St. Elsewhere (1982–1988): Season 3, Episode 13 - Dr. Wyler, I Presume - full transcript

Auschlander's friend, a world-renown doctor who migrated to Africa 40 years ago, comes to visit the hospital. Ehrlich is advised to make his TV spots more entertaining. Craig must remove a potentially exploding bullet from a shoot...

Good morning, Mark.

This morning is better than good.

It's a great day for medicine,
a great day for Boston and

a great day for St Eligius.
How do I look?

Great.

You need one too.

After all, you're responsible
for convincing Dr George Wyler

to come here.
Stop fidgeting.

It sounds like a social event.
Let's not forget George Wyler's

bringing a teenage boy here
with failed kidneys. He thinks this

country affords him the best
chance of finding a compatible donor.



Daniel.

Aren't you going to pay for that?

Dr Wyler is coming to our
hospital all the way for Africa

because you're his friend.

He knows he can depend upon
you to save this boy.

When I was young,
I remember sitting with

my father looking at Life magazine.

And he showed me pictures
of Wyler's humanitarian exploits.

Helping the natives,
curing their sick, carving

a health clinic out of the jungle.

The one real disappointment for my
father was never meeting the man.

And now, I will. Thanks to you.

Your image of George Wyler
is quite different from mine.

The last time I saw
him, he was standing



in the middle of Boston Common.

Roaring drunk.

Offering to take on all comers.

That was 41 years ago.

You must be thrilled at the
prospect of seeing him again.

To tell you the truth,
I'm a bit nervous.

I'm not sure how much I'll have in
common with a man who's won

the Nobel Peace Prize.

Right. Who has Mrs Decker?

Look out!

Mrs Becker, 38, white,
presented in ER

last night complaining of renal
colic, nausea, vomiting and fever.

Any family history of kidney stones?

Yes, but her KEB and
white count were both normal.

Dr West, sorry to interrupt

but Dr Wyler will be arriving
in about five minutes.

I completely lost track of the time.
All right, that's it for today.

Thank you. You're all invited
to the reception in the lobby.

Before you do, Jack, make sure
you run an IVP on Mrs Decker.

Isn't this exciting?

If you run one IVP,
you've run 100.

No, Jack.
I'm talking about Dr Wyler.

The great white doctor of darkest
Africa coming here to St Eligius?

Let's hope someone told him
to bring his pith helmet.

I don't get it.

Watch this. Lucy, can I have
Mrs Decker's chart, please?

It's on the wheel.
You know, sometimes

I think you guys are retarded.

Hey, who's the cake for?

The rich kid with the broken leg.

Her parents sent it over
with the balloons.

And we've been
asked to give a little party.

Well, that's nice.

The kid's 26 years old.

Stick around, some of the nurses
are going to sing Happy Birthday.

You look like a contralto,
Elliot, you can join in.

I love to sing and dance.

I'd appreciate it if
nobody sang or did anything.

How many times do I have to tell
you people around here, I don't

want a fuss made over my birthday.

I don't feel like drawing
attention to my age.

Happy birthday, Helen.

It's the big 5-0.

Hey. I'm going to be 45
and my birthday is tomorrow.

Looks like you wanted to
get the jump on me so

I'd be surprised, right.
Happy birth...

day, Melanie.

Uh, Melanie Amsell in 1314.

Look, I don't
want anything done for my birthday.

Is that clear?

Crystal.

I mean it. Nothing. No cakes, no
balloons, not even a card, nothing.

PHONE RINGS

First floor nurses' station.

Yes, standing right here.

What is it now?

I'll tell him.

Someone wants you in ER.

Me?

Yeah.

Gotta run, Jack. I'm needed.

This one's for you, bud.

What's the problem?

Throwing up, with chest pains.
I'm gonna take her up to the room.

Mrs Hufnagel.

What's wrong with her now?

I just discharged her last week.

I treated her for phlebitis.

Dr Chandler.

Yeah?

You gotta take this
patient for me, please.

Er, no can do, Elliot. I'm on my
way to the reception for Dr Wyler.

You don't understand!

I can't go through this again.

The whining, the insults, she tried
to bite me during a neuro chat.

Elliot.
Take care of your own patients.

Well, at least she's unconscious.

She had these with her.

I prescribed these.
They are almost gone.

They should be half a bottle left!

As soon as we get her upstairs,

have the nurse set up for more
saline lavage.

I'm not your middle man.
Listen, fat boy.

I'll start doing your job when
you start paying me your salary.

Until then, I'm just
a courteous orderly.

Got it?

Morning. You're going to be OK.

Aah! Don't you come near me.

This man has tried
to kill me with rat poison.

It was phenylbutazone
for her phlebitis.

Rat poison!

How many of these
things were you taking?

Four pills, three times a day.

I told you to take one
pill three times a day.

Liar.

It's written right
here on the label.

You told me that these pills

would make me feel better
so I took a couple extra.

Now, I don't want you anywhere
near me and I want another doctor.

Do you understand, son of blubber?

Fine. It's OK with me. I'm going
to get somebody to take your case.

Excuse me, doctors.

Mrs Hufnagel.

Going up?

No, thank God.

Let's take the stairs.

I caught your health spot
the other night.

What did you think?

I loved it.

No, I mean your honest opinion.

You really wanna know?

Yeah, be brutally Wayne, Frank.
I mean be brutally frank, Wayne.

OK. You're not reaching, Victor.

You're not digging down inside
and coming up with anything new.

What I saw on that
screen was television.

What were you expecting?
Dinner theatre?

You don't get it, do you?

See, you're not telling your
audience anything they don't

already know. You have to expand the
medium, get outside the envelope.

OK, Mr know-it-all.
What would you do differently?

Take your last segment.
If you want to deal with

the dangers of bites, why do you
talk about men and women gnawing

each other in the throes of passion.
You missed an opportunity to put

a housewife in fluffy slippers
in touch with the

caged animal inside her.
The public wants reality, Victor.

They're not getting that
from these health spots.

Shoot from the underbelly?

Exactly.
And next time, try a little make-up.

What, I looked pale?

Not pale.

Pasty?

Dead.

Thanks, pal.
By the way, where are we going?

To catch the arrival
of the famous Dr Wyler.

I don't know why everybody's
buying into this Good Samaritan hype.

The man's ancient history. We know
more about medicine than he does.

Hurry up, boys. This must be them.

We're right behind you, sir.
Wouldn't miss this for the world.

Dr Wyler. Donald Westphall,
director of medicine.

Oh, hello.
You're the kidney specialist?

That's right. Are you all right?

It's all that flying.
As soon as I spoke to Danny,

we took the next plane.

22 hours of travelling
and the movie was terrible.

Dr Wyler, is it a culture shock
to be back in the United States?

Later on, later on.
Tshalla has had a long trip.

He's tired. I want to get
him upstairs and stabilised.

Right. We've arranged for a private
room and you'll have round the clock

access to a dialysis machine
if your patient needs it.

What's all this?

Well, it isn't every day
we welcome a legend.

Excuse me.
Danny.

Damn. We got old.

You coming?

Right, that will
do it for now, Tshalla.

It's an interesting name.

Thank you very much.

Tshalla is just his nickname.

When he was a little boy
he couldn't pronounce his full name.

What is your full name?

I am called Auschlander.

What a terrible
thing to do to a child.

Well,
Auschlander, I'll be right back.

Considering all the travel,
he is in pretty good shape.

Well, let's see what your
laboratory tests have to say.

How on earth did he get
the name of Auschlander?

I delivered him.

I got tired of naming babies

Eisenhower, Roosevelt, even used
up my quota of Neil Armstrongs.

So the day Tshalla was born,
a package arrived

from Abercrombie and Fitch.

A bush jacket.

Well, neither Abercrombie nor
Fitch seemed right unless he

was going into the retail business.

So, and named him after the sender.

By the way, Danny,
thanks for that bush jacket.

It lasted ten years.

Well, until we get word of a donor,
there's not much you can do.

Relax and I'll keep
you posted, all right?

All right.

Well.

You want something to read or
you want to go straight over?

I'd rather have a
tour of the hospital.

Fine.

In the know, you don't
have to go to a hotel.

You're more than welcome to
stay with Catherine and me.

Not a chance.
I intend to bask in the luxury

of room-service with a never ending
supply of clean towels.

As you wish.

First thing I'm going to do is
have them bring up some caviar,

anchovies, and maybe some Twinkies.

It wasn't even her cake.

What's Helen's problem?

Who knows.
Turning 45, menopause, it's

like she's waiting for somebody to
do something just so she can get mad.

So we do nothing?

Or we really give it to her.

Gag gift.

No, that's too mean.

A surprise party?

That's never enough.

If we gonna do something,
let's go all the way.

Nuclear weapons?

That's it!

It is?

A bombshell. Young, handsome and
ready to take off his clothes.

A male stripper?

Annie, still waters run smutty.

I like it.

I saw it on some cop show.

I'll call and arrange
it for tomorrow.

Ostrich cousin.

Ostrich cousin...

Answers page 22.

Ah!
Emu, I knew that.

Emu, E - M - U.

Mrs Hufnagel.

Who are you?

Jack Morrison, I'm your new doctor.

I'm going to, er...

Would you quit that, stop mumbling.

Hey, wait a minute.
I've seen you on rounds.

You're the one that carries
around that red knapsack.

And the kid.

And you never say much.

Yeah, that's it. Boomer.

Just hold still.

Say, I didn't get dinner tonight.

I ordered two tacos.

I know from dining.

Well, I'm sorry, Mrs Hufnagel.

no food until we finished the tests.

You see, Mr Hufnagel used to
own a diner. Flo and Eddie's

over in Morrissey Boulevard.
Tests, what kind of tests?

We are running a GIC, to see if we
can pinpoint the source of bleeding.

Where did you go to medical school?

In Mexico.

Oh, fine! I'll call you
next time I need a Margarita.

Mrs Hufnagel, I'd like to say

it's great having you back
but I'm not a lying man.

Er, what's with the rickshaw mouse?

You're going down to X-ray.
You'll be getting a barium enema.

N...O!

Nobody touches the booty.

Well, I'm afraid it's
necessary, Mrs Hufnagel.

If you want, I can give you a Valium.

Now you're trying to string out on
drugs. What kind of a kinko are you?

Mrs Hufnagel, I'm not the sort of
doctor who orders needless tests.

Cut it out, Curly, I'm not buying.

I would have been
better off with Axelrod.

At least he went to
school in the United States.

'Karen Scott, call
the page operator, please.

'Karen Scott, call
the page operator.'

Mr Zikowski, are you lost again?

Tina, take Mr Zikowski back to 341,
please. There you go, you'll be OK.

Getting out, please.

Getting out. Hello.

Goodbye.

That better not have knocked the
hinges out of whack.

Well, here we are.

Alone at last.

I've been calling you.

I got the messages.

Why haven't you returned my calls?

Because I didn't want to
hear your voice ever again.

Excellent reason.

Very good.

Everybody has treated me differently
since Mitzi spilled the beans.

I feel like I'm some
kind of a floozy!

Helen! Who cares
what people think?

I missed you!

I hoped the power of my presence
would force a reconciliation.

Listen, Richard,
the last time we talked,

I said I was having second thoughts,
remember? Well, not any more.

I think our relationship has
been a mistake from the start.

I've lost the respect of
the people I work with

and that makes my
job very difficult.

So why don't we just let
go now and say goodbye, OK?

This is the Coulter counter.

You put the blood samples in here,

The machine spins them,
separates the cells

and then spins them through
a computer for the blood count.

Amazing. I still spend hours
breaking my neck

over a microscope
counting blood cells.

St Eligius is an
outstanding facility.

It makes me realise how
long I've been out of touch.

You must be tired.

I would be if I knew
what day it was.

Right now, I'm working on
eight different time zones.

You always did skimp on sleep.

That was the old days.

Right now, coffee, adrenalin and
my love for that boy keep me going.

That and the company
of an old friend.

The last time I saw you,

we'd both barely
graduated from med school.

What a waste of time.
Didn't prepare me for anything.

You said you were going to Africa to
do research on infectious diseases.

And I did.

You never came back.

Why?

When you and McArthur
were fighting a war...

He never made a move
without first consulting me.

What was the single
biggest medical problem?

Malaria.

The scarcity of Quinine

caused thousands to fall victim,
unnecessarily.

Where I live, it's
still a major problem.

My first day in Africa,
the boat docked.

They took me to a dark,
damp, dirty room.

This is a hospital, they said.

A line of natives, bloated,
starving, open wounds, you name it.

A young girl, mother of
three, was my first patient.

I didn't know enough of the
language to ask her what was wrong.

Put my hand on her forehead,
she was burning.

I looked at her nervous.

She smiled.

It was as if she knew
just because I was there,

she was going to get better.

It must have been a great feeling.

Not really.
I didn't know what the hell to do.

My early doctoring was
scattergun medicine.

In a panic, I threw
Quinine and aspirin

at anyone with a fever over 101.

I learned to treat
patients by experience.

Seat of the pants.

All that research I went out
to do became inconsequential.

These weren't guinea pigs to be
poked and prodded.

They were human beings.

And I knew, I was where I belonged.

The Nobel committee
called you a saint.

What the hell do they know?

It's getting late.

Do you have a CAT scanner?

Yes.

May I look at it.
I've only seen pictures of it.

Of course.

Staph infections, who gets them?

Hospital patients.

People who had no trace of disease
before they walked through the doors.

Our research shows the most common
form is infected surgical wounds.

But even non-surgical
patients can often develop brown,

pussed-out, scabby sores.

Staph also causes
simple boils and pimples,

as well as arthritis, pneumonia,

heart infections, toxic shock and of
course everybody's favourite, death.

It's the oldest, sickest patients
who are the most vulnerable,

so if you have the misfortune
to be admitted to a hospital,

be sure and let your doctor know
if you develop any symptoms. Susan.

Thank you, Dr Ehrlich.

In a related story, world famous
humanitarian, George Wyler,

arrived at St Eligius Hospital
in search of a kidney.

While he looks, a young African
boy's future hangs in the balance.

We have a lifesaving
surgical technique

with a horse and buggy
delivery system.

It's frustrating that
there are potential donors out there

who do not even know
there are people who need help.

But, I'm a man of hope and I'm
sure a kidney will come in time.

Dr Wyler refused to comment
on reports of atrocity

under the oppressive government
in power in his country.

Saying his interest lies only in...

That Wyler's such a great man.

We've got a
problem, Victor.

What?

Your material isn't working.

Victor, you're scaring people
with all these gruesome diseases.

That's my new concept, to show the
nitty-gritty in a hospital.

Fine, fine, then talk
about diseases that are fun.

I can't think of any off hand!

Look, people are
inviting you into their homes.

They don't want to be grossed
out by pus and scabby sores.

Here's your fan mail.

There are only two. Two letters.

Yeah, and neither of
them is a rave review.

You're making a
negative impact, Victor.

Our research shows that
your stories have no arc.

Where's the spine?

Let me see this research.

Take my word for it,
you're committing telecide.

Telecide?

The whole approach has
got to be more upbeat.

You've got to be more friendly.

More human. Heroic.

Any specific suggestions?

Try to find a way to
make getting sick

seem like a fascinating experience.

I thought we were trying to
give people information,

so that they could get
healthy and stay healthy?

The public knows what it wants
and you're not giving it to them.

Now, if they're not happy,
neither are we.

By the way, who's
doing your make-up? Cochise?

'It's 6.55am, and it's time
for the morning weather.

'As we check the national map...'

I love this time of day.
Everything is so quiet.

Yeah, right. >

Anyway, I think it's terrific.

It's really no big deal.

Timmy, it is so.

My brother tried to get into the
Marines and they wouldn't take him.

Your brother's a psychopath.

Besides, I think it's a chance to
get out of this place.

Are you gonna send me a
picture of you in uniform?

Your head all shaved and everything.

Let's see, that is 2.95, please.
I don't figure to be a career man,

you know, get out,
go to college or something.

GUNSHOT

Elliott.

Elliott.

Elliott!

I'm awake! I'm OK!

Just taking a quick
40 winks, that's all.

It says here that there are 2.3 women
for every single man in Boston,

which means some guy
has got 4.6 women.

Don't look at me, I
can't even get to 0.6.

Anyway, what would you
do with 0.6 of a woman?

It depends which 0.6!

Can I go home yet?

We need a little help here, please.

Gunshot wound. Some lunatic
decided it was hunting season.

Don't bother.
All you can do is pronounce him.

BP, 80 over 50.
Heart rate, 120. Respiration, 12.

Give me those.

Call X-ray, alert the OR,
get her shirt off.

What kind of gun was that?

That guy's got a hole big enough
in him to put your fist through.

Exploding bullets.
They detonate on impact.

Some real nice people in this world.

Did the cops get him?

Alive, unfortunately.

But if the bullets explode, how come
she doesn't have a hole?

Must hit something hard to detonate.
Hers must have missed the bone.

Must have gone right in between her
ribs. We've got one lucky lady here.

If the bullet is still in her,
then it could still go off, right?

All right, Eisenberg and Silverman
Two, finish cooking,

Silverman One
and Schienfeld set the table.

Silverman One's upstairs.

Start without her.

Rosenthal Six up?

Morning, kids.

Happy birthday, Mum. Ira left.

Left where?

Home. Us. More specifically, you.

What?

Some woman called and told Ira that
you're having an affair.

Way to go, Mom!

Hi, Mom, Ira left. Happy Birthday.

No more stench of his
aftershave hanging around the house.

Marcy.

Well, he's not my dad.
Mine was three dads ago.

Erm, but, Rosenthal's a
little bit upset.

It's his first time.

Stop!

Did he say where he was going?

No. But he said
he wasn't coming back.

Face it, Mom, you and Ira weren't
exactly cut out for each other.

Yeah? Well, I think it's cheap to
run around behind his back.

Hey.

Mom, can I move in with
my dad's girlfriend?

Silverman Two said she's an airhead.

She's got room.

Absolutely not.

I think it's the best
thing for the both of you.

I'm going to miss Ira.

I'm going to miss that extra car.

We thought you might
like some breakfast.

So, Mom, who's the new guy?

You see that?

That's the old North Church.

May I go there?

As soon as you're well,
I'll take you, how about that?

One if by land and two if by sea.

And I on the opposite shore will be.

That's right.

George. We have a donor.

We do?

Yes.

Old friend, I have to
leave you for a little while.

But you look through the book
and pick out what you'd like to see.

The Mayflower.

A girl over at Boston General
was hit by a car last night.

Massive head trauma and
irreversible brain damage.

I'd like to follow
the transplant procedure

from the removal of the
kidney to its insertion.

And I'd also like to meet the family.

I'll drive you over.

Mind if I take a
spin at the wheel?

Driving is a pleasure
I've had to forgo.

A disturbing lack of macadam
in the jungle.

I've never forgiven you for
the dent you put in my Rio.

That was in 1938.

And I bet you're still
hell on wheels. I'll drive.

Yeah, you can take care of that.

All right. Thanks.

All right.
We checked out this nut's house.

He's got a lab in the basement. Looks
like he made the bullets himself.

What does that mean?

No idea how much charge it's
packing or the volatility?

But you have the man in custody.

Can't he tell you what
he put in the bullets?

All we can get out of him so far
is that evil must be eradicated.

If it explodes,
it'll take her chest with it.

Might not be too good for someone
standing next to her either.

I've called Dr Craig.
He's our best surgeon.

We've got her stabilised.

But that bullet has got to
come out eventually.

Shouldn't we get an X-ray?

You want to lift her up?

Where am I?

She's coming round.

Karen, just lie quietly, now.

What happened? What's going on?

It's OK.

Where's Tim?

Just, please, lie quietly.
Hold still. Hold still.

Increase her oxygen. No!

But he shot him.

Tim was just asking him to pay
for the magazine and he shot him.

OK. Karen, no, lie still, please.

Take slow, deep breaths.
It'll help calm you down.

He's OK.

Where's the bullet located?

The bullet entered the left side
between the third and fourth rib.

We estimate it's lodged
in the pericardial space.

Estimate?!
Didn't anyone take X-rays?

Well, we don't want to move her
any more than absolutely necessary.

What about ultrasound detection?

The police said that ultrasound
frequency might set it off.

OK. She'll have to be
transferred to the OR

so we can have the
portable X-ray in there,

that way we only have to
move her once. Who are you?

Sergeant Raymundo, bomb squad.

Do you know what to do with
this thing once I get it out.

Put it in a canister
and detonate it.

I think we should be in
the operating room with you.

We've had experience
with these things.

Fine. I'd like to go with a
skeleton surgical team.

That way, we minimise
the risk to the staff.

Right.

BJ and I ran into a few of
these exploding bullets in Korea.

I've seen what they can do.

Oh, and I'll need the trauma
team to escort her to the OR,

so that if it does blow,
well, at least we have a chance.

Right.

Who scheduled this nurses meeting?

It was either Charles or
Burrows or Charles.

What are they doing? Making a
grab for my job? They can have it.

(ALL) Surprise!

Helen, I'm the doctor
the doctor ordered.

What?! Listen...!

Helen, relax! Hit it!

MUSIC PLAYS

No! I...

Please stop. ..Stop!

MUSIC STOPS

Just because you all found out
I'm having an affair

is no reason to humiliate me!

It was just a little
birthday fun, Helen.

In any case, I don't think watching
a male hustler degrade himself

is anybody's way
of spending a birthday!

I can't believe she
wouldn't go along with it.

Maybe she is in menopause.
..Hey, Butch,

you were paid to strip,
so keep on stripping!

Hit it!

MUSIC RESTARTS

Wouldn't mind having a slice of that
for my birthday!

Exploding bullets.

Harrison Geoffrey's always
told me never to volunteer.

What was I doing
ignoring Harrison like that?

You people have a real good time.

Oh, I'd see a magazine now and then,
six or eight months out of date.

But as far as I can see, I haven't
missed much in the last four decades

of Western civilisation,

except maybe mini-skirts and those
Cadillacs with the big fins on them.

It's depressing to think
of the '58 Eldorado

as the high watermark of anything.

Daniel.

Hello, Bert.
Burt Hammond, George Wyler.

An honour and a pleasure, sir.

you've given at this end.

Well, I wish I had more encouraging
news. The parents of the donor

are having second thoughts about
going through with the procedure.

I beg your pardon?

Can we talk to them?

Yes, of course. Right here.

this is Dr Wyler and Dr Auschlander.
They are the doctors taking care

of the boy who was going
to receive Nancy's kidney.

I'm sorry. It's just
that when I signed us all up

for the donor programme, I thought
it would be me, not Nancy.

This kid... I saw you on TV
last night. You and him.

Yes.

The African.

I beg you to reconsider.

No.

If I'm going to give this away, it's
going to go to somebody like Nancy.

And not to some...
kid from the jungle.

Who the hell do you think you are?

It's not good enough for my daughter.

Danny. Danny, let's go.

I apologise.

For what?

For the narrow-mindedness
and the bigotry.

For a country that pretends
to be something it isn't.

You say that you haven't affected
any changes in the last 41 years.

Well, nothing has changed
here, either.

It's at a time like this
I wish I'd gone with you.

Oh, Danny.

You must understand that man,

no matter how noble,
is still an animal.

Protective of what he knows
and suspicious of everything

that's strange or different.

It doesn't matter whether it's in
a rain forest or in Copley Square.

You cannot eradicate 100,000 years

of tribal instinct with a few
hundred years of social change.

I don't believe that. And I'm
surprised that you would say it.

Your mistake is in thinking that
all the scientific enlightenment

you enjoy has changed
our fundamental nature.

So, you can just
accept this situation?

I've learned not to get angry
at the mystery of nature.

Give in to it. Accept it.

Because something better
will come along.

Let's go have a drink.

Dr Craig... What's with this?

Scrub. I'll explain the situation.

I already... The whole hospital's
talking about it.

That thing's explosive.
What if it goes off?

Patients trust us with their lives
every day of the week, Ehrlich.

This time the shoe
is on the other foot.

What if the bullet goes off when my
hands or your hands are right there?

We're surgeons, if the hands
get hurt, it's curtains!

Pull yourself together. Help me do
this and the danger will be minimal.

But if I make a mistake, we'll
both regret it for a long time.

Sitting in the home
painting landscapes with our feet.

All right, get out of here. If
you don't want to use your hands

to help somebody who needs
surgery, you're not a surgeon.

You're just some guy
who's holding on to himself.

Yes, sir. I'll soap up.

Good boy.

Oh, the bomb squad
brought us these flak jackets

and protective headgear.

Certainly puts my mind at rest, sir.

Oh, great(!)

Mop.

Keep cracking that rib-spreader,
Erlich.

My hands are shaking.
You'd better take over.

Nonsense.

Those are tremors of intention.

Proof that you're
gearing up for the task.

This flak vest is pretty bulky.

Will you quit whining
and get on with it?

Yes, sir.

When the new regime took over,
they offered me a blank cheque

if I'd go on record saying what a
wonderful bunch of guys they are.

Which I wouldn't,
because they aren't.

The government doesn't interfere
with your activities, does it?

Only in the sense that
they refuse to support it.

So now I'm back scrounging from
foundations and private sources.

As far as the government
is concerned, let's just say
I have some highly-placedenemies.

I have one of these at the clinic.

It's a drain on the generator but...

everybody deserves some luxury.

(PLAYS TUNE ON ORGAN)

Sounds good.

That's the easy stuff.

This is what's driving me crazy.

(PLAYS DIFFERENT TUNE)

Someday I'm going
to get this fingering.

Would you open that
briefcase of mine?

I think I can arrange for...

for you to have rehearsal
privileges in here.

I must warn you that after a
few of these, I revert to song.

And my voice starts
carrying great distances.

..To Tshalla.

And to a donor.

What do you think your enemies
in the new regime might do?

Hard to tell with this gang.

They might just throw me out.

And, well, people
have been disappearing.

Assassinated?

That settles it. You're staying.

To do what?

Work.

Retire. Keep me company.

You get out there, you see
how much there is to do,
and you just start doing it.

And then, you look up,
and its 40 some years later

and there's twice as much
to do as when you started.

And you're just one more old man
wondering where all the time went.

Maybe you're right. Maybe it's time.

I'll think about staying, Danny.

ORGAN MUSIC

Get these clots out.

Wait a minute.
There's too much blood, here.

We've got a bleeder somewhere.

Ehrlich?

I see it. Clamp.

There it is.

Got it.

Not bad.

Thank you.

I think...

All right. There it is.

Sergeant Raymondo, get over here.

Phew!

BANG

Whoops!

That was a big one.

Ehrlich?

Re-scrub and we'll close her up.

Yes, sir.

Hi.

I can't understand how anyone can
deny a child the chance at life.

We'll find another donor,
I'm sure of it.

Ira found out about
my affair, he left.

He made up his mind to go
and he's not coming back.

He's a very stubborn person.

You know...for years
I pleaded with him

not to wear his toupee, and he never
once went out in public without it.

I didn't know he wore one.

I'm 45.

Got married for the
first time at 20.

New husband every six years.

Most people stick with a
car longer than that.

You have five terrific kids.

Five fantastic kids.

And you're a good nurse.

I know.

You see, maybe I should
have gone all the way,

I'd also have made
a good doctor.

I reached a lot of forks
in the road

and I always seemed
to take the wrong one.

Don't we all feel
that way, sometimes?

Maybe I do things to punish myself.

I mean, look at me, it's my
birthday, and I'm still here.

Your birthday, I forgot, I'm sorry.

Oh, to hell with it. I'm going home.

Anything special planned?

Kids will probably give me
a big party, dinner,

cake with enough candles to light
up the city. It'll be nice.

You have a lot to be thankful for.

I know.

Happy birthday.

Thanks.

'Let's say you have an
accident of some kind.

'What happens next?
You call an ambulance...'

And bribe the driver
to take you to Boston General
instead of this place.

'..where friendly,
well-trained doctors

'will administer
up-to-date medical treatment.

'Waiting is kept to a minimum
through modern hospital management
techniques

'that put the needs of the patient
first and foremost. From the ER

'you'll be whisked up
to your room by...'

Lovely Carole Merle
who will take your clothing,

rifle through your belongings,
and palpate you into submission.

'An experienced senior doctor will
be directly in charge of your case

'and will carefully explain your
condition and the length of time
you will be required tostay.

'Should there be any discomfort
involved, modern analgesics
are always available...'

From dealers loitering
in our hallways.

'..Physical therapy and other
services are scheduled
at your convenience.

'Nutritious meals are served promptly
from heated carts at your bedside...'

He forgot to mention tennis courts
and scuba lessons.

'..Scheduled visiting hours,
and often play a positive role
in the healing process...'

And when you receive your hospital
meal you will have a heart attack
and be whisked back upstairs.

Are you as sick of these
Health Spots as I am?

'..Until then, I'm Dr Victor Ehrlich
with another Health Spot.'

Well, we did it.

Yeah.

I'd like to thank you, Dr Craig.

What for?

For having confidence in me,
for giving me that extra push
when I needed it.

Let me tell you something, Ehrlich.
That's the last time
I'm going to nursemaid you.

Yes, sir.

A surgeon takes a personal risk
every time he steps into the OR.

You can cut yourself
and get hepatitis.

Or you can butcher one
of your own ligaments.

But if you dwell on the risks, it
makes the chances that much greater.

Yes, sir.

As my mentor, Dr David Dominion,
used to say, keep your eye on the
doughnut, not the hole.

I'm a bearclaw man myself, sir.

What's that?

# ..Now the radio
is in the alley... #

What's next?

"Can she cook?"

# Can she cook, can she sew?

# She can sew and sew and sew

# What a perfect combination
No wonder we're in love. #

Hello?

Hello?

"Surprise"(?)

DOOR SHUTS

Hi, Jack, where is everybody?

Gone.

What do you mean gone?
They left you alone?

I'm OK.

Make a wish.

Oh, that's nice.

Thanks.

Oh!

Gotcha!

You sure did.