and turns to leave, but Lucas asks, "What happened to Fassell?" Billy says, "One of his own government people ran him over with an armored Jeep. Accidentally on purpose, they say." Lucas: "Gotta watch your back every step of the way."

We see flames rise, cut to a burning building (at least it looked like that) then cut to Gail's fireplace. She's thinking about Lucas and what happened at his office, feeling hot.

Back at the hospital, Billy is recording a tape about the newest victim of the plague, and while he does so notices Selena standing in the hall, flipping through a book (?). When he's finished recording he walks out and asks her what she's doing here. "Watching you," is her answer. When he asks why she says "I just wanted to see the guy who stuck it to Sheriff Buck. Make you uneasy?" He says nothing makes him uneasy, "except seein' someone sittin' on her ass in the middle of this big emergency." Selena: "Well I'm flattered you even noticed my ass in the middle of this big... emergency." She leaves.

(And here my favourite scene... *siiiiigh*) Gail walks up to Lucas' house and enters the garden through a gate. She walks towards the house, but suddenly stops, we see Lucas stand a little distance behind her. "So you came," he says. She turns around and he walks up to her. Gails says, "Wait. But it's not about anything else." Lucas: "No heart, no soul? That's the way you want it?" Gail: That's the way I want it." (Now in the script, they have a little something here that wasn't aired, but I think it would have been terriffic: ***He nods. Then reaches out, takes her face in his hands. Looks in her eyes. It's tender after all... GAIL: (fierce) No! The look in his eyes changes to something dark and frightening.*** Okay, back to what was on TV...) Lucas takes her face into his hands, she closes her hand around his wrist, and they kiss. He lifts her up and carries her to the bench, puts her down on it (oh and I swear, despite knowing you all dissagree, the way he looks up at her - that's reverence!!!). He slides his hand between her legs, and she kneels down, opening his shirt. He lays her down on the ground, and the gargoyles look on... (*whimper*)

Cut to the river. Merly is walking towards it, as if she'd be carrying a heavy load. She kneels down, slowly, and hesitantly puts her hands into the water. We see it turn red where it touches them, and soon the whole river is blood.

Lucas storms into the hospital, the unconscious Gail in his arms. He yells at a nurse to call the "new Doctor from Atlanta, NOW!" His shirt is still open. We see Merlyn kneeling at the river's edge, her face set, then we're back at the hospital where Gail is lying still in a bed. She looks very sick. Lucas and Billy are with her. Lucas: "She just started bleedin'." Billy: "What were you doin' at that time?" L: "Never mind." (His shirt is still open... clear sign of how concerned he is!) B: What's your relationship with Miss Emory?" L: "None of your business." B: "We always gonna jerk around like this?" L: "You just make damn sure she gets better." B: "Or you'll what?" L: "I'll think of something." B: "Well, don't give yourself a brain hemorrhage. And while we're at it, think about this: You need me, don't you?" L: "Alright I need you to fix her up. Just get on with it." Billy turns to leave and says, "But then... you'll own me."

In the evening, Selena is waiting for Billy outside the hospital. She warns him to look out for Lucas and asks him if he ever looked into the face of evil, and he answers he'd probably be too busy to notice. She kisses him and leaves.

At one point a lot of people are beleaguering the Sheriff's office, asking about the red water and telling Ben to give them the death toll. Lucas says the colour comes from a leak in a paper factory up the river, and they should have it fixed soon. (not sure anymore if this is here or later)

Caleb visits Matt at the hospital. Billy lets him go into the room, and he puts his hand on Matt's shoulder and tells him everything is gonna be alright, then runs out of the room.

Billy pays a visit to the Sheriff's office since he thinks Lucas is the missing link, and he wants to take a blood sample. Lucas says, "I give you my blood...you'll be givin' me yours." and lets Billy take the sample to send to Atlanta for analysis.

In the middle of the night, Ben and Lucas drive out to the bridge. Lucas gets out and tells Ben, who's spooked by the strange atmosphere, to drive on. He calls out for Merlyn, then says "I thought..." but then changes his mind. Merly appears and asks what he thought. He says he knows she has to keep people on the straight and narrow, but all that blood is a bit exaggerated. He tells her he's been there and it's easy to get carried away, that he could show her the pitfalls. But Merlyn says she knows what to do, and suddenly Lucas puts his hands up to his face. When he takes them down we see he is bleeding from his eyes; he puts them up again and then the blood is gone, just like Merlyn.

Caleb is in bed saying his prayers, telling God that Gail and Matt didn't do anything to deserve getting sick. Merlyn appears and says that this isn't true. Dr. Matt lied for Lucas, and Gail got involved with him. Caleb realizes that she is the source of the plague. He is angry and asks her, "And what about me? I spent time with Lucas! You gonna make me sick and crazy, too?" Merlyn says no, she loves him, and he asks her to love all of them, they need that. Merlyn is clearly stricken.

In the morning, Merlyn is standing at the edge of the river again. She kneels down and takes the blood out of it. Caleb arrives on his bike and smiles when he sees what she is doing.

Billy is at the airport, unloading coolers with plasma bags. Lucas appears and asks if he's leaving, but Billy says he'll stay to collect the favour Lucas owes him. He says, "We ain't even started yet." and walks to Selena, who is waiting for him with her car. When he's out of earshot, Lucas says "No, we haven't."

At the hospital, Gail has recovered, as well as Dr. Matt. He asks how she's doing, and she says fine and asks, "And you?". He says he's fine and leaves. (Still preoccupied mentally, IMO) Gail closes her eyes and falls asleep, and moments later Lucas appears and bends down to kiss her forehead. She opens her eyes and looks around, but no-one is there.

Well, that's finally it! Enjoy!

1. August 2002