DEEP SPACE NINE: "Ties of Blood... " - REV. 2/14/97 - ACT FIVE   56.

71   CONTINUED:

					BASHIR 
			But it never is.

	Kira's a little numb from everything she's been 
	through, but she obviously needs to get something off 
	her chest.

					KIRA 
			He got so quiet, toward the end. 
			I could hear him whispering
			things... His wife's name... 
			Iliana's... even mine. But then 
			the pain got to be too much for 
			him. He just... lay there... 
			breathing. And every time he 
			exhaled... there was a little 
			pause. And I thought, "That's it. 
			It's over." But then he'd force 
			another breath. And another. I 
			started counting them. One 
			hundred... two hundred... three 
			hundred... It was like he was 
			fighting for every last second. 
				(a beat) 
			I'm not even sure he knew I was 
			there.

					BASHIR
			He knew. You gave him what he 
			needed. He didn't die alone.

					KIRA
			Maybe he gave me something I 
			needed, too.

	Kira tries to gather herself together, but she's 
	hurting pretty bad.

					KIRA 
			I missed my father's death by less 
			than an hour... did you know that? 
			Less than an hour.
				(a beat) 
			I always told myself that it was 
			just bad luck... bad timing... the 
			will of the Prophets. But the 
			truth is... I didn't have to leave 
			when I did. I could have stayed 
			a while longer. But I saw a 
			chance to get away, and I took it. 
				(a hard admission) 
			I saw so much death during the 
			Occupation... felt so much pain. 
			But he was my father. My 
			strength. And I couldn't stand 
			watching that strength slip away.