03x05 - Please Partake of a Memorial Orange

[bunniefuu]

Dr. James, welcome back.

Oh, thank you, Dawn.

How was Mexico?

Oh, it was really nice. Thank you for asking.

We got a great rate on a beachside casita with a plunge pool.

Just a few days away, just what the doctor ordered.

(chuckles)

People are still saying such great things about the symposium.

Well, that is really nice to hear.

Is Birdy Lamb's memorial at 3:00?

Mm-hmm.

Rosey Canasta, third- and fourth-degree burns over 20% of her body.

After four weeks over at the hospital, her wounds had sufficiently closed to transfer to us to convalesce.

Fact: Fires and burn rates are only slightly behind falls and poisoning as mortality for the elderly.

Kitchens are a danger zone... lonely, forgotten burners, salmonella and listeria lingering on months-old food, which they then eat.

And you are?

Natalie, her granddaughter.

Oh, bienvenidos.

(speaks Spanish)

She says you can tell her how long she'll be here.

A... a great while, I'm afraid, Rosey.

We need wound closure over your grafts and range-of-motion exercises.

And that's all done during dressing changes and wound cleaning.

And my Dawn here is an expert wound cleaner.

That's not for the faint of heart.

(piano playing "Beautiful Dreamer")

Welcome back.

Who are you?

You gave us quite a scare.

We've been waiting for you to become fully awake.

We need to get you back on all your meds.

Do you recognize me?

Yes.

Okay, you might be feeling very raw and vulnerable right now, Varla.

We had to take you off all your medications because of possible adverse reactions from your anesthesia.

Ideally, she would be in the psych ward right now, to titrate up to her needed dosage, but the Huntley Center was closed.

Okay.

Nurse, take out the catheter, get rid of that chance of infection.

Dawn: Yep, right away.

Varla, we're gonna do everything that we can to make this a safe environment, protect you from any agitation till you're better equipped to cope with stressors.

Oh, and your surgery was a great success.

Varla, I'm gonna go ahead and remove your Foley catheter, so you can void on your own.

Let me have your hand.

Who are you?

Someone who for six years has been looking for the woman to whom I could say, "Hi, Mom. I'm Marla."

I'm not your f*cking mother.

Yes, you are.

Good luck.

I tracked you down here, and, believe me, it was not easy.

See the certificate of live birth?

"Jane Doe Pounder."

I have your hospital maternity record, see?

"Unknown female Pounder."

I know this must come as quite a shock, but I've been here with you for the past week.

I sleep on the floor next to you.

I've really gotten a chance to get to know you.

You don't f*cking know me.

Now I'm gonna sit right here.

I'm gonna give you a chance to get to know me.

Dawn says you're about her closest friend.

Well, we certainly are close, that's true.

Would you be willing to serve as her kidney advocate, to ask others for a kidney on her behalf?

Sure, I guess I can do that.

I mean, I have a lot of union stuff at the moment.

Management's been pulling some fast ones.

Didi, thank you so much. This means the world to me.

I need a live kidney.

You know, going on the waiting list for a cadaver kidney would mean, like, nine or 10 more years of dialysis.

Even, like, eating healthy and taking care of myself, I'd probably die first.

I mean, it's hard just standing here to ask you to beg for one for me.

We stayed up all night making these brochures to help you.

Didi: "Save Dawn's Life."

Dawn: And we have tons of ideas for a social media thing, like, "at hashtag dawn's new day."

Look, let me take a look at it and see.

I'll get back to you if I have any questions.

I've missed you the last few days.

Ron.

Jenna.

I apologize, at the symposium, for taking advantage of you.

Look, I'm so embarrassed, I can't even look you in the eye.

It was me. I took advantage of you.

No, I was the one who unzipped your trousers, and I just made a complete fool out of myself.

I let you make a fool out of yourself.

I gave you mixed signals.

What are you talking about?

I've been dishonest. I'm in recovery.

Oh, Ron.

I suffer from a hypersexual intimacy disorder.

I'm trapped in a swirl of compulsive sexual thoughts and acts.

I'm a sex addict, Jenna.

p*rn, phone and computer sex, escorts.

Some days a blow job from a local hooker does the trick.

(groans)

I objectify others to avoid real relationships.

It's a distorted need for dominance and control and an expression of anger at my father.

I can't measure up. You were just an object.

Well, I think that I was more than just an object, Ron.

I took advantage of you.

I took advantage of our shared passion for medical ethics.

No. I attracted you to me like thousands of women.

I allowed you to believe that I was something that you could easily have.

Whew.

I was 83 days into a 90-day sexual sobriety contract.

I thought this would be a safe place, but I slipped.

But we never really even did anything.

I had oral sex in your office right before we hugged.

Dawn: Didi, Didi.

Hold on one sec. I want you to look at this.

I found this little poem Miss Birdy put down in her spiral notebook, and I want to make a copy of it and put it in the programs for her service.

It's called "No Winter in Los Angeles."

"With joy we hail October showers that bring us bright and fragrant flowers When Santa doth appear, there is no winter here."

Oh, that's really sweet.

Listen, I made a list of potential donors to do, like, an email blast to share my personal story.

Mm-hmm.

"My dear friend Dawn was stricken with terminal kidney disease which has squelched her kidney function. There is no known cure. She has two options: Spend the remainder of her shortened life on dialysis, because, sadly, 90,000 people are ahead of Dawn on the transplant list, or seek a live donor from a caring circle of friends."

Hey, there's some urgency here, Didi.

I mean, the fact is that Dawn is slowly dying.

Okay, look who's here with fresh meds, straight from the pharmacy.

Oh, thanks, Dawn. Could you tell me what they are, just so I can keep them straight?

Oh, yeah. There's Seroquel, which is an atypical antipsychotic, Thorazine for her hallucinations and thought disorders, lithium... mood stabilizer, and then two milligrams of Xanax just to even things out.

Great, thank you. Could you get us some apple juice so she could take it down?

Sure.

Thanks.

What are you doing?

Getting rid of this sh*t. It's poison.

Do you want to get better?

Yes.

What would you do if I told you, I could cure you of all your mental problems?

Psychiatry is a criminal enterprise.

I can give you the tools that have restored millions to mental health without dr*gs.

I can help you clear.

Oh, I'm sorry. You know what?

She just took them with water.

She couldn't wait to get them down.

You know, I need to witness the swallow.

Okay, Varla? I need you to wait for me next time.

Understood?

Got you. Yeah.

Any drug they give you... throw it out, okay?

Let me ask you, how many years have you been in the revolving door of psychiatry?

All my life.

Has it ever helped?

Not much.

And all the dr*gs?

Never did me much good either.

What did you say your name was?

Marla.

We're gonna audit you, free you of reactive mind, free you from a world of stimulus-response, cause-effect.

Okay.

Richard, hi. Long time.

Hello, Dawn. You look good.

Thank you. We're all on tenterhooks here.

Management is having all these secret meetings.

I'm wondering if we'll stay open or close.

Yeah, I know. Jenna told me.

Is she in?

Mm-hmm.

She's been in a funk.

Her mother passed away, you know, and I'm a little worried about her.

I told her I'd come by for the memorial service.

I'm dying. I have kidney failure.

You're kidding. Dawn.

But I'm probably gonna get a transplant, so I think I'll be okay.

But still, I... (stammering)

Yeah, I know. It's really hard.

Richard, you're early.

Hey, yeah. Surprise. I thought maybe we'd get a little lunch.

Yeah, sounds good.

Dawn just told me her news.

Dawn news? What news?

Her kidney failure.

Oh, God, yeah.

So shall we?

Uh, okay.

Hello.

Hello.

Hi.

Who was that?

I'm not really sure.

Time for a dressing change and wound cleaning.

The ever able Marguerite Macaw is here to assist.

Okay, your grafts are wrapped in Xeroform, impregnated with bacitracin.

I like a nice, moist wound environment.

There we go. Can you hold it?

No?

Marguerite, shears, please.

Okay, great.

We are now going to cut away the dead tissue.

Cut, cut, cut, cut.

Very nice.

You know, hon, if wound care is not your cup of tea, please excuse yourself.

Now we scrub the wound.

Okay, Marguerite, if you do not scrub the wound, then all of the topical medications will build up a pseudo-eschar, and eschar means more dead yellow tissue.

I've always been drawn to wounds.

I love a good abscess. Oh, I love watching the doctors I & D an abscess full of puss, oh-ho-ho!

What is that?

(Marguerite retching)

What does that mean, huh?

(elevator whirs, dings)

Okay, show me the proof of the nefarious secret meetings.

It's awfully dark. What the heck is this place?

Storage. This was the old morgue.

Where is the file clerk, to show your call slip to?

Mm, we don't need one.

Someone in my union knows certain things.

Look at this.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're just ransacking.

You're just ransacking, Didi.

This is a public hospital. These are public records.

Not for us, they're not. And I gotta get out of here.

I have a bit of claustrophobia.

(elevator whirring)

What's that?

It's just the elevator going back up.

Stop being so scary. Look at this. Look at this.

No, I am not looking, Didi. I don't want any part of this.

You just said you'd show me some records.

And I really am claustrophobic.

What are you... Now what are you doing?

Just stop, okay? You gotta just stop.

There are probably cameras.

There's no cameras down here. Stop acting so scary.

Oh, thank you for your opinion, Al Capone.

Stop it.

(elevator whirring)

What's that?

Someone's coming. We're dead meat.

sh*t. Come, this way.

In here.

Help me hold this door.

Where are you going? Don't you leave me.

(sobbing, mumbling) I can't. It's unbelievable.

Son of a bitch!

Get in here, now!

Where's my f*cking foot?

It's gone, Mom.

Where did it go?

Varla, you had surgery, okay?

You were found unconscious behind a dumpster near the docks, okay?

Your foot was blackened with gangrene from your diabetes.

What did you think you were recovering from?

I never know why I'm f*cking here.

It's gone. It was black and necrotic and awful.

I don't believe a word you say.

Do you want to see a picture of it? Do you want to see what it looked like when they found you behind a dumpster at Pier 17?

Yes, I do.

'Cause I'll go get it. I'll go get that picture and I'll show you what the doctors saw when they finally unwrapped that f*cking foot.

So let me f*cking see it.

We are glad you got her away.

She's been under a lot of stress.

Seems like Mexico did her some good though.

Mexico?

Well, since the hospice scandal and all, it's been tough on everybody.

But did y'all take a lot of pictures?

What hospice scandal?

You know, that...

Varla: I want my f*cking foot.

Mother, forget about the foot and just roll over.

We're just gonna put a diaper and a pad on you.

You leak. You dribble.

What's her name again?

Marla.

Darn it, would you stop that?

It's mean and passive-aggressive, all right?

I think you're upsetting her.

Well, she goes out of her way to hurt me.

I don't give a flying f*ck about you.

My name is Marla. It can't be that hard to remember.

Marla, Varla. And I think you're full of sh*t, full of negative resistance that we could help and fix if you would just cooperate and let me help you.

Do I have to turf this up to my supervising nurse?

Why don't you ask about me? What I do for a living?

Am I married? Do I have children?

'Cause I don't f*cking care.

I didn't want you in the first place.

Get back.

You leave me alone.

Are you seeing things?

There's no one there.

Oh God. Didi, Didi.

Yeah, this is starting to feel real familiar.

It's amazing how young you can be and still pick up on the anger and dislike a person beams at you.

Thank you so much for filling that gaping hole in my heart.

Oh, f*ck you, you ugly faced whore.

Do you even want to see a picture of your grandchildren?

I don't want to see their grimy faces.

How could you call me that? Do you think I have no feelings?

Hey, hey, okay, don't listen to her.

She reels you in, then says horrible things.

You think she's mean, then you think she's nice, but you were right the first time.

Excuse me, you need to stop agitating her.

Do you want me to get Dr. James involved?

No, I don't think you do.

Now you need to behave, because if you don't have a direct power of attorney, which I don't think you do, you can be ejected from this room as a risk to your mother.

Do we understand?

Good.

What a butt-fucker, if ever there was one.

Yeah.

Mm, aged prime rib, decent-enough-looking ragu, asparagus. What's wrong?

When exactly were we in Mexico?

Oh, Richard.

Did I have a good time? Did we remember to wear sunblock?

I lied. I... I couldn't come to work.

The symposium went really poorly, and I needed a few days off.

And Dawn has a big mouth, and I just said... we went to Mexico.

Yeah, but every day when you left the house, you told me you were coming to work. What were you doing?

I just... I drove around.

I... I just... I just drove around all day.

Thinking about the hospice scandal?

What do you mean?

I heard you were under indictment.

Who told you such a thing?

You certainly didn't.

There was a whistle-blower, alleged fraud.

How could you not tell me about any of this for months?

I wanted to. Because I wanted to protect you.

You have been so remote. You never asked me.

Well, how could I have asked you if I didn't know?

Dawn, what are you doing?

You're not supposed to be eating all this stuff.

Marguerite, I'm allowed to eat whatever I want, because I'm getting a new kidney.

I know, but still, this is a lot of food.

You know, my doctor said so, so I would advise you to mind your own business, p*ssy.

Go away. You and your union are bad news.

You're all criminals. You probably whacked James Hoffa.

They are closing Billy Barnes.

They had consultants advise them on how to skirt the rules.

They did a bogus community impact plan... no hearing, no comments.

You can't do that. That's a violation of the open meeting law.

I don't care.

I got four RNs at Billy Barnes and 228 at the hospital.

Hey, if you think I'm going down with your ship, sorry, Charlie. And you can't do a thing, 'cause you got the information illegally, and they could put you in jail.

There you are, just in time for your four o'clock meds.

What are you doing?

I'm not taking them anymore.

Yes, you are.

No, I'm not.

And why not?

My daughter says I don't have to.

Jenna: You are intentionally telling your mother to throw away her medication?

I expressed myself clearly, but I'm happy to repeat.

In my opinion, psychiatry is a criminal enterprise.

Turn off that TV and look at me.

Your mother is bipolar one with schizophrenic episodes.

My mother has been under care for 50 years.

Look at the mess she's made of her life the choices she's made.

Which you cannot change, no matter how colorful your particular beliefs.

Oh, actually I can.

I'm helping her, and then I'm gonna take her home with me.

There's been a lack in my soul all my life.

Well, one never gives up craving a mother's affection.

But it is misguided, fanciful thinking, interfering in her mental stabilization.

The right to refuse medication belongs with the patient, not with the family, so I'm calling a practice and review board to order a course of treatment.

Oh, Dawn, it is so great that you have been proactive, getting out in front of this, looking for a new kidney.

Oh, so many people have come forward to help.

I have support groups and caring people.

Well, that is good, because you're gonna need it.

I'm sorry?

Your numbers have collapsed, Dawn.

I... I thought you said I was fine.

I mean, basically. You said so.

Your numbers... sodium, potassium, sugars... it's not sustainable.

You're facing pulmonary edema, congestive heart failure, possible system collapse, really.

What have you done?

Ron, I was thinking about what you said... that I was just an object.

And I think that's what you were for me too.

I didn't value your mind, because you're a bit slow on several fronts.

I don't think that I admired your soul, because I have no idea whether or not you truly possess one.

So I think for the moment I just thought that you were fuckable.

Richard.

You had an affair.

What?

You went to Mexico and you had an affair.

No, I did not go to Mexico. I was here.

Then you had an affair with him here, while you were driving around, because clearly you know him.

All right, yes, I do know him. It's Dr. Ron Rudd.

But, Richard, he's a sex addict.

Oh, good, an affair with a sex addict.

No, it's not an aff... He gets blow jobs from all the nurses.

Richard: How can I believe anything you say?

You lie about knowing him.

You conceal a hospice scandal, Medicare fraud.

You don't even tell me about Dawn.

She's dying, apparently. You hide all this.

Why wouldn't you have an affair?

Who are you?

You know me.

I... (stammering)

I kept some things from you because I didn't want you to think less of me, because of some lapses, but I'm still me.

Our friends are worried that you're getting removed and cold.

Well, maybe they just tell you what you want to hear...

Jenna.

...because you so frequently put that out there.

I... I just...

I find it deeply interesting that everyone that you know says that, but nobody else does.

Everyone here loves and respects me.

Dawn.

Dawn, a very important piece of information has come to my attention.

Shut up. I'm dying.

Dr. Rudd has a history of sexual perversity.

He's a confirmed sex addict. I knew it all along.

I was the one who said he was a phony.

Has he made a pass at you?

Oh my God, all the time, Pats. It's so gross.

How about you?

God, yeah. And he knows I see right through him, see all his sexual dysfunction, so he lashes out at me.

(piano playing simple, bright melody)

Mother, stop it.

Shut up, Satan!

Help!

Help! Help!

Varla, dear God!

Dr. James! Patsy!

They're breaking each other's necks!

This is gonna knock her out.

Let me in. Let me in. Okay.

(screams)

Idiot, you got in the way. Go get another needle.

Mother went into a profound past life regression.

I think she's finally clear.

(knocks on door) Didi.

Didi, you need to make a statement about me during the service.

I don't think that's appropriate.

People are here to grieve for their loved ones.

Okay, except my life really is on the line.

Now I am not kidding around. I am on the verge of a complete system collapse here.

We all only get 30 seconds, so...

But your poem from Miss Birdy gave me a great idea.

I made my statement like a poem.

And then if you give me your 30 seconds, plus mine, and if Dennis gives me his, I can fit it all in.

No, no, no. I'm gonna say the poem, I'm gonna pass out an orange, so everybody has something to remember Miss Birdy by.

Then we're going outside for the canary release.

And Leonard Butler... he's driving all the way up from San Dimas.

And that's that.

This may be the only time this many people are all together that I know before my funeral, Didi.

The answer on this one is no.

Welcome to our monthly ecumenical service for everyone who d*ed in our hospital during the last, previous full calendar month ending on the 15th.

We're gonna start with the children who passed away in the neonatal and the NIC unit.

Isn't it interesting that we have the words "widow" and "widower" for when we lose a spouse, but no word for parents who lose a child?

So please come forward, one and all, and put an ornament on our Tree of Remembrance.

It was a harmless office flirtation.

Oh, Richard, come on.

His name was Todd.

He was with us three brief days, but his little being will live in our hearts forever.

Honey, is this about you, because he's so much younger?

Man: Our daughter Megan was a real fighter.

She never cried, except when Doctor...

What I'm afraid of, Jenna, is I think you've lost a piece of your soul.

Man: ...for their love and dedication.

I am Didi Ortley, and I would like to begin the Billy Barnes segment by passing out these oranges in remembrance of a very special person.

Birdy Lamb loved oranges.

I would like for you all to partake in a memorial orange.

I'm sorry. I would like to put an ornament on the Tree of Remembrance.

I suffered a personal tragedy. I had a blighted ovum.

And I'd like to say a few words.

That ovum thing was eight months ago.

Um, I was really looking forward to my baby.

We were going to name him Todd too.

I thought it was a new beginning.

I mean, I guess it was. It was just not what I expected.

My dominos fell in a very different direction.

Thank you, Dawn, for sharing. Our hearts go out to you.

Today I am before you, likely dying of incurable kidney failure and hopefully looking for a live donor.

Didi has written a poem for Miss Birdy, and in that same spirit, "Dawn comes to work hard every day So patients get well quicker. She tends to them as best she can, But the truth is, she's so much sicker."

Didi: Okay, I'm going to sing a song now.

It's a song that Miss Birdy and I sang all the time.

She loved it from when she was a little girl in Tennessee.

Antoine.

(speaking) "California, here I come, Right back where I started from."

You never sang that song with Miss Birdy, not even once.

Someone we care for has passed. Knock it off.

Yeah, well, I am here fighting for my life right now, Didi.

"Where bowers of flowers bloom in the spring"

If anybody does decide to donate, you will be covered by my insurance, and you'll get a free pap smear and a colonoscopy.

Honey, it's okay. We have time.

Oh, no, we don't.

"Each morning at dawning birdies sing and everything."

I want to ask everyone a question.

God, Jenna, not here.

No, I'm sorry. I would like to discuss my soul with the people who know me best.

Richard.

Her husband...

Anybody?

Maybe I did get caught up in all the sh*t.

Maybe I have fallen and I can't get up.

Dr. James.

This is my turn. I am talking now.

I think I don't know who I am anymore.

I am here for a reason. I have a lot to give.

This is not about the two of you.

I deserve a kidney.

This is about Miss Birdy.

I still want a kidney!

God, fine. I will give you a kidney.

Yes, I will unselfishly give you one of my kidneys.

Are you serious?

Yes, Dawn, of course.

This has been on my mind for days.

Dennis, it's gonna be okay. I got a kidney. I got a kidney.

(scattered applause)

(door opens and closes)

So when do we release the f*cking bird?

I'm not speaking to the two of you.

I mean, I'm glad something good came out of this, but I just wanted to say goodbye to Miss Birdy. Was that too much to ask?

What is this?

You'll need to get a pass to enter.

No, that's impossible.

We work here. We have patients inside.

I'm sorry. This ward's closed.

All the patients will be discharged in 48 hours.

("California, Here I Come" playing)

♪ California, here I come ♪