C. A woman (Melanie) and a boy (Charlie) are sitting on a beach somewhere in California. The boy sifts sand through his fingers and stares at the waves; the woman, who is sitting on her jacket, flips through a large medical textbook.
MELANIE: Honey, don't play with sand, it has fleas and disease
CHARLIE: Mom, it's just sand.
MELANIE: Do you have my med bag? I feel nauseous....
Nauseated, not nauseous...and that'd be my driving, Mom, just wait for it to pass.
MELANIE: Nause-- Na-- Nnn (she pages through the book)
With dizziness and fatigue: Altitude sickness.
CHARLIE: Oh, for the love of -- Mom, we're at sea level. Going lower than this is called drowning. You can look that up in The Book. D-R-O-W-N-I--
MELANIE: That's enough. How are you feeling?
CHARLIE: Fine, as are you.
MELANIE: You don't believe me.
CHARLIE: Mom, what do you want me to say?
MELANIE: I trust how I feel. How else do you know what you're feeling is real at all?
CHARLIE: For you, it's not! You're not perceptive, you're delusional. Look up hypochondria in The Book, mom.
MELANIE: You don't think people ever get sick?
CHARLIE: Not as often as you seem to! It's all in the mind, they've done studies, it's all psychosomatic. You look at a picture of someone's eyes watering and your eyes suddenly itch and tear. It's all sympathy.
MELANIE: God forbid you be sympathetic.
CHARLIE: Mom, you get on the airplane and the guy who has the misfortune to sneezeas he's sitting next to you has to deal with you making a big show of Amish shunning him for the rest of the eight hour flight. (pause)
It's going to rain soon. We should go.
MELANIE: Wait. I just--if you were sick. How would you know you weren't making it up?
CHARLIE: I'd know, that's all.
MELANIE: Charlie, we didn't make this trip to the specialty doctor for me.
*she unfolds a piece of paper*
These are the results of your blood tests, when I thought I had Huntington's and was worried you had it too. Since you never go for checkups, I told them to run every test they could.
CHARLIE: Do I!?
MELANIE: No. You have--
CHARLIE: What?
MELANIE: Cancer.
We're going to figure this out. We are. How are you feeling?
CHARLIE: (he laughs, a little strangely) Who knows?
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