"Uh, Janine?" "I wonder if you could tell me, how long I might have to wait." "Because I left Aunt Ruth at home in charge of Dad and I'm just..." "You'll have to see Dr. Wally." "Dr. Surabh is on vacation." "See Doctor who?" "I'll be right back." "I suppose I should tell you needles bother me a little." "All right, Augustina, could I have your arm, please?" "Do you mind if I call you Augustina?" "Well, my name is Bessie." "Bessie!" "Of course." "I'm sorry." "It's been a bit hectic around here." "Now, where'd I... where did i put the what chama call it?" "The tourniquet?" "Yeah, that's it." "Uh..." "Oh, I'm sitting on it." "Usually Dr Surabh handles the patients." "Uh, okay." "But I'm a very good pathologist." "I bring my father Marvin and my aunt Ruth in quite a bit to see Dr. Surabh." "Yes, I think I've seen your father in the front." "He's a very frail man?" "Dad's a bone You could snap him like a twig." "I hope they're all right." "Oh, well, they're fine." "Good." "Yeah, except Dad's dying." "He's been dying for about 20years." "He's don't real slow so i don't miss a thing, and..." "Well, Dr. Surabh, he's really worked a miracle with Aunt Ruth." "You know, she's had constant pain from her back since the time she was born." "But, but he had her get this, um, electronic anesthetizer, you know?" "Where you put the wires right to your brain, and any time she has a bad pain... she just turns the dial." "That's wonderful." "Of course any time she uses it, our automatic garage door goes up." "But that's a small price to pay." "Oh, I agree" "Are those all for me?" "Dr. Surabh gave me very specific instructions." "Okay." "That seems like a lot of blood." "If it seems like a lot of blood that's because it is a lot of blood, so what you're feeling is perfectly normal." "Why don't we get this over with?" "This is sealed so it's sterile." "Oh..." "I think I'm gonna come back later." "It's just a vitamin deficiency, right?" "So, I'm just..." "I said it might be a vitamin deficiency." "Come on!" "Good evening." "Bruno's Hold please." "Lee!" "What?" "Telephone." "Mmm, okay..." "It feels so hard." "Don't touch it." "There's no reason to be putting your hands in your hair unless you're a very nervous person." "There's no reason to be nervous, ever, so long as you have a good, positive mental attitude." "Switch." "Quietly." "Yeah." "Yeah?" "Excuse me." "Where do you..." "Where do you take, uh..." "Hey, where's your brother?" "He started it!" "Hey!" "When we heard what happened, it just broke our hearts!" "You can... make it your own until you get on your feet." "Do you have any relatives?" "No." "Well, my boys." "No relatives." "That can be a blessing." "No, no!" "Please, Lance, don't!" "Don't!" "No, Lance, don't!" "Stop!" "I'm warning you!" "Don't!" "No..." "You disgust me." "We didn't make love." "We had sex..." "like animals." "Like pets!" "Hi, honey..." "Lance just raped Coral." "I am so surprised, because Coral just performed the surgery on him... that got his sight back." "Coral's the doctor?" "Has been for weeks now." "And does that ever make Amber jealous." "Did you give Dad his 2:00?" "I was going to." "Ruth." "I asked you to do one little thing!" "Oh..." "Dad!" "All right, all right." "Open." "Open up." "Open up." "Oh, you sucked all the ink off the Yhatzee dice." "How are we gonna play?" "Huh, Dad?" "All right, all right, come on." "Are you okay, huh?" "Ah, is this his 1:00?" "Hmm?" "Stupid me!" "I'm so useless!" "No, you're not!" "All right, now come on." "Let's quit hogging the bed." "Come on!" "It's my cure." "You used to blame your pain for everything, and now you blame your cure." "Come on, open." "That's right, good." "Come on, open." "Bessie, what happened to your arm?" "Oh, the doctor took a little blood." "It looks so tender." "Shouldn't you see a doctor?" "I just came from the doctor." "I have a vitamin deficiency." "You don't make stinky often enough." "I do so!" "Stinky is poison." "You have to get rid of it." "That's why when you're constipated, you have a headache." "Ruth, he has to have his pills at the same time every day!" "You usually give Marvin his pills." "But today I asked you to!" "I wish you wouldn't leave me home alone." "What if he tries to kill himself with his Par cheesi men?" "Dr. Surabh explained this to you." "He puts things in his mouth because he likes the way they feel." "What if he dies while you're out of the house?" "Then you'll call me, and I'll come home." "Oh." "All right?" "Do you want me to make the tomato soup?" "No, you' re just going to make a mess of it" "I'll get you one of my vitamin pills for your deficiency." "I'll get some real ones later." "Mine are real." "Do you want Pebbles or BammBamm?" "Mmm." "Oh, no!" "Oh." "Dad!" "Oh." "Oh!" "Oh!" "Wait a second." "Okay, okay, I know." "Let me do this for you, all right?" "Look what I got, Dad." "Look at that." "Look at that, Dad." "See?" "Isn't that nice?" "Is it nice, Dad?" "What?" "What do you see there?" "Is that the Northern Lights there?" "Uh-huh, over there?" "Okay, Dad." "Now," "I got you some carrots and some butternut squash." "Well, all right." "Then, how bout some tomato soup?" "And some juice?" "And what does that face mean," "Mr. Innocent, huh?" "You mind if I smoke?" "Yes." "Thank you for asking." "How bout if i blow it out this way?" "I'm afraid there's no smoking anywhere on this floor." "Okay, okay, I'll be real quiet." "It's good to see you here, Lee." "May I call you Lee?" "Sure." "We've missed you on other days." "So has Hank." "Yeah, well, I'm sorry." "The..." "I wish I could visit more often, but..." "Mm... hmm..." "You know." "You're not a nurse are you?" "I'm a psychiatrist." "So you're the one that Hank talks to." "I'm in charge of his therapy." "Well, you know he lies." "Mm... hmm..." "He told his guidance counselor at school that I beat him." "Mm... hmm..." "So, see what I mean?" "Mm... hmm..." "Oh!" "So." "See, now you're thinking, I wounder if she does beat him." "Is that what you think I think?" "Don't you?" "Do you want me to think that?" "What do you mean?" "What do you think I mean?" "What do you mean." "What do I think you mean?" "What do you think I mean by What do you think I mean?" "We'd like for you to become more involved in Hank's therapy." "We'd like for you to come more often for visits." "Doctor, can I be honest with you?" "I have forced my way through school, and I'm about to get my degree." "And I'm very picky now about the kind of guy I'll do with." "And I ke..." "I used to keep a really clean house." "Hank makes fun of my degree in cosmetology." "He terrorizes any guy I go out with." "This last one, Lawrence, Hank made fun of his being on parole." "He made fun of how he holds his liquor." "He made fun of his Pinto." "The point is, Hank cost me a potentially good relationship." "And as for my house..." "Hank is not something I can control." "So what's the point of my visiting?" "He says he misses you" "Well, I'm here." "So let me see him." "You want one?" "No, thank you." "Hi, Hank." "It's Mom." "Can you hear me?" "Okay, well, um..." "You be good." "I..." "I'll leave you some of these here... so when you wake up you can have them waiting." "You sure you..." "No, no, thanks." "Okay, well, uh, I'll see ya." "Does this count as a visit?" "Do you think this counts as a visit?" "Uh." "Excuse me." "Oh, uh, don't be surprised if Dr. Wally is late." "He was an 11-month baby." "Can you imagine that?" "I, on the other hand, I..." "I was premature." "Sorry to have kept you waiting." "I got stuck at the hospital." "Oh, you must be very busy." "I wanted to check on your tests." "I was telling her that I weighed one pound when I was born." "No, you didn't Bob." "I, I was this big." "Oh." "Follow me." "Fo..." "Not you, Bob." "Follow me." "So, how are we today?" "You tell me." "Dr. Wally speaking." "Yes, Bob, I know there's someone waiting in my office." "I'm in my office." "That's all right." "Yes." "Yes." "Is there a problem?" "No, no, he's just neq here." "He'll get the hang of it." "No, no, no, no." "I meant with my blood test." "Did it get lost or something?" "Because..." "I really was getting myself all worked up." "I was thinking all kinds of horrible thoughts." "No, it didn't get lost." "But what I would like to do is... run some other tests simply to rule out certain possibilities." "What are the possibilities?" "There are a number I would like to rule out." "Are we still thinking I have a vitamin deficiency?" "We may have ruled out that." "Do you think we should?" "Should we have ruled that out?" "No reason to be nervous." "I'm not nervous." "Good!" "What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna give you a local anesthetic... and I'm going to remove a little bone marrow from your hip." "What?" "I don't mean to be noisy, but what is the test for?" "Why don't you let me do the worrying for now?" "I'm probably thinking it's something much worse than it actually is." "Is it something serious, like a brain tumor?" "Oh, no." "M. S?" "No!" "Cancer?" "Well, one of the possibilities I was hoping to rule out is leukemia." "My mother had..." "I know." "I saw that in your file." "Hold all my calls, please." "Bessie, I just..." "Dr. Wally speaking." "Yes, that was me just then." "Didn't you recognize my voice, Bob?" "That's all right." "That's what I get for hiring my own brother." "I haven't been feeling as badly lately, haven't been nearly as tired." "Why don't you lie on your side and face the wall, and we'll get this over as soon as we can?" "What does it mean if it is leukemia?" "There are a variety of leukemias... and a variety of treatments." "If you have, for example, chronic myelogenous leukemia, a bone marrow transplant is a very real option." "We would then test members of your family for possible donors." "You do have family." "Dad and Ruth." "I thought your file mentioned a sister." "Oh, yes, I do." "I..." "I have a sister Lee." "Yes..." "Good." "Oh!" "I just had it done last week and it's driving me crazy!" "Do you think God's punishing me for vanity, or is it always that way?" "Oh, my God!" "If you have a permanent done right, it shouldn't itch you at all!" "Convent." "Sister..." "Lee Lacker, please." "Sister Lee Lacker, telephone!" "Hello?" "Hello!" "Lee?" "Hello?" "Hi, it's me..." "Bessie." "Bessie?" "What's wrong?" "Mm... hmm." "Uh... huh." "They had reservations about letting Hank go at all." "A week was all we could get approval for." "Yeah, but if one of us is a match, then we gotta..." "We'll deal with that then." "Hey" "Look at you." "You look like a pig." "I'm working on an engine." "So they don't let you shower?" "Look, they told me you were here so I came, all right?" "You behaving yourself?" "They're not strapping me down anymore." "Well, don't abuse that privilege." "So." "How come you're visiting me?" "What do you mean?" "I don't need a reason to visit." "How come you never visited before?" "I did." "You were unconscious." "How can that be a visit if I didn't even know you were here?" "I can't take responsibility... for when you're conscious or unconscious, all can do is make the effort." "Your mother has something to tell you It's not good news." "But Doctor says it's okay to tell you because, partially, I have no choice." "What?" "Your Aunt Bessie down in Florida has leukemia." "She's not doing so well." "There's a possibility she might die." "I didn't know I had an Aunt Bessie!" "She's been to the house." "When?" "Right after your dad and I got married." "Mom, I wasn't born yet." "Look, I know I mentioned her to you." "She's my sister!" "I didn't know you had a sister." "You know how every goddamn Christmas I say to you," "Looks like Bessie didn't send a card again this year either?" "Oh, yeah." "That's your Aunt Bessie." "My sister." "And because we're her nearest relatives, they want us to get tested... cause maybe they could save her life and do a bone marrow transplant or..." "It's only for a week." "Doctor says it's okay to go." "Why would want to go?" "Because one of us might save her life." "Go, go, go, get cleaned up." "I'm not gonna take you like that in the car." "Hank, isn't there something you anna say to your mother before you leave?" "But is this gonna take long?" "Because we should go." "Mom?" "I'm really sorry I burnt the house down." "Is that it?" "Because I'm really anxious now to get on the road." "Oop, no matches." "Mom, I gotta light the thing." "Come on." "Charlie, here, light this for him please." "Being confined to your bed is nothing to be afraid of." "I'm not confined to my bed." "I'm just..." "I'm a little tired today." "I was confined to my bed most of my life." "You find things to do." "Like what?" "Oh!" "Well, uh, you can sleep." "Or you can lay there awake." "Uh... huh." "Ah, do you want any of this?" "Oh, no, no, no." "You must eat all of that to make yourself strong." "How's Dad?" "Oh, he's fine." "Do you want your orange?" "No, no, you can have it." "Well, no, not if you're going..." "Thank you." "Does he miss me?" "Well, I haven't actually told him you're gone." "What?" "Doesn't he wonder where I am?" "Well, I tell him... you're just in the other room busy with something." "And then he falls asleep and when he wakes up I say, he just missed you." "Who does he think that nurse is living with you?" "I pretend not to notice her." "What do you mean?" "If she walks in the room while I'm there," "I pretend she's not real, that she doesn't exist." "Then what does Dad think?" "I think he thinks he's hallucinating." "Ruth, you have to tell him." "The only time it seems to bother him... is when she carries him to the bath and then I say," "Oh, Marvin, look, you're flying!" "Bessie'll wanna see this!" "And I run into the other room to get you." "He must think he's losing his mind!" "What am I supposed to tell him?" "That... that his little girl is..." "Oh, I'm..." "Then he'd really think he was losing his mind." "He'd be so upset." "It would be so upsetting to him." "He's your father All right, Ruth, all right." "I wouldn't know what to say." "Here." "Here, here." "Just tell him I'm gonna be fine, Ruth." "I know I am." "See?" "That's okay." "Sure." "Okay?" "What's Grandpa like?" "I don't know, Charlie." "It's been a while." "Why haven't we seen him before?" "He's been sick." "We were in Ohio." "It's hard to travel with little kids." "I don't know." "What's Bessie like?" "I don't know." "This is the first time I even heard from her in 20 years." "Why haven't you heard from her in 20 years." "I couldn't help her when Dad got sick." "I guess she got mad at me." "Why?" "Jesus, Charlie!" "Shut up!" "Read your book." "Have you ever heard of Larry Lacker?" "Who?" "My dad." "He's like the greatest race car driver ever." "No, I never, uh..." "I never heard of Larry Lacker." "No?" "Those guys know Dad." "Hi" "Bessie!" "Come on, let's go." "Hey, I was listening to that." "Let's go." "Come on." "Come on, come on, come on, come on." "Hello?" "Bessie?" "Lee?" "Oh!" "Oh..." "God." "What are you staring at?" "Well, oh, my, my goodness, oh." "My goodness!" "Oh, look at you." "What?" "Oh, just look at you!" "Oh." "God, are you that old?" "Cause how old does that make me then?" "Why, I look old?" "Well..." "Oh, you're a lot..." "Well, you're a lot older, but..." "Yeah, well." "Well, you look really good though, Bessie." "You do!" "I like your hair." "This is a wig." "It's, uh, It's from my chemo." "Oh!" "Yeah, it... well..." "I know it's a wig." "I don't know why I pretended not to." "Not that it looks like a wig." "No, I mean..." "Thanks." "Hey, I'm wearing a fall, Look." "See?" "Mm... hmm..." "I always loved this length, but I never had the patience for it." "I just... wear it when I want to look really great." "You look good though." "Thank you." "Why don't you sit down?" "I gotta put these to soak." "Dad had himself a little accident." "Oh!" "How is he?" "Oh, he's still with us." "Let me help." "Oh, no... no, no... no, no." "You sure?" "No, I've been doing it this long." "Daddy, it's me." "Lee." "All the way down from Ohio." "Lee, I don't know if you should smoke in the house." "Oh..." "Dad's oxygen tanks." "But you could smoke in the yard." "I don't have to smoke." "Ooh, look who it is!" "Aunt Ruth, you're up and about." "Oh, it's my cure." "I'm part machine." "Give me a hug!" "Oh!" "Oh, give me a real hug!" "I won't break." "Oh, oh, Jesus, sweet Jesus!" "Oh!" "Oh, that's much better." "Oh." "Yes, uh..." "I brought cookies!" "Oh, thanks, Lee." "Oh, Dad and Ruth aren't allowed sugar and I'm trying to stay away from it too." "But this is just a lovely canister." "Oh, I'm missing my program." "Oh!" "Yeah, you go watch your program." "Where are your boys?" "Couldn't you get Hank out of the mental institution?" "Bessie, we don't like to call it the mental institution." "Oh, what do you call it then?" "We call it the nuthouse or loony bin to show we have a sense of humor about it." "Well, where is he?" "Where's Charlie?" "I got myself two grown nephews I've never even seen." "Now, I did invite you up to Ohio for both of their christenings." "Remember?" "They're sitting in the car." "The car?" "Bessie, Hank will do things like this just to get attention." "They say I should just ignore it, or give him an ultimatum." "He hasn't agreed to be tested for the transplant yet... because he knows it'll make him the center of attention." "He hasn't?" "No, Don't worry." "He will." "I'll make him..." "if I have to." "How are you gonna make him?" "You can't make him come in from the car." "Hey, you two!" "Charlie!" "Hank, what the hell are you doing?" "I wanna hear number one." "They're doin a top 100 countdown and I wanna hear number one." "Well, what number are they on now?" "Eighty-six!" "You get out here right now." "I'm warning you!" "You get outta the car right now!" "Do you hear me?" "Hi, I'm your Aunt Bessie, who you never laid eyes on, and I don't care how grown-up you are, I expect a big, fat hug." "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh, no, you must be Charlie!" "Huh?" "Well, hi." "Look who's here." "Look who's here!" "Hank, Charlie, this is your aunt Ruth." "Come on, say hello." "All right, now which of you handsome boys is in the mental institution?" "Oh." "Give me a hug!" "Well, would you all like to see Dad?" "I know he's so excited about meeting everybody." "Yeah, sure." "Let me get him ready." "I know he wants to make a good impression." "Marvin, company's coming." "Company's coming." "Come, come." "Oh, Marvin!" "Well..." "Dad?" "Dad?" "This is Lee, your daughter." "And there's Charlie, right there." "You see him?" "Yeah!" "And, and..." "Hank!" "Your grandsons!" "Hi." "It's okay, Dad." "Hank didn't mean anything." "I didn't mean to do..." "He's just not used to a lot of people." "What did you do?" "I didn't do anything." "I said hello." "Maybe we should just clear out of here." "Just give him a second!" "Lee?" "Hey, did your Aunt Bessie offer you a chip yet?" "Well, that's what they're there for." "Yeah, but he has to wait to be asked." "Put the chip back, Hank." "Put it back." "Put back the chip!" "Lee, I put them out there for the kids." "You have to understand." "He has to wait to be asked." "Hank, would you like a chip?" "No, thank you, Aunt Bessie, not right now." "Your aunt offered you a chip." "Now the polite thing to do would be to take one." "I don't want a chip right now." "Eat or no Disney World!" "I could give a fuck about Disney World!" "That's it, get out!" "Out, out!" "I don't care where." "Just so I can't see you." "Charlie, would you like a chip?" "Go ahead, honey, if you want one." "Oh, take a bunch." "Not too many." "You don't want to ruin your supper." "And don't get any crumbs on your aunt's nice, clean floor." "No, no, no!" "No, Lance." "No!" "Not Amber, No!" "No, Lance, that's Amber!" "No!" "No, no, no, no." "Shh, shh." "No, Lance, that's Amber." "No." "No." "No, no, no." "I'm not used to finding somebody else out here." "Sorry." "You want me to go back inside?" "No!" "No." "Unless..." "Are you not supposed to be out here?" "Will your mother care?" "Nah." "She's asleep." "I don't see any harm in it." "We're all really glad you're here." "Yeah." "We should do it again in, like, another 17 years." "Well, your mom and I haven't always gotten along." "That's... why I haven't been in touch so much." "Uh... huh." "I wish you could have really known your grandfather." "He would have loved having a boy around." "Do you ever wish he'd just die?" "Hank, don't ask that!" "Why not?" "Cause... it's rude." "You know, I haven't made up my mind about gettin tested yet." "Okay." "What are you doing with those tools?" "Oh, I was just lookin' at'em." "I'll put'em back." "I didn't think you were gonna steal'em, Hank." "You can have'em if you want." "Really?" "Well, sure!" "You're just gonna give'em to me?" "Sure." "Why not?" "Wow." "These are really cool tools." "Yeah." "They were your granddad's." "I think he'd like you to have them." "The hospital probably won't let me keep them anyway." "Well, you're not going to be in there forever." "When i go back, they're going to move me into a place for adults." "Why?" "I turn 18in, like, three weeks." "Oh!" "Happy birthday." "If the fire hadn't spread up the street, it wouldn't be such a big deal." "But now they want to make sure I'm not some sort of a threat." "Oh, you're not a threat, and I'm sure they see that." "You're probably the best one..." "There's this one dude on my floor." "Held a razor blade under his tongue for, like, five hours." "He talked to the orderlies, he ate, and everything." "Why on earth would he do that?" "He was trying to break my record." "Hank... what do you want to be when you grow up?" "I am grown-up!" "So Marvin liked to fix stuff?" "Mmh." "God, he used to make your mother so mad." "He'd leave that radio lying around the house in pieces, and, and she used to love to turn it up and dance wild around the house." "Mom liked to dance?" "Oh, you bet!" "So, who's this right here?" "What?" "Let me..." "Let me see." "Oh, that's your grandmother." "She looks like Mom." "Mmm, Yeah, she takes after her." "Do you want this too?" "No, I don't care." "No?" "I'm gonna keep it then." "I don't think I'm gonna get the test." "What do you think about that?" "Can I ask why?" "No reason." "Maybe your mom wouldn't want you up this late." "All right." "All right." "You know somethin'?" "Nobody ever does anything to be nice." "They always want to get somethin' out of it." "And you believe that?" "I mean, the first time I hear from you is when you need somethin from me." "Well, I Why do you think I spent the last 20 years of my life down here?" "Because I got something out of it?" "Yeah, or you wouldn't have done it." "Oh, Hank!" "Or maybe you just wanted to hide out for a while." "Or you thought you could never find a husband." "When you're not around, a nursing home can do this job for the cash." "Your mother would never put them in a home." "Why not?" "She doesn't give a shit about anybody." "Um, I'm putting this with your other things." "Why?" "Because they're yours." "Okay." "Hank, you're my nephew and I love you... no matter what you've decided." "Okay." "Okay." "Good night." "Don't waste your time trying to make friends with him." "We're only gonna be here a few days." "Now, we are starting with a procedure to look for a match." "Please, Bob, I'll take this." "Now we are starting with a procedure to look for a match." "Any questions?" "How big is the needle?" "It's not so important that you understand the procedure, Bob." "Follow me, please." "Hank, are you fixing the door for Ruth?" "It's so boring around here, there's northen' else to do." "Well, do you want to keep me company?" "Yeah, sure." "It's a Ford, huh?" "Yeah." "What year?" "Oh!" "Would you like to drive, Hank?" "Are you sure?" "Yes." "You sure you want me to drive?" "I'm warning' you." "Okay, you can drive." "'Cause I'm kinda fast I'm warnin' you Be careful, all right?" "Don't drive too fast." "All right." "You're a natural-born driver." "Oh, I have an idea." "I know where we can go." "Um, turn here." "Did you know my dad?" "I met him once." "Doesn't your mom talk about him?" "Nah." "I know he had a race car, but..." "Really?" "Well, I know your mom was nuts about him." "Did you go to the wedding?" "No, uh... uh." "No, I know I was gonna be down here with Dad and Ruth for longer than I thought, so..." "I went back home to sell off the rest of my stuff." "They have you over for dinner or somethin'?" "No." "No, it wasn't much of a visit." "I just sort of stopped by." "Your Dad was asleep on the couch and Lee didn't want to wake him." "So... we stood in the hallway and we talked for a while." "Your dad was still asleep when I left." "How'd he seem?" "Yeah, he seemed nice enough." "What?" "Hank!" "Stop it, Hank!" "No!" "No!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "No, stop, wait!" "I mean it, Hank!" "No, no, no!" "Whoo... hoo!" "Oh, Hank!" "Whoo... hoo... hoo... hoo!" "Oh, Lee, we were just down by the water." "Oh, I'm..." "I'm sorry." "I..." "Dr. Wally called." "Oh." "He would like to test the boys next." "What's wrong, Dad?" "Dad, what's wrong?" "No, no, no." "No, Dad, it's just us." "It's just, it's just us." "It's just us!" "Oh, Dad!" "Oh, no, Dad, there's nothing to be afraid of." "Hey, Hank." "You awake?" "Mmm." "Y. You know, I know you might be a little bit afraid about having this procedure, but I hear the transplant is just like having a tooth pulled or something." "I'm not afraid." "I just haven't decided yet." "You're gonna have that test." "This is my sister we're talking about." "We're not gonna let her die just so you can have one of your moods." "Dad, okay." "No, no, no, no, No, Dad." "Correct me if I'm wrong." "But leukemia, that's one of the diseases they pretty much have worked out, right?" "Like diabetes." "I will correct you." "That is wrong." "What is gonna happen to my sister now?" "On the off chance you can't find a donor?" "Why don't you sit down?" "You see, without a bone marrow transplant, we have to rely on chemical therapies, what you would call chemotherapy, as a way of sustaining the patient over a number of years." "What kind of a number?" "Ten?" "Uh, a lower number." "Nine?" "A much lower number." "As the immune system suffers under the chemotherapy, she'll grow weaker." "And, and, there could be respiratory problems." "Sometimes patients become bedridden, totally dependent." "Hopelessly depressed." "Eventually you'll just have to find a full-time nurse to help you take care of..." "Help me?" "What?" "You can't take it all on yourself." "Your sister, your father, and then there's your aunt." "I'm not taking anything..." "Why would you think that?" "Well, I assumed..." "No, no, no." "I live in Ohio." "I just got a degree in cosmetology." "She's gonna be fine!" "Okay..." "Okay..." "Yes." "Yes." "How could one sister be so good... and the other so bad?" "So you're saying that Coral is good and Amber's bad?" "Coral used to be bad." "But she's been a saint ever since her car accident." "That Volvo was a blessing." "Come on, come on." "See?" "Whoop!" "I but they have really good care here, you know?" "Dad never put Mom in a place like this." "Do you remember how he cared for her?" "I was little." "I wasn't allowed in the room." "Excuse me." "I get my degree next quarter." "Well, you should be proud of that." "Oh, yeah." "I already did one freelance job." "I did hair for a TV commercial." "It's just local, but guess how much they paid me?" "I don't feel like guessing." "Guess!" "Guess!" "Three hundred dollars?" "That's right." "Why'd you guess that?" "It just popped into my head." "Most people would've guessed lower." "Three hundred dollars is a lot of money." "I feel like my life is finally starting." "Ladies?" "What a beautiful... room." "Wouldn't Ruth love this, Bessie?" "This place gives me the creeps." "Marry me, Coral." "Yes, Lance, yes." "I want to be your wife." "Oh, Coral, do you mean it?" "I'll drop the charges." "What are Coral and Lance up to today?" "I'm going to show you something over here that we're particularly proud of." "Uh, this is our state-of-the-art physical therapy room." "Right over here." "Oh!" "I wouldn't mind living here." "This is great." "Yeah, isn't that?" "Hello, Doctor." "Also we have a full range of activities for our residents." "Uh, computer games, a video library, sing-alongs, nerf basketball, date nights." "Who's Dad gonna date?" "You'd be surprised, Miss Wakefield." "Women outnumber men here five to one." "I don't think we can afford such a nice place though." "Well, if you dropped into a lower income bracket you could qualify for financial aid." "Lower?" "Seventy percent of our residents have qualified for assistance... by spending their savings and their home equity." "On something that has no resale value and cannot be considered an asset." "Lower?" "What do they buy?" "Most buy very elaborate tombstones." "I'm gonna wait in the car." "Do you have something that I can take with me?" "Of course." "Bet the boys are hungry." "Want me to make lunch?" "Why can't you take Dad and Ruth?" "I don't think so." "You could move down here." "You could have the house!" "No." "I got Hank to think about." "He's very unhappy there." "Of course he's unhappy." "If he were happy, he wouldn't be there." "You could have him transferred." "You could find a very nice place for him here." "You could have the whole house!" "You could have the sunshine." "You could find work down here, Lee." "No." "Why not?" "Just... no." "Give me one good reason. 'Cause I don't want to!" "I made this decision once already." "Hen Daddy had his first stroke, I made this decision the I was not gonna waste my life." "You think I've wasted my life?" "God, of course not." "I can't imagine a better way to have spent my life." "Then we both made the right decision." "What decision?" "Dad got sick and I came down to help out for a little while." "You didn't." "I had plans, I had a husband." "I couldn't come down." "You didn't come down!" "What makes you think for a second I didn't have plans?" "You know, you're just the most..." "Come on, say it." "Say it, say it!" "You've been saying it a million different ways since I came down here." "Leave her alone!" "What are you yelling at her for?" "She wants to tell you what a terrible person I am." "I have bent over backwards to be nice to you from the moment you walked in that door." "That's right." "You are nice to me when you want something." "What are you talking about?" "Come on, Hank." "You think Aunt Bessie's being nice to you... all of a sudden because she..." "what, felt an urge?" "What?" "Shut up." "Come on, come on." "Listen, did you ever get a birthday present from your Aunt Bessie?" "I thought about my nephews." "I thought about you all the time." "It's just..." "How 'bout a card?" "Did you ever get a card from your Aunt Bessie?" "We were not close." "We were..." "You didn't speak to me for 20 years!" "You're supposed to take care of your family." "I took care of my family!" "I raised two kids all by myself." "Never even heard from you people." "I am finally getting my life together." "Nobody's gonna take it away from me." "I can't wait to get out of here!" "Thanks a lot for helping me out, Charlie." "It's a lot to ask of someone to donate their bone marrow." "I think it sounds neat." "Could I have your medical history card, please?" "Bob." "Bob!" "Could I have your medical history card, please?" "What grade are you in now, Hank?" "Oh, I'm Charlie." "I'm Dr. Wally." "Um, you have to fill out one too." "Oh, no, he's not here to get the test." "Okay." "Hank, am I reading your medical card correctly?" "Uh, are you currently on lithium?" "Yeah." "It's a great drug, isn't it?" "Uh..." "Can I ask you something?" "Did you find you put on a lot of weight since?" "No." "No." "Hmm." "Nervous?" "No." "Uh, thank you." "Thank you." "You know, these offices used to be infested with bugs." "Well, bugs don't bother me." "No?" "Well, you know." "They crawl out of the drain in the boys shower." "Sometimes they, like, hide in the junk pile in the auto shop." "They, like, float around in the soap basin in the sink." "You get used to 'em." "I wouldn't." "There's this one dude in my room..." "There's 12 of us in this one room, right?" "This one dude, he catches bugs and he puts them on, like, this little leash." "A leash?" "Yeah, it's a hair leash." "He takes out a strand of his hair, he ties it around the bug." "The other end he tacks down under his bunk." "One time... he had this whole zoo of bugs walkin' around in circles all over the place." "Hank." "My friend, he grabbed the back of his cafeteria tray, and he smashed them all!" "That was funny." "Why are you making up these stories?" "What do you mean?" "These stories:" "Razors under the tongue, hair leashes." "I'm not makin' anything up." "Why did you pretend you weren't going to tested?" "Oh, you, you think I'm lyin' about that too?" "Okay, fine, you win!" "I'm lying!" "Hank, I..." "I haven't told you shit, all right?" "You don't know anything about shere they've got me now." "Then, tell me if you want." "No, you don't know." "Okay?" "Tell me, Hank." "You don't know!" "Tell me!" "I was in the hospital I hated it." "I was scared." "You know, there's this one dude..." "If this is another tall tale, I'm not interested in this." "I'm going inside." "I'm gonna see if Charlie's done." "I played in a pool tournament in my ward." "Mom tell you that?" "No." "I came in fourth." "It's true." "She doesn't think it's such a big deal, though." "Well, that's... great." "Got my toe broken in there." "How?" "This guy threw this garbage can." "It landed right on my foot." "Why'd he do that?" "No reason I know of." "There's a lot of drugs that float around in there." "Do you take them?" "Most of the time I just keep to myself." "Mm-hmm." "I think, like, what it would be like to be... someone else." "Like, I could have this house with all this land around it." "Have a bunch of dogs runnin' around wild and build, like, a go-cart track." "Man, those places make so much money." "We'd be rakin' that stuff in." "And nobody would know where I was." "Yeah." "Just be gone." "Most of the time I just think about..." "being' someplace else." "Then why aren't you?" "Hmm?" "Why aren't you someplace else?" "What do you mean?" "You're the one that told me people only do what they want." "Yeah?" "So?" "You must want to be there." "No, no way!" "Then show them you don't need to be there, Hank." "It's not easy like that." "I don't want you wasting your life in there, Hank." "Well, neither do I." "Then why are you still there?" "Because they put me there!" "Why did they put you there?" "'Cause I burned down the house." "Why did you burn down the house?" "Hank, you wanna come inside?" "We can get you started... while we're getting some orange juice for little Charlie." "Would you come back there with me?" "Sure, I would." "If-forgot my coffee." "Why are you drinking coffee so late?" "I don't know." "I..." "like it." "You have a way with Hank." "Oh!" "I don't." "Yeah, you do." "He's a good boy." "Is he?" "Sure, he is." "I wish I knew your secret." "I don't know." "I just talk to him." "You saying I don't?" "I'm tired, and we've got Disney World tomorrow." "I can fix that wig for you, you know." "Does it look bad?" "No." "But if you have a wig, you should try, uh, to have fun with it." "You should try different looks." "Uh... huh." "You know, maybe something sporty." "Maybe out-on-the-town, evening kind of... thing." "Well, I just brush it now and then." "Uh... huh." "I also have my whole makeup kit down here." "You wanna see?" "Now this is a really great night cream, Bessie." "This is..." "Oh." "Well, I don't know." "I never bother much with... makeup." "Hmm." "You should." "Because it's fun." "And you never know when you might meet somebody." "Oh, my goodness." "I haven't thought about a man in years!" "Oh... you're lying!" "Lee?" "I'm sorry if we haven't been seeing eye to eye." "I don't want us to fight." "I don't think we have been." "I want us to get along." "We do get along." "No, but I mean I don't..." "I don't want us to just get along." "I don't want us to be polite." "Well, okay." "I don't have any problem with that." "I..." "I want..." "I..." "Nothing much seems important to me right now." "I..." "We're sisters." "Oh." "Shouldn't we..." "No, he just startles himself sometimes, and then he goes right back to sleep." "Mmm." "Are you seeing anybody now?" "Usually." "I hope you have someone real in your life." "I don't have any trouble with that." "Well, I..." "I'm not talking about that." "Well, you should be." "Hey, there's no reason why you haven't had love in your life." "I had a true love." "You did?" "Yes." "Did he know?" "Yes." "How could I not have known this?" "Oh, he wasn't somebody that you would know." "Come on." "It's not like I'm gonna tell anybody." "Clarence James." "Who?" "Well, he was only around during the summers." "Oh, my..." "God!" "You went with a carny worker." "Well, he was a very nice person." "I, I didn't say anything." "This is why I kept it a secret." "Wow!" "Which one was he?" "He mostly ran the Ferris wheel." "Oh, yeah, I remember him." "He was cute." "Oh, yes." "And he had the funniest laugh." "He'd open his mouth real wide and... no sound would come out." "Oh, God!" "No sound would come out." "Wow." "So, uh, what happened?" "Well, you know how they used to have that last picnic... down by the river?" "Yeah." "Well, Clarence goes swimming..." "Yeah." "And he knows everybody's watching him and everybody's there." "His family, his friends and..." "You." "And me." "And..." "An..." "And he's, uh, laughing." "You know, he's making that monkey face, that..." "And this gets all of us laughing." "Then he dunks under the water..." "Yeah." "And he pops up again, and he's..." "He's laughing even harder." "Then he dives under again, and he doesn't come up." "And he doesn't come up." "Yeah." "And he doesn't come up." "What?" "Yeah." "Laughing and choking looked the same on Clarence." "He drowned." "And..." "We..." "Oh, God, we were just..." "standing there watching him." "Oh, my..." "God!" "I can't believe you never told me this." "If I couldn't tell people I had a carny boyfriend I couldn't tell them... my carny boyfriend drowned." "Yeah, but you should've told me." "We were never that close." "We weren't?" "No." "Want me to do somethin' with that wig?" "What?" "I don't know." "Let me see it." "Well, here." "No." "Y..." "You gotta take it off." "Oh?" "I'm not gonna hurt it." "Oh." "Here." "Lee..." "It's a good wig, Bessie." "It's nicely wentilated." "We can do something with this." "You want me to?" "Uh, sure." "Yeah, it's a good weave." "I'm glad that we made this trip." "I wish we could stay longer." "Here." "I'll go get my brush." "I found it." "Okay." "Whoa!" "Well, hello!" "Bessie!" "Wait a minute." "Do you like it?" "Oui." "Gettin' real hot in this room, huh?" "Huh?" "Is that too much wind for you, Hank?" "What?" "Is that too much wind?" "No, it's okay." "Stick your hand out the window, Charlie." "It's like an airplane." "Whee!" "Here we go!" "Whee!" "Whee... ee!" "Excuse me." "Here we go!" "Faster!" "Ooh, Charlie, faster!" "Faster!" "Ooh!" "Beep, beep!" "Comin' through!" "Hold on, Aunt Ruth." "Faster!" "Faster!" "Faster!" "Hey, Charlie, slow down." "Slow down." "Okay, we'll meet you by Pirates of the Caribbean in an hour." "An hour?" "Yeah." "Right where the line starts." "All right." "Bye." "Bye." "Oh, God!" "This Swiss Family thing tree house is huge." "I'm really proud of you, Hank." "For gettin' tested for Bessie." "You're disgusting." "Charlie, do you want me to push Aunt Ruth for a while?" "I like pushing." "Okay." "He's a good driver." "Well, I'll catch up with you." "I'm just gonna sit in the sun, okay?" "All right." "Bye, bye." "Bye, bye." "Hold on." "Here we go." "So why don't you pick out something nice for your Aunt Bessie?" "How about my bone marrow?" "You think she'd like that?" "Hey, look!" "Love Bug." "Remember?" "We saw that on TV." "We watched it together." "No." "I remember Dad took me to see Indiana Jones, though." "You know, I think you're doin' really well on this trip." "Sort of." "Stop it." "Tomorrow, when we go back, everybody's gonna hear about how well you did." "I said, stop it." "I'm not going back." "I'm staying with Aunt Bessie." "Peter pan." "Careful." "That was a cute movie." "Yeah, I remember I saw it with Dad." "Yeah." "No, you didn't." "Yeah, we went to a drive-in." "No." "I saw it in his old Thunderbird." "No, no, no, no!" "Not with your dad." "You wanna know somethin' about your dad?" "I'll tell you somethin'." "On Saturdays I..." "I worked." "Your dad took care of you." "And sometimes on Saturdays you would get hurt." "He said that you roughhoused too much." "Yeah, so?" "So..." "I would yell at you and tell you to stop roughhousing so much." "But you would still get hurt..." "every time I left you with him." "So I would yell at you and yell at you, and I would beg you to stop making him hurt you... because... he was my husband and I loved him." "And what was I supposed to do?" "Then Charlie was born." "So I packed you kids up and I..." "Dad never hit me." "Oh, yeah, he did." "No, I would remember that." "You were four years old." "You're the one that fought with him and not me, okay?" "Yeah, but he hit you." "My feelings for you, Hank, are like a big bowl of... fish hooks." "I can't just pick one up at a time." "I pick one up and they all come, so I just had to leave'em alone." "You're a liar." "Ohh," "Oh, my God!" "Don't touch her." "Somebody should get some help." "What happened?" "I fainted." "Yeah." "There was blood in my mouth." "Is your mouth still bleeding?" "Uh... uh." "No." "Did a doctor look at me?" "No." "He..." "He just thought you fainted, so he carried you in here..." "Who's he?" "To lie down." "Uh, Goofy." "Goofy?" "Yeah." "Goofy carried me to Mickey's house?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "He just probably..." "he didn't know you were bleeding, so maybe you... felt faint because you baven't been eating." "Maybe that's all it is I fainted 'cause I was scared." "I can't sleep anymore, Lee." "I never sleep." "I'm afraid to close my eyes because..." "Oh, Bess." "Oh, if I close my eyes, Don't, don't." "I'm not gonna wake up." "No, no, no, no." "And so I just jerk myself awake." "I yank myself awake all night long, and then..." "Yeah." "And then I pour myself a cup of coffee, but..." "I. I'm trying to be brave, but I'm so..." "Oh, darlin', I know, I know." "I'm scared." "I know." "It's all right." "But you're gonna be okay, you know?" "You're gonna be okay." "You are." "What do you have to be scared about?" "Come on." "You have..." "There's still Hank and Charlie to think about." "You're forgetting about them." "Huh?" "You're gonna be..." "You're gonna be okay." "Yeah, you are." "Where are they?" "They're sittin' outside." "You're so lucky to have those boys." "I know I am." "They're good boys, both of 'em." "We're fooling ourselves, Lee." "Hank and Charlie aren't gonna match." "I won't pretend any longer." "I have too many decisions to make before you leave." "No, we don't have to make any now." "We're gonna hear about the boy's tests tomorrow." "Hank?" "I haven't had reason to pretty myself up... since, oh, I can't think when." "Well, today is the day." "They almost got married once before." "But Amber set the church on fire." "Ha." "So, is Coral the same character... who shot Lance's dad in the head?" "Uh... huh." "And now they're getting married?" "Well, he lived." "And she felt awful about it." "Huh." "Oh!" "Oh, Charlie." "What a good job!" "Ruth, you look beautiful!" "Oh." "Don't make fun of me." "I'm not." "I'm just a silly old woman getting all dressed up for a TV show." "No, you're not." "Charlie, where's your brother?" "I don't know." "Hank?" "Hey!" "Hey." "What are you doin' up?" "Oh, I'm gonna get Dad's 1:00." "Oh, I was gonna do that." "I can do it." "You're supposed to be resting." "I am." "You want some snacks?" "I'm making some nachos here." "Better just cut me up some fruit." "Hello?" "Oh, yeah." "She's here." "What is it?" "It's Dr. Wally." "He wants to talk to you." "Ohh." "Uh, hello." "Oh, you did?" "Good!" "Um..." "Well, what is..." "I see." "Then, I should keep taking what I'm taking now." "No." "No, no." "No." "I understand." "N..." "I'm not." "Okay." "Thank you." "Good-bye, Doctor." "Well, um..." "They got the boys' test results back, and it looks like it didn't work out." "Oh." "Well, I mean, it's, it's pretty much what we expected." "We knew that the..." "What?" "Maybe they should do the test again." "Maybe they made a mistake." "Maybe." "Now..." "I'm gonna continue taking the therapies I'm taking now." "That's good." "That's real..." "That's good, because... those are good things to be doing." "Okay." "Um, we should tell the boys." "Well, I was in the middle of doing something." "I..." "What was I do..." "Lee?" "Oh, Dad!" "Oh." "You wanna go lie down now?" "No, no, no, no." "I'm..." "I'm fine, I'm fine." "I just, uh..." "Here, I can do this." "I just, uh..." "No, no, no, Lee." "It's okay." "Oh, Lee." "I've been so lucky." "Oh, Bessie." "I've been so lucky to have Dad and Ruth." "I've had such love in my life." "You know, I look back... and I've had such..." "such love." "They love you very much." "No, that's not what I mean." "No, no." "I mean that I love them." "I've been so lucky to have been able to love someone so much." "Yeah, you are." "Yeah." "Lee, we should tell Hank, huh?" "About the tests." "Yeah." "We will." "I better..." "I better..." "Where'er you going'?" "Uh, uh, I'm going'..." "Goin' into the kitchen." "Nobody's had any lunch yet, have they?" "Hey." "What?" "Oh, nothing." "But just..." "If you decide to take a ride or something, just..." "You oughta let me know." "I worry about you." "Okay." "Okay." "Dad?" "Look." "Ooh." "Hi." "Ooh." "Around and around." "Oh, yeah." "Yeah." "Yes." "Ooh, Ooh." "Dad." "Oh, see?" "See?" "Just us." "Look." "Dad, look." "Lee's here too." "You know Lee, don't you?" "Bessie!" "Oh, Bessie!" "You missed it!" "Coral finally married Lance." "But now, wasn't Lance married to Coral's mother?" "No." "Coral was married to Lance's father." "He's really a nice boy."