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[After Matt has been injured in the bomb explosion, Ellen is sitting with him in his apartment. Grace and Chris are outside. Chris begins to bang furiously on the door.] Chris: Come on, Matt, open up! Grace: Chris, stop it. You're making a scene. Chris: Not until you tell me what's going on. Grace: There's nothing to tell. Chris: Grace I know you. It's written all over your face. There's something very, very wrong here. Now let me in. [Grace reluctantly turns around and knocks gently on the door.] Grace: Ellen, it's me. Open the door. [Ellen opens the door.] Ellen [accusingly]: What are you doing here, Dr. Ramsey? Chris: I want to know what the big mystery is. Ellen: It's none of your concern. Chris: Well I'm here now, so I'd like to take a look for myself. [Ellen appears to be considering the idea.] Chris [gently]: Please. He's my friend too. [Yeah, right.] [Ellen steps aside to let Chris into the room. Chris walks quickly over to Matt, who is lying on the couch, and begins to examine him.] Chris: He should be in the hospital. Ellen: That is my call, doctor. Chris: Then what are you waiting for? You don't have the resources you need here. Let's go. [Ellen's looks pleadingly at Grace, and then throws up her hands.] Ellen: He doesn't want to be admitted. And I gave him my word. Chris: Dr. Burgess, you and I both know how ill he is. Let's not waste any more time. Ellen [to Grace]: Let's move him. [Ellen stares at Matt and rubs her forehead in concern.] [Later, at the hospital, Matt wakes up to see Ellen standing by his bed.] Matt: Ellen. Ellen: Matt. How are you feeling? Matt: I'm at the hospital. Ellen: Yes. Matt [exasperated]: You brought me to the hospital. That's just great. Ellen: Matt, we didn't have a choice. Matt [sarcastically]: Is that right? You didn't have a choice but to break your promise. How does that work? Ellen: We made a judgement call. Your condition was getting worse. Matt: Who's we? Is Grace in on this? [Ellen looks very nervous.] Ellen: And Chris Ramsey. Matt: Oh, give me a break. What's next, the evening news? Ellen: I don't understand your attitude. As a physician you knew the risk you were running by not seeking treatment earlier. Matt: I should have never let you in my room. Ellen: But you did. I am a doctor, Matt. That is the first and last thing I am. Now if you wanted a babysitter, someone to hold your hand and not lift a finger to help you, then you're right, you shouldn't have let me into your room. Matt [calm, but very angry]: You gave me your word. Ellen: You had infected, necrotizing wounds, with septicemia and massive infection all throughout your body. I had to bring you back here to save your life. Matt: You were wrong to do it, Ellen. Ellen: No, I was wrong to make a promise that I couldn't keep and still think of myself as a doctor. And you were wrong to ask me to do it. Matt: You don't understand. Ellen: No. I understand that you want me to believe that all of this infection and damage was caused by an exploding can of turpentine. Matt: That's what happened. Ellen: I think you're lying. Why do you have a gun pointed at the door any time someone knocks? [Matt doesn't answer.] Ellen: I did the best I could with the little information you gave me, and I am not proud of it. If Chris Ramsey hadn't shown up, I might have kept my promise and let you die. Matt: It's all right, Ellen. I'm already a dead man. [The next day. A crowd has gathered in MattÆs room.] Matt: Well, I hope every other patient is getting the same kind of attention. Julie: We know what happened to the other patients in this hospital. What happened to you? Matt: Well, like I said, a freak run-in with an exploding can of turpentine in my cousin's garage. Jake: So you took time off from the hospital to help your cousin clean out his garage? Matt: No. I went out of town because there was a death in my family. My cousin and I were doing some work on his car when the can exploded. Grace: Well, you're really lucky to be alive, and that's the important thing, right? [Matt smiles and nods at Grace.] Jake: Now, you were messed up when you came in. What hospital released you like that? Matt: Well, you see that was my fault. I told the doctor I needed to get back here. I thought I was fine. Which just goes to show you that a patient can seem O.K. one minute, and take a dive the next. Julie: It just goes to show that you should never diagnose yourself. I thought that was the physician's cardinal rule. Jake: Yeah, well, whatever. You're back here now. We're going to have you fixed up in no time. Ellen: All right, everyone, back to work. Matt: See you guys later. [Grace, Jake, and Julie leave. Ellen stands at Matt's bedside with her arms folded, looking at him accusingly. Matt looks up with a "Who me?" expression on his face.] Matt: Do I have to stay after school? You look pretty mad. Ellen: The rest of them may have bought that story, but no sale here. I want the truth. Matt: There is no hidden truth here, Ellen. I told you what happened. Ellen: I have seen your wounds up close, and they were not caused by a can of turpentine. Now what did you mean yesterday when you said that you were a dead man? Matt: I have a flare for the dramatic. I was upset because you broke your promise not to admit me to the hospital. Ellen: I also made a promise to do no harm, and you were about to die. Matt: I would have made it. Ellen: The hell you would have. And don't change the subject. What did you mean when you said you were a dead man already? Matt: I must have been . . . Ellen: What? Delirious? I've heard that one already. Now I asked you questions yesterday and I didn't get answers. I want them now. So let's start at the beginning. You went over my head to get time off. Where did you go? [Matt sighs.] Matt: This isn't helping matters. Ellen: And what matters would those be, Matt? Who were the two men who picked you up? Mike saw you leave with them, and he said they didn't seem like friends. At least tell me why you have a gun, doctor. [Chris enters the room.] Chris: Hey. Matt: Hey. Chris: How's the patient doing. [Matt smiles, relieved to be off the hook with Ellen.] Matt: Oh, fine. I guess I owe you for that judgement call at my apartment. Chris: Well, it was a tough decision at first. On the one hand, I thought, "Well, if I let him go, the Quartermaine fellowship's all but mine," [Ellen gives him a dirty look.] "But if I save him, the world might be a better place." Matt [laughing]: Well, Chris, I'll be sure and remember you in my acceptance speech when I win. Chris: Ha, ha. Matt: Yeah. Ellen [to Chris]: You did very well, Dr. Ramsey. You were extremely sure of yourself. Chris: Well, it was a good day. Matt: It was more than good, man. You could be one of the greats. And I'd gladly give the Quartermaine to you. I mean that. Chris: Thanks, Matt. [Ellen's beeper goes off.] Ellen: I've got to get to the E.R. We'll finish our conversation later, Dr. Harmon. Matt: Knowing you, I figured we would. Ellen: Count on it. [Later, Matt is alone when Ellen returns, carrying a large envelope.] Matt: Uh-oh, the Grand Inquisitor. Ellen: I thought it was time we finished our earlier conversation. [She pulls an X-ray out of the envelope.] I've been looking over your X-rays. Matt [angry]: What for? Ellen: I wanted to take a look at the old injury that caused your paralysis. Matt: You know, I'm not sure that that's any of your business, Ellen. Ellen: You weren't in a skiing accident, Matt. Matt: No kidding. Ellen: Don't be flip. I was hoping that you'd have an explanation. Matt: What's to explain? Ellen: Why you still have fragments from a bullet lodged next to your spine. Matt: You're not going to let this go, are you? Ellen: No. Matt: When I was younger, I got into some trouble. And when I left town last week, it popped up again. Ellen: That does not explain why you refused treatment when you were sick. Matt: I didn't want to get trailed back here. Ellen: If anyone were tracking you, they would have found you already. The name Matt Harmon has been in the hospital computer since you started your internship. Matt: Well that's good to know, because my real name isn't Matt Harmon. Ellen: Matt Harmon isn't your real name? Matt: Nope. Ellen: Then who are you? Matt: If I told you that, I'd have to kill you. Ellen: I don't find that very funny. Matt: Sorry. Dark humor's all I can muster up these days. Ellen: Please. Tell me why. Matt: Someone's trying to kill me, Ellen. I didn't get these injuries from a can of turpentine. I got them from a bomb. I was the target. Ellen: Who wants to hurt you? Matt: I can't tell you that. Ellen: But you know. [Matt nods.] Ellen: It's the same person that put this bullet in your back Matt: Yep. Ellen: Why are these people after you? Matt: They don't let anybody walk away from them, Ellen. Ellen: What, you know them well? Matt: Used to be one of them. Ellen: I . . . I don't even know you. Matt: No, I'm the same person you met when you took over as chief resident. Ellen: Why are you admitting all this now? Matt: Maybe because I can trust you, and that feels good. Or maybe it's because you're kicking up a lot of dust. And I need you to stop, Ellen, before the wrong people notice. Ellen: Who else knows about this? Matt: No one. I was trained to keep secrets. Ellen: Who trained you? Matt: Experts. They train you in what to say, what to forget. Ellen: How old were you when this happened? Matt: Sixteen. A very stupid sixteen-year-old that got involved in things I shouldn't have. Ellen: Well, a lot of people get caught up in the circumstances of their surroundings. Matt: Tell me something I don't already know. Ellen: Well, I guess the trick is to try to rise above those circumstances. Matt: It's not that easy, Ellen. You either run with the guys, or you don't run at all. I wanted to run. Ellen: What happened? Matt: I ran. Unfortunately I ran into the wrong place at the wrong time. Saw something I should have never seen. Ellen: Did you go to the authorities? Matt: I was just a kid. I thought I could pretend it just never happened. But see, where I come from, you don't rat on your friends. You don't rat on your enemies, unless you've got protection. You just don't rat, period. Ellen: Yeah, but Matt . . . Matt: Ellen, look. I just wanted to get out of that life without hurting anybody, without hurting myself. I failed. I told the guys that I worked for that I'd keep my mouth shut. They didn't want to take any chances. So they botched a job on me. I still caught a bullet and ended up in that chair. I had to ask the cops for help, or they wouldn't have missed the next time. So I agreed to testify in exchange for a new name, and a new life. Ellen: But what you're telling me happened in the past. What caused this? Matt: Last week, I was called down to Philly, to testify against the last of the group who had finally been caught. They found out my location, Ellen, sent a bomb that killed two Marshals, and nearly got me. Ellen: So where does that leave you now? Matt: They're still looking for me right now. And at this point, I can't trust anyone . . . except you. (Submitted by Rena)
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