The English Patient Page #2

JAN:

There's meant to be lace in the next

village - the boys are taking me.

HANA:

I'm not sewing anything else.

JAN:

(mischievously)

You don't have any money, do you?

Just in case there's silk.

HANA:

No!

JAN:

Hana, I know you do!

Hana leans under the tarpaulin, holding some DOLLARS. The two hands -

hers and Jan's - reach for each other as the vehicles bump along side

by side. They laugh at the effort. Jan's GOLD BRACELET catches the

sun and glints.

HANA:

I'm not sewing anything else for you!

JAN:

(getting the money)

I love you.

The Jeep accelerates away. Hana sighs to the patient.

Suddenly AN EXPLOSION shatters the calm as the jeep runs over a MINE.

The jeep is THROWN into the air. The convoy halts and there's chaos as

soldiers run back pulling people out of the vehicles. Hana runs the

other way, towards the accident, until she is prevented from passing by

a soldier.

9*.EXT. ITALIAN HILL ROAD. LATER.

-- and there's still chaos as two SAPPERS arrive on motorcycles. One

of them, a SIKH, wears a turban.

The motorcycles arrive at the front of the convoy. A nurse, MARY, is

helping a doctor, OLIVER, attend to the injured driver. The other two

bodies are covered with blankets. There's blood everywhere. The Sikh

and his colleague pull out the paraphernalia of their bomb disposal

equipment.

10EXT. ITALIAN HILL ROAD. DAY.

KIP, the Sikh Lieutenant, and HARDY, his sergeant, explore the road

ahead of the becalmed convoy, using saucer-like METAL DETECTORS and

HEADSETS. Kip is young, lithe, contained, utterly focused as they inch

along the debris-strewn road. He stiffens as he registers metal. With

a bayonet he carefully scrapes at the mud-caked surface. Something

GLEAMS. Suddenly, A PAIR OF FEET walks across his vision as HANA

HURRIES PAST, walking carelessly up the road. It's so surreal that

neither man registers at first, and then Kip is shouting.

KIP:

Hey! Hey! Stop! Hey!

HARDY:

Don't move! Stand ABSOLUTELY STILL!

Hana stops. Hardy gingerly follows her footsteps.

HARDY:

(as he approaches)

Good, that's good, just stay still for me

and then we're going to be fine.

He arrives at Hana. Then grabs her. He'd like to slap her face.

HARDY:

What are you doing?! What the bloody

hell do you think you're doing?

By way of an answer she looks at the ground ahead of her feet. Jan's

BRACELET lies in the mud. Hardy bends down and collects the mangled

bracelet, presses it into Hana's hands.

11EXT. VILLAGE. DUSK.

The CONVOY is threading through A RUINED VILLAGE, passing the souvenirs

of war. An overturned vehicle now used as a game by some children,

dejected refugees tramping along the side of the road. From the end of

one of the buildings are hanging HALF A DOZEN CORPSES, strung upside

down with crude placards denouncing, in Italian, their collaboration

with the Nazis.

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