Original subtitles

Oh, oh.

It's one of those nights again.

Everything's fine in this ward, Dr. Gillespie. Let me be the judge of that,

Phipps.

Oh, Jim, you're just the guy I wanted to see.

Look. Look, I was on my way out the door when the telephone rang. All I had to

do was just keep going, and I'd have been in the clear, but I went back and I

answered.

Look, Jim, they're short of man and admitting, and they told me to report

away.

Look, Jim... Ordinarily, I'd be glad to, but I've been on duty for six years.

Oh, okay, okay, okay. Turn me down. It's my whole future, but forget it. Your

whole future? Look, I hold no grudge now. Now, I know you have your own

to think of. What do you mean, your whole future? Look, don't apologize,

you? I know that you're on your way to something of the utmost importance.

Never turn me down otherwise.

Is it really that important?

Jim, did I ask questions when I covered for you last week?

And besides, look, you can sleep till I get back. Agushki says there's no action

in admitting.

Is she attractive?

No, is she attractive? Is she the end? No, the bitter end.

Look, no more than three hours, okay?

Right, right. I'll see you later.

Oh, Molly. Let me have your handkerchief.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm. Hmm.

Hmm. Hmm.

Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

I'm sorry, Gil.

Come on, come on, come on. You can finish your dream tomorrow night. Go

your face with cold water.

Life is like an unfinished poem.

Doctor! Doctor, quick, he's sick. He's terribly sick.

What happened?

I don't know. I don't know, Beth.

Please help him. Well, we'll help him, but we have to know what happened.

to calm himself down.

Did he fall?

Was he in an accident? No, no. I left the house for a few minutes and when I

came back he was rolling on the floor screaming.

Now he's not screaming anymore.

Help me!

I'm in the treatment room.

Has anything like this ever happened before?

No.

How long was he alone?

I just went down to the corner grocery store. It couldn't have been more than

minutes. I never leave him alone, doctor, but I needed milk for the

Maybe he swallowed something.

Could he have gotten into the medicine cabinet?

Maybe.

Do you think he could have gotten into the medicine cabinet?

No, he can't reach it.

Did you find any containers lying around?

No. I just picked him up and ran.

Do you have any insecticides in the house?

No.

In the kitchen underneath the sink.

But he never bothers anything like that.

What are you doing?

Doesn't look like a lie, but he swallowed something.

Set up a lavash.

What's that? What's the matter? What are you going to do?

We're just going to wash out his stomach.

Now, in the meantime, we're going to try to find out what it was and see if

there's an antidote.

He isn't going to die, is he, Doctor?

Please tell him I got him here as fast as I could. He isn't.

Huh?

Eric, can I help you, Jim?

Grab a pencil, will you?

Grab a pencil. Can you remember the brand names of any of the insecticides?

Remember the brand?

No, I can't even remember the last... Last time I used them, I don't know. I

don't remember.

Is he poisoned, Doctor? Is Dad poisoned?

You think he swallowed something, Jim?

Yeah. His mother found him on the kitchen floor. She left him alone for a

minutes.

Whatever he swallowed might still be lying around somewhere.

Where do you live, ma 'am? How far do you live?

108 North Sutter, apartment 2.

Can I have your keys, please? I'm going to grab an ambulance and look around.

There. That's the front door key. Now, it's 108 North Sutter? Yes, apartment

two. In a hurry.

All right.

We'll find it.

All right.

108 North Sutter.

Lavage, it's ready, Darkwood.

I'll have to ask you to leave, Mrs... Thornley, please let me stay with him.

Uh, there's a bench right out in the hall.

Would you show Mrs. Thornley, please?

Come on now, Mrs.

Thornley. It would be better for your son if you let the doctor do his work.

I've got to stay with him. Please.

Give me those keys.

Who are you?

I'm a doctor, ma 'am. I have to get in this apartment. It's an emergency.

You don't look like a doctor to me. Where did you get these keys? From the

who lives here. Can I have the keys, please? What's her name?

Her name? Don't you know her name? No, I don't know her name. I don't want to

know her name. Would you look at me? Can't you see I'm a doctor? Why else

I go around looking like a quart of milk? Can I have the keys? Last week, a

came in here, said he was a TV repairman.

Walked in, walked out with all the money from under Mr. Gillen's mattress.

Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Tell me your whole life story. And while you're

telling it to me, the boy that lives here may be dying.

Lady, I came here in an ambulance. You want to see? Go to the door and look for

yourself. I saw Tad myself this evening. He looked perfectly all right to me.

Well, what do you know? It is an ambulance. Yeah, what do you know? It is

ambulance. Now, let me have the keys or open the door. I don't know. I just

don't know. It all seems pretty strange.

You know what? You don't look like a doctor to me. Oh, please.

Taking a long time.

We've removed all we can from his stomach.

We have to hope that we find out what it was he swallowed and how much his

system absorbed.

But can't you tell by tests?

We've just sent specimens down to be analyzed, but it will be some time

we get the results.

But what if that other doctor doesn't find the container?

Well? Well, I'm sure he'll be back by the time we fill out the registration.

Please sit down.

The register.

What's your son's name, please?

Dad. His full name?

Charles Anthony Thornley.

Age?

He's almost five.

Speak for his age.

Your husband's name?

His father's dead.

Your full name, please?

Mrs. Elizabeth Thornley.

His pediatrician?

He hasn't needed one.

Family doctor?

None.

No doctor at all?

There are some people that live to a ripe old age without the help of

Does Ted have any birthmarks or physical defects?

Look, leave me alone, please.

Mrs. Thornley, I'm sorry to have to question you at a time like this.

But we do need a complete medical history on all of our patients.

He is not your patient. He was brought in here as an emergency because he

swallowed poison.

Now, I'll pay you whatever you charge, but please don't ask me any more

questions.

Miss Thornley, we're almost finished.

Any physical defects?

Called rat away.

It's labeled rat poison.

Have you got an antidote for it?

I'll hold on.

Must have rolled under the kitchen table. That's where I found it. You sure

that's it? I'm positive. All the other containers were tightly sealed. Haven't

even been touched. Sounds reasonable.

Thank you.

Arsenic.

The antidote for arsenic is bowel.

Have you ever administered it? No. I understand it's a very tricky drug. I

haven't given it either. Call the pediatrics resident.

Right. Never mind.

Oh, Dr. Gillespie. Dr. Bartlett's busy with the blood exchange.

The usual dosage is three milligrams per kilo of body weight every four hours.

How much does your boy weigh?

Well, 45 pounds, I think. Is he all right?

45 pounds.

That's 2 .2 pounds per kilo.

2 .2 and 45 pounds.

Five.

20 kilos for 45 pounds. Times 3 milligrams is 60 milligrams.

Very good, doctor.

Prepare an IM injection.

As soon as we start these injections, the better. Watch out for allergic

reactions. Not everybody can tolerate it.

My mother seems to have got him in here soon after the injection. We may have a

chance.

Where's the doctor?

Are you the mother?

Yes. Dr. Hildare is giving him the antidote for arsenic.

Arsenic? Will he be all right?

We'll be able to give a more positive answer in 48 hours.

Not until then.

Where are they taking him?

Pediatrics. Orderly.

Oh, I must go with him.

Oh, I'm sorry. There are no parents allowed on the ward.

Oh, but he can't be alone.

You'll have constant supervision.

Oh, but you don't understand.

He's never been away from me.

He's dead.

He can't communicate with anyone but me.

I'll arrange for you to be with him, Mrs. Thornley.

Thank you.

thought you were going to get some rest.

How's the Thornley child?

He's in better condition than you are.

Is Dr. Bartlett still on? Yes, he's busy with a new patient.

You could still get six hours sleep before you have to come back.

May I see the Thornley child, please?

Of course.

Thank you.

Is Dr. Kildare on duty?

Not until seven. He's worried about the Thornley child.

How long since you had any sleep?

You still trying to mother him the whole hospital? I'm too old to change.

How very fortunate for all of us.

Dr. Kildare!

Dr. Kildare, the child's having a convulsion.

breathing. Go on, get her out of here. He stopped breathing.

Mrs. Thornley, please.

I don't want to go. Let me alone.

Two grains of Amatol for IV.

Yes, doctor.

Mrs.

Thornley, now you just have to calm down now. It's going to be all right. Get a

hold of yourself. You're not being any help like this. Now you've got to get

hold of yourself.

Come on.

It's going to be all right. It's going to be all right now. It's going to be

right.

Too bad to administer a sedative at this stage, but there's nothing else you can

do.

As you're handling this case, hadn't you better speak to Mrs. Thornley?

Yes, sir.

Miss Johnson, keep an eye on him. Let me know if there's any change.

Is he all right? The seizure wasn't as serious as you seem to think.

I've given him a sedative. He's resting quietly.

I thought we'd lost him for a minute. Well, I thought we'd lost you for a

minute.

Now, his output is good, and there seems to be no evidence of kidney or liver

damage. Oh, that's wonderful.

Can I go back in now?

Mrs. Thornley. Yes?

You're under great strain.

Now, when you get hysterical, you rob your son of attention he needs.

That's why they don't like mothers in the same room.

I promise that it won't happen again.

You'll have to leave when he needs treatment.

Yes, I will.

All right, I'll take your word for it.

Thank you, Doctor.

Go home and get some sleep.

Well, only got three hours. By the time I run downstairs across the street,

it'll be time to come back again. I wouldn't want to be late.

I'm telling him you're his friend, and he will help you get well.

Looks like my little friend is perking up this morning.

Yes.

Oh, will you leave for a moment while I give him his injection?

Of course, Doctor.

I know he's frightened.

I wish I had some way to explain to him why these strange things are happening.

The child cries like any normal five -year -old, Dr. Mason. If he can make

sound, why can't he speak?

I don't know, without examining him.

But most children with any degree of hearing manage a few words by the time

they're his age.

What if no one ever teaches them?

Well, they still pick up some speech.

Who's his doctor?

Never had one.

You mean she didn't try to do something for his hearing?

Apparently not.

Well, how do they communicate?

Sign language.

Well, she's a mute. Oh.

Well, the kid may not be deaf at all. How does she know?

He may just have impaired hearing.

And she's certainly not helping him any by not letting him hear her talk.

What does he do around the other kids?

Oh, he doesn't go to school. I think she keeps him pretty sheltered.

Oh, one of those.

Look, you tell that woman she may be crippling her child.

For crying out loud, what she ought to be doing is developing sound awareness,

really working at it. Turn up the radio, the TV, make a little noise in the

house.

Increase awareness of sound.

That way she'd be helping his speech development.

What's she trying to do, perpetuate the handicap?

Tell her to bring the boy in when he's feeling better.

No, I will not have Tad examined.

But why? Dr.

Mason may be able to do something for him.

You had no right to talk to him.

Do you want to help your child?

There isn't any help for him.

How do you know until he's seen a doctor?

Doctors. Don't talk to me about doctors.

My brother was born deaf.

And every time a new man offered a new discovery, my parents borrowed money and

took my brother to see him.

I sat in the reception room with my mother waiting.

Hours, days, weeks, and the answer was always the same.

No use.

No use.

All night long I could hear my brother crying.

They raised his hopes and knocked him down again and again and again.

If only my parents had taught him to live with his infirmity.

The day my father died, the only thing that my brother could say was, now, I'll

never have to go to another doctor.

But that was quite a while ago.

Maybe now Tad can be helped.

I don't want to argue about it.

Tad is not your child.

Well, if he were, you can be sure I'd have him... But he didn't!

The day my brother found out that Tad was deaf,

He pleaded, don't give him the nightmare.

Keep him away from people grimacing into his face and mouths moving grotesquely

in front of him.

Don't force him to lie awake at night with an endless wall of ghostly, silent,

mouthing distortion staring at him from every corner of the silent room.

You can't isolate him from life.

He is safe and he is happy.

And I am going to keep him safe and happy for as long as I can.

Well, what do you want, Mrs. Thornley?

A vegetable or a boy?

You have no right to talk to me like that.

I don't care who you are.

Don't talk to me anymore about a problem that I lived with all my life.

What are your qualifications?

Now we come to Dr.

Agerski. I'm sure he will pay attention, won't he?

Yes, sir. Won't he?

Yes, sir.

I doubt it.

Do you know how much it costs this hospital every time an ambulance pulls

You mean last night, sir? Well, that was an emergency.

I mean last night, and your emergency did not require a doctor or an ambulance

crew. You could have called the police. Detective work is their business.

Medicine is yours, I hope.

Oh, yes, sir.

And furthermore, you left your service uncovered.

Oh, oh, no, sir.

He... Dr.

Kildare was on, sir.

I'm coming to him.

Uh -oh.

A good doctor operates on logic, not emotion.

In a crisis, there are many aids at your disposal.

It's your job to find out what they are and to use them.

What conceit prompted you to consider yourself Superman?

I don't, sir.

Yesterday you left pediatrics after 16 hours. Then you covered admitting for

Capish for four.

And then you went back to pediatrics.

What good do you think you are to anyone today?

I'll do my work, sir. Not until you've had eight hours sleep, you won't.

But, sir, I'm following a patient. You're following 50 patients. No doctor

is following one patient. Remember that.

Each day has so many hours, so much work.

Time and energy must be allotted a portion.

Every patient is entitled to his share.

But the door closes on him when he leaves. The patient coming in has an

claim to your best effort.

I have warned you again and again against involving yourself emotionally

any one patient.

Medicine is science, not sentiment.

We may walk in cold corridors, but it's the best atmosphere for preserving the

life of a patient or the sanity of a doctor.

Well, that's the dosage for today.

I hope your convalescence won't be too difficult.

Pleasant dreams, Gilday.

Pleasant dreams, Gilday.

I asked for you. They said you'd gone home for a couple of hours. Yes, I did,

Doctor. How about yesterday?

I know your intentions were kind.

I had no right to speak that way.

Don't worry about it.

My brother meant a great deal to me.

And I don't want Dad to go through what he did.

Dad's never had a nightmare.

He's never known fear or insecurity.

He doesn't know he isn't like everyone else.

What happens when he finds out?

He's a happy child.

I hope from that will come his strength.

I hope you're right.

We're discontinuing the bowel injections.

He's out of the woods.

You're sure?

We'll keep him a week for observation, but I don't anticipate any problems at

all.

I'm so happy.

Your mother's happy.

Your mother is happy.

Hi there, friend.

Friend.

He likes you.

The feeling is mutual.

Now that he's recuperating, we'll have to put him in one of the larger wards.

Oh, will I be able to stay with him?

You can visit him, but he's off the critical list, so no more special

privileges.

I understand.

It'll be the first time he's been away from me.

Do you think he can take it?

Well, we'll soon find out.

Good morning, Tad. Want to go for a ride?

Off we go.

Lookie.

The horse.

Horse.

Johnny?

It's Tad.

Tad, it's Johnny, friend.

It's quite a day for him. He just made his first friend.

Well...

You two off on another double date?

Yeah, it's blood tests today.

You heard that?

Look at him. He turned around to see where it was.

Maybe he turned because we did.

No, he was looking straight ahead. He wasn't looking at us. He turned because

the sound.

He heard it. I'm sure he did.

Well, come on, buddy boy.

There's no time like now.

The boy has atresia in both ears.

The blockage is out here, cutting off the passage to the middle in the inner

ear.

That doesn't necessarily mean that there's anything wrong with the rest of

ear structure.

If his nerves are okay, we'll remove the atresia, and you're probably here as

well as anyone.

We'll do an audiometer test.

Now, I've never seen a congenital atresia case in which a child didn't

some vocabulary.

Sure, he's not mentally retarded.

No, not a chance, sir. He has a vocabulary, but it's in his hands, in

That's all he's been encouraged to use.

Every time we think we know all the answers, the case comes along to

us.

If you want me to concentrate, sit down and think about what I said about

emotional involvement.

Dr. Mason thinks he's not totally deaf.

He recommends surgery.

Just exactly why did you ask me to see these reports?

Well, sir, I was hoping you might discuss the possibility of surgery with

boy's mother.

Dr. Mason can do that.

Well, yes, sir, but the situation is a little awkward.

I tried to persuade Mrs. Thornley to let Dr.

Mason examine Tad, but she refused.

She refused?

On whose authority was the boy examined?

Mine, sir.

Yours? You took it on yourself to have the boy examined knowing that the mother

had refused consent?

Yes, sir.

The parents' word is law, Dr. Kildare.

If we disagree, we can always present the matter to the courts and ask for a

ruling. But we have no right to defy the parents' wishes.

I'm sorry, sir.

I guess I didn't stop to think of anything but the possibility of helping

boy.

Well, I hope for your sake.

She's able to understand it.

Now I've got to go over there and try and get the hospital off the hook.

I must be going soft.

Dr. Gillespie. Good afternoon, Mrs. Thornley. May I come in?

Please do.

Has something happened to Ted?

Not at all. He's doing splendidly. I just wanted to talk to you before he's

discharged.

Won't you sit down?

Thank you.

Mrs. Thornley, I have good news. Your son is not congenitally deaf.

It is possible an operation will give him his hearing.

Operation?

I'd like to talk to you about it.

No.

Not an operation. Oh, no.

You're under no obligation to say yes, but I think you should know exactly what

your son's condition is.

I know what his condition is.

Congenital ear canal atresia.

That is correct.

I inherited a large collection of books on the ear.

Atresia isn't difficult to diagnose. All you have to do is look in his ear. You

can see where the passage ends.

Then you must be aware that atresia is operable. There have been great advances

in microsurgery.

Any operation is dangerous, Doctor.

Mrs. Thornley, I am not here so much to persuade you as to acquaint you with the

facts.

Gillespie, you and I look at one another from the opposite ends of a long, long

table.

Your life is medicine.

My life is my son.

In your world, he's just one of many, many statistics that cross your desk

day. How can you and I discuss this?

On your side is logic without emotion.

On mine is emotion.

Maybe without logic.

We can never agree.

That long, long table is not as long as you think.

In my world, emotion is a companion far more often than I care to admit.

However, your son will be able to go home tomorrow. You can call for him any

time after two, if you insist.

I do, Doctor.

Clown.

Clown.

The mother won't agree to an operation.

Oh? She's coming for Ted tomorrow.

I'm going to try to persuade her to talk to Dr. Mason.

He

looks

different somehow.

Older. He's had a lot of new experiences.

I just talked to Dr. Mason.

What did you decide?

I'm going to work with Tad at home.

And later on, we'll see about a hearing aid.

The results may not be as dramatic as an operation, but they can be tried.

About risk or pain.

Well, I hope you change your mind.

If I ever do, you'll be the first to know. Oh, here's Tad's prescription.

Keep him on it for another week.

Thank you.

Thank you again, Doctor.

Guess who wants to ride in the elevator?

So long friend.

Put it all in one basket.

Tad's lost.

He got away from me in the drugstore. I've looked for him everywhere. I don't

know. I can't find him. I don't know what to do.

You want me to call the police?

No. No, they already know about it. There's a policeman here.

But I thought maybe he might have come back to the hospital. He was so

to leave.

Has anyone seen him?

Mrs. Thornley, ask the officer to bring you to Blair. We can handle it from

here.

I don't think he could have gone very far.

Just take it easy now.

All right, Doctor.

Thank you.

Attention all units. Missing juvenile described as male Caucasian, five years

old. When last seen, was wearing a tan coat and cap.

The child is hard of hearing and does not speak.

Repeat, the child is hard of hearing and does not speak.

No word yet.

Poor kid.

I sure hope they find him soon.

Any news?

No.

It'll soon be dark.

It's tragic when any child is lost, but this one can't even ask for help. And if

it's offered, he won't know.

I seem to remember a famous line by Gillespie.

Don't get emotionally involved, young doctors.

That was truly tragic. The boy doesn't have to be this helpless.

Can he hear anything?

Everything is kind of a blurred roar in the distance.

I was passing through St. Francis Square, and I saw this little Colton hat

just lying on the grass. It was such a nice little cap and coat, I just didn't

want to leave it lying there, you know. So I took it home, and then later in the

evening, I turned on my TV, and I heard about that little boy that was missing.

Cissette?

He's dead.

My baby's dead.

Oh, ma 'am, listen. Children get lost every day. We usually find them. Finding

this cap and coat is the luckiest break. Now at least we know where to start.

Look, we'll find him. I'll send out an all -units bulletin.

It's so cold.

Out.

Let me take you home. There's nothing you can do here.

But if someone grabs him, he won't be able to call for help. Nobody's going to

grab him. Don't torture yourself.

If somebody reaches out their hand, he'll take it. He thinks everyone's his

friend. He doesn't know anything about wickedness.

Most children don't.

He was always with me. I never thought of him getting lost. Other women can

for their children when they're lost.

Let me take you home. When the police find Tad, they'll want to get a hold of

you as quickly as possible.

I can't wait alone.

Come on back to the hospital.

Come on, you can wait there.

You're fine.

This is Dr. Gillespie.

I'll be staying on at the hospital for a while.

Yes?

Doctor, Mrs. Thornley would like to speak to you. I have to get back to

pediatrics. Yes, of course. Come in, Mrs. Thornley. Thank you.

Dr. Gillespie, I... Sit down.

Dr. Gillespie, I keep asking myself why.

Why it happened?

Why he ran away from me.

What made him do it?

When we left the hospital, he kept pulling back.

Why?

Perhaps he was looking for something he needed.

What? Maybe friends, maybe something new to look at, maybe a sense of living,

something happening.

Do you think I was wrong to try to protect him?

A good many years ago, I was in private practice for a while and I attended a

little boy with mumps. He was one of three brothers.

The mother quite naturally asked me what should be done about isolating the sick

boy from the two others who had not caught the disease.

I told her it might be preferable if she didn't separate them. Let them catch

the mumps at an age when the disease wouldn't be damaging. In other words,

expose them. Let them catch the mumps and be immunized.

For mumps in an adult can be damaging.

What is all this to do with Tad?

Do you know what a negligent mother is?

Yes.

She's a person who doesn't take care of her child.

What else?

Someone who exposes them to unnecessary hazards.

That's right.

But some hazards are necessary to the business of growing up.

You are depriving your child of the right to be exposed to the pains,

frustrations, the disappointments of life.

You're depriving him of the opportunity to learn, to cope with reality as it

exists outside the boundaries of your life.

You're not allowing him to be immunized.

Against the unhappy incidents which occur to all of us.

And will occur to him as an adult.

You're taking away from him the weapon of understanding.

Which nature has given him in order that he may win the trials of life.

You're weakening him.

You're crippling him.

You're overprotecting him.

I think you are.

A negligent mother.

Hiya,

Sam. You on the early shift, too?

Now, come on, Sam. You can do better than that. Come on.

You're not in very good voice this morning.

Hey, that's all right, buddy.

What are you doing in there?

Early in the morning for you to be up.

What are you doing in this box?

Clown.

Clown.

Clown, sure.

I'm a clown. You got a clown.

How about that?

Ted!

Oh, my dear.

I'll take you home, Mrs. Thornley.

No.

We'll stay here a while at Blair, if you'll have us.

Now, may we see Dr.

Mason?

Well, now we've finished the usual endoral incision, extending upward from

meatus.

And since there's no canal, bone is overlying the entire middle ear. It must

removed.

It's an intact drum.

We won't have to worry about the facial nerve now.

Leonard, want to take a look?

I was in the operating room once before, and Dr. Mason did a

similar operation.

Boy, he is fantastic.

You know, at that time, it was necessary to use a skin graft for a new eardrum.

Can you tell how it's going?

Nobody seems unhappy.

Did you ever listen to a park doctor?

It bursts with sound.

Birds and squirrels.

Bells. Dogs.

Laughter. The merry -go -round.

And every sound is a child's adventure.

But when the squirrels chattered for peanuts, my little boy never turned

And when a bird sang, he never looked to see where it was.

One day, a woman came up to me and she said,

Your little boy is deaf, isn't he?

I said, no.

I picked him up and I ran home with him.

I kept saying to myself, it isn't so.

It isn't true.

But all the time I knew it was true.

I had known it for a long, long time.

My little boy couldn't hear.

Well, let's hope all that's in the past, huh?

Yes, sir.

Ah, packing is in. It goes.

All right, nurse. You can dress up.

How does the world sound to you, Tad?

Hey, Kat.

Friend.

Friend. Friend.

Friend. Friend.

Friend.

I think Voltaire said the ear is the road to the heart.

Friend. Friend.

Friend. Friend.

Thank you.