"Paul?" "I'm in the bathroom, Dad." "Be out in a minute." "Well, this is it, kid." "Last game of the season." "The last game of my career." "From here to eternity." "I'm proud of you, son." "All-state shortstop." "Great at anything he tries." "Hundred and forty-third in his class." "Could have spent a few years bumming around with the local major league team, but he turned down the Dodger scout and went to Wonderland Computers." "You made the right decision." "Sure I did." "Here's George." "Hi, George." "Your brother's gonna hit a home run for you today." "Aren't you, Paul?" "Paul, tell your brother you're gonna hit a home run for him." "Gonna hit one out there for you, kid." "It's the last game." "Right, Georgie?" "I'm late." "Batting practise." "The last batting practise." "I'll see you at the game." "Bye-bye." "I don't know what gets into him." "It's not easy for him." "He loves baseball." "Baseball." "He'd never make a living." "Maybe, maybe not." "But he did give up a dream to help us with George." " He's moving out." " He's a man." "He's got a very nice girl." "Just a girl." "She's a very nice girl." "He's got a job." "He's gonna be all right." "I'm very proud of that boy." "We don't have to worry about George, not with that boy around." "I'll get the car and you get George." "Time for the ball game, George." "Attaboy, Paul." "He looks great out there, doesn't he?" "Nice to have a star in the family." "He promised George he's gonna hit one out for him today." "These peanuts are stale." "Sure ain't the major leagues." "College ball loses me." "What are we doing here?" "You know, I don't know yet." "You don't know?" "Well, why couldn't we not know at a Major League game?" "Can't even get a hot dog here." "Eat your peanuts." "Nice, nice, nice." "Not Major League, but nice." " Paul's up." "I'm gonna go to George." " No, I'll go." "Let's go, Paul." "Come on, root." "Your man's at the plate." "Come on, Paul." "That's more like it." "This is it, George." "Your brother is up." "Let's go, Paul." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay." "Yeah!" "You did it, Paul." "See, George?" "Your brother said he'd hit one out there for you and he did." "He" "It's gonna be all right, George." "I know how you feel." "But we'll be here." "We'll always be here to take care of you, George." "We love you, son." "There you go, George." "You want the bathroom light on?" "Okay." "Just a few minutes." "You should get your sleep." "I'll see you in a few minutes." "He wants the bathroom light left on." "He's upset." "He's scared." "That's why he wants the lights on." "Yeah, he really acts upset." "Games, games, games." "How long we gonna play these games, Mom?" "They're not games." "He doesn't know what's going on." "He doesn't even know Dad's dead." "I'm sorry." "I'm still moving out." "Move out." "Mom, I got a job." "I'm gonna be able to support myself." "I asked Jessica to move in with me." "She's thinking about it, and I think she'll say yes." "Oh, she'll say yes." "Why wouldn't she say yes?" "I want my own life." "A separate life." "I'll write you letters." "It's five blocks." "It's only five blocks from here." "Did I say anything?" "I didn't say anything." "You brought it up." "Mom, I wanna live a little." "We all wanna live." "Your brother wants to live." "I'll see that he lives." "You'll see?" "It's time you had a life." "Your father is dead." "Now you want me to live." "You can't handle George by yourself." "I'll be all right." "I'll get help." "He should be in an institution." "You should be in an institution." "It doesn't have to be awful." "They're not all awful." "Your father would love this." "Boy, was he wrong about you." ""We don't have to worry about George, not with that boy around."" "Move out." "George will be fine with me." "He'll be just fine." "That's Jessie." "I gotta go, Mom." "Are you gonna take George?" "No, I'm not." "Oh, Paulie, come on." "You know how George loves to go in the car." "Mom, it's a date." "Jessica's found an apartment." "We've gotta make a decision." "But George wouldn't disturb you." "He'd just sit in the car." "Jessica's got a new car." "It's only got two seats." "She got a car with two seats so she wouldn't get stuck with George." "Come on, Mom, please." "It's a present from her father." "See you later." "Who wants to go with them, anyway?" "You wanna watch some TV, or--?" "I know." "You want Mom to read to you." "Okay, then, I'll get a book." "Well, how do you like it?" "Paul, will you be quiet for a minute?" "Sorry." "Your mom?" "Yeah." "I tried to talk to her about finding a place for George." "It's no use." "She lives in this dream world that George knows what's going on." "God, he wouldn't even know if he was in an institution." "What are you gonna do?" "I mean, she can't manage alone." "I don't know." "What the heck?" "Pull over, I'll take a look." "Can you see anything?" "Yeah, you got a water hose that's split wide open." "No way to fix it?" "Need to replace the hose." "They must have a phone I can use in there." "Okay, let's go." "Oh, great." "I have the car for two days." "Don't worry, we're gonna fix it." " Excuse me." " Yeah." "My car broke down." "I was wondering if I could use your phone." "Sure." "There's a payphone at the end of the hall." " You need some change?" " I've got some." " I'll be right back." " Okay." " Want some coffee while you wait?" " Sure." "Step right over here." "How do you take it?" " Oh, black." " There you go." " Nice place." " Yeah, it is nice." "Got a real great staff too." "That's the most important thing." "Yeah." "Do you get any younger people?" "I mean, is it just old folks?" "No, no." "We get some of the young ones." " You a doctor?" " Me?" "No." "Speech pathologist." " Sounds interesting." " Yeah, it is." "I work along with an occupational therapist." "You know, a lot of people have problems with their speech after things like a stroke." "Some of them can't speak at all." "So it's our job to determine just how bad the damage is and then see what we can do to help them communicate." "I see." "So you could check somebody out and be able to say whether or not they understand what's going on around them?" "Oh, yeah, sure." "Look, could we sit down and talk somewhere?" "Yeah." "My office is right over there." "Okay, great." "Let me just get Jessica." "I want her to be in on this." "Hi, Mom." "So did you and your lady friend find a place?" "Nope." "We'll look again tomorrow morning." "In your two-seater?" "Can you sit down for a minute, Mom?" "I wanna talk to you." "Please?" "I was talking to a man today about George." "He's not leaving here." "Ma, let me finish." "This man works with people who have problems." "He can tell us whether George understands anything." "I don't need anybody to tell me that." "He understands." " Then let this man see him." " No." "I don't want any doctors around George." "Ma." "He's not a doctor." "He's a therapist who can tell us." "I don't need anybody to tell me anything." "When are you gonna stop being afraid to hear the truth?" "Doctor told you 35 years ago, and you called him a liar." "That was the end of it." "He was a liar." "All right." "Then let this man tell us that." "If he does, I'll never talk about sending George anywhere." "Ma, look at me." "Mommy, look at me." "Are you sure George understands?" "I'm sure." "Then prove it." "Prove it." "All right." "He'll be here at 3:00 tomorrow." "The owner said he would supply the drapes with a two-year lease." "What about changing the carpet?" "It's kind of dull." " Let me see what I can work out." " Jessie, honey, come on in here." "Excuse me." "Honey, look at this place." "This is a perfect-sized bedroom." "I love this." "Look at this view, look at it." "It's a street." "But what a street." "It's a great street." "I love this place." "I love you." "God, honey, in a few hours a weight is gonna be lifted off of me." "It feels so good." "It's gonna be hard on your mom, finding out the truth." "I know." "I know that, but when she accepts it, it's gonna be a whole new life for her too." "Let's get married." "I thought we were going to." "I mean sooner." "When we find a place for George and maybe get my mom into a nice little apartment." "She's not gonna wanna stay in that house all alone." "What do you say, kid?" "Yes, again." "You have such beautiful hair." "You have your father's hair." "Paul has invited someone to meet you today." "And we wanna look our best, yes?" "George looks a little pale to me." "I think he looks fine." "I know my son better than you do." "He's upset." "I can tell." "He knows what you're trying to do to him." "Mom..." "The man is coming to look at George." "That's all." "To look." "To recommend." "You have no feeling for George, have you?" "Mom." "Please try and keep an open mind." "It'd have to be a nice place." "A nice place." "He's never been with strangers." "Now you want him to live with strangers." "He'll be completely and utterly lost." "How can you do this to him?" "That boy loves you." " He idolises you." " Mom, stop it." "Can't you read his eyes?" "No." "I'll get it." "How you doing, Paul?" "I'm a little early." " That's all right." "Come on in." " Thanks." "Right in there." "That's my mother." "Mom, this is Mr. Smith." " Nice to meet you." " Hello." "Please sit down." "Thank you." "I don't know what kind of tests you're gonna be doing on George, but he's not been feeling very well today, and I'm not sure how he'll do." "He'll do the same as he's done every day." "I'm trying to explain something to Mr. Smith." "Well, Paul told me that George hasn't been to a doctor since his birth, except for various vaccinations." "That's right." "He's been well, thank God." "Mom doesn't have much faith in doctors." "With good reason." "Well, I'd..." "I'd like to meet George." "George, this is Mr. Smith." " Hello, George." " Hello, Mr. Smith." "Mom." "Mr. Smith said hello, George says hello." "George, can...?" "Can you see my hand?" "That's it, George." "You see?" "He knows." "He understands." "You hold something in front of him, his eyes move." "What does that mean?" "I don't know." "Maybe we should find out." "All right, George, I want you to look at my eyes." "My eyes, George, look at them." "That's it." "Right, I want you to close your eyes." "Close them." "Open your eyes, George." "That's it." "That's it." "All right, he understands simple commands, that's for sure." "Your name is George, right?" "Now I want you to close your eyes and open them again if the answer is yes." "That is good, George." "Real good." "What are you doing this afternoon?" "Nothing." "All right." "I'm gonna take George down and test him and find out what's going on in that head of his." "Tests are over." "You can come on in." "Yeah, they're right back here." "I'm sorry it took so long." "Well, how did it go?" "It went fine, just fine." "Please, sit down." "Mrs. Germain, we already knew that George could breath out and blink his eyes." "What we were looking for was any other kind of movement, any kind of controllable muscle." "But even if we didn't find one, we could attach a switch to his stomach." " A switch?" " Yeah, a switch." "There are all kinds of switches, and we can adapt." "And switches run computers." "And computers mean communication." "Well, anyway, we found out that George can move two fingers." "Not a lot, but enough." "But can he control them?" "I've seen them move before, but I thought it was just nerves or something." "No." "He controls them." "Watch." "George, move your second finger." "All right, George, now move your third finger." "Move your third finger, George." "You give us two controllable fingers, we got the world." "That means he can move himself from place to place." " How?" " In a motorised chair, with a specially designed switch." "I can't get used to the idea that George can think." "George can do more than just think." "How much, we don't know yet." "But one thing for sure, he can read." "You're out of your mind." "No." "Somewhere, somehow, that boy taught himself to read." "It's not possible." "It may be impossible, but I guarantee you, he can read." "Paul taught him." "When he was learning to read, he used to bring his lessons home." "You used to sit with him for hours and teach him what you learned." "I" " Mom, I was 6, 7." "I was pretending." "I didn't think he was learning anything." "That's it." "He's been reading." "I bet you read him what was under the pictures." "Well, we've always read to him." "I read to him every day." "Do you point to the words?" "Yes." "I wanted to believe he could understand." "Well, he did." "I mean, do you realise the brain that's in this boy's head?" " Hello?" " Jess?" "Oh, Paul, I tried to call you all day." "Yeah, we were out." "We had to take George down for more tests." "How'd it go?" "It's a long story." " Can you come over for dinner?" " Sure." "Is everything all right?" "Yeah, yeah, everything's fine." "You mind driving over?" "I'm helping Mom with dinner." "No, that's fine." "So I'll see you in about an hour?" "Yeah, okay." " I love you." " I love you too." "This turkey is delicious." "The best yet, Mom." "Well, it's George's favourite." "Has been ever since he was a little boy." "You know, gentlemen, you are the first guests we've had over to dinner here in years." "This is the first bottle of wine we've had in years." "Well, why not?" "It's a celebration." "Wednesday, George gets his new chair, little switch." "He moves it with his fingers and off he goes." "A little joystick." "Just like an astronaut, right, George?" "I don't know how to thank you both, all you've done for George." "It's like a miracle, isn't it, honey?" "Yes." "Yes, it is." "Here we go, a nice piece of white meat and some dressing." "George loves his turkey and dressing." "Mr. and Mrs. Janis called." "They wanna know when we're moving in." "I didn't know what to say." "Paul can't make that decision at this moment, dear." "We've got a lot going on here with George." "They want a deposit." "Well, can we get it back?" "I don't know." "Do we want it back?" "Well, no." "But, I mean, there is so much going on right now." "Maybe we shouldn't rush it, you know." "Sure." "Excuse me." "I'll be right back." "Jess?" "Honey, come on." "Don't do this." "Don't do what?" "All I asked you was..." "It's not gonna work, Paul." "We're dead in the water." "Jess, honey, nothing's changed." "I'm gonna move out." "It's just gonna take a little more time, that's all." "Come on." "Can't you feel happy for George?" "I am happy for George." "I'm scared, that's all." "Honey, don't." "Don't." "Tell you what." "Here." "We'll put the deposit down." "You move in early and get the place all ready for us." "Okay?" "Okay." "Let's go back to dinner." "We're supposed to be celebrating." "Okay." "Way to go, George." "You look like you've been driving that thing all your life." "As you can see, we've attached his lap computer to the chair and then adapted the controls to the chair control." "It all works off the same switch." "Yeah, the same switch." "Mark there is a genius." "The computer will scan the letters." "When George sees the one he wants, throws the switch." "Then to make conversation easier, he's programmed sentences into the machine." "I bet he's put 15 sentences in there already." "That's amazing." "And this is what George has been waiting for." "Come on, let's show them, pal." "You're right, Mom." "Turkey and dressing is my favourite." "What are you doing up?" "I couldn't sleep." "Keep thinking about George." "He's working on his computer." "He may never go to bed." "I was so wrong about George." "So was I." "What do you mean?" "You're the one who always said he understood." "I didn't believe it." "You were right." "That's why I never let another doctor near him." "We've been his jailers." "We've kept him locked inside himself." "He's got a new life now." "What did you say to Jessica?" "About what?" "About not moving out." "We've done a terrible thing here." "We have to make amends." "Mom, please." "Don't start with the guilt trip again, really." "But George needs you now." "More than ever, Paul." "Mom" "It's George." "I'll get it." " Hey, George." " I'm thirsty." "Water, please." "You got it, champ." "Is that enough?" "All this time, you never told me you could blink." "You never told me you could move your fingers." "What other secrets you keeping from me?" "I love you, Paul." "I went to Robinson's today." "They had a sale." "I saw the cutest loveseat, you'd never believe it." "Hundred and fifty dollars, $10 down." "Pretty good deal, huh?" "Sounds good." "They're bringing the drapery samples tomorrow." "I wish you could be there to see it." "George wants to become a writer." "They've attached a printer to his computer." "He's all excited." "They're giving him a switch box." "They call it an environmental control." "He's gonna be able to turn on the TV, turn on the radio, open the drapes." "Even open the refrigerator." "That's wonderful." "Of course, when he opens the refrigerator, someone still has to take something out of it for him." "Everything's changed with George." "But some things don't change and never will." "Paul?" "I can't ask my mom to send him someplace." "Okay." "What about what we talked about, getting someone to live at the house and help take care of George?" "It's a possibility." "Have you talked to your mom about it?" "Jess, listen to me." "All my life, I've taken care of George." "And I've always kept a secret with me all that time, way down there." "I didn't love him." "I didn't love my brother." "I mean, there was this living thing." "It was like a stupid replica of a human being." "Except it didn't seem to do anything." "And we played games and pretended it did something." "We lived its life in our own image of what we thought it was." "We pretended for so long that we didn't realise we didn't have to pretend." "He gave up on us years ago." "He stopped paying attention." "Became what we thought he was, nothing." "See, I've just found my brother." "And I owe him something." "I see." "Come live with us." "No." "For a while." "It won't just be for a while." "Once we get started, it'll be forever." "I have this one life of mine to live." "When I signed on, George was not part of the package." "You may choose to be your brother's keeper, but I have a right not to choose that." "I do not choose to live your mother's heartbreak even though I love you." "It's George or me." "There you go, George." "A brand-new voice for you." "State of the art." "Come on, why don't you try it out?" "Is it George or is it Memorex?" "Hey, anybody home?" "Jon, you gotta hear this." "George's new voice." "Oh, yeah?" "Let's hear it, then." "Pull up a chair and sit down." "That's great." "Listen, George, I wanna talk to you about your brother." "Okay." "Paul is gonna come home soon with some news for you and your mom." "But I felt you should hear it from me first." "Ma, you gotta be kidding." "Turkey again?" "It's your brother's favourite." "You heard him say so himself." "It's so strange to hear myself say that:" ""You heard him say so himself."" "Well, you have to teach me how to make it so I can help you out more often." "For a little while, anyway." "I'm not moving out, Mom." "Are you telling me the truth?" "Yes, I'm telling you the truth." "Have you told your girl?" "Yeah, we broke up." "It's okay." "It's like you always say, it's what's meant to be." "Oh, Paul." "Well, let's go tell your brother." " Okay." " He will be so happy." "George, your brother has some wonderful news for you." "Just wait one second." "He has something he'd like to tell you first." "He's almost ready." "But I can't wait." "It's such good news." "I'm ready." "Paul, I want you to move out of the house." "George." "Paul, let him finish." "You love Jessica and she loves you." "You have your own life to lead and I have mine." "For the first time," "I can express all the thoughts and feelings I have inside." "I want to spend my time putting these feelings on paper." "I no longer have any limits." "Oh, outer limits perhaps, but no inner limits." "I spent years feeling sorry for myself." "I don't want to spend the next years feeling sorry for you." "Mom, I want you to get someone to help take care of me." "I am a writer now and you know how temperamental they can be." "I would rather be cranky with an outsider than I would with my mother." "For the first time in your lives, you'll really know what I want, so please don't argue." "Do as I ask." "Blink once if the answer is yes." "Now go call your girl, little brother." "Big brother has work to do." "Okay, champ." "Don't mention it." "The turkey, Mom." "George was as good as his word, and more patient than anyone I've met, before or since." "It took him two years, but he finished the book." "It was worth waiting for."