If you're interested in writing fanfiction, contact me at: sammy3@ix.netcom.com
ER
"Happy New Year"
Part Two
(It’s about one hour since Carol read Doug’s letter. She is in the supply cupboard, counting how
many boxes of gloves they have. She keeps losing count and has to start over again. She’s thinking
about the letter. She’s thinking about Doug. She’s trying to work out in her own mind, what she
feels for him. She hadn’t realised how much he loved her. She stood there, staring at one of the
boxes, until she was brought out of her trance by somebody calling her name.)
Doug: Carol?... Carol?... Hey, you okay?
(Carol turned to face Doug. It was the first time she’d seen him since reading the letter. She didn’t
know what to say.)
Carol (flustered): I... erm...
Doug: Carol?
Carol (harshly): Doug, can’t you see I’m busy? What do you want?
Doug (looking hurt): I only came to see how you were. I haven’t had time to
talk to you today. You okay? You look a little lost.
Carol: Sorry, Doug... I’ve got a few things on mind at the moment.
Doug: Wanna talk about it?
Carol: Nah... You wouldn’t be interested.
Doug: Well, you know where I am if you need to talk...You doing anything
tonight?
Carol (looking worried): Why?
Doug: Well, it is New Year’s Eve. There’s gonna be a party. Mark organised it
all. You coming?
Carol: I don’t know. There’s some things I have to sort out.
Doug: On New Year’s Eve? Come on, Carol. Whatever it is can be sorted out
tomorrow. Will you come?
Carol: I’ll think about it, okay?
Doug: You’d better. I’m not gonna stop bugging you, until you agree to go.
(Doug smiles at her and walks out of the supply room. Carol sighs and continues to count the
boxes. She stops counting and then starts again, from the beginning.)
END OF SCENE TWO
SCENE THREE
(Time lapse to show Carol in her apartment. It’s eight o’clock. She is wearing a black dress and is
sat on the edge of her bed. She leans across and opens a drawer in her bedside table. She pulls out
a framed picture. The picture is a photograph of her and Doug. He is stood behind her with his
hands wrapped around her. She sighs, puts the picture back and picks up her coat. She is just
about to leave for the party when the telephone rings. She goes over to answer it.)
Carol: Hello. Carol speaking.
(We see Susan talking on the phone and the camera cuts between them both as they speak.)
Susan: Hi Carol. It’s Susan.
Carol: Susan! How are you?
Susan: Me? Oh, I’m fine. I just thought I’d ring and wish you a Happy New
Year for tomorrow.
Carol: Thank you. Happy New Year. Are you going out?
Susan: Yeah, I’m going to a party, meeting a few friends there who I haven’t
seen in ages. It’ll be so much fun. You going out?
Carol: Yeah, I’m going to a party too. I wasn’t going to, but Doug wouldn’t
quit bugging me.
Susan: Doug? How are you two getting on?
Carol: Oh, you know, same as always...
(Carol pauses and starts thinking about Doug again.)
Susan: Carol, you still there?
Carol: Yeah, sorry Susan. Just thinking... Can I phone you tomorrow? I really
ought to be going.
Susan: Yeah, me too. I’ll speak to you tomorrow, okay?
Carol: Yeah. Bye Susan.
Susan: Bye.
(Carol puts the phone down, grabs her coat and walks out the door. We go back to see Susan
sitting with Mark in his apartment.)
Mark: So? Did she mention anything about Doug?
Susan: Yeah, once, but when she did, she clamed up. Are you sure she read the
letter?
Mark: Susan, I left it on the table. When I went back it had gone. She was the
last person in the room. She has to have read it.
Susan: And when you went back in the lounge, how was she?
Mark: She looked flustered. She walked out quickly, saying that she had to
check the supplies. She only did them yesterday.
Susan: So, we can safely assume she’s seen the letter... and Doug doesn’t
know?
Mark: No, I told him I’d got rid of it.
Susan: Right then. It looks like it’s up to us to do a bit of match-making.
(Susan smiles at Mark and stands up. She walks over to the phone and picks it up.)
Susan (smiling): I have an idea.
END OF SCENE THREE
SCENE FOUR
(The party has started but the music hasn’t. Carol is stood talking to Shep, and Doug is at the
opposite side of the room, talking to Benton. Susan and Mark walk in and everybody gathers
around them.)
Carol: Hey Susan! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to THIS party?
Susan: And ruin the surprise? No way!
(Everybody asks Susan how she is and what it feels like to be back again. They stand there in a
group talking for a while and then the music starts and the group splits up again. Carol goes back
talking to Shep, and Doug goes back across to the other side of the room, to talk to Benton again.
Susan and Mark are standing on their own talking, when a beautiful woman walks up to them. She
is wearing a short skirt and a really low-cut top. She speaks with an Italian accent.)
Carrie: Susan! Lovely to see you. I couldn’t believe it when you phoned.
Susan: Carrie! Long time, no see. It’s great to see you. You look fantastic.
Carrie (looking at Mark): Are you going to introduce us?
Susan: Carrie, this is Mark. Mark, this is Carrie. I haven’t seen her since med
school.
(Mark goes to shake Carrie’s hand but Carrie kisses him on his cheek.)
Carrie: How very nice to meet you, Mark. Susan’s told me all about you.
(Susan laughs)
Susan: No Carrie, wrong guy. The one you’re after doesn’t even know you’re
coming.
(She takes Carrie’s arm and turns her around. Susan looks around and then points over to Doug.)
Susan: There he is. His name’s Doug.
Carrie (smiling): Even better. Susan, why didn’t you tell me about him before?
I’d have transferred.
Susan: Sorry Carrie, he’s taken. Well, hopefully by tonight he will be anyway.
Thanks for doing this, Carrie.
Carrie (looking over at Doug again): Believe me, the pleasure’s all mine.
Susan (pointing over to Carol): And that’s Carol... Make sure she can see you.
Carrie: Susan, I don’t EVER remember you being this wicked in med school.
Susan: I learned all I know from you.
(Susan smiles and Carrie starts walking across to Doug.)
Mark: Sure we’ve done the right thing?
Susan: It’s too late now. Mark, this’ll work. Trust me.
Mark: What if he likes her?
Susan: He will... but not as much as he likes Carol.
(We look from Susan and Mark’s point of view as Carrie walks across the
room. We see her walk over to Doug and Benton, before the camera cuts to see
them talking.)
Carrie (smiling at Doug): Hello. I’m Carrie.
Benton: Hi.
(Carrie stands between them and faces Doug, with her back to Benton.)
Carrie: And who might you be?
(Doug smiles at her and goes to shake her hand.)
Doug: I’m Doug Ross and this is Peter Benton.
(We cut to Carol and Shep. Shep is trying to apologise for what he put her through when they were
going out, while Carol is ignoring him, looking over his shoulder at Doug. We go back to see Carrie
kissing Doug on his cheek.)
Carrie: Delighted to meet you Doug. I’ve heard a lot about you.
Doug: Don’t believe a word of it, Carrie. They’re all lies.
Carrie (laughs): Oh, I’m not too sure about that.
(She touches him on his arm, flirting, and we go back to Carol’s face as she sees her flirting with
him. She bites her lip and looks back at Shep, who is still trying to apologise.)
Carrie: Tell me. What does a girl have to do to get a drink round here?
Doug: Oh sorry. Let me.
(Doug starts to walk over to the punch bowl and Carrie puts her arm in his and walks with him.
Carol has diverted her attention onto Doug again and you can see the jealousy in her eyes.)
Carrie: Would you like to dance?
Doug: I thought you wanted a drink.
Carrie: Oh, I’ll have a drink later. Come on.
(Carrie pulls Doug to the middle of the dance floor. She places his hands on her waist, before
wrapping her arms around his neck. We cut to Susan and Mark, looking over at them.)
Mark: I still don’t think we’ve done the right thing.
Susan: Mark, have faith. When Carol sees them dancing together, she’ll get
jealous and realise that she’s in love with him. Simple.
Mark: I hope so... for my sake, as well as yours. If Doug finds out about the
letter and then the fact that we set him up, he’ll kill us both.
Susan: Look... Carol hasn’t taken her eyes off them.
(We cut to see Doug and Carrie dancing slowly to the music. Carrie places her head on Doug’s
shoulder and they turn, so Doug is facing Carol. We can see him watching her. We cut to see
Carol. We can see tears in her eyes. She turns to Shep and stares at him blankly.)
Shep: Carol?... Carol?... You okay? Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said?...
Carol?
(Carol pauses for a moment before speaking.)
Carol: I’m in love with Doug Ross.
(She says it like she can hardly believe it.)
Shep (confused): What?... Carol, what are you talking about?
Carol: I’m in love with Doug Ross.
(We go back to Carrie and Doug. He is still watching her. He looks sad and you can see the
longing in his eyes. Carol looks back over at Doug and sees that he is watching her. Suddenly, she
grabs Shep and kisses him hard on the lips. We cut to show Susan and Mark, watching them with
their mouths wide open in shock. We cut back over to Doug and we see him stop dancing.)
Carrie: Doug?... Doug?... What is wrong?
(Carrie turns around and watches what the whole room has now turned to watch. Carol stops
kissing Shep and runs out of the room, past Susan and Mark who is standing by the door. We cut
to see Doug, with tears welling up in his eyes. He stands there, motionless, staring at the place
where Carol was standing with Shep. Shep is standing there, looking confused and the whole room
is in silence, looking at Doug.)
Susan (quietly):
Should I go after her?
Mark: No, leave it... I’m worried about Doug. Look at him, he’s just standing
there.
(We cut back to a close-up on Doug’s face. You can see the hurt in his eyes. Slowly, he walks to
the door and everybody’s eyes in the room follow him. He walks out the door and people in the
room start talking. The music starts again and a few people start to dance. Carrie walks over to
Susan.)
Carrie: It went wrong, am I right? That was not supposed to happen.
Susan: No, it wasn’t. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I shouldn’t have interfered.
(Susan looks at Mark, almost wanting him to say that it wasn’t her fault but he doesn’t. He just
stands there with an ‘I told you so’ look on his face.)
Susan: Oh God, what have I done?
(Mark puts his arm around Susan.)
Mark: Hey, come on. Don’t do this to yourself. You were trying to help.
Susan: Yeah, but I didn’t, did I? I just made things worse.
(Mark gives Susan a hug as we cut to see Doug standing outside the room. He is leaning against a
wall, looking up at the ceiling with tears in his eyes. He sighs.)
Doug (to himself): Happy New Year, Doug... Happy New Year.
END OF SCENE FOUR