FERNANDO: “I will keep working as I talk, doctóra, that way no one will see anything suspicious if they should see us talking. Esta bien?”

DORIAN: “Of course. What is it, Fernando?”

FERNANDO: “I was taking my lunch earlier. I came back inside, and I saw two of those very hard-looking men who work for la alcadesa—the mayor. They were pushing one of our laundry bins through the private tunnel entrance that is exclusively for the maintenance staff to use.


The one that we are instructed to use to transport the soiled laundry from the badly diseased patients to the laundry service truck.”

(Dorian frowns in suspicion and confusion.)

DORIAN:“That’s very strange, Fernando. Unless they were investigating a crime…Why, yes! That could be it! You know that my nephew was kidnapped from here, maybe they were looking for him, or anything…(Fernando shakes his head)…no, huh?”

FERNANDO: “Señora, I don’t know why, but when I saw them, my first instinct was to duck and hide from them. I did not want them to see me. So I did…I watched them from behind the cargo, and I heard them telling someone on their phones to be ready to make a quick exit. Then the alcadesa…she came to meet them, and she ordered someone from her phone to get the truck ready because they were transporting a package to the guest house.”

DORIAN: “The ‘guest house’? A package? What is that woman and her men up to?”

(Dorian stares off into space, trying to make sense out of the information. Fernando reaches into his pocket and pulls something out.)

FERNANDO: “Doctóra, there is something else.

I found this.”

(Dorian turns to face him and looks down at his hand. He hands her a folded Ziploc sandwich bag, which contains something shiny, and a dark piece of clothing in it. Dorian unfolds the bag, but doesn’t open it. She gasps in horror when she recognizes the items.)

FERNANDO: (Worried) “Señora? What is it?”

(She quickly glances back at Starr, hoping that her niece didn’t hear her outburst. Starr has fallen fast asleep, and she wasn’t affected.)

DORIAN: “These belong to my nephew Jack…the boy who was kidnapped here yesterday. This is a bracelet that his mother bought him on his eleventh birthday, and this is one of the wristbands he always wears when he’s playing sports. There’s blood on them! Fernando, where did you find these?”

FERNANDO: “I found them downstairs in the boiler room. I saw some blood stains down there, and I saw a piece of a rope. I did not touch these things, in case I was right to be afraid that something was wrong. And I left the other things just the way I found them downstairs. I do not want anyone to know that I saw them. I am afraid for my family, and I don’t even know why.”

DORIAN: “Don’t worry, Señor Saldeban, nothing will happen to you, and I will not mention you. But I am going to find out what that bitch has to do with all of this. Thank you, Fernando. Thank you.”

FERNANDO: “No thanks, Dorian. Thank you for all that you did for my Estrella.”

DORIAN: “Fernando, go back to work. Use the other exit so no one sees you leaving from here.”

(Dorian stuffs the Ziploc in her purse and races out of the room, frantically searching for her cell phone. Just as she gets a grasp on the device, she once again literally bumps into Kathleen, who is returning from the parking lot.)

KATHLEEN: “Well, Senator! We have GOT to stop meeting like this.”

DORIAN: “Oh, I am already in full agreement with you there, Kathleen.”

KATHLEEN: (startled by the eerie tone of her voice) “I beg your pardon? Senator, is there something you have to say to me?”

DORIAN: “No, mayor, the time for talking with you is long gone. But I will say one last thing…You messed with my loved ones one time too many, you bitch! I am going to bury you so far down with your secrets that whoever looks for you will have to invent a tool to find you! You wretched, brazen cast-off hussy! I don’t know how, but I know that you are knee-deep in the waste I smell on you! You listen to me real good, lady…when I find out what exactly it is that you have done with my nephew, you are going to pray for death.”

KATHLEEN: “Senator, you might want to watch that self-destructive practice you have of exposing yourself to scandal because you ran your mouth before you thought what you were going to say. It’s how everyone manages to get some dirt on you. But even more importantly…you might want to control the habit of getting in my face—especially to threaten me. You have absolutely no grounds to make such allegations against me, and you have absolutely no idea who the hell you’re messing with. Don’t let the nerdy suits fool you, lady. I’m a viper underneath it all.”

DORIAN: “Oh, the nerdy suits never fooled me one bit. You’re a lousy dresser, and I KNOW you’re a viper! Sexual frustration topped off with rejection would turn anyone into a viper, and YOU certainly should be the Queen Anaconda by now after all of those years waiting on someone who never once looked your way!”

(Kathleen’s face turns cherry red, and she suddenly backhands Dorian in the face. Stunned, Dorian puts a hand up to her sore cheek while her mouth hangs open in shock. She recovers quickly and punches the mayor in return. Nora and David witness the scene before anyone else does and they race over to break them up before the press catches sight of the scene. They manage to get the women back separated and they usher them both out to the parking lo, away from the medical staff and the press.)

NORA: “WHAT the HELL is going on here? Are you two CRAZY?”

FINN: “Oh, spare me. Counselor!”

DAVID: “Love Muffin! Why are you risking scandalous exposure in your position by indulging in a wrestling match with this tackily dressed iron maiden?”

(Dorian remains silent, while she and Finn glare at each other breathlessly. Neither woman wants to give an explanation to the referees at the moment.)

NORA: “Well, ladies? Am I gonna get an answer, or do I call Bo and John to come make an arrest?”

FINN: “Oh, can it, Nora! You should be arresting Tomas Delgado for his part in the Buchanan-Manning kidnapping case.”

NORA: “oh, you’re referring to that little thing that happened the minute the police came to the docks? Sorry to disappoint you…MAYOR, but we’re three steps ahead of you already. I was going in to file the paperwork when I had to play referee with you two. So what the hell brought you two to this point?”

FINN: “Drop it, Nora. Dorian and I just got out of control with our personal problems against each other. Continue on the path you are taking and get that affidavit filed.”

NORA: “Now you listen…” (her cell phone goes off, and she pauses mid-sentence to glance down at her screen, She received a text, but she doesn’t want to let her horror show in front of Finn, so she pretends it was a work-related call and resumes her talk with Finn.) “…you know what, Kathleen? You are pathetic. Even when someone tries to help you, you’re still a barracuda. I’ve gotta go. Dorian and David, split up and go to your corners before you and the press will have an eventful evening.”

(Nora rushed off to her car and slips inside. She tosses her briefcase on the front passenger’s seat and looks at her phone screen again. The camera zooms in on the screen and the viewers see the words: “Coming for you soon, Nora. Be ready. Life, or death, depends on you.” Nora is visibly shaken by the text. She scrolls down to see who sent her the message, but the words: “Unknown number” jump out on the screen. She drops the cell phone on to the seat with her briefcase as if the phone burned her, then starts her car and races out the parking lot, speeding away from the hospital. The camera zooms out as her car slowly gets further and further away, then fades to black.)

BACK TO: 'One Life To Live' Fantasy Fiction – Script 31 – PART 1