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At
Walter Reed Medical
Center  Col.
Bartek: We've already lost two
soldiers and it's not looking
good for Vasquez. His heart rate was erratic, exaggerating his
edema. He went into respiratory arrest.Stephen: I believe the answer we're looking for isn't medical. It's personal. It's about who these people are, what their lives are about. But, somehow, the answer's right here, it's in front of us. We just gotta start asking the right people the right questions. He walks into the Intensive Care area, leaving Dr. and Frank alone. Bartek: So, what's your medical specialty? Frank: I'm not a doctor. I'm a toxicologist. Bartek: You fooled me. From how you and Dr. Connor speak, I take it you served. Frank: The USS Blue Ridge, off the coast of Kuwait City, the first time around.  Bartek: Then, you
know what they've been through.Frank: Like it was yesterday. Good and Bad. Bartek: Sometimes, it's easy to forget that an institution the size of the military still consists of individuals worthy of our trust and respect. Frank sighs. Bartek: Even if we both don't always think the institution deserves the same. Frank: That's something I didn't think we agreed on, sir. Bartek: I ask that you not confuse the U.S. military with the enemy.  Frank starts to walk away, but Bartek reaches out and takes hold of his arm. Bartek: Who did you lose? Frank: Excuse me? Bartek: To Gulf War Syndrome. Who did you lose? Frank: My C.O. My friend. Bartek: I'm sorry for your loss. Frank walks away. Natalie enters an office: Shirley. Hi. Shirley Morris: Hi.  Natalie: Has Barrett Fidler called in for an appointment today? Shirley: Barrett... (She checks her computer.) No. Far as I can see, 
he's not on the books. Excuse me. (She
leaves the room.)Natalie notices Shirley's security pass laying on the desk, picks it up and leaves the office. She walks down the hall and uses the pass to access a secure area. But, when access is granted, she changes her mind and walks away without entering the area.  Stephen and
Frank are standing at Joe's bedside. Stephen reaches
down to
inspect Joe's necklace.Stephen: A St. Stephen medallion. That's who my Mom named me after. He was the first Christian martyr... Frank: What is it? Stephen: The two women with ARDS. What hospitals are they being treated at? Frank: St. Ignatius and Good Shepherd. Why? Stephen: We may have just found the strangest commonality possible. Natalie is at a computer. She logs in to the Von Recklinghausen trial results. After checking the charts,  she smiles.Then, her cell phone rings. Natalie: Yeah, Stephen. Stephen: I need you to find if the two women at the ERs...  Natalie: Karen Gaul and Rebecca DiMarco? Stephen: Yes. Find out if they're Catholic and if they regularly attend Mass at St. Angela's. Natalie: What's going on? Stephen: The commonality we've been looking for. This disease might be killing Catholics. St. Angela's - Bethesda, Maryland  Stephen enters the church, dips his fingers in the holy water and crosses himself. As he walks down the aisle, he says: If the answer's here, please tell me what it is. He genuflects before the altar, then stands up and sighs heavily. Stephen: How could people with nothing in common besides faith become infected?  He visualizes
the church full of people.Stephen: During Mass, parishioners are asked to offer each other a sign of peace. His cell phone rings. Stephen: Natalie, what have you got? Natalie: Rebecca DiMarco's a Catholic. Stephen: And she went to Mass at St. Angela's? Natalie: Yes. Karen Gaul attends there, as well. Stephen: Good work. He hangs up the phone. Stephen: Okay, the hospitalized women were here, but the elderly weren't. What am I missing? What other ways could it have happened? He continues to visualize the church's parishioners.  Stephen: Every Mass, hundreds of people place their fingers into the holy water, crossing themselves with potentially dangerous germs and bacteria....The Communion. The Eucharist passes from the hand of the priest to the parishioners and directly into their mouths. The priest comes up behind Stephen and taps him on the shoulder, startling him. Priest: I'm sorry for making you wait. Seems like hearing confession takes longer every year. Stephen: I'm afraid that's a sign of the times, Father. Priest: In your message, you said you had some pictures you wanted me to look at.  Stephen: Oh,
yeah. Thank you. (He pulls out photos of
the soldiers.) Father, I was wondering if you recognize any
of these men.Priest: Yes, Joe Vasquez, I know, and the others - they were at  Saturday's
Mass.Stephen shows him photos of the elderly victims: And these five here. I'm just trying to find anything that connects them to the soldiers. Priest: No, I'm sorry. I don't know them. I have to excuse myself. But, before I go, is there anything I can do for you? Stephen: No. No, thank you, Father. The priest starts to walk away. Stephen: Um, actually...if you keep my wife and my son in your prayers, I'd appreciate that.  The priest leaves. Stephen: The answer's got to be here somewhere. He pulls out his cell phone. Natalie answers: Durant. Stephen: Natalie, get everyone down here. We're testing everything. |
Everyone
tests
everything. Stephen: All right,
the priest isn't infected and neither is the
church. So, let's focus on something we actually know.Frank: Joe's on a ventilator delivering 100% oxygen, but his pulse ox keeps dropping. Stephen: What about the two women, Gaul and DiMarco? Natalie: Their disease is following the same pattern as the soldiers. Stephen: We, also, know that the soldiers and the two women appear to have been infected at the church.  Miles: We know the residents from the convalescent home, who were shut-ins, got sick from the same illness, but had no relationship with the soldiers. Frank: Those soldiers and the two women, Gaul and DiMarco, have all been inside the church. Stephen: Yeah, but the five elderly residents haven't been. They don't fit the pattern. They're the outlyers...Wait a second. The missing piece isn't at the church. It's at the convalescent home. Natalie enters the pharmacy at NIH.  Natalie: When did
Barrett Fidler last renew his meds for the Von
Recklinghausen trial? Pharmacist: Uh, Fidler...(He checks the computer.) Barrett Fidler, he hasn't requested them for the past three weeks. Natalie: You're sure? Pharmacist: Yeah. Natalie: Thanks. As she leaves the pharmacy, she pulls out her cell phone and dials a number. Eva sees her and hurries over. Eva: Why would you do it with the IRB breathing down our necks?  Natalie: Do
what?Eva: Shirley Morris' security card mysteriously went missing for about an hour...just long enough to be used to access a computer center. Natalie: Yeah...and? Eva: The only computer center with a database for every clinical trial...Did you tell Barrett Fidler which drug he was prescribed? Natalie: Was there any unauthorized access to the database?  Eva: No. Natalie: No. Then don't worry about it. And I resent the accusation. Eva: And I resent you implying that I don't do my job. If I didn't, the clinical trial your friend is involved in would have been scrapped about an hour ago. Natalie: There wasn't a breach. And I respect the job you do, Eva, and how well you do it. (She walks away.) Stephen, Frank and Miles enter the deserted front room of the Convalescent Home. Miles: Where is everybody? Director: The first time you were here, the residents were scared. Now, they're terrified.  Frank: So, they're all hiding inside their rooms? Director: As much as possible. Stephen: Have there been any new signs of residents becoming ill? Director: No. Frank: What about other places I can check where the residents congregate? Miles: Places the disease would have greater opportunity to spread to others. The Director gives them a tour of the place: Well, you've seen just about everything.   Stephen: What about
the chapel?Director: We don't have one. Stephen: Really? Why's that? Director: We have people of all faiths here. Those who choose to, go to their own personal places of worship. Frank: And those who can't go out, especially Catholics? Stephen: Has a lectern visited the home recently?  Stephen looks through a book listing all visitors to the
home.Director: Do you know who you're looking for? Stephen: Not by name. I'm looking for the same person who comes at the same time, Sunday after Sunday, week after week...Wait a second. (He points to a name in the book.) Do you know this guy? Mr. Robert McCann? As they leave the Convalescent Home.  Stephen: Priests have civilians called lecterns. They'd hand the Eurcharist in one line while the priests would do the same in another. Lecterns also had another job, to go outside the church to give communion to those who couldn't attend Mass. Miles: To the sick and the elderly. Frank: So, if they couldn't come to God... Stephen: ...God would come to them. They arrive at Robert McCann's home and find several newspapers laying in the yard.   Frank:
Looks like he hasn't been here in a while.Stephen knocks on the door which swings open. As they enter the house, he calls out: Mr. McCann?...Mr. McCann?...Mr. McCann? Miles, check the back of the house. Stephen checks the answering machine: Twelve messages. If he's missing, you'd think someone would have noticed. Miles comes back into the room: The bed's made, but he's not here. Frank picks up some pills sitting on the kitchen counter; Metropolol succinate. Miles: Beta blockers. Looks like our guy has a bad heart. Stephen opens the garage door: Not anymore. Oh! (Reacting to the smell.) Looks like he's been dead for a couple of days. What do you think, Frank? Frank: I think I'll walk around him.  Stephen
kneels down to examine the body: Frank's always had a bit of a
weak stomach.Miles: I thought you were a Navy man. Frank: I'll be just fine. Miles kneels down beside Stephen: This could be our patient zero. Stephen: Yeah. We got to find the source of the disease and identify it, first. Frank: I may have something.  Stephen and Miles join him: What do you got? Frank: Mouse droppings. Stephen looks at them: Oooh, I'm betting those came from a deer mouse. Miles: Hantavirus? Stephen: Yeah. Let's break out the masks and gloves. Hey! Walk lightly. Don't kick up any dust. Sweeping up the mouse droppings, this guy could have inhaled millions of particles of infected mouse urine. Frank: Poor guy just wanted to sweep out his garage, now he's dead. Stephen: Along with at least five others.  Miles:
Symptoms fit. A fibrile disease, hemoconcentration, pulmonary
edema.Stephen looks around the garage and sees a chair with a hole in it:  What's this?Frank: Looks like it's been chewed into submission. Stephen: I'm going to have to dissect whatever comes out of that hole. Frank to Stephen: What are you looking at me for? I mean, I'll lift and shake it, but catching whatever the hell comes running out of that thing is up to you. Frank to Miles: Or you.  Back at NIH,
Stephen dissects the mouse as Miles examines Mr. McCann's jacket.Miles: What exactly are we looking for on this jacket? Stephen: Dried, infected mouse urine from the Sin Nombre virus. Miles: Great. Stephen: You know, in 1993, an ancient strain of Hantavirus killed two dozen people in the rural Southwest, all from inhaling aerosolized deer mouse waste. Miles: Even better.  Stephen: And did you know Hanta is also known as the "Four Corners Virus" because it was first identified by scientists on an Indian reservation in New Mexico. Navajos. Miles: As interesting as that may be, I really need to start concentrating here. Stephen: It's a Bio-Safety Level 4 pathogen found in our own backyards.  Miles:
Or, in this case, a garage filled with mouse urine...This jacket is
saturated. I hate mice.Stephen: You know, the deer mouse isn't the only one that can kill you. The rat mouse causes the Bayou Hantavirus and the cotton rat carries the Black Creek Canal Hanta. Miles: Yeah, well, for the record, I hate rats, too. Stephen chuckles. At Walter Reed Medical Center, Stephen and Frank meet with Lt. Col Bartek.  Stephen:
After returning from overseas, your boys went to church to pray for the
men they left behind. They received communion from a lectern who
was already sick.Frank: He passed microscopic particles of the virus from his jacket to his hands to their mouths. Stephen: As a precaution, we also notified the other parishes where Mr. McCann may have volunteered. Frank: Vasquez has a hell of a battle in front of him. Stephen: Yeah. Natalie is visiting Barrett Fidler in his apartment.  Natalie:
You know, I can't stop you from quitting the trial. It's an option
you've always had.Barrett: This isn't about the trial any more. I thought that's why you were here. Natalie: I'm here because I'm your friend and I want to help you. Barrett: You want to help me? You want to make my life easier? Then, help me take it away. Natalie: Barrett...don't quit the trial. You have absolutely no reason to.   Barrett: I'm not going to the NIH's guinea
pig while I slowly waste away.Natalie: You're not going to waste away. Trust me when I tell you this. Barrett: What are you saying? Natalie: You know I can't break the confidentiality of a double-blind study. But, what I'm saying is, don't stop taking the drug. If there's a chance that I can help you, I'm not going to let you give up.  At Walter Reed,
all the beds in the Intensive Care area are now empty,
except for Joe Vasquez's. Stephen walks
over and sits down beside Joe's bed: Survival rate's 25% and I've
done everything I can to help you. Whatever happens next is out
of my hands. It's in someone else's. Someone who won't let
you down. Trust him.The song "Mad World" by Gary Jules plays as Joe's uniform is folded neatly. A photo of him and his wife, an envelope containing his personal effects and a folded American flag are placed on top of the uniform. Stephen, dressed in a military uniform, carries this package to Joe's home. Joe's wife and son answer the door.    
Children
waiting for the day when they feel good,
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday When I feel the way that every child should Look right through me, look right through me And I find it kind of funny I find it kind of sad That dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had I find it hard to tell you I find it hard to take But people run in circles It's a very, very mad world Mad world, Mad world Enlarging
your world
Mad world
 Stephen and his
son, Jack, come out of a movie theater.Stephen: All right, here's the deal. No more action films for a while, okay? Next time, we're going to rent one of my favorites, "The Sting". Jack: Huh? Stephen: You know, Paul Newman, Robert Redford? Jack: Who are they? Stephen: Who are they?! Jack: Can we go to the arcade before we go home? Stephen: Yeah, sure. But, before anything gets in the way, I think there's something we need to talk about. Sit down. They sit down and Stephen sighs deeply. Jack: I know. You and Mom are splitting up for good. I could tell. It's okay, Dad. Now, I can be like all my friends. Stephen, with tears in his eyes, hugs his son. And the song plays... 
 Mad world, Mad world Enlarging
your world
Mad world
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| Screen captures
courtesy of Bev at: Bev's Web RDAOnline |