"She's got extreme lower abdominal pain." "We'll take it from here, corpsman." " How far along is she?" " Eight months, couple days." "The accident happened on her way home after dropping Lieutenant Steele at his squadron." "The lieutenant is in the air, but he has been notified and ordered back to base." "The blood pressure is dropping, doctor." "Pulse is very irregular." "We got foetal distress here." "Call the operating room and tell them to stand by for emergency surgery." "I'm Lieutenant Steele." "My wife" "Your wife has to go on for surgery." " Oh, God, the baby." " Step aside." "Please, step aside." "Commander Michaels?" "Commander Michaels." "Lieutenant, did you say something?" "Yes, the surgery." "Can anyone tell me what's going on with my wife?" "Of course." "Dr. Pierson will brief you as soon as he gets back from O.R." "You can go down there and wait if you want." "Great." "Thanks, ma'am." " Sergeant Major Hastings?" " Yeah." "I'm Mark Gordon, Station Housing Director." "This is Mrs. Sergeant Major, but she prefers to be called Annie." " Hi." " Hi, nice to meet you both." "I stopped by to see if you found everything in order." "Oh, everything's fine, Mr. Gordon." "It's a great house." "We're looking forward to settling in." "You know, you'd think after 25 years in the Corps and all the moves, we'd have this down to a real science, but not us." "We never pack the same way twice." "Hey, come on, it's not my fault." "Talk to your son." "He's the pack rat." "Hey, Dad." "Look at all these magazines on flying I found in the garage." "I'm gonna put them in my room until I get a chance to get at them." "I rest my case, counsellor." "David, this is Mr. Gordon." "Mr. Gordon, my son David." "Call me Mark." "Save that mister stuff for somebody else." "All right, sir" " Mark." "I'm afraid David's gonna have to get used to saying sir for some time, Mark." "He's received an appointment to the Naval Academy." "Says he wants to be a Marine pilot." "That's fantastic." "Congratulations." "Thanks." "Listen, I gotta stick these in my room." "You know, when I was young, that's all I could think about, being a pilot." "You know, racing across the sky." "Just didn't work out for me." "I'd better be going." "Nice meeting you both." "If you need anything, just call me at the office." " I appreciate your coming by, Mark." " Hey, my pleasure." "I know how tough it is moving from one place to another." "Yeah." "You ever in the service, Mark?" "Oh, yeah." "Marines for three years." "Of course, that was quite a while ago." "Listen, once we're finally settled in, I'd like it if you came for dinner." "It'd be my pleasure." "Thank you." " All right.Thanks again." " All right." " Lieutenant Steele?" " Yes, sir." "Well, we were a little concerned at first, but the surgery went very well." "And my wife, sir, is she--?" "Your wife and your new baby girl are doing just fine, lieutenant." "Congratulations." "I can't believe it." "A girl?" "Kerry will be in Recovery for some time, but that baby ought to be in the nursery by now." "Thank you, sir." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "A little girl." "My" " Oh, I'm sorry." "Are you okay?" " I'm fine." "A little girl." "That's one excited Marine." "You'll have to forgive the lieutenant." "He can't wait to see his new baby girl." " You must be Commander Rogers." " Yeah, that's right." "I'm Jonathan Smith." "I'm the new psychologist taking Dr. Gleason's place while she's on maternity leave." "Well, it's nice to meet you." " This your first day?" " Yeah." "Well, I think you'll like it here." "We've got a real good staff." "How long have you been here, commander?" "It's Matt, and I have been here ten months, 23 days, 11 hours and 15 minutes." "Well, excuse me, Matt, but are you always that precise?" "No, but I'm on my last tour of duty and I find myself counting the days." "You see, the government paid for my medical training and in return, I'm giving them 20 years of service." "It's a real good deal for them and a real good deal for me too." "Commander Michaels." "Oh, Commander Rogers, I heard the operation went very well." "Yes, it did." "Mother and child are doing just fine." "But it'll be a while before Lieutenant Steele comes down out of the clouds." "Oh, Jonathan, forgive me." "I want you to meet the best nurse in the entire Navy," "Commander Kimberly Michaels." "Jonathan Smith." "Pleasure to meet you." " Same here." " Jonathan will be acting as staff psychologist until Dr. Gleason returns." "Mr. Smith, you might talk to our chief surgeon here about his obvious delirium." "I am really not the best nurse in the Navy." "Okay, okay, the world, then." "Oh, I've gotta go." "See you later." " Take care." " You too." "I get the impression you and the commander there are good friends." "Well, yeah." "Yeah, I guess you could say that, you know." "She is an extraordinary woman." "Served two tours as a combat nurse in Vietnam, so I wasn't kidding when I said she was the best, at least in my book." " Two tours, that's a lot of combat." " Yeah." "She had any problems with it?" "Well, she's never said anything about it, but I really couldn't say one way or the other." "I guess she has her good days and bad days, but hey, don't we all?" "Yeah, we certainly do." "Well, if you'll excuse me, Jonathan, I'd better go change." "The hospital C.O. does like to see his chief of Surgery in uniform once in a while." " I'll see you around." " Bye-bye." "Oh, yeah, Jonathan, you're gonna like the Hastings." "They're real down to earth." "Get it?" "Down to earth." "That's really funny, Mark." "I just thought I'd inject a little angel humour into this conversation." "Very little." "Well, anyway, their son, David, is going to the Naval Academy." "Isn't that great?" "That's quite an honour." "They must be very proud." "You kidding me?" "Travis was practically busting his buttons when he told me." "Said David wants to be a Marine aviator." "Boy, I tell you, when I was a kid, that's all I dreamt about, being a pilot." "Really?" "Well, what happened?" "You just change your mind?" "No." "Well, actually, yes, you know, once I found out it was bad for me." "Bad for you?" "How can flying be bad for you?" "I'm afraid of flying, okay?" "Well, just say you're afraid of flying." "Don't say it's bad for you." "That's easy for you to say." "You're an angel." "You're used to flying all over the place." "Well, not me." "Which one of the Hastings is our assignment?" "All of them." " What's wrong with them?" " I don't know." "Then again, I don't know anything about Commander Michaels, either." "So, what do we do?" "We just hang around and wait, see what happens." "I hope we find out something soon." "That Colonel Mahon is not the easiest person to work for." "You're saying that because you don't like to take orders from a woman." "I am not." "She just happens to be a very tough lady who doesn't care very much for civilians." "Well, you just gonna have to convince her otherwise." "Rather kiss a rattlesnake." "That's not funny, Jonathan." "Hey, been one of those days, huh?" "Rough morning, yeah." "That combined with very little sleep." "Well, I'm sure you get the picture." "I know exactly what you mean." " May I?" " Yeah." "Thank you." "So are you getting acquainted with everything, Mr. Smith?" "It's Jonathan, and yeah," "I've been feeling my way around pretty well." "Well, that's good." "I've been meaning to ask you why a nurse of your rank is still working in the emergency room." "I'm afraid I don't understand your question." "Well, it's just a little unusual to see a commander working in a hands-on capacity rather than a supervising, that's all." "Well, for your information, Jonathan," "I'm in the ER because we happen to be understaffed, but also because I have quite an extensive background in trauma care." "Most of which you learned in your two tours in Vietnam?" "Yes, that's right." "Look, I know you saw a lot of death and tragedy when you were in Nam." "I was wondering if you had any problems" "Whoa, whoa." "Wait a second." "I happen to know an awful lot about the veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, okay?" "So I don't need you or anyone else telling me that "this is the reason you're feeling bad"" "or "this is why you can't do your work."" "I'm sorry if my question upset you, commander." "Just a habit I have." "It comes with the job, I guess." "Yeah, right." "Well, enjoy your coffee, Mr. Smith." "Yeah, that'll be okay." "Don't worry about it." "Commander Michaels?" "Yes." "I just wanted to ask you one more thing." "Don't you ever stop analysing people?" "Well, it all depends on whether or not I think they have a problem." "Oh, and you think I may have a problem?" "Well, you said you worked in the emergency room here because they were short-staffed." "And yet every assignment you've had since Vietnam has been exclusively in emergency care." "Now, some people might think that in itself was a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder." "You know, Mr. Smith, that same someone might just take another look at what I've been doing and consider it just plain old dedication to duty." "Attention to detail, corporal." "A pilot can't be calling the Auto Club at 30,000 feet." "So don't just check the problem once and move on." "You make sure it's been double- and triple-checked, okay?" " No problem, sergeant major." " Very well." "Carry on." "Hey, Mark." "Hello, Travis." "Boy, this is some kind of airplane, isn't it?" "It's America's best." "Boy, to see it up close like this is awesome." "Just think what it'd be like to fly one." "Can't even imagine." "Hey, it won't be long until David will be able to tell us both." "Yeah, that's for sure." "So, what brings you out here, Mark?" "Oh, the movers forgot to give you your household effects inventory." " I've been looking everywhere for this." " Yeah, I bet you have." " Well, thanks for bringing it by." " No problem." "I like to get out of that office as much as possible." "I know what you mean." "Pushing papers can be a pain in the neck." "Yeah, among other things." "Listen, Annie's been after me about having you over for dinner." "That's no problem." "Tell me what day, I'll be there." "How about tonight, around 7?" " See you tonight, around 7." " Okay." "Hey, Mark, I've been meaning to ask you." "Does the name Hopalong Hastings mean anything to you?" "Hopalong Hastings?" "I haven't heard that name in, like, 20 years." "Then you must be Flash Gordon." "How'd you know that?" "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute." " Hastings." "Are you related--?" " I'm Ted's younger brother." " You gotta be kidding." " Not hardly." "I've heard about Bubba's Bar and Grill." "I almost stopped in La Porte on our way here." " I'll be." "How's old Hopalong doing?" " Oh, he's doing great." "Sergeant Major Hastings, report to Maintenance Control." "I gotta run." "We'll catch up on everything at dinner." "And tonight, Mark, I'd like to hear what really happened." "Hey, tonight, Flash Gordon will tell it all." " Good afternoon." " Hi." "I heard you were having a bad day, so I thought maybe a nice dinner would be just the thing to cheer you up." "What is this?" "Have you been talking to Mr. Smith too?" "No, it's just that Dr. Pierson told me up in the lounge that you seem to be on everybody's case today." "Yeah, well, I guess I'm pretty rough to be around today." "So, what's this with Jonathan?" "Did you have a little run-in with him too?" "Kind of, but it was no big deal." "All right, how about dinner?" "Antonio's sound okay to you?" "I'm afraid I wouldn't be much company tonight, Matt." "Let me be the judge of that." "Listen, commander, if you're smart, you will follow the doctor's order." "Oh, my gosh, a smile." "I do believe my patient is on the road to recovery." "All right, but dinner at my place." "I like that better." "Excuse me." "Commander Michaels?" "Yes, lieutenant." "My wife wanted me to give this to you." "Just a little thank-you for being so nice to us." "This is really thoughtful of you." "Thank you, lieutenant." "Oh, it's my pleasure." "I hope you don't mind, but we named the baby after you," "Kimberly Erin Steele." "No, I don't mind at all." "Well, I better be going." "Looks to me like my patient is getting better by the moment." "Yeah." "And here's to...cereal." " May it never get soggy" " Matt." "We have toasted everything from dog food to astrology." "Our food is getting cold." "Okay, okay." "I promise, this'll be the last one." "Well, here's to us." "May all our children have wealthy parents." "Kim, I don't understand it." "I mean, you seem to enjoy my company and God knows, we've had some pretty good times together." "But the minute I start talking about us and the future, you shut me out." "Oh, Matt, I'm sorry." "If I could explain why I do the things I do, it would probably be a miracle." "I really do enjoy the time we spend together." "And I do consider you a very close friend." "But I don't want the pressure of having to make a deeper commitment right now." "At least not right now." "Well, commander, one of the things I always admired about you is your candour." "I'm sorry, Matt." "I don't know how else to say it." "Kim, I really care for you and I'm willing to accept whatever you feel comfortable giving." "Okay?" "Okay." "Here's to understanding." "As difficult as it may be sometimes." "Thank you." "Oh, yeah." "Yeah, David, that sounds great, yeah." "Look, David, can I get back to you on this?" "Oh, yeah, can't wait." "I don't believe it." " David wants to take you flying, huh?" " How'd you know?" "That's why I'm here, to make sure you go." "What, are you nuts?" "Jonathan, you gotta get me out of this." "I can't get you out of this." "It's part of the assignment." " Jonathan" " Look, Mark." "It's very important that you get close to David." "Can't we be close on the ground?" "Why don't you take advantage of this?" "It'll help you get over your fear of flying." "Thanks, but no, thanks." "Gordon, please, file these." "Oh, yes, ma'am--Sir" " Ma'am." "Oh, Colonel Mahon, this is my friend, Jonathan Smith." "It's nice to meet you, colonel." "You're the new psychologist." "Well, it's nice to meet you too." "Yeah, I've been working with Mark here, trying get him past this phobia he has about flying." " Oh, is that so?" " Yeah." "As a matter of fact, I was hoping to take him flying this afternoon, if it's all right with you, colonel." "Listen, colonel, we have this big inspection coming up." "I probably should stick around, catch up the filing" "You listen up, Gordon." "In my book, a person's health comes first." " Go on, take the afternoon off." " But, colonel" "There are no buts, Gordon." "You go ahead and beat this thing." "And after you conquer that, then you and I are gonna work on this." "He's all yours, Mr. Smith." "Thank you, colonel." "Welcome to the friendly skies." "I think you're really gonna like my friend's plane, because it's a really safe plane to fly and" "Well, you'll see it." "Really sounds like fun." "How long you been flying, David?" "I got my pilot's licence when I was 16 and I've been up there ever since." "Flying through the clouds, exploring the skies." "I feel like I'm seeing a little bit of heaven." "Well, my friend Jonathan would certainly agree with you." "Oh, yeah?" "Does he fly?" "Oh, yeah." "All the time." "Oh, boy." "This is a big airplane." "I like that." "I like big in an airplane." "This is a big airplane." "I like big." "Oh, I'm sorry, Mark." "This isn't ours." "No, my friend's plane is right there on the other side." "This isn't our plane?" "But this is a nice big plane." "I like" "There it is." "Isn't she a beaut?" "No" "We gotta talk about this." "Come on, Mark." "Grab your parachute and let's fly." "Yeah!" "I can't believe this has happened." "All the Naval Academy needs is a birth certificate, but what do they receive?" "Two." "Two different certificates with two different names." "If I find the fool who did this, I'll personally break his neck." " You can't be mad at anyone." " Why not?" "Annie, somebody screwed things up." "Now the Academy wants to see David's adoption papers." "Well, we'll just send them the papers, okay?" "We're to blame for this, Travis." "You and me." "No one else." "Annie, I knew it was wrong to keep this a secret." "Now it's out." "What the hell are we gonna do?" "We're going to have to tell him." "Yeah, I wish you'd told me you'd had all that chilli for lunch." "I'm really sorry you got so sick." "It's all right." "Forget it." "I should have waited for another time." "I'll tell you what." "Next week, I'll teach you how to do a barrel roll." "Barrel roll." "I'll call you, okay?" "Okay." "I'll see you later." "Boss, if I ever make angel, we're just gonna pass on the wings, okay?" "Hi." "I have a feeling Flash Gordon isn't gonna make it to flight school." "I mean, I have never seen anyone get as sick as he did today." "We weren't in the air for two minutes and he started barfing" "Mom, Dad, is something wrong?" "Sit down, David." "Your mother and I have something to tell you." "David, we got a letter from the Naval Academy today and there's a problem with some of the paperwork." " Oh, no." "Am I being turned down?" " No, no, no, it's not that." "It's just" " It's a question about your birth certificate and..." "Damn it." "It's all my fault, David." "I should have told you all about this a long time ago." "Birth certificate." "Dad, I don't know what you're talking about." "The Academy wants to see the final decree of my adoption?" "Is that what you both wanted to tell me?" "That you adopted me?" "For years, we wanted to tell you, but it was just easier to put it off." "Then as you got older, it was even harder to face." "David, we were just plain scared." "That's the only excuse I can give you." "I'm adopted?" "We're sorry, David, we didn't tell you sooner." "We're sorry." "Yeah, I..." "I have to be alone for a while, okay?" "There's a problem with some of the paperwork." "It's a question about your birth certificate." "You adopted me?" "We're sorry, David, we didn't tell you sooner." "We were just plain scared." "I'm adopted?" "I'm adopted?" "I'm adopted?" "I'm adopted?" "Get a reading on his vitals." "We could use a hand here, commander." "Commander?" "Commander!" "What's the matter with you?" "You better carry on without me." "I'm not feeling very well." "Excuse me." "I'm Sergeant Major Hastings." "My son, David, was in an accident." "Sergeant Major Hastings?" "I'm Lieutenant Commander Pierson." "I'm the doctor who will be handling David's treatment." "How bad is he hurt?" "Well, he's got a dislocated shoulder and some severe abrasions, but there are no internal injuries to speak of." "He was complaining of some dizziness, but that all turned out to be negative." "All in all, I'd say that your son was pretty lucky." "Thank God." "Mr. and Mrs. Hastings, when David was brought in, he was fairly incoherent, but he kept repeating the word "adopted" over and over again." "It seemed to upset him every time he said it." "Travis." "Just heard about David." "Is he all right?" "He's gonna be okay, Mark." "Mr. Smith, an hour ago, we told David that he was adopted." "Needless to say, it was quite a shock to him." "Doctor, can we see him now, please?" "Of course." "Follow me." "We're so sorry, David." "So very, very sorry." "We love you so much." "I know." "And I understand." "I understand." "Dear God, please, help me." "Please, help me." "Hello, Kim." "What brings you in here, Mr. Smith?" "Prayer or analysis?" "Neither." "I just came in to offer you a friendly ear, that's all." "Well, I'll keep that in mind." "Thank you." "Don't you think you've tried to go it alone long enough?" "Jonathan?" "Yeah." "Jonathan, I need to talk." "Please?" " What do you say, David?" " Oh, hi." "Hi, Mark." "I brought you these." "Figured if you're grounded for a while, at least you could read about flying." " Oh, thanks, I appreciate them." " No problem." "So, what's with the sweat suit?" "You got the day off or something?" "Don't I wish." "I'm under orders from the colonel to meet her at the gym." "We are gonna work on this." "I'm not looking forward to it, I tell you." "Feeling all right?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I'm fine." "I've just been giving a lot of thought to my situation, you know, about being adopted and all." "I realised that there's two people out there somewhere who helped create me." "I don't even know who they are or what they're even like." "I could have a brother or sister out there somewhere." "It's really strange, Mark, but I wanna find and meet these people." "You think I'm wrong?" "It's your decision to make, David." "What about Travis and Annie?" "How do they feel about it?" "I haven't told them yet." "I mean, I love them, Mark." "They're my parents." "But I have to know who my real mother and father are." "So I'll know who I am." "Sometimes, I just start crying and I don't know why." "But I can't stop it myself, either." "Then there's the periods of depression." "I just feel so bad that even the littlest thing, or even nothing, it just sweeps over me." "That's when I drink." "It numbs the feeling, makes it a little easier to live with." "Are the nightmares always the same?" "Yeah." "I met a Navy pilot on my first tour in Vietnam." "Lieutenant William Campbell." "We were on a three-day R and R in Saigon and we spent every minute together." "There we were, in the middle of a war, thousands of miles away from home." "We were kids, Jonathan." "Scared kids who fell in love with each other." "Well, I was the happiest girl on earth when he said we'd get married." "But that never took place." "Bill's jet was shot down over North Vietnam." "And he's still listed as missing in action." "That's how my nightmare always ends, with Bill's jet exploding." "How long have you been having these dreams?" "Ever since I came home from Vietnam." "Jonathan, I told you that I knew about post-traumatic stress disorder." "And I got mad when you suspected that I might have it." "Well, I've always known that what happened to me and what I saw over in Vietnam would stay with me forever." "That's why you always work in emergency care." "So you could hide inside the same work you were doing in Vietnam and still pretend that a problem doesn't exist." "Yeah, but you don't understand." "I'm a nurse." "I am trained to heal people." "But you're also a human being, Kim." "A human being with a lot of pain inside." "It's just that I feel so...alone." "But you're not alone, Kim." "There are a lot of women suffering from the same problem you are." "Will you help me, Jonathan?" "You bet I will." "Are you thinking about taking this little puppy for a spin, are you?" "Mark." "I guess my mind was at 30,000 feet." "Haven't had a chance to get by and see David." "How's he doing?" "Oh, he's fine." "Getting stronger every day." "And what about you, amigo?" "How are you doing?" "Well, after everything that's happened, I guess I'm doing all right." "No, that's not true." "The fact is David told us he wants to find and meet his" "His birth parents." "Jesus, I can't believe how one stupid clerk somewhere has been able to cause all of this unnecessary grief." "David was doing just fine." "Just fine." "My God, Mark, he wants to meet his real parents." "And that scares you?" "Hell, yes, I'm scared." "Wouldn't you be?" "What's there to be afraid of?" "You're missing the point, Mark." "I mean, suppose these people turn out to be, I don't know, super rich or just more interesting than me and Annie?" "I mean, they're his real parents." "Travis, listen to me." "You and Annie have loved David for over 17 years." "He knows he's your son." "There isn't anyone or anything that's gonna change that." "I just wish I could be sure." "Well, I am sure that you're not the first adoptive parents to feel this way." "But you can't let your fear of the unknown stand in David's way." " You just can't." " I know, I know." "Something else here you might wanna think about." "Yeah?" "What is that?" "If David is able to locate his birth parents, that'll give you and Annie a chance to say thank you." "Because if it wasn't for them, buddy, you never would have had this great boy for your son." "That really is the bottom line, isn't it?" "Yeah." "Come on, I'll buy you a cup of coffee." "There." "Now, that didn't hurt too bad, now, did it?" "No, sir." "This pretty much covers what you need to know." "The main thing is to keep the wound as clean as possible, okay?" "And since you didn't cry," "I hereby make you an official member of my heroes club." "Congratulations." "Look, Mommy." "I'm a hero." "You sure are, honey." "And you get a lollipop too." "Now you be a careful hero now, okay?" "I will." "Thanks for being so kind, commander." "You're welcome." "Goodbye." "Daddy will be proud of me, because I got this hero button, huh?" "Oh, you bet he will be." "Well, looks like you made her day, huh?" "To be honest with you, it's more the other way around." "You're having a good day, then?" "Well, let's just say they're getting better." "So, what brings you down here?" "They're forming a Veterans' Outreach Group over in Seabrook." "They're all women suffering from PTSD." "I think it'd be good for you." "Sounds a little scary." "I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't scary." "But I think it's what you need, Kim." " Okay." " Okay." "Look, I'll let you know when I hear back from the director."