OLTL FANTASY FICTION SCRIPT 41- DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF SHEYNA RAMONE—AND FOR ABBY MAMAROLE-BUTTERWECK-By Kaydee Barnett

(Nora and Bo have returned home. The evidence of the struggles that took place during their in-home captivity is in the mess all over their living room. They are happy to be home, but they stand on opposite ends of the couch still seemingly awkward with each other.)

NORA: (seeking a distraction to the silence) “I’m so glad to be out of those God-awful hospital clothes!

I never thought the sight of my ransacked living room would be such a welcome sight.”

BO: “I getcha, but I am going to get this place cleaned up so we can enjoy our return without distractions.”

NORA: (visibly relieved) “Great idea! I’ll help you.”

(She practically dives into tidying up the house but seems even more grateful that the doorbell rings. Bo is already heading to answer the door by the time she turns around, so she continues to clean up. Bo opens the door and is surprised to see Judge Fitzwater on the other side.)

BO: “Your Honor! What an unexpected surprise! Pleasant, but unexpected.”

FITZWATER: “Good evening, Commissioner. Please accept my apologies for showing up here unannounced, and so late.”

NORA: (quickly moving to greet the judge) “Oh, don’t be silly, Your Honor! Come, come!”

(She directs Fitzwater to the loveseat, then realizes that she hadn’t finished her cleaning assignment and blushes. She races ahead of the judge and quickly begins to tidy a space for her.)

NORA: “Please excuse the disaster…we, um…well, we were otherwise engaged and we came back late…”

FITZWATER: (sympathetically) “Counselor, please don’t worry yourself about something so unimportant. And it’s not a mess at all. Please, sit.”

BO: (locking his front door) “Can I get you something, Judge?”

FITZWATER: “Tea with some lemon would be just lovely. Thank you.”

BO: “Be back in a jiff.”

(Bo scurries off to the kitchen and Nora turns to Fitzwater.)

NORA: “Not that I’m not appreciative of the gesture, Your Honor…but why ARE you here?”

FITZWATER:”I wanted to come by and tell you personally how thankful I am for the safe return of you and the Commissioner. He was very helpful and very supportive of some things in another matter, and he assisted me greatly along with John McBain.”

NORA: “Really? I didn’t know.”

FITZWATER: “With everything that had taken place right after he and the lieutenant visited, I pretty much doubt that you two had any time to talk about anything relevant. You are one of my most admired attorneys, and your husband is one I respect most highly in law enforcement. Putting that aside, you two are very wonderful human beings.”

NORA: “Well..um, thank you. I really didn’t know what to say.”

FITZWATER: (chuckling) “You said thank you. That is the proper response, I’m sure. Nora, let’s take a walk in your garden for a moment, shall we?”

NORA: (completely confused, but compliant) “Ah..yeah, sure. (Bo returns with the cup of tea.) Bo? Judge Fitzwater wants to speak with me in the garden. We’ll be back, okay?”

BO: “Sure, honey. Go on. I’ll turn the nightlight on so you can see.”

(The ladies thank him and the camera flashes over to Llanview PD…John heads into his office and tosses a file on the desk. He sits in his chair and lets out a sigh before rubbing his temples. He opens the file and the viewers see pictures of Llanfair’s damage.)

JOHN: “You came after my family, Brody. All of those kids could have been killed. You and me have a date.”

(John angrily snatches his keys off the desk and storms off to the prison cell where Brody is. He directs the guard to open the cell door and the sight of the bloodstains on the sheet already tells him that something is wrong.He removes a pen from his pocket and instructs the stunned guard to get some gloves. A few seconds later, he removes the sheet from Brody’s body with the pen. He lets out a swear as he catches sight of the knife in Brody’s chest.)

JOHN: “Where the hell are my GLOVES?”

GUARD: (scurrying over with the gloves in hand) “Right here, lieutenant.”

JOHN: (quickly putting the gloves on) “Who was here tonight?”

GUARD: “No one.”

JOHN: (annoyed) “Well SOMEONE had to be, unless you’re saying he did this to himself?”