Masters of Sex s02e05 Episode Script
Giants
Previously on Masters of Sex Did you know you sleep with your mouth open? You don't sleep here.
Get dressed.
I saw them last night leaving the hotel room.
How could I not have known that they were sleeping together the entire time? I've shared nearly everything with you.
You should share with me.
Lillian, I'm not that interesting.
Dr.
Masters, I don't have lice.
I swear I don't.
If you don't sit down, Coral, you'll have to leave, and you will not be welcome back.
You knew you couldn't have kids.
Why didn't you just tell me? Because you never would have married me if you knew the truth.
Tatti Greathouse just called.
She said that you were fired.
There's not gonna be a single hospital in the midwest that's gonna let you so much as step through their doors! Why do I have to hear everything about my husband third hand?! You j you just have to trust me right now.
And I feel comfortable in speaking for my partner when I say how pleased we both are to be bringing our work here together.
You think he's dreaming? I read once that dogs dream of running in great open spaces.
How would they test for that, in animals or babies? Are you sure it's okay that we stopped by this way? Of course it's okay.
I mean, you know how it is.
I was just driving around trying to get him to sleep, and then suddenly, there we were outside your front door.
Well, it's good to see you.
He has much more hair than last time.
You haven't seen him in a while.
And I'm sorry for that, Libby.
- I've been so - You've been busy.
No, I understand.
Wish Bill were the type to show off baby pictures.
I did put one in his wallet, just in case.
Well, I haven't seen much of Bill, either.
That's gonna change now, isn't it? I have to admit, Gin, I was shocked by the news.
Just completely caught off guard.
Do they know at Maternity? Um About what you two are doing? You haven't given Dr.
DePaul notice? Uh, not yet.
I don't blame you waiting to see if this one sticks.
The third hospital in as many months.
I understand why it's enticing to him to have the study readily accepted after the resistance at Memorial.
A and don't take this the wrong way because baby John was born there and I received excellent care excellent.
But Bill Masters going to work at Buell Green? I cannot understand it.
Can you? It's quite a surprise.
I mean, he's not just rolling downhill, Gini.
He is picking up speed from being the chief of obstetrics in Maternity to taking a staff position at Memorial to walking out the door and heading to the negro hospital? I don't know what to say, Libby.
Where does he go from here? The the resident doctor at the state penitentiary? Have you eaten? I'm not hungry.
Your way of saying, "let's skip dinner and move straight to dessert"? Look again.
It's not what you think.
It's the key to your new office at Buell Green.
It's not the obvious choice, I admit, but they're a fine hospital, open to new things.
They fully endorse the study and my bringing you aboard.
It seems like a decision you could have discussed with me first.
Well, maybe, but timing aside, this is fabulous news! It calls for a toast.
Uh We can finally get back to work.
And you can stop selling those ridiculous diet pills.
I'm sorry, Bill, but how exactly did you see me coming aboard at Buell Green? - I don't know what you mean.
- I mean, as what? What is my official title, my responsibilities, my salary? Well, we can work all that out, of course.
When? 'Cause I would like to know those things before I decide to upend my life.
I want to be very clear on what you're offering me.
How about an opportunity to finish what we started? How about the study? I would just like the specifics spelled out ahead of time In writing.
I see.
Because I've proven myself so untrustworthy.
Because I have two children I'm supporting.
And if you end up leaving this hospital, like you left the last one and the one before that, what guarantee do I have that they will keep me on without you? I don't have the luxury of jumping ship on a whim.
I don't even have the luxury of not selling those ridiculous diet pills.
I don't understand this.
You shouldn't assume that I'll just come running whenever you call, Bill.
I do have other opportunities.
And they are? I'd like to know.
What opportunities do you have, outside of diet pills? A job with Lillian.
She's doing very important work, too work that I am very much a part of.
I'm sure that she would make it worth my while to stay.
I don't think you want to play that hand, Virginia.
It's not a hand.
Because I don't think Lillian regards you quite as highly as you think.
Why would you say that? She knows about us.
About the work we're doing upstairs.
Gene, your side of the bed is gonna turn to stone if you don't start sleeping in it again.
Come on.
Smile.
Gene, honey, I want you to take my hand, come upstairs with me.
We can gargle.
- Oh, Christ.
Come on, Betty.
Betty.
- We can get comfortable.
I don't even know which way's up right now.
That way.
What are you getting at with, "come upstairs with me"? That you love me? Huh? You sing a song for me, try to seduce me, even though your voice sounds like migrating geese.
First of all, I was Miss Melba Snyder in my high-school production of "Pal Joey" before they booted me out entirely.
And second of all, you know who you married.
Yes, I got the message.
You're sore at me 'cause I can't have kids.
No, I'm sore at you because you lied to me about it.
So yell at me.
Slam some doors.
Or come up with some other idea, like we adopt or something, instead of freezing me out! You want to adopt? Do you? No.
N not if it's another sing-along or - another invitation up to bed.
- Gene.
- No.
- Honey.
I want us to be happy.
I want you to be happy.
And if that means bringing in kids that aren't ours but will become ours Once we love them.
Once we love them.
Then, yeah.
I could do that.
I got to think about that.
Yeah? Okay.
Okay.
I'm hoping you'll find the office suits your needs, Dr.
Masters.
It's, uh It'll be fine.
And the dedicated exam room I'd requested.
Next door.
Although I confess, Bill, I ruffled a few feathers to get that one done.
Space around here is at a premium.
Well, I'm sure once your staff sees the volume of the patients and study subjects coming in and out of my new exam room, they'll understand why it's a necessity.
I'm counting on that being the case.
Uh, another thing while I have you here, Charles.
Um my associate, Mrs.
Johnson.
Mm-hmm? She's gonna require an employment contract.
We don't offer contracts to any member of our support staff.
Their their guarantee is week to week.
I would appreciate you making an exception to your policy, seeing as she is essential to my work.
Am I intruding? No.
No.
Come in, Cyril.
I wanted to introduce myself, Dr.
Masters.
Cyril Franklin.
Bill Masters.
A pleasure.
Gynecology.
Yes.
We'll be sharing a waiting room.
I've followed your work in fertility with great interest.
I'm looking forward to bringing the staff along in that area.
Until then, if you need to refer patients, of course, I'll do whatever I can to accommodate.
That's Thank you.
Anything I can do to help.
And are your offices also the size of a rabbit hutch, Dr.
Franklin? My offices were next door, in what is now the dedicated exam room.
My new offices they're more suited to mice.
Aren't you going to ? Dr.
DePaul's office.
I see.
Well, thank you.
The man down in Mimeo says he has a 10-minute window between jobs, if you can get him those those What would it matter what I did outside of this office, as long as I'm good at my job here? I think it would matter very much to Libby Masters.
Bill and I are not having an affair.
You know, Virginia, I don't think piling lies on top of other lies is really Our participation in the study has been unorthodox.
- I'll admit that.
- Is that how Bill's pitching it that you're subjects in his study? Our study.
We are tracking the same physiological data, as we would with any of the other participants.
So let me understand it's okay because you're taking notes? Whatever it is or is not I have never let it interfere with my job, and yet you gave away your study.
Why? To punish me? For what? For something that I may have done that doesn't in any way reflect the quality of my work.
You were smart enough to do it another way.
It has nothing to do with intelligence.
And you were capable enough to have waited for a job that you earned, based on your own ability.
I have two children I'm supporting! I don't have the luxury of waiting! Don't you understand what you've done makes it harder for every woman who comes after you? Easier for every man who has designs on that same woman? You have to have a lot of money to wait for the perfect job opportunity, Lillian.
You have to come from a good family, have parents willing to pay your way through medical school.
If you're intimating that I had it easy Not easy.
Easier.
You had it easier.
And you are in no position to judge me.
Nor you me.
You think I'd throw away my work just to spite you? 'Cause I didn't approve of the way you conducted your personal life? Isn't that what you've done? You're the girl upset that she wasn't asked to the dance by the boy she didn't want to go with in the first place.
What does that even mean? That you're upset I handed off my work to someone who could secure its future.
As if you ever truly wanted the responsibility.
Why would I ever entrust my life's work to you, Virginia, when, admit it, you were always going to leave me and follow Bill? I'm going down to Mimeo to drop off these reports.
Try not to perpetuate the sick belief that women need to open their legs to get a leg up! Oh, my goodness.
Oh, that is so You're so unlucky.
Did it hurt? Does he see me? I is it a she? Uh, no, don't go! We are listening.
We are.
We Ohh Raspberries.
We lost him.
It happens.
You have to be very quiet.
It's it's not that they're shy or anything.
It has to do with energy channels.
Mm.
Hey.
My God.
Betts, your friend Helen just told me we have a ghost in our living room.
Oh, really? How how do we get rid of it? Oh, no, you mustn't.
He's such a sweet old man.
His name is Paul.
Or, um, Saul.
It's Paul.
He lived until he was 93 and then choked on a chicken bone.
You never told me that you had a friend that could that had a, uh what did you call it? Oh, precognitions.
Um, just this morning, I was buttering my toast, thinking of nothing in particular, and all of a sudden, it came to me.
"Hunt down Betty Dimello.
" Moretti.
Uh, it's Betty Moretti now.
Yeah.
So, uh, you guys are friends from, uh ? - Acquaintances, really.
- Oh, we go way back.
Mm-hmm.
Same gal does our hair at Carise's.
Now, Betty, Gene seems very open.
We can tell him the truth, huh? Several years ago, Betty saw my sign in the window.
It's a oh, a palm, naturally, outlined in neon.
Okay.
And she came in and wanted to have her palm read.
Well, it turns out she has a very long love line.
Is that right? Oh, yes.
Look.
Uh here it is.
See? There.
It means true love.
A long love, meant to last the ages.
Well, that would be us, right? How we how we met.
And look at that it was there on your hand the whole time.
Yeah, I have somebody that I think would love you.
You know who would love Helen? - I can't imagine.
- Al.
My friend Al.
I've known him since 6th grade.
He's a bit of a goof, but he's got a heart of gold, and I really think Al would love Helen.
You know what, I'm gonna make a reservation for the four of us at, uh, Kemoll's.
- Oh, Gene, don't be cuckoo.
- No, no, this is my precondition.
Mm-hmm.
Precognition.
Unless, of course, you have a special someone? Oh, no, I was recently jilted.
Al too! That's good.
So you both are in need of good fortune in the love department.
Uh, Al his girlfriend just dumped him, but, uh, she got the shingles, blamed it on Al, but she's a little, you know, oo-ee-oo.
Uh, Gene, honey, I I don't think Helen wants to go on a double date with us and Al.
I would love to.
What does a girl wear to Kemoll's? No matter how long you stare, it's not going to unpack itself.
Uh, human resources drew up a contract specifying the details of your employment, if you'd like to peruse.
Your office is It's in there.
Next door, there's a dedicated exam room with a viewing area which raises the question of where we'll be resuming our sessions here or at the hotel.
I'm amenable to either.
I was wondering if there was a third option.
Oh? Which would be? To stop.
We've been at this a while now.
At some point, haven't we exhausted the possibilities? Of sexual research? That's like saying one's done mapping the Milky Way.
Huh.
Yes.
Maybe if we maybe if we took some time to reassess our objectives.
And what objectives, exactly, are you referring to? The scope of our involvement the terms.
Oh, we're back to terms now.
I suppose I'm wondering if our personal participation is a condition of my employment here.
No.
Then maybe it's better if we What I meant was yes.
Yes, it is part of the job.
Hotel, then.
Aren't you gonna take off your clothes? No.
Because? I don't want to.
So what what are we ? I want you to strip.
No.
Stand.
Now you're going to touch yourself.
Begin.
You closed your eyes.
Is that standard behavior for you? I believe it is.
Is that to facilitate fantasy? It's an automatic reflex, not a not a conscious process.
But, uh Yes, I suppose so.
And what are you thinking about? You.
You can stop touching yourself.
But I haven't yet Stop.
Come here.
Take them off.
Excuse me.
I got X-ray solution that needs to get to radiology.
Any idea where radiology is? No idea at all.
I'm sorry.
I'm new here.
Excuse me.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
I put up some fliers for the study on my way in.
Good.
As for today's business, you have the patient list? I intend to call this morning, starting with the A's.
Uh, to inform them of the new location and start scheduling appointments as early as Today's fine.
Our doors are open.
I'm not sure I understand.
I came to talk to you about Coral, ma'am.
Coral? I is she not coming today? Oh, no, no, I put her on the bus.
I just came on ahead myself.
I was hoping to have a word with you.
Has something happened to Coral? Well, you know, she told me something recently that, uh that I just can't seem to shake.
You know, every night, I ask her how her day was, and normally, she just says, "fine," you know, "good.
" And she she loves that baby John.
Thinks that little one walks on water.
Then the other night, she told me that, uh, someone had forced her head under a faucet and and scrubbed at it.
Uh, I had to wash her hair.
My infant son had lice.
That that must have been upsetting for you.
It was.
And upsetting for Coral.
So that's it, really.
I'm gonna keep asking Coral how her day was, and she gonna keep telling me.
And hopefully, she'll just say, "fine" and "good.
" And whatever that problem was well, it won't happen again.
And she don't know I stopped by.
So you can go on and keep that between us.
Thank you for your time, ma'am.
The lines on your palm don't change, if you're looking for a reading.
That was some stunt, Helen.
So what is it you want? Money? 'Cause I already gave you plenty of money.
Yes, I seem to remember you throwing $100 bills out the window of your new Cadillac as you drove away.
That is unfair.
I couldn't sleep for months.
- I still can't.
- Well, that makes two of us.
You broke my heart.
We agreed me marrying Gene was the best thing.
You agreed.
No, we agreed.
There is no future here.
Years and years of going out together as what? What? Two spinster friends who are living together, pretending we're sisters or going to some bar where some butch won't serve us 'cause we're not wearing ducktails and gabardines? It's pathetic, Helen.
We both like dresses, so we're just gonna have to buck up and and do the right thing.
The right th the right thing for you.
You're a cynical woman, Mrs.
Moretti.
What I am is a woman who has fucked men for money hundreds of them.
And I have seen things and I have done things, and I am not apologizing for this 'cause I got gold faucets now, a hat for every day of the week, and I can eat beef bourgignon for lunch if I want.
You still got to sleep with him and not me.
Well, nothing comes free.
Well, then, maybe it will work out for me, too, with Al.
You are not going out with Al.
You are canceling that date.
- I am not canceling.
- Stop screwing around, Helen.
I'm following your lead.
You are not coming back into my life after the hell it took getting you out.
Fuck you, Betty.
You got to grab the brass ring.
Well, now it's my turn.
Our process hasn't changed since you had your daughter, Mrs.
Tillingsworth.
We'll schedule regular capping sessions.
And will will the procedure last as long as before? All those hours lying still? Some women trying for a second child actually look forward to it.
They say it's the only rest they get.
What if I go home immediately after the capping and do my bed rest there? You had such a good outcome the first time around.
Why would you want to tamper with success? Earl got me a new car.
And I I don't feel comfortable leaving it parked on the street, not for hours on end.
Not in this neighborhood.
I park downstairs without giving it a thought.
My car is an Eldorado.
Mrs.
Johnson's car is also a Ford.
But it is a very lovely shade of capri blue.
Y you don't expect to be here permanently.
Do you, Doctor? Buell Green is a fine hospital, Mrs.
Tillingsworth.
Do you imagine I would be here otherwise? That I would be satisfied offering my patients anything less than the care they've come to expect? No.
Of course not.
My car has leather seats.
You also have a healthy, beautiful baby girl who deserves a sibling.
Now, which one of those two problems would you like to focus on? Your young man paid me a visit today.
I I'm sorry, ma'am.
Robert? Coral, I'm older than you, and I know a thing or two about the world.
And well why don't you sit down a moment? Now I know you have no mother to guide you, so I'm just gonna tell you this directly.
I'm worried about you being with this boy.
He came here to well, essentially, to threaten me.
Now, I'm not gonna call the police.
I'm I'm not even sure I'm gonna tell Dr.
Masters.
But I will tell you.
I think Robert is very angry.
He's trying to hide it, but it's very obvious to me.
I could feel it.
So, under the circumstances, I think it's best if you put some distance between you and Robert.
Just ease him out gently.
Perhaps start seeing a little less of him.
We live together.
And I should leave him.
I certainly should.
Like you say, he is a rough customer Robert.
And he does have a temper.
That's no doubt.
And sometimes we fight.
But then when it's late, and it's just the two of us alone in our bed, well all the bad stuff just goes away.
And he's he's real soft with his hands and his lips.
The way he touches me his breath in my ear.
Ooh.
Well I'm sure you can understand how hard that is to leave, you being a woman of the world.
But I will think about what you said.
And once I'm finished making Dr.
Masters' bed, should I make yours, too? We've gone through the first run of fliers already? The first ones have all been taken.
Unfortunately, to the dump.
Just south of the city.
A man watched me as I put one up.
I could tell that he didn't approve, and, apparently, he took matters into his own hands To save the world from our immoral ways.
What man? I'll talk to Hendricks.
He guaranteed me that the study wouldn't be interfered with.
A delivery man.
And he had this scowl on his face very much like the scowl we've seen on some of our patients since we've landed here.
I honestly think that it's going to take some effort to get willing subjects back into the study.
Well, we may lose some of our regulars 'cause they don't want to make the drive to this neighborhood.
Which means most of our study will be made up of negro subjects.
As one would expect at a negro hospital.
Which begs the question if our study subjects are primarily colored, do we include their data in with everybody else's? As opposed to what? Separating our subjects by race? We've never included negro subjects before.
We've never excluded them, either.
They simply had no exposure to our recruitment efforts at a white hospital.
But now that we're here I'm just asking if there's any value in separating them out, from a research point of view.
And looking at them apart from Caucasian data.
You do realize they have the same physiology, don't you? The difference is merely melanin skin pigment.
Would you make the argument that our brown-eyed subjects are sexually distinct from our blue-eyed ones? No, but in this case, people think there's a difference, sexually speaking.
True or not, I'm simply wondering if it's worth our consideration.
Dr.
Masters' office.
Yes, Mrs.
Kenworthy.
Oh, that's fine.
We can All right.
Thank you.
Mrs.
Kenworthy just canceled her appointment.
When does she want to reschedule? She doesn't.
Some people use sex as a way to make up.
Have you found that to be true? Uh, I'm I'm not sure I have, uh, found it.
Don't you think there's something healthy about that? Healthy? In the sense of ? Well, a good way for a couple to iron out their differences.
I mean, it's not something that we do, but maybe we should.
I'm not angry with you.
Well, you know what they say love and hate are two sides of the same coin.
Have you been talking to someone? What is that supposed to mean? That I just stay at home and live this sheltered life? I know about the world.
I see things and I hear things.
So, are you angry with me? Yes.
I am.
A little.
And in the interest of marital health, I think we should patch things up.
What's the matter? Should I slow down? It happened already.
I was just very quiet.
The baby.
Yeah.
I called a taxi.
I assumed you weren't coming.
Because I'm the type of person who skips out on a cancer patient.
Get in.
From now on, please don't worry about this room.
I'll take care of it.
Yes, ma'am.
Betty, I'm Betty! What?! What are ? For cripessake, what are you doing? Vacuuming.
Vacuuming.
All the time I've known you, I've never even seen you in the same room with a vacuum, let alone pushing one around.
I have, too, vacuumed.
That vacuum has two inches of dust on it.
That's how much vacuuming you've done.
Well, I'm burning off, you know ohh anxiety 'cause of what I didn't tell you about Helen.
Uh-huh.
The truth is she's, uh ooh.
She's not so good at bathin'.
Ah.
Sponge bath every couple weeks, maybe, and, uh, come summer, she's like French cheese.
Well, you know what, I didn't notice anything.
Well, well, Al will notice.
You know how vain he is about his women.
A a and you know the story of, uh, Napoleon and Josephine.
The more she stank, the more he loved her.
Let's just let Al and Helen work it out.
Well, i it's just it's like it's like the smell reflects what's, you know, inside.
Like, she's rotten as a person.
I thought she was a friend of yours.
What does that word even mean anymore? Plus, I got a conscience, Gene.
And I can't sit by and watch Helen get her hooks into Al.
Hooks? Helen? Oh, oh, hooves.
Hooves, more like it, because she also has a gambling problem.
Spends 90% of her time at the track.
Okay, what Every vendor at the track knows her by name "Hel" this, "Hel" that.
I mean, the "hell" part's right, which accounts for her constant scheming always trying to find the next pair of deep pockets to pay for her, you know her sickness.
Betty, Al loves the track.
Al has deep pockets.
Sounds like a match made in heaven.
It's a high compliment when patients of mine refer their daughters.
Although my mother actually saw you at Memorial.
The quality of care will be no different here at Buell Green.
And Mrs.
Johnson will start, uh, by taking a fertility history.
It won't take long.
Then we'll do a brief, uh, physical work-up.
We'll draw some blood.
We can do that before or after the physical exam.
Whichever is Jessie, stop it! Say you're sorry! Could you excuse us a moment? Say you're sorry! Get the hell off! Apologize right now! Apologize to her! Tell her you're sorry! - Get your hands off him! - Mr.
McCaffrey! Please! Mr.
McCaffrey, let him go! He leaned over to get something out of her purse.
Virginia, call the security guard! Now, Mr.
McCaffrey, let him go now! Not before he apologizes to my wife! For what?! Being in the same room with her?! For sitting in a chair?! You son of a bitch! Gentlemen, that is enough! Maybe you need some reminding whose neighborhood you wandered into.
Oh, you can have this barnyard, nigger.
Gentlemen! As soon as I walked into the waiting room, I remembered him.
Back in Maternity, he was the husband who wanted to be in the delivery room with his wife.
The same husband who held her hand and and wept when we handed him his firstborn.
And then today at Buell Green he was like a a neanderthal.
There must be something in the air because I, too, uh, had a similar experience recently.
What do you mean? Uh A large colored man banged on our front door and told me, in no uncertain terms, that he didn't like how I was treating Coral.
- A large colored - Coral's boyfriend - as it turns out.
- What, he was coming here to see her? No, uh, us.
Me.
You know what, if he doesn't like Coral working for a living, he should take it up with her, don't you think? Not come here and make threats.
What? Threats? What did he say exactly? It's it's more how he said it.
It's even possible that Coral's lying about us.
First of all, I didn't force her head under the faucet.
S so, what did you do? I washed her hair because she refused to do it herself.
I told you, the lice were not coming from her.
You said it was unlikely, Bill, and, frankly, you don't know everything.
But did you force her head? No, I didn't force anything! That is not what happened.
Why are you taking her side in this, and his? Why don't you ever take my side? I'm standing up for you.
I didn't do anything wrong.
Libby You need to apologize.
If someone had done that to you, I wouldn't just stand on their doorstep in your defense.
Their face would look like mine.
I'd make damn sure of it.
I I think you got off lightly with that young man.
The casing we use is made out of bone and tendon.
Some people use wood pulp, but not us.
Not a chance.
I always thought wood pulp was the industry standard.
Like a house on fire, these two.
Mm.
Can I have a little more wine, please? You know, it's it's a family business, but funnily enough, it's not my family.
I I bought it.
I love how passionate you are about pepperoni.
I also like dessert, and you smell just like my mom's vanilla pudding.
Well, I heard you're a low-down Yankee liar.
Oh, that's good.
That's a good one.
Jimmy Stewart.
- No.
- Gary Cooper.
- No, Alan Ladd.
- Bingo.
- In "Shane.
" - Of course! The scent is Cingerie.
It's my mother's.
She always wore it.
Now I wear it.
A little bit on the wrists.
A little bit behind the ears, and a couple of drops in the bathtub.
In the bathtub.
If we can leave Alan Ladd out of it, how about I just put you in my pocket? I would like that, though I bet I wouldn't fit.
Oh, now, Helen.
Helen.
No betting, now.
No, listen.
With me, it's not even gambling 'cause I've worked out a very scientific system, and I'd be happy to show it to you.
Maybe help you minimize your losses a little.
Did Betty tell you my secret? - Betty! - Yes, but I don't judge.
Not for a minute.
Well, I suppose I've spent a little too much time on the riverboats.
Yeah, well Plus your afternoons at the track.
Yes, there's the horses, as well.
Well, who doesn't, right? Right? Did Betty ever tell you about the time I heard there was a horse running in the Kentucky derby named Beautiful Betty? Ah.
The odds were 13 to 1 against.
I spent my last two bucks on that horse.
Gave the ticket to Betty.
She was feeling blue about something, and I told her, "whenever you feel like the world is against you, you you look at that ticket and know that no matter what the odds are, someone's bettin' on ya.
" Ha.
Isn't that nice? Yeah.
Did the horse win? Ah, this story ends in tragedy.
The horse broke a leg.
See, I can't hear that.
I it is true.
Wow.
- They had to shoot her.
- Wow.
It does happen.
Hmm.
I'll say.
I I I I guess you know how to pick 'em.
I'm sorry.
I'm This is this is where my system would come in handy.
Um, I need to powder.
Ohh, that's rich.
You can't do that.
I just did.
After the dust-up yesterday, I thought it would be best if we kept our patients away from each other, unless you're going for stitches next time, Doctor.
I don't think this is the right solution.
Good morning.
Obstetrics.
Uh, Mrs.
Johnson, it seems someone's trying to track you down.
Hello? Lillian, what happened? They must have told you on the phone.
They didn't.
They just said some kind of an accident.
Apparently, some 10-year-old wandered into the ladies' room and found me passed out on the floor.
- Was it a seizure? - How would I know? One minute, I'm trying to thread the ribbon through my typewriter, and the next, I'm flat on the bathroom tile with this child screaming over me.
She thought I was dead.
They would only release me to a responsible party.
I didn't know who else to call.
Lillian, let's get you inside.
No, just Can we sit? Okay.
I'm never going back to that hospital.
As a patient, maybe, but never again as a doctor.
I'm done there.
They said that? I don't want to wait for them to tell me.
It would be irresponsible to stay on.
Something different every day.
Garbled word, forgotten diagnosis, You have good stretches.
You were very articulate the other day when you were expressing your extreme disappointment in me.
Was I? Did I apologize? Good.
I am scared, though, for what's ahead.
Which means I can't really afford to be upset with you now, can I? I'd like to speak to you.
Yes, ma'am.
I understand that when you came to my door the other day, you did it out of concern for Coral and not necessarily as a threat to me.
So I thought about it, and, yes, I may have overreacted when I washed Coral's hair.
I just had a baby, and when you have a baby, even minor incidents can feel blown out of proportion.
It's in all the books.
My point is I shouldn't have done that to Coral, and I'm sorry.
Common courtesy dictates that the proper response to an apology is to get out of the car and accept it.
I think the person you ought to be apologizing to is Coral.
Coral is a different matter.
Coral deliberately disobeyed me.
Pay attention now, Coral, 'cause this here is a good lesson of white people's inability to take responsibility for they actions - and do the right thing.
- Did you say "white people"? Get in the car, Coral.
We're leaving.
You should know my husband works in the negro hospital! See Dr.
McAlpin down in ophthalmology.
He's the best in the city and can make sure there's been no damage to your vision.
Well, clearly, my Vision was impaired to begin with not to see this coming.
I fear I may have misjudged how my patients would handle the transition to a new hospital.
We were as surprised as you by the fight in the waiting room.
The truth is our patients are reluctant to make appointments.
Some of them have, uh, had issues with the neighborhood.
Others had misgivings about the mix of patients.
It seems inevitable that we're - we're gonna lose a few.
- Inevitable? You're just resigned to that? Oh, it doesn't mean they won't return in time, but it may take them becoming unhappy with the care that someone else provides for them to come back to me.
And you're prepared to wait it out? In the meantime, we can serve the patients already here, and we have the study to focus on.
As long as we can keep your delivery men away from our fliers.
I have to say I'm I'm disappointed.
Well, I'm not sure what the alternative is.
You ever watch how people get into a cold lake? They're the ones that go very slowly inch by inch.
They even rise up on their tiptoes to stave off the cold.
And then there are the ones that take the plunge, get it over with, trust that they'll adjust to the cold once it's enveloped them.
If I had time to slowly change people's minds about segregation, I would have brought in some young, unassuming white resident, let the patients slowly get used to him, and then I would have hired another one and another one.
But there's too much I want to accomplish at this hospital to take my time doing it, which is why I hired you you with your dedicated exam room, with your essential assistant, your sex study.
You were the cold lake, and I jumped in with both feet.
And I thank you for that.
I knew exactly what I was getting a man who showed a roomful of doctors what the inside of a woman climaxing looked like and had his hat handed to him because of it.
You didn't just ease people out of ignorance.
You exposed them to the truth.
You said, "this is going to be uncomfortable, but it's important, and it's going to open your eyes forever.
" You and I we don't look the same, but we are the same.
We are not men who wait.
You need to make a case for yourself.
You need to call every patient you ever had and say, "this is where you need to be with me, at this hospital.
" That's how you move your practice forward.
That's how I move this hospital forward.
That's how we move history forward.
I'm afraid history may be outside my purview.
You know that's not true.
You wouldn't be doing this study of yours if that were the case.
Last year, Martin Luther King Jr.
stood less than a mile from here and said, "St.
Louis is a city that's moving forward, embracing its future, not standing in its way.
" This hospital will be integrated.
Now, are you willing to help me do that? We each choose our own battles, Charles.
Wooing patients is - it's not my gift.
- Come on, Bill.
It's really more like Virginia's.
Well, then, Mrs.
Johnson, you've got your work cut out for you.
I suppose I do.
Did you say that just to appease him? About you? No, I said it because it's true.
There are things that you are better at than I.
Just as there are things that I'm better at, of course.
Of course.
At this rate, I expect to see you in the front row at Dr.
King's next rally.
Be serious, Virginia.
That's not my fight.
But if, in helping ourselves, we can also help Dr.
Hendricks, well, I see nothing wrong with that.
Get dressed.
I saw them last night leaving the hotel room.
How could I not have known that they were sleeping together the entire time? I've shared nearly everything with you.
You should share with me.
Lillian, I'm not that interesting.
Dr.
Masters, I don't have lice.
I swear I don't.
If you don't sit down, Coral, you'll have to leave, and you will not be welcome back.
You knew you couldn't have kids.
Why didn't you just tell me? Because you never would have married me if you knew the truth.
Tatti Greathouse just called.
She said that you were fired.
There's not gonna be a single hospital in the midwest that's gonna let you so much as step through their doors! Why do I have to hear everything about my husband third hand?! You j you just have to trust me right now.
And I feel comfortable in speaking for my partner when I say how pleased we both are to be bringing our work here together.
You think he's dreaming? I read once that dogs dream of running in great open spaces.
How would they test for that, in animals or babies? Are you sure it's okay that we stopped by this way? Of course it's okay.
I mean, you know how it is.
I was just driving around trying to get him to sleep, and then suddenly, there we were outside your front door.
Well, it's good to see you.
He has much more hair than last time.
You haven't seen him in a while.
And I'm sorry for that, Libby.
- I've been so - You've been busy.
No, I understand.
Wish Bill were the type to show off baby pictures.
I did put one in his wallet, just in case.
Well, I haven't seen much of Bill, either.
That's gonna change now, isn't it? I have to admit, Gin, I was shocked by the news.
Just completely caught off guard.
Do they know at Maternity? Um About what you two are doing? You haven't given Dr.
DePaul notice? Uh, not yet.
I don't blame you waiting to see if this one sticks.
The third hospital in as many months.
I understand why it's enticing to him to have the study readily accepted after the resistance at Memorial.
A and don't take this the wrong way because baby John was born there and I received excellent care excellent.
But Bill Masters going to work at Buell Green? I cannot understand it.
Can you? It's quite a surprise.
I mean, he's not just rolling downhill, Gini.
He is picking up speed from being the chief of obstetrics in Maternity to taking a staff position at Memorial to walking out the door and heading to the negro hospital? I don't know what to say, Libby.
Where does he go from here? The the resident doctor at the state penitentiary? Have you eaten? I'm not hungry.
Your way of saying, "let's skip dinner and move straight to dessert"? Look again.
It's not what you think.
It's the key to your new office at Buell Green.
It's not the obvious choice, I admit, but they're a fine hospital, open to new things.
They fully endorse the study and my bringing you aboard.
It seems like a decision you could have discussed with me first.
Well, maybe, but timing aside, this is fabulous news! It calls for a toast.
Uh We can finally get back to work.
And you can stop selling those ridiculous diet pills.
I'm sorry, Bill, but how exactly did you see me coming aboard at Buell Green? - I don't know what you mean.
- I mean, as what? What is my official title, my responsibilities, my salary? Well, we can work all that out, of course.
When? 'Cause I would like to know those things before I decide to upend my life.
I want to be very clear on what you're offering me.
How about an opportunity to finish what we started? How about the study? I would just like the specifics spelled out ahead of time In writing.
I see.
Because I've proven myself so untrustworthy.
Because I have two children I'm supporting.
And if you end up leaving this hospital, like you left the last one and the one before that, what guarantee do I have that they will keep me on without you? I don't have the luxury of jumping ship on a whim.
I don't even have the luxury of not selling those ridiculous diet pills.
I don't understand this.
You shouldn't assume that I'll just come running whenever you call, Bill.
I do have other opportunities.
And they are? I'd like to know.
What opportunities do you have, outside of diet pills? A job with Lillian.
She's doing very important work, too work that I am very much a part of.
I'm sure that she would make it worth my while to stay.
I don't think you want to play that hand, Virginia.
It's not a hand.
Because I don't think Lillian regards you quite as highly as you think.
Why would you say that? She knows about us.
About the work we're doing upstairs.
Gene, your side of the bed is gonna turn to stone if you don't start sleeping in it again.
Come on.
Smile.
Gene, honey, I want you to take my hand, come upstairs with me.
We can gargle.
- Oh, Christ.
Come on, Betty.
Betty.
- We can get comfortable.
I don't even know which way's up right now.
That way.
What are you getting at with, "come upstairs with me"? That you love me? Huh? You sing a song for me, try to seduce me, even though your voice sounds like migrating geese.
First of all, I was Miss Melba Snyder in my high-school production of "Pal Joey" before they booted me out entirely.
And second of all, you know who you married.
Yes, I got the message.
You're sore at me 'cause I can't have kids.
No, I'm sore at you because you lied to me about it.
So yell at me.
Slam some doors.
Or come up with some other idea, like we adopt or something, instead of freezing me out! You want to adopt? Do you? No.
N not if it's another sing-along or - another invitation up to bed.
- Gene.
- No.
- Honey.
I want us to be happy.
I want you to be happy.
And if that means bringing in kids that aren't ours but will become ours Once we love them.
Once we love them.
Then, yeah.
I could do that.
I got to think about that.
Yeah? Okay.
Okay.
I'm hoping you'll find the office suits your needs, Dr.
Masters.
It's, uh It'll be fine.
And the dedicated exam room I'd requested.
Next door.
Although I confess, Bill, I ruffled a few feathers to get that one done.
Space around here is at a premium.
Well, I'm sure once your staff sees the volume of the patients and study subjects coming in and out of my new exam room, they'll understand why it's a necessity.
I'm counting on that being the case.
Uh, another thing while I have you here, Charles.
Um my associate, Mrs.
Johnson.
Mm-hmm? She's gonna require an employment contract.
We don't offer contracts to any member of our support staff.
Their their guarantee is week to week.
I would appreciate you making an exception to your policy, seeing as she is essential to my work.
Am I intruding? No.
No.
Come in, Cyril.
I wanted to introduce myself, Dr.
Masters.
Cyril Franklin.
Bill Masters.
A pleasure.
Gynecology.
Yes.
We'll be sharing a waiting room.
I've followed your work in fertility with great interest.
I'm looking forward to bringing the staff along in that area.
Until then, if you need to refer patients, of course, I'll do whatever I can to accommodate.
That's Thank you.
Anything I can do to help.
And are your offices also the size of a rabbit hutch, Dr.
Franklin? My offices were next door, in what is now the dedicated exam room.
My new offices they're more suited to mice.
Aren't you going to ? Dr.
DePaul's office.
I see.
Well, thank you.
The man down in Mimeo says he has a 10-minute window between jobs, if you can get him those those What would it matter what I did outside of this office, as long as I'm good at my job here? I think it would matter very much to Libby Masters.
Bill and I are not having an affair.
You know, Virginia, I don't think piling lies on top of other lies is really Our participation in the study has been unorthodox.
- I'll admit that.
- Is that how Bill's pitching it that you're subjects in his study? Our study.
We are tracking the same physiological data, as we would with any of the other participants.
So let me understand it's okay because you're taking notes? Whatever it is or is not I have never let it interfere with my job, and yet you gave away your study.
Why? To punish me? For what? For something that I may have done that doesn't in any way reflect the quality of my work.
You were smart enough to do it another way.
It has nothing to do with intelligence.
And you were capable enough to have waited for a job that you earned, based on your own ability.
I have two children I'm supporting! I don't have the luxury of waiting! Don't you understand what you've done makes it harder for every woman who comes after you? Easier for every man who has designs on that same woman? You have to have a lot of money to wait for the perfect job opportunity, Lillian.
You have to come from a good family, have parents willing to pay your way through medical school.
If you're intimating that I had it easy Not easy.
Easier.
You had it easier.
And you are in no position to judge me.
Nor you me.
You think I'd throw away my work just to spite you? 'Cause I didn't approve of the way you conducted your personal life? Isn't that what you've done? You're the girl upset that she wasn't asked to the dance by the boy she didn't want to go with in the first place.
What does that even mean? That you're upset I handed off my work to someone who could secure its future.
As if you ever truly wanted the responsibility.
Why would I ever entrust my life's work to you, Virginia, when, admit it, you were always going to leave me and follow Bill? I'm going down to Mimeo to drop off these reports.
Try not to perpetuate the sick belief that women need to open their legs to get a leg up! Oh, my goodness.
Oh, that is so You're so unlucky.
Did it hurt? Does he see me? I is it a she? Uh, no, don't go! We are listening.
We are.
We Ohh Raspberries.
We lost him.
It happens.
You have to be very quiet.
It's it's not that they're shy or anything.
It has to do with energy channels.
Mm.
Hey.
My God.
Betts, your friend Helen just told me we have a ghost in our living room.
Oh, really? How how do we get rid of it? Oh, no, you mustn't.
He's such a sweet old man.
His name is Paul.
Or, um, Saul.
It's Paul.
He lived until he was 93 and then choked on a chicken bone.
You never told me that you had a friend that could that had a, uh what did you call it? Oh, precognitions.
Um, just this morning, I was buttering my toast, thinking of nothing in particular, and all of a sudden, it came to me.
"Hunt down Betty Dimello.
" Moretti.
Uh, it's Betty Moretti now.
Yeah.
So, uh, you guys are friends from, uh ? - Acquaintances, really.
- Oh, we go way back.
Mm-hmm.
Same gal does our hair at Carise's.
Now, Betty, Gene seems very open.
We can tell him the truth, huh? Several years ago, Betty saw my sign in the window.
It's a oh, a palm, naturally, outlined in neon.
Okay.
And she came in and wanted to have her palm read.
Well, it turns out she has a very long love line.
Is that right? Oh, yes.
Look.
Uh here it is.
See? There.
It means true love.
A long love, meant to last the ages.
Well, that would be us, right? How we how we met.
And look at that it was there on your hand the whole time.
Yeah, I have somebody that I think would love you.
You know who would love Helen? - I can't imagine.
- Al.
My friend Al.
I've known him since 6th grade.
He's a bit of a goof, but he's got a heart of gold, and I really think Al would love Helen.
You know what, I'm gonna make a reservation for the four of us at, uh, Kemoll's.
- Oh, Gene, don't be cuckoo.
- No, no, this is my precondition.
Mm-hmm.
Precognition.
Unless, of course, you have a special someone? Oh, no, I was recently jilted.
Al too! That's good.
So you both are in need of good fortune in the love department.
Uh, Al his girlfriend just dumped him, but, uh, she got the shingles, blamed it on Al, but she's a little, you know, oo-ee-oo.
Uh, Gene, honey, I I don't think Helen wants to go on a double date with us and Al.
I would love to.
What does a girl wear to Kemoll's? No matter how long you stare, it's not going to unpack itself.
Uh, human resources drew up a contract specifying the details of your employment, if you'd like to peruse.
Your office is It's in there.
Next door, there's a dedicated exam room with a viewing area which raises the question of where we'll be resuming our sessions here or at the hotel.
I'm amenable to either.
I was wondering if there was a third option.
Oh? Which would be? To stop.
We've been at this a while now.
At some point, haven't we exhausted the possibilities? Of sexual research? That's like saying one's done mapping the Milky Way.
Huh.
Yes.
Maybe if we maybe if we took some time to reassess our objectives.
And what objectives, exactly, are you referring to? The scope of our involvement the terms.
Oh, we're back to terms now.
I suppose I'm wondering if our personal participation is a condition of my employment here.
No.
Then maybe it's better if we What I meant was yes.
Yes, it is part of the job.
Hotel, then.
Aren't you gonna take off your clothes? No.
Because? I don't want to.
So what what are we ? I want you to strip.
No.
Stand.
Now you're going to touch yourself.
Begin.
You closed your eyes.
Is that standard behavior for you? I believe it is.
Is that to facilitate fantasy? It's an automatic reflex, not a not a conscious process.
But, uh Yes, I suppose so.
And what are you thinking about? You.
You can stop touching yourself.
But I haven't yet Stop.
Come here.
Take them off.
Excuse me.
I got X-ray solution that needs to get to radiology.
Any idea where radiology is? No idea at all.
I'm sorry.
I'm new here.
Excuse me.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
I put up some fliers for the study on my way in.
Good.
As for today's business, you have the patient list? I intend to call this morning, starting with the A's.
Uh, to inform them of the new location and start scheduling appointments as early as Today's fine.
Our doors are open.
I'm not sure I understand.
I came to talk to you about Coral, ma'am.
Coral? I is she not coming today? Oh, no, no, I put her on the bus.
I just came on ahead myself.
I was hoping to have a word with you.
Has something happened to Coral? Well, you know, she told me something recently that, uh that I just can't seem to shake.
You know, every night, I ask her how her day was, and normally, she just says, "fine," you know, "good.
" And she she loves that baby John.
Thinks that little one walks on water.
Then the other night, she told me that, uh, someone had forced her head under a faucet and and scrubbed at it.
Uh, I had to wash her hair.
My infant son had lice.
That that must have been upsetting for you.
It was.
And upsetting for Coral.
So that's it, really.
I'm gonna keep asking Coral how her day was, and she gonna keep telling me.
And hopefully, she'll just say, "fine" and "good.
" And whatever that problem was well, it won't happen again.
And she don't know I stopped by.
So you can go on and keep that between us.
Thank you for your time, ma'am.
The lines on your palm don't change, if you're looking for a reading.
That was some stunt, Helen.
So what is it you want? Money? 'Cause I already gave you plenty of money.
Yes, I seem to remember you throwing $100 bills out the window of your new Cadillac as you drove away.
That is unfair.
I couldn't sleep for months.
- I still can't.
- Well, that makes two of us.
You broke my heart.
We agreed me marrying Gene was the best thing.
You agreed.
No, we agreed.
There is no future here.
Years and years of going out together as what? What? Two spinster friends who are living together, pretending we're sisters or going to some bar where some butch won't serve us 'cause we're not wearing ducktails and gabardines? It's pathetic, Helen.
We both like dresses, so we're just gonna have to buck up and and do the right thing.
The right th the right thing for you.
You're a cynical woman, Mrs.
Moretti.
What I am is a woman who has fucked men for money hundreds of them.
And I have seen things and I have done things, and I am not apologizing for this 'cause I got gold faucets now, a hat for every day of the week, and I can eat beef bourgignon for lunch if I want.
You still got to sleep with him and not me.
Well, nothing comes free.
Well, then, maybe it will work out for me, too, with Al.
You are not going out with Al.
You are canceling that date.
- I am not canceling.
- Stop screwing around, Helen.
I'm following your lead.
You are not coming back into my life after the hell it took getting you out.
Fuck you, Betty.
You got to grab the brass ring.
Well, now it's my turn.
Our process hasn't changed since you had your daughter, Mrs.
Tillingsworth.
We'll schedule regular capping sessions.
And will will the procedure last as long as before? All those hours lying still? Some women trying for a second child actually look forward to it.
They say it's the only rest they get.
What if I go home immediately after the capping and do my bed rest there? You had such a good outcome the first time around.
Why would you want to tamper with success? Earl got me a new car.
And I I don't feel comfortable leaving it parked on the street, not for hours on end.
Not in this neighborhood.
I park downstairs without giving it a thought.
My car is an Eldorado.
Mrs.
Johnson's car is also a Ford.
But it is a very lovely shade of capri blue.
Y you don't expect to be here permanently.
Do you, Doctor? Buell Green is a fine hospital, Mrs.
Tillingsworth.
Do you imagine I would be here otherwise? That I would be satisfied offering my patients anything less than the care they've come to expect? No.
Of course not.
My car has leather seats.
You also have a healthy, beautiful baby girl who deserves a sibling.
Now, which one of those two problems would you like to focus on? Your young man paid me a visit today.
I I'm sorry, ma'am.
Robert? Coral, I'm older than you, and I know a thing or two about the world.
And well why don't you sit down a moment? Now I know you have no mother to guide you, so I'm just gonna tell you this directly.
I'm worried about you being with this boy.
He came here to well, essentially, to threaten me.
Now, I'm not gonna call the police.
I'm I'm not even sure I'm gonna tell Dr.
Masters.
But I will tell you.
I think Robert is very angry.
He's trying to hide it, but it's very obvious to me.
I could feel it.
So, under the circumstances, I think it's best if you put some distance between you and Robert.
Just ease him out gently.
Perhaps start seeing a little less of him.
We live together.
And I should leave him.
I certainly should.
Like you say, he is a rough customer Robert.
And he does have a temper.
That's no doubt.
And sometimes we fight.
But then when it's late, and it's just the two of us alone in our bed, well all the bad stuff just goes away.
And he's he's real soft with his hands and his lips.
The way he touches me his breath in my ear.
Ooh.
Well I'm sure you can understand how hard that is to leave, you being a woman of the world.
But I will think about what you said.
And once I'm finished making Dr.
Masters' bed, should I make yours, too? We've gone through the first run of fliers already? The first ones have all been taken.
Unfortunately, to the dump.
Just south of the city.
A man watched me as I put one up.
I could tell that he didn't approve, and, apparently, he took matters into his own hands To save the world from our immoral ways.
What man? I'll talk to Hendricks.
He guaranteed me that the study wouldn't be interfered with.
A delivery man.
And he had this scowl on his face very much like the scowl we've seen on some of our patients since we've landed here.
I honestly think that it's going to take some effort to get willing subjects back into the study.
Well, we may lose some of our regulars 'cause they don't want to make the drive to this neighborhood.
Which means most of our study will be made up of negro subjects.
As one would expect at a negro hospital.
Which begs the question if our study subjects are primarily colored, do we include their data in with everybody else's? As opposed to what? Separating our subjects by race? We've never included negro subjects before.
We've never excluded them, either.
They simply had no exposure to our recruitment efforts at a white hospital.
But now that we're here I'm just asking if there's any value in separating them out, from a research point of view.
And looking at them apart from Caucasian data.
You do realize they have the same physiology, don't you? The difference is merely melanin skin pigment.
Would you make the argument that our brown-eyed subjects are sexually distinct from our blue-eyed ones? No, but in this case, people think there's a difference, sexually speaking.
True or not, I'm simply wondering if it's worth our consideration.
Dr.
Masters' office.
Yes, Mrs.
Kenworthy.
Oh, that's fine.
We can All right.
Thank you.
Mrs.
Kenworthy just canceled her appointment.
When does she want to reschedule? She doesn't.
Some people use sex as a way to make up.
Have you found that to be true? Uh, I'm I'm not sure I have, uh, found it.
Don't you think there's something healthy about that? Healthy? In the sense of ? Well, a good way for a couple to iron out their differences.
I mean, it's not something that we do, but maybe we should.
I'm not angry with you.
Well, you know what they say love and hate are two sides of the same coin.
Have you been talking to someone? What is that supposed to mean? That I just stay at home and live this sheltered life? I know about the world.
I see things and I hear things.
So, are you angry with me? Yes.
I am.
A little.
And in the interest of marital health, I think we should patch things up.
What's the matter? Should I slow down? It happened already.
I was just very quiet.
The baby.
Yeah.
I called a taxi.
I assumed you weren't coming.
Because I'm the type of person who skips out on a cancer patient.
Get in.
From now on, please don't worry about this room.
I'll take care of it.
Yes, ma'am.
Betty, I'm Betty! What?! What are ? For cripessake, what are you doing? Vacuuming.
Vacuuming.
All the time I've known you, I've never even seen you in the same room with a vacuum, let alone pushing one around.
I have, too, vacuumed.
That vacuum has two inches of dust on it.
That's how much vacuuming you've done.
Well, I'm burning off, you know ohh anxiety 'cause of what I didn't tell you about Helen.
Uh-huh.
The truth is she's, uh ooh.
She's not so good at bathin'.
Ah.
Sponge bath every couple weeks, maybe, and, uh, come summer, she's like French cheese.
Well, you know what, I didn't notice anything.
Well, well, Al will notice.
You know how vain he is about his women.
A a and you know the story of, uh, Napoleon and Josephine.
The more she stank, the more he loved her.
Let's just let Al and Helen work it out.
Well, i it's just it's like it's like the smell reflects what's, you know, inside.
Like, she's rotten as a person.
I thought she was a friend of yours.
What does that word even mean anymore? Plus, I got a conscience, Gene.
And I can't sit by and watch Helen get her hooks into Al.
Hooks? Helen? Oh, oh, hooves.
Hooves, more like it, because she also has a gambling problem.
Spends 90% of her time at the track.
Okay, what Every vendor at the track knows her by name "Hel" this, "Hel" that.
I mean, the "hell" part's right, which accounts for her constant scheming always trying to find the next pair of deep pockets to pay for her, you know her sickness.
Betty, Al loves the track.
Al has deep pockets.
Sounds like a match made in heaven.
It's a high compliment when patients of mine refer their daughters.
Although my mother actually saw you at Memorial.
The quality of care will be no different here at Buell Green.
And Mrs.
Johnson will start, uh, by taking a fertility history.
It won't take long.
Then we'll do a brief, uh, physical work-up.
We'll draw some blood.
We can do that before or after the physical exam.
Whichever is Jessie, stop it! Say you're sorry! Could you excuse us a moment? Say you're sorry! Get the hell off! Apologize right now! Apologize to her! Tell her you're sorry! - Get your hands off him! - Mr.
McCaffrey! Please! Mr.
McCaffrey, let him go! He leaned over to get something out of her purse.
Virginia, call the security guard! Now, Mr.
McCaffrey, let him go now! Not before he apologizes to my wife! For what?! Being in the same room with her?! For sitting in a chair?! You son of a bitch! Gentlemen, that is enough! Maybe you need some reminding whose neighborhood you wandered into.
Oh, you can have this barnyard, nigger.
Gentlemen! As soon as I walked into the waiting room, I remembered him.
Back in Maternity, he was the husband who wanted to be in the delivery room with his wife.
The same husband who held her hand and and wept when we handed him his firstborn.
And then today at Buell Green he was like a a neanderthal.
There must be something in the air because I, too, uh, had a similar experience recently.
What do you mean? Uh A large colored man banged on our front door and told me, in no uncertain terms, that he didn't like how I was treating Coral.
- A large colored - Coral's boyfriend - as it turns out.
- What, he was coming here to see her? No, uh, us.
Me.
You know what, if he doesn't like Coral working for a living, he should take it up with her, don't you think? Not come here and make threats.
What? Threats? What did he say exactly? It's it's more how he said it.
It's even possible that Coral's lying about us.
First of all, I didn't force her head under the faucet.
S so, what did you do? I washed her hair because she refused to do it herself.
I told you, the lice were not coming from her.
You said it was unlikely, Bill, and, frankly, you don't know everything.
But did you force her head? No, I didn't force anything! That is not what happened.
Why are you taking her side in this, and his? Why don't you ever take my side? I'm standing up for you.
I didn't do anything wrong.
Libby You need to apologize.
If someone had done that to you, I wouldn't just stand on their doorstep in your defense.
Their face would look like mine.
I'd make damn sure of it.
I I think you got off lightly with that young man.
The casing we use is made out of bone and tendon.
Some people use wood pulp, but not us.
Not a chance.
I always thought wood pulp was the industry standard.
Like a house on fire, these two.
Mm.
Can I have a little more wine, please? You know, it's it's a family business, but funnily enough, it's not my family.
I I bought it.
I love how passionate you are about pepperoni.
I also like dessert, and you smell just like my mom's vanilla pudding.
Well, I heard you're a low-down Yankee liar.
Oh, that's good.
That's a good one.
Jimmy Stewart.
- No.
- Gary Cooper.
- No, Alan Ladd.
- Bingo.
- In "Shane.
" - Of course! The scent is Cingerie.
It's my mother's.
She always wore it.
Now I wear it.
A little bit on the wrists.
A little bit behind the ears, and a couple of drops in the bathtub.
In the bathtub.
If we can leave Alan Ladd out of it, how about I just put you in my pocket? I would like that, though I bet I wouldn't fit.
Oh, now, Helen.
Helen.
No betting, now.
No, listen.
With me, it's not even gambling 'cause I've worked out a very scientific system, and I'd be happy to show it to you.
Maybe help you minimize your losses a little.
Did Betty tell you my secret? - Betty! - Yes, but I don't judge.
Not for a minute.
Well, I suppose I've spent a little too much time on the riverboats.
Yeah, well Plus your afternoons at the track.
Yes, there's the horses, as well.
Well, who doesn't, right? Right? Did Betty ever tell you about the time I heard there was a horse running in the Kentucky derby named Beautiful Betty? Ah.
The odds were 13 to 1 against.
I spent my last two bucks on that horse.
Gave the ticket to Betty.
She was feeling blue about something, and I told her, "whenever you feel like the world is against you, you you look at that ticket and know that no matter what the odds are, someone's bettin' on ya.
" Ha.
Isn't that nice? Yeah.
Did the horse win? Ah, this story ends in tragedy.
The horse broke a leg.
See, I can't hear that.
I it is true.
Wow.
- They had to shoot her.
- Wow.
It does happen.
Hmm.
I'll say.
I I I I guess you know how to pick 'em.
I'm sorry.
I'm This is this is where my system would come in handy.
Um, I need to powder.
Ohh, that's rich.
You can't do that.
I just did.
After the dust-up yesterday, I thought it would be best if we kept our patients away from each other, unless you're going for stitches next time, Doctor.
I don't think this is the right solution.
Good morning.
Obstetrics.
Uh, Mrs.
Johnson, it seems someone's trying to track you down.
Hello? Lillian, what happened? They must have told you on the phone.
They didn't.
They just said some kind of an accident.
Apparently, some 10-year-old wandered into the ladies' room and found me passed out on the floor.
- Was it a seizure? - How would I know? One minute, I'm trying to thread the ribbon through my typewriter, and the next, I'm flat on the bathroom tile with this child screaming over me.
She thought I was dead.
They would only release me to a responsible party.
I didn't know who else to call.
Lillian, let's get you inside.
No, just Can we sit? Okay.
I'm never going back to that hospital.
As a patient, maybe, but never again as a doctor.
I'm done there.
They said that? I don't want to wait for them to tell me.
It would be irresponsible to stay on.
Something different every day.
Garbled word, forgotten diagnosis, You have good stretches.
You were very articulate the other day when you were expressing your extreme disappointment in me.
Was I? Did I apologize? Good.
I am scared, though, for what's ahead.
Which means I can't really afford to be upset with you now, can I? I'd like to speak to you.
Yes, ma'am.
I understand that when you came to my door the other day, you did it out of concern for Coral and not necessarily as a threat to me.
So I thought about it, and, yes, I may have overreacted when I washed Coral's hair.
I just had a baby, and when you have a baby, even minor incidents can feel blown out of proportion.
It's in all the books.
My point is I shouldn't have done that to Coral, and I'm sorry.
Common courtesy dictates that the proper response to an apology is to get out of the car and accept it.
I think the person you ought to be apologizing to is Coral.
Coral is a different matter.
Coral deliberately disobeyed me.
Pay attention now, Coral, 'cause this here is a good lesson of white people's inability to take responsibility for they actions - and do the right thing.
- Did you say "white people"? Get in the car, Coral.
We're leaving.
You should know my husband works in the negro hospital! See Dr.
McAlpin down in ophthalmology.
He's the best in the city and can make sure there's been no damage to your vision.
Well, clearly, my Vision was impaired to begin with not to see this coming.
I fear I may have misjudged how my patients would handle the transition to a new hospital.
We were as surprised as you by the fight in the waiting room.
The truth is our patients are reluctant to make appointments.
Some of them have, uh, had issues with the neighborhood.
Others had misgivings about the mix of patients.
It seems inevitable that we're - we're gonna lose a few.
- Inevitable? You're just resigned to that? Oh, it doesn't mean they won't return in time, but it may take them becoming unhappy with the care that someone else provides for them to come back to me.
And you're prepared to wait it out? In the meantime, we can serve the patients already here, and we have the study to focus on.
As long as we can keep your delivery men away from our fliers.
I have to say I'm I'm disappointed.
Well, I'm not sure what the alternative is.
You ever watch how people get into a cold lake? They're the ones that go very slowly inch by inch.
They even rise up on their tiptoes to stave off the cold.
And then there are the ones that take the plunge, get it over with, trust that they'll adjust to the cold once it's enveloped them.
If I had time to slowly change people's minds about segregation, I would have brought in some young, unassuming white resident, let the patients slowly get used to him, and then I would have hired another one and another one.
But there's too much I want to accomplish at this hospital to take my time doing it, which is why I hired you you with your dedicated exam room, with your essential assistant, your sex study.
You were the cold lake, and I jumped in with both feet.
And I thank you for that.
I knew exactly what I was getting a man who showed a roomful of doctors what the inside of a woman climaxing looked like and had his hat handed to him because of it.
You didn't just ease people out of ignorance.
You exposed them to the truth.
You said, "this is going to be uncomfortable, but it's important, and it's going to open your eyes forever.
" You and I we don't look the same, but we are the same.
We are not men who wait.
You need to make a case for yourself.
You need to call every patient you ever had and say, "this is where you need to be with me, at this hospital.
" That's how you move your practice forward.
That's how I move this hospital forward.
That's how we move history forward.
I'm afraid history may be outside my purview.
You know that's not true.
You wouldn't be doing this study of yours if that were the case.
Last year, Martin Luther King Jr.
stood less than a mile from here and said, "St.
Louis is a city that's moving forward, embracing its future, not standing in its way.
" This hospital will be integrated.
Now, are you willing to help me do that? We each choose our own battles, Charles.
Wooing patients is - it's not my gift.
- Come on, Bill.
It's really more like Virginia's.
Well, then, Mrs.
Johnson, you've got your work cut out for you.
I suppose I do.
Did you say that just to appease him? About you? No, I said it because it's true.
There are things that you are better at than I.
Just as there are things that I'm better at, of course.
Of course.
At this rate, I expect to see you in the front row at Dr.
King's next rally.
Be serious, Virginia.
That's not my fight.
But if, in helping ourselves, we can also help Dr.
Hendricks, well, I see nothing wrong with that.