(Lights up on Julia’s hospital room. She is standing on her hospital bed, holding a plastic knife as a weapon. Her food tray is flipped over on the floor beside the bed. Steve is standing in the center of the room holding a box with the three caroler dolls sticking out of the top, and Claire is standing in the doorway looking for help.)
JULIA
FUCK YOU!
CLAIRE
JULIA! Sit down! Lay down!
JULIA
GET THOSE THINGS AWAY FROM ME!
STEVE
But you told me to bring them!
JULIA (waving the knife)
GET THEM OUT OF HERE! CLAIRE!
CLAIRE
Steve, put the dolls in the hall.
STEVE
But she told me to bring them!
CLAIRE
I don’t care if Jesus told you bring them! Get them out of this room, NOW!
(Steve carries the dolls out through the door, sets them in the hallway, and then comes back in.)
STEVE
Better?
CLAIRE
Thank you. (turning to Julia) See, Honey? They’re gone. Now lay back down and we’ll get this all cleaned up. (Claire starts to try and pick up the food and tray from the floor.)
JULIA
Where did they go?
CLAIRE
Steve took them out into the hallway. They’re not going to bother—
JULIA
What if they come back in?
CLAIRE
They’re not going to come back in, Sweetie.
JULIA
That’s what you said the last time.
STEVE
What’s she talking about?
JULIA (growing agitated)
They were here the last time. I told them to leave and they wouldn’t go away. Then I went upstairs and tried to go to sleep and they followed me up there.
STEVE
What?
CLAIRE (to Steve, quietly)
She thinks we’re at home.
STEVE
Julia, we’re not at Mom and Dad’s we’re—
CLAIRE
Steve, of course we’re at Mom and Dad’s.
STEVE
What are you talking about?
JULIA
Where are we? Where are we, Claire? I’m scared!
CLAIRE
We’re up in your room, Sweetie, and everything is just fine.
JULIA
Where’s Mom?
CLAIRE
She’s down in the kitchen.
STEVE
Uh, she’s not. She’s de—
CLAIRE
STEVE! Would you just go and see if Mom needs some help in the kitchen? (motioning with her head). I think she needs help with the dinner.
STEVE
What the hell are you talking about?
JULIA
What are we having for Christmas dinner?
CLAIRE
I think Mom’s making turkey and stuffing, like she always does.
JULIA
Will there be cranberry sauce?
CLAIRE
I think so, Sweetie. Mom knows it’s your favorite.
(Claire goes to Julia, who is now kneeling on the bed.)
CLAIRE
Honey, can I have the knife?
JULIA
Why?
CLAIRE
Well, because we had a little accident here with lunch, and I think we should just set the knife down.
JULIA
But what if those people come back?
CLAIRE
They’re not coming back, Honey. Steve let them go and told them not to come back ever again. Now how about you give me the knife, OK?
(Julia reluctantly gives Claire the knife.)
CLAIRE
And let’s get you back under the covers. We don’t want you to catch cold so close to Christmas. If it snows, you want to be able to go sledding, don’t you?
JULIA
Yeah! But what if Santa doesn’t bring us a sled.
CLAIRE
I bet Santa has one all ready for you.
JULIA
What color?
CLAIRE
What color did you ask for?
JULIA
Green!
CLAIRE
Well, Santa’s pretty smart. If you wrote him that you wanted a green sled, I bet that's what he got.
JULIA
Oh, I really hope so! I’ve been good, so I hope he gets me the green sled!
CLAIRE
Me too! It'll be fun to see how fast you can go.
(Claire manages to get Julia tucked back into the bed, while Steve looks on completely perplexed.)
CLARIE
Now, Sweetie, Steve and I are right here. You go ahead and rest.
JULIA
Claire! Don’t leave me alone!
CLAIRE
I won’t, Honey. We’re right here. You just shut your eyes and get some rest.
(Julia lays back in the bed, closes her eyes, and begins to suck her thumb. Claire and Steve move away from her bed once she’s settled, and they speak in hushed tones for the rest of the scene.)
STEVE
What's going on? Why is she acting like that?
CLAIRE
Why did you bring those damned dolls?
STEVE
She asked me to bring them!
CLAIRE
Did you have to listen to her?
STEVE
I thought it was going to help!
CLAIRE
Well, it didn’t.
STEVE
I see that. What’s wrong with her?
(Claire takes a deep breath.)
CLAIRE
They think she’s regressed back to her childhood. To the moment right before he--
STEVE
What?
CLAIRE
Something set her off. The trip? Mom and Dad dying? Being back in the house? They can’t tell. But whatever it was, it triggered her to regress back to when we were kids, and she hasn’t been able to break out of it yet.
STEVE
Jesus…
CLAIRE
She woke up while you were gone, and the next thing I know, she’s wetting the bed, yelling, all sorts of stuff. The doctor came in and tried to talk with her, and she just wouldn’t calm down. They finally gave her something to take the edge off, and she started to relax a little bit. The doctor asked her some questions, and that’s how she figured out what was going on.
STEVE
So she’s stuck at what age?
CLAIRE
The first time when Uncle Steve touched her. We’re not sure when that was, but she must have been really young. That’s the bed wetting.
STEVE
I remember she started to do that. Dad used to get so mad at her, and she couldn't stop.
CLAIRE
Now we know why.
(Steve takes this in.)
STEVE
I can’t believe this is happening.
CLAIRE
Well, it is.
STEVE
I can’t believe Mom and Dad aren’t here to help us. To help her.
CLAIRE
It wouldn't have happened if they were. Julia never would have let this out while they were alive.
STEVE
Why not?
CLAIRE
She tried, Steve. They didn’t do anything to help her.
STEVE
That can’t be true.
CLAIRE
It is. I tried to tell them too, but they wouldn’t believe me.
STEVE
I don’t believe you either.
CLAIRE
Believe what you want to believe. It’s up to you. I know the truth. Julia knows the truth.
STEVE
You love it when the truth shows Mom and Dad in a bad light.
CLAIRE
Not quite. I like the truth when it helps me to see things for what they are. If that means seeing Mom and Dad for what they were, then so be it. They’re gone anyway. There’s nothing they can do about it.
STEVE
It’s not fair.
CLAIRE
What are you talking about?
STEVE
None of them are here to defend themselves. Uncle Steve? Mom? Dad? None of them. How are they supposed to set the record straight?
CLAIRE
If they were here, they couldn’t set it straight, Steve. That’s where you’re so naïve. They didn’t care to set it straight. It was easier to ignore what he did to Julia than to try and confront it or explain it. And that’s why she’s so mad. And then this happens.
(Steve just looks at Claire and then at Julia. He has no response. He runs his hand through hair, and then looks at Claire.)
STEVE
So what do we do now?
(Claire shrugs her shoulders, as if to say not sure.)
(Julia is asleep in her hospital bed, with her thumb in her mouth. Steve and Claire look at her as the lights fade out. End of scene.)