"I'm telling you, the whole thing is a big, fat lie." "I'm done." "You?" "Well, Brittany and I sort of said that we'd get each other two presents." "But one's okay." "Let's go." "Come on." "So, what do you think?" "Do I need a lawyer?" "Because you don't like your part?" "I don't see anybody taking the case." "But it's not a holiday pageant." "It's all about Christmas." "You know it, I know it, everybody knows it." "I don't know it." "I'm playing an angel." "There are no angels in the Hanukkah story." "There are no angels in the Kwanzaa story." "Do you even know what the Kwanzaa story is?" "Well, no." "But I bet it doesn't have angels." "What do you care, you're half Christian anyway." "But the other half of me isn't." "What about that half?" "What about Mom's half?" "Okay, you're right." "So stage a revolution." "Dump the halo, tell them you wanna play Elijah that way you don't have to show up, heh." "If you're gonna make jokes that go over my head, can you explain them?" "Okay, see, Elijah was..." "I don't care." "I'm too mad." "Whoa." "What?" "What is it?" " Joe Lies?" "Isn't that Madison's band?" " Yeah." "Oh, can I come?" "Come with who?" "With you." "You're gonna go, aren't you?" "Get in the car, Elijah." "Morning." " Well." "Good tidings to you, Dr. Brown." "What do you think of our decked halls?" "Oh, fine." "Christmassy." "What?" "No grousing that I didn't consult you before commencing with a decorative scheme." "No quick-witted barbs about my audacious integration of Victorian ornamentation with the more plebeian drugstore variety." "It's 8:00 in the morning." "You're gonna have to try and use less adjectives." "Your mood has not improved, you remain quite the dour little elf." "Amanda Hayes called." "My mood is fine." "And don't call me an elf." "It pisses me off." "Naturally wanna double up on the vacuuming duty." "Nothing more irksome than fallen tinsel strewn about." "I suspect three times a day should suffice." " I love the holidays." " Don't you just?" "Go grab that Hoover." "Okay, you're right." "I am in a bad mood." "Really?" "Forgive my undropped jaw." "I'm sorry, but I'm just..." "Look, I'm just completely overwhelmed." "I feel like I've been shopping since Arbor Day and I'm not even halfway done yet." "Single father at Christmas time." "You do have my sympathy." "Good, because I'm hoping to shamelessly exploit that sympathy." "I, uh..." "I could really use some help with my patient load." "Perhaps." "It is, after all, the season of charity." "Thanks." "Uh, wait, what is this?" "You're giving me John Hayes back again?" "All you have to do is go to the house and oversee his day-to-day progress." "You'll be fascinated by some of the work we've been doing." "It's very cutting edge." "And when I think "cutting edge," I think Harold Abbott." "From what I understand, you've been a human CD changer." "Hardly Nobel winning." "All right, scratch the cutting edge." "It's a simple routine once you get it down." "It's a little bit time-consuming." "Time-consuming is not a bonus." "I do have other patients to attend to." "I know, that's why I called some other doctors first about the case and no one would do it pro bono." "Which I find kind of ironic since this is the season of giving, but you with the tinsel and the Christmas balls, you really have the spirit." "Oh, don't go that route, sir." "It wears very poorly on you." "Look, you were his doctor once, Harold." "You took care of him." "He needs you now and Amanda needs someone to help her through this." "Amanda?" "Would you help me out on this?" "I could really use it." "Consider it my gift to you." "Thank you." "You do realize this means you'll get no sweater." "I don't know." "It doesn't seem big enough, after everything he did." "I can't believe there were candles." "Were they scented?" "Gardenia." "Which is my favorite smell." "Maybe they could engrave it." "Think they could fit "I love you, Ephram"?" " Absolutely, engrave it." "Then can we go?" " No, a watch is too boring." "I want my first Christmas present for Ephram to be original but if I tried too hard, I'll end up getting him a fondue set, which would be weird." " It depends." "Is Ephram a fan of cheese?" " I believe he's in favor of it." " Well, then..." "But I like the watch." "Maybe I should just get him both." "Ugh, I'm developing hives." "Seriously, I feel all scratchy." "Am I red?" "Because I feel red." "Hannah, you just need to see Christmas shopping as a survival game." "You just keep moving, bob and weave, avoid strollers and pack water." " Here." " Thank you." "Uh, we can leave if you have some stroke of genius about what to get my dad." "And keep in mind, I forgot his birthday last year, so this has to rock." "So I guess golf balls are out?" "Okay, well, what does he like?" "I don't know." "Um, bad music." "Argyle." "Mister Rogers?" "There should be some perfect hybrid of those things." "I know, right?" "Hmm." "What are you getting your dad, maybe I could copy?" "I haven't, uh..." "I don't know." "But they're coming out, right?" "Because I wanna meet them." "Yeah." "Uh, except, I don't think they're gonna make it, actually." "You're kidding." "In fact, not kidding." "What, are you going to Hong Kong?" "Because that'd be awesome." "Christmas just isn't a really big deal in my family." "It's pretty much just, uh, food and church, ha, ha." " Oh, I'm sorry." " No, it's fine." "I really don't care." "So, uh, can we get your dad something and go?" "Yeah." "Two pies for the county clerk's office." " What's up?" " You wanna sit down?" "It's pretty backed up." "It might be a while." "Look at you." "Yeah." "Gone all legit." "Got a new job, ahem." "I got my own T1 line." "Hey, uh, I got one of these too." "On my car." "Yeah, I know." "Weird, right?" "Not for me." "So you gonna go?" "No." "No, I don't..." "Why not?" "Well, I don't know." "Why would I?" "Why do, uh, people slow down on the freeway when they see a car accident?" "Those rubberheaders." "Neckers, Bright." "Neckers." "Right." "They stop because they can't help themselves." "It's like they wanna see a bunch of body parts spewed all over the road." "Intellectually speaking, they know that would make them hurl, but they stop because you can, because it's there." "So according to this rationale, seeing Madison's band will make me wanna hurl." "That's the reason to go?" "Interesting theory." "Come on, you're not curious what she looks like?" "It's been a while." " Yeah, of course I'm curious." "So?" "Go for the visual." "Oh, I know, I just bring Amy along..." "Dude, seriously." "I don't know how you made it this far without me." "Really." "You don't tell Amy." "She'd freak." " You said it was human nature." " It's male human nature, okay?" "Female human nature is different." "We're talking about jealousy and claws." "It's ugliness, man." "So I should lie to her?" "Well, lies of omission don't count as lies." "Did you tell Amy that you didn't brush your teeth this morning?" " Well, I did brush my teeth." " Pretend that you didn't." "Would you tell her?" "Well, why?" " No, I wouldn't." " This is the exact same thing." "Okay, here you go, Bright." "I, uh, put it on the city tab for you." "Thank you." "Uh, I don't think I should go." "Well you're a bigger man than I am, Ephram Brown." "But I guess we already knew that, heh." " You want a refill on that?" " Your friends suck." "No offense." "Gee, how could I take offense at that?" "No, but seriously." "They dump their kid on you at her junior year which is the hardest year ever." "They never call her, they're not gonna be here for Christmas?" "Did Hannah say she was upset about this?" "Well, she's not as upset as she should be." "Because she's not in touch with her rage." "Luckily, I am." "Uh, yeah, I can see that." "Do you have their number?" "I should call them." " Uh, what number?" " In Hong Kong." "I'll charge it to my dad." "Maybe if they heard from her best friend, they'd understand." "You know what, I could call them." "I can explain everything." "I'd rather do it myself." "But do you know what the time change is so that I don't call them in the night?" "Nina?" " Yeah?" " Do you know what the time difference is?" "Um, I don't know." "It's like, what, 12 hours maybe?" "There is no Hong Kong, is there?" "Well, technically, Hong Kong exists." "I could point it out on the map." "But Hannah's parents aren't there." "What?" "You're gonna have to talk to her yourself." "I can't do this part." "Talk to her about what?" "I don't even know what's happening here." "Hmm." "She lied to me?" "It is not a "lie" lie." "Look, you just have to talk to Hannah." "I do talk to Hannah." "We talk about everything." "She knows my entire life story." "This is like we're right back to where we started." "No, no, you're not." "Listen to me." "You know Hannah, you know what a good girl she is, she loves you to death." "So think about the reasons why she might keep something from you." "I don't know." "Is it bad?" "Oh." "Look, you can talk to her about it or you can let her come to you when she's ready." "Just please, don't be mad at her, okay?" " I need seven minutes." " Uh, it's okay." "I'm still home." "Oh, good." "The slower you drive, the better I'll look." "So, um, I had an interesting conversation with Nina today." "I'm not really sure the best way to approach it yet." "Oh, yeah?" "Would it be huge if we didn't go out tonight?" "Huh?" " I thought we were gonna, you know..." " Yeah, I know." "I'm just..." "I'm feeling a little under the weather, so..." " Hmm, West Nile virus." "Probably." "Hey, I think I should stay in." "I don't wanna get any more sick." "Want me to bring you soup or I could, uh, go pick up your favorite cold medicine the one that makes you feel drunk?" "That's okay, I don't wanna get you sick." "Okay, well, um, take lots of vitamin C, watch Jon Stewart and call me tomorrow." "I will." " Bye." "Bye." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Let's go there later." "Okay." " Hey." " Did you know they don't serve beer here?" " That's because it's a coffee house." " So you're here." " As are you." " How'd you know I'd...?" " Dude, please." "Figured you could use a wingman." "Uh, what do I really expect tonight, best-case scenario?" "Uh, okay." "Possibility number one, you wanna get back with Madison." "I don't." "If she said you were the only man she could love said she'd dress up like Catwoman for you, you'd say no?" "No, it's not like that." "I don't..." "I don't miss Madison like that, even the relationship we had." "Truth is, I felt like I was trying to keep up with her, prove myself." "With Amy, I don't feel like that way." "She makes me feel good." "Groovy." "Well, then this is just the Pepsi challenge." " More metaphors?" " Look, you're in love with your current beverage, okay?" "Amy Cola." "All right, but every man needs the side-by-side taste test." "So you come here, you check out the ex, make sure you made the right choice." "Of course, that choice becomes much easier if Madison suddenly became heinous." "Let's have a big welcome for Joe Lies." "Maybe you should write a book." "I've been thinking about it." "Just pray for fat, man." "Pray for fat." "Look to the stars." "Yeah." "Did you hear that one, Dad?" " You're gonna snag the Oreos, aren't you?" " Heh, you caught me." "I can't do Oreos without milk." "Has to be cold, big glass." "Without the dripping, there's no point to Oreos." "I always knew that you were a high-maintenance woman." "So I didn't see Charlie in the show." "Oh, he was, uh, backstage." "Curtain man, I believe, is the official title, ha, ha." "He gets tongue-fied, uh, stage, uh, fright." "Tongue-tied when he's nervous." "It's genetic, as you can see." "I've, uh..." "I've been meaning to call you." "I got your message about Dr. Tabib." "That's okay." "I wasn't expecting him to take on the case." "It doesn't matter because I found somebody better." "I mean, this is a doctor who's actually looking to do pro bono work." " Uh, Andy, we've already been..." " It's Dr. Abbott." " Dr. Abbott?" " He's excited about it and he has a relationship with John, so it works out perfectly." "Dr. Abbott?" "Does he know what "pro bono" means?" "He's very serious about it and I think that you and John will be very pleased." "Stop that, ha, ha." "Stop talking to me like you don't know who I am." "Daddy?" "Daddy, did you see me?" " See you?" "How could I miss you?" "You were the only Maccabee in the manger." "You stole the show." "Thanks." "You're welcome." "Who took all the Oreos?" "Oh, probably some greedy parents." "Come on, we'll go find you some more." " I'II, uh..." "I'll call you." " Don't." "You don't have to." "HARRY  BING CROSBY ON RADIO Christmas" "Just like the one's I used to know" "Dad, love the Bing, but could we maybe switch it up a bit?" "What?" " Oh, ha, ha." " Silence Der Bingle?" "Never." "When we Abbotts lose our traditions, young lady, we lose who we are." "Hey." "We should save the star for Bright, it's his favorite part." "Mm-mm, Rice Krispie treats are." "Maybe we should make some more." "I bet that's Ephram." "I knew he didn't sound sick." "Invite him in, there's plenty of cider." "Oh, that's okay, Mom." "It's still early, we could probably make the movie." " Oh, hi." " Nina said she talked to you?" "Yeah, but she didn't tell me anything, um..." " She asked me to leave you alone, so..." " No, I know." "Do you have a minute?" "Yeah." "My parents are in Lakeville, Minnesota in the same house where I grew up." "Okay, so why the whole Hong Kong thing?" "I don't know, uh..." "They reran 90210 on FX and the Walshes went to live in Hong Kong." "I thought it was sort of believable." "Hmm, that is good." "Yeah, well, it's a pretty good show, ha, ha." "Okay, but I still don't know why you made up the story in the first place." "Because my dad is kind of dying." " Oh, my God, Hannah." " No, don't." "Don't do that." "See, that's why I made up the story." "So I wouldn't be that girl anymore." "Tragedy girl." "I went through high school being that person and I don't wanna do it anymore." "Okay, I understand that." "I know you do." "He used to work in the library restoring rare books." "He loved books." "Like, not the insides, but the outside, like, the covers." "The way they smelled." "I just like the insides." "And he said that made us a perfect fit." "He was the book, I was the story." "He has Huntington's disease." "I'm sorry, I don't know what that is." "It's a brain disease." "My birthday party when I was 8, my dad just punched this other dad." "I mean, like, a real punch." "I remember the noise." "And my dad was so nice." "Like, he never even yelled at anybody, but there he was." "There's blood all over his green shirt and he didn't even know why he did it." "A year later, he couldn't eat." "Then he couldn't talk." "That was the worst part when he stopped talking, because we used to talk a lot." "And now he's gone." "When did he?" " Did he die?" " No, no, he's, uh, not." "He's just in bed." "You know, he can't talk or think or move." "You look in his eyes and he's just empty." "He's the book without the story." "My mom takes care of him and, uh, my brother always took care of me but he went away to college last year so I came here, ha, ha." "Don't feel sorry for me, okay?" "Hello there." "Did I call too early?" "Not if you're a Marine." "I trust Dr. Brown told you I'd be coming by." "I believe he promised." "Excellent." "Well, worry not about the baton passing smoothly, Mrs. Hayes." "I've devoured John's recent files." "I believe he may be on the brink of a breakthrough." "I intend to give him a firm shove." "Three-pronged outlet?" "Shove him later in the week." "He's sleeping now." "Well, then I have ample time to prepare my materials." "John will awaken refreshed and keen to challenge the next phase of his rehabilitation." "Music therapy was an encouraging beginning." "But it's time to leap from the realm of sound into the complex world of the visual." "Intrigued?" "Yes." "I've dreamt of this moment." "You were wearing a top hat." "My preliminary research has led me to discover a nascent theory almost undiscussed in the medical journals." "I believe that we can use color therapy to help John rebuild the emotional connections within his brain." " Color therapy?" " Yes, it may be historic research." "Allow me to illuminate the concept." "There." "Now, how does this color make you feel?" "Um..." " It's blue." " It's a royal lavender, more specifically." "But you are emotionally correct." "This wavelength tends to promote melancholia." "Dr. Abbott..." " Just a moment of your indulgence, please." "dynamic, vibrant." "Now, please, you're honest, emotional reaction." " Annoyed." " Angry?" " Getting there." " Yes, scarlet stirs the rageful humors." "As you can see, the connection between color and emotion is elemental." "So perhaps over time John could develop a rudimentary emotional vocabulary based on these colored lights." "You're not putting my husband under a lamp." " He is not a philodendron." " I realize this sounds rather theoretical." "It seems like you're about to don a toga and pass me a daisy." "Dr. Brown has made remarkable progress." "We can build on that." "Dr. Brown sees what he wants to see." "John moved his finger, he blinked." "Who knows what it means?" "The highest mountain is climbed in tiny steps." "John is never going to climb a mountain." "It isn't working." "Nothing's working." "I want you to leave." "Perhaps if we have a cup of coffee, we can discuss this." "It would be a shame to lose hope now, especially in this, the season of miracles." "I don't believe in miracles, Dr. Abbott." "I'm tired." "I'm done." "Tell Andy that I'm done." "Hey." "Your mom said I could just come up." "Hey, Um..." " How are you feeling?" " Oh, pretty good, you know." "Uh, sorry about last night, I just..." " That's okay, you're from weak stock." " I'm a fast healer, though." " What are you doing?" " Just some research stuff." "You realize it's, uh, Christmas break, right?" "Which means all computer-oriented activities should cease and desist." "Unless, of course, you're buying me presents online." "Amy?" "Hmm?" "Oh, sorry." "So, what have you been doing the past 12 hours?" "Anything exciting?" "Uh, just feeling pathetic, mostly." "As you should be." "Flaking on me last minute like that." "Well, what about you?" "How was the pagan ritual of tree trimming and nog making?" "When are you going to accept, my Lord?" "When you stop persecuting my people." "Actually, it was kind of nice." "Dad, uh, caroled himself to sleep." "Mom got buzzed off the hot toddies." " Hannah came by." " Yeah?" "Yeah, I was gonna call you." "Did you?" "Try calling me, I mean." "Because my phone was off." "No." "I mean, only because I wanted to get to sleep." "Otherwise, I would've left it on." "I just wanted to sleep." "Ha, ha, well, I guess it doesn't matter because I didn't try calling you, so..." " Are you mad at me or something?" " No, why would I be mad?" " I don't know, but you're acting mad at me." " You're acting weird." "Which is normally fine, but, um..." "I have a lot of work to do right now, so..." " You know what?" "I'm just gonna go." " Cool." " Um, I'll call you later or you can call me." " Okay." "Hey." "How'd it go with John?" "Was it good?" "Found new articles on light therapy, I was printing for you." "Save your toner." "I was fired." " What?" " Terminated." "Unceremoniously, I might add." "Well, what did you do?" "Oh, no, don't tell me you took your slide projector." "What did I do?" "Hurled myself in her husband's treatment with unrestrained verve, that's what." "Some don't respond well to hurling verves." "Some people need to be romanced into things a little." "What did she say?" "How did she act?" "In the five years I've worked with her, I've never seen her so fragile." "Perhaps it's the holidays." "Maybe it's simply exhaustion." "Whatever the reason, she's had enough." "She's done." "All right, new plan." "We'll talk about what you should say and how to say it." "We'll write a script." "I do not need to recite your written words like some sort of inane drone." "Mrs. Hayes was quite clear in her resolve." "We need to respect her wishes and move on." "What are you talking about "Respect her wishes"?" "We are gonna continue this therapy." "I'm not gonna let my patient suffer just because I mishandled my relationship with his wife." "Mishandled what, precisely?" "She's a very beautiful woman, isn't she?" "I know she seems quite strong, she's really very vulnerable." "Susceptible almost." "Susceptible to what?" "Almost anything, I'd imagine." "Or anyone." "A woman in her position, it would be very easy to confuse gratitude with other kinds of affection." "Why don't you just cut to the chase?" "This is not a dalliance." "She's married to your patient." "Nothing has happened." "Well, good." "Then it's not too late." "Listen to me, Andy." "I believe you are an honorable man." "That belief has allowed me to stand by you even when we've disagreed." "There's been many a case." "Many a parental decision where I've questioned your tactics, your approach." "Chalked it up to your liberal ballyhoo, that New York sensibility that you still cling to but what you're considering now is wrong." "It's wrong no matter what your heart may be telling you." "This is unethical, it is..." "It is unforgivable." "You have to stay away from her." " Hi there." " Shh." "Hi there." "Dr. Jake Hartman." "It's nice to meet you." "These are six weeks overdue." "Yeah." "You see, I never really went to the library back in L.A." "It was more than Amazon. com kind of guy, you know?" "But I thought I'd give it a shot, it seemed Everwoody and all." "Anyway, I'm obviously not so good with the whole book-return concept." "You should see my Blockbuster bill, ha, ha." "Killer." " Uh, do you take checks?" " No." "Dr. Jake?" " Um, could you help me with something?" " Sure thing." "I'm gonna..." "You're Amy Abbott, right?" " You're Edna's granddaughter?" " Mm-hm." "You looked familiar." "She keeps three pictures on her desk." "Yeah, she's sweet." "Um, do you know what the basal ganglia does exactly?" "Not a fan of small talk." "Got it." "It's a part of brain that regulates voluntary movement." "I know the caudate nucleus is in the same part of the brain only it's in charge of organizing thoughts and awareness." " Yeah." "Are you, like, premed or something?" " Undeclared." "I don't understand why they're close if they do different things." "It's like selling toasters in the makeup department." "Well, the logic of brain architecture is a pretty hot debate among neuroanatomists." " What are you looking at specifically?" " Huntington's disease." "Ew, Huntington's is like the cruise missile of neurodegeneration." "And it hits the worst spot possible." "How do you treat it?" "I haven't seen anything here." "That's because we don't." "We don't know how yet." "Maybe if Washington didn't waste time arguing the moral ethics of stem-cell research, we'd have a cure, but we got nothing." "So basically, if you have it, you're gonna die." " It might take a little while, but..." " And how do you get it?" "Is it like a virus?" "No, it's genetic." "One tweaked chromosome the tiniest thing you could possibly even imagine and you're screwed for life." "Genetics." "That means if one of your parents has it..." "Then there's a 50 percent chance you're gonna have it too." "Anyhoo, it's super nice to meet you." "I'm gonna go pay for my books and head back out." "It's pretty great outside, it's all sunny and cold." " You should try and enjoy it." " Yeah, thanks." "Hi, you've reached Amanda, John and Charlie." "I can't believe we're not here." "Taking a break?" "Not feeling it." "Do you ever get that thing where everything is perfect but instead of just enjoying it, you can't wait to, you know, smash it all up?" "I don't know." "It's been a while since perfect." "Why?" "What's going on?" "I went to see Madison the other day." "When did this happen?" "A few nights ago." "I got a flyer for a band on my car, talked to Bright." "Oh, because he always gives such good advice." " So did you see her?" " No, she left the band." " But the thing is..." " So she wasn't there?" "No, but the point is there was no possible reason for me to go." "No good could've come out of it, but I went anyways." " As if somebody was daring me." " You mean Bright?" "No, I mean, like the little red dude on my shoulder." "He's got a pitchfork." "He's all over the Cartoon Network." "Everything in my life is finally right." "Amy's great, school is what it is, but I keep testing it." "Just seeing how far I can push things before they all fall apart." "What kind of a person does that?" "A curious person." "But there are things you don't need to waste time wondering about." "I can't help it." "I feel my life is one of those choose-your-own-adventure books." "If I take the Colorado AM tour, does that jinx my shot of getting into Juilliard?" "If I call Madison, does that automatically sabotage my relationship with Amy?" "You got her number?" "Yeah, Jake gave it to me." "I don't know what I was thinking." " No one says you have to call her." " But I want to." "That's the whole problem." "Yeah, little red guy." "Look, if you're not feeling happy with the way things are in your life I understand mixing it up." "But what I don't understand is creating drama just because you're bored." " What do you mean?" " There's a difference between thinking and doing." "The latter can be very self-destructive." "And you're too smart for that." "Do you love Amy?" "Of course I do." "Then don't just say it, know it." "Think about it every time you're about to do something stupid." "Those temptations, they're gonna be there." "They're gonna in a lot of forms." "Ex-girlfriends, potential girlfriends..." "Snake, garden, apple." "I know where you're going with this." "So don't forget it." "Because losing someone you forgot to appreciate when you had them that is just about the worst feeling in the world." "Trust me." "Yeah." "Maybe Delia will wanna call her or something." "Maybe." "Thank you." "You bet." "Sorry, I don't wanna interrupt the process." "Uh, no process." "Pretty much just endless rambling." " So do you know?" " Know what?" "If you have it?" "I know there's a test." "I read all about it." " I know you don't have to be 18 to get it." " What are you doing?" "You don't want me to see you differently but you can't reveal this enormous aspect of your life and expect me to ignore it." "I know how you get, Amy." "I don't want you to turn this into one of your projects." "You are not my project, Hannah, you're my best friend." "And you are dealing with this painful thing all by yourself and there's no reason for it." "You don't have to deal with this alone." "I wanna know what you know." "I wanna understand." "I don't think this disease is something you ever understand." " Not fully." " But the fact that there's a blood test that can tell you whether or not you have the gene, that's huge." "It means, there's potential for a cure." "Potentials are kind of complicated." "You know, God and science and all that stuff." " But you've taken the test, right?" " No." "And I'm not going to." "Okay, you know what?" "I don't want you to think for a second that I know how I would deal with this situation and I'm sure that you've thought about it a gazillion times but the fact that there is an answer out there waiting for you, inside of you don't you wanna know so you can take it off the table?" "Move on?" "What if I don't have the option to just take it off the table?" "The way I was raised, there's this thing about destiny." "It's a given." "Our parents pass down this genetic makeup that's like a symbol of them in some way." "A family." "So, you know, I got my mother's eyes and her shoulders." "And my dad, well maybe he gave me something else." "But I don't wanna think about that every time I look at his picture, you know?" "I just wanna see him." "Besides you know, what difference does it make if I knew?" "I'm gonna end up in the same place anyway." "But at least you could be prepared." "I don't think anything could prepare me." "I mean, not for that." "But thank you." "For what?" "For taking this on." "Making me feel less lonely." "It's pretty much the best Christmas present I've ever gotten." "Yeah?" "So I guess I can just take back the earrings." " Hey." " Hey." " Do we have plans?" " No." "You okay?" "No, actually, I'm not okay." "Yeah, I am so sorry, Amy." "I'm sorry, I..." "Sorry for what?" "Um..." "Uh..." "You know, I wasn't actually..." "I was gonna tell you, but I wasn't gonna tell you exactly like this." "Tell me about what?" "Um..." "I lied to you, uh..." "The night when I said I was sick, I wasn't really sick." "I actually went to see Madison's band play, um, at this place." " You went to see Madison?" " No, I mean, she wasn't there." "I didn't see her." "What possible reason could you have to go see Madison?" "None." "No reason." "She wasn't there." "That's what I was saying." "Remember that part." "That part is key." " Well, do you wanna get back with her?" " No." "No." " Then I don't understand, Ephram." " I don't either." "I was being stupid and self-destructive for no reason whatsoever." "I feel terrible about it, I totally regret it now." "I don't understand." "Why wouldn't you tell me before you went and tell me now?" "Because I thought you knew." "You were acting so weird..." "But that's not why I told you." "I told you because, I mean, you know, I..." "It felt wrong not telling you and I felt like I was maybe lying to you." " You were lying." "You did lie." " I know and I'm sorry." "You felt guilty because you knew what you did was wrong so you told me which means not only are you a liar, but you're a selfish liar." " Amy." " Don't." " I just thought it was better to be honest." " Well, you thought wrong." "Okay, but don't leave like this." "You know what, Ephram?" "Don't call me." "I can't deal with this right now." "I need to get a big, mean dog." "Keep all the crazy doctors away." " I need to talk to you." " You really don't." "I get it." " You get it." "God, even Harold gets it." " I don't want you to give up on John." "Is that what you came here to say?" "Go home, Andy." "If you talk to me in that "I'm a doctor" voice one more time I'm gonna knee you in the nuts." "I know I haven't been handling this very well." "The whole thing is very confusing, but the one thing I am very clear on is that we have been helping John." " He's getting better, there's still a chance." " I took my chance." "I was comfortable here, you know?" "It was quiet, I was lonely, but it was my life." "And after a while, it was bearable." "The way being so numb that you can't laugh is bearable or being so drunk you can't sleep, I could deal with it." "But you asked me to take a chance, so I did." "I followed you down this road of hope and optimism and life." "And now I can't find my way back." "Why would you go back to a life that was no life?" " Because it was honorable." "The day he had a stroke, the day John went, I went with him." "Because that's what I was supposed to do." "And I got so busy taking care of him and Charlie that I didn't even realize that I had fallen out of love with him." "I didn't even think about it until I met you." "But you do still love him, you're just..." "You're feeling lost right now." "Confused." " I am." " And that's okay." "It's not okay." "I know it's not." "I am not confused, Andy." "Not the way you are." "I'm not as confused as you think I am." "How confused do you think I think you are?"