American Horror Stories (2021) s03e07 Episode Script

1
["GET THEE BEHIND ME, SATAN"
BY ELLA FITZGERALD PLAYING]
Get thee behind me, Satan ♪
I want to resist ♪
But the moon is low ♪
And I can't say no ♪
[MALCOLM] Howdy.
- All right.
- Get thee behind me, Satan ♪
[DEVICE BEEPS]
- [ENGINE RECEDES]
- Have a good Okay.
I mustn't be kissed ♪
She didn't look happy.
But the moon is low ♪
- Ah.
- And I may let go ♪
I'm not letting nobody fuck up my night.
Get thee behind me ♪
Someone I'm mad about ♪
Is waiting in the night. ♪
Oh, shit.
Hey. Ma'am.
You okay? Ma'am?
Um
Hang on, uh
Let me go get
let me call someone
to get you some help, okay?
Hey, um, this is Malcolm
from the south gate.
Um, there's a woman out here,
and something is very wrong with her.
Wait.
Hang on.
Hello?
Ma'am?
What the fuck?
[DOOR CLOSES]
[CLAIRE] So, it's what we suspected.
There's a sizable tumor
on your son's thoracic spine centered on
I-I know all this already.
It's an intradural tumor all around here.
T7, T8. Right?
Yeah, um and T9.
We're wasting time. I want
to talk to the doctors now.
Um
[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER P.A.]
Look, I want to help, okay?
But the first issue is that
you don't have any insurance.
- I don't care.
- Treatment like this
can cost upwards of $200,000.
Did you not just hear me?
We're living in a motel room so that my boy
can come to the best cancer hospital
- in the country.
- I, I understand.
It's just, it is out of my control.
I've only been here for a month,
but I can try to get you an admission.
And until then there are administrators
that can give you other options.
There's County Hospital
and there's St. Christopher's
in Bridgetown.
- Sometimes our surgeons
- You can't turn us away.
You're a hospital.
You're legally required to help.
That's only true for emergency situations.
Ms. Henley. Hi, I'm Dr. Eric Nostrum.
I'm the senior oncologist.
- [ANNA] Oh, call me Anna.
- Thank you, Anna.
Now, Anna, I have gone over
your son's file,
and it seems that he falls
in this very special category
that qualifies him for an endowment
from the Springhill Program.
They're gonna pay for all of his treatment.
- Huh?
- [CRIES]
Oh, my oh, my God.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- [CHUCKLES]
Well, there are a few, uh, parameters,
but don't you worry about that.
Claire, would you mind giving us the room?
- [CLAIRE] Yeah, of course.
- Thank you.
- Oh.
- Go right in. Thank you, Claire.
[WOMAN OVER P.A.]
Patient Services to Admitting,
Patient Services to Admitting.
[CLAIRE] I feel like this job is
turning me into a soulless monster.
I mean, I became a nurse to help people,
not turn them away
as soon as I see empty pockets.
I know, I know.
I am so glad I don't work
in admittance anymore
'cause I lost part of myself
in that department.
Also, why didn't anyone tell me
about this Springhill Program thing?
I mean, I almost turned away that mother
without even knowing it was an option.
It's not like it's a secret or anything.
Program's been around for years.
Dr. Nostrum started it
when his dad died of cancer.
Well, at least some people
are getting the help they need.
Uh
Hi.
Do you need some help?
We're-we're both nurses,
and we can get you some help, okay?
Lilly?
Lilly.
[CLAIRE] Her breathing seems normal.
Let's lay her down.
Can you hear me?
Can you speak?
[LILLY] I think she understands you.
[CLAIRE] Uh, can you read that, or
[LILLY] No, it's too caked with blood, I
can't make anything out.
- [CLAIRE SIGHS] What happened to you?
- [VELCRO RIPS]
[LILLY] You know what?
Maybe it's one of those, uh,
synthetic street drugs?
The new ones.
You know, like maybe the
[WHISPERS] is like a side effect.
[MAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER P.A.]
You just do me a favor?
[CLAIRE] What?
[LILLY] Please don't
leave me alone with her?
[CLAIRE] Yeah. Okay.
We're just gonna take some blood
so we can know how to help you.
Gonna give you a countdown.
Three, two, one.
[LILLY EXHALES]
[CLAIRE] What?
[LILLY] I was afraid it wouldn't be red.
Goddamn lights.
Is it just me, or is it getting worse?
I feel like this whole place
is falling apart.
[CLAIRE] Okay.
You take these down to the lab.
I'm gonna check her tag,
see if I can get anything off of it.
[EXHALES]
Okay.
X
What?
[HIGH-PITCHED WHEEZING]
Ward
X
Are you trying to say something?
What did you say?
- [GASPS] Jesus.
- Sorry.
- Justin.
- I just need to check the bedding.
Yeah, that's fine.
Oh, shoot.
I'm gonna take this down to the lab.
I will be right back.
[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER P.A.]
Hey.
Um, Lilly just dropped off
some samples from 451.
Could you add this one?
Mm-hmm.
I don't have anything.
You sure she came by?
[WOMAN SCREAMS]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [SCREAMING]
- [CLAMORING]
[MAN] Give him some space.
[CLAIRE] Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Somebody get some help.
[NURSE] Oh okay.
[BREATHING UNSTEADILY]
[NOSTRUM] You have gone over everything
with the dog, found nothing?
Oh, he was such a good guy.
Do you know what? I'll be right back.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
- Hi.
- Hey.
Is there anything I can do for you?
- I think I'm just I'm trying to process.
- Sure.
You know what I find works
is a nice, warm cup of something.
Uh, excu Young man, what is your name?
- Uh, Malcolm.
- Malcolm.
Would you get Nurse Claire a hot cup of?
Um, black tea would be really
nice, actually. Thank you.
Okay. Yeah.
[NOSTRUM] Thank you.
We have combed this hospital.
Forensic teams, dogs. Twice.
We haven't found her, but we will.
I already told the police,
but she kept repeating something.
It sounded like "wardex."
Wardex. Sounds like a pesticide.
Did she say anything else?
Anything in context?
- No, that was it.
- Hmm.
I just keep thinking that
it could have been me.
Claire, I find it's much better
not to dwell on things like that.
Ta-da!
[NOSTRUM] All right, this
is what I prescribe for you.
You go home, you take a shower,
you get into bed.
Malcolm, would you drive Claire home?
I don't think it's good for you
to be behind the wheel right now.
Yeah, I-I'd be happy to.
- See?
- Yeah.
Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Drive safely.
Oh, actually, can I
meet you in the parking lot?
- I just have to grab my stuff.
- Sure. I'll, uh,
I'll just pull my car around
and meet you there.
Okay.
Hey, look, um
don't take too long.
I don't know, this whole thing
feels weird to me.
- Yeah.
- [ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[WATER RUNNING]
[TURNS WATER OFF]
[PANTING]
Please don't hurt me.
I want to help you.
[TURNS WATER ON]
[TURNS WATER OFF]
Alice Taylor.
I cut it off her wrist before the attack.
Wh-Why didn't you just
give it to the police?
I mean, it looks suspicious.
I forgot I had it until now.
Besides, the police would
just come back here
to pull the file anyways.
We're saving them a step.
Claire, now, I don't understand
why you're doing this.
[SCOFFS] Because something
really weird is happening here.
You mean besides a madwoman
running around, killing people?
Okay.
At my last job at Mercy,
I, I worked with this group
of spinal surgeons.
They were you know surgeons
brilliant, arrogant,
and someone found out that
they were charging Medicare
for unnecessary spinal fusion surgeries.
They were leaving their patients in agony.
Yeah, I remember this.
It was a big scandal.
For years I knew they were
doing something wrong,
I felt it in my gut, and I just ignored it.
I thought maybe somebody else
would expose them.
And so many people suffered because of me.
I'm getting that same gut feeling now.
Claire, don't you think you're just maybe
a little bit paranoid because
of what happened tonight?
I wasn't paranoid at Mercy Hospital.
[BEEPS]
Her file's here.
But there's nothing.
No treatment history, no labs.
And Wait, that can't be right.
Are we searching the same person?
Patient intake forms.
- The-the hard copies in the file room.
- Claire, okay.
Why don't we just give
the wristband to the police?
I will take you home,
I'll even stay the night.
- Hey, and we can order some really crazy
- No. I know myself,
and I-I will not be able to sleep.
There's something going on here,
and I have to figure out what it is.
Remember when you asked me
not to leave you alone?
Now I'm asking.
Okay.
Where the fuck is she?
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE]
[SCOFFS]
Oh, fuck.
What the fuck am I doing here?
Jesus.
[LOUD METAL BANG]
Okay, we're looking for 1135.
Which way do these files go?
Can I just say right now how much I really
don't like this place?
Well, the sooner we find the file,
the sooner we can get out of here.
[LILLY] That was her.
[CLAIRE] Jesus, she looks
completely different.
What the hell happened to her?
It says she was admitted
for squamous cell carcinoma
skin cancer.
And the attendant orderly
was Justin Edwards.
Justin?
Is that why she killed him?
He did this to her?
I-I don't know.
"CAUSE OF DEATH: patient expired
on operating table."
What, from a skin cancer procedure?
That doesn't make any sense.
- [CLATTERING]
- [ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
[LILLY] Hello?
Is someone there? Hello?
Who's there?
What are you doing?
Oh, I, uh just-just looking.
It's a patient transfer form.
She was moved to somewhere called Ward X?
"Ward X." That's-that's what
she was trying to tell me.
Why is your signature here
as the admitting nurse for Ward X?
[LILLY BREATHING NERVOUSLY]
Lilly?
I really, I can't, I can't,
I can't talk about it.
You knew this whole time?
No, no, no, no, not in here.
Not in here, please, please. I-I can't.
I need to get some air. I-I
can't fucking breathe. Please.
[WIND HOWLING]
- What is going on?
- Just hold on.
[DOOR SLAMS]
Thanks.
What the hell?
Listen, I honestly didn't know.
I didn't know about,
about any of this, okay?
- I-I didn't know until tonight.
- About what?
What happens in Ward X.
At first I-I-I honestly thought,
I just thought we were helping people,
so I just went along with it.
But eventually I
I realized that every patient that went in
never came out.
But it was too late.
I knew that if I said anything,
that they'd throw me in there as well,
so I just, I kept my mouth shut
and looked the other way.
Just like you did at Mercy.
I worked really hard
to hide everything, but
- Lilly, be careful.
- I really,
honestly thought there
wouldn't be a file down there.
I worked so hard to hide everything.
But maybe
I deserve this.
You never took Alice's
blood samples to the lab.
What-what did you do with them,
just throw them away?
You're not gonna let this go, are you?
I'm just trying to do the right thing.
Me, too.
Go home, Claire.
While you still can.
[GASPS] No.
[BODY THUDS]
- [INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
- [SIREN WAILING]
Claire!
I've been looking all over for you.
- Are you okay?
- Th-There was a, there was a file. L-Lilly,
she had a file with her
when she, when she fell.
Where is it?
Wait, w-w-were you up there with her?
Have you seen it?
There-there was this guy,
uh, an orderly, I saw him by the body.
It looked like he picked something up.
It could have been a file.
Did either of you see her jump?
No.
But I
I heard her when she was falling.
Every day I ask people
to keep the doors on the roof closed,
but of course they have
to have their cigarettes.
What a fucking night.
Do me a favor. Will you go over there
to Detective Samuels?
Tell him everything you know.
I'll meet you out front?
[CLAIRE] Um we
we need to talk.
All right, come on.
Let's go to my office.
Come on in.
So
tell me what's happening.
I thought you would be home by now.
I was, I was with Lilly.
And we were looking into a patient.
Um, Alice Taylor,
the-the woman who killed Justin.
And we, um
we found this file that said
that she came from Ward X?
I know.
- What?
- The Springhill Program
my program is Ward X.
Uh, I'm sorry?
You look so befuddled.
Okay.
Why did you become
a nurse?
I
It's a simple question. Just answer it.
I became a nurse to help people,
just like everyone else.
Mm-mm, no, no.
There is a more personal reason.
A deeper reason.
What is it?
I watched my mother die of cancer.
So you want to help people
avoid the pain you felt.
That is the frustration
of cancer treatment.
We're not preventing anything.
In most cases we're just prolonging pain.
But the Springhill Program is on the verge
of a major breakthrough.
No more cancer.
No more pain.
You are torturing innocent people.
A woman just killed herself out of shame.
You're not ending suffering.
You are just causing more of it.
I couldn't agree with you more.
What we're doing here is awful.
But the end result,
oh, my goodness,
we're gonna save thousands of lives.
Me, you, we can be responsible for that.
- You are sick.
- Oh, sit down.
No, I'll stand.
We're not finished here.
Oh, you are finished. People are
gonna know what's going on here.
You're not gonna get away with it!
Shut up!
You're not gonna tell
anybody about anything!
[BOTH GRUNTING]
[NOSTRUM MUTTERING]
[CLAIRE SHOUTS]
It's just a little pin prick, that's all.
[GROANING]
Just stop it! Will you stop struggling?!
Ow, that hurts!
Ow, you bitch!
You're gonna regret that! Aah!
[GRUNTS]
[PANTING]
Claire?
There any news about my son?
Where is he?
[ANNA] Are you okay?
Where is your son?
- He's, he's in surgery.
- Okay.
- They're gonna remove the tumor.
- Which O.R. is he in?
[STAMMERS] What's going on?
Just stay here. I will be right back.
Claire, what are you doing?
They need me in O.R. Six.
No, you can't go in there.
[ANESTHESIOLOGIST] So,
what's your favorite ice cream?
I like ice cream. Do you?
Yeah, I like ice cream,
but can my mom come in?
Well, buddy, right now
we're sterile in here.
But I promise you, as soon
as we're done, she'll be in.
Okay, here we go, big guy.
I need you to relax for me, okay?
- Okay.
- Good.
We'll be done before you know it.
- [DOOR OPENS]
- Stop!
Get away from him.
[SURGEON] What is this?
What are you doing here?
- I'm taking him out of here.
- You're what?
Don't make me hurt you.
- Well, this is crazy.
- [CLAIRE] Both of you.
Get away from him now.
I said get away from him!
Do what she says. What do you want?
I told you, I'm getting him out of here.
We can't let you do that.
I know what you're doing here.
Try to stop me, and I will
cut your throats out.
Just give me a reason.
Hey, it's okay.
Your mom's waiting for you, okay?
- My mom?
- Yeah, let's get out of here.
Don't follow us.
Call security!
[NURSE OVER P.A.]
Security requested in O.R. Six.
Oh, my God, Claire!
Stay back!
Security requested in O.R. Six.
- You need to go.
- What have you done?
- Do you love your son?
- What? Of course I do.
Then you need to get out of here now.
- Leave and don't ever come back.
- What about his treatment?
There is no treatment. They lied to you.
They were gonna kill him.
Go, go while you still can.
[ELECTRICITY BUZZING]
- [SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
- There she is!
[SURGEON] Go!
Get her!
[MAN] Go left, go left.
[CLATTERING]
[LIGHTS BUZZING]
[LOCK CLACKS OPEN]
My friends ask me ♪
How do I feel ♪
I only answer ♪
How would you feel? ♪
How would you feel ♪
If the one that you love ♪
Ran away with another guy? ♪
[HINGE CREAKS]
Is that how you escaped?
You got out of your cage and you
you climbed through the ducts?
We have to get these people out of here.
Where Where are the keys?
[MOANING]
Hello?
Can anybody hear me?
Oh, my God. Malcolm.
- Claire! Claire.
- Malcolm.
What the fuck is going on? Where are we?
I don't know. What are you doing
Get me out of here.
- How do I
- Help get me out of here.
- Where are the keys?
- I don't know.
[CLAIRE] I'm gonna get
you out of here, okay?
I just need to find the keys and open
Look out, Clarie! Look out! Claire!
No! No!
Get the fuck away from her!
No! Claire! No!
- [MUFFLED SHOUTING]
- [MALCOLM] Claire!
Claire! No!
[DEVICE DRONING]
[HEART MONITOR BEEPING]
[ECHOING] Claire? Can you hear me?
Claire.
I think she's waking up.
Ah. You're finally awake.
I had shoot you with three cc's of Versed
in order to relax you enough
- to get you in here.
- [COUGHS]
- I don't feel relaxed.
- Oh, no?
Nurse, prepare another
three cc's for each of them.
[WEAKLY] No, please.
Please, don't do this.
Don't kill us.
I don't even know you.
Of course I'm not going to kill you.
Why would I waste
two wonderful test subjects?
You can't test anything on us.
We don't have cancer.
Ah. See? That can be fixed.
Nurse. First, you have to be asleep.
Come on, man, no. No, no, no, no.
Look, don't, I am just a security guard.
I-I'm not important.
I'm just a wannabe writer.
I-I'll leave here,
you'll never see me again.
I'll move to fucking Nova Scotia.
- You're a writer?
- Yeah.
Do you have any final words of inspiration?
You don't have to do this.
That's a little cliché, isn't it?
I've heard that one before.
Leave him alone.
I'm not gonna lose my eye.
Thank you so much for asking.
How many are down there?
How many have you disfigured
and locked in cages?
The ones that you saw, down there?
They're the lucky ones, they're cured.
Is that what you tell yourself
when you turn them into those things?
That you're the good guy?
I am the good guy.
They came to me with death sentences.
And they have lived years because of me.
- As monsters.
- Oh, no, no, no, no.
They are not monsters.
They are angels.
They are blessing me with knowledge.
They allow me to study the side effects,
the stiff limbs and the general hostility.
The hostility isn't a side effect.
It is targeted towards you,
they are fighting back.
[MALCOLM] Oh, God.
I feel it washing over me.
Malcolm, it's okay, it's gonna
be okay, just look at me.
I'm so scared.
Just look at me.
I just want to go home.
- Nurse.
- [CLAIRE] No.
No. No. Stop.
- Stop!
- Here comes another angel.
[CLAIRE] Leave him alone!
All right. That should take over
your liver, any moment now.
[CLAIRE] Y-You psycho.
Is the whole hospital in on this?
No, no, no, just a select few.
Could've been you.
But you're gonna experience
an emergency appendectomy
and you're gonna die
from an adverse reaction
to the anesthesia.
Well, that's what everybody else
is gonna think.
No. Stop.
[GRUNTS] Stop. No. Stop.
No, please, stop!
I would relax if I were you.
Alice, what have you done?
Alice. [GRUNTS]
Alice, it's me.
Don't you
Alice.
Stop this. You're acting crazy.
Alice. No. No.
No!
[GRUNTING]
- [PANTING]
- [BODY THUDS TO FLOOR]
Thank you, Alice. [PANTS]
[BODY THUDS]
[MONITOR BEEPING STEADILY]
[SAMUELS] Nothing. We
didn't hear anything from anyone
and we talked to everyone.
She's waking up.
[LT SAMUELS] Hi, Claire,
I'm Detective Samuels.
I'm in charge of this investigation.
Feeling well enough to talk?
What happened?
Where's Dr. Nostrum?
You were found unconscious
tied to an operating table.
I'm sorry to tell you that Dr. Nostrum,
and the nurse who was
assisting him, are dead.
[EXHALES]
What about Malcolm? Security guard?
We're sending him down the hall
for some more tests,
seeing what can be done.
- And Alice?
- Who?
The patient.
We found her wandering the halls
with a scalpel.
She didn't obey our command to drop it,
so we eliminated the threat.
No, no. She was protecting me.
Dr. Nostrum, he was turning
cancer patients into monsters.
You're saying there were
more patients like that one?
Yes. They're down in Ward X.
She's delirious. There is
no Ward X in this hospital.
No, there is. I'll show you.
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE]
- [BEEPS]
- [DOOR UNLOCKS]
[MUSIC PLAYING FAINTLY]
I thought you said
you eliminated the threat.
We did. We put her down here.
Why are you helping them?
My daughter has leukemia
and I will do anything for her.
You're a police officer.
Y-You're supposed to protect people.
The way I see it,
that's exactly what I'm doing.
- [RATTLES]
- [CLAIRE GASPING]
No. No.
Someone will notice I'm gone!
[PANTING]
[TALL DOCTOR] I doubt that.
We've been doing this
- for years.
- [CLAIRE] Get off of me.
To the rest of the world,
you're as good as dead.
I-I killed Dr. Nostrum.
I-I killed the program.
[TALL DOCTOR] This program
is bigger than any one person.
And we'll continue to test
till the cure is perfect.
You'll be next.
- No, no.
- You should be happy.
You'll finally be making a difference.
Like you always wanted.
No, no.
Y-You can't leave me here. No, please.
Welcome to Ward X.
No. No!
No! No! [GRUNTS] No!
You are mine. ♪
[SCREAMING]