INT.

GYM -- DAY

WIDE SHOT, we push in whilst hearing boxing commentary.

A lit up boxing gym, mid-match, darkness around the ring but

it feels full. The crowd is cheering, and the referee is
shouting.

The look in his eyes tells us that he has been in this

position many times before. Like a hunter tracking his prey,
he follows the camera with his eyes, not letting it out of
his sight for a second. He thinks he knows the outcome - he's
confident, and this thought will betray him in a few minutes.

As the camera reaches WILL'S face in a CLOSE UP, he is

knocked to the floor by his opponent, losing consciousness.
We MATCH CUT TO NEXT SCENE.

INT. HOSPITAL -- DAY FLASHBACK.

FADES IN: He is sat on a hospital bed, right after the boxing

match. His head is in his hands, arm in a sling. Giving a
blank STARE, the eyes of a former dreamer.

Through his pained state he can sorely make out a muffled con
between two distinct individuals, as his head spins with
anticipation and anger waiting to see who would walk into the
room he continues to rub his face forcefully, soon the door
opens to crack open and his head shoots up in need of comfort
from his lover,

though his conflict within himself sets him off and he glares
up into her eyes once her face is met with his and he hears
the door click closed, he hastily presses his lips together
holding back from any contact with her his eyes shift onto
the hard flooring once the door opens again the doctors shoes
catch the corner of his drifted state, and for what could be
a close touch down of a fight with his girl turns into a high
tensioned field of emotion.

A defeated WILL sits upright in a hospital bed. He leans

against the bed frame. He is unsteady and weak.

Muffled voice of doctor explains to WILL of his injuries.

DOCTOR
Due to the severity of the damage,
physiotherapy will be necessary. It
won't be too harsh - starting with a
thorough examination, then a tailored
physical exercise to get some feeling
 2.

back in your hand. However, I can't

promise...

The doctor's voice trails off as we are once again in the

boxer's head. WILL shakes his head in disbelief. He is still
not able to talk from the shock and confusion.

His GIRLFRIEND comforts him, holding his hand. She begins to

talk for him.

DENISE
Is he going to be alright?

DOCTOR
(Dodges question) He could start as
soon as Monday, and we'll get him on
these different kinds of..

WILL
I don't need that It's pointless, just
like all of this.

DOCTOR
Sir.. this is the only way to get you
on your feet again, nerve narrowing
isn't something that just goes-

WILL
Are you dense? I said I'm not doing
it.

DENISE
(Sighs) Please..
(Focuses on WILL, giving a stare
of pure confusion and concern yet
she seems a bit stand offish with
his new given state)

In his eyes he is conflicted within himself he feels as if he

could say a million of one things but he can't keep up with
any of the information that's been given to him let alone
himself so he doesn't speak.

FLASH IN: Insert rapid sequence of shots of him in the gym

TRAINING before the injury, he gets lost in his own head. The
conversation carries on around him, muffled.

He snaps out of it, the voices becoming clearer.

 3.

DENISE
(Holding a a hand on his shoulder,
looking at him with that same
expression as before her eyes soon
Leave him and meet the doctor her
voice stating a form of dominance.) So
when can he start on the meds..?

INT. HOUSE -- DAY

CLOSE UP, WILL is in the kitchen, his face catches in a

reflection as he's moving. Before speaking, he sees his
girlfriend behind him.

DENISE
(How are you holding up? (She
walks behind him, leaning on the
counter, her hands meet the side
rails and she gives it a gentle
squeeze trying to center herself
through the tensioned air between
them both.)

He keeps his head down, into the fridge his Back to her
trying to avoid eye contact given the fact that all he can
think about is her outside the hospital door earlier, finding
anything to snap at her. An excuse.

WILL
I don't know, DENISE I uh I guess Not
so bad.

DENISE
Just "not bad".. You know I see how
hard this is on you Right? I'm not a
complete idiot WILL you can let me
in..

She moves closer behind him, her hands meet his shoulder
blades and her tone radiates sympathetic and gentle warmth He
closes the fridge and throws his head backwards grinding his
teeth in response of her touch he whips around to meet her
eye to eye, looking defeated and yet angry.

WILL
You want me to let you in? Fine. What
the hell was coach doing outside my
hospital room talking with you? Why
 4.

the hell was he poking around asking

you the nitty gritty questions --

DENISE
It's not what you think, Will calm
down we can talk abou-

He stays engaged showing his love for her given the fact he's
still paying her mind. But he CUTS HER OFF.

WILL
.. about how you were? And not a
single question about his own fighter,
Am I that big of a disappointment that
he would rather latch onto nothing
instead of being some kind of actual
mentor.

He pauses for a moment, rethinking how to approach. But that

CONFLICT in him shows. He is in his own head and he feels as
if he is spinning, losing rational thought.

It's almost like he's still facing his opponent in the ring
head-on, experiencing that thrive in adrenaline he will never
feel again, but this time he doesn't know who he is fighting.
He CONTINUES.

WILL
You know I've got nothing except for
those gloves. No grades to show for
anything, no records to look back on,
no experience in anything else.
Nothing..

DENISE
There's always something--

WILL'S expression alone is enough to cut her sentence short.

He looks at her, what he called the love of his life, with an
ENVY. Resentment at the fact she is still able to carry on
with her life, continue her career as normal with no
setbacks. She, from this moment on, will always be ahead of
him somehow.

WILL
You don't understand! I'll never be
the same again. This-- being in the
ring, fighting, it clears my head,
grounds me. And that was all ripped
clean from my hands within seconds,
because I was wasn't paying attention,
 5.

one swipe and it's all gone, I'm done

for.

DENISE's expression could be described as one thing--

sympathetic. Her eyes gaze into him with a deep sadness as he
continues.

WILL
I can't do this. I don't know who I am
without this, Yeah I've got this you,
me but all of this DENISE isn't
fucking fair, but that's life Right?

HIS VOICE trails off as an echo to himself, he takes a second

to ground himself. His hands are shaking - not from his
injuries, but from his lack of mobility of his emotions. He
can't place himself.

He turns his attention to the cupboard near him. He needs a

distraction, anything. Without thinking, he raises his
injured hand and tries to open the cupboard door with it.

He realises two things; he can't feel any pressure on his

hand, and he can't grip anything properly. DENISE continues
to stare at him, blankly. She's frozen in place - she's not
equipped to deal with this.

WILL
Why the hell can't I feel any- Good
god we are just staring at each other
now?

He doesn't want to admit it, but he's scared, he wants help.

But the persona he has built up won't allow him to admit it
easily.

She slowly reaches up as her fingertips touch the cupboard

door, she closes it and softly grabs his hand. She tries to
get him to calm down even reluctantly. He goes to pull away
but she pulls him into a hug. He hugs her back, almost
gripping on for dear life, tears meeting his eyes from the
relentless warmth and affection he is receiving.

WILL
I just.. I can't do it. I can't..

She shushes him, stroking his hair, continuing to hold him

close. She doesn't hesitate in comforting him, yet she still
disconnects from him. The unspoken truth is they are both
scared.
 6.

DENISE
(She pauses) You can.. WILL you can do
this. I know that you can, you're
doing everything you need to get
there, this injury is a mild setback
to a world of possibilities We could
start-

He stiffens in her grip, he wants to listen and believe her,

but he is already overwhelmed and giving into the pressured
reality. HIS reality. He tries to find the words to express
himself but instead He just shakes his head, only managing to
mumble a word into her neck.

WILL
No..

His voice is deafly quiet from crying, he pulls back to look

at her.

DENISE
You start the remainder of therapy
next week, and the meds you're on,
there's trials to help you. We're
trying to help you..

She almost pleads with him. His EXPRESSION is anticipated and

underwhelming , he doesn't know where to go or what do do. He
just stares at her for a moment, visually conflicted, almost
confused.

DENISE
(We're going to get you back to
being, you being the way you way
you should be, you should be
confident and happy in being
well, you.(She cups his face and
offers a small disorganised smile)

WILL
DENISE this was put in front of me not
you I just need to.. figure this all
out, alone.

(He pulls away from her forcefully,

clenching his fists trying to feel any
sense of relief within the white space
of numbness.)
 7.

She pulls back fast, and looks to the side of him and away
from her. He fixates on a shattered glass on the side that
broke in his outburst. The broken glass represents that
broken hope, maybe even him at this moment. He didn't even
feel it.

He stays facing away from her, watching the glass that has
already been placed on the counter beside them. She moves to
go near him again hesitantly but he holds his hand away in
front.

WILL
And I need to do it alone.

DENISE'S eyes follow his line of sight down to the glass, and
she nods curtly. She begins to shut off away from like has
already. She CROUCHES down to clear up the glass as he BACKS
UP towards the door.

DENISE
Hey I've got this.. you just..

She looks back up to him for a moment and pauses, at a loss

for words. She fights with herself not to snap, with
overwhelming energy but to be here with given support she
feels he deserves.

He begins cutting her off if she hadn't paused already. He

wants to help and wants to step forward to hold her, but he
still takes another step BACKWARDS.

WILL
I'm going to the gym. Thought I'd
still be exercising like the doc said.

She doesn't say much, she only STANDS UP where she is

crouched on the floor.

She gives him full attention and a weary smile, still unsure
of his actions. She rubs her arm where she was pushed by him
though she goes to hide it.

He notices it and stays quiet, his breath ragged. His injured

hand shakes more by the minute, clearly feeling over
compensated and tripped over the whip lash of emotion she
sees WILL facing, but she seems to close off and stay quite
distant.

DENISE
That sounds good, just be careful..
 8.

She tries to provide some normalcy, continuing what she was

doing, she puts the broken glass into the bin, dusting
herself off.

WILL
I will be, and I'll be home as soon as
I can..

The tension between the two from earlier still stands, but
she does her best to break it. But to no avail.

She cups his cheek and NODS toward the door, signaling for
him to leave. A small moment of hope lingers between the two,
but the tension remains, and all goes QUIET.

DENISE
You've got this..

WILL
Yeah I know..
(His face falls flat into a
straight line and he rocks back
and forth)

He turns to leave, reaching the door. He grabs his jacket,

still SHAKING, putting his one hand into the sleeve, as he
struggles a little. He gives her a last look before looking
away, a look of understanding. His mouth opens to speak but
he opts not to.

She sighs as he leaves, hanging onto the doorframe, she rubs

at her arm again. She is at a loss of what to do, yet she
holds onto that hope, seemingly for the both of them, even
though she is hurt herself, she tries to see past that. She
worries for him.

She CHECKS HER PHONE, and the time reads 7:00PM.

WILL unlocks the door and opens it, stepping through it, like
a man on a mission, we TRANSITION with a MATCH CUT TO THE
NEXT SCENE.

INT. GYM -- EVENING

WILL steps down into the gym hall through the door into a
WIDE SHOT. As he moves, we do with him, following his side
profile.

OTHER VOICES in the background can be heard working out, but

our focus is solely on him, it's almost deafening. He reached
 9.

the punch bag and we move to a CLOSE UP.

He looks at it with a sort of hatred, nervousness, before

tuning behind him to his boxing gloves. He slips the gloves
on, giving the equipment a dark stare, faking that confidence
and determination he once had.

He begins HITTING his fist to it, PUNCHING back and forth

between fists. The one goes limp and he halfheartedly hits
the bag. He goes to PUNCH it again with the same fist, but
this time he feels it less, like he's carrying the heaviest
weight. He keeps punching harder and harder until he gets
worked up.

He drops a little, his anger and frustration shows, he hits

it one last time again as he falls to the floor. He BREAKS
DOWN reaching desperately to pull the gloves off. He sees the
bruises and tosses the gloves aside.

He mumbles to himself, fighting back and forth. Checking over

his hands he notices the difference. One strong and tense,
still and still gripping the air, the other limp and pale,
bruised and slender, as it still SHAKES rapidly.

He comes to the realisation, even if he still had the

strength he can't fight like this.

WILL
Come on.. come on just work.

He gets in his fighting stance, arms up in front of his face

without the gloves, the other arm sagging a little. He begins
to hit it over and over again until he becomes weak and
aching.

He CRIES out from the pain slumping to the floor, he falls

back onto the ring with his head in his hands. He rips the
gloves off inspecting his injured hand and beat up knuckles.

CLOSE UP to his face as he looks down, he is sweaty and

tired. Beat up from himself, he is done and exhausted. He
doesn't want to give up but he feels that's all he can do.

He notices people around him looking at him confused, the

talking around him getting louder as people begin to approach
him OFF CAMERA.

EXT. CITY/ CANAL BRIDGE -- NIGHT

 10.

He makes his was home, fighting with himself on what to do.

He feels useless and helpless to anything, like a prisoner in
his own body, in his own mind.

He stops at the bridge, WE CUT TO A SHOT BEHIND HIM LOOKING

OUT OVER THE WATER. AS THE CAMERA MOVES CLOSER TO HIM WE
CENTER ON HIS FACE.

He takes everything in, angry and lost. He looks around, even

jealous of hearing anything going on around him. He is at his
lowest point. His eyes reflect the city lights that he is
looking out over, he scratches and rubs at his arm, before
pulling away completely, almost disgusted.

He knows this isn't something he can come back from.

INT. HOUSE -- CONTINUOUS

WILL walks back into the house, sets his bag down and
collects himself.

The TV is on a random channel, and the lights are off, THE

GIRLFRIEND lies asleep on the sofa, phone in her hand.

He SNEAKS into the house, staying quiet, he looks at her for

a moment. A loving yet tired and sad look, he stroked the top
of her head and she STIRS.

He gets a little closer, whispering soft and gentle to her as

she lays asleep.

WILL
I'm sorry..

He makes his way to the bathroom, shutting off the rest of

the other lights and turning on a dim one in the bathroom.

He closes the door and LOCKS it, moving to stand in front of

the mirror. He looks into his own eyes for a few moments,
like he is contemplating, reliving the moments from earlier,
and even before that.

A SEQUENCE of shots to show those memories cut in and out

between him looking into the mirror. He is disheveled and he
has a vacant look in his eye, dirty and tired. The dark
circles under his eyes show, and the paleness on his face
more prominent.

He REACHES for the cabinet, hearing the TV be turned off

outside the door.
 11.

He GRABS the pill bottle, squeezing it tight in his one hand

as a sort of test of his own grip. He loses it and SMASHES
the bottle, breaking open the medicine inside, he pours it
into his hands.

The CAMERA BEGINS TO go blurry as he completely loses that

control, he is already in and out of it. He holds the pills
close to his mouth, the sound of BANGING ON THE DOOR fades
out as he looks up into the light of the bathroom.

The BANGING turns into muffled voices and he sways, the light
BLINDING him he covers his eyes with his hand. A CLOSE UP to
his face closes the scene and WE MATCH CUT TO THE ORIGINAL
SCENE.

INT. GYM -- DAY

SHOUTING and SCREAMING can be heard from the crowd, as the

referee counts down, slamming is down onto the ring. WILL
groans rolling over looking towards the referee, and part of
the CROWD CHEERS.

REFEREE
SIX.. SEVEN-

The REFEREE shouts at WILL as he nears EIGHT. WILL rolls over

forcing himself up on his "bad" arm, he feels that full
strength. Looking towards that arm he PUSHES off of it and
stands up.

The REFEREE takes WILL'S arm and HOLDS IT UP, showing he is

still in the match. WILL shakes his head in disbelief and a
little confusion as he looks out into the darkened crowd. He
is beat up and exhausted. But some sort of relief crosses his
face. CUT TO FREEZE FRAME.

FADE OUT.

THE END
_______
12.