"What, George?" "What is it, baby?" "I was..." "I was falling." "It was so vivid." " Did you ---?" " No." " You know what they say." " Yeah." " If you fall in a dream..." " And you hit bottom..." " ...you'll die." " ...you won't wake up." "That's why you wake up before you land." "It's the body" " The brain's way of protecting yourself, right?" "Maybe." "Maybe?" "Maybe people who die in their sleep they're actually dreaming of falling and they land." "You know, I mean, they hit bottom in the dream but they really die." "But you didn't." "No." "I'm alive." "Happy birthday." "It's tomorrow." "You're worried about tomorrow." "No, I'm not." " It's a routine procedure." " I know." "I know." " It'll be fine." " Right." "I know." "And tonight..." " What?" " Nothing." "Come on." "You know I'm gonna be miserable." "What?" "Everyone's coming." "They're coming for you." "You're 40 years old." ""ColoClear."" ""Polyethylene Glycol." "If you're drinking the solution before your procedure you may consume clear liquids, decaffeinated cola, tea, broth gelatin." Gelatin?" "Swell." ""Drink one full glass of the solution rapidly, every 10 minutes until the entire gallon is fin--" The entire gallon?" "Fuck." ""Bowel" " Bowel evacuation will begin promptly."" "All right, then." "Forty." "To you, bud." "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." "Happy fucking birthday." "For he's a Jell-O good fellow" "For he's a Jell-O good fellow" "So rich, so creamy, so mellow" "That nobody can deny" "All right." "Make a wish, George." "Come on." "Count them candles." "Count them again." " Blow." "Blow, baby, blow." " Count those candles, George." " Come on." "Here we go." " Making a wish." "I'm making a wish." "All right." "Come on, dude." "Good luck, Daddy." " Blow." "Blow." " Come on." "One more, one more." " Yes." " Hey." "You've all heard the news." "George has announced that one of you is gonna betray him in the Garden of Gethsemane." "Andrea, you need to raise your hands in alarm." "Chloe, you're John." "Thomas, lean closer to Frank as though you're swooning." "Who's Judas?" "I'm Judas." "Jenny is Judas." "How are we to interpret that?" " All right, come on." " Everybody, freeze." "Come here." " Are you okay?" " Yeah." "I'm fine." "How about you, Judas?" "You gonna betray me, Judas?" "Why would I do that?" "Wasn't tonight good?" "Yes." "Tonight was perfection." "Hello." "Mr. Grieves, I'm Zoe." " Hi, Zoe, I'm George." " Hi, George." "If you'll just undress and slip into these." "We're gonna take your temperature, blood pressure and respiratory rate." " Okay." " We're gonna hook you up to an EKG with a couple patches on your chest, and put a pulse oximeter on your finger." " Okay." " Dr. Sharazi will be in to talk to you." "In the meantime, just put your clothes on the bed." "I'm gonna prep your IV." "Go on." "Drop your drawers." "I'm sure she's seen it all." "So any problems with your prep?" "No." "No problems at all." "Safe to say there was nothing left to hit the fan." "That's funny." "I've never heard that one." " You're kidding?" " No." "I've heard:" ""Everything came out okay."" "Right, because of the" " You know." "Welcome to the Outback Steakhouse." "Nurse." "Thank you." " So, Mr. Grieves..." " Grieves." " Grieves." " I beg your pardon." "Okay, Grieves." "Very good." "I'm Dr. Sharazi." "Sorry about that." "Yeah, my hands are a little nervous." "No, no." "Don't worry." "It's perfectly normal." "Me too." " Mrs. Grieves?" " Jennifer." "I'm his sister." "Well, there seems to be nothing but confusion around here this morning." "Well, then, with the first day of construction on the east ward all the computers are down." "We even had some trouble finding your records." "But as we gastroenterologists are very fond of saying:" ""This, too, shall pass."" " Good one." " George?" " Do you wanna sit down?" " Sure." " Let us discuss your colonoscopy." " Okay." "So a colonoscopy is a minimally invasive endoscopic examination of your colon." "Do you understand?" "Very simply, we use the endoscope to look for polyps or any other abnormalities inside the large intestine." " What's that for?" " This is IV propofol." "It's a fairly short-acting anesthetic." "Don't worry." "We'll be monitoring postoperatively to reverse the sedation and make sure no complications have occurred." "Okay." "We're all set here." "So any questions?" "Well, I'm fine, Dr. Sh" " Dr. Sh" " Sharazi." " Dr. Sharazi." " Sharazi." " Persian." "That's right." "I'm from Iran." "But don't worry." "My degree is from Chicago, not Tehran." " It was either this or drive a cab, right?" " Right." "I mean..." "Now, you will be here to drive him afterwards, Ms. Grieves?" "Grieves." "And I was kidding." "I am his wife." " She's not my wife." " Yes, I'll be here." " George, you can sit down." " Okay." "If you wanna wait in reception, I'll get you when we're done." "Fine." " Let's get you to the exam room." " Okay." " See you on the flip side." " Yeah." "See you." "Oh, my God." "I am so sorry." "That has never happened before." " I'm so sorry." " Don't worry." "A little flesh wound." "Okay." "We will get you some antibacterial." "Zoe, neomycin, please." " And bill me for it." " I think this will be on the house." " Okay, George, you with me?" " No." "I'm against you." "All right." "I want you to start counting backwards from 100." "One hundred." "Ninety-nine." "Ninety-eight." "Ninety-seven." "It's time for our annual Rites of Spring Extravaganza." "Seventy-two hours of tips and tricks to keep your plants, of course, healthy and happy." "Our live panel of regional and professional gardening experts are just a phone call away, ready, willing and able to diagnose your garden." "Guaranteed to transform your front lawn and back yard into a celebration of the season." "So don't miss our exceptional offers on plants, seeds and saplings." "Plus live demonstrations of your favorite lawn and garden products." "So get out that spade and those pruning shears and tune in to PVS Shopping Network's Rites of Spring Gardening Extravaganza." "Mr. Grieve, are you okay?" "There was a power outage." "All that construction." "But we're back now, emergency power." "I'm so sorry." "I'm Zoe." "My name is Zoe." "Jenny" " My wife, Jenny." "She's downstairs, on six." "Sixth?" "The sixth floor?" "You were moved here to seven after." "This...?" "This isn't the same room?" "I know." "They all look the same, right?" "How are you feeling?" "Are you feeling any discomfort?" "My back." " Is it sore?" "Should I raise the bed?" " No." "Sweating." " You don't feel warm." " My back is sweating." " My back." " Let me see." "It's wet." "You're wet." "Let me go tell the doctor." "Would you...?" "Would you bring my wife up first?" "Of course." "Don't you go anywhere." "Now, we don't have to slice it." "We just want to insert the knife right into the top of the potato." "And look, it's really not a very big incision at all." "And then you push the ends of the potato toward the center and look at that!" " Sour cream." " Yeah." "What the fuck?" "Thanks." "This is..." "It's quite a home, George." "You think you deserve it?" "What, are you fucking kidding me?" " I mean, IT consultant?" " Yeah." "What is that?" "Do you even know what you do?" "I know what I've done, Billy." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "Yeah." "Absolutely." "How about you, Bill?" "What have you done except bum around the world, soaking up experience so you can be the only one at a party who knows what they're talking about?" "So you can think you've got the right to ask me such an inappropriate question?" " I'm your brother." " Yeah." "And I know what's important to you." "Billy, you know, you show up here out of the blue and ask me to, what justify my career?" "Justify my life?" "It's sophomoric, I think." "Not to mention, at the end of the night, you'll be hitting me up for some cash." "Boys, there's a birthday party inside." "It's my birthday party." "I'll be outside if I want." "Look at this." "I raised two perfect kids, you'd think I could keep an olive tree alive." "I've seen a lot, George." "Way outside the bubble we grew up in." "Billy, I paid for this, all right?" "I paid for all this." "Yeah." "Are you making a life, or have you just been making a living?" " You wanna hit me?" " My wife, Billy." "Made my wife happy." "How do you know?" "Fuck." " Who--?" " What?" "What?" "You called me." "What?" "No." "No." "I need to see my doctor." "Okay?" "Dr." " I need to see a Dr. Sharazi." "Bed adjust." "Call button." "You called me." "No, no, no." "I need to see my" " Get my doctor, please." "Hey." "And don't miss The Internet Traveler our six-part series on surfing the web like a pro." "Catch the virtual wave during Tech Week next Saturday on the PVS Shopping Network." "January 7, 0300 hours on Ayabaca, Peru." "I am in the clinic of an ex-Augustinian missionary, Friar Lazaro Mate." "This is Wyanot Nyira Quechua Indian, age 15." "Does she feel it?" "Just a pressure." "A little push." "I don't know how that's possible." " Hey, buddy." " Hold on." "I am no more than 30 inches from the procedure." "There is no anesthesia, no antiseptic." "Neddie, Mom needs you to set the table." "No, no, no, just a second." "This is so cool." "He claims it is the demon." "Jesus." "Eddie, what the hell is this?" "He says he has found her spleen." " Come on, son, that's enough." " No, just a second." "Hang on." "Wyanot is, according to her family, a schizophrenic." "Father, is that you?" "You truth-fucker." "In the name of God." "Jesus Christ." "This is surgical exorcism." "Look, look, look, that's him." "That's Dr. Falk." "So we will go to the Shebeen Josie in Goma." "Goma, Lake Kivu." "Congo, Kinshasa." "We're going to Africa." "I don't get it." "Well, it's his website, it's his video blog." "The guy with the glasses, he's this socioanthropologist, Dr. Falk and he goes all over." "He goes all around the world, sort of like, on the trail of evil." " Evil." "Really?" " Yeah." "Yeah, see, he believes the devil-- Or Satan, you know." "he expresses himself through people." "And yeah, you know, and then he just-- He posts this stuff online." " Okay." "Let's go." " Hey, Dad, he's like" " He's fearless." " Eddie, it's all staged." " It's not." "That's the thing, it's not." "It's real." "This is real." " How do you know that?" " Because I looked him up online." "The guy, he was a professor at San Francisco State and he just left the university to, like, live his research." " His research?" " Yeah." "The origin of fear." "The origin of fear." "Origin of fear." "Really?" " You know what I'm afraid of?" " Fundamentalist Muslims?" "No?" "How about the revenge of disadvantaged minorities?" "What have you been reading?" "Dad, you are a white, liberal male living in a hostile world." "The white male part is what makes you feel responsible, makes you feel guilty." " Freshman Psychology?" " Sociology, it's pretty easy." "That's good." "Let's go." " Hey, did you see his glasses?" " Whose glasses?" "Dr. Falk's." "You think I can get a pair like those?" "Dinner." "There you are." " Where?" " Still here." " Where's my wife?" " She's coming." " Coming?" " And so is Dr. Sharazi." "You're still feeling kind of woozy?" "Yeah, yeah." "Woozy." "Do you think that you could get up with my help?" "Definitely." "Here we go." "There you go." "This will just take a minute, and you'll feel so much better." "There's nothing like fresh sheets." "You don't look like a nurse." "No." "It's kind of a drag, actually." "Like I don't belong here." "Like I'm not a nurse." "Like I'm not devoted to the welfare of those committed to my care." "That's from the Florence Nightingale pledge that I learned in nursing school." "Nursing is all that I ever wanted to do." "And since I've been at Mt." "Abaddon I've had three patients ask me to pose for Internet porn sites." "That's too bad." "Flirting is kind of part of the job, I guess." "I mean, if you wear a uniform and deal with bedpans and nakedness I think men feel like they have to flirt to overcompensate for being so exposed." "So vulnerable." "Maybe." "But you don't." "And that's really nice." "Thank you." "I'm sure they're coming any minute now." "Most people have never even heard of this." " It's called iatrogenic illness." " What?" " Say it again." " latrogenic?" "Illness caused by medical examination or treatment." "That's a hell of a middle school." "Actually, Ned's in high school now." "You go in with one problem, come out with another?" " Yeah, that's if you come out." " Andrea." " What?" " Come on." "It's the leading cause of death in the U.S." " What?" " No, no, no, it is." "I swear." "I mean, medical error." "I mean, adverse drug reaction, right?" "Needless antibiotics." "Infection, unnecessary procedure." " What a cash cow for you." " You bet." "In a 10-year period, right 7.8 million iatrogenic deaths." "That is more than all the casualties from all the wars fought..." " ...in the history of the United States." " Come on." " I've never heard of that." " It is true." "The health-care system is this nation's number-one killer." "But the lawyers are making the real killing." "Yeah, you got that right." "Hear, hear." "To the lawyers." "Mr. Grieves are you with us?" "George?" "What is...?" "What is it?" "What are they giving?" "What are they giving?" "I'm just so not here." " I'm so out of it." " There's been a mistake, George." "Mistake?" "A scheduling error." "On the surgical floor." "You're the" " From Iran." "You're the..." "I am, I am." "That's okay." "He's still under sedation." "I'm gonna get Dr. Lichterhand to come and explain the details of your surgery." "I'm not a thoracic surgeon." "He can" "He'll be here in a moment." "I'll see you shortly." "It's corruption." "I met a guy who's paid 2 grand as a recruiter." "Paying folks 200 bucks to come in..." " ...and have an unnecessary surgery." " I saw this." " I saw this online." " What's with you and surgery?" "The surgery clinics bill the insurance companies 10, 20 grand to cut on immigrants." "Cubans, Guatemalans Mexicans, Vietnamese." "What, a cosmetic surgery?" "Unnecessary nose jobs, endoscopic bullshit, circumcisions." " But for 200 bucks?" " Colonoscopies." "Get this." "Sympathectomies." "You know what that is?" "Yeah, sympathectomies." "That's a cure for bleeding-heart liberals." " It is." "Look it up." " Funny." "A thoracoscopic sympathectomy." "They go in right here, make a small incision put in an endoscope, collapse a lung and snip a nerve somewhere near your spine." "It's a cure for sweaty palms." "George?" "Call Ira." " George, I" " Call Ira." "They gave me one of those fucking surgeries." "They gave me one of those unnecessary surgeries, didn't they?" "Fuck." "Fuck this." "Fucking nightmare." "It's a nightmare." "And this fucking place." "Fuck." "Jesus, they fucked me up with this-- Sweaty palms." "Jesus Christ." "Fuck." "We have to establish the time line." "The chain of events that led to all of this." "I'm so sorry." "I think" "Well, I know it wasn't Ben Sharazi's fault." "The human errors, the malpractice, it's the system." "The whole system, the whole fucking hospital, not just Ben" "Ben fucking Sharazi." "Ben Sharazi." "Wait, Ben" " You're on a first-name basis with this guy now?" "Mr. Grieves, I'm Dr. Lichterhand." "I performed your sympathectomy." "My--?" "No." "It's not me." "And it's not my sympathectomy, okay?" "It's not mine." "I understand there's been some confusion and that you're agitated." "I'm" " You don't understand." "I'm not "Grieves," okay?" "Grieves, I'm George Grieves." "Mr. Grieves, have you been experiencing any symptoms?" "Yeah, some." "My sweating." "My back sweating and my leg is itching." "This could be complication known as compensatory hyperhidrosis the body redirecting perspiration from your hands, underarms and feet to your back." " May I?" " Hey, get away from me." " Get away from me." " George." "What?" "Back the fuck off from me." "You don't touch me." "You don't fucking touch me until my attorney's present." "George, I called Ira, I left him messages." "He was on another call." " What?" "What?" " Ira, George." " Who?" " Ira." " He's on the phone." " I told his office it was an emergency." "Dinner's ready." "Yeah, she's-- She's on the..." "She's on the phone." "Are you kidding?" "I'd love to go down there." "No, I'm serious." "I gotta go." "I really gotta go." "No, really." "It's his birthday." "Okay, cut it out." "No." "I'll call you." "Later." "I really gotta go." "Okay." "Yeah." "Me too." "I think." "That Jason?" "No." " Lucas?" " No." " Noah?" " Dad, please." "Your mother needs your help." "Happy birthday, Dad." "Chloe." "She's not here." "Chloe." "You know her?" "How the fuck would I know her?" "I'm confused." "Confused." "They took her from you, didn't they?" " Who?" " Chloe." "It doesn't matter who she is." "I don't know who the fuck she is." "This place takes everything." "Your dignity, your liver your savings, your sense of humor your name your face." "Are you...?" "You're in pain." "The shit you don't know is just the shit you don't want to look at." "But it's all there, right there floating." "Little turds of truth." "Flush them" "Flush them down." "Face it." "I can't." "I..." "Don't question it." "They'll call you a traitor, a lunatic an unpatriotic ingrate." " What?" " Your fear, my fear that's what they depend on." "In a little white lab." "This is a fucking rendering plant." "That's where it happens." "Go over there and remember." "If you think you can't help yourself, you're wrong." "Twenty years ago, he came to me and he said:" ""Frank, there is a place that is everywhere and nowhere and has no center." "Do you know what it is?"" "And I said, "God?"" "You said the TCP/IP network." "Virtual space." "Where information lives in transit." "I think I'm gonna cry." "And that we could retire by the time we were 40." "Oh, sure, any day now." "And we almost could, if we wanted to but only because of you." " Happy 40th, partner." " Oh, yeah." " Happy 40th, George." " Right." "Yes, this is just a little something just till you can eat solid food." " So just rip in." " A little something." "Looks like homemade wrapping paper." "That looks like that tree in your back yard." "It's homemade, organic banana leaf." "I've had ulcers the size of this thing." "Sometimes it bites." "What the...?" " Is this a hint, partner?" " No." "If the knives were in his back..." " ...then it would be a hint." " Right." "Thank you, Frank." "You're welcome." "Oh, my God." "Let's open another." "All right, all right." " Oh, that one?" " Yeah, seriously." " Who is this from?" " That's from us." "It's from you guys." "All right." "It was their idea." "It's a leather" " This is a leather binding." " What is the...?" " What...?" " It was all their idea." " It's really nice." "Every album, every shoebox, every road trip" " And the digital stuff." " Holy smokes, guys." "Wow, you guys, this..." "This is priceless." "Thank you, Chloe." "Thank you, Ned." " Happy birthday, Daddy." " Happy birthday, Dad." " Another one." " Happy birthday, big brother." "Billy." "I got it in a bazaar in Dharamsala." " Dharamsala, India?" " Yeah." " It's beautiful." " Gorgeous." "That's cool." "It's a magic lantern." " A magic lantern?" " Is there a genie in there or something?" "You put a glass slide in." "You can make a wish then you light it up." "Please." "No." "That's great." " I have never seen anything like that." " That's awesome." " Yeah." " Billy, that's crazy." "Chloe, will you go to the hall closet and get out the surprise?" "Let me get this straight, Billy." "You show up announced, crash my birthday party, piss me off and then you give me something so...?" "I told you." "I love you, George." " How long are you staying for?" " I'm not." "I'm going to Africa first thing tomorrow." " I volunteered to do some relief work." " Really?" "Are you going to Goma or Lake Kivu?" " That's where Dr. Falk's going." " Who is Dr. Falk?" "Dr. Falk is Ned's new hero." "I'm not going to Goma." "I'm going to the Republic of the Congo." "That's a high-risk area." "A red zone." " How do you know?" " Well, I've read about it." "I've" " I did volunteer work." "Overseas?" "No kidding." "I prefer to do all of my volunteer work right here at home." "Yeah, since when?" "Since the day you told me I would never want or need for anything for the rest of my life." " So how long?" " About a year." "Though I'll probably get captured by Hutu rebels." "You might get lucky, never see me again." "Mom, cover his eyes." "Cover his eyes." " What?" "What are you--?" " Surprise, surprise." "applies his unique and passionate style and sweeping brushstrokes with yellow sky and sun." "And this exceptional lithograph is framed in four-inch antique gold tone." "Isn't that just beautiful?" "It measures approximately 16 and seven-eighths inches by 12 and seven-eighths inches." " Mr. Grieves?" " What--?" "Hey." "What happened to the patient?" "My roommate with the bandages." "What happened to him?" " What?" " Last night, there was a man in that bed." "He was covered in bandages but I could hear his voice." " What happened to him?" " I don't know." "Well, put down the tray." "Listen to me, please." "There's a man, a male nurse." "A black man in a bow tie." "Who is he?" " What is his name?" " I don't know." "This isn't my floor." "I work with Dr. Sharazi on the sixth floor." "You were moved here to the seventh, remember?" "I'm not supposed to be here." "I just know what happened with your surgery and I felt bad." "Why are you looking at me like that?" "You know there's something wrong, don't you?" "Well, what is it?" "What is it?" "I don't know." "It's like a feeling I have." "And look what happened to you." "I don't understand how something like that could happen." "Last night, a male nurse" "A black man with a red bow tie." "The man who's been changing my IV." "he came into this room and he killed the man in the next bed." " What?" " He killed" "He killed" " I saw it." "I saw it." "He killed the man and then..." "What happens over there?" " The east ward?" " Yeah." "I don't know." "Nothing." "Jenny?" "It's like a construction zone." "It's been closed." "Closed for how long?" "Well, forever." "As long as I've been here." "That's why there's a phone problem." "Because they're doing construction there." " I want you to take me there." " What?" " What?" " I want you to take me there." " I can't." "I can't do" " Yes." " George." " Put me in a wheelchair." " You can take" " I will not" " I can't." "Excuse me." "I don't know your name." "What's your name?" "Mandingo." " I'm George" " Grieves." "It says so on your chart." "Hi." "Open it." "Go ahead." "Open it, Zoe." "Wait." "Back" "Back there, that one." "I'm gonna lose my job." "You'll get a better one." "Wait." "George." "George, be careful." "What are you doing?" "There's nothing here." "These are old files." "George." "These are" " What are they doing here?" "George." "Oh, George." "Are you all right?" "You almost pulled out your IV." "What--?" "What's in there?" "What?" "What's in what?" "All of a sudden it's" "I'm dizzy." "I'm dizzy, just get me out." "Here, let's get to the elevators." "I don't know if it's working." "Well, let's try." "I just wanna go home." " I can't let you." " I just wanna go home." "I won't tell anyone about you, okay?" "I won't tell anybody, I promise." "I just wanna go home." "Okay?" "I'll just tell them that I left." "Mr. Grieves." "George, sit down." "You're gonna hurt yourself." "We understand there have been problems with your care here at Mt." "Abaddon." "That's a good start." "Your experience has been less than positive." " Who are you?" " I'm chief counsel for Mt." "Abaddon." "Oh, you're a lawyer." " I'm also a physician." " Oh, you're a physician." "You're double-billed." "That must work out well." "That's a fancy suit." "It's crackerjack suit." "I bet you make a bundle." "I bet you can tell me what they've been putting in this IV." "Vancomycin and Maxipime, every six hours." " Morphine, hydroco" " Morphine?" " For the pain." " What pain?" " Let's review." " Let's." "Our records indicate that on the 23rd, you were admitted for routine colonoscopy." "That's right." "That's right." "The twenty" " The day after my birthday." "Indeed." "Unfortunately, a patient by the name of Jorge Grieves was to receive a thoracoscopic sympathectomy on the same floor." "Go figure." " A mistake was made." " I guess a mistake was fucking made." "A mistake was made." "How did it go?" "How did what go, Mr. Grieves?" "The colonoscopy." "I got the sympa-- Whatever." "The sympathectomy." "I assume that Mr. Grieves got the colonoscopy." " Yes, actually" " I wasn't fucking talking to you." "How did it go?" "Mr. Grieves' procedure was complicated by the fact that" "The fact that he wasn't clean, he wasn't prepared?" "He was still full of shit, wasn't he?" " Mr. Grieves." " What?" "When you were found unconscious in the east ward, you were holding a file." "This file." " What does this file mean to you?" " That's mine." "That's mine." "That's my file." "That's mine." "This file contains the medical records of Mr. George Spelvin." " Admitted February 29th, 1947." " No, no, no." "No, no, that's my" " Where's Ira?" " Where's Ira?" "Where's my attorney?" " He's on his way, George." "I wanna leave this place." "I wanna leave right fucking now!" "Leaving is not an option, Mr. Grieves." "Ira, I wanna leave." "I want you to get me out of this place." " No, you cannot leave right now." " You gotta get me out of this place." "You gotta help me out." "You gotta call the police." "You gotta tell the police to go to the east ward." "The east ward." "Jenny knows where it is." "Jenny can take you to the east ward, can't you?" "You gotta take" "You gotta take them to the east ward because they're" "They're butchering people, Ira." "Like Billy said." "It's a scam and they're doing it right here in this fucking hospital, okay?" "And you gotta take them down." "And there's a man" "A black man who came in my room last night and he fucking killed a man." "He killed a patient last night." " Last night?" " Last night." "Last night." "His name..." " What's his name, George?" " His name is Mandingo." "Mandingo." " Mandingo?" " Yes." "It's" " He's got a" "He's got a red bow tie and he's wearing-- Don't look at me like that, Ira." "His name is Mandingo." "What?" "What?" "What?" " Are you afraid of African-Americans?" " Oh, Jesus Christ." " Mr. Grieves." " What?" "The day before yesterday, while wandering through an abandoned construction zone in this hospital..." " Abandoned?" "Abandoned?" "Fuck you." " ...you suffered a TSS episode." " Abandoned" " Wait, hold on, the day" " Toxic Shock Syndrome." "You've lost a little time, George." "Caused by a staph infection in your thoracic cavity." " Pus-filled abscesses in your chest." " What?" "The extent of the infection is to be determined." "You were infected during the sympathectomy, George." " What?" " That has yet to be determined." "Fuck you." "Kiss my ass." "Mr. Grieves, we're gonna need to open your chest." "Open--?" "You're not-- You're not touching me." "You're not coming anywhere near me." "You're not opening my chest." "A procedure which is seriously compromised by the presence of a necrotic fasciitis in your leg." "My leg?" "What's wrong with my leg?" "You've tested positive for a group-A streptococcal infection." " Flesh-eating bacteria, George." " What?" "We believe it began at the site of a minor trauma caused by Nurse Bienvenue's carelessness in moving you to a wheelchair." "When I get through with them, George, you are gonna own this hospital." "Hold on a second." "My leg?" "My leg." "Oh, fuck." "My leg." "They might need to amputate, George." "My leg." "It's my fucking leg." "It's best to stay seated." "Everybody stay with me." " Stay with me, George." " Oh, my leg." " Oh, my God." " Calm down." " My leg." "It's my fucking leg." " Stay with me, George." "Stay with me, buddy." "No, George." " George." "George." " We need a shot." "George." "George." "It's a new car!" "A plant?" "It's just a plant." "No, that is not just a plant." "It's an olive tree." " From the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem." " Yes." "It's a..." "It's a cultivar." " It's a strain called Barneo." "Barnea." " Barnea." "It's disease-resistant." "Dad's other tree got an infection." "This one will live long after I'm gone." "Oh, yeah." "Touch me here." "Here." "Touch me here." "Oh, wait." "Daddy?" "Are you awake?" "I hope not." "This is Ravyn, with a Y." "Hi, Ravyn with a Y." "I need to ask you." "When I was little like, 5, we went to the bakery on Sunday morning to get, like, bagels or something, and it was raining, remember?" "You remember?" "Yeah, I remember." "You parked in front of the bakery and you turned to me..." " ...and you said, "Yes."" " Yes." "And I said, like, "What?"" "And you just said, "Yes."" "And I said, "'Yes' what?" "Why did you say that?"" "And you said that one day you'd tell me." "Yeah." "I wanna know." "I want you to tell me what that meant." "Why now?" "Because I'm 16 now, Daddy." "I don't wanna have to wonder about it anymore." "You can tell me in front of her." "You can say anything in front of her." "You were 5." "You were sitting there in the seat next to me and I was just so filled with love for you." "And I knew that one day you would come to me and you would ask me for something something that you needed and that only I could give you." "And that morning I decided to give you the answer so that when the day did come I could remind you of that moment." "And you would know then I've been waiting my whole life to give you whatever you need." "Yes." "The answer is yes." "Yeah, can I, like, see it?" "No, I really don't think that's a good idea." "He doesn't know." "See what?" " Your stump." " Ravyn." "What?" "I mean, he's gonna have to get used to it eventually." "Daddy?" "Daddy." "Daddy, it's okay." "Daddy?" "Daddy, it's okay." "What were you thinking about?" " When?" " A minute ago." "You were talking to Billy." "Then he left." "You're staring at the pool." "P.J. came up to talk to you, you didn't even notice him." "What?" "What are you thinking about?" "I don't know." "Are you thinking about us?" "Maybe." "I can't remember." "Just close your eyes." "What?" "You can remember better when you close your eyes." " Why is that?" " Well, think about it." "When you close your eyes, there's nothing to see but memories." "George?" "I don't have much time." "I'm not supposed to be here." "I'm so sorry." "Why?" "I know what happened." "It's not your fault." "It's not your fault." "I was supposed to take care of you and I hurt you." "I don't know how to fix that." "You could have gotten me in trouble." "But you didn't." "You cared." "And now I" "I can care for you." "Now." "Right now." "What is that?" "It's the tree of life waiting waiting waiting for spring." "Happy birthday." "Listen, Jenny, you know..." "You know I don't want you to leave." "But I need to know what are you gonna do?" "Now, when our PVS product scouts started raving about this next item I expected them to turn up with something made of skulls, fangs and chicken feathers." "But there is nothing supernatural about the voodoo knife display." "Designed by Raffaele Iannello, this is without a doubt the most unusual kitchen accessory I've ever seen." "Crafted in rich red or black ABS plastic, this highly stylized piece..." "And it could be yours for only 104.70." "So please, call now." "But if it's a conversation piece you're looking for, look no further than this extraordinary turn-of-the-century magic lantern." "This vintage, oil-lamp-powered magic lantern can be yours for 21. 14 or 942 Indian rupees." "And speaking of times past, what about this?" "A beautiful, hand-tooled, Persian leather-bound photo album." "Filled with over 100 snapshots and printed digital images capturing the lives of a white, upper middle-class family." "Such a thoughtful gift does not become available that often." "And for the low price of 63.42." "But call now." "This is a one-of-a-kind item." "Now, for you weekend botanists who wanna keep your thumbs green this olive tree sapling comes pre-planted in its own authentic terracotta pot." "From the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem." "This hardy Barnea cultivar is guaranteed to live for hundreds of years." "Fuck." "Fuck." "Fuck me." "Forty-nine." "Forty-nine." "Fifty-six." "Fifty-six." "Sixty-three." "Eighty-six." "Seventy-seven." "Ninety-three." "You cannot leave." " You do not have a number yet." " Let go." "When you have a number, you have to wait." " No." "No." " For your turn." " I'm not one of them." "Let" " But you are here." "Let go of me." "Let go" " Let" "No, no." "No, no." "Let go." "Let go of me." "Let go of me." "Son of a bitch." "I know you didn't just call me a bitch." "Hey." "Is it all good?" "Yeah, all good." "I wanted to say thank you for the pictures, the album." "Sure." "You know, it's important to remember all that stuff." "Of course it is." "Because things might change, Neddie." "Right." "Right, you know." "No matter how much you're afraid I won't turn out right or worry about stuff..." "You think I worry too much?" "Yeah." "You can give me a kiss good night, you know." "Right." "Right." "I'm still a kid." " Good night, son." " Happy birthday, Dad." "These are the wages of fear." "I'm in room 721 Mt." "Abaddon." "And this is George Grieves." "As you can see, his eyes are still open and this is how he sees himself now." "It's different from how he saw himself before." "And did he ever imagine that it would come to this?" "See." "Now, maybe if you spend your whole life worrying the only way that your life will have meaning is if what you fear becomes real." "This is something I must investigate." "Hey." "Neddie." "Start running, Neddie." "Get out of the room." "Start running, Neddie." "Neddie." "Visiting hours are over." "Okay." "Yeah." "Sorry." "Good night, Dad." "I'll see you tomorrow." "I'm sorry." "You ready for a little lesson?" "To be set free?" "For a dose of reality?" "First, the lesson." "Do you know who I am?" "I told you my name, bitch." "You forget that?" "I know you didn't forget that." "Come on, you Caucasian motherfucker, say it while you still got a pair." "Mandingo." "That's right." "That's my name." "But do you know who I am?" "No, I mean, in a metaphorical sense, motherfucker." "Do you know what I am?" "I'm the weight on your chest." "I'm your cauchemar, your pesadilla your Alptraum, your incubo, yo." "I'm the morbid oppression of the night." "I am the fear behind your left titty." "I am the dark un-fucking-known." "I'm the father of cool, and the king of jazz and the porch-sitting, watermelon-sucking brother who fucks up neighborhoods and breeds gangsters and makes your dick feel small." "I am mud hut-building, spear-chucking darkest Africa." "I am the king of Egypt." "Grandpappy of all the sand niggas." "The lord of they, them and all them that be other." "I am the army of Islam." "I'm the sickle-cell yard ape who's been fucking with your dosage." "The jungle bunny who's been guarding your drip." "Drip?" "Drip." "Drip." "I am the medicine man." "The spade digging your grave." "The spook who goes bump in your night." "I am the uppity field nigger dancing in your end zone and spiking your IV." "I am Little Black Sambo." "I am Lincoln's mistake." "I just been fucking with you, my little bleached brother." "But now you're gonna face your fear." "You won't be afraid no more." "I'm gonna set you free." "I'm doing you a favor." "A solid, George." "Ain't it better to know that all the fears that go pitter-patter in your flaccid, fish-white belly are real?" "That you ain't just another white, liberal, male, guilt-ridden motherfucker worrying about shit he don't understand?" "The dark unknown's gonna cut you up." "And when I'm done with you you ain't gonna be a pussy no more." "You learn to fear." "Because mamas and papas, they teach you how by claiming to know what's inside the dark." "And you never grow up." "You're still just a kid looking to those who wear the threads of authority." "The righteous rags of power." "The white coats." "The two-piece, red-tie, blue-suit uniforms of office." "The daddy figure you gave jurisdiction over your freedom." "A frame of fucking mind." "Close your eyes, George." "And you fill in the last missing piece, because I think you skipped one." "Oh, mama." "That be one signal fucking moment." "The audacious brazen, arrogant motherfucking notion that you white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant alpha-male masters of the universe think you know how the other half lives." "So?" "So, what?" "So how do you know?" "How do I know what?" "You've made her happy." "How--?" "It's easy." "Look in her eyes." " Look in her eyes?" " Yeah." "Look into her eyes, that's how I know." "That's a crock of shit." "What?" "You can't just look into someone's eyes and get a sense of their soul, George." "Of course you can." "She gave up her career to raise your kids." "Suffered with you through the dot-com crash." "Now the kids are almost adults." "She's facing the fact she'll never hold her child in her arms again." "Not ever again." "Never." "Done." "Forty." "Nothing left but starting all over again in a youth-dominated affirmative-action-driven job market in an uncertain, fear-fueled world." "Or spending some 30-odd years relying on you to pay the bills and figuring out what she's gonna do with her time, or where she's gonna worry." "And you think that you can look into her eyes?" "Brother, you don't have a clue." "What were you thinking about?" "Yeah." "What the fuck were you thinking?" "Hi, sweetheart." "Jesus Christ." "George." "Hi, Daddy." "It's all good." "You need to explain this to me." "I wasn't here." "I was in Africa." "A vertebral venous air embolism after a routine diagnostic colonoscopy." "It's virtually unheard-of." "What is it exactly?" "A venous air embolism it's the introduction of air into the circulatory system as a result" "As a consequence of trauma or iatrogenic complications." "This can cause right-ventricle dysfunction, cardiac arrest and severe neurological damage such as the coma that you find that your brother is in." "latrogenic complications." "It's a technical term." "It means an illness or complication..." " ...that's been brought on by med" " He knows what it means." "Ten months ago, he perforated George's colon with an endoscope, the son of a bitch." " I'm sorry." "Please" " Do not talk to me." "I told you since this happened, you are not to talk to me." "You?" "You did this?" "Are you catching this, George?" "They be talking truth out there, boy." "Can you hear them?" "Well, don't pay them no mind." "Because we know the real deal in here." "Ain't that right?" "Now let's see." "Which one of them little piggies gonna go all the way home?" "Dr. Sharazi, could you give us a moment alone?" "Thank you." "Of course." "Who are you?" "Chief counsel for Mt." "Abaddon." "You're a lawyer." "I'm also a board-certified neurologist." "Then explain this to me carefully, please." "And this little piggy." "He the one that stayed home or the one that had roast beef?" "A vegetative state such as this is the result of severe brain damage." "It is a progression from coma to a state of wakefulness without detectable awareness." "Eyes may be open." "They may experience sleep-wake cycles even exhibit teeth-grinding swallowing, grunting, moaning, screaming, shedding tears, even smiling." "But these behaviors are not responses to any psychological or physical stimuli." "There is no evidence of higher brain function." "George is, in fact being kept alive only by medical intervention." "Look." "Only two more little piggies to go." "Now a PVS, or Persistent Vegetative State is declared when a patient fails to emerge from a vegetative state within 30 days." "The fact is it has been seven months since he emerged from an 84-day coma into a non-responsive sleep-wake cycle." "The chances that a 40-year-old Persistent Vegetative State patient will recover consciousness are slim to none." "What are our options?" "All the way home." "These are done." "What a mess." "I know." "Why don't we get your favorite nurse to clean it up?" "Get up." "Get up, you lazy critter." "Well, shit." "She ain't no use no more." "And I wouldn't be counting on no hand jobs in the near future either." "Hold the phone." "Let's listen up." "They're deciding your fate out there, daddy-o." "What do you say we just leave the mess till tomorrow?" "There's always tomorrow." "You're a heroic motherfucker now." "Ain't nothing gonna hold you back." "So, what you gonna do?" "Hello, Zoe." "Hello, Mrs. Grieves." " Hey, Zoe." " Hi, Ned." "Chloe." "Hi." "Mrs. Grieves?" "May you and I have a moment alone?" "Anything you have to say, you can say in front of the family." "Your husband's admission papers indicated that he had executed a living will." "So?" "You think we should pull the plug?" "Without reviewing the specific provisions of the will itself" "Remove his feeding tube." "Look at him, he's smiling." "If there is a living will if he made his end-of-life wishes known if he appointed an individual to direct his health-care decision, should he be unable to" "Don't you make more money by keeping him alive?" " I beg your pardon?" " His insurance is still good, right?" " No, that's not what we're about." " It isn't?" "You're not in business?" "You won't make money off my brother's insurance by giving him a bed, a feedbag for the next two, three, four, five years?" " We are health-care professionals." " Who just happened to fuck him up." " If you're insinuating" " Insinuating!" "Go fuck yourself." "You guys put him here." "Mrs. Grieves if you do have power of attorney as a medical professional it is my opinion that you should authorize us to discontinue artificial life support." "There's a person in here." "My husband is in here." "Jenny." "He'd want you to be free." "No." "My husband is in here." "And I can tell, just by looking into his eyes that he's happy." "A year ago I was thinking about myself." "About leaving." "About starting over." "But now I'm gonna keep you alive, George." "For the rest of my life, if that's what it takes." "I promise." " You know what they say." " If you fall in a dream" " And you hit bottom..." " You die." "Well, maybe when people die in their sleep they're actually dreaming of falling and they land." "You know, I mean, hit bottom in the dream and then they really die." "But you didn't." "No." "I'm alive." "Happy birthday."