St. Elsewhere (1982) s01e11 Episode Script
Graveyard
1
- Previously on St. elsewhere.
- I'm Dr. Paxton.
How do you know so much about birds, Ralph?
I am a bird.
And now you walk back into my
life and it's like you never left.
Until we meet again, mon pet it chou-Fleur.
Oh, Dr. Bullfinch.
I will not have this man running
around here playing doctor.
Tonight on St. elsewhere. Call the code. Get an O.R. ready.
Tell them gunshot wound to the chest.
It's 10 years, Nance. I mean, I've changed.
So have I. If this were 10 years ago,
I'd jump into bed with you right now.
He's not gonna make it through the night, Jack.
You mean you're not gonna be a bird anymore? That's right.
I'm gonna be a human, 24 hours a day, every day.
- This boy is dead and gone.
- He's not dead till I say he's dead.
[Speaking Chinese] They really
think this is gonna save him?
- Yes.
- You think I'm gonna jump, don't you?
- Come on, Ralph.
- Stand right there, Hugh.
So the guy asks, he says, "who
gave you the 50 cents?" Yeah?
And she says, "they all did." [Both laughing]
Oh, you know Mrs. Wilder, the
one recovering in the burn unit?
Yeah, what about her? She found
her husband in bed with another woman.
Working can wait. This is paradise.
So what does she do? She's a real Einstein, this woman.
She gets a gallon of gasoline. She douses
them all with it. Lights a match and whoo!
- Blows them all up.
- [Clattering]
Take it easy, fella. So flash
forward to the burn unit, okay?
They're all bandaged up.
They're all in these big dressings.
They look like enormous cookie monsters, okay?
And they just start whaling on each other.
Who?
Mrs. Wilder and the woman she
found in bed with her husband.
♪[Singing, indistinct] They're in the same room together?
Right next to each other, beating each
other up. Are you listening to my story?
Of course, ehrlich. I'm simply recapitulating.
It's a rhetorical device. Oh.
His mind's somewhere else.
Dr. Paxton.
Oh, come, come, Dr. Samuels. You think we haven't noticed:
The glazed look, the heavy breathing?
Not to mention you've been walking around
like secretariat after he's put out to stud.
Or how your obnoxious, detached, patronizing manner
Melts into a rabid sexual yearning
every time she enters the room.
It's really quite touching For someone your age.
I haven't the vaguest idea of
what you're talking about, fiscus.
The truth. Wouldn't you like to
take a tumble with Nancy Paxton?
Raise a nickel.
- A nickel?
- That's right.
I see your laxative, Lyle,
and I raise you two thiamine.
You mean to tell me that you're here of
your own free volition on a Saturday night?
Certainly. Yes, I'm sure the fact
That Dr. Paxton is on call has nothing to do with it.
Nice hands, ehrlich. You, uh, wanna be a surgeon?
Uh, wh-what's the limit?
Morphine. Anything over-the-counter goes.
You mean I have to explain why I wanna play cards
With my colleagues every Saturday night?
With your track record, Samuels? Yeah.
Listen to this. I'm gonna sit here
And take this kind of abuse from someone who
has the nerve to raise me a nickel a nickel?
Is that any kind of way for an adult to
conduct himself in a poker game, Stephens?
- What do you got?
- Two pair.
Dermatologists and radiologists, the lowest of the low.
Three 7's.
I can't stand it. I never win.
- A boat.
- Holy smoke.
Sorry to win and run, gentlemen,
but there's simply no competition.
Listen, Stephens, a word of advice.
When you're playing with adults, do not raise a laxative.
- I never win.
- Uppers?
No, vitamin "e."
Hi. Hi.
You mind if I sit down? Fine.
So, uh, how's it going?
Fine. Oh, good. Good.
And your life?
Fine. [Snickers]
It's Saturday night. What are you doing here anyway?
Well, you might as well know I guess
everyone else does I came to see you.
Oh. Apparently I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve.
Or haven't you noticed?
Well, you've been very friendly. [Laughing]
I appreciate that. I see. You're not
gonna make this easy for me, are you?
Ten years, Ben. There's a lot of
blood spilled in our relationship.
You still don't forgive me for leaving?
Oh, I forgive you, sure. It's a lot harder to forget.
Look, if I could change what
happened, what I did, you know
I don't expect you to. If I could, I would.
You're not listening, Ben. I forgive you. Really, I do.
You mean, what I'm feeling,
you don't feel anything like that?
Ben, I'm crazy about you. Well, wonderful.
So, what's the problem?
I'm not crazy about you that way.
It's 10 years, Nance. I mean, I've changed.
So have I. If this were 10 years ago,
I'd jump into bed with you right now.
Look, you know, you are throwing
out very mixed signals here.
No, I'm not. I'm trying to be as honest with you as I can.
Well I think you're irresponsible.
Not to your work but to people.
I would have gone anywhere with you.
I would have done anything.
It took me a very long time to get to the point
Where you don't interfere with my living my life.
And now you don't.
I like my life. I like what I'm doing.
I am perfectly happy.
I'm dying for you. [Laughs]
You won't die, Ben. I didn't.
Besides that, it'd probably be a big disappointment.
Not a chance. Now you know that's not true, don't you?
I couldn't go through it again, Ben.
I don't want to.
[Cooing]
You spoiled the mood, Hugh. You always spoil the mood.
Still can't sleep, huh? Not can't,
won't. Too much to think about.
Yeah, well, I'll have them give
you something that will help.
Help me sleep or help me think?
Really, I don't feel like sleeping.
I think perhaps you're right after all.
Maybe it's time I stop being a bird.
I've been every species of bird known to humankind,
and it still hasn't helped.
The question is then what should I be?
Well, that's a very good question, Ralph.
Maybe I'll just be myself.
I like that answer. I thought you would.
It's a crisp, cool night.
The kind that's better in
Boston than any city in the world.
Give me a nice warm breeze
blowin' in off the Gulf coast anytime.
Too much humidity, Hugh. Not for me.
What are you doing in Boston anyway, Hugh?
You're like a duck out of water up here.
I can see you in mobile, Alabama or tuscaloosa.
But you a Boston brahmin? I got sick of pawpaws.
Do you ever miss it? Gulfport, Mississippi, I mean.
Not the place so much Mostly I miss my people.
Your folks still there? Mm-hmm.
It's funny. I've spent so much
time being angry at my folks.
How do you feel about them now?
I feel sorry for them. They've realized
how badly they screwed things up.
Ralph no, I know, I know.
They weren't sure what to do with a
kid who was supposed to be a genius.
They thought what they were doing was right.
They were told that m.I.T. Was the best place for you.
I was 14 years old my freshman year.
I didn't shave till I was 18.
My parents never knew how to act around me.
Now they can't bear to see me.
So I don't know how to act around them
Or anyone else for that matter.
The only person who I ever felt comfortable with was Jane,
the mother of my child.
Have you spoken to her recently?
I talked to her on the phone a week ago.
She sounds happy. I feel happy for her.
She's moving to Arizona. Yeah.
I think being with her father's
the best thing for her, don't you?
Yes, yes, I do.
"Things fall apart. The center cannot hold."
What's that? That's from a poem by yeats.
Sort of describes my relation to the world.
I don't know what to do with the world,
and the world doesn't know what to make of me.
[Paxton] How are his pupils?
Sluggish. His temperature's normal.
That's not necessarily a good sign.
The body's response to infection is to produce fever.
If there's no fever, it means
he's not fighting off the infection.
Any response to deep pain stimulation?
No.
[Sighs]
His pupils are dilated, but they're not fixed.
They react only minimally to light.
Has he been decerebrating?
Yes.
His brain's not active.
It's obviously very infected.
I don't understand.
It's too fast. We're losing him.
He's not gonna make it through the night, Jack.
Better call the family.
[Fiscus] I say the breaking
out of diseases like herpes ii
Or, uh, kaposi's sarcoma are nature's
way of telling us to slow down sexually.
Is that your rationale for not
having a date in the past six weeks?
You laugh, but I got this friend, Bob macgonigal.
He found out he had chronic hepatitis.
- Fiscus, what are you gonna do?
- Okay, keep your scrubs on.
Hey, any chance of me getting a seat in this game? Sure.
The cards aren't gonna change, fiscus,
no matter how long you look at them.
Okay, okay. I see your dime and I raise a nickel.
Nickels and dimes? My grandmother
doesn't play for nickels and dimes.
Yeah, well, that's what we get for
playing with Larry, moe and curly.
- [Hugh] Ben, what are you doing in here?
- Bury these.
Rumor mill has it you're out
somewhere making time with Nancy Paxton.
She rejected him. I see your placebo and raise you one.
Jack it up. Wait, wait. What's this?
She told him to go hang his shingle elsewhere.
Come on, less talk, more action, okay? Is this true, Ben?
Well, this this kind of shakes my faith in
Well, in something. Yeah. Mighty Casey struck out.
Come on, you guys. I'm way down,
and now you're fooling around!
- Gimme a chance, will ya?
- What are you still doing here, Ben?
What? Oh, I just didn't feel like going home tonight.
- I'm out.
- Fine, he's out. What are you gonna do, Maverick?
I call. Fine. Here, three 8's.
You're good, kid, but you're not good enough.
A flush? You just call me with a flush?
[All laughing]
Better quit now, ehrlich.
Oh, my marker.
Fill this for me, will you, doctor?
[Chattering]
Dr. Morrison.
Oh.
Hello.
[Mumbles]
Did you tell them we don't think Mickey's gonna make it?
Yes.
[Speaking Chinese]
They wanna know if there's still any hope.
His heart rate's down to 40. He doesn't
Uh, I don't think so, no.
[Speaking Chinese]
[Sobbing, speaking Chinese]
- I don't believe this.
- What did he say?
[Speaking Chinese]
[Continues in Chinese]
Either my mandarin's getting weak,
or he just said he wants to perform
ultimate Chinese medicine on his son.
What is ultimate Chinese medicine?
It's an old Chinese superstition.
Sometimes they use coins, candles.
They spread it all over a room.
I'm not sure. I've never seen it.
It's the kind of thing you hear about when you're a kid.
But is there anything invasive? Needles or drops?
I'll ask.
[Speaking Chinese]
[Speaking Chinese]
He said, no, nothing that would upset your procedures.
Sure. Why not?
If it'll make them feel better.
Tell them we've done everything possible.
Gimme a hand, for god's sake! Come on. We need you!
Gurney. Get the gurney! There's
blood all over the back of my cab.
We've got a bullet hole entrance
wound in the left posterior chest.
And an exit out the abdomen with
a four-by-six centimeter defect.
I don't think he's breathing.
Call the code. Get an O.R. ready.
Beep Samuels fast. Samuels isn't on tonight.
He's in the solarium, playing poker.
Tell him gunshot wound to the chest,
like you wouldn't believe. Right.
Okay, we've got him from here. You wait
right out there. Someone will talk to you.
We have a code blue and beep Samuels.
Charlene, get over here! Move that thing!
I think he's dead, fiscus! Give me d-5 lactated ringers,
colloids, with intubation with a
22-centimeter endotracheal tube,
an open thoracotomy tray, two
number-16 central intravenous catheters
And a mast suit, stat.
I'm gonna raise his legs.
Looks like a meteor shower went through this guy.
Must've been a hollow point. Get two liters of plasmanate.
[White] One and two and three and four and five.
One and two and three and four and five.
One and two and three and four and five.
To the lab for an a.B.G. Lights type and
cross-match, four units whole blood, stat.
One and two and three and four and five.
I'll do that. I need practice finding the vocal cords.
I'm putting the femoral I.V. In place.
Is there any pulse yet?
Nothing. Still nothing. Can you see the cords?
No, not yet.
- I'll do it.
- No, no, I got it. I got it.
In here. Check for breathing. One second.
His pupils are fixed and dilated.
Get me the thoracotomy tray, stat.
[White] Okay, check for signs of breathing. Okay.
You put it in his stomach. Try again.
I need some gloves here. What do you got?
A chest wound with fecal contents
coming from the abdominal cavity.
Where's the thoracotomy tray? [Fiscus] burns is getting it.
- Unbelievable.
- I'm gonna get the mast suit.
All right.
[Samuels] Come on, Sandy,
where's the tray? It's right here.
Let's move. Okay, it's all set.
Give me the large knife. I'm gonna open the chest.
Rib retractor. Oh, my god, there's no blood left in him.
- Asystole.
- Chest filled with clotted blood.
I'll pull the lung out of your way.
Okay, I got the heart. You want the aortic cross clamp?
No, scissors. I'm gonna cut into the pericardium.
See if I can squeeze the heart
and pump some life back into him.
Blood gases.
Come on, come on, the blood gases!
"P.h.: 6.9, p02: 40, pc02: 60, sodium bicarbonate: 9."
That's low. There's no oxygen.
I got a gunshot hole in the
left ventricle. I have to close.
- "O" ethilon suture with pledgets.
- What?
Pledgets, Sandy. Come on, listen up.
You need to watch it. Watch it. Watch it.
We didn't have time to warm the blood. It's ice cold.
It may help. With any luck, he'll become
hypothermic and his metabolism will slow down.
Give me three amps of bicarb,
two amps of calcium gluconate
And a Lidocaine drip one to 100, stat.
Fiscus, cross-clamp the aorta
distal to the carotid arteries.
We've gotta send as much blood as possible to the brain.
Otherwise he'll end up a vegetable.
How long's he been here anyway?
About four minutes. There's no
telling how long the flow's been cut off.
Carotid pulse?
Still nothing. This boy's dead and gone.
He's not dead till I say he's dead. Do you understand?
Where you been, tenney? Getting a suntan?
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I'm
getting something. I got a pulse.
- All right.
- Okay. Let's get him up to O.R.
I'm gonna continue cardiac massage so we don't lose it.
[Monitor beeping]
Okay. Okay. Let's move him.
Easy, easy.
I'm gonna need to ask you some questions.
Okay, what's his name?
I don't know.
Okay, he'll go down as John Doe till we find out who he is.
What's your name? Danny christiano Jr.
Okay, Mr. Christiano, do you wanna tell me what happened?
Uh, yeah, I dropped a fare off at la grange.
It was out of town. I took him
to a girlie show or something.
And so I'm coming back up the hill,
and I notice this younger guy talking to this older guy.
But then, not arguing or nothing, just talking. Mm-hmm.
And so I turned for a second to
change the station on my radio.
When I looked back up, the older guy pulls a gun out,
and puts it right on the younger guy's chest.
You know, like you would put
your finger on someone's chest.
And then the younger guy turns away for a second,
and the older guy shoots him right in the back.
I couldn't believe it.
I've been working that combat zone for five years.
I thought I'd seen everything. I see hookers, junkies.
I seen a guy one time just take a
razor and slice another guy's face up.
But I never seen nothing like that.
I-I got outta the cab,
and I went over and I pick him
up outta the street, you know?
And he looks at me, and he says,
"why did they have to kill me?"
Like as if he knew that he was dead.
I ain't never held no dead person before.
How the hell am I gonna get all
that blood outta the back of the cab?
I'm gonna staple the left upper lobe of the lung,
then check out the liver, spleen and kidney damage.
We'll see what we can repair
and what we'll have to lose. Okay?
Okay. All right. Staple gun.
Here lies John Doe, the unknown soldier of the inner city.
Remember when Saturday night used to be date night?
You know, you take your best girl
To a double feature at the bijou.
Catch a burger at the malt shop.
Try to cop a feel up at lookout
point. Get her home by curfew.
Now Saturday night rolls around,
everybody's trying to blow each other's brains out.
Norman Rockwell dies hard.
Search and heal.
Gonna be a long night. Suture.
[Speaking Chinese]
[Speaking Chinese continues]
Why is he doing that?
[Speaking Chinese]
[Speaking Chinese]
The egg signifies new birth.
They're making a halo around his soul.
[Speaking Chinese]
That's gonna burn him. It's okay, Jack.
[Speaking Chinese] It's okay.
He says they're birth coins.
He says he thinks the eyes are the mirror of the soul.
The heat of the coins will
reawaken the dormant consciousness.
They really think this is going to save him?
Yes.
What do you think?
I think the boy has spinal meningitis.
His cortex is nearly dead.
I don't think he has a prayer. Neither do I.
You don't believe in what they're doing?
Come on, Morrison, I grew up on TV dinners and the celtics.
Well, I don't like it. I've seen
things like this before, Jack.
They don't do any harm.
I'm trained as a doctor, not as a faith healer.
[Speaking Chinese]
He wants to know if it would be possible to remove the I.V.
Sure. Nancy, we can't remove his I.V.
Jack, the boy is dying. It's not
going to make any difference.
Luther! Hey, Ralph. How you feeling?
Great. Hey, did I tell you about Julius?
That paragon of pigeons? Yeah.
Since you fixed him up, he is flying great.
That's fantastic. I mean, I don't
know what you did or how you did it,
but he's flying record times. I'm always glad to help.
Give my regards to Julius. What is this?
Just a little package I put together for
you vitamins, oils, seeds, stuff like that.
You know I can't take this. This is your bird stuff.
No, Luther, I want you to have it.
See, I'm getting out of the bird business.
I'm retiring. You mean, you're
not going to be a bird anymore?
That's right. I'm gonna be a
human, 24 hours a day, every day.
I'm even gonna dream in human.
Oh, come on, Luther, don't look so sad. It's for the best.
Yeah, but, Ralph, you were one
hell of a bird. I mean, what happened?
Well, let's just say I've molted.
Lost my feathers, so to speak.
There's no future in being a bird
anymore. I can't compete with Julius.
I never could. Come on, take it. I
bet your birds will love this stuff.
I did. Thanks, Ralph.
Hey, Ralph, listen.
If you change your mind, I mean if
you decide to become a bird again,
you can have it back.
Clamp.
Clamp.
Gonna have to lose the spleen,
otherwise I'm not going to be able to stop the bleeding.
Ehrlich, catch that little bleeder for me, will you?
Ground control to Dr. Ehrlich. Hey, ehrlich!
Oh, god, I'm sorry. Catch that bleeder for me.
Where were you?
North shore of Maui, inside a 20-foot curl.
When I'm in here this long, I can't stop daydreaming.
How do you still concentrate after four hours?
Are you kidding? This is it. It gets me off.
Do we have enough three-0 silk suture material left
To do a temporary colostomy? Yes, doctor.
Is fanning on call? Just finishing up in O.R.-2.
Clamp.
Well, John Doe,
looks like you're gonna get a shot to get shot at again.
What do you think the fight was about?
Oh, who knows.
A broad or a buck.
Listen. Tell the delightful Dr. Fanning
That we'll be ready for her in about, oh, 40 minutes.
Repair damage to the left kidney.
Hang in there, ehrlich, we're almost home.
Cut. Clamp.
[Cards shuffling]
Ah, new blood.
I don't think there's any left in the
building. We pumped it all into John Doe.
Did he make it?
Too early to tell. Samuels has
had him for almost four hours.
Jack, you want to sit in with us over here?
Uh, no, I'll pass.
You don't do that until you've looked at your cards.
I've never been much of a card player.
We really could use a fifth man, Jack.
You realize you're taking food
from my unborn child's mouth.
Oh. [Chuckles]
What's the game? Game is five card hi-lo,
pass one to the right and roll your own.
The game of a desperate man. Just ante up. Ante up.
Who dealt this mess? I only got four cards.
Look, I got six. Misdeal.
This is the best hand I had tonight, a low natural flush.
I could have wheeled it and gone both ways.
Okay, heartbreak, beale. Just toss them in.
Whose deal? They're in. Mine.
- Who ordered Chinese?
- Dr. Morrison?
What the hell
I'm hungry.
[Morrison] Does your head ache? Mm-mmm.
How about your neck, Mickey? Does that hurt you?
Nope, just my stomach, 'cause I was hungry.
[Speaking Chinese]
My parents would like to know if
they could take me home tomorrow.
We'll have to run some tests first.
[Speaking Chinese]
Just as a precaution. Just to make sure everything is
Really absolutely all right.
[Speaking Chinese]
[Speaking Chinese]
My mother and father would like to thank you.
My father says that the spirit of
children lives in the heart and mind,
and that your intelligence with ultimate
Chinese medicine rid my brain of the infection.
♪[Rock, indistinct]
Good morning, Norma. We're almost
ready for you. What do you have for me?
He presented five hours ago to E.R.
We did a left anterior thoracotomy, sutured the heart
And continued open heart massage
on the way to O.R. is he stable?
Well, relative to what he was, which was clinically dead.
I haven't played any favorites with this one, Norma.
Heart, liver, spleen, lungs transverse colon
They've all had equal time.
The only remaining injury is a
laceration to the left kidney,
and that means you.
Who is he anyway?
Dr. Fanning, meet John Doe.
[Chattering]
Good morning, Earl!
Oh, Ralph, what brings you down here at the crack of dawn?
I'd like some breakfast. I'm sorry, Ralph,
but they won't let me order them seeds for you no more.
Oh, no more caraway seeds for me. I want a big breakfast
Ham, eggs, bacon
And a short stack of blueberry
pancakes with some real butter.
You want all that, do you?
Man cannot live by worms alone.
You done that? You eat worms?
Yes, at one time in my life. I did.
What they taste like?
I don't know. It was a few years
ago. Just prior to my coming here.
As a matter of fact, I never even remember eating them.
Then how do you know you did?
I was told by reliable sources.
Oh. Well, anyway, you're gonna
have to wait for all that food.
I haven't got the grill up yet.
I got some coffee ready though. No, I don't think so.
But how about a Danish and a large glass of orange juice?
Mm. I'm feeling extraordinarily well this morning.
Do you know that, Earl? Good, Ralph, good.
I haven't slept, but outside of that,
it's a new day, a new dawn in the life of Ralph selover.
You're feeling good, Ralph, ain't ya?
Thank you, Earl.
Thank you my good man, my friend, mon ami très heureux.
My very happy friend. Oh, yeah, that's me.
You are happy, aren't you, Earl? With your life, I mean.
Of course I'm happy. What's not to be happy about?
My pension's comin' up, me and my wife be
movin' down south to the grandchildren.
That's terrific. That's wonderful.
Kids, great kids. Just wonderful.
Give them a kiss for me. Well, it won't be a while yet.
As a matter of fact, make that four.
Two on each cheek. Will you do that for me?
I will, Ralph. I will.
Thank you, Earl. See ya.
[Phone ringing]
I, uh I repeated the lumbar puncture on Mickey wong.
Uh-huh.
His brudzinski sign is negative. Good. Good.
We should have an accurate read on him in an hour.
Okay.
[Scoffs]
Nancy, I'm sorry, but I
I mean, that boy was almost dead two hours ago,
and now he's sitting up, eating pizza
As though nothing had ever happened.
It is the single most amazing,
wonderful thing I have ever seen.
And yet you sit here as though it's an everyday occurrence.
As opposed to a miracle?
That's right.
How can you tell me
That it was the penicillin that cured him?
The lumbar puncture showed pus eight hours ago.
Do you have a more plausible explanation?
No. But I know what I saw.
Ultimate Chinese medicine.
And you're going to write that up?
Uh-huh.
Candles, burned coins, pink hard-boiled eggs,
arranged in a half-moon on the pillow?
Well, while you're at it, why don't you
mention the spaceship we saw tonight?
The blue-green glow of the music,
unlike anything we'd ever heard.
How incredibly friendly they were.
You cannot write it up, Jack.
The new England journal of medicine
recognizes penicillin, not miracles.
Especially when it's a first-year
resident making the claim.
You would lose all your credibility.
Then penicillin it is.
Nancy.
Just between you and me, what do you really think?
No question about it. It absolutely was a miracle.
I guess anything's possible.
I guess.
Hello, Hugh. Ralph.
I thought I'd come up and see the sunrise.
Oh, you did, did you?
I know, I know, you're gonna go on about the rules.
That's right, I am.
Well, I'm sorry, but the view
just isn't the same from my room.
Buildings and bars, that's all I can see.
Well, okay. Really, Hugh. Is it the truth or not?
I mean, we've sat through quite a
few sunrises down there together.
Is it the pits, or what?
It isn't the best view in the world, no.
Thank you. We have some rooms
that have better vantage points.
We'll move you to one of those. Thank you.
Stand right there, Hugh. Thank you.
Oh, it should be a fantastic sunrise.
Just enough clouds in the sky to make it colorful.
Reddish-pink.
You think I'm gonna jump, don't you?
Well, let me calm your anxiety. I'm not.
But if I were,
I wouldn't fall, I'd flutter.
And I wouldn't light on the sidewalk.
I'd land on a sailing mast bound for where was it, Hugh?
Didn't it used to be Portugal?
It still can be. That was your dream.
It was ours, Jane's and mine.
The ultimate migration.
The quintessential flight.
Birds of passage.
Birds of the day, of the night, of dawn.
The final roost, Hugh, the final roost.
And now that's all gone forever.
Jane is not a bird anymore, Ralph.
I know that. I do.
And I have my moments, too,
when I realize that I am not a
[Sighs]
I have my moments too.
I know you do.
I'm not an eagle, am I?
No.
And I'm not able to fly?
No, you're not able to fly.
I have these moments when I'm thinking clearly.
Like right now.
And it makes it so hard,
so devastatingly hard, Hugh,
to accept my condition.
Time, Ralph. All you need is time.
You think so?
You know, I don't think so anymore.
Come on, Ralph. Let's go back inside.
Please?
Hello.
Some night, huh?
Oh, some night.
Did you know the patient who killed himself?
Uh, Ralph selover.
Why did he do it? I'm not sure.
Somebody said trouble with a woman.
Well, I saw a miracle tonight. Yeah?
A boy who should be dead right now,
is sitting up in his room, eating pizza
And complaining that he wants to go home.
I saw the same miracle. Different boy.
Jack Morrison said that after what
he saw tonight, anything is possible.
I thought you weren't working tonight.
Yeah, well, life's full of surprises, isn't it?
You gotta be prepared to expect the unexpected.
I was never very good at that, was I?
Why did you leave me, Ben?
I was young
And scared and shallow and very stupid.
You were the golden boy.
Oh, you had the world at your feet.
Yep.
I remember you saying you were going to be
chief of surgery by the time you were 35.
And not just at any hospital mount sinai.
Yeah, well, that was a long time ago, wasn't it?
What happened?
Life. It threw me a couple of
curves. Could never hit a curve.
Sure, you could.
Could I? Anytime, anywhere.
Do you still want the same things?
Uh
No, I don't think about that much anymore.
You know, when I used to see a closed
door, I had to know what was behind it.
And now I walk by.
That's too bad.
Maybe.
♪[Radio: Ballad]
Sunday morning. [Chuckles]
Time to go home, get some sleep.
Ben?
♪[Continues]
[Mews]
- Previously on St. elsewhere.
- I'm Dr. Paxton.
How do you know so much about birds, Ralph?
I am a bird.
And now you walk back into my
life and it's like you never left.
Until we meet again, mon pet it chou-Fleur.
Oh, Dr. Bullfinch.
I will not have this man running
around here playing doctor.
Tonight on St. elsewhere. Call the code. Get an O.R. ready.
Tell them gunshot wound to the chest.
It's 10 years, Nance. I mean, I've changed.
So have I. If this were 10 years ago,
I'd jump into bed with you right now.
He's not gonna make it through the night, Jack.
You mean you're not gonna be a bird anymore? That's right.
I'm gonna be a human, 24 hours a day, every day.
- This boy is dead and gone.
- He's not dead till I say he's dead.
[Speaking Chinese] They really
think this is gonna save him?
- Yes.
- You think I'm gonna jump, don't you?
- Come on, Ralph.
- Stand right there, Hugh.
So the guy asks, he says, "who
gave you the 50 cents?" Yeah?
And she says, "they all did." [Both laughing]
Oh, you know Mrs. Wilder, the
one recovering in the burn unit?
Yeah, what about her? She found
her husband in bed with another woman.
Working can wait. This is paradise.
So what does she do? She's a real Einstein, this woman.
She gets a gallon of gasoline. She douses
them all with it. Lights a match and whoo!
- Blows them all up.
- [Clattering]
Take it easy, fella. So flash
forward to the burn unit, okay?
They're all bandaged up.
They're all in these big dressings.
They look like enormous cookie monsters, okay?
And they just start whaling on each other.
Who?
Mrs. Wilder and the woman she
found in bed with her husband.
♪[Singing, indistinct] They're in the same room together?
Right next to each other, beating each
other up. Are you listening to my story?
Of course, ehrlich. I'm simply recapitulating.
It's a rhetorical device. Oh.
His mind's somewhere else.
Dr. Paxton.
Oh, come, come, Dr. Samuels. You think we haven't noticed:
The glazed look, the heavy breathing?
Not to mention you've been walking around
like secretariat after he's put out to stud.
Or how your obnoxious, detached, patronizing manner
Melts into a rabid sexual yearning
every time she enters the room.
It's really quite touching For someone your age.
I haven't the vaguest idea of
what you're talking about, fiscus.
The truth. Wouldn't you like to
take a tumble with Nancy Paxton?
Raise a nickel.
- A nickel?
- That's right.
I see your laxative, Lyle,
and I raise you two thiamine.
You mean to tell me that you're here of
your own free volition on a Saturday night?
Certainly. Yes, I'm sure the fact
That Dr. Paxton is on call has nothing to do with it.
Nice hands, ehrlich. You, uh, wanna be a surgeon?
Uh, wh-what's the limit?
Morphine. Anything over-the-counter goes.
You mean I have to explain why I wanna play cards
With my colleagues every Saturday night?
With your track record, Samuels? Yeah.
Listen to this. I'm gonna sit here
And take this kind of abuse from someone who
has the nerve to raise me a nickel a nickel?
Is that any kind of way for an adult to
conduct himself in a poker game, Stephens?
- What do you got?
- Two pair.
Dermatologists and radiologists, the lowest of the low.
Three 7's.
I can't stand it. I never win.
- A boat.
- Holy smoke.
Sorry to win and run, gentlemen,
but there's simply no competition.
Listen, Stephens, a word of advice.
When you're playing with adults, do not raise a laxative.
- I never win.
- Uppers?
No, vitamin "e."
Hi. Hi.
You mind if I sit down? Fine.
So, uh, how's it going?
Fine. Oh, good. Good.
And your life?
Fine. [Snickers]
It's Saturday night. What are you doing here anyway?
Well, you might as well know I guess
everyone else does I came to see you.
Oh. Apparently I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve.
Or haven't you noticed?
Well, you've been very friendly. [Laughing]
I appreciate that. I see. You're not
gonna make this easy for me, are you?
Ten years, Ben. There's a lot of
blood spilled in our relationship.
You still don't forgive me for leaving?
Oh, I forgive you, sure. It's a lot harder to forget.
Look, if I could change what
happened, what I did, you know
I don't expect you to. If I could, I would.
You're not listening, Ben. I forgive you. Really, I do.
You mean, what I'm feeling,
you don't feel anything like that?
Ben, I'm crazy about you. Well, wonderful.
So, what's the problem?
I'm not crazy about you that way.
It's 10 years, Nance. I mean, I've changed.
So have I. If this were 10 years ago,
I'd jump into bed with you right now.
Look, you know, you are throwing
out very mixed signals here.
No, I'm not. I'm trying to be as honest with you as I can.
Well I think you're irresponsible.
Not to your work but to people.
I would have gone anywhere with you.
I would have done anything.
It took me a very long time to get to the point
Where you don't interfere with my living my life.
And now you don't.
I like my life. I like what I'm doing.
I am perfectly happy.
I'm dying for you. [Laughs]
You won't die, Ben. I didn't.
Besides that, it'd probably be a big disappointment.
Not a chance. Now you know that's not true, don't you?
I couldn't go through it again, Ben.
I don't want to.
[Cooing]
You spoiled the mood, Hugh. You always spoil the mood.
Still can't sleep, huh? Not can't,
won't. Too much to think about.
Yeah, well, I'll have them give
you something that will help.
Help me sleep or help me think?
Really, I don't feel like sleeping.
I think perhaps you're right after all.
Maybe it's time I stop being a bird.
I've been every species of bird known to humankind,
and it still hasn't helped.
The question is then what should I be?
Well, that's a very good question, Ralph.
Maybe I'll just be myself.
I like that answer. I thought you would.
It's a crisp, cool night.
The kind that's better in
Boston than any city in the world.
Give me a nice warm breeze
blowin' in off the Gulf coast anytime.
Too much humidity, Hugh. Not for me.
What are you doing in Boston anyway, Hugh?
You're like a duck out of water up here.
I can see you in mobile, Alabama or tuscaloosa.
But you a Boston brahmin? I got sick of pawpaws.
Do you ever miss it? Gulfport, Mississippi, I mean.
Not the place so much Mostly I miss my people.
Your folks still there? Mm-hmm.
It's funny. I've spent so much
time being angry at my folks.
How do you feel about them now?
I feel sorry for them. They've realized
how badly they screwed things up.
Ralph no, I know, I know.
They weren't sure what to do with a
kid who was supposed to be a genius.
They thought what they were doing was right.
They were told that m.I.T. Was the best place for you.
I was 14 years old my freshman year.
I didn't shave till I was 18.
My parents never knew how to act around me.
Now they can't bear to see me.
So I don't know how to act around them
Or anyone else for that matter.
The only person who I ever felt comfortable with was Jane,
the mother of my child.
Have you spoken to her recently?
I talked to her on the phone a week ago.
She sounds happy. I feel happy for her.
She's moving to Arizona. Yeah.
I think being with her father's
the best thing for her, don't you?
Yes, yes, I do.
"Things fall apart. The center cannot hold."
What's that? That's from a poem by yeats.
Sort of describes my relation to the world.
I don't know what to do with the world,
and the world doesn't know what to make of me.
[Paxton] How are his pupils?
Sluggish. His temperature's normal.
That's not necessarily a good sign.
The body's response to infection is to produce fever.
If there's no fever, it means
he's not fighting off the infection.
Any response to deep pain stimulation?
No.
[Sighs]
His pupils are dilated, but they're not fixed.
They react only minimally to light.
Has he been decerebrating?
Yes.
His brain's not active.
It's obviously very infected.
I don't understand.
It's too fast. We're losing him.
He's not gonna make it through the night, Jack.
Better call the family.
[Fiscus] I say the breaking
out of diseases like herpes ii
Or, uh, kaposi's sarcoma are nature's
way of telling us to slow down sexually.
Is that your rationale for not
having a date in the past six weeks?
You laugh, but I got this friend, Bob macgonigal.
He found out he had chronic hepatitis.
- Fiscus, what are you gonna do?
- Okay, keep your scrubs on.
Hey, any chance of me getting a seat in this game? Sure.
The cards aren't gonna change, fiscus,
no matter how long you look at them.
Okay, okay. I see your dime and I raise a nickel.
Nickels and dimes? My grandmother
doesn't play for nickels and dimes.
Yeah, well, that's what we get for
playing with Larry, moe and curly.
- [Hugh] Ben, what are you doing in here?
- Bury these.
Rumor mill has it you're out
somewhere making time with Nancy Paxton.
She rejected him. I see your placebo and raise you one.
Jack it up. Wait, wait. What's this?
She told him to go hang his shingle elsewhere.
Come on, less talk, more action, okay? Is this true, Ben?
Well, this this kind of shakes my faith in
Well, in something. Yeah. Mighty Casey struck out.
Come on, you guys. I'm way down,
and now you're fooling around!
- Gimme a chance, will ya?
- What are you still doing here, Ben?
What? Oh, I just didn't feel like going home tonight.
- I'm out.
- Fine, he's out. What are you gonna do, Maverick?
I call. Fine. Here, three 8's.
You're good, kid, but you're not good enough.
A flush? You just call me with a flush?
[All laughing]
Better quit now, ehrlich.
Oh, my marker.
Fill this for me, will you, doctor?
[Chattering]
Dr. Morrison.
Oh.
Hello.
[Mumbles]
Did you tell them we don't think Mickey's gonna make it?
Yes.
[Speaking Chinese]
They wanna know if there's still any hope.
His heart rate's down to 40. He doesn't
Uh, I don't think so, no.
[Speaking Chinese]
[Sobbing, speaking Chinese]
- I don't believe this.
- What did he say?
[Speaking Chinese]
[Continues in Chinese]
Either my mandarin's getting weak,
or he just said he wants to perform
ultimate Chinese medicine on his son.
What is ultimate Chinese medicine?
It's an old Chinese superstition.
Sometimes they use coins, candles.
They spread it all over a room.
I'm not sure. I've never seen it.
It's the kind of thing you hear about when you're a kid.
But is there anything invasive? Needles or drops?
I'll ask.
[Speaking Chinese]
[Speaking Chinese]
He said, no, nothing that would upset your procedures.
Sure. Why not?
If it'll make them feel better.
Tell them we've done everything possible.
Gimme a hand, for god's sake! Come on. We need you!
Gurney. Get the gurney! There's
blood all over the back of my cab.
We've got a bullet hole entrance
wound in the left posterior chest.
And an exit out the abdomen with
a four-by-six centimeter defect.
I don't think he's breathing.
Call the code. Get an O.R. ready.
Beep Samuels fast. Samuels isn't on tonight.
He's in the solarium, playing poker.
Tell him gunshot wound to the chest,
like you wouldn't believe. Right.
Okay, we've got him from here. You wait
right out there. Someone will talk to you.
We have a code blue and beep Samuels.
Charlene, get over here! Move that thing!
I think he's dead, fiscus! Give me d-5 lactated ringers,
colloids, with intubation with a
22-centimeter endotracheal tube,
an open thoracotomy tray, two
number-16 central intravenous catheters
And a mast suit, stat.
I'm gonna raise his legs.
Looks like a meteor shower went through this guy.
Must've been a hollow point. Get two liters of plasmanate.
[White] One and two and three and four and five.
One and two and three and four and five.
One and two and three and four and five.
To the lab for an a.B.G. Lights type and
cross-match, four units whole blood, stat.
One and two and three and four and five.
I'll do that. I need practice finding the vocal cords.
I'm putting the femoral I.V. In place.
Is there any pulse yet?
Nothing. Still nothing. Can you see the cords?
No, not yet.
- I'll do it.
- No, no, I got it. I got it.
In here. Check for breathing. One second.
His pupils are fixed and dilated.
Get me the thoracotomy tray, stat.
[White] Okay, check for signs of breathing. Okay.
You put it in his stomach. Try again.
I need some gloves here. What do you got?
A chest wound with fecal contents
coming from the abdominal cavity.
Where's the thoracotomy tray? [Fiscus] burns is getting it.
- Unbelievable.
- I'm gonna get the mast suit.
All right.
[Samuels] Come on, Sandy,
where's the tray? It's right here.
Let's move. Okay, it's all set.
Give me the large knife. I'm gonna open the chest.
Rib retractor. Oh, my god, there's no blood left in him.
- Asystole.
- Chest filled with clotted blood.
I'll pull the lung out of your way.
Okay, I got the heart. You want the aortic cross clamp?
No, scissors. I'm gonna cut into the pericardium.
See if I can squeeze the heart
and pump some life back into him.
Blood gases.
Come on, come on, the blood gases!
"P.h.: 6.9, p02: 40, pc02: 60, sodium bicarbonate: 9."
That's low. There's no oxygen.
I got a gunshot hole in the
left ventricle. I have to close.
- "O" ethilon suture with pledgets.
- What?
Pledgets, Sandy. Come on, listen up.
You need to watch it. Watch it. Watch it.
We didn't have time to warm the blood. It's ice cold.
It may help. With any luck, he'll become
hypothermic and his metabolism will slow down.
Give me three amps of bicarb,
two amps of calcium gluconate
And a Lidocaine drip one to 100, stat.
Fiscus, cross-clamp the aorta
distal to the carotid arteries.
We've gotta send as much blood as possible to the brain.
Otherwise he'll end up a vegetable.
How long's he been here anyway?
About four minutes. There's no
telling how long the flow's been cut off.
Carotid pulse?
Still nothing. This boy's dead and gone.
He's not dead till I say he's dead. Do you understand?
Where you been, tenney? Getting a suntan?
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I'm
getting something. I got a pulse.
- All right.
- Okay. Let's get him up to O.R.
I'm gonna continue cardiac massage so we don't lose it.
[Monitor beeping]
Okay. Okay. Let's move him.
Easy, easy.
I'm gonna need to ask you some questions.
Okay, what's his name?
I don't know.
Okay, he'll go down as John Doe till we find out who he is.
What's your name? Danny christiano Jr.
Okay, Mr. Christiano, do you wanna tell me what happened?
Uh, yeah, I dropped a fare off at la grange.
It was out of town. I took him
to a girlie show or something.
And so I'm coming back up the hill,
and I notice this younger guy talking to this older guy.
But then, not arguing or nothing, just talking. Mm-hmm.
And so I turned for a second to
change the station on my radio.
When I looked back up, the older guy pulls a gun out,
and puts it right on the younger guy's chest.
You know, like you would put
your finger on someone's chest.
And then the younger guy turns away for a second,
and the older guy shoots him right in the back.
I couldn't believe it.
I've been working that combat zone for five years.
I thought I'd seen everything. I see hookers, junkies.
I seen a guy one time just take a
razor and slice another guy's face up.
But I never seen nothing like that.
I-I got outta the cab,
and I went over and I pick him
up outta the street, you know?
And he looks at me, and he says,
"why did they have to kill me?"
Like as if he knew that he was dead.
I ain't never held no dead person before.
How the hell am I gonna get all
that blood outta the back of the cab?
I'm gonna staple the left upper lobe of the lung,
then check out the liver, spleen and kidney damage.
We'll see what we can repair
and what we'll have to lose. Okay?
Okay. All right. Staple gun.
Here lies John Doe, the unknown soldier of the inner city.
Remember when Saturday night used to be date night?
You know, you take your best girl
To a double feature at the bijou.
Catch a burger at the malt shop.
Try to cop a feel up at lookout
point. Get her home by curfew.
Now Saturday night rolls around,
everybody's trying to blow each other's brains out.
Norman Rockwell dies hard.
Search and heal.
Gonna be a long night. Suture.
[Speaking Chinese]
[Speaking Chinese continues]
Why is he doing that?
[Speaking Chinese]
[Speaking Chinese]
The egg signifies new birth.
They're making a halo around his soul.
[Speaking Chinese]
That's gonna burn him. It's okay, Jack.
[Speaking Chinese] It's okay.
He says they're birth coins.
He says he thinks the eyes are the mirror of the soul.
The heat of the coins will
reawaken the dormant consciousness.
They really think this is going to save him?
Yes.
What do you think?
I think the boy has spinal meningitis.
His cortex is nearly dead.
I don't think he has a prayer. Neither do I.
You don't believe in what they're doing?
Come on, Morrison, I grew up on TV dinners and the celtics.
Well, I don't like it. I've seen
things like this before, Jack.
They don't do any harm.
I'm trained as a doctor, not as a faith healer.
[Speaking Chinese]
He wants to know if it would be possible to remove the I.V.
Sure. Nancy, we can't remove his I.V.
Jack, the boy is dying. It's not
going to make any difference.
Luther! Hey, Ralph. How you feeling?
Great. Hey, did I tell you about Julius?
That paragon of pigeons? Yeah.
Since you fixed him up, he is flying great.
That's fantastic. I mean, I don't
know what you did or how you did it,
but he's flying record times. I'm always glad to help.
Give my regards to Julius. What is this?
Just a little package I put together for
you vitamins, oils, seeds, stuff like that.
You know I can't take this. This is your bird stuff.
No, Luther, I want you to have it.
See, I'm getting out of the bird business.
I'm retiring. You mean, you're
not going to be a bird anymore?
That's right. I'm gonna be a
human, 24 hours a day, every day.
I'm even gonna dream in human.
Oh, come on, Luther, don't look so sad. It's for the best.
Yeah, but, Ralph, you were one
hell of a bird. I mean, what happened?
Well, let's just say I've molted.
Lost my feathers, so to speak.
There's no future in being a bird
anymore. I can't compete with Julius.
I never could. Come on, take it. I
bet your birds will love this stuff.
I did. Thanks, Ralph.
Hey, Ralph, listen.
If you change your mind, I mean if
you decide to become a bird again,
you can have it back.
Clamp.
Clamp.
Gonna have to lose the spleen,
otherwise I'm not going to be able to stop the bleeding.
Ehrlich, catch that little bleeder for me, will you?
Ground control to Dr. Ehrlich. Hey, ehrlich!
Oh, god, I'm sorry. Catch that bleeder for me.
Where were you?
North shore of Maui, inside a 20-foot curl.
When I'm in here this long, I can't stop daydreaming.
How do you still concentrate after four hours?
Are you kidding? This is it. It gets me off.
Do we have enough three-0 silk suture material left
To do a temporary colostomy? Yes, doctor.
Is fanning on call? Just finishing up in O.R.-2.
Clamp.
Well, John Doe,
looks like you're gonna get a shot to get shot at again.
What do you think the fight was about?
Oh, who knows.
A broad or a buck.
Listen. Tell the delightful Dr. Fanning
That we'll be ready for her in about, oh, 40 minutes.
Repair damage to the left kidney.
Hang in there, ehrlich, we're almost home.
Cut. Clamp.
[Cards shuffling]
Ah, new blood.
I don't think there's any left in the
building. We pumped it all into John Doe.
Did he make it?
Too early to tell. Samuels has
had him for almost four hours.
Jack, you want to sit in with us over here?
Uh, no, I'll pass.
You don't do that until you've looked at your cards.
I've never been much of a card player.
We really could use a fifth man, Jack.
You realize you're taking food
from my unborn child's mouth.
Oh. [Chuckles]
What's the game? Game is five card hi-lo,
pass one to the right and roll your own.
The game of a desperate man. Just ante up. Ante up.
Who dealt this mess? I only got four cards.
Look, I got six. Misdeal.
This is the best hand I had tonight, a low natural flush.
I could have wheeled it and gone both ways.
Okay, heartbreak, beale. Just toss them in.
Whose deal? They're in. Mine.
- Who ordered Chinese?
- Dr. Morrison?
What the hell
I'm hungry.
[Morrison] Does your head ache? Mm-mmm.
How about your neck, Mickey? Does that hurt you?
Nope, just my stomach, 'cause I was hungry.
[Speaking Chinese]
My parents would like to know if
they could take me home tomorrow.
We'll have to run some tests first.
[Speaking Chinese]
Just as a precaution. Just to make sure everything is
Really absolutely all right.
[Speaking Chinese]
[Speaking Chinese]
My mother and father would like to thank you.
My father says that the spirit of
children lives in the heart and mind,
and that your intelligence with ultimate
Chinese medicine rid my brain of the infection.
♪[Rock, indistinct]
Good morning, Norma. We're almost
ready for you. What do you have for me?
He presented five hours ago to E.R.
We did a left anterior thoracotomy, sutured the heart
And continued open heart massage
on the way to O.R. is he stable?
Well, relative to what he was, which was clinically dead.
I haven't played any favorites with this one, Norma.
Heart, liver, spleen, lungs transverse colon
They've all had equal time.
The only remaining injury is a
laceration to the left kidney,
and that means you.
Who is he anyway?
Dr. Fanning, meet John Doe.
[Chattering]
Good morning, Earl!
Oh, Ralph, what brings you down here at the crack of dawn?
I'd like some breakfast. I'm sorry, Ralph,
but they won't let me order them seeds for you no more.
Oh, no more caraway seeds for me. I want a big breakfast
Ham, eggs, bacon
And a short stack of blueberry
pancakes with some real butter.
You want all that, do you?
Man cannot live by worms alone.
You done that? You eat worms?
Yes, at one time in my life. I did.
What they taste like?
I don't know. It was a few years
ago. Just prior to my coming here.
As a matter of fact, I never even remember eating them.
Then how do you know you did?
I was told by reliable sources.
Oh. Well, anyway, you're gonna
have to wait for all that food.
I haven't got the grill up yet.
I got some coffee ready though. No, I don't think so.
But how about a Danish and a large glass of orange juice?
Mm. I'm feeling extraordinarily well this morning.
Do you know that, Earl? Good, Ralph, good.
I haven't slept, but outside of that,
it's a new day, a new dawn in the life of Ralph selover.
You're feeling good, Ralph, ain't ya?
Thank you, Earl.
Thank you my good man, my friend, mon ami très heureux.
My very happy friend. Oh, yeah, that's me.
You are happy, aren't you, Earl? With your life, I mean.
Of course I'm happy. What's not to be happy about?
My pension's comin' up, me and my wife be
movin' down south to the grandchildren.
That's terrific. That's wonderful.
Kids, great kids. Just wonderful.
Give them a kiss for me. Well, it won't be a while yet.
As a matter of fact, make that four.
Two on each cheek. Will you do that for me?
I will, Ralph. I will.
Thank you, Earl. See ya.
[Phone ringing]
I, uh I repeated the lumbar puncture on Mickey wong.
Uh-huh.
His brudzinski sign is negative. Good. Good.
We should have an accurate read on him in an hour.
Okay.
[Scoffs]
Nancy, I'm sorry, but I
I mean, that boy was almost dead two hours ago,
and now he's sitting up, eating pizza
As though nothing had ever happened.
It is the single most amazing,
wonderful thing I have ever seen.
And yet you sit here as though it's an everyday occurrence.
As opposed to a miracle?
That's right.
How can you tell me
That it was the penicillin that cured him?
The lumbar puncture showed pus eight hours ago.
Do you have a more plausible explanation?
No. But I know what I saw.
Ultimate Chinese medicine.
And you're going to write that up?
Uh-huh.
Candles, burned coins, pink hard-boiled eggs,
arranged in a half-moon on the pillow?
Well, while you're at it, why don't you
mention the spaceship we saw tonight?
The blue-green glow of the music,
unlike anything we'd ever heard.
How incredibly friendly they were.
You cannot write it up, Jack.
The new England journal of medicine
recognizes penicillin, not miracles.
Especially when it's a first-year
resident making the claim.
You would lose all your credibility.
Then penicillin it is.
Nancy.
Just between you and me, what do you really think?
No question about it. It absolutely was a miracle.
I guess anything's possible.
I guess.
Hello, Hugh. Ralph.
I thought I'd come up and see the sunrise.
Oh, you did, did you?
I know, I know, you're gonna go on about the rules.
That's right, I am.
Well, I'm sorry, but the view
just isn't the same from my room.
Buildings and bars, that's all I can see.
Well, okay. Really, Hugh. Is it the truth or not?
I mean, we've sat through quite a
few sunrises down there together.
Is it the pits, or what?
It isn't the best view in the world, no.
Thank you. We have some rooms
that have better vantage points.
We'll move you to one of those. Thank you.
Stand right there, Hugh. Thank you.
Oh, it should be a fantastic sunrise.
Just enough clouds in the sky to make it colorful.
Reddish-pink.
You think I'm gonna jump, don't you?
Well, let me calm your anxiety. I'm not.
But if I were,
I wouldn't fall, I'd flutter.
And I wouldn't light on the sidewalk.
I'd land on a sailing mast bound for where was it, Hugh?
Didn't it used to be Portugal?
It still can be. That was your dream.
It was ours, Jane's and mine.
The ultimate migration.
The quintessential flight.
Birds of passage.
Birds of the day, of the night, of dawn.
The final roost, Hugh, the final roost.
And now that's all gone forever.
Jane is not a bird anymore, Ralph.
I know that. I do.
And I have my moments, too,
when I realize that I am not a
[Sighs]
I have my moments too.
I know you do.
I'm not an eagle, am I?
No.
And I'm not able to fly?
No, you're not able to fly.
I have these moments when I'm thinking clearly.
Like right now.
And it makes it so hard,
so devastatingly hard, Hugh,
to accept my condition.
Time, Ralph. All you need is time.
You think so?
You know, I don't think so anymore.
Come on, Ralph. Let's go back inside.
Please?
Hello.
Some night, huh?
Oh, some night.
Did you know the patient who killed himself?
Uh, Ralph selover.
Why did he do it? I'm not sure.
Somebody said trouble with a woman.
Well, I saw a miracle tonight. Yeah?
A boy who should be dead right now,
is sitting up in his room, eating pizza
And complaining that he wants to go home.
I saw the same miracle. Different boy.
Jack Morrison said that after what
he saw tonight, anything is possible.
I thought you weren't working tonight.
Yeah, well, life's full of surprises, isn't it?
You gotta be prepared to expect the unexpected.
I was never very good at that, was I?
Why did you leave me, Ben?
I was young
And scared and shallow and very stupid.
You were the golden boy.
Oh, you had the world at your feet.
Yep.
I remember you saying you were going to be
chief of surgery by the time you were 35.
And not just at any hospital mount sinai.
Yeah, well, that was a long time ago, wasn't it?
What happened?
Life. It threw me a couple of
curves. Could never hit a curve.
Sure, you could.
Could I? Anytime, anywhere.
Do you still want the same things?
Uh
No, I don't think about that much anymore.
You know, when I used to see a closed
door, I had to know what was behind it.
And now I walk by.
That's too bad.
Maybe.
♪[Radio: Ballad]
Sunday morning. [Chuckles]
Time to go home, get some sleep.
Ben?
♪[Continues]
[Mews]