Fly on the Wall – The Plague
The camera followed Starsky as he ripped off his mask and gown, fled the room and headed out into the hospital corridor with renewed determination, borne from desperation.
"And cut! Great scene. Well done everyone!" the director said, as a ripple of applause broke out.
The crew were used to seeing excellent performances from the leads of the show, who never gave anything less than their best, but even they had found the scene being shot emotional to watch. Quite a few old hands would later admit they'd had a lump in their throat during the shooting of that particular scene. The energy Paul and David brought to it seemed particularly personal.
"Well done, David. That was a masterpiece." The director had quickly headed over to the lead actor to praise him.
"Thanks."
David was smiling as he took the robe he was being offered. He would be glad to get out of the flimsy, yellow hospital gown and into his own clothes. He was feeling pretty tired after what had been an emotional morning's shooting, but glad that the scenes in the hospital had gone so well. He looked around as he slipped his arms into the robe and his face began to crease with bewilderment.
"Where's Paul?"
During all the applause and congratulatory speeches, it seemed his co-star and friend had disappeared. He'd never walked off after a completed scene before. Walked off during the filming of one or two when he was feeling frustrated that it wasn't going well, yes, but then only so he could pace up and down, rant a bit to let off steam and then he'd come back ready to get on with the job. He had never walked away after a great take like this and, certainly, not without talking to David first.
"I don't know," the director admitted. "Anyone seen Paul?" he called across the sound stage.
Several people shook their heads and looked around in confusion. A young gopher, who hardly had occasion to speak to either star, nervously moved closer and said quietly, "Mr Soul? I saw Mr Glaser heading to his trailer. He looked very upset."
David gave her a lovely smile. "Thank you for telling me, Jen. And, please, call me, David."
Jen blushed to the roots of her hair, amazed to think that Mr Soul, David, had even bothered to learn her name.
David hastily threw on some tracksuit bottoms that had been left ready, fastened the belt around his robe, and headed off the set, nodding and smiling at people as he passed. Once outside the film set, he headed straight to the back of the lot towards Paul's trailer. The trailer was very quiet. He paused and then knocked on the door. There was no answer. David hesitated and then put his hand on the door handle.
"Paul, it's me. I'm coming in," he said, as he turned the handle.
He climbed the two small steps up and stepped inside the trailer. He'd been in here many, many times. Not just over the months and years, but daily. He and Paul spent a lot of time in each other's company. He looked around and saw his friend slumped in his favourite chair, head back, staring at the ceiling. When he saw David, he sat up and tried to smile.
"The scene went great, pal. You were superb."
Paul was always ready with an encouragement for David, but today, David ignored the compliment and didn't get side-tracked into returning it, even though he knew Paul deserved huge praise for his emotional performance.
"You all right?" he asked quietly, "That scene got a bit intense, didn't it?"
Paul swallowed and nodded his head. His eyes welled up and he muttered under his breath as he reached for a box of tissues and began dabbing at his eyes. Concerned, David strode across the space and dragged a chair over so he could sit close to his friend.
"Hey! What's going on?"
Paul shook his head and smiled ruefully. "It's just that scene…reminded me of when you had pneumonia." Noisily, Paul blew his nose.
"Oh…Yeah, I know. Me too."
David had to admit that that experience had been at the front of his mind as they had acted the hospital scenes. He had been able to draw on the memory to add authenticity to Hutch suffering from the plague. He just hadn't realised how much his using that memory would affect Paul.
David waited till Paul had calmed down and thrown away the last of his damp tissues. Then he stood up and pulled Paul up into an embrace.
"You know I don't think I'd be here if you hadn't flown all the way to the UK and sat with me through all those long hours. Thank you. Thanks for always being there when I need you."
And then they were both crying.
Later, they were seen walking the lot together, talking to the director together, preparing the next day's scenes together, eating a meal together - all done with lots of smiles between them and lots of spontaneous hugs being given.