"My name is Melinda Gordon." "I'm married." "I live in a small town, and I own an antique shop." "I might be just like you." "Except that from time I was a little girl," "I knew that I could talk to the dead." "It's all right, honey." "Earthbound spirits, my grandmother called them." "They're stuck here because they have unfinished business with the living." "And they come to me for help." "In order to tell you my story, I have to tell you theirs." " He sure is good-looking." " And he's completely unaware of it." "Bob has no idea of the effect he has on women." "And a sharp dresser." "Check out the tie." "Well, you know what they say." "The clothes make the man." "And the dog." "This is amazing." "I mean, I've heard a lot about therapy dogs." "How did you get him into it?" "Well, he's just always been so good with people, especially children." "He had to go through some training, but he's the perfect dog for it." " He's huggable." "He's patient." " And you do this every weekend?" "Whenever we can." "This hospital was really great to my husband." "They did everything they could to try and save him." "Everybody was really kind." "Anyway, we have some more stops to make." "Are you in a rush?" " No." " Good." "Hey, Bob!" "How ya doing, boy?" "Oh, nice tie." "Notice how Bob gets all the attention and we're just the appendages who happen to be nearby." "Oh, don't forget your donation for the silent auction." "Oh, I won't." "I have so much stuff." "Don't worry." "Oh, you know what?" "I forgot to ask her something." "Can you please hold Bob?" " Thank you so much." "I'll be right back." " Oh, sure." " Violet!" " Okay." "Bob." "Okay." "Let's go this way." " I'm sorry." " Oh, my God, I am so sorry." "My fault." "My fault." "Oh, gosh." " Oh, beautiful dog." "May I?" " Oh, yeah, of course." "Hey." "Are you all right?" "I've just had a really tough day." "And he reminds me of a dog we used to have, don't you?" "Is there anything I can do?" "No." "Thank you." "Just enjoy your day." "I mean it." "Enjoy everything." "Friend of yours?" "New friend of Bob's." "Did she look familiar to you?" "You know, I really didn't see her that well." "Come on." "I swear I've seen her somewhere." "Anyway, I need to use the restroom and then get going." "They're through those double doors, I think." " Okay." "Bye, Bob." " Okay." "Excuse me." "Can I help you?" "I'm looking for a restroom." "Well, you won't find it here." "Okay." "Sorry." "Let me show you." "It's right here." " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Can you see us?" "I was looking forward to a nice toasty store." "It's freezing in here." "Oh, sorry." "I just needed some fresh air." "I was feeling a little claustrophobic today." " Is it okay if I close the door?" " Sure." "Hey, what's in that box?" "Oh, the donations for the hospital." "The silent auction." "I totally forgot." " Are you taking this in today?" " Yeah." "After work." "If I can get Ned to bring everything by and put it in the back of your truck..." " Yes." "I will add it to the haul." " Excellent." "Ned." "Ned, I left everything in a bag by the door." "If you could just bring it by after school." "But I have volleyball practice." "That's at 4:00." "That leaves you 40 minutes." "It'll only take you 20." " Okay." " Oh, thank you so much." "I know, it's a bummer." "I'll see you after school." "And I am gonna make myself some tea." "Sorry." "Are you okay?" "Yeah." "Nasty leg cramp." " There you go." " Thanks." "So, two creepy visions, but no ghosts." "Yeah." "Someone's trying to tell me something." "What?" "I just keep getting this feeling like I can't breathe, can't move." "Why do they gotta make everything a riddle?" "Why do they gotta play these games with you?" "They communicate with me the only way they can." "Yeah." "Well, it makes it really hard to know what to do." "I'm gonna start with the obituaries, see if I can find any news stories on deaths in mental hospitals." "Maybe that's why I was in a straitjacket in the vision." "That's a great way to spend the afternoon." "That's why God created coffee." "So, where do I put the stuff for this auction?" "Just right here on the table." "That looks heavy." "Did your mom make you throw out your video games?" "No, it's just some random stuff." " Need some help?" " No, thanks." "Obituaries." "Are we doing some ghost business?" "We are not doing anything." "I just thought you might want to bounce some stuff off of me, since, well, you know, I know." "Thanks." "That's sweet." "But it's kind of a solo act." "Whatever." "I have volleyball practice anyway." "But I'm on cell." "Hey, Ned, wait a minute." "I knew you'd see it my way." "This is your dad's stuff, isn't it?" "Yeah, so?" "So, I'm surprised that Delia would want to get rid of it." "Are you..." "You sure that you grabbed the right box?" "Yeah." "That's the one." "Definitely." "Okay." "Well, I'm not sure how much you're gonna be able to get for this beer-can hat." "Bye." "I'm listening, honey." "I'm listening." "You have no idea how horrible it was." "I was using all my strength, my whole being, just to even move my little finger and say that I was alive, and that I could feel it." "Honey, I still don't get it." "I mean, the ghost was killed by an undertaker?" "They thought he or she was dead, but he wasn't?" "They died in some kind of surgery?" "The ghost was obviously feeling helpless." "There was stuff being done to it that it couldn't stop, that it didn't want, but what was I supposed to do about it?" "All right, just tell me how this vision was different than your other visions." "You know, I mean, how you felt about it or something." "Well, in this one I left my body." "Like I died, and I could see everything around me." "Look, maybe this ghost just wants people to know what happened to it." "You know, whatever it was, that they felt it, they were aware of it." "Maybe you should check, see if anybody died in a funeral home, freak accidents, surgery." "Do you feel it?" "Feel what?" "Do you feel anything on your back?" "No, honey." "What..." "There's..." "I don't feel anything." "There's nothing." "What is it, Mel?" "What?" ""Srom itcelid." Is this a new character in a Lemony Snicket book?" "Do I look amused?" "No." "You look grumpy and mildly tired, yet oddly bewitching." " Does it mean anything or not?" " Not." "Is..." "Is it a secret code?" "Is it a sorority?" " Can you put it in context for me?" " My husband's back." "As in a tattoo?" "As in it appeared on his back as if someone was writing it, and then disappeared." "Wow, you know how to put a slight spin on someone's day, don't you?" "Welcome to my world." "Is there any way he can come into my office?" "Because then maybe it would happen again and I could do some..." "No." "I just need to know what it means, if it means anything." "I need more information." "I'm sorry." "I'm trying to unravel a haunting." "It either has to do with a mental patient who died in an institution or somebody who died on the embalming table at a mortuary." "Okay, there is actual hair standing up on the back of my neck." "Would you like to feel it?" "I will take your word for it." " Look, Professor Payne..." " Rick." "I just want you to know that it's not just me who took a chance when I told you what I could do." "The weird things that have been happening to you," " the things that have been moved..." " Things that are still happening." "This can really invade your life." "It's all right." "I've been through worse." " I was in a bar in Philly..." " I'm serious." "Well, maybe I've been waiting for something to invade my life for a long time." "Maybe this is just what I needed." "I'm gonna go figure this out." "I'll get back to you." " Thank you." " Sure." "If I wanted to give this stuff away," "I would have put it in the box myself." "Then why didn't you?" "Hey, I don't have to answer to a 13-year-old." "I'm your mother, and you'll do what I say." " You always tell me I can be myself." " You had no right to take these." "What were you thinking?" "These are your father's things, Ned." "Think I don't know that?" "What is wrong with you?" " I am so damn furious..." " I don't get it!" " What's the big deal?" " Oh, you get it." "And you know you get it." "You are just lucky I figured out what you were trying to do before it was too late." "Oh, God." "I am so sorry you had to hear all that." "No, it's okay." " What happened?" " I have no idea what's gotten into him." "I'm just gonna bring this all to the car." "So, Ned, you want to talk about why you pulled such a loser move?" "It wasn't a loser move." "Okay, you want to come out here and tell me what's up?" "What's up is," "I'm sick of seeing Mom sad all the time." "Ned, I don't think she's sad all the time." "That's because she's good at putting on a happy face." "Try living with her." "She cries every single day about Dad." "It's like she hopes he's still alive somewhere." "She just won't let him go." "Say that again." "What?" "The part about still being alive and not wanting to let him go." "So?" "Ned, I really want to finish this conversation, okay?" "You're in charge of the store." "I'll be right back." "Please stop it!" "No!" "Please!" "No." "No." "Please." "Please don't!" "Please!" "Please!" "Please don't." "Please stop!" "Are you okay?" "Found it." "Hi." "I'm lost again." "Do you know where I could find a coffee machine?" "No." "Well, you seem pretty sure about that, so..." "Great." "I got these out of the recycling bin." "Oh, thanks." "Just dump them on the table." " Can I help you go through these?" " Thanks, but I have to." "You know, it's just that woman I saw at the bedside, she looked so familiar." "I know that I have seen her in the news." "Maybe on TV?" "Maybe, but I think it was a magazine." "Some sort of family thing." "Are you sure you found this ghost?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "I saw his energy, I guess, hovering over the bed." "He was hooked up to all these machines." "There were wires all around him, just like I've been seeing in the visions." "How'd you find him?" "It was actually something Ned said." "Do you remember last year when I had that ghost who was brain dead, but he could only come to me when he flatlined?" "Well, it made me realize that this ghost may still be alive, but trapped in his own body." "And he hates the things that are being done to him, but he still has a message he has to get across to me or someone else." "And it makes total sense with everything that I've been seeing and feeling." "It makes sense to me." "Anyway, I think that he attached himself to me when I was at the hospital." "But how can you tell..." "Hey!" "Wait." "This is it." "This is the spirit." "Hugh Bristow." "He's been brain dead for months." "There's a big court battle over it." "I read about that." " He had ALS, right?" " Yeah." "Lou Gehrig's disease." "His wife took him to some mysterious clinic in Europe." "He was in a coma right after." "Well, rich family." "Keeping him on life support, huh?" "Yeah." "Now his wife wants to pull the plug." "Nice." "You know, he was only married for a month before he went into a coma?" "The family thinks she just wants his money and that, somehow, she put him into this coma." "How are you gonna get to this guy?" "You said the family has guards." "They feel like they're under siege." "I have a secret weapon." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on, Bob." "Are you kidding me?" "Oh, he's a therapy dog." "She met him a couple of days ago." "That's all right, Ben." "I remember you." "Yeah." "We were just making our rounds, and I thought maybe you could use some company." "Well, I don't know if he can go in there." "I'd have to check with the doctor." "But I could always go for a break." "Do you want to go for a break?" "Okay." "Is that good?" "Yes, you are a good dog." " Come on." " You lead." "You know, my husband doesn't even have a tie that nice." "Gosh, there's nothing like some doggy love, huh?" "And it gives Bill a chance to talk to our son." "Bill thinks it's important to talk to him." "You know, in case he hears us." "This must be such a hard time for you." "You have no idea." "Come on." "And then there are all the lawyers and the reporters." "I'm so sorry." "You must need your privacy in a time like this." "Well, thanks to her, that's impossible." "Come on." "You're being polite." "I'm sure you've heard it all over the news." "I know there's a conflict." "You are polite." "I guess "conflict" is a good word for a wife who's trying to kill her husband." "After having failed once before." "My son trusted her." "He said he loved her." "But maybe that's just because we didn't." "Help them." "Please." "Help them." "Then he said, "Help them."" "That's easy." "Sounds like you're describing an astral projection." "That's an out-of-body experience?" "Or an OBE, as we pretentious experts like to say." "An energy body or an astral body carries the consciousness from the physical body." "And the energy would have to stay close to the physical body, wouldn't it?" "Well, that depends on how advanced the energy is." "Some people say they travel to other planets where no doubt they have wonderful conversations about all this." "What about the silver cord?" "Umbilical cord?" "Keeps the soul tethered to the body, and if you cut that cord, you're going to be spending a lot of time with Elvis." "What's this all about?" "Turns out that my ghost is not a ghost." "He's in a coma on life support." "Wait a minute." "He's..." " He's astral projecting at you?" " That's one way to put it." "What does he want?" "I think he wants to cut the cord once and for all." " You think this entity speaks Latin?" " I don't know." "Why?" "Well, that message that was on your husband's back." "Mors dilecti." "It's Latin." "Why do you think it was written backwards?" "You said this was written on Jim's back, right?" "Well, maybe it was written from the inside." " Do you know what it means?" " Do I know what it means?" "Me, the guy with "professor" in front of his name" " on the red door over there?" " Well?" "Yes, I know what it means." "Aren't you even impressed that I figured out the whole Latin backwards thing?" "I worked the mirror in..." "You have no idea what it means, do you?" "I know what it means." "It's the..." "It's roughly translated from Latin," ""The body of a crime", the body or the proof..." "Proof that a crime has been committed." "That makes no sense." "Oh, like a phantom writing on your husband's back makes sense?" " Will you just check it for me?" " You wound me." " Bound to happen." " The first cut's always the deepest." "Did anything else weird happen with your back?" "No one's used it as a notepad today, if that's what you mean." " Where are you?" " I'm at the Bristows' house." "I just want to see if I can talk to his wife." "Why?" "I don't know." "Just get her side of it, I guess." "I couldn't bring myself to tell his parents that I could see his spirit." "Oh, here she is." "I gotta go." "Bye." "Hi." " You just won't stop, will you?" " I'm sorry?" "You just won't leave me alone!" "You bastards!" "You no-good bastards!" "You leave me alone!" "You want a story?" "Here's a story for you!" " "Gold-digger wife offends a reporter!"" " Don't!" "Please!" "How's that?" "Do you have to print that?" " I'm not a reporter." " What are you?" "Detective, then?" "A private eye Mommy and Daddy hired?" "No." "I'm just someone who wants to help." "You look..." "It's this simple." "Hugh didn't want to be hooked up to machines." "He told me so." "Okay." "Well, did he put it in his will?" "No." "But he was my husband." "We talked." "He told me things." "And I'm not going to let their big money and their big lawyers stop me from trying to do what Hugh wanted." "You tell them that." "You tell them I'm not giving up." " Hey." " Hey." "Hey." "What you doing?" "Oh, I'm just sorting some things." "You?" "Nothing." "I don't like to fight with you." "Me neither." "Maybe I should have asked you why you did what you did before yelling at you." "So I'm asking you now." "Why did you want to get rid of all your dad's stuff?" "It makes you sad." "It helps me remember." "It seems like the same thing." "Sometimes remembering does make you sad." "Sometimes it makes you smile." "Sometimes it makes you feel grateful." "Sometimes it reminds you of the good life you had with somebody, and all the things they gave you." "Ned, it's just a..." "A big jumble of things." "There's grief, there's joy, there's anger..." "There are so many emotions, you just have to figure out a way to sort through them." "I don't know how." "Well, I got a news flash for you." "Neither do I." "Neither does anybody." "You just have to work through it, feel the feelings." "Just takes time." "How much time?" "Well, all I can tell you is that every day it starts to hurt a little less." "Does that mean I'll forget about him?" "Oh, no, kiddo." "You will never forget him." "And neither will I." "And having said all that," "I think you were right." "About what?" "Maybe I do hang on to too much stuff." " But..." " Maybe if we gave some of it away, not all of it, but some of it, it'll be like your dad's still out there making other people smile, not just us." "Okay." "Okay." "Except..." "I vote for letting go of the beer-can cap." "My thought exactly." "All right, why don't you go get the box?" "It's in the back." "I'm going to take Bob for a quick walk, okay?" "Oh!" "Sorry." "I just had a few errands to..." "Hey, no problem." "Ned and I have a few things that we want to donate to the hospital after all." "The box is a little lighter, but he's in the back getting it." " Okay." "Well, I'll take it by later." " Oh, it's okay." "I can do it." "No, I have to go by there anyway." "If you can do me a favor?" " Sure." " Could I borrow Bob again?" "Is there something going on between the two of you that I should know about?" "He's really good company." "Okay." "My wife is sure that Hugh's coming back." "What about you?" "I wish I..." "I wish I could be so sure." "The doctors, they all say he's gone." "He's been brain dead for months." "They say there's no chance, there's no..." "Chance my son's going to come back." "But Janet doesn't want to hear anything." "You know, that's still her son in there, and he's still breathing." "I just..." "I just wish I knew if I was doing the right thing." "What about his wife?" "She just wants the money." "That's why she married him." "She knew damn well how sick he was." "She was waiting tables." "She didn't even go to college." "She doesn't love him the way we do." "But I don't want to keep Hugh alive just to spite her." "Would you mind..." "Can I sit with him for just a few minutes?" "No, I don't mind." "Sure." "Keep an eye on Bob." " Do you want them to end this?" " I'm not meant to be here." "They're keeping me here." "Are you suffering?" "I feel like a prisoner." "Well, did you tell Lisa that you didn't want to be kept alive if something happened?" "Oh, my God." "She's got to know." "Know what?" "She's gotta know what she did." " What did she do?" " I've got to talk to them." " Well, I don't know if I can..." " No, please." "You're my only chance." "I know, but is it really your business?" "I mean, maybe you need to step away from this one and just..." "You know, just let it play out between the families." "I mean, they have rights." "It's not up to us to step in between and tell them what to do." "Us?" "All right, you." "I'm not telling them what to do." "It's..." "I'm supposed to help the dead with their unfinished business." "Yeah, but nobody's dead here, Mel, that's the problem." "No, but his spirit still came to me, and he asked me for help." "I mean, that's what this whole thing should be about, not what his wife wants, not what his parents want." "It should be what Hugh wants." "He's the one who's laying there, wasting away." "You're absolutely sure this is what he wants?" "Yeah." "I have no doubts." "Wouldn't you want the same thing?" "Wait a minute." "Would you?" "If I didn't think I would ever recover?" "Yeah." "Absolutely." "But..." " Can you ever really be sure?" " Of course not." "No more sure than you can be of what will happen when you walk out our front door tomorrow morning." "The only thing you can do is take all the information you have and give it your best shot." "I know that my best shot is in the light, not with machines or tubes or a hospital bed." "You have insider information." "It's not fair." "So do you." "Yeah, I know." "It's just, you know..." "If it came to you, it wouldn't be easy for me, that's all." "Yeah, but you'd do it because you love me." "And you know I'd be okay." "Yeah." "I would." "And you?" "If you're still here, hook me up." "I'll take the machines." "I'll take a beating heart, if nothing else, just in case." "But if you go before me, don't even bother plugging them in." "I don't want to interfere in these people's lives." "And I don't want to get between them, but..." "But Hugh Bristow doesn't have anybody else to speak for him but me." "So I will." "So you should." " Don't let them do this!" " Do what?" "They're going to bring me back." "Please, I'm gone already!" "Just tell them to let me go!" "What just happened?" "I think Hugh just died." "And they brought him back." "You got brass ones, I'll give you that, to come here after last time." "Just what is it you want?" "I came here because I need you to trust me." "Why?" "Because I'm going to ask you to do something that isn't so easy." "Why do you care about any of this?" "I'm just trying to help." "Do you believe the things they say about me in the papers?" "Should I?" "Hugh and I met two years ago in a diner." "I was his waitress." "The papers love to play that up." "For me, it was love at first sight." "As we got more serious, though, Hugh finally told me he had ALS." "A death sentence." "Whatever time he had left, I wanted to share it with him." "He wanted to get married, but he didn't want to saddle me with his illness." "And I loved him so much nothing could have scared me away." "The wedding was beautiful." "Not even his parents could ruin it." "And don't think they didn't try." "They were sure I was only after his money." "His disease progressed more quickly than we expected, so we went to a clinic in Switzerland." "Then he went into the coma." "Not the usual thing that happens with ALS." "So that's my side of it." "Is that what you came here for?" " No." " I didn't think so." "Well, whatever it is you're up to," "I hope you don't think that you can hurt me." "Not any more than they've hurt me already." "Because I'm pretty much bullet-proof now." "I came here because I have a message from Hugh." "When did Hugh give you a message?" "It's complicated, but I need to tell you at the hospital with Bill and Janet, all of you together." "No way." "I mean, even if I wanted to, they would never..." "It's something you're gonna wanna hear." "Something everyone needs to hear." "You're gonna be okay." "We're going to bring you through this." "But you have to keep fighting, Hugh." "You have to stay strong." "You've got to be kidding." "It's not your turn." "We have another hour." " Why did you bring her here?" " I just want you all to listen." "Okay?" "Just listen." "I have a message from Hugh." "What are you talking about?" " His spirit is here with us right now." " What is this?" "What are you trying to pull?" "I'm not trying to pull anything, and I'm not going to waste time on explanations." "There are some things that he wants you all to know." "I feel so much stronger just being close to him." "Tell him I liked it when he read to me." "I just liked hearing his voice." "He wants you to know that he liked it when you read to him." "It meant a lot to hear your voice, especially when you read Hemingway." "Okay, that's enough." "You can't do this to us." "What is wrong with you?" "Do you not think we have suffered enough?" " Tell her I know what happened." " He knows what happened." "And tell her it's all right." " He's saying it's all right." " What?" "What happened?" "He's saying something about medication." "Did you give him pills?" "No." "This is some kind of a trick." "He's saying that it's all right and that he forgives you, and so will they." "I took care of my son." "I know how to take care of my son." "I was afraid that she had done something to him in Switzerland." "Hugh went into a seizure." "So I gave him some muscle relaxants." "Which ones?" "The ones I always gave him when he seized." "The doctors took him off those." "They said they would interact with his antidepressants." "How could you give them to him without telling me?" "He seized and I..." "I had to do something." "That was when he went into the coma." "Wait." "He doesn't want to blame anyone." "He just wants you all to stop this." "Bill, this is all my fault." "She's right." " Look what I've done." "I've killed him!" " He's saying none of this matters now." "He just wants you all to stop hating each other and let him go." "But if this is true, if he really is here, then he's aware..." "Aware of what's going on." "How can we end his life?" "I am aware, Mom." "I'm aware that I'm not coming back." "And I will continue to be trapped here until these machines stop living for me." "He is aware." "He can see you and he can feel you, but he knows that it's his time to go, and he's not living." " These machines are doing it for him." " He's my son." "No." "I can't let him go." "Mom, you want me to stay here for you, not for me." "He says that he thinks you're wanting him to stay for your sake, not for him." "And keeping him here, it's only making it harder on everyone." "Mom..." "I need you to heal." "I want you to love Lisa." "She's all alone now." "She needs you." "What's happening?" "Tell Lisa I know that she loved me." "I knew it was for real." "I felt her tears on my shoulders and on my back." "She didn't want me to see her crying." "Tell her I know how hard she fought for me." "He knows how much you loved him." "He was talking about the night that he felt your tears..." " Jim?" " Shower." "That's a good idea." "Is there room for me?" "It can be arranged, I think." "Is it raining where you are?" "Oh, Professor Payne." "No, it's a shower." "You know what?" "That's a little too much information." "Actually, it's not enough information." "Well, that's all you're getting." "You're cruel, but you knew that, didn't you?" "No, cruel would be if I run out of hot water." "What can I do for you?" "I know you may find this difficult to believe, but I may have made an error." "I find it shocking that you're admitting it." "What's your error?" "That Latin translation I gave you." "It seems my linguistics are a bit rusty." "Oh." "Well, no worries." "It's all taken care of." "Game over for now." " I wouldn't be so sure about that." " What do you mean?" "The phrase, mors dilecti, it does not mean, "Body of the crime" after all." " So what does it mean?" " It means..." "It means something entirely different, Melinda." "What?" "What does it mean?" "It means, "Death of a loved one."" "Honey, you coming or not?"