Touched by an Angel (1994–2003): Season 5, Episode 18 - The Anatomy Lesson - full transcript

Taffy! Taffy, come back here!

Taffy!

Taffy, come back here!

Taffy!

Oh, my God.

H-Hang on, honey.

Come on.

Come on.

H-Hang on.

Oh. Ah.

I'll-I'll be... ba-back.



You grab... grab
this, sweetheart.

Oh!

You okay?

It hurts.

Yeah. Um...

Um... I'm-I'm gonna get... help.

Um... what's your name?

Jamie!

Okay, Jamie, it's gonna be okay.

I'm gonna get h-help.

D-Dewey's gonna...
gonna get help, honey.

You-you stay...

♪♪

Hello, Dewey.



My name's Andrew.

I'm an angel. God's
calling you home.

But there's a
little girl in trouble.

I know.

And there are angels there
who are gonna help her.

And you're gonna help them.

♪♪

♪ When you walk ♪

♪ Down the road ♪

♪ Heavy burden ♪

♪ Heavy load ♪

♪ I will rise ♪

♪ And I will walk with you ♪

♪ I'll walk with you ♪

♪ Till the sun
don't even shine ♪

♪ Walk with you ♪

♪ Every time, I tell you ♪

♪ I'll walk with you ♪

♪ Walk with you ♪

♪ Believe me, I'll
walk with you. ♪

So you're calling
this a heart attack?

That's my guess, but they'll
nail down a cause of death

at the autopsy.

I know him.

That was Dewey Burton.

A very sweet man.

I helped him once.

And he died trying
to help this little girl.

Well, where is she?

Well, shouldn't we help her?

I'll be here with her.

You're to stay
with Dewey's body.

My assignment is a dead man

when there's a
little girl in danger?

Dewey is not your assignment,
and neither is this little girl.

If God had wanted this
child plucked up now,

He'd have sent
Search and Rescue.

And He hasn't made that happen.

All I know is that there's a
heart out there somewhere

that needs to be changed,

and when you change the
heart, you'll save the child.

And Dewey Burton
will lead me to him?

Well, John Doe is what
they'll label Dewey's body

at the morgue.

And it's not for you
to tell them who he is.

You just stay with Dewey's body,

'cause you're gonna use
that body to save a soul.

Got a John Doe here.

There you go.

Ah-ah-ah-ah, no valet
parking here... grab a spot.

Hello, baby.

Uh, what's your name?

Tess.

Can you pull me out?

No, I can't do that, but
I... I tell you what I will do.

I'll stay here with you till
someone comes who can.

I won't leave you for a moment.

I want my mommy.

I would, too.

And what does your mommy
do to make you feel better?

Mm... she sings songs with me.

I like that idea.

What about... ♪ On
top of Old Smoky ♪

♪ All covered with snow... ♪

You know that one?

No. No, it's... On
top of spaghetti ♪

♪ All covered with cheese... ♪

Ivar!

I need the bladder.

Oscar took the bladder already.

He could've told me.

He never said he
had the bladder.

I got it. I got it.

There's a powerful
sorrow in a dead body.

Don't you feel it?

Every day.

Andrew, who is Dewey
Burton supposed to lead me to?

Ivar. He's the key.

The pathologist?

He's the one to
save the little girl.

And you've only got four hours.

Dr. Kronenberger?

Hello.

Yeah, it's my first day

with this residency.

It's the smell, right?

Sepsis.

Just think of it as the
sweet smell of employment.

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so rude.

Want half?

Oh, no, thanks.

You know...

how your mom always told
you to wear clean underwear

in case you get hit by a car?

I'm the guy who sees
the dirty underwear.

It's all a clue; just
a piece of the truth.

And dead men tell no lies.

Not under my scalpel.

You hiding a drinking problem?

I'll find it.

Secret smoker?

Not after I get done.

So...

Female.

Fifty-seven.

She is a GI case, so...

we're going to have to...

Um, could we do
the John Doe first?

That guy?

Yes. If we could.

Anything to help you
get through the first one.

You want to start with
that John Doe, no problem.

You get through
your first autopsy,

just becomes another job.

You can do it, honey.

Singing's good for you.

Keeps your body temperature up.

Now, where were we?

Diamond ring.

Ah, yes.

♪ And if that diamond... ♪

Come on.

♪ If that diamond
ring turns brass ♪

♪ Papa's gonna buy
you a looking glass ♪

♪ If that looking
glass gets broke ♪

♪ Papa's gonna buy
you a billy goat... ♪

So, John Doe.

White male.

Let's see what we've got.

That face.

It's so sweet.

Look at him.

That's right. Look him over.

Uh, yes.

"Is the body well-developed,
obese, cachectic..."

For starters, give
me centimeters.

Body length in centimeters.

Oh. Sorry.

Medical vocabulary.

Oh, dear.

I do know it.

Have what I need when I need it.

Medical vocabulary.

My, that's precise.

And beautiful.

Cachectic.

Not skinny, but cachectic.

No visible signs of edema.

Edema... not just excessive
body fluid in the tissue.

Edema would show signs
of long-term heart trouble.

Sudden massive
coronary is another story.

Now, you check
the mouth, the teeth.

You check for abnormal masses
in the neck and the lymph nodes.

Just to think, several hours
ago, he was speaking...

praying... hoping.

No, he was probably ordering
a double cheeseburger.

I wonder what his last meal was.

Or what his last words were.

You want to play
a guessing game?

Fill in the blanks
of John Doe's life?

Yes. Exactly.

Okay. Whatever gets you through.

Do you know where Dewey is?

No, Bill, I don't know
where Dewey is.

I haven't seen him this morning.

No. He went off
for his morning run,

I came to work, and here I am.

- Faye?
- I'll be right with you.

Well, we'll try to
track him down.

All right, well, please call me
as soon as you hear from him.

Will do. You do the same?

Okay. Thanks.

Bye.

Two quarters.

I wonder why he was
clutching two quarters.

Oh, well, maybe he was planning

to pick up a paper
at the end of his run.

- Here.
- No.

It says in here he
was found in a ravine.

He was nowhere near a newsstand.

Why do you think he
would have had them out?

Ah, I don't know.

He liked to plan ahead.

See, there's red clay
here and pine sap.

And here, stuck between
his fingers, a pine needle.

Maybe he was fighting off a
Christmas tree when he died.

Let's turn the body over
and check for other injuries.

His hands are calloused.

Our John Doe worked
with his hands for a living.

What's that?

Is that sawdust
under his fingernails?

Maybe he was a
construction worker.

There's a powder mixed
in with the sawdust,

like off the edges of drywall.

I'd say John Doe
hung drywall for a living.

Maybe. Could be.

He'd turn up at the
construction site at dawn,

carrying a big box of doughnuts.

Do you want to be a
novelist or a doctor?

He'd wear a down
vest and insulated boots

because it can get very
cold working in a new house.

He'd stretch his
arms and his back

just once before leaning down

to pick up that first
sheet of drywall.

These hands are the hands of a
man who took pride in his work.

John Doe wasn't
just another builder.

For him, God was in the details.

Go ahead. Fantasize.

I had a resident
in my last rotation

who conjugated French verbs.

Did you check the eyes?

Not yet, but there's an
abrasion under the left arm.

Good catch.

Note it down.

That's what it's
all about, Monica:

collecting data.

Because there's
nothing we can do.

In the end, we're all helpless.

And what we do ultimately
doesn't change a thing.

I don't believe that.

Make your incision.

Hey, Taffy.

Come on, honey. Come on.

Jamie.

Jamie?

Jamie!

♪ Bring back, oh, bring back ♪

♪ Oh, bring back my
Bonnie to me, to me... ♪

Jamie, don't quit on me now.

We're on the chorus.

It hurts.

It's hard to breathe.

Oh, baby.

I'm right here.

Don't leave me.

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm staying right here with you.

I'm staying right here with you.

Such wondrous architecture.

Surely it was
designed for a purpose.

His purpose was
a lot of drinking.

See that enlarged liver?

And the, uh, scar
tissue on the stomach?

This guy had an ulcer.

The stomach, connected
to the duodenum,

the jejunum, the ileum...

It's all connected, like
human beings, don't you think?

How do you mean?

Well, what one part of the body
does affects the next and so on.

And in the same way, what
we do can affect another person.

There's a greater
chain of being,

and we're all part of it now.

Funny, I don't feel like
part of a charm bracelet.

At the top of the news,
local police are searching

for an eight-year-old
child, Jamie Woodhouse,

who's been missing
since early morning.

- He was last seen...
- How'd that happen?

Wearing a blue
coat and red gloves.

For God's sakes, I
don't want to hear that.

Dead are dead,
it's a little kid.

A child is a breathing soul

waiting for the right person
in the right place to help her.

Enlarged liver; scar tissue.

Note it.

Squad cars are checking
every store in the avenue,

and we'll put it
out on the radio.

I am so careful with her.

I mean, she never
even crosses the street.

That's why we're
going door to door.

Oh, my God.

My little girl.

Mrs. Woodhouse, 99% of
the time a little kid's missing,

and it turns out she
was at a friend's house

and forgot to call.

But that one percent?

You know what,
he's not picking up.

He's not at his job.

It's just not like him.

I'm gonna run home.

Okay.

Baby food passed through here.

Mother's milk.

S'mores.

A milkshake he had on
his first date at the drive-in.

Mm-hmm. The vodka
gimlet he guzzled later.

See, that liver is cobblestone.

I told you this guy drank a lot.

Yes, he did. Poor man.

But not at the end.

No.

Not at the end.

And all your fairy tales
have nice endings, right?

Any interstitial muscle tears?

A small one.

All those years of
lifting heavy drywall.

It takes its toll.

Well, like the knee
scarred from surgery.

He blew it out
with all that lifting.

Forget the knees.

This man's knees
did not kill him.

But I bet he said
it often enough

when he came home from work,

all covered in sweat
and dust and plaster.

He built expensive
homes for other people,

homes that he
himself couldn't afford.

So he and his wife, they
lived in a little bungalow.

Oh, my knees
are... k-killing me.

Dewey, watch your
dust; I just vacuumed.

Okay, I am.

I'm w-watching it.

Why do I bother?

We got any... beer?

Beer? Already?

Or have you already
had a couple?

Oh, come on, Faye.

I work my fingers to the bone.

And I don't?

Just forget it.

Dewey.

It's the chicken à la king
that you like so much.

That's sweet, Faye.

Geez... that's awful nice.

Thank you.

Waiting is the hardest.

Yeah.

I waited for Jaime a long time.

Took so long to get pregnant.

When she came, I knew...

this was the baby
that was meant for me.

They always are.

This isn't happening.

She's mine.

How could someone do that?

How could someone
take her away from me?

We have no reason
to believe that.

But we have every
reason to hope here.

Right?

Dewey?

Dewey, you here?

Well, the drama of
John Doe continues.

What next?

We, uh, cut open the chest
plate to reveal the heart.

Good.

Here you go.

Is it plugged in?

Yeah. What... Let me see it.

The motor froze up or something.

Pathology.

Ivar...
- Uh-huh.
- She's very upset.

Puffy died.

Right.

How do you know
the fish is dead?

It's all puffy
and it's floating.

Well, maybe it's pregnant.

No, it's not pregnant.

Goldfish get lethargic when...

Ivar, it's dead.

Okay, okay, fine.
The fish is dead.

Why don't you give
the fish a funeral.

No, no, I'm not gonna
give the fish a funeral.

She wants to talk to you.

No, I don't want to
talk with her now.

- Ivar, she's really upset.
- Look, I'm in the middle here.

Ex-wife.

Her goldfish died?

No, my daughter's.

Fish die every
day... just like people.

Sometimes funerals
can be very helpful.

Funerals don't help.

In Other news,
eight-year-old Jamie...

There that goes again.

Still missing. He
was last seen...

It must be a short in
that thing. I don't know.

Everything's screwy today.

Maybe when we get a look

at this man's heart,
everything will be all right.

Then fire this up.

My friend was ill.

"I attended him. He died.

I dissected him."

My medical career in a nutshell.

Couldn't save the patients.

So you moved your practice

to a place where all your
patients were corpses.

What if everyone in
here had a story to tell?

What if they weren't
just bodies, but hopes

and dreams lying
on these tables?

Cut.

Oh, Andrew, it
can't be time yet.

It's getting close, Tess.

I wish there was
something we can do.

Reach down for her right now.

God's timing is perfect.

And God doesn't
want me to pull her out.

No matter how bad
you and I want to,

I'm not gonna do it.

And angel boy's
breaking my heart

because now that I see you,

I know it's a matter
of life or death.

Dewey!

Dewey!

That's his wife.

Dewey! Dewey!

People pass each other
every day not knowing

how closely they're connected.

How she doing?

Well, she's asleep right now,

but I got to wake
her up pretty soon

'cause she's got
to stay conscious.

How's Monica doing?

Well, they're still
doing the autopsy,

and she's still working on Ivar.

Neither one's easy.

She's got to cut
through a lot of layers

to get to that man's heart.

And there's not much time.

Try to wake her up now.

Baby? Sweetheart,
it's time to wake up.

It's time to rise and shine.

What time is it?

Good.

Lift the chest plate out.

Good.

That's it.

Lungs are so dark.

That's carbon. He was a smoker.

The breath of life never
came easy for this man.

He wheezed, he stuttered.

Oh, you're inventing
again. To get you through.

No, it's more than that.

I just don't want to
know why this man died,

I want to learn how he lived.

Doesn't that matter to you?

No. But if it works for
you. Go on. He stuttered.

John Doe even stuttered
when he courted his wife.

I can't see this guy's a lover.

Everyone loves somebody, Ivar.

He fell in love years ago.

He was on a job hanging drywall.

It was hot, he was thirsty.

And then she walked in.

- Hi.
- Hi.

Want some lemonade?

Sure.

This will give you
a lot more room.

Room, yeah.

Well, my folks wouldn't need it

but I'm still living
here at home, so...

Bet they're... glad
to have you around.

I don't know.

They used to call people
like me "old maids."

I know, I'm just
kind of a failure.

Don't say that.

I never got married.

I just never... met-met the...

Do you ever wonder
what it would be like

to have your own house and all?

Sure.

It'd be a home up on a hill.

Home on the hill.

You know that song?

Maybe.

Could you sing it for me?

No.

You-You don't want that.

Come on.

I-I... can't sing

I'll get you some more lemonade?

I wouldn't make
fun of you, I promise.

♪ Someday... we'll build
a home on a hilltop high ♪

♪ You and I, shiny and new ♪

♪ Cottage that two can fill ♪

♪ And will be...
pleased to be called ♪

♪ The folks who
live on a hill. ♪

That was wonderful.

I thought you decided he
didn't get along with his wife.

People change. Things change.

Yeah, and there's
nothing you can do about it.

This hand reached out,
held a woman's hand.

Placed a ring on that hand.

It embraced a wife.

Let's get the heart out.

But it's so unlike
him not to be at work,

not to be at home, not to call.

Sorry. The individual
has to be missing 24 hours

before we can do anything.

The radio said you're
looking for that little girl.

She hasn't been
missing for 24 hours,

so why can't you
look for my husband?

The rules for
kids are different.

I'm sorry. There's
nothing we can do.

We got a lot on our plate today.

Call first thing in the
morning if he hasn't showed.

Anything?

The seat of love.

Where your heart is,
there shall your treasure be.

Look at the coronary artery.

It's blocked.

Let's open the heart up.

Did you ever wonder
what keeps a heart beating?

What hand guides it?

What infuses it with life?

Involuntary contractions.

You love dissecting
the human body.

It's a living.

Are you afraid to think
about the human spirit?

I never took that residency.

Look at this infarct.

The tissue has died there,

the clot cut off
the circulation.

That's why this
heart stopped going.

There's nothing to be done.

One minute the guy was
jogging, the next second, boom.

Maybe.

The clot, circulation
halted. Something died.

But why now?

He went jogging every day.

What was different about today?

Was he upset?

Maybe he was agonizing over

which long-distance
carrier to use.

There was a strain here,
anxiety and heartache.

Oh, next you'll be telling me
John Doe died of a broken heart?

Okay. I have one
more story to tell you.

He was married five
years ago on March eighth.

The couple didn't
have a home on the hill,

but they were happy.

He worked construction,

and through one of his
friends, his wife got a job in

the building
inspector's department.

She got pregnant,

and their warm little
world seemed complete.

He worked harder than ever.

After hours, he'd sneak off.

He was building a house,
a cottage that two can fill.

It was on a little hill.

And that seemed good enough.

Their baby was
born a little girl.

They named her after
her grandmother, Joan.

But Joan was born
with complications.

Those involuntary
contractions weren't working.

In a month, Joan was dead.

He made the
little coffin himself.

"A beautiful home
for a beautiful child."

That was his eulogy.

Stop it.

- For God's sake.
- I'm sorry.

It's not right to make up
stuff like this. It's cruel.

Let's...

You said that a man's
heart can't be broken.

I know what I said.
Let's get on with this.

Move to the brain.

Andrew, look.

Jamie, can you hear me?

Jamie? Andrew,
she's not responding.

Memory, poetry...
inspiration, emotion...

all held in this brain.

And now they're gone. All gone.

It's just three pounds
of gray matter.

The world inside that
brain has disappeared.

Now it's held in
the palm of God.

Dead is dead... I know.

I see it every day.

You see the deserted cathedrals.

But you can't hear the music.

Oh, these bodies are temples.

They're made in the image
of God, with the Spirit of God.

The body dies but
the soul lives on.

Show me the soul.

They used to think it
was in the pituitary gland.

You see it?

I don't.

Occipital lobe, cerebellum...
No, oh! no, not there.

When we split this open, is some
soul gonna spill out in the pan?

It's all nonsense.

What's going on
in your brain, Ivar?

Nothing.

Everything.

Wh-Why are you asking?

Is this another game
to get you through?

No.

I want to understand.

I upset you, didn't I?

No, I don't get upset.

Dead men don't feel anything.

That's why I feel
right at home here.

I fit right in.

Did you invent this
story just to torture me?

I invented nothing.

Oh, you know how
to wield a knife.

Just cut me open.

We dissect to understand.

You couldn't
possibly understand.

I understand that you were
happy once, and now you're not.

Once?

Once upon a time, I
had a daughter and a wife

and a little baby boy.

My second child... a son.

Life was going to
be so wonderful.

Then our little baby
got sick... Leukemia.

You know what happens?

You've never dissected
that, have you?

No.

Tubular organs obstructed.

Metabolic processes inhibited.

Blood vessels eroded.

Vital centers destroyed.

And there was
nothing I could do.

A doctor. A physician.

Heal thy child.

Nothing. Helpless.

Alone.

When he died, they laid
Jonathan on this table.

And they cut him up.

All failed, all the organs.

The dead organs.

The dead tissues, all failed.

I failed.

I belong here among the dead.

I can't cure, I can only cut.

You've cut up your soul, Ivar.

You put it in a
bag and buried it.

But there's a time
for everything.

A time to live, a time to die,

and, right now,
a time for truth.

You're crazy.

It's crazy to live
without truth.

For truth is where hope lives.

John Doe found hope again.

That's why he died a hero.

Who are you?

I'm an angel.

An angel?

From where?

From God.

From the living God,
who conquers death.

From the God who loves
you, Ivar Kronenberger.

Who gave you a body
that will live for a while,

and a soul that
can live forever.

I'm an angel here, to tell
you that God keeps your soul,

yours and Dewey Burton's,

for that is his name.

You knew him?

Yes.

I came to him when
he had lost hope.

Like you have.

His child had died.

His marriage was falling apart.

He felt his life was
going up in flames, so...

he decided to set his
home on the hill on fire.

I came to him then,
and I said to him:

God has a plan for him.

I told him that God loves him,

as He loves you, Ivar.

"Don't despair," I said to him.

There's still work
to do... heroic work...

And someday, somewhere,

it will matter that Dewey lived.

Your life matters, too, Ivar.

There is still work
that you must do.

I can't do anything anymore.

I can't bring my Jonathan back.

My little baby, I
can't get him back.

Oh, God... I
miss his little face.

You asked me to
locate a soul, Ivar.

I couldn't do it in the
body we dissected,

but I can locate
your child's soul.

It is in Heaven.

Is he happy?

Oh, yes.

He's with the Father.

There's no greater happiness.

There's no greater peace.

You lost a child, Ivar, and it
distanced you from all children,

even your very own.

Dewey lost a child, too,
but he didn't stop caring.

When he was no
longer a father to one,

he decided to be
a guardian to all.

And that's not a
story, that's the truth.

Everything you told
me was the truth?

Yes.

It wasn't invented
to get me through,

it was to get you through.

Now, I have given
you information, Ivar.

This is the moment
for inspiration.

Take everything that you know

and ask God to add truth to it.

This is what a
moment of truth is.

He died running.

Two quarters in his hand and...

Not for a paper,
for a phone call.

Um... this red
clay on his hands...

He fell on the road.

This red clay on the knees...

There's a rip in the jacket.

It's the same place
as the abrasion.

He was on his knees.

He was reaching
down for something.

He was... he was reaching down

for something with
his hand with, uh...

with a pine tree branch.

What's this?

And were voted
unanimously a bill.

In other news, there's
still no progress yet

on missing eight-year-old
Jamie Woodhouse.

She was last seen wearing
a blue coat and red gloves.

Stay tuned to this
station for any of our late...

Jamie!

Jamie!

Jamie!

Jamie!

Jamie?

Are you okay, honey?

You having trouble breathing?

Something sharp in your side?

You're going to be okay.

All right? Um, hang in there.

I'll be right back.

I'm getting help.

I think her lung's punctured.

The second she's out,
get the mask on her.

You know sometimes
it takes an angel,

and sometimes it takes a doctor.

We could've pulled her out,

but if we didn't
have that oxygen,

that breath of life,
that he's got, huh?

God always knows best.

Detective.

Oh.

What's going on?

That little girl...
They found her.

Just in time.

Jamie!

Jamie, it's Mom. Mom's here.

Everything's gonna be okay.

Coming through, coming through.

- Hi, sweetheart.
- Hi, Daddy.

Listen, how about Daddy
comes by your house tonight,

and we give Puffy that funeral?

Yeah, I think it's a good idea.

We'll all feel better.

Thank you, Daddy. I love you.

I love you, too, sweetheart.

You live nearby?

Yes.

Dewey jogs around here.

Mm. Excuse me, Mrs. Burton.

Okay.

Faye Burton?

Yes.

I'm Dr. Ivar Kronenberger.

I'd like to tell
you about Dewey.

Where is he? What happened?

Is he sick? Is he hurt?

Mrs. Burton, I'm
the county coroner.

No. Please don't...

I knew something
happened... I'm sorry.

It... it was sudden.

It was a massive coronary.

But I want to tell you,

you should be very
proud of your husband.

He died a hero.

Because of him,
that little girl will live.

He must have been
a very special man.

Yeah, he was.

He was the sweetest
man I have... I know.

I could see it in his face.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

In the midst of
death, we are in life.

Yes.

Of whom shall we seek succor?

Only Thee, O Lord.

Only Thee.