Chasing Sleep

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INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Ed lies awake in bed. He is sweaty and nervous. His eyes are wide-open, blood-shot and tired.

He picks up his bedside clock which is ticking loudly. It is 3:37.

He looks over at the other side of the queen-size bed. It is still made. He picks a long, blonde hair from the pillow and examines it curiously.

There is a noise outside and Ed gets up to investigate.

INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT

Ed walks through the dark hallway and into the living room of his small house.

INT. LIVING ROOM

By the front door, hanging on the wall, is a framed picture of Eve, Ed's wife. Ed passes by it and looks outside through the window. There is some wind outside, but nothing else.

INT. BATHROOM

Ed looks longingly at his reflection. Ed Saxon, 45, is a morbid, insecure man. His frustration with his life has tinged his sense of humor with an acerbic bite. His early success, a few publications of his poetry, has given him a professorship at the University. He is well-read, intelligent, a bit pompous and occasionally condescending. But mostly, these qualities are restrained and his outward appearance is a little sorrowful. There is an unquestionable charm about him, and its effect is evident in the people around him.

He searches through the medicine cabinet, which is full of women's items, and takes out a Cosco-sized bottle of sleeping pills. He reads the back and takes two.

He hears something bang against the front door.

INT. LIVING ROOM

He opens the front door and takes a step outside.

EXT. PORCH - NIGHT

He looks down by his feet and finds the morning paper, wrapped in blue plastic, lying on the doormat. He picks it up and goes back inside.

INT. LIVING ROOM

Ed stands helplessly in the empty living room.

Ed's desk sits on one side of the living room, crammed into the corner. He searches quickly through the stuff on the desk and finds a small address book. He finds a name in the book and dials the number.

SUSIE:

(over phone)

Hello?

ED:

Susie. Hi, it's Ed. I'm sorry I woke you up.

SUSIE:

Is something wrong?

ED:

Eve isn't there, is she?

SUSIE:

No. She's not there?

ED:

No. She didn't come home after work.

SUSIE:

Oh, no. Didn't she call or anything?

ED:

No. She was supposed to be home around six. I cooked her dinner.

SUSIE:

Could she have gone anywhere else?

ED:

I don't think so. Do you?

SUSIE:

I don't know.

ED:

I'm a little worried.

SUSIE:

I bet. Did you call Harborview?

ED:

No. Do you think I should?

SUSIE:

Yeah. If she got into an accident of something, they would take her there.

ED:

You don't think that's overreacting?

SUSIE:

Don't be silly. Just call them. It can't hurt.

ED:

Alright. But if she comes home later and it turns out to be nothing, don't tell her I called the hospital, OK?

SUSIE:

Call me back.

ED:

Alright.

Ed finds the Yellow Pages and finds a page of "non-emergency" numbers. His finger runs down the list: Trauma, Fire, Disaster, etc. until he comes to Hospitals and then Harborview. He dials the number.

OPERATOR:

Harborview.

ED:

Hello. I wanted to find out if someone had come in. In an emergency, maybe.

OPERATOR:

Hold on.

She transfers him and the phone rings again.

NURSE:

Emergency room.

ED:

I wanted to find out if someone had been brought in.

NURSE:

What's the last name?

ED:

Saxon. Eve Saxon.

NURSE:

Are you a relative?

ED:

She's my wife.

NURSE:

One second. No. No one with last name Saxon.

ED:

Are there any other hospitals that I could check?

NURSE:

Well, we serve as the emergency room for King County, so unless they specified a hospital, they would have been brought here. In an emergency.

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