See a hand striking a match and lighting oil in small bowl. Cut to …
Park (Day)
Young man and woman are walking through a park. They are discussing names for their future children. They laughingly decide on Melvin for a boy and Maybelline for a girl. The woman calls herself Liz Sumner. The man says that all they need to decide who to invite to the wedding. Liz starts gasping for air and tells him she is having an asthma attack. She collapses to the ground, with him screaming her name, "Liz!" Cut to…
Hospital (Day)
Realize we are seeing through her eyes, as the tiles of a hospital corridor rush by. Liz is on a gurney, with the man by her side. A male orderly prevents him from following her any further. Cut to…
Hospital Room (Day)
See Liz in bed, wearing oxygen mask. Hear her fiancé ask the doctor , "How long?" The doctor says that asthmatics going into a coma from an overdose of epinephrine is difficult to predict. Hopefully, within 24 hours. The fiancé asks if Liz can hear him. The doctor says he believes so. Doctor says he's due in surgery. He stops to talk to a couple about their son, who is in a coma. The fiancé tells Liz he loves her.
Liz's Comatose Mind
She is wandering in a smoky, columned space in her hospital gown. She is bewildered. Hears someone screaming and the growl of an animal. She becomes increasingly frightened. She sees a teenaged boy. He tells her to get down. She asks him where they are. He tells her to get out now. Boy runs. Hear horrible growling voice saying "I hunger. You cannot escape," Liz sees a demonic black figure with fiery blue eyes. The boy screams as the demon's shadow falls over him. Liz screams and …
Hospital Room (Day)
wakes up in her hospital bed. She is screaming about a boy being torn apart and that someone should help him. See an emergency team working on the boy in the next bed. They try to revive him, but are unable to do so. She sees his face and recognizing it as the one in her dream, screams.
San Francisco Legacy House - Library (Day)
Derek and Alex are working on piecing together an old map of France. Alex comments that it should make their French brethren very happy. They seal it in a case. Derek tells Alex to take it to Paris and to give it directly to Lucien Breton, head of the Paris House. He warns her to speak to no one, even other members of the House. He reminds her that Lucien was very specific. Alex tells him she will call from Paris. He tells her to be careful. Nick enters as Alex is leaving. Jokingly asks if she needs company. She refuses and leaves.
Derek tells Nick that a Kevin Sumner called and that Liz Barrow has been admitted to St. Alban's Hospital. Derek tells him it sounds serious. Nick looks stunned.
Hospital Room (Day)
Liz is sleeping; Kevin sitting by the bed. Nick comes in and thanks Kevin for calling him. Kevin says it wasn't his idea. Nick asks how she is. Kevin says she is better and sleeping. Nick says he can't believe it started from an asthma attack, since she has had asthma since she was a kid. Kevin tells him how she went into a coma right after she came out of ER. He tells Nick that when she came to she was raving about a boy being torn apart. Then she asked for Nick.
Nick apologizes if his being there bothers Kevin, who says it does bother him. Nick says he'll come back at another time. Liz wakes up and smiles at Nick. She says it's been a long time and asks how he is. Liz says she'd be better if she could get out of the hospital. She asks if Kevin told him what happened. Liz tells Nick she remembers him telling her he worked with some pretty strange stuff and tells him it couldn't be any stranger than what happened to her. Starts to cry. Kevin motions for Nick to leave. Nick and Kevin retreat across room and converse in whispers. Kevin says they supposedly have the best doctors, but he isn't so sure. Nick tells him he has a friend, who is a psychiatrist, that could help. Liz overhears and says Nick thinks she is crazy too. Kevin calms her down. Nick says he will bring his friend the next time he comes and leaves.
Hospital Waiting Room (Night)
Thunderstorm. Kevin lights a cigarette in the waiting room. The orderly tells him there is no smoking, takes the cigarette, and puts it out on his hand. Nick and Rachel walk up in time to observe this. Introduces Rachel and Kevin and they go to see Liz.
Hospital Room (Night)
Nick introduces Rachel to Liz. Rachel asks how she feels. Liz says all right, but she can't stop thinking about what happened. Rachel asks her what she remembers. Liz says it wasn't like a dream, it was very real. Asks Rachel if she thinks Liz is crazy, Rachel replies "no more than the rest of us." Kevin reminds Liz that Rachel is there to help her and to tell her what she told them.
Liz says at first it was pitch black, but she could feel herself being pulled by some force into the darkness. Then she was in a strange place where everything was twisted and grey. That is when she saw the boy. Rachel asks for a description. Liz says he was blond, the same boy she saw when she came out of her coma, the boy who died. He was running from something and there was a terrible noise like a hungry beast and the boy started to run, but a dark shadow came over. Liz is getting hysterical. Rachel tries to calm her. Liz cries that the beast killed the boy in cold blood. Rachel hugs her and tells her she believes her. Liz cries.
San Francisco Legacy House - Library (Day)
Rachel is talking to Nick and Derek, telling them they must consider the possibility that Liz is delusional.. Nick is angry and asks if that is psychobabble for crazy. Rachel protests she didn't say that. Nick says okay, she's delusional. But that doesn't explain why Liz came out of our coma at the precise moment that boy died in the next bed. Rachel points out Liz could have seen the boy in ER or the hallway before going into her coma, creating a subconscious impression. Derek says that these events should not be ignored and asks if there are any links between Liz and the boy. Nick says they had the same ER team, same ward, and same neurosurgeon, a Dr. Patterson. Rachel says they also had the same supervising physician, a Dr. Brendan Slade, a world class surgeon. Derek suggests that these people might not mind answering some questions.
Dr. Brendan Slade's Office (Day)
Nick and Rachel are escorted in by Dr. Slade. He comments that it's an honor to meet someone from the Luna Foundation, that the organization's generosity is well known. Rachel comments that his reputation precedes him also. She tells him she attended a series of lectures he gave on children with vascular necrosis that was excellent. He laughs and tells her not to stop, that one can never get too much praise or funding. One can always use his name on a new wing. They laugh and sit down. Nick says they are there on behalf of a patient, Elizabeth Barrow. Slade says he is quite pleased with her progress. Rachel asks his opinion on Dr. Patterson. Slade says he is a good man and Liz is doing nicely in his care. Nick says "even though she has an overwhelming fear of being comatose again?" Slade says he doesn't know what they are talking about. Rachel asks if he wasn't informed about the vision she had while in her coma. Nick tells him the vision was of the boy in the next bed be
ing killed. Slade say
Surgery Washroom (Day)
Dr. Patterson is washing his hands. He tells Rachel and Nick they caught him at a bad time – he's due in surgery in 10 minutes. He asks if they came about Liz. Rachel says yes. He says she suffered from an epinephrine overdose leading to swelling of cranial hemisphere – a transient ascemic coma and, hopefully, a complete recovery. Nick says he wants to know about the Sanford boy. He asks how a routine appendectomy ended in a coma that the boy never came out of. Rachel jumps in to say they don't mean to imply he was to blame. Patterson tells them that what happened to that boy was very frustrating, but he doesn't know what happened. He leaves.
Hospital Hallway (Day)
Rachel asks Nick what he thought he was doing, that he stopped just short of accusing the doctor of malpractice. Nick says he wants answers, not a run-around. Rachel reminds him that Dr. Patterson in top neurosurgeon in the hospital and Slade is most respected surgeon in the State. Nick says that's no reason to treat him like the second coming of Albert Schweitzer. He rudely asks if doctors always stick together. Rachel is stunned. Nick tells her something bad is going on in that hospital and she should open her eyes and see it. Rachel says she sees someone so emotionally involved he is blinding himself to reality. She tells him that Liz may have serious emotional problems and unless he is willing to consider that possibility, she is leaving. Nick says nothing and Rachel leaves.
Hospital Room (Night)
Liz is watching TV. Nick knocks on window and enters. He asks her how she is doing. Tells him she wants to get out of the hospital. She asks Nick if he has ever noticed that most people never say what they mean. All the time, he says. She comments that it kind of sounds like their relationship. Nick says Kevin seems like a nice guy. Liz says "now who isn't saying what they mean?" Nick tells her he hasn't the words. They were just bad timing. Liz tells him Kevin is wonderful. He teaches at the same school she does and is crazy about kids. Only thing they ever argue about is how many kids to have and what to name them.
She asks him if Rachel says she is crazy. Nick says "you're a little warped, but you'll be okay." She laughs and calls him a creep. He leaves to grab some dinner in cafeteria.
See match strike again. Held by shaky hands. The hands then pick up vial of green liquid and a stamp.
Hospital Room (Night)
Liz is sleeping. Footsteps enter room. The hands place the stamp on her neck and then leave.
Liz has another vision of the bad place.
Hospital Hallway (Night)
Orderly tells Kevin visiting hours are over. Nick comes up and tells him to cut them some slack.
Hospital Room (Night)
See Liz, then the burning bowl. Liz sits up in terror. The room begins to fill with smoke. She sees the demon coming toward the bed. She screams in terror.
Hospital Hallway (Night)
Nick, Kevin and orderly run into room. Liz is gasping for air. She slips into a coma as the orderly runs for a doctor.
San Francisco Legacy House - Derek's Office
Phone rings. It's Alex, calling from a streetside café in Paris. We discover she speaks French fluently. She tells Derek she went to Paris House, but there was no sign of Breton. He left her a note telling her to meet him at the steps of the Rue de Reveille. Derek tells her to be careful. If Breton doesn't show or she feels in danger, she is to leave immediately. Phone goes dead. Derek looks concerned.
Hospital Room (Night)
Nick standing in doorway, when Rachel comes up. He apologizes for their argument. They watch on as Dr. Patterson examines Liz. Kevin is angry. Nick tells him to go get some air and he'll take care of Liz. Nick notices the mark on Liz's neck and gets a sample of the fluid.
San Francisco Legacy House - Data Center
Rachel says the substance is some form of scopolamine, which is extracted from the berra serra plant of the Nightshade family. Derek reminds them it is called deadly Nightshade. He tells them it is used by shaman's in South America to cause loss of memory and will for days. Rachel says the substance was very concentrated. Nick asks if it was enough to cause a coma. Rachel says yes. Nick says he's going to hospital to look at the mark.
Hospital Room (Night)
Rachel and Nick sneak in and take photo of mark on Liz's neck.
San Francisco Legacy House - Data Center
Derek points out the same mark in a book. Derek tells them it is an Aztec mark. Rachel is having trouble believing witchcraft is going on in St. Alban's Hospital. Nick asks her for a rational explanation, but she has none. Nick researches recent deaths at hospital. He discovers 21 cases where the patients' illnesses were so routine that slipping into a coma was listed as an unexplainable side effect. No pattern in attending physicians. Nick wonders if the orderly, Miguel Sanchez could be involved. They discover he was born in Mexico City. Rachel says she is going to look up an old doctor friend and invite him to dinner. Cut to…
See old, gnarled hands strike a match and light candles. Hear the voice speaking in Spanish, saying "Blood in your name, Blood, etc." Hand picks up chicken claw. Gives thanks. See a statue that looks just like demon in Liz's visions. The hands pick up a stone knife. Cutting one of the hands, blood drips into a bowl. The eyes of the demon light up.
Hospital Hallway (Day)
See Miguel hide something in his jacket and Nick following him. Miguel goes down stairs to the basement, with Nick following. Cut to…
Hospital Cafeteria (Day)
See Rachel and her friend sit down to eat. She knows he hasn't much time, so she'll cut to the chase.
Hospital Basement (Day)
Miguel opens a locker and leaves something in a bowl. Leaves. Nick discovers six kittens in the locker that Miguel is feeding.
Hospital Cafeteria (Day)
Bill tells Rachel that he and Slade did their residency together and are good friends. They even travel together - to Paris, London, Mazatlan. He didn't like Mazatlan, but Slade loved it. Slade was depressed when he went down, but has gone back several times since. Apparently he hooked up with a local brujo medicine man. Slade was looking for a cure for his arthritis and found it.
Dr. Brendan Slade's Office (Night)
See hands writing on paper. They suddenly shrivel terribly. See Slade's face.
San Francisco Legacy House - Library (Night)
Derek gets call from Alex. She tells him Breton is dead. Something is wrong and she is leaving. Rachel comes in and tells him it is Slade. He had rheumatoid arthritis and now he doesn't, since he found shaman to cure it. Derek shows her a drawing of Huehatzen (sp?), the Hungry One. The demon is the gatekeeper in the shadow world between life and death. He seduces anyone willing to trade the innocent for worldly gain, slowly feeding off their souls until nothing remains. The leave for the hospital.
Hospital Room (Night)
Nick sneaks into Liz's room. Tells her she never makes things easy – he's ready to talk and she can't hear him. He says he's sorry he never treated her as he should. Hears voices. Slade and orderlies bring in a patient. Orderlies leave. Slade pulls vial and stamp out of his pocket and goes to Liz's bed. Nick confronts him and they fight. Slade seems immensely strong and is able to press stamp to Nick's neck, who then falls to the floor. Slade flees to his office.
Dr. Brendan Slade's Office (Night)
Slade opens cabinet with shrine. He lights the oil in the bowl. Nick staggers in. Asks Slade what he got out of killing his patients. Slade cries his life. Nick falls to his knees. "Your demon's never satisfied, is he? They never are." He collapses. Slade tells him to say hello the Liz for him.
Rachel and Derek run in. In the struggle, the statue falls and breaks and the shrine catches on fire. Slade screams in pain and falls to floor. Rachel puts out fire. As the light leaves the demon's eyes, we see blue breath leave Slade's mouth.
Rachel checks on Nick and says that he is alive, but barely. Derek tells her to hypnotize him. He then tells Nick that the demon is powerless to attach unless he surrenders to its will. Rachel says she will give Derek five minutes and hypnotizes him.
Nick is wandering in the grey place. He hears screams and growling. Sees a very seductive looking Liz. She calls him "the prodigal lover." He asks her where they are. Anywhere they want, she replies. She reminds him of a night in a penthouse by the Bay, where he took her for her birthday. Says they can do anything they want. Nick protests and says this isn't real. She says he can erase all the pain he caused her by leaving her. He tells her he was afraid of ruining everything he touched, like his father. She tries to get him to come to her, but he tells her "You can't control me unless I surrender to your will, can you, Liz?" She screams.
A voice speaks. It sounds like Liz and the demon. "Thief, you dare enter my world and think to steal what is mine?"
Nick shouts for Liz.
Voice says, "Come, thief, take her if you can. But if you fail, you are mine forever."
Cut to Derek's face. Rachel attempts to bring him out of trance, but he stops her.
Nick finds two Liz's to choose from. Voice says, "Make your choice or you shall die." One Liz says "save me." One says "save yourself." Nick hears Derek yelling at him to hurry. He chooses the "Save Yourself" Liz. Derek calls to them and holds out his hand to Nick. They see the demon. Nick grabs Derek's hand and they both wake up in Slade's office. Nick thanks them.
Hospital Room
Liz awakens in her room. Kevin is elated and hugs her. Nick enters room. Liz thanks him over Kevin's shoulder. Nick leaves.
Note: Rachel's friend Bill was played by the same actor who plays the "Cigarette Man" on The X-Files.
Description last revised: 02 March 1997