"Hey, there's more over here!" "Bring another team." "Another team over here by the tail." "We're gonna need a lot more help." "Are you okay?" "Is the baby all right?" "It's okay." "You can stay with your dad." "I'm not his father." "He was traveling alone." " Go." "You'll be okay." " I wanna be with you." " Please." "Please." " Take him." "I've gotta find the mother." " Now, go." " Come on." "Come with me." "You're gonna be all right." "Come on." "Everyone, please, please stay where you are." "We'll be with you in a minute." "Hey, get them out of there." "It's gonna blow!" "Get them out!" "No!" "My boy!" "My boy!" "My little boy's in there!" "My baby's in there!" "I gotta get my boy!" "My baby's in there!" "My baby..." "NO!" "No!" "Mommy!" "You okay?" "I'm gonna need some backup here." "Move it." "Were you in the crash?" "No." "I found this baby." " I've gotta find the mother." " Okay." "There's a woman right over there." "She's looking for her baby." "Yeah." "Right there." "Is this your baby?" "My sweet angel." "I wanna go to the nearest hotel." "You've gotta be kidding." "You're not dead." "An Intercity Air spokesperson indicates an estimated 200 passengers" "Sixty Bakersfield." "Wire reports confirm a crash of an Intercity Air jet in the northeast section of the county at Route 7 and Lake." "Eyewitnesses" "Everybody was terrified." "Although, remarkably enough, people maintained themselves pretty well." "I think people pull together in a situation like that and the crew was very professional..." "Max." "Max Klein." " What the hell are you doing here?" " Ha, ha." " Just passing through." " You bastard, you don't look any different." " Ha, ha." "Nice try." " It's true." "Look at you." "I can't believe it, Max." "It's been 20 years." "These are strawberry pancakes?" "Yep." "I wanted..." " Do you have whole strawberries?" " I guess." "Bring me a bowl, please." "I don't remember you having a thing for strawberries." "How's Bill?" "Is he head of the Theater Department yet?" "No, he was passed over." "Look, I'll make this quick." "I can't stand going through the list item by item." " My life's a disaster." " No, it isn't." " Yes, it is." " Trust me." "Your life isn't a disaster." "I'm fat." "I haven't written a play in years." "Timmy, my oldest, has a learning disability." "I've learned to love him for what he is not my fantasy of what he should be." "The middle two, James and Sarah, resent the extra attention Timmy got so they fuck up in school to punish us." "They're working that out in their support group for siblings of the learning disabled." "And my youngest, my beautiful baby, Ellen who was gonna be this great ballerina destroyed her ankle playing basketball with her brothers." "As for Bill, he's screwing a student." "It's pathetic." "It's not even tragic." " Have a strawberry." " What good will that do?" "Forbidden fruit always does good." "Hmm?" "Forbidden fruit." "Heh, I didn't come for that." "Figures." " You always were faithful." " And you?" "Heh." "Who'd have me?" "Wait a minute." "Aren't you allergic to strawberries?" "You almost died when you were little from eating a strawberry." "I'm past all that." "Hmm?" "See?" "No reaction." "No reaction at all." " That's him." " Yeah, what?" "Good morning, sir." "I'm Agent Parsons, this is Agent Smith." "We're with the FBI." "Uh, you're registered as Mr. Max Klein, 1147 Varennes in San Francisco." "Is that correct?" " You got me." " Can we come in?" "Sir, were you on a flight from San Francisco to Houston..." " ...that made an emergency--?" " Yes, I was." "Took a hike from the scene?" "Just up and left?" " What time is it?" " Ten o'clock Thursday morning." "You've been missing almost a day." " Missing?" " Mr. Klein, what are you doing here?" "You walked from the crash, rented a car, drove to L.A." "Why?" "They didn't need me anymore." "Need you for what?" "Am I under arrest?" "No." "You haven't done anything." "Do you, uh...?" "You know this man?" "Mr. Klein, I'm Cindy Dickens of Intercity Air and I'm here to help get you home." "That's nice." "No one's taken me home since the first grade." "Heh." "Uh, I have tickets on Amtrak to get you to San Francisco." " And your train leaves in an hour." " I wanna fly." "I'm sorry?" "You'll fly me back to San Francisco for free, right?" "Uh, of course." "When I talked to your wife and told her the good news on the phone she said that even, um, before the unpleasant, uh..." " Crash." " Uh, yes, right." "Even before, uh, that, you were afraid to fly." "I'd love to fly home on your airline, but I've got a request." " Sir?" " I wanna go first class." "Well, super." "Ha, ha." "With our compliments, sir." " Cockpit preparation?" " Completed." " Light test?" " Check." " Oxygen and interphone?" " Checked." " Yaw damper?" " On." " Hydraulics?" " On." "Uh, sir, may I see your boarding pass?" "Fine, your seat is right down the aisle." " Ah, good." " Is he on board?" "Yes, he's sitting right over there." "All right." "I got it." "I just made it." "Hi." "I'm Bill Perlman." "Hi." "Going home, right?" "Glad to be going home, I bet." "You're a shrink." "That's right." "I specialize in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder." "Ha, ha." "I wrote a book about it, and several airlines hired me" "We're just pulling away from the gate." "" "As a consultant to work with crash survivors." "Naturally, one of my perks is free tickets." "Seat belt, I think you should put it on." "I travel so much for work that my idea of a vacation..." "That's normal." "It's just to stay put." "I'm not scared." "But I would like another drink when we're airborne." "I should say, if we're airborne." " Mom, he's here." "He's really here." " You look fine." "I knew you were all right." "Max, Max." "Oh." "We were so worried." "It's a miracle." "You're alive." "I knew I couldn't lose you." " Coffee?" " Let's get coffee." " Look at you." "He's perfect." " Yes, he is." "He is." "He's fine." "Come in." " Were you scared?" " No." "Not at all." " Excuse me." "I'm Steven Brillstein." " Nan asked if he could wait here." "He's a lawyer." "I'm sorry to intrude, but Mrs. Gordon's frustrated." "The airline can't seem to make a definite identification." " Jeff's dead." " Oh, my God." " Jesus, Max." " Max isn't himself right now." " How do you know?" "We just met." " I'm Bill Perlman." "He's a therapist, works for the airline." "I'm here for you, Max." "If the airline pays your bills, then it's a conflict of interest." "I have an obligation to warn Mr. Klein anything he says in your presence" "Is in confidence." "My agreement" "Let's talk about that later." "See, Nan doesn't know." "She thinks that if you're alive" "No, I'll tell her." " Can we speak privately?" " This is inappropriate." "All right, out." "Get out!" "We should talk." " Max, relax." " Dad!" " Are you okay?" " I'm fine." "I didn't hit him very hard." "I can't help you right now." "If you need anything, call me, okay?" " I think he's in shock." " It's okay." "Hell, we all are." "In fairness to Mrs. Gordon, I should hear the details." " Are you sure you're all right?" " I'm fine, thank you very much." " Do you mind if I speak bluntly?" " I'd prefer it." "You saw Mr. Gordon's dead body." "Let me give you a piece of advice." "When you speak to your lawyer, you should emphasize that you saw your partner's dead body, and think hard about what else you saw." "Doesn't matter what you said to anybody so far." "With accidents there's a delayed reaction." "Memories of what happened return gradually." "I know, I'm terrible to talk about it but it is important that you remember if you saw Mr. Gordon actually be killed." "Another thing to remember, if he wasn't killed instantly if he was in any pain" "You telling me how to lie so I can get more money?" "To be honest with you, I wasn't thinking about you." "I was thinking about Mrs. Gordon." "She doesn't come from a rich family and now she's a widow with two young children." " Aah!" " What?" "What?" "What?" " What's wrong?" " I don't wanna tell any lies." "All right." "Next time just say no, heh." "Evening, Mr. Klein." "Don't scream, okay?" "Just bear in mind you're sitting pretty." "You get the partnership insurance." "I think you owe Mrs. Gordon anything that could improve her settlement with the airlines." "One other thing." "Ahem." "Uh, I had all night to go through Mr. Gordon's papers." "He cashed in the tickets that you ordered on Amex got a better price and rebought them for cash and pocketed the difference." "So Jeff cheated me out of a couple hundred bucks." "So he cheated his wife out of the automatic American Express insurance." "That's another reason why your memory of what happened on the plane is so important." "Nan" "I knew it." "I just knew it right away." "Oh, God." " We were stupid." "We lived like jerks." " No, no." "Always just nagging." "We wasted it." "He loved you." "Mom, keep the" "Come on." "Let's go back in the other room." "Why's she crying?" "You made him happy." "He loved you." "He loved you, Nan." "Max, please shut up, okay?" "Let me hold you." "Why didn't you call?" " Where were you?" " I was visiting my past." "But why didn't you tell me you were alive?" "I thought I was dead." "How does it feel to be a hero?" "Can we ask you a couple of questions?" "How did it feel those last few seconds, Max?" "It's me." "We live in the same city." " Isn't that great?" " Yeah." "This is my son, Jonah." "Hi." "I'm Byron." "When did you know--?" "Dad, I wanna get on the bus." "I'm Peter Hummel, Byron's father." "I wanna thank you." " You have a brave son." " I made my dad bring me." "I can't sleep." "I wanna be with you." "Why do you wanna be with him?" "I feel safe with him." "A lot of people are safe because of you." " They're calling you the Good Samaritan." " I didn't save anyone." " The pilot saved us." " You saved me." " Can you look this way?" " I was upside down, stuck." " He got me out." " How did he do that?" "And a baby too." "He found a way out for a lot of people." "We would've been fried." " What about the baby, Mr.--?" " Where did he go?" "Mr. Klein?" "Get out of the road, you asshole!" "Yes." "You can't do it." "You wanna kill me, but you can't!" "These images of death and destruction flashed around the nation a few days ago when Intercity 202 fell from the sky." "The story is, by now, familiar." "A complete hydraulic failure on a routine flight from San Francisco to Houston." "A desperate attempt to reach Bakersfield Airport before the metal giant plowed into the corn beside a quiet country road." "Walking through this devastation, one cannot help but reflect on what it means to us, to those who lived to those who helped, and to those who mourned." "Heh." "You and that computer." "You spend more time playing than producing anything." " Relax." "Will you just relax?" " I'm fine." "You hear that?" "Max, this is a very important meeting." "I need you to calm down." "I need you to be with me today." "All right?" "God, you're such a neurotic." "All right." "Something's not right." "Oh, shit!" "This is your captain." "Return to your seats put your tray tables up, and fasten your seat belts." "Ladies and gentleman, please be sure to fasten your seat belts tightly around your waist." "The flight attendants will be coming through to collect all your trays." " Is everything okay?" " Fine." "We hit a little unexpected turbulence." " This is your captain speaking." " I don't think this is turbulence." "We're experiencing problems related to our hydraulic system." "The hydraulics." "He can't steer." "We're going down." "Miss!" " Miss, come here." " I'm okay." "Miss." "Miss, come here." "Come here." "The fucking belt won't work." "It won't get tight." "It keeps sliding down." "Just hold him in your lap." "That's what you're supposed to do anyway." "Just keep your belt on and hold him." " He'll be okay." " He's slipping, he's slipping." "He'll be okay." "I love you." "I love you." " Pass all the sharp objects." " I need high-heeled shoes." "Sir, you're gonna have to take off your earring." "Remove all sharp objects." "Earrings." "Sharp objects." "Sir, your pin." "You must remove your pin." "You okay?" "It's gonna be fine." "Our captain..." "Shoes, please." "Ma'am, you need to remove your glasses." "Take your glasses off." "Ma'am, you must take your glasses off your face and put them..." "It's very unsafe for you to keep your glasses on." "All sharp objects to the center, please." "This is it." "This is the moment of your death." "I'm not afraid." "I have no fear." "You know what time it is?" "It's a fucking tomb in here." "Get up." "Get up, Carla." "Carla, get up." "The doctor brought someone." "The Good Samaritan." "Come on, you read about him in the paper." "Ay, Manny." "Please, just let me die." "Please." " That's a sin, Carla." " I just wanna die." "I appreciate you coming." "She's in bad shape." "I'm thinking of putting her in the hospital." "She's in a severe depression about the crash, but she won't talk." "She's very Catholic." "Old World, you know." "Full of guilt and shame." "I'm filled with guilt and shame." "How is that Old World?" "You think I'm a fraud, don't you?" "Doctor, in the three months since we flew together from L.A I haven't thought about you at all." "She'll be right out." " Did you do this?" "Mm-hm." " The carving?" " Yeah, the whole bit." "I was playing, you know." " Beautiful work." " Heh, thanks." " You're an architect, right?" " Yes." "I better go get her." "I think it's better if I see her alone." "You know?" "One crash freak to another." "Okay." "Second door on the right." " Have a seat, doc." " Thanks." " Hi." " Hi, heh." "He and your wife are the only survivors I can't reach." "She won't talk and he won't admit the crash was bad." "Is that right?" "He says it was good?" "Says it was the best thing that ever happened to him." "When I was 13, my father died in front of my eyes." "We were, um, going out of our apartment." "I was throwing this, uh..." "This softball up and down." "Mom screamed, I missed the ball, turned to look." "Dad was dead on the sidewalk." "There was blood coming out of his nose." "His legs were all twisted under him." "He looked like somebody..." "Somebody with a big hand just reached down and squeezed the life out of him." "That was God." "Yeah, that's what I thought." "God killed my daddy." "Why would he wanna kill him?" "Couldn't figure that out." "He was a religious guy, hardworking kind to my mother and my sister." "Did you love him?" "Yes." "I didn't know why God killed my daddy." "There was no reason to." "So I decided there was no God." "You know I go to church every day." "It's the only place I go." "I go to pray for my baby's soul." "You go there to talk to God." "Gotta talk to somebody." "Doctor, you know, the day we got home well, all these lawyers called wanting our case." "And one guy came to see me, and he said he was the Good Samaritan's lawyer so I signed." "I mean, I figured he'd be the best, right?" "Because, you know, I need someone who's gonna take it to them..." " ...you know?" " Yeah." "We're going to church." "Huh?" "I think that will be okay." "Let me." "You know, he hurt me." "He hurt me forever." "But I still believe in him." "Hmm." "Well, people don't so much believe in God as they choose not to believe in nothing." "Life and death, they happen for no reason." "We may think that people are born because their mothers wanted them a lot or because God needed another home-run hitter for the Giants." "We think that we die because we eat red meat or rob banks." "That way, even though we can never be good enough or careful enough to live forever, at least we can try." "But if it makes no sense, if it..." "If life and death just happen, then there's no reason to do anything." " There's no reason to love." " What?" "There's no reason to love." "My car's across the street." "Let's go for a drive." "No, no, I can't." "The doctor told me I can't go nowhere." "You'll be safe." "Do you read the papers?" "Everybody with me lives." "You must think that I'm very stupid." "No." "I'm not lying." "I can't explain it, but you're safe with me." "So, what are you telling me?" "That there's no God but there's you?" "Come with me." "Carla, I promise, you'll be safe." " This is a German car?" " Swedish." " It's very sturdy?" " It's a very safe car." "Very safe and I'm an excellent driver." "Never been in an accident." "Not while I've been behind the wheel, anyway." " And you know what?" " What?" "It doesn't mean we're gonna survive this ride." "Because even if I do everything right even strapped into this marvelous technology of the reinforced doors and roof, we could still be crushed." " That's reverse psychology, right?" " Oh, no." "No, it's the simple truth." "In fact, you're not safe lying in your bed." "Remember '89?" "The next one could be 10 times worse." "You told me" " You told me I was gonna be safe with you." "You're safe." "We're safe because we died already." "Stop the car." " Hmm?" " Please, please, just stop the car." "All right." "I'm not dead." "Let me out." "No, you're not." "That's not what I meant." "Look." "Look at them." "They don't know what it's like to die in their heads." "We do." "We passed through death." "No." "That's bullshit." "I didn't die in my head." "My son died." "I wasn't thinking about dying." "I was thinking about..." "About what?" "About how he died?" "Now, hit him, hit him, now, now!" " Go, hit him, hit him." "Hit him now." " Go, yes." " Oh, unbelievable." " Two in a row, awesome." " Hello." " I'm gonna die." "No, don't die." " Oh, no, we'll get game over" " Oh." " I died." "Let me try." "Thanks." " Hello." " Oh, hi." "I got to level three." "Then he died." " Where's your mother?" " I don't know." "Byron's dad called." "He wants to bring him around later." "Do I have to play with him?" "No." "Is that that weird kid that your dad saved?" "Yeah." "He comes here practically every day and hangs around my dad." "Go." "Yes." "Oh." "Hi, darling." "I didn't know you were home." " Did you meet with Dr. Perlman?" " Yeah." " Did you talk?" " No." "No?" "He took me to meet a woman whose child died in the crash." "I thought the whole idea was for the two of you to sit down and talk, one-to-one." "I have a feeling of overwhelming love for her." "I've never felt anything like it before." "Five, six, seven, eight, and a little run, a little run." "Slide here, slide, slide, slide." "Skip, skip, hands on your hips." "Change your hands." "Go on, skip." "Change your hands." "Okay." "Joan." "Stop the music." "Okay, let's rehearse the piece for the pageant." " But we don't have Eric." " No, we don't." "That's right, we don't have Eric." "Uh..." "We need a volunteer." "Dr. Perlman, perhaps?" "Me?" "I don't..." "I don't think" " No." "I don't think so." "Couldn't you get someone else?" "No." "We need a male." "Do you mind?" " What do I have to do exactly?" " Oh, a tree." "Just a tree." "Just have to stand here." "Like this." "Come on, doctor." "It'll be good therapy." "Okay, girls." "Hold hands all around him." "Okay." "Joan, some wind music." "Okay." "Swirling around like a tornado." "And go in." "Ooh." "And down." "And, doctor, the tree." "The tree has leaves and branches." "Come on, now, up, up with your arms." "Ooh." "Come on, up with your arms." "And feel the wind." "Swing at the wind." "Come on, doctor, come on." "Ooh." "Well, you've had your revenge." "Look, it's getting worse." "He's more remote and distant than ever." "He's spending more time with the child from the plane than with his own son." "And I hate that crazy truth-telling like a robot." "What does he do every day?" "He looks at buildings." " Looks at buildings?" " Yeah, but I mean, I don't mind that." "And I think he might be finding something new for his work." " I want to know about this woman." " Carla?" "Mm-hm." "I mean, why did you introduce them?" "What were you trying to achieve?" "Well, no one can reach her." "If she doesn't get help, she'll end up in an institution or worse." "And my husband?" " He worries me." " Why?" "I don't know, he..." "I think he thinks he's invulnerable." "I've seen it with Vietnam vets." "The high they get from overcoming their fear." "They become addicted to it." "I thought if I put them together" "They can help each other." "I don't know." "He said he felt overwhelming feeling of love for her." "A feeling he never felt before." "So, what does that mean?" "Is he falling in love with her?" "Not in a rational way." "But love isn't rational." "It's not love." "He wants to save her." "Save her?" "And who's saving Max, or me, for that matter?" "Are you playing God?" "Are you playing matchmaker?" "What are you trying to achieve, Dr. Perlman?" "Trying to help, that's all." "I don't have all the answers." "I can't wait to see what you're working on." "I'm going to bed now." "Could you turn that down?" " Right down the stairs..." " I am so proud of myself." "I haven't taken one in six days." " Did I tell you?" " Yes." "And I feel great." "Thank you." "He chickened out half a mile from the airport." " Good that you're here." " Thanks." "Good to see you, good to see you." "Hi." "Manny." "Carla." "It's great that you came." "All right, everybody, we're gonna go downstairs." "Now, you come with me, Carla." "Let's go, everybody, downstairs, please." "All right, come on." " You wait here, Manny." " No." "No, it's okay." "It's all right." "Carla, I'll be upstairs." "We used to live in tribes." "And when a tribe suffered a disaster an exploding mountain or shaking of the earth a great flood we would sit around fires and retell the event." "The stories of death destruction escape and rescue." "That's why we're here today." "Would someone tell us their story?" "Yes, please." "I lost my sister and my two nephews." "Their seats were ripped away right in front of my eyes." "I could almost reach out." "It's all right." "Let her stand on her own." "Jesus, this is gonna take forever." "I can't stay." "I have to go back to the office." " What's your name?" " I'm John Wilkenson." "Why were you on the plane that day?" "Going to Houston on business." "You must be very committed to your work." "Can you go ahead and finish your story, please?" "We were taking a vacation my sister, me, and our kids." "You know, no husbands." "We saw all the dumb tourist sights together like when we were girls." "Only this time we were also mommies." "And now we'll never be together again." "Let's just talk about the day of the crash." "What happened when the plane hit?" "I don't know." "Um..." "I guess I closed my eyes." "There was incredible noise and I couldn't see." "I was choking on the smoke." "I didn't think that we had long to live." "And then that man" " Is he here?" "Are you here, Max Klein?" "He couldn't come." "He saved my life." "How did he do that?" "We couldn't see anything, and it was all smoke." "We couldn't even breathe, and I heard the sound of his voice." "He was shouting, "Follow me, this way."" "I had hold of my kids, and I just followed his voice." "He sounded so normal." ""Follow me to the light."" "I was scared." "But I saw him jump and call out:" ""We're alive."" "So I followed and then we were in the cornfield." "Safe." "I would have gone the wrong way." " I came here today hoping to thank him." " Same thing happened to me." " I followed him too." " Excuse me, you're leaving us?" "I don't belong here." "I wasn't on the plane." "Who are you?" "My son died in the crash." "I'm sorry." "No, that's okay." "It's all right." "Why did you come?" "I don't know." "I wanted..." "If anyone had seen my son or knew how..." "I'm sorry." " What was his name?" " Where was he sitting?" "They said he was in 21C." "That was right behind me." " Did he have red hair?" " Yes, kind of reddish-brown." " Tall man?" " Six feet." " And, um, a mustache?" " Yes." "You mean me." "Remember?" "We talked at the hospital." "Actually, we were on the other side of the plane." "Sorry." "Tsk." "Since it happened, I get confused, heh." "Anyone else remember that row?" "Twenty-one-C was three rows ahead of me." "They were smashed, flat." " Can anyone else help?" " Go ahead." "Say something." " Anyone else have information?" " Stop it." "Just let her go." "Why?" "This isn't doing anybody any good." "She wants to know what happened to her son." " My son died." " Yes, but you know how he died." "You were with him." "When was the last time you saw your son?" "His birthday." "About a month before." "I don't remember kissing him goodbye." "I know I did, but I just can't remember." "You're very young." "I'm not young." "How old was your boy?" "He was almost 2." "I'm sorry." " He wasn't with you for very long." " Jesus Christ!" "This is sadistic." "And we're not accomplishing anything." "Hello." "Hello." "Do you remember me?" "I'm Lisa, the flight attendant." "Yes." "I really wanted to see you." "I came here mostly to see you." "I think about you and your baby a lot." "Do you remember how I tried to help you with the seat belt?" "Help me?" "You told me that everything was going to be okay." "You think you helped me?" " Well, I tried, I" " Tried?" "You told me to hold him." "I couldn't." "You told me everything was going to be okay!" " It wasn't!" " Please, don't say that." "I didn't..." " I didn't know." " You didn't know what?" " Please, I'm sorry." " You told me to hold him." " You knew I couldn't!" " It's not my fault." "All right." "We're not here to blame each other, okay?" "You said everything was going to be okay, and it wasn't." "He died!" "You want everybody to talk." " But only if they say nice things, right?" " No, that's not true." "My son died!" "And blaming her won't bring your baby back." "Carla." "Carla." "Carla!" "Well, of course they think it's fair." "So what?" "What do you think?" "I'm being fucked." "Why the big law firms are getting much more for their clients?" "Hey, I'll get another lawyer." "Mr. Brillstein, I heard a woman got $2 million for her dead baby and I think I should get at least that." "I'll call you." "I'll call you every day." "Goodbye." "Uh, you have to understand." "They owe us." "They killed him and they have to pay." "You don't understand a fucking thing." "I understand, Manny." "I understand that I'm alone." " Thank you very much." " Thank you." "So pain and suffering are compensable." "Apart from the other compensable losses such as the $2 million Nutty Nick Stores contract." "We didn't have a contract." " Whose side are you on?" " Take it easy, Nan." "Don't tell me to take it easy." "You have a husband and the partnership insurance." " I have a deposition from Mr. Nutty Nick that he had every intention of hiring Mr. Gordon and Mr. Klein." "That's good enough." " He's lying." " Okay." "It's nice, but he's lying." " All right" " Hold on." "Do me a favor." "Don't say that." "They don't have to know your opinion, okay?" "Now, are you gonna work with me on this, Mr. Klein?" "I'm sorry." "You promised to do your best for Mrs. Gordon and her children." " You get a third of what we get, right?" " I know." "I'm terrible." "One-third is standard, Mr. Klein." "Naturally, it's in my interest to get as large a settlement as possible." "In fact, that's my job." "I don't apologize for it." "Oh, no, this is America in the '90s." "Nobody apologizes anymore." "They write a memoir." "Mr. Klein, this is the law, not some trick I invented." "Each minute that you and Mr. Gordon knew that you were going to die is compensable as pain and suffering." "Testify to the mental anguish that you and Mr. Gordon experienced and each minute is worth dollars." "Big dollars." "Dollars to which you and Mrs. Gordon are entitled." "What you really want me to say is that Jeff wept at the prospect of his wife widowed and his children orphaned." "It's a shame he died instantly." "If only he had been mashed up and died slowly in my arms, then Nan could..." " Jesus!" "Max." " ...really make out on this." " Fine." "Good night." "Are you ashamed of me?" "Is that it?" "I'm trying to make money off my dead husband so I don't meet your standards of widowhood?" "Let me ask you something." "If Jeff was here, what would he do?" "Oh, come on, Max, tell me." "I can't lie." "If you had died and he had lived, what would he be willing to say to help Laura and Jonah?" "Look, I know that he ripped you off for the tickets" "We don't know that." "Maybe he was gonna pay him back." "Are you punishing Jeff?" "Okay." "Okay, I'll say what you want." "Let it go." "I can let it go." "I can't live as a coward." "Oh, fuck." "So I argued that it wasn't fair to us, and he agreed." "He just said, "Life is unfair."" "And he changed the test to next week, and it's on Europe, not Central America." "I think he proved his own point, didn't he?" "Yeah, that's what I thought." "So, what did you do today, Dad?" "Well go ahead." "Tell him." "What?" "What did you do?" "Talk to me." "Tell me what's going on." "Talk to me, Max!" "Every day, you have to jump off a roof or stand in front of a train so you can lose your fear?" "Is that it?" "What about me?" "What about Jonah?" "You're like a crazy person." " I'm not crazy." " Black is white and..." "I love you." "We have lived together for 16 years." "They have been great." " Oh, not always." " Yes." "Always." "They've always been great for me." "Even when I hate you, I know I love you." "I know you were happy too." "Remember?" "Do you remember our marriage?" "Even if I could remember, then what?" "How can I live in the memory?" "You see, that's cruel." "Do you know that's cruel?" " That's the truth." " The truth?" "You didn't tell Jonah the truth." " It was very unfair to use him that way." " Fair?" "You tell me what's fair." "What am I supposed to do?" "Let you kill yourself?" "Hey, I walked away from that crash with my life." "That's what survived." " The taste and touch and beauty of life." " But I love that." " I won't give that up." " I don't want you to give it up." "Let me in." "Let me be part of it." "You can't." " I wish I'd been on that plane." " I'm grateful you weren't." "But you don't make sense." "You said it was extraordinary, so beautiful." "You're right, I don't make sense, and I don't want to." "I know that what you found is special." "Whatever it is and wherever it leads you, it's thrilling." "But there must be a way to live with it so that it does make sense." "I'm going to survive this." "I can't fight for you anymore." "You want to destroy yourself?" "I can't stop you." "I hope you make it." " You been dreaming a lot?" " Hmm, you bet." "Me too." "Were you alone on the plane?" "No, I was with my best friend, my partner." " He was decapitated." " Hmm." " You saw him?" " Mm-hm." "Well I should be going." " Thanks for coming." "You know if Manny has any interest in doing carpentry full time there's some people that I can talk to, uh, that would be happy to work with somebody like him." "Don't talk about my husband." "Oh, sorry." "No, no, it's all right, it's..." "I'm angry with him, that's why." "Oh." "Oh." " Don't look so scared." " I'm not scared." "I'm not scared of anything." "You're scared to kiss me." " I just did kiss you." " I mean for real." "I didn't want to offend you." "You're right." "I don't wanna be kissed." "I don't want anything." "But I do wanna go with you next time you take a drive." "Oh, look, I'm missing the swans." "When did this start?" "Oh, it's beautiful." "Kate is so serious, isn't she?" "Oh, look." "Adorable." "Ha, ha." "Bravo!" "Beautiful." "Beautiful." "Wonderful." "Wonderful." "Folks, this is the captain here." "We're going to, uh, make an emergency landing at Bakersfield Airport." "I'll come back to you just before touchdown." "At that time, you'll hear me say, "Brace, brace, brace. "" "Hi, this is Nan." "I'll call you back as soon as possible." "Bye." "I want you to go into the crash positions which your cabin attendants will illustrate." "I'm not going to kid you, it's going to be rough, maybe worse than that." "Pay attention to what the cabin attendants tell you and good luck to us all." " Could we be excused?" " Bring a bag of chips." "One each." " Stop it." "Let's play our game." " Jonah!" " But I..." " Oh, no, let them go." "It's a mistake to make anything but hamburgers." "Next time, we'll just have relish and ketchup." "What can you do?" "I don't mind as long as they're happy." "If we're gonna have Thanksgiving, let's do it right." "Jonah!" "Jonah!" "Oh, Max, don't play super dad." "Byron, honey, no." "Give me this, give me this." "This is garbage." "It's worse than garbage." " What are you doing?" " Go back to the table and finish." " Max, I want you to calm down." " I'm calm." "Listen to me." "I'm throwing this out." "When you die, you don't get another life." "They don't know what you're talking about." " Do you understand?" " It's not real, it's only pretend." " I know what dead bodies look like." " Shut up!" " Jonah." " It's going in the garbage." " Give him a break." "He's a little boy." " If it was up to you, he'd stay that way." "I don't care about the stupid game." " Don't be cruel!" " I don't want him to grow up to be a frightened child in a man's body." "He's just fine, Max." "It's you who is in trouble." "Now, give the game back." "Or keep on going, but right out of our lives." "Our son is innocent, Max." "Do you want to crash our marriage?" "Okay, but don't hurt our son." "I'm not scared to end our marriage." "Neither am I." "Then I'll keep on going." "Good." " Ahem." " Where to?" "Beautiful downtown Oakland." " Oakland?" "Ha, ha." " Ha, ha." " Such a shame." " Yeah." "It was gonna be gentrified and rebuilt, but then the recession hit." " The country's falling apart." " Yeah." "The United States is finished." "But you and me, we're in peak condition." "Ahem." "You hungry?" "In there?" "Remember, we're ghosts." "They can't do anything to us." "You're really nuts, you know?" " You are so crazy." " Ha, ha." "Yeah, you should talk." " Whoa." " Ow." " Oh, damn." " Jake, I can't believe you did that." "I'm not buying you another one, I'm not." "Look at this mess." "I've had it!" " We're going home." " So happy." "Maybe I am a ghost." "I was gonna buy him a lot of presents." "Well, let's do it." "Let's buy them." "What did he like?" "Hmm?" "How about a sword?" "My son used to love swords." " He still does, but he's too old to admit it." " What?" "What would your son like?" "Does he play with Legos?" "No, he's too young for that." "Oh." "Bristle Blocks." "Does he have those?" "They're great." "Babies can use them, older kids like them for years." "You want me to buy a present for Bubble?" " Bubble." "Now, is that really his name?" " It's Leonardo." "I called him Bubble." " I can't buy presents for him, that's sick." " Why?" "Because he's dead." " Of course Bubble is dead." " You're not serious." "You wouldn't do this to me." "What, you gonna buy presents for your dead father?" "My father." "I never bought him anything." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean it." "I just don't think that it's a good idea." "I made him something in school." "Carved his name in wood." "Made a little..." "Those little, uh, nameplates that you put on your desk." "I was 13 when he died and never had a chance to buy him a real present." "Let's do it." "Let's buy presents for the dead." "Come on." "Let's buy presents for the dead." " I can't." " Yes, you can." "Come on!" "Who are we gonna give them to?" "He liked to build things." "Shelves and chairs." "He made our dining room table." "Sometimes he'd give me a hammer, let me do the easy stuff." "Here, here we go." "Oh, yeah." "This is it." "This is what he'd like." "Every time we came into a hardware store, Dad would stop in front of one of these." "It wasn't as magnificent as this one." "He'd be totally silent and then he'd say:" ""I'd like to have that" and walk away." "Only thing I ever heard him say he wanted." "Excuse me." "Excuse me." " I'd like to buy this for my father." " That's nice." "I'll take care of that for you." "I've gotta get him a monster." "He just loves them." "All right." "I'll find him something." " Hey, Max." " Hmm?" " Come here." " Oh, look at this." "This is great." "Wah." "Hey, do you mind?" "Excuse me." "Sorry." "Look what I have for us." "A beautiful bevy of desserts." "Now this." "Nope." "Don't want any." " We should take that as a paperweight." " Ha, ha." " I want that." " This is the only thing you can't have." "Yes." "This is the only thing." "Now, I have several other magical..." "I have some magic mushrooms for you." " Mushroom, no." " Or better yet the beautiful simplicity of a ripe strawberry." "Hmm?" "Let's dance." " Come on." " No, I don't dance." "Oh, yeah." "Come on." "Up you go." "Yeah." "Hold on!" "Oh, I'm dizzy." " whee." " Good night." " So I'll pick you up?" " Okay." "Yeah." " Okay?" " My goodness, it's night." " Uh-huh." "Where are we going?" "We could disappear." "You all right?" "What's wrong?" "Max." "What?" "There's something that I gotta tell you." "You gotta promise that you'll never tell anybody, okay?" "All right." "Oh, Max." " You" " All right, calm down, now." "What is it?" "What?" "I wanna tell you something that nobody knows." "Do you remember just when we touched ground and it was like we were gonna land okay?" "Yeah." "What?" "I let go of Bubble." "I had him in my lap." "I looked at the road... and I thought we were gonna be safe, and the wheels bumped in." "I opened my arms." "I was safe in my belt, but he wasn't." "Oh, I see." "So it was your fault, hmm?" " It wasn't the accident?" " I wasn't holding him." " You killed your baby?" " Yes." "And the lawyer." " Brillstein?" " I didn't tell him the truth." " Manny wants the money" " I understand." "So you're also a liar?" "Yes!" "Yes, I lied!" "I lied to Father Conti!" "I lied in the confessional." "I lied to the whole church." "To everybody." " Carla, it wasn't your fault." " Oh, my God." "Oh, my God, oh, my God." " Carla, it's not your fault." " Oh, my God." "Carla." "Hail Mary, full of grace." "The Lord is with thee." "Blessed art thou..." " Carla, I didn't" " Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." " Holy Mary, Mother of God..." " I didn't mean you killed your baby." " ...at the hour of our death." "Amen." " Carla, you're not to blame." "There's no way you could have held on to your baby!" "We were going hundreds of miles an hour." "Of course you think it's your fault." "God gave you a child, it was your job to keep him safe." "But it's not your fault!" "Stop it now!" "Come on, stop it now!" "That's enough!" "Carla, I..." "Oh, shit." "No, oh, shit." "What have I done?" "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners..." "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." "Amen." "Hail Mary, full of grace..." "Carla, come on now." "I want you to get in the back." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on now." "Come on." "Our Lord is with thee." "Carla." "Just get in the back now." "That's it." "Okay." "This is your baby." "No." "I want you to hold it upright, like this." "I know it doesn't look like a baby, it looks like a toolbox." "It is a toolbox!" "I want you to pretend that this is your baby." "Pretend it's Bubble." "Okay?" "Now, this is your chance to hold on tight, to save him." "Okay?" "Okay, now." "Hold on to Bubble." "As tight as you can." "Pray to God to give you the strength to save your baby." "Hold on to your baby!" "Holy Mary, Mother of God!" "Pray for us now and at the hour of our death!" " Right behind you." "Careful, please." " Yes." "Mrs. Rodrigo." " How are you doing?" " I'm okay, it's just whiplash." " I was with Max." " I know, I know." "He's in intensive care, he'll be all right." "Just between us what happened?" " He was showing me something." " What?" "That brick walls are hard?" "How did you get here so fast?" "My beeper went off." "I was two blocks away." "I don't know, I've been really lucky lately." "I mean, I know it's terrible to talk about luck when you've suffered so much." "Have you seen a doctor yet?" " No." " No?" " Are you okay?" " Yes, I'm fine." " What happened?" " Mr. Klein drove into a brick wall." " What?" " You don't understand." "The flight attendant told me to hold Bubble." "I thought I wasn't holding him tight enough." "I didn't think that my hands were together when we hit." "Ooh, ooh, ooh." "Let's be careful about what we're not sure of." "Manny, I thought I could save him." "Max showed me that I couldn't have." "There was no way." " Wait, he crashed the car on purpose?" " Yes, to show me!" "That's it." "That nut ain't gonna come close to you." "Just a minute." "Come here." "Listen, listen, listen." "Our case is good." "Actually, we could even improve our numbers here." "Hi." " You must be Jonah." " Yeah." "I'm a friend of your daddy's." "Is your mom home?" "Yeah, come in." "Mom!" "Mom!" " Uh, there's a woman to see you." " I know." " I think" " Go to your room." " I was just" " Go to your room!" "Hi, I'm Carla." "I know who you are." "This is a very nice house that you have." " Please, sit down." " Thank you." "You know, I'm sorry to bother you like this, but I thought that it would be good if we talked." "Mm-hm." "I called the hospital." "They said that Max is, um, doing okay." "Well, I don't think he's doing okay." "How are you?" "Oh, I'm okay." "I really wasn't hurt." "You know, I came by because I..." "Well, I just wanted to say, you know..." "Well, I can, uh imagine what you must be feeling about what has happened." "Really?" "You can?" "I know you must be angry with me, and you have every right to." "I'm not angry with you." "Why should I be angry be with you?" "Wasn't it Max's idea?" " I know it was a crazy" " He must be in love with you." " It's not like that." " To risk his life for you." " No." " Isn't that love?" "No!" "Look, um, I'm sorry." "I didn't come here to argue with you and I think I'd better go." "I'm sorry." "No, please stay." "Okay." "I am very sorry about your little boy." "Thank you." "You know when he died I had nothing." "I couldn't feel anything." "Now I can feel something." "I can feel something inside besides the pain for Bubble." "That's because of Max." "He would talk to me." "I mean, he'd talk to me like nobody else ever has." "We would have these great conversations, and they were weird but they were so exciting..." "It's not what you think." "He's my friend." "He's my best friend." "It's like God sent him to me." "It's like he sent me my own angel." "Let me be honest with you, Carla." "Maybe this wonderful friendship that you have might have helped you." "But it hasn't helped Max." "Maybe our marriage is over." "But I have a son, and I want him to have a father." "Max is not an angel." "He's a man." "He cannot survive up there." " Hey, you" " Hey." "How you doing?" "I got you these, um, chocolates." " I figure that's what they give patients now." " Unh." "Here." " How's your head?" " Hurts." "You know, I just..." "I really wanna just tell you how much..." "I just wanted to say how wonderful you are." "You look happy." "You know, it's probably because Manny moved out." "I told him to." " Are you all right with that?" " Yeah." "You know, um, I visited Bubble's grave." "For the first time, it was okay." "I'm glad." "But, you know things can't go back to the way that they were." "You know what I mean?" "I want you to go home, Max." "I want you to live again." "Heh." "I'm not a ghost anymore." "I can't get back." "Yes, you can." " I don't want to." " Oh, Max." "I wish I could help you, Max." "We could disappear, Carla." "I can't anymore." "I'm back." "I want to try living on planet Earth for a while, heh." "You can't save everybody, Max." "You gotta try taking care of yourself." "Say goodbye, Max." "Goodbye?" "Well, why do we have to say goodbye?" "Because it has to be that way." "I don't wanna say goodbye." "Just..." "Just say it like it means nothing." "Bye, Max." "Please, Max, say it." "Bye, Carla." ""The soul comes to the end of its long journey and naked and alone, draws near to the divine."" "How you feeling?" "Okay." " A hundred and one point four." " Hmm." "Let's see." "Are you gonna stay?" "I don't know." "We'll see." "Sorry about the video game." "It's okay." "You didn't break it." "Heh." "Good." "What is it, Max?" "I want you to save me." " These are for you." " Okay, thank you." "Ah, you're here." "Great." "Listen, it may be premature." "I don't wanna jinx it, but I think I'm gonna have it all locked up tomorrow." "So champagne, assorted goodies, a little celebration." "It's an incredible story." "Because of your suicide attempt-- Don't argue." "That's how I presented it to them that you were suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and that they were gonna be on the hook if you killed yourself." "I know, I'm terrible." "Ha, ha." "What a situation." "I mean, what am I gonna do?" "It's incredible." "Ha, ha." "Anyway, this morning I hondled with Intercity's lawyer for hours and we got close really close, to big dollars for you, Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Rodrigo." "But I think we're gonna make out like bandits." "I know, I'm horrible." "But listen to this." "Ha, ha." "An hour after I get the call from the airline lawyer I get one from the insurance carrier." "Ha, ha." "What a situation!" "I mean, I know I'm terrible to take advantage but there's been some fuckup in their communication." "They both think they're the one designated to negotiate with me." "Ha, ha." "So I played dumb." "Started doing numbers with the insurance guy and his offers are even higher." "Ha, ha." " Millions, we're talking millions." " No, Max!" " Oh, shit." " Max." "Max." "This is it." "This is the moment of my death." "We're gonna make it, Max." "He's gonna bring us in." "He's gonna bring us in." " There's a boy alone up there." " What?" "I'm gonna sit with him." "Max." "Max." "It's gonna be okay." "You're gonna be all right." "Go, please." "Back to your seat." "Everything's okay." "All right, now put your head down." "Close your eyes." "It'll be over soon." "Everything's wonderful." "In the kitchen there is a phone!" "It's an emergency, it's an allergic reaction!" " Jonah!" " What's happening?" "What's happening, Dad?" "Dad!" "Dad!" "No, Max, no, no!" "Follow me to the light." "Max!" "No!" "Max!" "No, Max!" "No, Max!" "No!" "Max!" "Max!" "No!" "No, Max!" "Max!" "Max!" "I'm alive." "I'm alive." "I'm alive."