St. Elsewhere (1982–1988): Season 3, Episode 4 - Strikeout - full transcript

OK... So I stiffed 'em.

I wanted a direct route home and
that clown took us on a scenic tour!

You didn't have to start
an argument.

One thing I know is how to get from
the airport to my own front door!

Will you look at this?

I thought you told the mail man
to stop delivery till we got back!

Mark, you're starting all over again.

What? Oh, right.

Boy, it's great to be back.

There's nothing I look forward to
more than sleeping in my own bed.

With you...



Come on, let's go.

I've got to call the hospital.

You called them from the airport
in Honolulu.

I'm head of department,
I have responsibilities.

But there's a strike on,
you're still on vacation.

Here's the bill from the plumber.

Oh, what a nerve!

Ten hours at those prices!

What do they do, clean out
the pipes with a toothbrush?!

I can hardly wait to see the new
sink in the upstairs bathroom.

I don't know what was wrong
with the old one.

What's this note here,
"I don't do walls."

I don't know.

Can I fix you a cup of tea?



Milk?

Oh, sorry, you said, "Ellen empty
the refrigerator before we eat."

Mark!

What's the matter?

Are we out of Orange Pekoe?

I guess I could go decaf.

I guess they had to replace
a little more pipe than they thought.

This is your fault, Ellen.

Why are you doing this to me?

You know the bleeding
always clears up.

20 milligrams.

Your endoscopy showed multiple
bleeding in your stomach.

Is that why he's throwing up, Doc?

This'll clean him up, but with
Curling's ulcer it's unpredictable.

Oh, come on, get your
story straight, Doc.

This morning the nurse
said it didn't look bad.

That's what I mean
by unpredictable.

We got the lab work back,
you dropped ten points last night.

Sounds like a bear market,
I'd sell, Gerry.

Sure, make jokes!

I haven't had a real meal
since I checked in this place.

I did, you haven't missed a thing.

Anyway, I've made arrangements
for surgery at Boston General.

I should have checked in there
in the first place.

Oh, come on Gerry,
you get the grand tour.

Yeah.

I'm aware that nurses' aids
aren't licensed, sir.

Obviously it was an emergency.

I'm back!

Aloa! How did you like the island?

Islands are islands... Besides, I
spent most of the time in the room.

I guess that's why
you didn't get a tan.

I'm happy with the melanoma level
of my skin as it is.

That is outrageous.

Who's he on with?

City Board of Health.

You're behaving irrationally,
I hope you know that.

Bureaucrats.

And for you, macadamia nuts.

The Hawaiian equivalent
of 24-carat gold.

Thank you.

Don't wolf them down all in one
sitting, we're talking 6.79 a jar.
Plus tax...

She only administered one shot. The
patient has already been discharged.

For Pete's sake,
do whatever you want to do.

Threats from the Board of Health,
Daniel, I was afraid this kind of
thing was gonna happen.

I picked it myself.

People crossing the picket lines
are being harassed, the picketers
are being pelted with fruit,

now the City's
breathing down our necks.

Ellen and I went all the way
into Lahaina for that.

I don't like it any better than you,
Donald. But no good can come of
bowing to the nurses' demands now.

Bend a little.

You'll have every worker in this
hospital organising his own union.

I'd better go now,
I've got another session.

You look good, Mark. Nothing like
swimming in the South Pacific.

How would I know?
I only went in once.

All that water
made me feel insignificant.

So how do you like residency
here at the laughing academy?

I don't see anything funny about it.

Neither do I, but boy I try.

Charlie!
Have you seen my boys today?

Only Manny Scheckter
made an appointment.

Swell, he's the one
who needs therapy least.

It's a beginning... Bye!

I find the work fascinating. The
fringes of the psyche excite me.

Me, I like the people.

BANGING

Mr Costelli...

Why don't you sit down and play cards
with the people? They won't hurt you.

Silvio is one of my favourites.

IQ higher than Eric Severi, two years
of college, sports trivia whiz...

What's the diagnosis?

Unofficially they're
calling him Schizo-effective.

It's just a big word they use
so they can prescribe a drug.

You don't believe in drug therapy?

Not for Silvio.

He just needs contact, love,

structure and every now and then
a swift kick in the butt.

Oh...

Mr Costelli, you just blew
your last free throw.

I'll be right back.
I told you about something like that.

How would you like it
if somebody did that to you?

I'm surprised at you.
Is that nice?!

Come on, pull yourself together.

Welcome back,
Dr Craig, how was Hawaii?

The best thing about
my vacation was knowing

there was half an ocean and an
entire continent between you and me.

Oh, come on... It was just like
I described it, right? You arrived
at the airport, you gota...

Morning, Dr Ehrlich, Dr Craig.

Hold on there, that's not
regulation size.

It pays to advertise.

Hey,
are you looking for a plasterer?

Maybe.

Well, maybe me and Warren can help
you out. Since we got laid off...

Because of the strike.

We decided to go in
business for ourselves.

I need somebody who knows
how to handle a trowel.

You any good at plastering?

It's all in the wrist.

Sir, it's not of my business

but you should give them a chance.

Why?

Because they're victims of
circumstance beyond their control.

And we work cheap.

15 bucks an hour.

Each?

The pair, you stay out of it.

We'll take it.

Tomorrow.

Where?

My house.

We'll be there.

I can't believe what I just saw.

You are such a giver.
I know that, you know that.

You're terrific, you're magnanimous.

And you're an idiot!

Hey! Get me out!

Come on.

Are you OK?

Get me out, I can't take it
any more.

It's only been ten minutes.

The pressurised oxygen
helps you heal faster.

I don't care,
get me the hell out of here.

Try to relax, Michael.

What's the problem?

He's climbing the walls.

Get me out of here, Caldwell.

All right, we hear you, Michael.
Take it easy.

Why don't you reduce the pressure
and let's get him out of there.

My leg's burning up.

The chamber is not
making it any worse.

You've got to give me
something for the pain.

It's not the answer, Michael.

The longer you stay in,
the sooner I can graft.

It hurts too much!
What about my morphine?

Forget it, you're going
through withdrawal because of
the drugs you got off the street.

You gotta do something.

No, you gotta go do something.
Go see Charlotte Miller.

I'm not going to your headshrinker.

Michael, it'll help.

I'm not interested, Caldwell!

This thing is worthless.

You'll be out in a few minutes,
Michael,

but you're going back in tomorrow.

Don't bet on it!

Our next one hails from
Newburgh, New York.

She's lovely nurse Lucy Papandrao

sporting an always fashionable
peach coloured Terry cloth jumpsuit

perfect for those footloose
and fancy-free days of picketing.

Drop dead, Fiscus!

It might be interesting to know
that Lucy was voted by her peers
as Miss Congeniality.

You too, Ehrlich.

Did you get any sleep?

Oh no, the bargaining session
went on all night. How's morale?

Slipping. Why?

No donuts!

Rumour on the line is the strike
contingency fund is running low.

OK, take this. Part of my
husband's contingency fund.

Thanks.

I gotta get back to
the bargaining session.

Good luck!

I'm gonna need it.

Bye.

Bye.

I'm losing my touch.

As we sit here the magic is
being drained from these hands.

Bound to happen when you haven't
touched a woman in all these months.

I'm talking about my surgical touch.
I haven't ligated an artery,
sutured a vein in ten days.

If the strike goes on
I might as well climb a tree
and learn to play the flute.

What?

My grandfather's dying words.

What was your grandmother
doing to him at the time?

I dunno.

Do you know what happened
in Los Angeles

during the doctors' strike of 1976?

Mortality rate went right down.

No elective surgery,
no post-op complications.

Bet you the same thing's
gonna happen right here.

Do you know I always wondered,
is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable.

Yeah...

Who did that?

There he is. Come on.

KNOCK AT DOOR

Oh, Luther, you got here.

Yeah, whoa, this place is a mess.

Hey, Cool, come on in.

Oh my...

Hi.

You must be Warren?

How did you know?

I can read. I'll be gone
for a couple of hours.

We'll be in and out
before you know it.

If you get hungry
the refrigerator's full of food
so help yourselves.

Oh, OK.

Bye, fellas, see you later.

Oh, we've got problems.

Yeah...
No peanut butter.

No, I'm talking about the wall.

What's the matter?

Dry rot in the lathe.

A leak in the pipe's
probably the cause.

Is that bad?

It's not good. I don't think
we should plaster over the damage.

Why don't we just fix it first?

That's a big job.
Don't you want to talk to Dr Craig?

When Dr Craig is doing a by-pass,
if he finds a leaky ventricle,

he's not gonna stop
and ask for permission to fix it.

He goes for the goal.

I dunno.

Big fella, trust me.
Let's get started.

All right.

OK.

CHANTING

Hey, Annie, what do you hear?
Anything new on the strike?

Carol Cavanagh heard
that it's all over.

Management caved in before lunch.

Must have heard you were all out of
pastrami. Thanks for the news.

Don't quote me.

Hey, did you hear about the strike?

Yeah, no progress at all.

I just ran into Bob Fleague,
he says they're considering
laying off residents.

But according to Carol Cavanagh...

What does she know?

True.

What will you do
if they lay you off?

Pursue the same challenging,
academic life I before. Sleep
all day and attend barat night.

I hate doing that.
Bruises the jelly.

BANG ON DOOR

Come in.

Hey, wait your turn.

The lane's clear, Silvio.
Go in.

Go ahead.

Nice neighbours.

I don't know what you've heard
about me up in the ward.

You're a total animal.

You get your kicks by making guys
do unspeakable things and then you
blackmail them with the negatives.

That's not exactly true.

I keep the negatives
for my own personal use.

Ah. So the orderly exaggerated.

I thought today we could talk
about relaxation techniques.

Good! Your place or mine?

Have you ever been hypnotised?

No way. I've seen that big
broad on cable television.

She makes people
squawk like chickens.

You know the word "hypnosis" scares
a lot of people off but the fact is

that a trance is perfectly normal.

We go in and out of them
all the time.

I was in a trance only
two times in my life.

Both times with Mr Jack Daniels.

When you go into a trance
your body produces endorphins.

They're natural painkillers.

Ever hear of a runner's high?

Look, doctor,

I have a hard enough time shuffling
to the John,

let alone doing 26.2 miles
in a hospital corridor.

Well, may be we can teach you
to release the painkillers
without even leaving your chair.

You're gonna feel a lot better.

OK.

What the hell, I'll give it a whirl.

You're not gonna do anything weird,
are you? Like try to find out
if I hated my brother.

Did you hate your brother?

Yeah. Good.

I'm glad we cleared that up.

OK, why don't you just
make yourself comfortable.

Close your eyes.

Breathe deep...

Ahh. Ahh.

Just relax.

Now, how do you feel?

Stupid.

You look pretty stupid, too.

(LAUGHS)

St Eligius was one of the first
hospitals in Massachusetts

to grant clinical authority
to the nurses on the ward.

Yeah, and there's been no meaningful
changes in hospital policy since!

The point being we have
a system here that works.

At the expense of the nurses.

I'm so sorry.

Where have you been?
This meeting started an hour ago.

Wait...

Are there any lemon-filled
donuts left?

Now, Richard, we've got to
get on with this meeting.

Let me just get
a glass of milk, will you?

I have just had the worst morning
in a long line of bad mornings

in what many people will say
is a very undistinguished career.

First of all my car wouldn't start,
but that's unimportant.

What is important, Richard?

I just came from Government Center
where I was informed

that the City of Boston's losing
$260,000 every day we sit here.

Starting Friday, when St Eligius's
medicare reimbursement lapses,

the cost will be more like
three times as much.

That is why

the mayor and controller's office
has given us 48 hours

to wrap up this strike.

Otherwise, they're gonna
shut the hospital down.

If you let that happen
there may not be much
of a hospital left toreopen.

Does anyone not understand
the subtext of my statement?

I love lemon donuts.

All right, now, first things first.

Item number 23,
the Nurses' Union is now asking

for a 9% increase for the first year
broken down in six month increments.

Daniel...

We can live with that.

Good.

That was easy.

Now it's their turn.

Let's keep moving. We're on a roll.

Item number 24...

MUSIC PLAYS

Cut it off at the stud, right...

Dr Craig!

Hey, what the hell
is this hole doing here?

Dr Craig, Dr Craig,
are we glad to see you!

You are really lucky
you got Warren and I in here

cos we found a little biddy problem.

And made it worse.

I told you
you should have asked him.

We found a little dry rot.

I should have known better
than to hire Heckle and Jekyll.

Come again...

He didn't mean that, Big W.

Pinhead!

Are you talking to me?

I'm talking to him.

I negotiated in good faith trying to
do you slugs a favour.
What do I get in return?

You got is a better job
than you asked for.

Listen, mister, this is my house.
Nobody bullies me in my house.

Do you care for an hors d'oeuvre?

What?

Everything sits better on a Ritz.

Now I'll say this just once.

I want this room just like it was

or I will have you arrested for
vandalism. Do you understand me?
I want it pristine.

OK, OK...
You care for a macadamia nut?
There's only a couple left here.

Give me those!

Told you you should have asked him.

No, but...

You don't know what you're talking
about. I'll choke you, you little...

Can you tell me about
the bad men in your dreams?

Why not?

Is it a secret?

I have an idea then. Why don't you
take Marvin home with you today?

He likes to listen to secrets.

Then when you come back next time,
Marvin and I can have a little talk

and maybe we can figure out
how to keep those bad men
from bothering you again.

OK?

You know, Marvin's very friendly
and he never gets angry

or hurt by anything you tell him.

Do you understand?
OK, I'll see you next time.

Jerome...

Bye.

Get the hell out of here, Peter.

I'm not playing any more.

I'm not playing any more
of your sick games!

PHONE RINGS

Third floor...

What do you want now Mrs Hufnagel?

Nothing. Hi, Chubbs.

Shirley, what happened
to Gerry Close?

Who?

The guy with the ulcers
in the burn ward.

It's not important but
somebody stole my slippers.

He's on his way to
Boston General for surgery.

Surgery, Shirley, I never checked
him. I never signed him out.

Can't you people keep
track of anything!

Third floor nurses
station, please hold.

Shirley, what am I gonna do?

Find me another pair.

When did they leave?

They can't have gotten far, they
just took him down in the elevator.
You know how well the elevators run.

Ah, Mr Cranston's got my slippers.

There they go.

Hey!

Hey, Mr Cranston. Take off those
slippers, those are my slippers.

What are you doing with my slippers?

I thought we were
headed for the solarium?

Manny, where are we going?

The hypno suite.

Like hell I am.

You'll like them, all you do
is listen. Helps the pain.

Nothing can help.
Take me back to the room.

You just take it easy.

You look, old man, I'm not...

Oh!

Listen to me. Ever since the accident
you've been acting as if you were the
only one who fell throughthat floor.

I don't wanna hear it.

Gerry and me were
there too, you know.

You go into a fire,
you help each other out.

You risked all our necks
by using the drugs.

It's not my fault
we ended up like this.

No, of course it isn't.

I'm off the drugs.
I'll stay off the drugs.

It's just... sometimes I don't know
if I'm gonna make it.

You'll make it, Mike.

We'll all make it.

But still we gotta help each other.

You're in a lot of pain, Mike.

Talking can only make it better.

You didn't tell my father
about the drugs.

I said we gotta help each other out.

No, I won't tell him.

But, Mike,
one day you're gonna have to.

Dr Ehrlich, please come here.

What's the matter?

Have you seen him before?

Yeah, he's one of the
fireman, what's up?

Curling's ulcer, feel his stomach.

Oh boy, there's a ton of blood
in there.

Blood pressure's down,
this guy needs surgery.

That's why he's going
to Boston General.

He won't make it to the coop.
Check the board to see who's on call.

There's a strike remember,
no-one's on call. Not even VJ.

Then who the hell's
gonna perform the surgery?

You are.

I'll get clearance.

You can feel the sense of coolness

flowing into all the other
parts of your body.

Let that feeling begin to rise
slowly up into your ankles

and the muscles of your calves.

From now on you'll always be able
to get back to that feeling
you've created,

no matter where you are,
at home or at work.

No matter what stress
there may be in your life.

Let the sense of peacefulness
wash over your body completely.

What's wrong?

I'm so scared.

I've always been scared of fire.

Going into the station...

knowing every time the alarm went off
this could be the day I get cooked.

It happened...

and you survived.

But as soon as they fix me up
I've got to go back there.

No, you don't.

You don't understand, it's my job.

It's what I am.

The only way I can handle it
is to numb myself out on Valium.

Blot it out every morning.

If you hate it, why do you do it?
There's a whole world out there.

I can't quit.

I can't let my father down like that.

I wish they hadn't
pulled me out of the fire.

I wish to God
they'd just let me burn.

I couldn't get a hold of Dr Craig,
so I cleared it with Dr Feeney.

The only problem is
we don't have a scrub nurse.

That's why Elliot's here.

Gosh, no! Let me go outside and find
somebody on the picket line.

Good luck. But first,
send me up a laparotomy tray
and large vascular clamps.

I don't even now where
they keep that stuff.

Just start looking, Elliot.

Get me some.

OK. Mid-line incision...
No, what am I, crazy?

Identify the site of access...

I mean, isolate the stomach,
ligate the gastric arteries...

Doctor Ehrlich,
do you know what you're doing?

You see, the problem is, Elliot,
is Ehrlich has never performed
a gastrectomy before.

But I guess I shouldn't complain
because I've barely made it through
my rotations in anaesthesia.

I don't know what
those guys were saying.

This happened to me
once before, you know.

And I learned from it.

I became a better person
because of it.

There can be good in evil.

Don't touch me!

Thank you. Thank you.

Everything's OK.

My God, what happened?

Shirley...

She was raped and held hostage.

It must have been
for a couple of hours.

Cathy, who did this to you?

The prince.

The Prince of Darkness.

It was Peter White, wasn't it?

No!

Stop it, Jack

I have to examine her.

Not now!

Please leave.

Please.

Take it easy. It's OK...OK...
Everything's going to be OK, Cathy.

It's OK.

Take it easy, Cathy...

How's Cathy?

Not good.

Jack, I don't care what it takes.
I'm gonna make sure the women
in this hospital are safe.

If that means hiring armed guards
to follow them, that's how it'll be.

I don't think there's any way
you can stop this guy.

Thus guy is a pal of yours.

It's not Peter White!
It can't be.

I know him. You're wrong.

Like hell I am!

Hey, anybody a surgical nurse?

It's an emergency, one of
the firemen in the burn ward.

Come on, somebody,
when I say emergency I mean it!

I did a couple of years in the OR.

Do you remember where they keep
the large vascular clamps?

On the second shelf behind the sink.
Who's carving?

Ehrlich.

Oh boy!
He's gonna need a lot of help.

I'm assisting.

Ha! And a lot of luck!

Mm-hm.

Hmm...

Yeah, well...
It's OK.

OK? It looks incredible!

Oh, look. Ward even fixed this door.

It hadn't shut right in ten years.

Hello.

Oh, I'm sorry.

We'll be back to put
a coat of paint on that wall.

I'll paint it silver first.
When I put on the white coat,
any moisture won't showthrough.

All right. What do I owe you?

Oh, the damage is not too bad.

Total is... 130.

Cash, in twenties.

Mine is 6.79 for the macadamia nuts.

Mark!

You're right, I forgot the tax.

Come on!

All right.
Listen, I'm a little short.

I've noticed.

All right if I write you a cheque?

Sure, cos if the cheque bounces,
we know where to find you!

Ellen, would you write
them a cheque, please?

And before you go,
I owe you two an apology.

Now, you boys have done
some fine work here today.

And if I snapped at you, well,
you know, there's a tendency

for white people to think of
Negro people as lazy and...

And shiftless.

Right. You have proven that
to be a fallacy.

Thank you, Mrs Craig.
Thank you, Dr Craig.

This plaster better not crack.

Don't worry, it won't.
Thank you.

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

Well... That worked out really well.

Yeah, well...

MUFFLED RINGING

What's that?

RINGING CONTINUES

Sounds like my cooking timer.

They must have used it to tell
when the plaster dried,
and it got...walled in!

Call George Bernstein at First
Federal, have him stop payment
on that cheque! Hey!

Hey! You guys!

Clamps.

How's he doing?

He's stable.

Heart rate 90.

BP 110 over 70.

Irrigation.

I said irrigation!

Don't get testy!

What now?

Now, we reconnect the stomach
remnant to the proximal duodenum.

Why not go straight to the duodenum
and it would be a lot simpler?

All of a sudden you're
the Surgeon General?

I'm trying something here, Elliot.

It's called Billroth 2.

Stick to your resident,
stick with Billroth 1.

Ha, ha! OK, now I can go anterior
through the transfers colon

or posterior
through a hole in the mesocolon.

Either way, I run
the risk of a blow-out.

Give me a wipe, please.

All right...

You've already agreed to matters of
health benefits, longevity bonuses,

flex-time call-in.

Amazing what a deadline
can accomplish.

But we still haven't addressed
staffing ratios.

Nursing practice,
committee membership.

Establishment of a formal
grievance procedure...

I know, Helen.
But we are already halfway there.

Could you just
give me a moment to light my pipe?

I'd like to recess for an hour.

I don't need that much time.

Helen, the issues
you're raising now...

Could we proceed? Proposal for
a formal grievance procedure...

That's been in the employees'
handbook for almost 30 years.

And it's totally inadequate.

We are proposing a procedure in which

settlements would be attempted at
four different administrative levels.

The forecourt action is...

We'll recess to 3.15pm.

One more question...

Anyone got a match?

I was gonna call Dr Craig to consult
but I thought I'd talk to you first.

You won't need Dr Craig.

There's the spasm.

Where?

Right...there.

Mrs Redfield doesn't need a bypass,
and that's for sure.

The artery is clean as a whistle.

But when it clamps down like that
she's going to feel the angina

and that can cause a heart attack
the same as a plug of fat.

We can put her on vasodilators.

I've something to recommend
in a journal article downstairs.
I'll go look at it.

Jack, I love doing this stuff.

It's like search and destroy.

I've finally found my niche.

To be honest with you,
I was always more interested
in disease than patients.

It hasn't been easy putting my life
back together like this.

The only pieces that are still
missing are Myra and the kids.

I'm working on it, though.

Cathy Martin was raped again.

It wasn't me!

I never touched her!

OK, OK.

Peter... All right, I believe you.

What is the deal with you, anyway?
I thought you were on my side.

Are you going to give me
the third degree every time somebody
bumps into somebody elsearound here?

You know where I got
off the track last year?

When I covered up for Shirley
Daniels in the entrapment case.

I cooked up that little story

to make it look like
she didn't give me the keys.

That's why they nailed me.
They made the whole thing look
deliberate and sleazy onmy part.

I still think you did
the right thing.

Yeah! The only reason I did it
was because you leaned on me
to protect her.

Soften up your testimony, you said.
Remember?

Yeah.

I don't blame you,
you're not responsible.

All I'm trying to do is put
my life back together again.

I wish there was some way
I could help.

There is.

Help me find my kids.

Gently, now. Come on, you guys.

I think he'll be OK as long as
the duodenal stump holds out.

That's why I put in the drain.

There you are, Ehrlich.

Dr Craig, you should
have been there.

Of course, if you were, we
wouldn't have needed Ehrlich.

I think my beeper
is about to go off.

Stay right here! I just heard
about your cheap heroics in the OR.

An emergency gastrectomy.
I assisted.

The patient lived?

Evidently, sir.
Thanks for all your help, Elliot.

He appears stable.

What technique did you use?

Billroth 2.

Well, that's pretty damn ambitious.

You could have relieved symptoms
until a professional appeared.

I've studied the procedure,
Dr Craig.

I felt a sub-total gastrectomy
was dictated.

You removed the ulcers, of course?

We got at least 80%
of the bleeding sites.

Cccording to
the Hoskins's article...

All right, Ehrlich, all right.

I just hope for this fellow's sake
that you turned in more than
your usual C minus performance.

Because, regardless of the results,
this was a dangerous stunt.

If you say so, sir.

Call Doctor Fanning,
have him check him out.

Fine.

You look terrible.

I know.

Well, if you're properly prepared,
surgery shouldn't be such an ordeal.

Ehrlich?

CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

KNOCK AT DOOR

Come in.

Just happened to be passing by?

Dick Clarendon suggested
we have a talk.

Why not? One more.

I could spend the rest
of the afternoon

being quite content
listening to Sibelius.

It's been one hell of a month.

Have they filled you in
on the status of the talks?

Yes, I heard you are very close to
a settlement. What's holding it up?

Ask your friend, Helen Rosenthal.

As far as I'm concerned,
the biggest issue - money -
is out of the way.

Have you stopped to think that
maybe salaries aren't the most
important thing on their minds?

What do you want me to do, Donald?
Allow Helen Rosenthal and union

to dictate policy for this hospital
carte blanche?

No, of course not.

I'm just asking you to think about
the other side with the same vision

and intelligence you brought
to this hospital 30 years ago.

Don't patronise me.

Come on, you know me
better than that.

Why do the union need a grievance
system? My door is always open.

Daniel, the system you devised
here has lasted far longer
than anyone ever expected.

And you have every reason the world
to be proud of your accomplishments.

It's not a question of pride.

My parents met while they were both
working in the garment district.

My mother was in a sweat shop and
my father pushed a clothing rack.
We were worse than poor.

Unions changed the quality
of our lives.

And I marvelled at the men
who risked everything
in order to form them.

In those days it was necessary
to be confrontational, otherwise
the bosses wouldn't listen.

And I vowed that, should I ever
get into a position of power,
I wouldn't misuse it.

Have I become, in age,
something that I despised in youth?

Daniel, as physicians we've always
believed that in order to improve
the quality of medicine,

our work had to be critically
examined and eventually replaced
by better theories.

I think that applies to
running a hospital as well.

This strike has got to end, Donald.

I hate what it's doing
to the hospital.

TANNOY: Dr Swift, Dr Tom Swift...

What are you doing here?

There was an emergency in OR,
there was nobody available.

Isn't that scabbing?

Or is the union finally admitting
they are jeopardising
patients' lives?

Don't blame it on the union.
That man's life was in danger

because no doctor had the foresight
to transfer him last week.

Come on, Lucy, that's bull!
Emergencies happen all the time.

Look, I'm on strike, OK?

But if somebody is dying,
I'm not on strike, it's that simple.

Congratulations.
You've got it all figured out.

But maybe dying isn't the worst
thing that could happen to someone.

Oh boy! If you really believe that,
you're in the wrong business.

It's starting all over again.
And none of you seem to care.

You're outside looking
for the fringe benefits.

Are we talking about the same thing?

Obviously not.

I think you've been working
a little too hard, Shirley.

Don't you have to get
back out on the line?

Establishment of a nursing practice
committee

to be elected by the full membership,

with binding authority
to review all transfers, promotions

and swift flotation disputes.

And to monitor staffing levels
on the wards.

Agreed.

Establishment of a formal
grievance procedure as outlined
in our counter-proposal.

Agreed.

New procedures for dispensing
medication in which additional

ward clerks will be hired at the
rate of one for every 60 beds.

We'll hire them.

But refuse to commit fully to the
procedure until we see if it works.

Agreed.

Ellen? Anything else?

No.

Dr Auschlander?

Unconditional amnesty for all those
who chose to work here
during the dispute.

Only those nurses who worked here
prior to the strike.

I gave my word to the new nurses
I hired they'd keep their jobs here
after this was over.

Agreed.

Helen, I don't think...

We need the help.

Well, then... We're back
in business. If you can still
remember what businessthat is.

I think we reached a fair agreement.

I hope in the long run this
doesn't come between the two of us.

Friends?

I don't know if I'm that
good a person, Ellen.

But I'll give it a try.

She's stable,
but now she has totally withdrawn.

Is she sedated?

No, it's not a good idea to give
her anything till we break through.

How permanent is this condition?

Impossible to say this soon.
It could be days, weeks.

Is it OK if I stay with her
for a while?

As long as you like.

Cathy?

I keep thinking about what I said
after the first time raped you.

That you asked for it.

That you...provoked him in some way.

I was wrong.

Nobody, no matter what they do,
asks to be treated like that.

I'm sorry, Cathy.

I'm so sorry!

It's all right, nurse.

Didn't they tell you?