"I'm sorry, mr." "Correlli." "You're sorry?" "How much time have I got, doctor?" "Well, the cancer is extremely advanced." "Within four to six weeks," "You may be completely incapacitated." "After that, I..." "It's only his opinion, boss." "Do you seriously think that I would say these things" "To anybody if it" "Were merely my opinion?" "There's not much time." "Your regular physician will undoubtedly prescribe" "All the painkillers you need." "There's very little I can suggest." "Just accept the inevitable" "And try to make the most of it." "You know who I am?" "I read the paper, if that's what you mean." "If there's any mistake, I could make it" "Difficult for you." "Well, you don't have to tell me that, mr." "Correlli." "I see every day how difficult you make it for the pathetic" "Dope addicts and hookers" "Who've helped amass your empire." "Hey!" "Besides, there is no mistake." "I checked your samples out many times." "I only came here in person because..." "Because I wanted to see" "How the chief justice of organized crime" "Would deal with the news of his own death sentence." "Boss?" "I'll handle this." "You see," "There's rarely anything I can do" "For the people you victimize." "If they get as far as the emergency room." "I guess I just wanted to see what you looked like" "When you were beyond all help." "Well, take a good look." "You're pretty good at reading hospital reports." "Now, what do you see in my eyes?" "I see a man who's murdered" "And ruined lives." "And?" "Now he's the victim." "He's the one that's wasting away." "You missed something, doctor." "I doubt it." "Don't doubt it." "I've had 30 years experience looking into the eyes of men." "Some made me rich, some wanted me dead." "It was always there in their eyes for me to see." "What did I miss, correlli?" "Tell me." "Simply that I, jake correlli," "Am about to end your medical career." "How?" "Ever heard of irving croighton?" "Well, sure." "He's the chairman of the board at my hospital." "But you can't..." "I still get a kick out of you, boss." "After all these years." "Your money isn't gonna save you this time, correlli." "Never underestimate the power of money, kid." "Congratulations on your revenge, mr." "Correlli." "I'm sure it will bring you much comfort" "During your seizures and nightmares" "Over the next few weeks." "Men like you, with your disease," "They don't die easy." "Good day, gentlemen." "Boss, boss!" "Don't just stand there!" "Get me a bottle of scotch!" "Jake?" "Jake?" "My beautiful..." "Boss?" "Sorry, boss, there's a man here to see you." "I'm not expecting anyone." "He gave me this." ""afterlife."" "Tell him to get lost." "You really should see me, mr." "Correlli." "Wouldn't you like to dream forever?" ""afterlife."" "Dream forever?" "What are you, some kind of hippie undertaker?" "I'm here to offer you a very special service, mr." "Correlli." "I see." "You got a name?" "It's not important." "Throw this man out, angelo." "You're a powerful man, mr." "Correlli." "You can indeed have me thrown out," "Shot, strangled, stabbed, tossed into the east river." "But anyone, any child, any Monkey can be brutal." "Real courage and intelligence" "Consists of opening one's mind to the unfamiliar." "The buzzards are starting to circle already." "Who's paying you?" "Dinunzio or that weasel, gerber?" "I can offer you power over the one thing" "You can't intimidate, mr." "Correlli." "Death." "Well, let's see how long you're gonna live, mister." "Put it away, angelo." "Leave us alone." "But boss..." "Do as I say." "I want to hear this man." "How come you came in here knowing..." "Knowing that I was dying" "When I only found out last night?" "Your data was available on the hospital computers." "It's my business to know these things." "My services are expensive" "And my clients are therefore limited." "In my line of work, timing is everything." "What do you think I am?" "A little orphan or something?" "You think I'm scared enough to go for this..." "This afterlife mumbo jumbo?" "Oh, come now." "Stop bluffing, mr." "Correlli." "You know I'm not a confidence man." "Maybe you're a nut." "Nuts believe what they say too, you know." "I'm a scientist, mr." "Correlli." "And I can make it possible for you" "To enjoy the dreams of your choice" "For as long as there is matter on this earth." "I can, to a large extent, give you power over death." "Eternal happiness." "And what good are dreams to a dead man?" "Your body is dying." "Your mind can be kept alive." "I'd love to sit and talk with you" "But I find your incredible obtuseness tiring." "I can show you what it is I do" "Free and with no obligation," "But it must be done soon." "There's a telephone number on my card." "You can reach me tomorrow between noon" "And exactly ten past." "You said" "Something about a..." "About a price." "Oh, yes." "My price for the service, mr." "Correlli," "Is ten million dollars." "Ten million?" "Suddenly I feel I understand you very well, mister." "Between noon and ten past, mr." "Correlli." "But no, please, don't tie my hands!" "don't hit me." "I'll teach you to lie to me!" "You little worm!" "Boss?" "I know you didn't want to be disturbed, boss," "But your sister called." "She said..." "Her daughter ran away with another guy," "And I'm supposed to fix it." "Well, sort of." "Kind of, I mean..." "You know why I killed that cop, angelo?" "What?" "O'brien?" "When he arrested me he put my hands in handcuffs" "And locked them behind my back." "Nobody does that to me." "Not even a cop." "And the next time I was arrested," "Nobody even tried to cuff me." "They knew." "They knew I was dangerous." "You're a very big man, boss." "Make no mistake." "The dreams of your choice." "Power over death." "I'm a scientist." "Ten million dollars." "Does he think I'm crazy?" "A choice of dreams." "Between noon and ten past." "Recorded voice:" "The number you have reached has been disconnected." "Damn it!" "Forget the mail." "I need a number on that weirdo." "Call triponi, he can find anybody." "Call the fbi!" "I haven't got much time!" "Okay, boss." "Did you set the clock like I asked?" "I called the navy, boss." "You can't get any more accurate." "Good, and angelo, get to work on closing the swiss" "And hong kong accounts." "What for?" "I want cash." "They way I figure, I'd rather give my money away before I go." "That way, I can be sure that it's well spent." "Come on, boss." "Don't talk like that." "Do it, my friend." "Okay, boss." "Yes?" "Correlli." "I had to be crazy to come down here." "This is my specialty, mr." "Correlli:" "The physics of thought," "The electro-mechanics of the human mind." "I know what I'm doing." "Contrary to the opinions of my slow-witted colleagues" "At the universities." "I'm with them." "On the contrary, mr." "Correlli," "You're with me." "You didn't tell me I was gonna get a shot." "Oh, come now, mr." "Correlli." "A grownup man like you?" "If anything goes wrong..." "Don't worry." "The likelihood of your paying me ten million dollars" "In the near future makes me strangely protective of you." "Yeah, that's for now, but what about...?" "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" "If I decide to do this for real," "How do I know you won't take the money, pull the plug" "And send my undertaker a postcard?" "Just lie down." "It'd be best not to think about that" "Right now, mr." "Correlli." "Just sleep..." "Dream." "Jake?" "Jake?" "Marie, marie..." "Your cousin said you were a tough guy." "But you're so very sweet, aren't you, jake?" "So now you think you're mr." "Big" "Just 'cause you knocked over some speakeasies." "I say you're nothing but a punk," "And I'm sorry you're my son." "Now get out of here before I belt you one!" "How did you get so strong, jake?" "How did you get so strong that the safest place" "In the world is in your arms?" "That was amazing." "It was so, so..." "Vivid, mr." "Correlli?" "You called out the name "marie."" "My wife." "She was everything to me." "What happened to her?" "She changed." "Booze, drugs." "You can have her back now." "How can I be sure?" "I just dreamt some things that I don't want to remember." "Of course, and you won't have to." "You see, I can generate specific images" "From the memory stored in your brain." "As I've told you many times, mr." "Correlli," "I can give you the dreams of your choice." "For how long?" "A long, long, time." "Keeping the brain alive is the easy part." "And my body?" "Useless, disposable." "I don't know a lot about science." "Maybe this makes sense, maybe it doesn't..." "But what I saw a minute ago..." "Are there other...?" "Customers?" "Yeah." "Oh, yes, quite a few." "In fact, a number of your..." "Colleagues, friends." "Okay." "When do we start?" "Doctor:" "Whenever you're ready." "What about the money?" "You'll bring it with you." "You have no motive" "For double-crossing me, mr." "Correlli." "No money, no dreams." "I'll die right here in your lab?" "A practical necessity, I'm afraid." "I'm paying for my own hit." "Unbelievable." "Here you go, boss." "Those pills don't help much anymore." "This scotch, thank god, is still scotch." "I've been hard on you, haven't I?" "Nah." "I've been an old woman." "I can take it, boss." "I've been doing it for years." "I know, angelo, I know." "Can I ask you a personal question?" "Sure, boss, any time." "How come you never plugged me?" "Boss!" "I mean, you've had chances." "You knew you could trust me" "From the first time you looked into my eyes." "Nobody reads people like you do." "But still..." "You know why I never killed you?" "Why?" "Because I was already at the top." "Working with you like I was, who could have bought me?" "I couldn't get higher than that." "Not on my own." "I've kept you happy, didn't I?" "Real happy, boss, real happy." "Except I don't like having all this cash around." "Ten million and change." "Don't worry." "The change will pay for having a few annoying people" "Like dinunzio and gerber removed." "The ten million is for you." "what?" "To the best friend I ever had." "I don't know what to say." "You're happy now, angelo, aren't you?" "Oh, yeah, boss, I mean, yeah." "Really?" "You went out at your absolute peak, my friend." "Not many men can make that claim." "I'm sorry I'm late." "Last-minute adjustments." "How do you feel?" "Nervous." "Let's get going." "The suspense is killing me." "I never thought I'd end up like this." "It's not the end, mr." "Correlli." "In a way, it's just the beginning." "It'd better be." "All right, it'll take a little while to hook you up" "To the computers." "And then you'll be on your way." "I'll see you in my..." "My dreams." "You're not a nice man, mr." "Correlli." "Not nice at all." "But then none of my clients ever are." "Well, the important thing is" "To make sure everything turns out all right in the end." "I must confess, mr." "Correlli," "This process can be somewhat unsettling." "It's a little bit like waking up in the middle of the night" "And discovering a stranger in your brain." "Of course, you don't remember last night." "You beat me up last night." "You never remember what you do to people," "Only what they do to you." "Of course, there won't be anything strange" "About these dreams." "No, everything you see will be familiar." "No, I don't know any women who drink as much as I do," "But I don't know any women who are married" "To murderers either." "A little bit like a..." "Watching a rerun from a favorite" "Old tv show you haven't seen in years." "For instance, this is your life." "So this is one beating you're gonna sit still for," "You slimy, little, sniveling weakling." "One of these days, it's all gonna catch up with you." "They're gonna kill you just like I wish I could kill you!" "I hate you, jake!" "I hate you and I always have and I always will!" "You think you know it all?" "You're nothing but a snake." "You squirming little weakling." "No, you were not a nice man, mr." "Correlli." "Not nice at all." "You haven't got the guts to be a man!" "Welcome to hell, mr." "Correlli." "No!" "No!" "No!" "I hate you." "I have always hated you!" "I never should have married you in the first place." "No!" "No!" "No!" "No...!" "I'm sorry."