1 (BETSY is starting to move in bed. Her husband is snoring loudly. BETSY’s legs start moving under the sheets and we can see beads of sweat on her forehead. Suddenly she jolts straight up.) BETSY (Yelling) Why didn’t I kill hi-(She suddenly comes to reality realizing where she is.) RICK What the hell Bet— BETSY (Panting) Rick, oh my god . . . oh my god . . . it was so real. So vivi-RICK Betsy, Honey, what is going on? You’re drenched in sweat. (RICK places his hand on BETSY’s forehead like a mother checks a child’s temperature for a fever.) BETSY (Annoyed) Stop it Rick. I need to find him. He’s still out there. RICK Who the hell are you talking about? Find who? What man? BETSY (Shaking) Nolen! RICK Nolen? Nolen who? Who is that? BETSY (Not paying attention to her husband’s pressing questions.) I should’ve had my gun out. I should’ve been more prepared. It was just so sudden. He seemed like a friendly enough man. Why didn’t I--
2 (RICK now grabs BETSY’s shoulders, pulling her towards him to try and jar her back to reality.) RICK Betsy, breathe. Breathe Honey. You need to calm down and try to-BETSY How can I calm down when he’s still out there? RICK Nolen? BETSY Yes! (She catches her breath trying to steady her words) Do you remember the man I told you about on Monday? RICK Wait, Nolen . . . Nolen . . . he’s the guy who attacked you on Monday. Oh my god I’m sorry Honey I should’ve known immediately who you were talking about. That bastar -BETSY Yes! Him! That Nolen. RICK So that’s what you dream was about? BETSY Well . . . no, not exactly. I mean yes, but no . . . RICK Sweetie, please tell me what’s going on. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s really going on. BETSY (Takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself.) Okay . . . okay. So Nolan. (Pause) Remember how I told you he just all of a sudden turned on me? RICK Weren’t you in the middle of handcuffing him? BETSY Yes, I had one handcuff on his right wrist. I pulled him over for an expired sticker and then his record came up with two felony charges. He tried to argue with me . . .
3 RICK Argue?
BETSY He was trying to convince me on and on about his wife and baby. How he couldn’t be put baby needed him. I had to do choice.
to let him go. He kept going his kid . . . his newborn in jail now, that his wife and my job though Rick. I had no
RICK (In an understanding tone) I know you didn’t. BETSY Then it was like a flip switched off. I could see it in his eyes. He knew he was stronger than me. RICK And that’s when he broke your hand and ran back to his car? BETSY Yes, before I could get the second handcuff on . . . that’s when I lost him. RICK Honey, I totally get why you’re still having bad dreams about -BETSY (Very sternly) NO! It wasn’t about that! RICK Okay . . . (breathing out heavily) you’re going to have to help me out. BETSY Rick he was beheading people in my dream. He was running around a factory beheading women and slicing throats and – RICK Whoa . . . whoa . . . where is this coming from? BETSY (Gasping)
4 I don’t know! Rick that’s what terrifies me. I was running after him with my handcuffs . . . but I was holding them with my broken hand and (*RICK starts talking) they kept slipping and falling to the ground and all the while he was killing more and more people.
RICK Honey, stop. Honey! It was just a dream. It isn’t real. He’s not going do that. BETSY But what if it’s not? What if it’s not JUST a dream? What if he actually is this sick psycho murderer who goes around beheading people he’s mad at and I’m to blame (*RICK starts talking) because I let him get away. I let him get away. I had a job to do and I failed. RICK (Very sternly) You are not to blame. Listen to me. You’re not to blame. You had no way of knowing he would just suddenly freak out. (Pause)
BETSY I usually don’t have dreams about things that happen at work though Rick. I’ve been at this so long . . . I’ve experienced too many crazies to have them affect me anymore. But him . . . Nolan . . . he seems different. (Pause) And that’s what scares me. RICK (Grabs BETSY’s hand, looks at her, and says in a soft, loving voice.) You have a job that most people could never imagine doing. You put your life on the line every single day, but that doesn’t mean you have to be superhuman Honey. You -BETSY But my job requires that I be perfect. I have to – RICK
5 Betsy. You’re still a human being. You did everything in your power on Monday. But there is one thing that you will never be able to do . . . and that’s control how others react. BETSY I wish I could.
RICK But you can’t. You will never be able to. BETSY (Worn out) I know . . . I know. RICK You’re just exhausted. BETSY Maybe. RICK Lets try and get some sleep before the sun comes up. Sound okay? BETSY Yea . . . yea. RICK I’m right here if you need me. BETSY I love you. (BETSY kisses RICK for a brief moment). RICK And I love you. (BETSY rolls on her side so that RICK and her are now facing opposite directions with their backs pressed up against each other. RICK is asleep in a matter of five minutes and BETSY just lies there staring at the wall. She then murmurs under her breath.) BETSY
6 I wish I’d have killed him.
(BLACKOUT) (END OF SCENE)
SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/crime/2014/09/27/dn t-cop-nolen-oklahoma-beheading.koco.html