The Hospital
Read the script
The Hospital
(at an art show at a hospital)
Reporter: And this?
Arabic Interpreter: It says “Salaam.”
Reporter: That means peace in Arabic, right?
Arabic Interpreter: Very good!
Reporter: And what about this one?
Chinese Interpreter: It says…
Reporter: Peace?
Chinese Interpreter: No. It says, “Get well soon.”
Reporter: And what do you do here at the hospital?
Chinese Interpreter: We are interpreters. I help Chinese patients who don’t speak English. And my friend…
Arabic Interpreter: I help patients who speak Arabic.
Reporter: Nice. Thank you.
Photographer: Thank you.
***
Toni: This is art you can wear. I make them for the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. This is a small one!
Photographer: Thank you.
Reporter: Dr. Collins?
Dr. Collins: Yes?
Reporter: I heard the art is made by the workers. Was that your idea?
Dr. Collins: No, no, it wasn’t me. This art show was really the idea of our employees. They came to me with the idea. You should talk to Alisha. There she is.
Reporter: Alisha? Hello. I’m Nguyen Tran from the Big City News. Can you tell me how the art show got started?
Alisha: Well … at first, I wasn’t even thinking about art. I was just trying to help a patient get better.
***
(flashback)
Grandson: Don’t worry about anything, Grandma.
(The family leaves and the nurse speaks with the patient.)
Alisha: So, how was your visit with the family? Oh, I see you have an artist in your family!
Mrs. Medina: My grandson.
Alisha: Is that your house?
Mrs. Medina: Yeah …It is nice to see my home again.
Alisha: You must miss it very much.
Mrs. Medina: Yeah. I can’t wait to go back home. But sometimes, I think I’ll never…
Alisha: Mrs. Medina, we want you to get well as soon as possible. We will do everything we can to help.
Mrs. Medina: It is funny. I was always the person in the family who took care of everyone. And now…
Alisha: Soon, you’ll be back in that picture, at home with your family. It looks like your grandson left these.
(Alisha gives Mrs. Medina a drawing pad and markers).
***
Alisha: Hi, Halina.
Halina: Alisha … hi!
Alisha: (to a coworker) Geraldine, how are you?… (to Daniel) She’s afraid she may never walk again.
Daniel: Who? Mrs. Medina?
Alisha: If we could only find a way to encourage her.
Daniel: Maybe if she talks about happy times.
Alisha: Maybe that would work.
***
Alisha: That’s my tree!
Mrs. Medina: Did you … how do you say it? Put it in the ground?
Alisha: Do you mean plant?
Mrs. Medina: That’s it. Did you plant these trees yourself?
Alisha: No, no, not me. My father planted them. One for each child. One for my brother. One for my sister. And one for me!
Mrs. Medina: You know, I grew up on a farm, and I used to climb a tree just like this when I was a child.
Alisha: I’d love to see a picture.
Mrs. Medina: We don’t have any photos of that.
Alisha: But I’m sure you have beautiful memories. You must remember what it looked like.
Mrs. Medina: Maybe I could draw it.
Alisha: You draw?
Mrs. Medina: I used to love to draw when I was growing up in Colombia.
Alisha: That’s why your grandson is so good at drawing. He takes after his grandmother.
Mrs. Medina: Some people told me … I was pretty good. But when I came to this country, I was so busy. I stopped.
Alisha: Drawing is like riding a bicycle.
Mrs. Medina: Riding a bicycle?
Alisha: Once you learn it, you never forget. I bet you can still draw.
***
Alisha: (talking to reporter) I never imagined that drawing a picture would help her so much. But it did! She started to get much better.
***
Alisha: You called?
Mrs. Medina: Yes … I have something to show you.
Alisha: Oh, my goodness! That’s Dr. Patel. She’s going to love this! And that’s Daniel! How funny. It looks just like him.
Mrs. Medina: Oh, I almost forgot … I have one more to show you.
Alisha: Who’s that?
Mrs. Medina: Just a wonderful nurse that I know.
Alisha: These are so beautiful.
Mrs. Medina: Take them. They are yours. They are for everyone.
Alisha: Thank you.
***
Dr. Patel: What’s this?
Daniel: Oh, Dr. Patel. Look!
Dr. Patel: Look at me!
Dr. Collins: What’s going on? What’s all the excitement about?
Daniel: Oh, Dr. Collins. A patient did these. Aren’t they wonderful?
Dr. Patel: It would be great if we could hang them on the wall.
Dr. Collins: Hang them on the wall, Dr. Patel?
Dr. Patel: Yes, hang them on the wall, Dr. Collins. Don’t you agree, Alisha?
***
Visitor: Excuse me. Room 413? Thank you.
***
Halina: Oh, Mrs. Medina. I see you’re eating more. You must be feeling better. You aren’t making one of me, are you?
Mrs. Medina: Of course not. Just don’t move.
***
Orlando: Well … what do you think?
Daniel: They look great! Everybody loves them.
Halina: People on the other floors are talking. They want pictures, too.
Alisha: We should get more.
Daniel: Good idea.
Orlando: I’ll have to get some more frames.
Halina: But Mrs. Medina can’t draw pictures of everyone. It’s a big hospital.
Alisha: It is big. But wait a minute … Some of the people who work here are artists, too.
Orlando: Dominic, who works the night shift … He loves to draw. He could make something.
Daniel: There are probably lots of people who work here who draw and paint and take pictures and …
Alisha: I have seen Halina’s photographs. She’s really good.
***
Dr. Collins: So, you would like more pictures on the wall.
Alisha: That is correct.
Dr. Collins: I like this idea …But, I’m not sure. Where are you going to get this art from? Do you know any artists?
Halina: Yes, we know a few.
***
Dr. Patel: Oh, Dr. Mendez. How are the kids?
Dr. Mendez: Great.
***
Orlando: Hey, Clayton.
Clayton: Orlando.
Orlando: Did you hear about the art show?
Clayton: No.
(Orlando hands Clayton a flyer about the show)
***
(back to the present, at the art show)
Clayton: I used my own mop, my own technique.
Reporter: You painted with a mop?
Clayton: That’s right.
Reporter: Mop Art.
Clayton: When my friend, Orlando first told me about this art show, I thought, I am not an artist. What can I do?
Reporter: So, how did you get all of this art?
Orlando: It was easy. There is so much talent in this hospital.
***
(flashback to the preparation for the art show)
Toni: This is for the art show.
Orlando: We don’t have enough space to hang all of this!
Alisha: I think we need to speak to Dr. Collins again.
***
Dr. Collins: All of this for the art show? Alisha! I don’t know what to say. I’m not an art director. I’m a medical director.
(Mrs. Medina enters)
Mrs. Medina: Excuse me? Are you in charge of this hospital?
Dr. Collins: Yes, I am.
Mrs. Medina: Can you please come into my room for a minute?
(A little later, Dr. Collins reappears with a portrait of himself in his hand.)
Dr. Collins: You know, Alisha? What’s good for the people who work here is good for the patients.
Alisha: But, Dr. Collins! The space …
Dr. Collins: Not enough room in this hallway? We’ll find a bigger space. Art in the hospital … I love it!
Daniel: (looking at the portrait of Dr. Collins) That’s very nice.
Dr. Collins: Thank you, Daniel.
***
(back to the present, at the art show)
Halina: When I was a young girl in Poland, my father gave me a camera and I never put it down! I learned to see the beauty in everyday things.
Reporter: Nice photographs!
Halina: Thank you.
Photographer: Thank you.
***
Mrs. Medina: (to visitors at the art show, pointing to her portrait of Dr. Patel) That’s the doctor that operated on my leg.
***
Alisha: (to the reporter) Ms. Tran? You see that woman over there?
Reporter: Yes.
Alisha: She’s the one I was talking about.
Reporter: Thank you.
***
Mrs. Medina: (to a visitor at the art show) You see the nurse over there? Thanks to her, I am home with my family again. The people in this hospital are fantastic.
***
Reporter: Excuse me. My name is Nguyen Tran with the Big City News. Can you tell me your name and a few things about yourself?
Mrs. Medina: My name is Viviana Medina. I come from Colombia.
***
(some time after the art show)
Alisha: Dr. Patel! Listen to this! Daniel, listen to what Mrs. Medina says:
***
(flashback to the art show)
Mrs. Medina: (to the reporter) Four months ago, I had a terrible accident. I thought I would never walk again.
***
(back to the present)
Alisha: (reading) “But thanks to the staff here, I am alive today, and I’m walking. You see, I am not rich, but my life is rich. I live in a city with people from all over the world.”
***
(flashback to the art show)
Mrs. Medina: (to the reporter) My life is beautiful because I see beauty in everything. But the most beautiful picture is not on the wall in this art show. It’s the picture I have in my heart of the wonderful people…
***
(back to the present)
Alisha:(reading) “…who work in this hospital. There is beauty in the hands of these workers and in the goodness of their hearts.”
Intercom: Dr. Patel … paging Dr. Patel … room 1225.
***
Grandson: Did you make those, Grandma?
Mrs. Medina: Yes. I’m an artist like you!