Joe Versus the Volcano Page #5

Ellison nods.

ELLISON:

Yes. I've gotten the results

of your tests.

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 6/2/89 10.

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JOE:

I've got cancer.

ELLISON:

No.

JOE:

This new venereal...

ELLISON:

No.

JOE:

Is there something wrong with

my blood or urine or...?

ELLISON:

No, they're fine. But there

is something.

JOE:

Tell me.

ELLISON:

You have a brain cloud.

JOE:

A brain cloud.

ELLISON:

There's a black fog of tissue

running right down the center

of your brain. It's very

rare. It will spread at a

regular rate. It's very

destructive.

JOE:

And it's incurable.

ELLISON:

Yes.

JOE:

How long?

ELLISON:

Six months. You can pretty

much count on it being about

that. It's not painful. Your

brain will simply fail.

Followed abruptly by your

body. You can depend on at

least four and half or five

months of perfect health.

(CONTINUED)

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JOE:

But what are you talking

about, Doctor? I don't feel

good right now.

ELLISON:

That's the ironic part,

really. Mr. Banks, you're a

hypochondriac. There's nothing

wrong with you that has

anything to do with your

symptoms. My guess is your

experiences in the Fire

Department were extremely

traumatic. You experienced

the imminent possibility of

death. Several times?

(as Joe nods numbly)

You survived. But the

cumulative anxiety of those

brushes with death left you

habitually fearful. About your

physical person.

JOE:

I'm not sick? Except for this

terminal disease?

ELLISON:

Which has no symptoms. That's

right. It was only because of

your insistence on having so

many tests that we happened to

discover the problem.

Joe laughs, a little maniacally, then stops abruptly.

JOE:

What am I going to do?

ELLISON:

Well, if you have any savings

you might think about taking a

trip, a vacation?

JOE:

I don't have any savings. A

few hundred bucks. I've spent

everything on doctors.

ELLISON:

Yes. Perhaps you'll want a

second opinion?

JOE:

A brain cloud. I knew it.

Well, I didn't know it, but I

knew it.

(CONTINUED)

JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO - Rev. 5/16/89 12.

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ELLISON:

Yes.

JOE:

What am I going to do?

ELLISON:

You have some time left, Mr.

Banks. You have some life

left. My advice to you is:

Live it well.

JOE:

I've got to go. I'm on my

lunch hour which is over.

Joe gets up and Ellison follows suit, putting out his

hand.

ELLISON:

I'm sorry for what I had to

tell you. I wish the news had

been better.

Joe doesn't take his hand.

JOE:

Yeah .

Joe leaves. Ellison starts to sit down. Joe comes back

in.

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