Original subtitles

How long has it been?

Two hours.

And no contractions at all, right?

Not even any little ones that you didn't tell us about?

No, but I feel like my heart is going to pound out of my chest and fly around

the room.

Well, if it does, your dad will catch it.

Or at least bat it back down.

Where the hell is David? I mean, what's taking him so long? Oh, darling, it's

really, really bad traffic out there. I know he's doing everything he can to get

here as soon as he can. I'm sure he'll be here any minute.

You said that an hour ago.

Honey, come on. Just try and relax.

Oh, sure. I'm lying here with God knows what coursing through my veins. I don't

know whether my baby's going to live or die.

No one has a clue where my husband is, and you're telling me to relax?

Yeah, I want you to stop talking like that, okay, Darlene? Because I know

like, negative talk like that is attracting negative energy.

I am so sorry. I got here as fast as I could.

How do you feel?

I'm fine, David. Yeah? How about the baby?

We don't know yet.

All right.

Where do we stand?

Well, we tried several drugs to stop the contractions, and now we're on the big

one, Ritodrine.

And I know it has some side effects like, you know, rapid heartbeat. Got it.

Yeah, but so far it is working.

So then the contractions have stopped.

Well, yeah, I mean, as of right now.

Okay, what do we do now? Just cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Okay, all right.

You guys must be tired, and I'm here now. Why don't you just go home and lay

down? I'll call you if anything happens.

Wow. When did you get this new take -charge attitude?

I don't know. It just kind of came over me.

We'll go on down to the cafeteria. Oh, boy.

My water just broke.

What doesn't kill us is making us stronger.

We're gonna last longer than that greatest wall in China.

Hold that rabbit with a drum.

There's one thing that I've heard while waiting for my turn.

It's that each last of a rainfall, but you also get some fun.

And we'll make out better than okay.

Yeah, what a thing.

Yeah, any day.

Honey, you've got to stay calm and know that we're here for you and everything's

going to be okay.

I'm scared.

It's okay to be a little scared.

You should have seen your mom when she had Becky.

I might have been scared, but your dad passed out in the waiting room.

Don't leave me. No, I won't.

I wish I could go through this for you.

Yeah, me too.

Well, we're ready to go.

Well, you want to start without me?

You'll be in the delivery room very soon, and we're going to take real good

of you. You hear that, honey? Everything's under control.

Okay, well, we're going to go into the waiting room now. I got DJ saving all

chairs for us.

That one -legged guy's probably getting a little cranky by now.

Dr. Redman, Darlene's only 28 weeks along. Everything's going to be fine,

Well, I'm going to be honest with you. There's always an element of risk.

Why is this happening now?

Darlene, no one knows what exactly triggers normal labor, let alone

labor. But babies this age have survived.

You are young and healthy, and you've had very good prenatal care.

And that's really good, isn't it? I mean, it means a lot, right?

Well, you bet it does.

So you stay optimistic, okay?

Yeah.

The world population is like five billion, and they all had to be born.

How can this be so hard?

Okay, listen to me.

You're very, very strong.

More important than that, you're very stubborn, and I think God likes that. So

everything's going to be just fine, okay?

I hope you're right.

Here we go.

A few more minutes before we're parents.

Is there anything left that we wanted to do before we had kids?

We were going to go to Paris.

It might be a little late to book a flight, darling.

Well, I'll settle for a cheese omelet then. Okay.

I love you.

I love you so much.

Mark,

you're wearing a track in the floor.

Sorry.

I really have a bad feeling about this.

Don't think that way, Becky. As Louise Hay says, you must learn to turn the

negative into a positive.

Yeah, you should listen to your grandma, Becky.

Apparently, being gay means more than just wanting to wear flannel shirts and

Birkenstocks. It also makes you smarter.

Thank you, Roseanne. I have been trying to positively explore different avenues.

Hey, check out that nurse with the crew cut.

We just called Leon to check on the kids. How's Darlene doing?

She's been in there for over an hour.

You look terrible.

Well, thank you for the compliment, Jackie.

Would you like to check my breath while you're at it?

Honey, you want to take another walk down the hall?

Mr. and Mrs. Conner?

Your daughter has just given birth to a baby girl.

Is everything okay?

Well, Darlene is fine. David's with her right now.

And the baby?

Well, being so premature, her lungs are not sufficiently developed for her to

breathe on her own. At this point, she can't even cry.

We have her down in NICU.

She's in an incubator on a respirator and IV.

The next 24 to 48 hours are going to be very critical.

What exactly does that mean?

It means they don't know anything, Becky.

Well, yeah, so what now? I mean, isn't there anything that you can do?

Well, actually, the best thing we can do right now is to wait.

So that's what you're just... That's all you can tell us is that we should wait?

Look, Mrs. Conner, I know this is hard. I know that. But please, it really is

the best we can do right now. Well, no, I can't accept that. I want to get a

second opinion.

All right.

I'd be happy to give you the names of some neonatologists. There's a couple of

good doctors in Chicago.

No, I'm not interested in good.

Okay, I want the best.

If we have to go to New York or Australia or Japan or Timbuktu, I really

care. I have all the money in the world, and I want the very best doctor on this

whole damn planet.

Well, they're trying to get a hold of that doctor in Australia.

Go in there and find out what's going on with that Dr.

Igarashi there in Tokyo.

We're running out of specialists, Roseanne. There's 12 on the list. We've

already called 10.

I know. Maybe it's time we started thinking of some alternatives.

What?

Acupuncture? Oh, yeah!

Or herbalist or some kind of healer. I mean, Western medicine can't have all

answers. And other cultures, they take a whole different approach.

Like in India, you know, when people are sick, you know what they do?

They take them down and they give them a bath in the holy river. You're making

it up. That doesn't work. Oh, yes, it does, Jackie. And you know why? Because

they believe it's going to work.

I read that in all those books that Nancy gave me. And you know what? They

say the very same thing. You know what they say?

that the spiritual is the cause for the physical.

Okay, they talked to that Dr.

Phillips in London.

He's afraid he can't get here in time.

But he says there's this great South African doctor who's giving a lecture in

Boston. That's a couple hours away. We could get him.

No, I want them both.

You tell that London guy to take the Concord into New York, and then we'll

charter a plane and get him down here.

And go get that South African doctor on the phone, too. Got it.

And for once, we can afford the best, and we're going to get it.

Hey. Brought you some more applesauce.

I'm not hungry right now. Thanks, anyway.

How you doing?

Better.

I mean, I'm still pretty wrung out, though.

Any new word about the baby?

No. I can go check now again if you want. That's okay.

This is really happening to us, isn't it?

I'm afraid so.

What made this happen? I mean, what did I do?

It wasn't anything that you did.

I mean, I'm not a drinker. I don't smoke.

I only did drugs once. That was a long time ago. Could I have been eating the

wrong thing the whole time? You're a vegetarian.

You're one of the healthiest eaters I know. I mean, maybe it's something

physical, like some kind of genetic defect or something. I don't think it

anything like that either.

Well, then what's the answer, David?

I mean, we know the question.

Why was my baby born prematurely?

And why is it probably going to die?

No one can answer that.

Well, if it's not something physical, I mean, maybe I'm being punished for

something.

Sweetheart, don't do that to yourself. That's ridiculous.

Well, I mean, why is it ridiculous? We don't know everything.

Maybe there's some unknowable power at work, like some kind of universal force

that's punishing me for something that I did. You didn't do anything wrong.

Well, I must have, David, because if there's nothing physically wrong with me

and I didn't do anything morally wrong, then nothing makes any sense.

Why do I deserve this?

No. No.

Look at me.

You don't deserve this.

Okay? You do not deserve this. I do not deserve this. Our baby does not deserve

this.

These things happen, okay?

No one deserves them.

I'm here for you.

I'm always here for you.

I'm about to walk across this room a thousand times.

How long have they been in there?

An hour.

Well, how long does it take to examine a baby? I mean, she's only just... I'm

sorry.

It's okay, Mark.

Well, Roseanne, you're a high -priced specialist. They sure are taking their

time. That's because they're high -priced specialists, Mother.

Yeah, and for the money I pay them, they better be taking a lot of time.

Dr. Phillips, what's happening?

Dr. Nicosi and I have examined the baby.

I'm afraid that we both concur with Dr. Rodman.

Does Arlene know?

Yes, we've gone over everything with them.

I want you to know everything that can be done is being done. We shouldn't give

up hope.

I don't understand.

You men are supposed to be the best in your field.

Are you sure you tried everything?

Yes, we have, Mr. Conner. Well, now, isn't there some kind of experimental

or some machine or something? I mean, you do understand that money is no

It's not a question of money, Mrs. Conner.

Unfortunately, we cannot duplicate the conditions in the womb.

But this is crazy. I mean, there's got to be something that you can do.

Well, I wish there was, Mrs. Conner. I'm so sorry.

Can we see the baby?

Of course you can.

But don't be shocked when you see her. She doesn't look like a full -term baby.

Look, her skin is a little translucent.

And she's very tiny.

She's my daughter.

She's my beautiful little daughter.

Oh, I can't stand to look at her hooked up in all this stuff.

Is there any point to this?

Well, in some instances, like the parents decide to unplug the machine and

nature take its course.

Well, David, I think we have a decision to make.

Wait, are you saying that this is it for her? Well, if you're asking my medical

opinion, I would say that she has very little chance to survive on her own.

Well, I mean, I think that she deserves a chance to experience life

not hooked up to all these machines and tubes and stuff.

Yeah, I think she's right.

All right, well, I'll send in a nurse.

I'll get some foam for you. It's fine.

David, let's take a walk. I don't want to leave.

No, come on. Just a minute. Come on.

I'll come with you.

Yeah, me too.

You hang in there, David. I don't know if I can take this. Hey, it's hard. I

know it's hard. But sometimes you just got to put one foot in front of the

other, even though you don't know where you're going.

I feel like I'm going to lose it.

No, you're not. No, you're not.

I've never seen you together as you were today, Dave.

All right, you're going to make it through this.

Yeah, you're doing great.

Darlene needs you, David. You've got to stay focused.

Just when you think you don't have anything more to give, you've got to

more to give.

I don't know if I can.

David,

look, I know it's not politically correct to say this, but you are the

Darlene needs you to be strong right now.

I know, I know.

Hey, guys.

Hey, Dave, let me show you how to steal candy out of this machine over here. How

do you do that? It's easy. You just need a hairpin and a soldering iron.

David, I know I'm not your dad, but you're like a son to me, and I'm going

get you through this.

It just happened so fast, you know.

Just a year ago, things were simple, and then Darlene got pregnant, and we got

married, and...

I'm sorry, Mr. Connor, but I'll admit that it took me a long time to even get

used to the idea of being a father.

But now I am.

And I want it more than anything in the world.

Too much. How do I deal with it all?

Look, David, I ain't no philosopher.

But everyone knows that there's good...

And there's bad, okay?

But nobody thinks that the bad stuff's ever going to happen to them. And then

one day, wham, all of a sudden it does.

And you think there's no way that you can go on.

But a day goes by.

And another day goes by. Then a week, a month, a year.

And you look back.

Hey.

I got through that. I don't know how, but I made it.

I am not going to let her down, Mr. Connor.

I know you're not.

Can we walk for a while?

Yeah, sure.

So fragile.

We'll let you all have some privacy.

What am I going to do, Mom?

I just think we should all hold her.

Are you sure we should do this, Roseanne?

Not sure of anything, Mom.

Except... I know... that she comes from...

A long line of women who fight and survive.

Looks like some kind of coven.

Hi, you.

Hi. You are so beautiful.

You know, when I was about five years old, we were riding in the car, and I

was leaning up against the door, and all of a sudden the door just popped open,

and...

I started to fall out of the car, because I remember I looked down, and I

see the road rushing underneath me, and I was literally like outside of the car.

And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, my mom reached over, and she grabbed me

by the hair, and she pulled me back inside.

And so if you feel like you're starting,

to fall away, then you're not because we're going to pull you back

inside.

Oh, my.

You've got quite a grip.

I think you're stronger than you're letting on.

Hey there.

You know, your mom and I had a pretty cool aunt when we were growing up.

I hope I can be the same for you.

I want to apologize to you.

That's the only thing I have even thought about.

We're ways to heal your body.

Because I know better.

We're not bodies with souls.

We are souls with bodies.

Hey, you.

We really want you to stay with us, okay?

I mean, we got all the generations of women in the family here.

I just thought of what your name should be.

Harris Connor Healy.

Phillips to neonatal ICU.

Dr. Phillips to NICU please.