(A doctor's office. ABBY and MATT are sitting. The DOCTOR is seated.)
DOCTOR: It's high.
ABBY: Higher than last time?
MATT: Because last time it was only fifty-three percent.
DOCTOR: Which is a--
MATT: Which isn't as much when you consider that's a forty-seven percent chance he'll be fine.
DOCTOR: We're at fifty-one.
(ABBY bites her lip.)
MATT: This is our fourth time.
DOCTOR: I know.
ABBY: We don't--
MATT: We don't have the money to try this again.
DOCTOR: I know.
MATT: Can we ask if it's viable?
DOCTOR: Matt--
MATT: Is the pregnancy viable?
(A beat.)
DOCTOR: Yes, but--
ABBY: We could take out a loan. Try one more time.
DOCTOR: Based on the results I'm looking at, I don't see reason to believe you could do better than what I'm looking at. Maybe you could get it down to fifty, but they don't recommend taking the pregnancy to term if it's twenty or above.
MATT: We've been looking online--
ABBY: Matt, don't--
MATT: And it seems like more and more people are getting numbers above that though.
DOCTOR: We haven't been doing this testing for that long.
MATT: So the testing could be wrong?
DOCTOR: We're not seeing that it is.
ABBY: But couldn't we do something to--
DOCTOR: We're talking about genetic make-up.
MATT: So we'll know what the baby is predetermined to be like, but we don't know that they'll--I mean, we're going to raise this child. We're not just going to let biology do it for us.
DOCTOR: We're not seeing--
MATT: Why do you keep saying 'we?' Who's 'we?'
DOCTOR: Science.
ABBY: And we believe in science. We're not saying--
MATT: We're not saying that we don't. We're just saying that--this is our fifth pregnancy.
DOCTOR: Have you looked at adoption?
ABBY: They won't let us adopt, because the people in charge of adoptions feel that the results of these tests indicate that something about us would result in a child growing up, um--
MATT: They think we'd raise a bad person.
DOCTOR: We don't believe that. I--I'm sorry--I don't--based on what I'm looking at--believe that.
MATT: You don't, but the adoption people do.
ABBY: They won't say that, but--
MATT: But where does that leave us?
DOCTOR: I would not recommend taking this pregnancy to term.
ABBY: I'm sure I could raise the baby in a way where--
MATT: We don't even know what 'bad' means. What does it mean?
DOCTOR: It means bad enough that our recommendation is to terminate.
ABBY: Is it murder?
DOCTOR: It could be murder. It could be multiple murders. It could be serial homicide.
MATT: And it could be less.
DOCTOR: It wouldn't be much less. Not with numbers this high.
MATT: It could be vehicular manslaughter.
DOCTOR: That would be splitting hairs.
ABBY: It's not splitting hairs.
MATT: That's right, we--
ABBY: It is NOT splitting hairs. It makes a big difference.
(A beat.)
DOCTOR: Vehicular manslaughter would not necessarily indicate--
ABBY: Or the baby could be a con artist, right? A big enough con artist where--
DOCTOR: Well yes, but--
ABBY: But I would be all right with that.
MATT: Abby, we're not saying--
ABBY: No, we need to be realistic, and so I want to be realistic. I am aware my child could grow up to be a bad person. A terrible person. And I still--
DOCTOR: It's not 'could,' Abby. It's 'will.' They will grow up to be a--a person who--
ABBY: I don't care.
MATT: Abby, we--
ABBY: I don't care.
(A beat.)
DOCTOR: You are entitled to have your child.
ABBY: We know that.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ABBY: We know our rights.
DOCTOR: But you would need to be monitored.
(A beat.)
MATT: Uh. Can you tell us more about--
DOCTOR: I can't.
MATT: Okay.
DOCTOR: I'm not allowed to--
ABBY: I don't care.
MATT: Abby, can we listen to--
ABBY: You can listen if you want to. I don't care.
DOCTOR: If at any point, your child--as they transition into adulthood--shows more signs of sociopathic behavior, they would need to be detained--
ABBY: Yes.
DOCTOR: --And you might be prosecuted.
MATT: We thought that was just rumor or--
DOCTOR: No.
MATT: But why would we--
DOCTOR: Because you made a choice. To have it. To bring it into the world. So--
ABBY: The baby will be fine.
MATT: Abby--
ABBY: It'll be fine, Matt.
MATT: We should talk a little--
ABBY: Five, Matt. Five times we've--
MATT: Abby, I know, but--
ABBY: No.
MATT: It--
ABBY: No.
MATT: It could be a serial killer.
ABBY: I DON'T CARE.
(A beat.)
DOCTOR: I need to mark down that you said that.
ABBY: Then mark it down.
MATT: Don't. We need to--
ABBY: No. Mark it down. Tell whoever you need to tell. I'm having the baby. I am entitled to have this baby, and I'm having it. And however it turns out...
MATT: Doctor, could one more time--
DOCTOR: It's not going to get better.
MATT: But if we--
DOCTOR: There's no reason to think it'll get any better.
ABBY: Then that's that.
End of Play
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