Right to Die (Masters of Horror)

Plot

Cliff Addison (Martin Donovan) and his wife, Abby (Julia Benson), have a road accident. He walks away unharmed, but she is left in a coma with her skin burned off. Cliff is told that there is a method of surgery that will allow her to live, but without speech or the ability to take care of herself. Cliff consults with his attorney, Ira, who persuades him to let his wife die. He reveals to Ira that he had an affair.

Cliff remembers an instance where his wife found his cell phone with a video of his mistress, Trish (Robin Sydney), stripping whilst moaning his name. Shortly after, Cliff hallucinates that he is taking a bath with his wife and they make love while her skin burns off. While he panics, it is shown that his wife had died but was resuscitated, and that he has a hand-shaped burn mark on his back. Cliff runs into Trish, and it's revealed that she had been fired by Abby, and only slept with Cliff out of pity. Cliff visits Abby and attempts to kiss her. Her eyes open and she begins to flatline. Cliff then learns that she had flatlined two nights ago, but was brought back.

Abby's ghost brutally kills Cliff's attorney. Cliff returns home to see a drunken Trish and they have sex. In bed, Cliff tells Trish that in four hours, without the skin transplant, Abby will die, as will he. Cliff's phone rings, showing he is receiving seductive pictures of Trish, but sees Abby's skinless figure approaching from behind her. Trish screams, making Cliff rush to her and comfort her. He then breaks a bottle over her head. We next see a naked Trish strapped in the dentist chair, being prepped by Cliff to have her skin transferred to Abby. He informs her that he regrets that she has to be alive for the procedure, but the skin has to be fresh. In her heavily-drugged state, she feels no pain.

Cliff thinks back to the drive before the accident. Abby revealed that she was pregnant. Cliff was apparently overjoyed, but Abby said that she was going to leave him because of the affair and never let him see the baby. Because of their argument, Cliff had taken his eyes off the road, which led to their crash. The beginning scene is replayed, but it is shown that Cliff made a conscious decision to not call 911. She apologized for being harsh to him, but he purposely set the car on fire. Almost immediately, he regretted his decision as she screamed in agony.

Back to the present, Cliff arrives at the hospital with the skin, but finds that Abby has already died. He throws away Trish's body pieces, then goes home to be greeted by Abby's spirit.