"Bright Abbott is the best employee at the Firehouse Grill." "I am still." "What you gonna do?" "Done." " Shaking it with the shakers?" " You know it." "Don't get sweet, I know you're out for blood." " How is that?" " You're beating me in tips." " I had the record until yesterday." " That doesn't count." "Some guy left a 20 on a coffee and a pound cake." "You're still top dog, and I bow to you." "Well, really though, it's not fair." "You flash those dimples at somebody, they'll leave you their whole wallet." "Shut up." " I'm serious." " I bet you that gets pretty old, huh?" " What?" "Just like, constantly getting hit on." "I do not get hit on." "You don't have these dumb drunks trying to leave you their number?" "I'm only on on lunch." " That's why I barely ever get to see you." " It's too bad." "Oh, well, maybe we could hang out during our break sometime." "So when's your next break?" "Well, actually, I'm on break now." "Oh!" " Uh, hey, Mikey, heh." " Um, ahem..." "Just, uh looking for napkins." "There they are, heh." "Here you go." "So, uh, how's Dr. Bell working out?" "She's been coming by twice a day." "We've been playing this game where loud music means happy, soft means sad." "She calls it emotional cueing." "Is it working?" "Oh, I think so, yeah." "He can, uh, tap his finger to a beat now almost by himself." " Rhythm therapy for motor control." "Good." " Yeah, except she uses disco." "If I have to get on the love train, I'm gonna kill myself or her." "Someone's gotta go." " Well, I could try and find another therapist." " Oh, no." "She's been great." "Like the other day, she played the hello song when I walked into the room." "And I was sure he recognized me." "I swear he moved his eyes." "Uh, this is not gonna work unless you're completely honest with me, okay?" "Music therapy takes time and patience." "But if you think it's not working, just tell me." "I'm a big boy." "I can handle it." "It's not that." "It's not like I was expecting him to get up and do Fidd/er on the Roof." "I don't know." "I wish there were more we could do." "Maybe there is." "I called a friend of mine." "She keeps up with the research on alternative medicine." "Oh, we've been down that road, Andy." "Sorry to say, his chi is still blocked." "Sorry." "Patience?" "Go ahead." "Well, anyway, Linda agreed that, uh, music therapy works very well for memory retrieval and, uh, the association between the two is very strong." " Isn't that what we've been doing?" " Partly." "But, uh, this is more focused." "There's a new class of drugs." "Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors." "They work on the enzymes that destroy the nerve transmissions in patients with cerebral infarcts." "I like that word." "So let's do this." "Pretend I'm not a neurosurgeon." "Heh, okay." "Think of the brain as a library." "And all of John's memories are books." "The stroke didn't destroy those books." "Just the card file that tells him where to find them." "I love it when you do that." " Break it all down in little examples." " You should hear my one for incontinence." "So, what would I have to do?" "Well, everybody has a favorite song, right?" "What I want you to do is pick just one." "Something very meaningful for the two of you." "Something that's associated with, uh, a significant event." "We'll put him on the drug." "We'll play the music in the appropriate setting and see what happens." "Maybe it'll be a way in." "He does love music." "I know." "I saw him do the karaoke, remember?" "We danced to Spandau Ballet at our wedding." "That was memorable." "Yeah, that says a lot about you." "Come on, I had Louise make a phone call." " Louise, did that drug sample come in?" " Oh, yeah." "It's right here." "That's okay, I got it." "Okay, you start once a day at bedtime starting tonight." "Thanks." "I think this might actually be kind of fun." " Morning, Harold." "Oh, I like that tie." " Morning." "Thanks, Louise." " Things appear to be going well." " It's called hope." "Works better than Prozac." "What is her hope based on?" "John's condition appears unchanged." "Well, it's based on the chance that things could change." "I'm just taking them to a new level." "come for the consult after the work's done." "Steal all the glory." "Well, this isn't a surgical case." "No, but it feels like one." "As your partner, I'm merely suggesting a little caution may be in order." "Hope can be a dangerous thing." "Especially when it comes to stroke patients." "I think hope is the one thing we shouldn't be cautious about right now." "We should be practicing it like medicine." "And you know what?" "She's right." "That is a nice tie." "I can't believe I've never heard it before." "Eh, you got a long way to go before that means much." " Where would you place it?" " Uh, roots in Brahms." "Bass rhythm in Bill Evans." " You didn't pick out a bit of Joplin?" " Oh, definitely." "In the bridge but way, way, way better." "Watch that mumble." "I can't see what you're saying when you mumble." "I said it's way better." "Whose is it?" "Whose?" "Yours." " What?" " Still not too quick, huh?" "No." "It was mine, now it's yours." "I wrote it for your audition tape." "You'll be the only kid trying this bit." "I thought you hadn't written music in 20 years." "No." "I haven't let anybody see it." "Music has been good to me for a long time." "I don't wanna mess with what she and I have." "But this one is yours, if you want it." " Are you serious?" " It's my contribution to your application." "No one can blame me if you blow it." "I did my part." "This is perfect." "I can show off everything we've been working on." "If you do it right." " What's it called?" " "Bella Raye. "" "Oh, yeah?" " Who is she?" " Ha, ha." "None of your damn business." "Ready to play it out?" "Let's go, genius." "Hey, what's for dinner?" "Claim Jumper's prime rib with Madeira sauce." "Your mother and I are dining out." "I didn't know you'd be here." "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" "Uh, no." "I quit." "What?" "When did this happen?" "Uh, last night." "No big deal, though." "Mikey gave me the bad section again, you know, and, uh, I was just over it." " I gave him my apron, came home." " I thought you liked that job." " Not really." " But you were employee of the month." "Yeah, well, that was like a month ago, Ma." "What are you gonna do now?" "Thought about that?" "I don't know." "Find a real job, I guess." "You guys are always saying you know, I need to find that avenue for my future." "I really think it's time to, you know, move on." "Get serious about what I wanna do with my life." "Hmm." "Uh, they hired a new director in Parks and Recreation today to run the fall programs." "I could get Meagan to pull the county job list for tomorrow." "I can see if there's any goodwill left with the finance committee at the lodge." "Yeah." "That all sounds very cool." "Who was it mentioned that internship at the Hubbells'?" " Was that Phil?" " Oh, June Simpson." " Right, that sounded promising." " Oh, he'd be perfect for that." "This is auspicious." "You know what?" "You should come out to dinner with us tonight." "Discuss our options, formulate a plan of attack." "Uh, I gotta shower." "It'll take me a while." "I'm sure you guys are already starving." "Sure?" "I know how you love that shrimp cocktail." "No." "You guys go, have a little alone time." "I'll make due." "Well, we're very proud of you." " Not for quitting." "Yeah, I know." "But for realizing the potential in yourself that we have always known was there." "The way you've handled this says a lot about you, son." "Thanks, Dad." " Shall we?" " Yes." "This is bad." "I thought I was supposed to ignore you when you make frustrated noises." " I think I made a mistake." " God forbid." "Where's my paddle?" "I mean, it's just this piece, it's..." "I don't know, it's wrong." "Will's piece?" " I thought you said it was great." " It is." "It was." "I had some time with it now." "Parts of it are beyond genius but other parts of it are just..." " Bad?" " I don't know." "I mean, I..." "The intro is tired and loungy." "It's great the way he revoices the chord structure but the counterpoint after, it's a mess." "I didn't really get any of that, but it's kind of hot." "Everybody else is gonna be playing Bartók, Chopin and Schubert." "Those guys don't exactly have weak spots." "This does." " Then you can't use it for your tape." " I told Will I would." "Look, what I know about jazz consists entirely of what you try to tell me before my eyes start rolling back and I start to fall asleep." "Most of it just sounds like a lot mistakes to me but you've been training for this all year." "It's too important to risk something you're not sure of." "Yeah, but it was a big deal for him to even show it to me." "And maybe if I switch the progression here and I come back to the tonic like..." " See, eyes rolling." " Wait, just listen." "Just listen." "Do you think he'd mind if I futzed with it a little bit?" "Most of it is so good it wouldn't take very much to make the soft spots work." "Are you kidding me?" "It'd be like you're collaborating with him." "Old guys love that." "Master-student, coming of age, becoming his equal." "My dad cries every time I beat him at tennis." " Really?" " No." "But how flattered is he that you're using his piece to get into Juilliard?" "You're gonna start working on this right now, aren't you?" "Oh, well, you're useless to me when you're thinking piano anyways." "Work hard, genius." "It's snowing." "Yep." "And it's cold." "Uh-huh." "I can't feel my toes anymore." "Come on." "You live in the mountains, embrace it." "Besides, it's beautiful, isn't it?" " You know, I've never been up here before." " Really?" "No, nature and I never took." "I was 10 before I realized a baseball diamond wasn't built on asphalt." "We used to come here all the time." "It was John's favorite place." "There was this great campground." "I think the trail is up there somewhere." "You know, I took Delia camping once." "We ended up at the Howard Johnson's." "Not much of a view, but the food was better." "Ha, ha, I don't know if you'd call what we did camping." "It was more like a frat party in the woods." "We'd get all our friends, roll in the coolers, make a huge fire." " Very nice." " Heh, howl at the moon all night until someone had enough tequila to jump into the creek." "God, that water is so freezing." "Especially when you're naked." "So we're getting close?" "It's right up here." " This is really beautiful." " Yeah." "You okay?" "I just thought if there was a place that would spark a memory, this would be it." "I didn't..." " What?" " Oh, nothing." "It wasn't supposed to be hard for me." "Listen." "You know, we don't have to do this." "If this is too much for you, we can just go back." "No." "This is good." "I need this." "This is where he proposed." "For the, uh, Bach I was thinking "The Well-Tempered Clavier. "" " That's boring." " Or the "Contrapunctus. "" "That's class." "And then there's "Bella Raye," by Will Cleveland." "Hmm." " How's "Bella" coming?" " Uh, she started out a bit rocky." "Yeah, she always did." "But, uh, yeah, actually, in the second movement I found something which..." "Hold it." "You're mumbling again." "I thought you said, "Found something. "" "Yeah, I was just..." "I was playing around and..." "Hold on." "You played with it?" "You mean you made changes." "Yeah, I mean..." "I was..." " I was gonna show them to you before I..." " No, thank you." " I just fixed up the slower parts." " Did you?" "I give you a few arrangement exercises and you're a composer now?" "A finished piece isn't something you play with." "It's music." "It's in stone." "Look, Will, you're good, but you're not Beethoven." " It needed a little..." " It needed you to sit still and sweat over it." "You pick up a piece of music, you don't say, "How can I fix this?"" "You say, "How can I make this shine?" That's your job as a player." "If you can't do that, then move the hell over to another profession." "Great, so I have an opinion and now you want me to quit." "That's fantastic." " I can't tell what you're saying now." " Never mind." "You came to me raw and whimpering after your disaster summer in New York." "You said you wanna work as hard as you could to catch up and get good enough to make it." "How can you teach me to play if you can't hear me?" "You know the nice thing about going deaf?" "If there's something I don't wanna hear anymore, all I gotta do is turn my back." "Hello!" "Hey." "Say, check this out." "Mom thinks she might be able to, uh, score me an interview at work." "I ran into Judge Brady at lunch." "He said that the Mizes' daughter has just gone on, uh, maternity leave over at the clerk's office so they might be looking for someone." "So I called Brooks Randolph and told him about Bright and he was open to the idea." "Apparently they handle all the trials from the whole county." "Oh, it's just the filing and the paperwork." "You know, it's entry-level but, uh, might spark an interest in pre-law." "I assume you'll be needing a résumé." "I'm curious, what exactly will you be listing for employment history?" "Huh?" "When they call the restaurant to check your references?" "You think they'll have good things to say about you?" "Yeah." "I think so." "Even if they talk to your old boss?" "Mr. Mikey, is it?" "Uh-huh." "You had a visitor today." "She asked me to give you this." "She, uh..." "She who?" "Oh, I didn't catch her name but I do recall smacking gum and strong Christian values." " Your son didn't quit, Rose, he was fired." " What?" "Would you like to tell your mother why?" " I messed up." "Now indulge me, Bright." "That whole story that you told us." "Did you spend all night making that up or did that come out of you spontaneously?" "Because honestly, I can't decide which is worse." " Listen, I was gonna tell you..." " Oh, don't you dare." "Don't you dare." "I was watching the whole thing." "You were prepared to let your mother go out on a limb for you without telling us the truth." "Or did you not think they'd call your former employer?" "I wasn't gonna put him down." "Oh, well, what were you gonna put down?" "Lifeguard at the kiddie pool freshman year?" "What?" " I don't know." " Exactly." "You know nothing." "You hand us these ridiculous rent checks and think that makes you an adult?" "You have no concept of how the real world works." "Calm down, Harold." "It's bad enough he got fired." "No, no, honey." "It is not that he got fired, it's that he lied about it." "He looked us in the eye and told us that he quit." "That he was gonna make something of himself." "And he blithely accepted our help." "What if I hadn't found out?" "How would you have liked to have gotten that phone call?" " Look, I panicked, okay?" " No, no, no, not good enough." "You're gonna have to do better than that this time." "Let me tell you something." "The only way to live with honor in this world is to actually be what we pretend to be." "You don't get second chances." "Can you understand that?" "Is any of this sinking in yet?" "I hiked up a mountain trai/..." "You said it had to be something he'd remember." "You didn't say it had to be good." "This is what was playing when he proposed?" "What can I say?" "The man loved his country music." "Three chords and the truth, that's what he called it." "Julia and I used to play desert island discs." "She always picked Elton John." "I remember watching Diana's funeral with her." "Boy, did she ever cry." " So how long has it been?" " About three years." "You?" "Five years, two months, 11 days." "It was Charlie's first day at kindergarten." "It was a little hard to forget." "Do you think it's possible to grieve for someone when they're not dead?" "I don't know." "Maybe." "That's what it feels like." "That day, when you came to my house when we first met, I remember telling you that it would be easier if John were just gone." "I felt guilty about it for a week, but the worst part is it's still true." "You never get used to it." "Not being able to be with someone physically." "I mean, I can see him, I can talk to him even touch him but he can't kiss me back." "It's like I don't know what I'm in love with anymore." "I know." "It's the same for me." "At least you can start over." "Like with Linda." "I asked around." "Come on, you dropped it in all casual in our conversation, like I would miss that." "Well, it was complicated." "She was the first woman I spent time with after Julia died and she was sick." "And when I found out, it changed things." "Well, that had to be hard." "It couldn't have been too long after what happened with Colin." " How much asking around did you do?" " No, no, it's just..." "We know the Harts." "John and I used to go to their store all the time to buy survey maps." "That memorial service, I was there." "I saw what it did to you." "Saddest thing I've ever seen and believe me, I am a connoisseur in that department." "Anyway I bet it was nice not to be lonely." "Even if just for a while." "Yes, it was." "So where did you grow up?" "Harold says, uh, you got a brother living in Chicago." "Oh, my God." "Andy." "Can you see that, heh?" "Oh, my God." "Andy, he's crying." "I'm right here." " This is all my fault." " It's not your fault." "I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to pianists." "Apparently I thought I did, but I don't." "I thought it was gonna be this whole, romantic man-love thing, teacher-student, mentor-mentee, whatever." "It's okay, don't worry about it." "You can still find another teacher, though, right?" "Maybe." "They might even be as good as Will." "Maybe not as good." "I could, but it's not about that." "I liked playing with him." "Really?" "Was it the constant barrage of insults?" "Uh, no." "That actually, I could do without." "It's like he exists in this place in his head where there's music and nothing else." "He talks about music like it's this girl he's been trying to seduce his entire life but it's not a metaphor to him, it's real." "He actually talks to her." " Yeah, that's weird." " Uh, it's beyond weird, it's insane." "That's why he didn't care when he lost his hearing." "As long as he can still talk to her in his head you know, it was like he could still see it." "Like Beethoven." "You know, he doesn't care about performing." "He doesn't care about school." "You know, he doesn't even care about showing people what he's doing." "It's like those monks who do those sand paintings and then open the door for the wind." "Music is like this pure thing that exists for its own sake just to make something perfect for no reason other than to show the world can hold it." "I used to feel that way about music." "Heh." "But now..." "Now..." "Now, it's just..." "Like a job?" "Yeah." "You know, when I play with him it's the only time it's not about a career or school." "I don't have to worry about the future or yesterday." "It's just now." "Now and the piano." "When I play with Will, it's the only time I can remember why I'm doing any of this." "Now I don't even have that." "I would've pegged you as a Scotch man." "Well, well, well, Dr. Jake." "Hope you brought your fake ID." "Can I, uh, buy you a drink?" " Oh, you don't have to do that." " No, it's about time." "So, what are you L.A. guys into these days?" "Is it, like, citrus vodka?" "Cosmos?" "Here you go, Dr. Jake." "You ready for another one?" "It's on the house." "Everybody's talking about what you did." "Hmm." "Why not?" "That's right." "Congratulations." " Genius doctor rides again." " Mm-hm." "Miracles available, inquire within." "You may not know it yet, but you will, that, uh this town would call cheese a miracle if they thought it would sell crackers." "All right, quit being modest." "I'm trying to give you your props here." "Emotional response from a stroke patient locked in with aphasia." "Call JAMA, because if you don't, I will." "You know what I miss?" "I miss the subway." "Okay." "Random." "We used to live mid-town but I worked at Columbia Presbyterian up in the 160s and I always took the train." "Drove Julia crazy." "She thought it was beneath a department head, you know and I should take the car service, but I gotta tell you that train ride?" "Best part of my day." "Didn't matter if it was 6:00 in the morning or midnight, that train was always full." "Just me and a hundred strangers." "And they didn't care if I had just given a patient bad news or I had just yelled at a scrub nurse in the O.R." "I was just another guy on the number-9 train." "Yeah, it's the same way in L.A." "Seven million people all trying to get off the freeway at your exit." "You never talk to anybody because you're in your car with your phone and a gun." "Guess it's a little bit different here, huh?" "Everybody wants John Hayes to be a miracle but there are a lot of possible explanations for those tears." "Could have been a cold, allergy." "I mean, it could have even been just a gust of wind." "Yeah, but you ruled all that out, didn't you?" " Andy, you gotta look into that." " I know." "I will." "It's just, you didn't see her." "She was so happy, so grateful." "She couldn't stop thanking me." " There's nothing wrong with that." " I mean what if it isn't what she thinks?" "What if it was a cold or allergy?" "Yeah, but she's not the patient." "He is." "Man, I still can't get used to the country music." "Oh, you get used to it." "It's just three chords and the truth." "Okay, that's it, my friend." "You are officially cut off." "Oh, well, thank you so much, Brooks." "Yes, I will." "Yes, and my best to Chloe and the girls." "Bye now." " Who was that?" " Brooks Randolph at the clerk's office." "There was an opening." "I've asked him if he could take one more interview." "I thought we discussed this." "You heard what he did, Rose." "The boy was fired." "I explained to them that Bright's last job was as a waiter and that references were irrelevant to his office skills." "They agreed." "Well, of course they did, because you're their boss." "You could've told them he was a marmoset, they'd have found a desk for him." "You didn't get him the interview, you got him the job." " Well, let's hope so, heh." " This isn't Washington." "Our local governance is supposed to have some standards." " It does." " Well, evidently not." "The boy lied to us, Rose." "Gladly, well, more than once." "You're exercising nepotism." "You should be unleashing the Furies." "You're overreacting." "You know, we've been to this place before, Rose." "Last year I was all too willing to let my sympathies for Amy allow me to excuse the inexcusable and you were there to tell me that enough was enough, and you were right to say so." "Bright is not out of control." "It's hardly the same thing." "No, no, this is worse, because Bright is perfectly aware of his choices." "Perhaps I expect more from him than you do but he's losing his ability to see the difference between right and wrong anymore." "Mistaking charm for accomplishment." "So he needs our help, and he deserves it." " What, as a reward for deception?" " For being our son." "Bright is at a point where his life could turn one direction or another." "I am not going to let him make the wrong decision on his own." "He's dragging you down to his level." "Now, I played along." "You know, I clapped when he took that asinine job because you asked me to." "I smiled when he took time off from studies to find some special purpose." "Well, no more." "Consider carefully if you choose to go ahead with this, because if you do you do so without my consent, without my approval and without my respect, Rose." "The choice is yours." "Okay." "It was really good." "Andy, come on in." "Oh, this is perfect." "John's parents are here." "They've been dying to meet you." "Can I talk to you in private?" "What's up?" "I don't know how to do this other than just to say it but I don't think John's tears were a breakthrough." "That drug I gave him, one of the side effects is lacrimation which is excessive tearing, and with the timing of the dosage plus the wind and the cold, it all makes sense." "The tears were a reaction, but I just don't think it was emotional." " Damn it." " I'm so sorry." "Damn it." " I shouldn't have called, I should've waited." " Well, it wasn't your fault." " You had every right to be excited." " About what?" "You just said it was nothing." "Ugh, I don't believe this." "Listen, Amanda." "If you don't wanna pursue this any further, I'll understand." "If you..." "If you wanna go back to Harold and the speech therapy..." "It's not that." "I'm not upset with you." "Honestly." "It's not like I was expecting anything anyway." " What do you mean?" " It's been five years, Andy." "I've been through so many highs and lows, I've learned not to get my hopes up." "I'm sorry, I don't understand." "I mean, why would you put yourself through all this if you didn't think it would work?" "Heh, for them." "For Charlie." "Maybe even a little bit for you." "For me?" "You're a wonderful doctor, Andy." "Now, see, you need to hear that part." "You don't realize it, but you have this effect on people." "You're so damn enthusiastic, it just rubs off." "I see this light in your eyes every time you work with John." "It's like..." "It's like you can see his future." "It's a future that I don't even see for him anymore." "God, I want you to make it happen." "So do I." "But it's more than that." "I want you to feel success again." "I want you to know you can be helpful for every patient that comes through your door." "So you don't have to think about Colin anymore." "You can..." "You can think about John and the life you're giving him." "So we keep at this?" "If that's okay with you." "Just one thing." "Is there any chance the tears were real?" "Maybe 1 percent." "Good." "Then they don't need to know." " I got the job." " You did?" "I did." "Totally nailed the interview." "Uh, turns out Mr. Randolph's son also played football so we ended up spending the whole time talking about my undefeated season and, uh, the guy loved me." " Oh, Bright, I'm so happy for you." " Yeah, ha, ha." "Yeah, I get my own desk." "I, uh, get a computer with free e-mail, um..." "There are no weekends so I can be a normal person again." "No more restaurant hours for the kid." " When do you start?" " Uh, Monday." "Isn't that great, Dad?" "Uh, ahem, look, I know I've been a total screw-up lately and, uh, you were probably wondering if I would ever get my crap in a pile." "But I swear to you, I am gonna make you proud on this." "You know, uh, you guys really went to the mat for me and I completely appreciate it." "You know, I needed somebody to believe in me, and you guys did." "So seriously, thank you." "You can thank your mother." "I had nothing to do with it." "Surprise." " Seriously." " So this is where the magic happens." "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it that, but yeah." " Me neither." " Ha, ha." "I thought I'd stop by and see this computer setup you've been talking about." "Oh, it's right here." "Uh, it's MIDI." "So all I have to do is play here and then it comes up on the screen." "It's pretty cool." "All I have to do is press print." "It changes everything, doesn't it?" " You got "Bella" in there?" " Yeah." "With your changes?" "Yeah." "Let's hear it." " Really?" " Oh, push the issue." "See how that works for you." " Play." " Can't hear anything with the volume down." "You don't have to." "Play." "See it." "Left up." "Bop it." "That's it." "That's it." "How'd you come up with that?" "I just felt it." "It didn't seem like the right place for a minor." "Is it all better now?" "I don't know, I couldn't hear it." "But you could see it." "Yeah." "I think it's better." "Then you gotta do what you gotta do." "I gotta do something else too, Will." "I gotta find a new teacher." "It's about time you said so." "Alan Zaiman?" "You start with him tomorrow." "Hardcore classical and bitch mean." "He'll round you out where I let you slide." "He may even help you with that Liszt you got your eye on." "About the changes, springing that on you was probably not my best move." "No, it wasn't." "Truth is, I wouldn't have minded if you'd made it worse." "Well, anyway, I'm sorry." "Don't be." "I'm all out of tricks to show you." "I seriously, seriously doubt that." " You gonna argue with everything I say?" " Heh." "We can still play together sometimes, right?" "I mean, I can still come over?" "You're on the path." "You got a long walk ahead of you." "You can't let things like sentiment get in the way." ""Bella Raye" was always a going-away present." "I don't think that I'm going anywhere." "Trust me." "I've seen your future, and it ain't here." "Now shut up and play me out, genius."