Now, listen, Julie baby
It ain't natural for you to cry at midnight
It ain't natural for you to cry
When the midnight comes
Into the wee, small hours
Long 'fore the break of dawn
Oh, Lord
Mm-hmm
The night started out with a bang.
A gunshot to the chest on a drug deal gone bad.
All the elements were in place for a long weekend...
heat, humidity, moonlight.
I was good at my job.
There were periods where my hands moved with a speed and skill beyond me.
But in the last year, I'd started to lose that control.
Things had turned bad.
I hadn't saved anyone in months.
I just needed a few slow nights, followed by a couple of days off.
- Ladder Four. - We're there.
Respond to a 10-22. Four-flight residential. 417 West 32.
77-David at 177 West 24.
A woman who says a roach crawled in her ear. Can't get it out.
Says she's going into cardiac arrest.
63-Boy, men's room, Grand Central. Man set his pants on fire.
- Bad burns. - Move back. Which apartment?
- 5-A. - Oh, Jesus, it's Mr. Burke.
Why is it always the top floor?
Goddamn.
No! No!
Oh, God, they're here.
Shh, shh. Over there.
Mary, it's two hands. It's my dad.
We were just watching TV, and he was sort of punching his chest...
- Step outside. - Next, he locks the bathroom.
So I told him I was gonna call you guys, and he said not to.
- When did he stop breathing? - I don't know. Ten minutes.
Twenty. A woman on the phone tried to tell us how to do C.P.R.
- Could you do something? - We'll do what we can.
He was cryin'. I never heard him cryin'before.
I need you to squeeze this once every three seconds.
Clear! Clear!
- Ma'am, I need you to step back. - Clear! Clear!
No more. Please don't.
- Clear! Clear! - Ma'am, step back.
Daddy.
In the last year, I'd come to believe in such things...
as spirits leaving the body and not wanting to be put back.
Spirits angry at the awkward places death had left them.
I understood how crazy it was to think this way.
But I was convinced that if I turned around...
I'd see Old Man Burke...
standing at the window...
watching...
waiting for us to finish.
I'll take over. Call E.R. and ask for an 83.
Sorry.
Do you have any music?
- What? - Music.
I think it helps if you play something he liked.
John.
Play the Sinatra.
- What? - Play the Sinatra.
What is it, Johnny?
As a man
Who has always had
The wandering ways
Now I'm reaching back
For yesterday
Okay, Frank, you can call it. 83.
- No, we can't. He's got a pulse. - No shit?
Is he gonna be all right?
His heart's beating. Have 'em bring up a board.
No, no. No. No.
Help your family. Ride with your mother and brother.
Help your family. They need you more. Help yourself.
Now, Julie, there ain't nothin'on my mind
More for the way than what you're lookin'for
- For the family. - And she done went and jumped at me
Lunged from behind the door
And looked into my eyes
I had to concentrate to keep my mind from wandering off...
on these short trips.
It was the neighborhood I grew up in...
and where I'd worked most as a paramedic.
And it held more ghosts per square foot than any other.
Your little starstruck innuendos
Inadequacies and
Foreign bodies
And the sunlight shining through the crack in the windowpane
Numbs my brain
Come on! Come on! Both of you!
Your man doesn't look well. They not gonna appreciate you inside.
- Nobody loves me, Griss. - Just tellin' you things are backing up.
Griss, let us in.
Whatever you say.
Oh, my foot!
Don't even slow down. Just keep on moving.
Sir, you say you've been snorting cocaine for three days...
and now you feel as if your heart is beating too fast...
and you would like for us to help you.
To tell you the truth, I don't see why we should.
Correct me if I am wrong here, if I'm mistaken.
Did we sell you the cocaine? Did we push it up your nose?
- Oh, come on. - Can I get a cup of water?
- Shut up, goddamn civilian! - All I want is a cup of water!
Oh, no. No, no, nO, nO, nO, guys.
We're on diversion here. We're not accepting any more patients.
The dispatcher should've let you know that. I cannot do it. No.
We picked him up at 49th and 10th. You're the closest.
Where do you want me to put him? You tell me.
He wanted to come here. He said the nurses at Misery were the best.
- All I want is a cup of water! - I'll kick someone out of three.
Excuse me. You're a kind man, I can see that.
A man like you's not gonna deny a poor, sick, dying, helpless man...
- a small cup of water. - I have to stay with my patient.
Will you shut the fuck up?
Goddamn it. What the hell are you doing to me? We're all backed up in here.
Look at this guy. Looks like he needs the works. What's wrong with him?
- You should know. You pronounced him. - You told me he was dead.
- Flatline. - He got better.
I hate pronouncing people dead over the phone.
Yeah. Better, huh? They're fixed and dilated. This guy's plant food.
We stole a stretcher from X ray, so put him in three next to the overdose.
All right, look. He's our lowest priority now. He shouldn't even be here.
All this technology. What a waste.
Leave that dope alone. The doc'll be out in a minute.
- Could find out what's going on? - Please, folks, step back.
Please, folks, step back. I've already told you two to step back.
- Mister... - Don't make me take off my sunglasses.
First-time heart attack. He should've gone to C.C.U. ten hours ago.
We got three bodies up there just like the one you brought in.
Over there, two AIDS patients. One is 12 and filling up with fluids.
Mother won't sign the "Do Not Resuscitate."
"Mercy killing"doesn't translate well in Spanish.
It's a sin to have to tube that kid.
We got three more O.D. s from this new killerjunk they're calling Red Death.
What's in it?
It's a mix of heroin and I don't know what else. An amino acid, maybe.
This stuff is so strong, they're drinking it with grain alcohol.
You need ten times the usual amount of Narcan.
And when they wake up, watch out 'cause they're liable to go nuts on you.
- He one of'em? - That's Noel. He used to be a regular.
I haven't seen him for a while. He seized and almost coded.
I gave him a hypertonic solution.
He drank so much his kidneys were taking out salt.
- That's one for the textbooks. - Doc, you're the greatest.
- You gotta help me. - Can you give this guy water?
Noel, I am helping you. You drink any more water, you could die!
Hazmat, three's coding. We got a flatline here.
Start C.P.R. Milagros, get me an epi. Odette, wake up Dr. Stark.
Tell him we're gonna need him stat. 400 joules. Clear!
You want water? I'll give you water.
- What a pain. Just get out of here. - 600 joules.
- Clear! - So you get drunk and fall down.
Why should we help you? You'rejust gonna get drunk, fall down again.
Griss, this man wants to leave.
- Thank you. - I know him. That's Noel.
You better step outside. Quickly.
- Get... - Fuck!
Noel? Noel.
It's... It's me. It's Mary Burke from 49th Street.
Oh, Mary.
Oh, Mary, I'm so thirsty. They won't give me any water to drink in there.
- Please. - I'll get you some.
I wouldn't do that.
The doctor seems to think he's suffering from some rare disorder.
He's had a rough life. He grew up on our street.
He's a little crazy from it, but that's no excuse...
for not giving somebody a lousy cup of water.
Here.
My father's dying, Noel.
Oh, Mary, Mary, Mary.
Oh.
But it doesn't mean I didn't try
I just never know why
Chinese closes in five minutes.
Beef lo mein. Been on my mind since I awoke. What do you think?
I think the moment that food hits your mouth, we'll get a run.
Turn here. You missed it. Chink's on 11 th.
Oh, finally. Where you been?
Hey, ambulance man, what you looking at?
Yeah, pretty soon you'll be coming for me.
Do you think he'll come for me?
Pretty soon you'll be coming for me.
Boy, some partner you are, Frank. I could've walked there faster.
I'm starving, and you stop to talk to hookers. You're making me nuts.
Is that what you're trying to do? Drag me down to Nutsville with you?
- Oh, no! - What?
I just remembered. I'm so stupid. I had beef lo mein last night.
I can't eat the same thing two nights in a row.
It's almost 2:00. What the hell am I gonna do? What are you getting?
- I'm not hungry. - Yeah, you don't eat food.
I eat.
Larry, I eat. Just haven't had coffee yet.
Only coffee and whiskey. Lucky you ain't dead with that diet.
I got it.
Half fried chicken and fries. Let's go.
You can't put your arm around a memory
Foreign bodies, you can't put your arm around a memory
And the sunlight shining through the crack in the windowpane
Numbs my brain
And the sunlight shining through the crack in the windowpane
Rose's ghost was getting closer.
Numbs my brain
It had been six months since I lost her. A homeless girl...
asthmatic, 18 years old.
I used to block the bad calls out.
I used to forget, but she wouldn't let go.
And now she'd come to bear witness for all of them...
all that had been lost.
These spirits were part of thejob.
It was impossible to pass a building that didn't hold a ghost of something.
The eyes of a corpse. The screams of a loved one.
All bodies leave their mark.
You cannot be near the newly dead without feeling it.
I could handle that.
What haunted me now was more savage.
Spirits born half-finished.
Homicides. Suicides. Overdoses.
Accusing me of being there, witnessing a humiliation...
which they could never forgive.
Turn it off.
- What? - You know what. The radio.
That's not the police band. It's your fire department scanner in your bag.
- Oh. - Ladder Four, respond to a 10-22.
Six-flight residential. 534 West 32.
- Let's do it. It might be a good one. - There are no good fires.
People die in fires. People get burned up in fires. People can't breathe.
That's what we're here for. Let's go.
- 63... - Don't push it, Larry.
- You're burned out. You're scorched. - Not yet, Larry.
I'm still burning. If you get any closer, I'm gonna put a burn on you.
6-3 Zebra. 6-3 Zebra. Zebra three, I need you.
- You see? He's giving it to us anyway. - Zebra, are you there?
- Holding an unconscious at 9th and 41 st. - No, no, no!
3.00 in the morning. That can only mean one thing.
- Mr. Oh. - Mr. Oh. I'm not answering it.
Answer the radio, Zebra. You know it's that time.
Four times this week I've had him. Aren't there any other units out there?
- Zebra, are you there? - Don't answer. They'll get somebody.
63-Zebra, answer me now, or I'm sending a captain to your location.
When I say don't answer it, that means answer it. You could do me that favor.
- 6-3 Zebra. - Yes, Zebra, you'll be driving...
to the man who needs no introduction.
Chronic caller of the year, three straight and shooting for number four...
The duke of drunk, the king of stink.
- Our most frequent flyer, Mr. Oh. - 10-4.
Don't do it. Not this time...
Relax. It's a street job. It's easy except for the smell.
We just throw him in the back, zip over to Mercy.
No blood, no dying. That's how I look at it. He's just a drunk.
It's not our job to taxi drunks around.
Yeah, but they're just gonna keep calling.
Someone's gonna have a cardiac, and the medics will be taking care of Mr. Oh.
He's bad, mister. He ain't eaten nothing all day.
And he's seizing and throwing up.
- So, what's different about him today? - He says his feet hurt.
- Oh, why didn't you say so? - Can't find a pulse, but he's breathing.
Well, it looks like we're just in time. Step aside, sir.
- He's drunk. - He's sick. You gotta help him.
He's fine. He can walk to the hospital.
Walk? Are you crazy? He's in the wheelchair.
Oh, don't give me that. He walks better than I do.
Oh! Oh! That's right, Mr. Oh.
Come on, buddy. Your limo's here.
Get better. Good luck, old buddy.
- I gotta get running now - Bell Boy
- Keep your lip buttoned down - Bell Boy
- Oh! - Carry the bloody baggage out
- Faster! Come on, Frank. Faster! - Faster?
You want faster?
Take that stinky-ass motherfucking bug-ridden skell out of my face!
Johnny, welcome back. Good to see ya.
And my conscience simply will not allow that.
Griss, this gentleman would like to leave.
Oh! He looks so pale.
Hey, you getting enough to eat? You getting your fiber?
Wasted. That's my diagnosis. He's shit-faced.
He just needs a bath and some food. Let's take him in back.
- Get a stretcher. - She's nuts. That's why he comes here.
- She encourages him. - Don't. This is not a homeless shelter.
- He's gonna have to wait in the lobby. - No way, man.
Not even in the corner. Griss cannot abide the funk tonight.
Senor. Senor.
My first cigarette in over a year.
First is always the best.
The doctor doesn't think my father will make it.
Said he was dead for too long.
After six minutes, the brain starts to die...
and after that,
just close the door.
You never know.
You know, my father and I haven't spoken in three years.
When my brother called me and said that my father had a heart attack...
and that he locked himself in the bathroom...
all the way going over there, I was thinking of...
how I was gonna tell him what a bastard he was.
When I got there and we put him up on the bed...
and I thought of all the other things that I wanted to say to him...
Well, right now I'm more worried about my mother than anything.
Go home. Take her home. Get some rest.
- You're not gonna find anything out now. - That's what I told her.
If she could just see him for a second, then I know she'd let me take her home.
Thanks for the light.
Here's your dinner. I wheel, you heal.
6-2 David, at 38th and 2, you'll find a three-car accident.
Two taxis and a taxi.
6-2 Henry, 6-2 Henry. 487 West 22.
Report of a very bad smell. No further information.
Larry, swing over to 10th. We're gonna have to run one of these calls.
Relax, will ya?
The biggest problem with not driving...
is that whenever there's a patient in the back, you're also in the back.
- The door's closed. You're trapped. - Let me breathe
5.00 or 6.00 in the morning is always the worst time for me. Just before dawn.
Just when you've been lulled into thinking...
it might be safe to close your eyes for one minute.
That's when I first found Rose.
She was on the sidewalk, not breathing.
I'm not feeling very well, Larry.
Let's say we go back to the hospital, call it a night.
You got no sick time, Frank. No time of any kind. Everyone knows that.
Take me back. Put me to bed. I surrender.
We've done enough damage tonight.
You take things way too seriously, Frank.
You ever think of doing anything else?
Sure.
Taking my captain's exam next year.
Once the kids are in school, Louise can go back to the post office.
I thought, "What the hell? I'll start my own medic service."
Out on the island, the volunteers are becoming salaried municipal.
It's just a matter of time and who you know.
Someday it's gonna be Chief Larry calling the shots.
I'd always had nightmares.
But now the ghosts didn't wait for me to sleep.
I drank every day.
"Help others and you help yourself."
That was my motto.
But I hadn't saved anyone in months.
It seemed all my patients were dying on me.
I'd waited, sure the sickness would break.
Maybe the next call, maybe tomorrow, the feeling would drop away.
More than anything else, I wanted to sleep like that.
Close my eyes and drift away.
Zebra. 6-3 Zebra.
Zebra.
Zebra, answer the radio. Come on. I got one for you.
Pick up the radio and push the button on the side and speak into the front.
Come on. Zebra?
- Zebra. - Suicidal male bleeding...
corner of 44th and 8th.
No further information.
10-4.
We have a call, Chief. Somebody's bleeding. 44th and 8th.
No, no. Brake! Brake! It's the water. Turn around.
Come on. Kill me! Push it in! Do it!
Kill me! Huh? Come on. Kill me. Just push it. Huh?
I'm gonna cut my throat, man.
No, don't! Drop the bottle.
- Put down the bottle. - He's crazy.
Really? You look pretty thirsty, Noel. You want some water?
See, I can't do it. I came out of the desert.
Those people left me in the sun to die.
You came out of the hospital.
You were tied down and hallucinating.
You got some bad chemicals in your head.
- There's medicine that'll fix that. - No! No medicine.
- No medicine. - He got ya.
Man wants to die? I know how to kill that mother. Pop, pop.
- Oh, sh... - Shit!
Noel! Noel!
Noel! Larry, call for backup.
6-3 Zebra, 10-85 forthwith, 44 and 8th.
Get out of the road, you crazy bastard!
Noel, you didn't let me finish.
We have rules against killing people on the street, okay? It looks bad.
There's a special room at the hospital for terminating.
It's a nice quiet room with a big bed.
- You mean that? - Yeah.
Man, thank you, man.
Wait a minute. How? How are you gonna kill me?
Well, you have a choice. You can have pills, injection or gas.
- Pills. Definitely pills. - You fucking asshole!
Tom Wolls, that crazy motherfucker.
- He used to be my partner. - Frank.
This the guy you called about? I know you.
- Nah, you don't know me. - Oh, yes, I do, Pedro. I do.
- I know you. I know him. - I don't think so.
You give my friend here any more trouble, I'll kill ya.
- Yeah, at the hospital. - What?
At the hospital. He's gonna kill me in the hospital.
Forget the hospital. I'll kill you here.
This looks like a very bad man I took in a couple of weeks ago...
who'd been holding two priests... not one, two priests...
hostage with a screwdriver, and I told him...
if he was ever caught making trouble again...
- I'd kick the murdering life out of him. - It's not worth it, Tom.
- He's surrendering. - What?
- The war's over. - Not mine.
Hey, Pedro, come here, you little motherfucker.
I just want to talk to you...
give you a little psychological first aid.
I'm gonna give you your first lesson on how to be an American.
It's called "Eatin' My Shit."
Come here.
Tom, don't do it, Tom. Tom!
I have to take him to the hospital.
- I have to get him to the hospital. - Get up here, motherfucker!
- That's enough! - Take that!
There's a double shooting three blocks down. 41 st and 8th, confirmed.
We'll do that. Larry. Larry. Larry!
- I'll take it. Motherfucker! - That's enough.
I'll do that. I'll see you over there, okay?
What happened?
Oh, man. Just walked up and shot him. Not a word.
- Damn, that was cold. - E.M.S. Move it.
Where are you hit?
You see this shit, man? Niggas put a hole in me.
Yo, Tiger did this shit, yo. And Money right here work for Outlaw.
- We got a gang war about to start, yo. - Take a deep breath.
Major Tom! I'm going to Misery! You take yours to Bellevue.
Okay, Frank, you take yours to heaven. I'll take mine to hell. Let's go.
Get him on the board. Let's go.
You're gonna feel a stick in your arm. Don't move.
Listen, I'm quitting, man.
I'm going in the army where it's safe.
I don't wanna die.
- No, I wanna die. I'm the one. - You're not gonna die.
- What did you say? - Shut up! You're going to die.
- Hold my hand, man. - I can't. I gotta do the other arm.
- Hold my hand, man. - Hold this.
If you let go, I swear I won't kill you.
It's all right. We're here.
Fuck.
He's not breathing. Call a code.
Noel, let's go.
Let's go!
Fucking Christ.
So here I am. And this junkie got something jammed in his teeth.
Now, none of thesejunkies wanna give mouth-to-mouth. It was a blow dryer.
So I pulls it out. His body was cold except for his throat.
It had been blow-dried. Junkie had second-degree burns of the tongue.
Did you ever give mouth-to-mouth?
A long time ago, when I was your age, boy. Never again.
Chances are you end up with a mouthful of puke. Junkie puke.
I'd do it if I had to. It's part of the job.
- What about you? - What?
You ever do mouth-to-mouth before?
- Once. On a baby. - Oh, babies.
Now, babies are a whole different thing entirely.
Did I ever tell you about the time that white woman approached me?
I said, "Ma'am, I'm a true cocksman, and I don't mix my seed."
Only time you see me with a white woman when I'm holdin'her for the police."
That's the truth.
You shouldn't smoke.
It's okay. They're prescription.
Works better with a little whiskey.
Yeah, that's my brother's problem. That's why he's passed out inside.
That's it!
I've had it! Can't take it anymore.
- You got... blood on... - I know.
That boy you brought in, he's, uh, shot, wasn't he?
Yeah.
He's dead, huh?
Yes.
I think this place stinks.
- Our Lady of Misery. - It's crazy in there.
What's the matter with that doctor...
who keeps mumbling and poking himself in the eye whenever he talks to me?
He's working a double shift.
Well, my father's in there. He's in a coma.
My mother, she's... she's going crazy.
It's like, uh, she's in a trance.
She should go home.
Yeah, well, I'd take her, but somebody's got to stay here.
- Did you see him? - It wasn't him.
You saw him?
They showed me someone. It wasn't him. It wasn't my husband.
Mrs. Burke, they'll take care of him. You should go home now.
I should know my own husband.
They wouldn't let me see him.
Larry and I'll drop her home. Help me get her to the ambulance.
Mom, they're gonna give you a ride home. Come on. This way.
You want some coffee?
I have applesauce cake too.
- Right here. Right there. - Oh.
Thanks.
I'll call you if anything changes.
Saving someone's life is like falling in love.
The best drug in the world.
For days, sometimes weeks afterwards...
you walk the street making infinite whatever you see.
Once, for a few weeks, I couldn't feel the earth.
Everything I touched became lighter.
Horns played in my shoes. Flowers fell from my pockets.
You wonder if you've become immortal...
as if you've saved your own life as well.
God has passed through you.
Why deny it that for a moment there...
Why deny for a moment there God was you?
Taking credit when things go right doesn't work the other way.
When things go wrong, spreading the blame is an essential survival tool.
"The elevator broke down." "The boyfriend was crazy."
"I should've called in sick." "The tube wouldn't go in."
"The God of Hellfire" is not a role that anyone wants to play.
- Good morning, Captain. - What am I gonna do with this guy?
Pierce, I just got off the phone with Borough Command.
Out of 12 shifts this month, you've been late for nine, sick four.
That includes the shift where you came in late, you went home early.
- I'm sick. I've been telling you. - You're sick?
You're killing me, do you know that?
You've got no sick time left. I mean, I was told to terminate.
It's okay. I'll just get my things out of my locker.
Excuse me. It's not okay. I-I-I never fired anybody in my life, man.
I'm sorry, Captain. Don't take it too hard.
Nobody tells me to fire anybody, ever.
I told them, "Stick it right up your big one." Pardon me.
I said, "You wanna fire him? Come on over and do it yourself."
You know they won't do it. It's up to you. You've gotta be strong.
- Be a man. - You think they give these to sissies?
Come on, kid. This is a weekend of full moons. Nobody wants to work.
I mean, your partner Larry's called in sick.
Okay, Larry Veeber. Stupid Stanley too.
Come on. I need bodies out there. I got buses that gotta run.
I had to put Marcus on 62-Young.
Hey. Hey. You know he's not supposed to work two nights in a row.
- You know what we're in for with that? - You swore you'd fire me...
if I came in late again.
I'll fire you tomorrow.
Even better than that, what was I thinking about?
I could forward you some sick time. How about a week?
A week's not gonna do it. A week's not gonna do it.
Your saying no, it ain't gonna do it.
You're going out with Marcus. Okay?
Duty calls you, kid. The city needs you. Please.
I'll front you sick time. I'll make it up to you. Honest to God.
Look at me. The next time I see you, I'll fire you.
- I can bark too. - Pierce, you can do it all.
I never said I could bark better than you.
Go and help... Go and help the people of New York. Go ahead.
Get out there and mop them up for me. Go ahead. Do yourjob.
- Do yourjob. You're the best. - Put down that crack stem.
Put down that crack stem and drop your jug of sin...
your high-heeled skirts and your stock dividends...
your patent leather underwear, televised suicides...
lap dancers in leotards in delicatessens.
And the Lord said, "If you can find one that isn't a sinner... just one...
- then I will spare the city." - Lord, mother of man.
Boy, you look like hell. What you drinking?
Captain almost fired me tonight. I'm on my way out.
Anytime now.
Nobody gets fired, son. Look at me.
The most they might do is transfer you to the Bronx.
Boy, you look like you aged about ten years since I rode with you last.
I ain't feeling so hot.
I've been seeing the ghosts.
- You mean the people we lost? - Yeah.
If they got to go, got to go. God bless 'em.
You ever notice people who see shit are always crazy? Mm-hmm.
Scientific fact.
- I think the worst is over. - Oh, no, son.
It can always get worse. See, you can't change what's out there.
Only where you're coming from.
So you got to let the good Lord... Thank you, Jesus...
take over in here.
6-2 Young. Let's go, 6-2 Young. Answer the radio.
Marcus, it's Love. I haven't heard her in months.
Well, no, she only works when I'm on.
I makes her wait. Drives her crazy.
- You and Love went on a blind date? - Mm-hmm.
- She hit you with a bottle? - Why you gotta bring that up?
She loves me the way no woman ever has.
6-2 Young, I don't have time for your games.
Now, answer me or do I have to come out there myself?
Oh, sookie, sookie. now. Rough.
Now, see, I usually don't do calls before my coffee...
but I think this'll be good for you, son.
6-2 Young is here, baby.
And I'm a take care of you.
Don't you worry 'bout a thing
Come on, white boy.
'Cause Big Daddy Marcus is alive and on arrival, baby.
I'm not your baby, Young. I'm not your mother either.
You're going to a cardiac arrest. 30th and 11 th, northeast corner.
It's a club. Take the back entrance.
All right, 10-4, sweet mama. You feeling better, Frank?
- I feel worse. - Oh, that's good, boy.
This here is for you.
I hope we're not too late from you folks holding us up here. Excuse me.
Right this way.
Get the hell out of my way.
Okay, what happened?
- Tell me he's gonna be all right. - No, he dead.
- We just signed our first record deal. - Look, he dead, son.
Ain't nothing we can do about it. Come on, Frank. That's it.
- What do you mean he's dead? - He's not dead.
It's a heroin overdose. Let's break out the Narcan.
He's dead, unless you folks wanna stop bullshitting me and tell it straight.
Then, the good Lord willing, we'll try and bring him back.
He broke up with his old lady.
- We were just seeing other people. - Oh, she broke his heart.
- Shut up, asshole! Nobody asked you! - Was I talking to you?
Dick, shut up!
I'm still waiting and this young man here is still dead.
- You wanna leave here in a body bag? - You'll end up like him, dick!
- Shut up! - He's been snorting that Red Death.
It's been going on for, like, four days now.
I rebuke the spirit of drugs in the name of Jesus. What's his name?
- I.B. Bangin'. - What you mean I.B. Bangin'?
- I.B. Bangin'. - What kind of name is I.B. Bangin'?
- I don't know his real name. - It's Frederick Smith.
- Okay, Freddy... - It's Frederick.
Okay, I.B. Bangin', we're gonna bring you back from the dead.
Now, I want everybody here to grab the hand of the person next to you.
Come on now. We ain't got much time.
And look up towards the heavens.
Dear Lord, here I am again...
asking one more chance for a sinner.
Please, Lord, bring back I.B. Bangin', Lord.
You have the power, Jesus. You have the might.
You have the super light to spare this worthless man.
- My God! Frederick! - Rise up, I.B. Bangin'...
and start your life anew!
Oh, thank you, Lord.
- What happened? - You fucking died, you stupid bastard.
- I warned you. - Damn, you guys are good.
The first step is Love. The second is Mercy.
That guy I brought in yesterday, post-cardiac arrest. He's gone.
Burke? You're not gonna believe it. He's showing cognitive signs.
It started with spontaneous respiration. Now he's fighting to pull out the tube.
He had to be sedated. He's in CAT scan. There's no room in I.C.U.
- What do you think? - Who knows?
It's lower brain stem activity at this point. The heart refuses to stabilize.
You know, he coded 11 times since he got here.
But the guy's a fighter.
Every time the Valium wears off, he starts yanking on the restraints.
The family know?
I wanted to bring them in to see if he'd respond to voices.
But there was no one in the waiting room.
This guy's daughter was in my face all night.
Finally, I got something positive to tell her, she's gone.
You put poison in your veins, and now that you're breathing again...
you can't wait to say "Thank you," and get back out to poison shopping.
Well, since we saved your life, could you do us a favor...
and stop breathing in another city next time?
I ever tell you about that time years ago...
I was on this ledge uptown trying to pull this damn psycho inside?
The guy jumped and you almost fell? No, you never told me that story.
No, you never listened.
I put everything I had into saving this dumb-ass, low-life suicidal...
that when he went down, it was like I wanted to go with him.
That happened once in Ireland.
This girl jumped off the cliffs of Moher and the wind blew her back up.
- The wind blew her back up? - Yeah, the wind.
- No, that was Jesus, son. - It was also the wind.
The wind, my black ass. That was Jesus.
Don't tell me about the Good Book.
I'll preach heaven and beat the hell out of you. Don't tell me that now.
I was going, son.
But if someone up on high... Thank you, Jesus... hadn't have pulled me in...
Would you turn left here? I wanna make a stop.
The point is, everybody go through a stretch where folks gonna die on you.
Just don't meditate on it.
I say open up the window
I'll be right back.
And let me breathe
I say open the window
- And let me breathe - It's Frank Pierce from the ambulance.
I brought your father into the hospital.
- I just learned some news. - I'll be right down.
I cried for ya
He's better, isn't he?
Well, the doctor says he's showing some movement.
It's still early. It might mean nothing, but I thought you'd wanna know.
- I cried for ya - I sensed it when I heard your voice.
You-You look so different.
Oh. It's awful, isn't it?
It's like Night of the Living Cheerleaders.
No, I think it looks good.
I was going nuts in that waiting room. I came back to check on my mom.
- How is she? - She's sleeping.
Sleeping.
I was just gonna get some food. Pizza. I thought maybe we...
You can't kill my father that easy. He's a real fighter, like with me.
He hasn't talked to me in three years. But it's okay.
Sometimes you just have to put things behind you.
I gotta be getting back. Hey. Hey!
It'll be tough to get a taxi here. We can give you a ride if you like.
Okay.
Who that?
She's the daughter of a cardiac arrest I brought in last night.
I told her we'd give her a ride back. Her father's showing signs of improving.
Oh, Frank, you got it bad, son. So much worse than what I thought.
- We gotta get something to eat. - God, help us. He's hungry.
These are the days
You might fill with laughter
Until you beg
These days you might feel a shaft of light
Make its way across your face
And when you do
You'll know how it was meant to be
See the signs know their meaning
It's true
You'll know how it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they're speaking
To you
Dad?
Can you hear me?
It's Mary.
Squeeze my hand if you can hear me, Dad.
He squeezed my hand.
He's moving, Doctor. He grabbed my hand.
Come on, Dad. Show 'em. Come on. See? See?
I'll be damned. It's movement. Just not sure how voluntary it is.
No, he heard me.
Come on, Dad. Yeah.
Oh! Nurse Crupp.
Nurse Crupp! Ten milligrams of Valium!
Get over here.
- Where's that Valium? - Why don't we step out for a while...
- wait till this passes. - Make sure he's breathing.
He wants to pull that tube out.
It's pretty painful. That's why they keep him sedated.
- But it's a good sign. - Are you sure?
I know my father would hate being tied down.
He wouldn't even go to the dentist.
That's how it's done.
You have to keep the body going until the brain and the heart...
recover enough to go on their own.
He's better though, right?
He's better.
I'm sorry. It's just...
It's important to me. I mean, a week ago...
I was wishing he was dead.
And now, I wanna hear his voice just once more.
You know what I mean?
Went over to Ray's and got this.
Must be a place reserved in hell for somebody who charges $ 1.50 a slice.
Anything comes up, I'll call you.
- Bon appetit. - Thanks. - Thank you, Marcus.
Oh, thank... I'm not really hungry.
You know, my father's a really wonderful man.
There was nobody he wouldn't help.
You know that crazy guy, Noel, who I gave water to last night?
He lived at our house for almost a year.
Total stranger he'd do anything for.
His own family, though...
It's best not to... dwell.
Yeah.
It's good pizza, huh?
Mmm, it's not as good as, uh, Nino's.
You remember that pizza place, Mimi's, on 10th, maybe 15 years ago?
When you ordered a pie, it came with a little plastic Madonna in the middle.
Saint Anthony, yeah. You from the neighborhood?
- I grew up on 43rd, went to Holy Cross. - Really?
I went to Sacred Heart. Where'd you go to high school?
Well, you know, Mary, we moved out after that. Upstate.
Yeah. Like everybody else, except us.
- So, your parents... Good. - They're fine.
My old man's a bus driver, and Mom a nurse.
Sort of born to it, I guess.
- You married? - Uh, no.
I was.
Hard to explain.
She had a hard time adjusting to, uh...
Well, maybe-maybe it was my fault too.
Cocksucker! Don't be touchin'me!
Is it always this bad in here? How does anybody survive?
- Gosh. - It's been bad lately, it's always bad.
How long have you been doing this?
Five years.
Wow. You must've seen some things, huh?
Well, no. I mean, you sort of learn to block it out, you know?
It's like, um... like cops fencing off a crime scene.
But then, something good'll happen.
Everything just glows.
You must get a lot of overdoses.
Bet you picked me up a couple times.
I think I'd remember that.
Maybe not.
I was a different person then.
Does everyone you meet just...
- spill their guts on you like this? - Uh, mostly.
Must be my face.
My mother always said I look like a priest.
You do. Yeah.
Yeah, my mom thought I was gonna be a nun...
because, uh, I ran away to a convent when I was 13.
But I didn't want to be a nun. I just... I wanted to run away.
Well, Sister Mary or Mary the Junkie, it didn't really matter to me.
- I better go check on my father. - Yeah, all right.
Thanks for the pizza. I owe you one.
Maybe, um, when he gets better.
- When we're through with all of this. - Sure.
Look after her, Griss, okay?
Rule number one: Don't get involved with patients.
Rule number two: Don't get involved with patients' daughters.
- You understand? - What about rule number three?
Don't get involved with dispatchers named Love.
Now, boy, you don't know nothin' about rule number three.
Cannot begin to understand the complexities of that rule.
Come on. Let's go look at some hookers, hmm?
Kit Kat Club be lettin'out 'bout now.
74-Will. 330, West 33rd.
Church ofJesus Son, for demonic possession.
72-Victor, you're goin'to 8th and 14th.
On the corner, there's a 40-year-old man hearin'celebrity voices.
76-X ray, take it uptown, 541 West 54th St,
for the elderly woman abducted by her cat.
Look at these women. Can't even tell who's a hooker no more.
Whatever happened to go-go boots and hot pants?
They'll wear anything now.
Walk out the house with whatever they got on.
You got the wrong guy! Hands off, baby!
The street's not like the E.R.
There's no walls, no controls.
To make up for that, they try to teach me how to act without thinking...
like a soldier who can take apart and reassemble a gun blindfolded.
Kick his ass! Fuck him up! Fuck him up!
Kick his ass! Beat the shit out of him, baby!
Beat the shit out of him!
I realized that my training was useful...
in less than ten percent of the calls...
and saving someone's life was rarer than that.
After a while, I grew to understand...
that my role was less about saving lives than about bearing witness.
I was a grief mop.
It was enough that I simply showed up.
Except with Rose.
Shut up!
I'll get ya a glass of water. Noel.
Come on, calm down. I'm gonna take you to a spa.
I'm gonna get you a facial. Shh, shh.
Get him in there!
Look-Look-Look at that. Hmm? Look at that.
Leaves you with no idea what's underneath. Not even a suggestion.
Could be a skeleton for all you know.
Yeah, that-that's nice, though. Right there. Mm-hmm.
Pullin'back her hood as we drive by.
See, there's a mystery to it.
- Then she shows ya. - She's not a whore, Marcus.
We're all whores, Frank.
You know what I'm talkin' about? The way she looked at me.
She wasn't lookin' at you, man. She was lookin' at me.
Why did you kill me, Frank?
- I didn't kill you. - No, you didn't, Frank, and thank you.
But there's still a couple hours left on our shift.
- No, it's not you. It's some... - You hearin' them voices again?
- I just need a drink. - What-What them voices sayin' to ya?
They say, "Kill Marcus!" Okay?
That ain't funny, Frank.
Look, I don't need shock treatments. I'm not sick, all right?
- I just need a drink. - Okay.
62-Young, answer the radio. I have a call for you.
I can't wait all night, Young. I'm holdin'a priority,
and if you don't answer I'm gonna knock you outta service.
62-Young is here, baby, and I'm a help you out.
Just remember, you owe me.
You're going to 370 West 98th Street.
17-year-old female, cardiac arrest. No further information.
- 10-4, hon. - Why is everything a cardiac arrest?
What happened to chest pain, difficulty breathing, fractured hands?
Come on, people!
Lord Jesus, help me get through the night.
I can't get over it
It's so wide I can't get around it
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
I hate this block. Nothin' but crackheads.
- I don't wanna go without the police. - I'm goin'.
It's easier than waitin'.
E.M.S.!
- Ambulance! - Oh, Jesus. My bad back.
My feet hurt. Damn crackheads.
- E.M.S.! - Hello? E.M.S.
Hello?
Please, hurry.
Please hurry. Come this way, please.
She's over here. This way. Hurry.
My, oh, my, a fat crackhead! Now, that's a first.
- What's wrong? - She has terrible pain in her belly.
- I mean, she's pregnant. - No, that's impossible. We're virgins.
Are you pregnant? Estas embarazada?
Can you walk? Puedes caminar?
- She say she in great pain. - Thank-Thank you.
Thank you for the translation. What's your name?