(The police
station. Two people are sitting--JOE and ELISE. JOE has a compress
on his forehead, which is clearly bleeding.
ELISE is holding her arm.
They’re already mid-conversation when the lights come up on the scene.)
ELISE
You
have no business flying a car.
JOE
I’ve been
flying cars since the first day they put them in the air. Don’t make this about me not knowing how to
fly a car.
ELISE
What else would
it be about?
JOE
You were on me
about running late going to your mother’s.
I was distracted.
ELISE
Exactly. You were distracted and that’s why we hit the
balloon.
JOE
The balloon
wasn’t on the radar.
ELISE
The radar only
shows you other cars, Joe. It doesn’t
show you balloons, or—or other stuff.
Just cars. You have to look out
for the other stuff. Dammit, this hurts.
JOE
I thought they
gave you something for it?
ELISE
They did, but
it’s not strong enough.
JOE
You should have
told them that.
ELISE
How was I
supposed to know it wasn’t going to be enough?
JOE
I better not
lose my license over this.
ELISE
Joe, those
people could be dead.
JOE
What are you
talking about dead? They’re not dead.
ELISE
Then why have
we been sitting in a police station for three hours?
JOE
If they were
dead, somebody would have told us.
ELISE
Maybe not.
JOE
It was an
accident.
ELISE
It doesn’t
matter. You weren’t paying attention.
JOE
You didn’t see
it either! It was cloudy! Nobody could have seen it. What were they doing taking a hot balloon up
in that kind of weather?
ELISE
Who knows?
JOE
Jesus, Elise,
you think they’re dead?
ELISE
I don’t
know. I just saw the balloon go down
and—I don’t know.
JOE
What the hell
are people still doing flying hot air balloons?
What is this—the 1950’s?
ELISE
It’s romantic.
JOE
It’s
stupid. We got cars flying around. Next year they’re sending up buses. Plus the planes they’re still running—
ELISE
Forget hot air
balloons, why bother with planes?
JOE
Cheaper to fly
on a plane than fly your car to Florida.
The gas—
ELISE
(Grimaces.)
I wonder if
they gave me placebos.
Why would they give you placebos? This isn't a science experiment.
It feels like nothing. It feels like they didn't give me anything at all.
JOE
I need to take
you home. I’m going to tell them that.
ELISE
We can't go home until they tell us we can go home.
We can't go home until they tell us we can go home.
JOE
Then I'm going to tell them to tell us we can go home.
Then I'm going to tell them to tell us we can go home.
(DETECTIVE GORSATZ enters.)
Uh, Detective,
my wife is in a lot of pain.
GORSATZ
More pain than
the four people you killed?
(A moment.)
ELISE
Oh
my God.
GORSATZ
By the way, you
didn’t have anything drink before you took off this afternoon, did you?
ELISE
Of course he
didn’t. It was the middle of the day.
JOE
Elise…
ELISE
Joe, tell him you didn't have anything to drink.
Joe, tell him you didn't have anything to drink.
JOE
I...I...
I...I...
GORSATZ
Someone’s
coming by to talk to the two of you. You
might want to contact your lawyer.
There’s an adroid lawyer here you can rent for a hundred bucks, but he’s
been on the fritz lately, so I’d keep an eye on him. Mrs. Becker, you can come with me.
(GORSATZ exits.)
ELISE
Joe, you told
me you weren’t drinking anymore.
JOE
It was just…I
was distracted.
ELISE
Joe…
What difference does it make, right? Once you're up in the air, the car practically drives itself.
Joe, you--
It's auto-pilot. Just like a plane.
That's not--
It's just like a plane, but it's simple. It's so simple.
JOE
And you know
when we go to your mother’s she makes me so nervous—
ELISE
Joe—
JOE
Oh God,
Elise. Oh my God.
ELISE
Joe.
(Lights.)
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