From the Vault: Just who is Dr. Mark Brooks?

[Jason47]

FROM THE VAULT: EPISODE # 583: FEBRUARY 26, 1968

PROLOGUE: FADE IN: SINCE A WEEKEND HAS PASSED, PERHAPS IT'S BEST TO TAKE UP THIS EPISODE SHORTLY BEFORE CLOSE OF PRECEDING SCRIPT. OPEN WITH TOM & ALICE SITTING IN THE LIVING ROOM. HEAR KEY IN DOOR:

ALICE (without getting up): That must be Kitty. She told me she was spending the night with Joan again. Must have changed her mind.

CUT TO HALLWAY AS MICKEY CLOSES THE DOOR BEHIND HIM. HE'S WEARING A LOOK OF CONCERN, MIXED WITH PUZZLEMENT. HE TAKES OFF HIS COAT. CUT BACK TO LIVING ROOM, DOUBLE BEAT, THEN ALICE FINALLY SAYS...

ALICE: Kitty?
MICKEY (off): No, Mom. It's me.

TAKE TOM NOT UNDERSTANDING THIS AT ALL. BOTH RISE, ALICE IS PLEASED OF COURSE.

ALICE: Well, then you didn't take that trip after all.

MICKEY LOOKS AT HIS FATHER, WEARS A NEUTRAL EXPRESSION SO AS NOT TO TIP ANYTHING TO HIS MOTHER.

TOM: Mark was here to pick up Marie earlier. He mentioned the trip to your mother.
ALICE: What difference does it make who mentioned it?
MICKEY (big smile, over compensating): No difference at all, Mom.

WHICH SATISIFES ALICE. MEANWHILE, TOM LOOKS A HOLE THROUGH MICKEY, MICKEY CATCHES HIS LOOK.

ALICE: Sit down, join us.
MICKEY (so that he can have privacy with his dad): Mom, ahh, by any chance would you have a snack tucked away in the kitchen for a hungry son?
ALICE: I think so. Roast beef sandwich?
MICKEY: Sounds great.
ALICE (exiting): Won't be but a minute.
MICKEY: Take your time, Mom.

BOTH MEN WAIT BEFORE SAYING A WORD UNTIL THEY KNOW ALICE IS DEFINITELY IN THE KITCHEN. ALTHOUGH EACH LOOKS EACH OTHER STRAIGHT IN THE EYE. FINALLY:

TOM: I thought you were leaving tonight.
MICKEY (beat, then): As it turned out, I won't have to make that trip.
TOM (beat as Tom looks at him somewhat bewilderedly): What're you talking about?
MICKEY: When I got back to my office this afternoon, I called a former classmate of mine in Pittsburgh to get a hotel reservation for me. I wanted something reasonably close to the address you gave me of Mark's parents.
TOM: Go on.
MICKEY: I gave Greg the street number, he wasn't familiar with it so he looked it up.
TOM: And?
MICKEY (dramatic pause): There is no such street in Pittsburgh.
TOM: There's no...?
MICKEY (beat, goes on): Thinking that there might have been an error somewhere, I then phoned the plumber union there. Mark gave his father's name as Phillip, right?
TOM: Right.
MICKEY: Dad, there isn't now nor has there ever been a Phillip Brooks listed among the membership of that union.
TOM: But...
MICKEY (goes on): As a last resort, I tried the phone number you took from Mark's record. A telephone company supervisor told me that number has never been used either in Pittsburgh or its suburbs.

LONG STUNNED REACTION BY TOM

MICKEY: You asked the question before, now I'm asking it with you: "Just who is -- Dr. Mark Brooks?"

TAKE TOM. MUSIC UP TO FINISH AND OUT. FADE TO: BLACK. UP ON COMMERCIAL.

ACT ONE will be posted soon!

 

[Lil0]

Oh goodness!! I don't remember any of that. Did we ever find out who Dr. Mark Brooks is/was?

 

[thelindaj]

Yes Tommy Horton

 

[Jason47]

ACT ONE
FADE IN: HORTON LIVING ROOM. TAKE IT UP IMMEDIATELY WITH MICKEY LOOKING AT TOM, WHO STANDS THERE STILL IN ALMOST UTTER DISBELIEF.

TOM: I...I don't know what to say.
MICKEY (beat): Obviously, Dad, Mark has something to hide.
TOM (beat as he searches his mind): What? (Meaning: "What does he have to hide?")
MICKEY (beat): I don't know.

TOM IS ALMOST IN A STATE OF SHOCK DURING ALL THIS.

TOM (inner desperation): Your sister's...in love with this man.

MICKEY LOOKS AT HIS FATHER, KNOWING THIS ONLY TOO WELL. IT'S A HORRIBLY PERPLEXING SITUATION WHICH IS REFLECTED IN THEIR EXPRESSIONS. TAKE PICTURES.

MICKEY (after definite pause): What I don't understand...

TOM HALF LOOKS AT HIM

MICKEY: ...Why any man would be so stupid as to give that kind of information to the hospital, something that could be checked out so easily.

TOM (answering question by rote, his thoughts remaining with the real problem): He had to give some name. It's a hospital rule. Someone who could be notified in an emergency. Family, friend, neighbor. His surgery wasn't serious, he obviously didn't anticipate anyone ever to having use the information.

MICKEY (beat, then with a touch of hostility): No, they never do, do they?

TOM LOOKS AT MICKEY, REACTS TO THE HOSTILITY. BEAT, THEN...

TOM: Mickey, there's no doubt in your mind...
MICKEY: No, Dad, none. I don't know where Mark's family lives, but I can tell you it isn't Pittsburgh.
TOM (obviously reaching for some possible rationale): Could it be possible that the clerk or intern, whoever wrote down this information, could have made some error?
MICKEY: An error on the name, the street, the phone number? And what about Mark's having told you his father was a plumber. Could you be wrong about that?
BEAT. TOM DOESN'T ANSWER.

MICKEY: No, Dad. One human error maybe. But nothing like this. You must know that.
TOM (beat): I'm just trying to find some explanation, some legitimate reason, so that we don't indict this man without cause.
MICKEY: You don't consider lying about his background cause?
TOM (beat as he looks at Mickey): You're an attorney, son. You deal with motivation as well as fact. You say Mark has something to hide. What? Why?
MICKEY: Dad, I can only draw from experience and say that people have reasons for doing something like this. And that more often than not these reasons are either psychiatric, illegal or immoral. You want to work on conjecture, then take your pick.
TOM (double beat): What you're saying is...where do we go from here.
MICKEY: As far as I'm concerned, there's only one thing to do.

STOPPING BY NOW IS ALICE, WHO IS OFF MIC, OFF CAMERA.
ALICE: Would you like milk or coffee, dear?
MICKEY (beat): Milk'll be fine, Mom.
ALICE (still off): Good. Thats what I have.
TOM (very hushed tones to Mickey): Don't say anything to your mother just yet.
MICKEY (equally hushed): All right.

AT WHICH POINT, AND NOT BEFORE THIS MOMENT, WE BRING ALICE INTO THE ROOM CARRYING A SMALL TRAY ON WHICH IS A ROAST BEEF SANDWICH, A GLASS OF MILK, A DISH OF PICKLES, PIE.

MICKEY: Mom, let me take that. I could have come to the kitchen.
ALICE: No, if your father got out there he'd start snacking...and he promised he was going to lose five pounds.

SHE LOOKS AT TOM BUT HIS THOUGHTS ARE ELSEWHERE AT THE MOMENT.

ALICE: Didn't you, dear. (beat) Tom?
TOM (then he suddenly becomes aware): I'm sorry Alice. My mind was somewhere else. What did you say?
ALICE: That you're going to lose five pounds.
TOM (attempting to be light, but falling short): Yes. But I didn't say when.
ALICE: I assume it'll be before the next wedding in this family.
MICKEY: Wedding, Mom?
ALICE: Marie and Mark.
MICKEY: Has Marie said...anything about...
ALICE: No. But I'm sure that one of these days she will.

REACTIONS BY THE MEN, ESPECIALLY MICKEY SINCE ALICE IS LOOKING MORE TOWARD TOM, BUT OF COURSE GUARD AGAINST ANY REACTION THAT ALICE MIGHT SEE THAT WOULD, IF WE'RE TOO REALISTIC, CAUSE HER TO QUESTION.

MUSIC: UP TO FINISH AND OUT. FADE TO: BLACK. UP ON: COMMERCIAL.

ACT TWO WILL BE POSTED SOON!

 

[Jason47]

ACT TWO. FADE IN: HORTON LIVING ROOM. LATER. MICKEY, WHO ONLY PART OF HIS SANDWICH, IS NOW EATING HIS PIE, WHICH HE WILL ALSO ONLY EAT A PART OF. TOM IS SLIGHTLY REMOVED, STILL VERY THOUGHTFUL. ALICE SITS NEAR MICKEY, NOT AWARE OF HOW MUCH OR HOW LITTLE HE'S HAD TO EAT. MICKEY IS TRYING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONVERSATION.

ALICE: You mean you didn't see the item in last night's paper?
MICKEY: No, Mom, I didn't.
ALICE: It told about the fact that the case would be coming to trial the middle of next month, rehashed some of the details and there was a quote by you.
MICKEY: Oh? What did I say?
ALICE: Hmm, to the effect that you're certain the evidence will prove your client to be not guilty.
MICKEY: The standard statement by attorneys when they have nothing else to say.
ALICE (she smiles): But your practice is going very well, isn't it, dear?
MICKEY: Yes, Mom, it is...knock on wood.
ALICE: I hope that doesn't mean you'll be travelling.
MICKEY: Have you forgotten? I decided before Laura and I were married that I was not going to travel, that I was going to stay home with my wife.
ALICE: But, this trip you were supposed to take tonight...

TOM TURNS, LOOKS AT MICKEY. BUT MICKEY CONTINUES LOOKING AT HIS MOTHER.

MICKEY: This was, something unusual, Mom. Although, depending upon what's decided, I may still have to make a trip or two. (beat, then wanting to talk to his father) Mom, this was just great. Thanks a lot.
ALICE (looks at tray): For someone who was so hungry, you certainly didn't eat very much.
MICKEY: Enough. Want me to take the tray to the kitchen?
ALICE: Oh, no, thank you, dear, I can manage.

ALICE PICKS UP THE TRAY, LEAVES THE ROOM. MICKEY RISES, THE PATTERN IS REPEATED AS BOTH MEN WAIT UNTIL ALICE IS DEFINITELY OUT OF EARSHOT. THEN THEY MORE OR LESS CONVERGE, LOOK AT ONE ANOTHER.

MICKEY: Let's see, where were we?
TOM: I believe you were saying something about being convinced there's only one thing to do at this point.
MICKEY (beat, then remembered): Oh, yes. (beat) Two things really. (beat) As I see it, Dad, we've got to dig deeper into why Mark is running away from his past, find out what he's hiding from, know exactly what it is in his background that would make this man live a lie. Answers we have to find...because of Marie.
TOM (beat): What you're proposing then is that we hire an investigator.
MICKEY (beat): Dad, I can understand your wanting to believe in the possibility that whatever Mark's reason for all this, that somehow it won't interfere in his relationship with Marie.
TOM: There is that possibility.
MICKEY: You want to believe that, fine. I don't. I'm telling you, that my experience in this sort of thing indicates this is going to end up having very serious repercussions in that relationship. (beat) Which brings me to my second point.
TOM: And that is?
MICKEY: That when Marie comes home this evening, you talk to her, tell her what we've done and why, and what we've learned.
TOM: Just what have we learned, Mickey, what? Very little that we can put our finger on, very little that would begin to make an impression on a young woman who's in love with a man.
MICKEY: Dad, you have to explain where all this could lead. This girl has got to be prepared in some way. You can't let her go on blindly...
TOM (topping): Mickey, talk sense. Do you think your sister's capable of projecting this situation through your eyes? I don't even know that I am at this moment.
MICKEY (with deep emotion): Dad, I'm telling you you can't let this girl go on loving a man knowing the relationship could blow sky high in a day or two without saying something to her, She's got to be told, Dad.

BEAT, THEN NOT ABOVE A WHISPER, BUT WITH DEEP INNER INTENSITY

MICKEY: She's got to.

HOLD ON TOM, A MAN TORN RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. MUSIC: UP TO FINISH AND OUT. FADE: TO BLACK. UP ON: COMMERCIAL.

 

[Jason47]

FROM THE VAULT: EPISODE # 583: FEBRUARY 26, 1968 (PART FOUR...FIRST THREE PARTS POSTED EARLIER): WHO IS MARK BROOKS??...MARIE TELLS MARK ABOUT HER LATE BROTHER, TOMMY

ACT THREE: FADE IN: EXT. HORTON HOME. LATER. BRING MARK AND MARIE WALKING SLOWLY UP THE PATH, TO THE FRONT PORCH, WHERE THEY WILL STOP, LINGER. THE PORCH SWING IS STILL OUT.

MARIE: Lovely evening, isn't it?
MARK: I can hear the crocus now, getting ready for the big push.
MARIE (smiling): You've never been to our home in the Springtime.
MARK: No.
MARIE: It's so beautiful, Mark. Mom has flowers everywhere.
MARK: Sounds like something to look forward to.
MARIE: Do you like flowers?
MARK: Um-hmm, very much. Although you'd never know it from how few I've given you. A single rose, as I remember...
MARIE: But so beautiful.
MARK: One I stole from a vase in a restaurant. You'll just have to be patient with me, I'm afraid. But then a I've told you before, my social life has been somewhat lacking.
MARIE: I will never believe, Dr. Brooks, that there haven't been other women in your life.
MARK (beat, then very serious): No, I can truthfully say there haven't been, Marie.
MARIE: No childhood sweethearts?
MARK: I...I really can't speak for my childhood.
MARIE: Now you're going to tell me you don't remember.
MARK: You...wouldn't believe that.
MARIE: No, I'm afraid I wouldn't. I think everyone remembers their first date.
MARK: Tell me about yours.
MARIE: (beat as she smiles, reflects): Oh, I couldn't have been more than twelve. A dance at school. A short, freckled face boy by the name of Johnnie Potter asked mer. He came to the door scared to death. I don't think he said more than ten words to me that night. But it was a wonderful evening, a wonderful childhood memory. (beat) What was your childhood like, Mark?
MARK: Oh...average, I suppose.
MARIE: I imagine you were spoiled by your parents.
MARK: Why do you say that?
MARIE: You did say you were an only child.
MARK: Yes.
MARIE (beat, then): In a way I feel a little sorry for children who don't have brothers and sisters.
MARK: The baby of the family talking.
MARIE: Um-hmm. I guess I just revelled in the idea of having three older brothers, an older sister. They were all so wonderful to me. (beat) Especially Tommy. He was a good deal older than I was, but we always had sort of a special bond. Then when he was killed, much of it transferred to Mickey. (beat) I'm sorry, I don't know how I got off on this subject.
MARK: Tommy must have been quite a remarkable person to have made such a lasting impression.
MARIE: He was, Mark. I was only seven when he was killed in action, but I don't think I'll ever forget him.
MARK (beat, then throwing it): Anyway, you were saying before that I should buy you more flowers.
MARIE: Mark Brooks, I didn't say anything of the sort.

THEY SMILE, LOOK AT ONE ANOTHER LOVINGLY, DEFINITE PAUSE, THEN...

MARK: You're so very beautiful when you smile. (beat) Even when you don't. But especially when you do.
MARIE: Thank you.
MARK (beat): I can remember Bill when we were in Pine Grove, talking about his kid sister. I never thought then that I'd be meeting her. But I tried to draw a mental image. As lovely as it was, it fell far short of the girl I met months later.
MARIE (beat, then): I remember the night Bill came back from Pine Grove, talking about this wonderful country doctor...young, handsome, a bachelor, a man who'd been so good to Bill, who helped him when he needed help most, and I thought, "My, how I'd like to meet him, come to know him." And now, I do know him.
MARK: Would you call it fate?
MARIE (beat): Or destiny.
MARK: Yes, I like that word better.

BEAT AND WITHOUT BREAKING MOOD...

MARIE: Mark? When you decided to stay in Salem after your last operation, work in the lab, you mentioned that-- well, it was more or less a temporary arrangement.
MARK: Yes, I did say that then, didn't I?
MARIE (beat, then): I was just wondering if you might ever decide to go back to Pine Grove.
MARK (long loving look): It won't be what I decide, darling. It'll be what we decide together.

HOLD ON REACTIONS AS THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER. MUSIC: UP TO FINISH AND OUT. FADE TO: BLACK. UP ON: COMMERCIAL.

 

[Jason47]

FROM THE VAULT: EPISODE # 583: FEBRUARY 26, 1968 (CONCLUSION...FIRST FOUR PARTS POSTED EARLIER): WHO IS MARK BROOKS??...MARIE TELLS TOM HOW MUCH SHE LOVES MARK (NOT KNOWING HE IS HER BROTHER TOMMY)

ACT FOUR. FADE IN: INT. HORTON LIVING ROOM- SHORT TIME LATER. TAKE TOM IN PAJAMAS AND ROBE, WITH EITHER HIS PIPE OR A GLASS OF MILK. HE IS IN A DEEPLY THOUGHTFUL, SERIOUS FRAME OF MIND - THIS MARK THING IS BUGGING HIM REAL GOOD. ESTABLISH, THEN LET HIM BE HAUNTED BY MICKEY'S WORDS EARLIER THIS EVENING.

MICKEY (voice over): Dad, I'm telling you you can't let this girl go on loving a man knowing the relationship could blow sky high in a day or two without saying something to her. She's got to be told, Dad. She's got to.

HOLD, THEN ON THE HEELS OF THIS, HEAR KEY IN DOOR AND AS DOOR OPENS, HEAR CAR DRIVING OFF IN THE DISTANCE. TOM PUTS DOWN THE MILK, OR PIPE, GOES TO THE HALLWAY. MARIE IS NOW AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE INWARDLY RADIANT, A GIRL IN LOVE. IT WILL BE THIS QUALITY IN MARIE THAT WILL PREVENT TOM FROM TELLING HER ABOUT MARK TONIGHT. SHE'S TAKING OFF HER COAT AS HE COMES INTO PICTURE.

TOM: Hello,darling.
MARIE: Hello, Dad.
TOM (beat): How was your evening?
MARIE (from deep inside): It just couldn't have been more wonderful. We went to a little Chinese restaurant for dinner. And then Mark took me dancing. After which we had a soda.

TOM TAKES HER COAT FROM HER, PUTS IT DOWN, PUTS HIS ARM AROUND HER, AS THEY VERY SLOWLY WALK INTO LIVING ROOM.

TOM: You're home a little early, aren't you?
MARIE: Mark wanted to get back to the hospital, he had some cultures to take from the incubator and read. I wanted to go back with him but he said no, I needed my rest. (beat) I guess I am a little tired.
TOM: What is this...three nights in a row with Dr. Brooks?
MARIE: Um-hmm. That's why early to bed. The way he looks after me - just like you do. It's an exciting feeling for a girl to know there're two such wonderful men watching over her.
TOM (beat as he takes penetrating look father): You---you love him very much, don't you, darling?
MARIE (beat) He-- he's my whole world, Dad. When I wake up in the morning, I can't wait to get dresses, go to the hospital, see him. And when we're not together I...I find myself sort of day dreaming, re-living things we said together, did together. (beat) You, no one can really know how grateful I am for Mark, what he means to me, what he's...done for me. (beat) I just never thought that I'd ever know any kind of a life again after...after my divorce from Craig. I was so afraid of being hurt again that it didn't matter if I never went out with another man as long as I lived. I...I was so mixed up inside. Life had...been stripped of all its meaning. (beat) Until...until I met Mark. (not above a whisper) Oh, Dad, I love him so very much.

HOLD ON TOM, HIS POSITION UNTENABLE

TOM: God love you, child.

MARIE LAYS NESTLED IN HER FATHER'S ARMS, REFLECTING HER UTTER HAPPINESS. TAKE TOM LOOKING DOWN AT HER, THEN HIS EYES SLOWLY MOVE STRAIGHT AHEAD, AS WE HEAR HIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT.

TOM: How...how do I tell her? (beat) How? (beat) I can't. (beat) But I've just got to do something. I just can't sit by and... (definite pause) No. (beat) Not Marie. (beat) Mark. (beat) The showdown will be with Mark...tomorrow.

HOLD AND MUSIC: UP TO FINISH AND OUT. FADE TO: BLACK.