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Everybody makes choices. That's the American way. It's in the Constitution. Every schlub has a vote. You get up in the morning, you decide what to wear
what to eat
what to waste your money on. You go with what you know, which usually ain't much. What if you know what you knew before you actually knew it? If that's confusing, so is getting tomorrow's paper today. The point being, sometimes the choice is easy, and sometimes
you don't have one at all. HOLD IT. Everyone just stay where you are now. Move
Hey, what's the problem?
I gotta get through. Early Edition - The Choice. What time is it? About 8 It oughta be here by now. Don't worry it'll come. I don't see anything. That's because it never comes when you're looking. What's the big deal about today anyway? I'll tell you the big deal. I lost another $100 bucks last night and it's your fault. Mine? No one told you to bet on the Cubs. No one told me not to either. No one who knew they'd blow a 5 run lead in the 9th. I'm going broke getting rich. Come one buddy you gotta help me out here. Besides, aren't you the least bit curious of where this thing comes from, huh, how it gets here? Course I am. So. When I find out, I'll tell you. Chuck Terrific, that's perfect, you know that. The greatest boon to mankind since non-taxable income and who does it come to? A guy who buys lottery tickets and doesn't cheat; a guy who still washes his own shirts. What's wrong with that? It's been a week since this thing has been coming to you and what have you done with it? Nothing. Ok, Ok, so you saved a few lives, you stopped that bank robbery and you rescued that trailer park from the tornado. But the question is, when are you going to do something for Gar? Like what? For starters, finding a new place to live. What's wrong with this place? It's a dump. Alright, one day in the market you could buy yourself a palace, a place with a swimming pool, a yard and a satellite dish. No thanks. All I'm saying is do what ever you have to do, but then, do something for yourself. And while you're at it, something out of it for, you know me. No, I don't think it works that way. Why not? Because it just doesn't work that way. It's Friday; don't you have to go to work? No, its company picnic, last year I got ptomaine poisoning, no way I'm going back. Yes, right on time, right on schedule. A little miracle at our door, one might even venture to say a gift. So, ah, when do we open her up. Not we me and Marissa at breakfast. Oh great I'll join you, I'm starving. You're not invited. Alright I'll tell you what, give me the sports pages and I'll be on my way. Nope What about the front page? Come on, just a peak at the front page. Sorry. Oh great, the cat you give milk to, me you give nothing. Come on Gar, just throw me a bone, give me the horoscopes. or the funny pages. Shut the door when you leave. how about the soap opera listings, I can work with that. The obituaries, I love the obits
.Gar. Hope it's sour. Good morning Not today, congestion. I think must be conventions or something. Gary? Marcia Hi. What are you doing here? Well, I heard this is where you live
. I mean now that you
don't live with you, yeah. It's nice Oh yeah. So how are you? Oh, well you know, getting a divorce, but I think you knew that. Anyway, I was, um, cleaning out the house
I'm, I'm moving you know, it's a little big now and, anyway I just found something of yours. Something you didn't throw out of the window? This book, Lost Chicago It was up on the bookshelf behind some other books. I've never seen that before in my life. Well, it has you name in it. It's probably from an old girlfriend or something. Anyway, here you are. Thanks Guess I'm going to have to walk, all this traffic I'm not going to get a cab. Yeah. Hey! Want to watch where you're going. Sorry, I didn't see you. Yeah, well it's a city Pal. Sidewalks people. I said I was sorry. Try keeping your eyes open. She gets sideswiped by a car, a hit and run. Does it say what time? Around 1:00,someone calls 911 but the ambulance gets tied up in the traffic, they radio back, but the call gets lost in the shuffle. Right through the cracks So before anyone realizes it, it's too late. She dies at Columbia General Hospital of internal injuries. Amanda Bailey, age 6. Marissa: So, what are you going to do? Do I have a choice? Well, lets see
you could go to the movies instead or buy some popcorn and feed the pigeons. You get a real kick out of this don't you? Kind of, don't you? No I don't. What would you rather be doing? Have a life, a real life
Boring.
and a job So get one. Oh, sure, I'll do that this afternoon when I have some free time. You just won't give into this will you? You know Gary; there are so many people in this world that would be thrilled to have an opportunity like yours. Gary: Yeah, like who? Ok, Here's the deal, I just got off the phone with my ***. He's willing to lay me 3:1 odds the Mets over the Cubs ,what do you say. Come on, just give me a hint, I'll give half the money to charity. Chuck I'm not giving you the score. atta a way. Mind you own rump. I'm also not going to let this paper run my life. I may not be able to stop it from coming, but I can damn well choose what it makes me do. Oh my God! This is bad. What the traffic? The headline changed. Gary, what is it? This wasn't here before. Yeah well it is now big guy. Global Airlines flight 29 bound for Miami went down in flames yesterday afternoon shortly after take off from Chicago. The plane, filled with tourist on their way to the Florida sun, disappeared from radar screens at exactly 2:00, just seconds after lifting from the runway. The passenger list included prominent business men, ordinary families and at least one child traveling alone, plus a flight crew of Airline officials suspect a flock of birds in the area may have fouled the engines, causing the jet to plunge from the sky By late afternoon, rescue workers were still combing the wreckage, desperately searching for signs of life. But little hope was held out for any of the nearly 200 souls on board. So, what'll it be? Huh? Have you made your choice? When does this thing happen? Good, we can make it to the airport by then. And then what? You'll think of something. Thanks Holy cow, look at this. Jeez, what's going on, is the Pope in town? Chuck, find us a cab, OK? What I look like, a doorman? Well I wouldn't be surprised. YO TAXI. How come it's me who has to come up with the explanation? Why don't they just publish it in here? Well, then you wouldn't feel needed. Hey over here. You owe me big pal Excuse me. What are you doing? Columbia General what are you doing!? Hey! What's your problem? What's my problem?! This is my cab. I don't think so; I think it's his Ah, ha, ha, I see a comedian. no, surgeon Oh, yeah, well I wouldn't let you operate on my coccyx. Now get out, I had it first. congratulations, what are you a doorman? Alright, look, guy, truth is, it's not for me, Ok, it's for her, and she's
Surgeon: blind Bunions, a severe case. Aha, tell her to stay off her feet. HEY! GET OUT OF THE HACK NOW! Chuck, Chuck. Look we need this cab. why? Well, it's a matter of life and death, that's why. really? really Call an ambulance. Columbia General. Hey! Hey!, Whatever happened to common courtesy, I hope you cut yourself. Chuck I need a quarter. Me? I'm out. - Yes, I need the number for Global Airlines. Here, I want it back. This ought to be good. What are you going to tell them, there's birds on the runway? Hey why don't you ask them for tomorrow's Cubs scores while you're at it? Well that's helpful. Tell them we're from the FAA and we need to make a spot check and that way they have to ground all the airplanes. Welcome to Global Airlines Yes I have some information about flight 29 push 1 for general information, All circuits are busy, please try again. Circuits are busy. Stupid machine. They never should have broken up ma bell. Ok, so what do we do now? Excuse me, Detective Tagliatti please. Who? Detective Tagliatti. Her office is right down there. Not any more. What? Busted to foot patrol. She swallowed some story by some nut who claimed he could see the future, didn't sit well with the boss. If I may, a suggestion. Do not mention the paper. He has to mention the paper how else are they going to believe him? An anonymous note, tied to a rock. Crude but effective. Brilliant. Thank you. You there. You want to lodge a complaint? Uh Yes we are. Who are you filing against? Global Airlines, they stole our luggage. You mean they lost it. No, they stole it. Grand theft luggage. Desk Sergeant: And what exactly do you want us to do about it. Simple, ground that 2:00 flight. Those bags could be on it. She serious? Some would think so. Yes. You guys figure it out ok. Look, forget that, this is an emergency. naturally Look, alright listen, I need to speak to the guy in charge. No you don't Yes I do. Believe me you don't. Yes I do, listen I gotta speak to him, now. Suit yourself. ahem, Detective Crumb? What? There's someone here to see you. You! What the hell is he doing here? Desk Sergeant: He has a problem. Crumb: What kind of problem? Desk Sergeant: There's a plane full of luggage. Luggage? It's gonna crash. When? Well that would be 2:00 when, today, tomorrow, a year from now? look Detective I
No you look, you see this grey hair, this is you. Thanks to your little stunt last week half my staff is gone. Not Now! and now you want me to swallow some half-***, crab brain story about a plane full of luggage. Yes
except there is no luggage. So, what do you want me to do? Take him out back and shoot him. Proceed. I hope he cuts himself shaving; nice long deep cut, ear to ear. Told you it was a waste of time. What are we gonna do now? Don't panic, we can still make it by 2:00. How we gonna get there? Simple, we'll hop on the L. - Hey wait. - Hold it, stop. AWW! what time's the next train? Every 5 minutes
.. when they're running on time. What about today? Could be up to a half hour. This is crazy, running around in circles, what the hell is going on? Decay in the infrastructure Thanks Maybe it's trying to tell you something. It? The paper Like what? Like buy a helicopter, my feet are killing me. That's not what I mean. I mean maybe there's a way to stop that plane without actually being there. Why don't you send them one of those telepathic brain waves? Well that's brilliant. I thought so You would think so. That's because you
. Oh, here comes another one. Come on let's go. Alright Gary, come on, lets go. Gar, it's waiting for us. Gar, Gar, get on the train! I can't We have to go. Now! Hey, hold it! Gary, Gary what are you doing? AMANDA, AMANDA AMANDA NO! NO! What happened, she alright? Somebody do something, help her. Amanda
. Amanda. What happened? You were in an accident honey. Uh oh, anyone hurt? Well
It was a new bike; my dad got it for me. Do I know you? No, not exactly. But you know me? Kinda I got it. She needs help. Bystander: Yea, I just called 911 they'll be here right away. No they won't, they're not going to make it here in time. Bystander: What do you mean its 911? Listen she needs to get to a hospital now. Me, I'm not moving her, she could be hurt. Listen I don't have time to explain, I gotta be somewhere, you gotta get her to the emergency room. Bystander: Oh no, your supposed to leave the victim right there, don't you ever watch Chicago Hope? Crowd: Agrees with bystander Excuse me Hey! How you feeling honey? My arm hurts. U hu. Is that bad? Nah Truth? We'll have to see OK. What time is it now? You just asked me that. I know, you're right, now I'm asking again. eleven after one Good, we can still make it to the airport. Yeah, and then what? And then we stop the plane. Uh hu, how we gonna do that? I don't know but we're gonna. That's it, that's you plan? I don't know but we're gonna, great. We need some help here
.. we need some help Yeah, you're telling me. You know where you are? In the hospital. You're going to be just fine. Take her to registration. Need a med tech here
what is going on here today? Listen
Excuse me; she's been in an accident. Name? Bailey, Amanda Bailey Address? I don't know the address Are you the father? No, listen can we do this later? She needs to see someone right away. How you doing honey? My arm hurts Well, we'll be sure to fix that. It's not just her arm; there's something more serious than that You're a doctor? no I'm not Not the doctor, not the father. Listen I know what's going on if you could
have a seat over there If you could just
Someone will be with your right away. Don't worry, things will work out. What? It's a hospital, they'll fix everything Just say there's a bomb What? That way they'll delay the flight in the time that it takes
. Chuck: Let me just stop you there ok, you're out of your mind. Marissa: Why? Why? Newsflash, there is only one reason to give an airline a bomb threat, that is when there is an actual bomb on the plane, otherwise they tend to overreact, like put you in prison, like forever. I get it Good No guts excuse me? You heard me. It's ok to use the newspaper to cash in on the stock market but when it comes
Alright, you know what I resent that You do, do you? Yes I do, just because I have a halfway practical view of the universe. and you
. you still believe in the tooth fairy. Coward Why don't you go polish some crystals? Capitalist Pig I just don't understand why WE have to do it? Because Gary can't be there and we can. Oh no. Attention, we have been advised there has been an unexplained power failure in this area of the city. Oh, I wish I could see Wrigley Field from here. Voice on train speaker: Attention, do not attempt to evacuate the train. Gary: Excuse me can we get a doctor here? I'm sorry we're doing the best we can You have to be somewhere don't you? What? Someone else to save? What makes you say that? Amanda Bailey She was in an accident? hit and run, she was on a bicycle you know
where am I going to put her? No 3. There's somebody in No. 3 Anywhere you can find then Anyway, she was on her bicycle and Hurt your arm did ya? No it's not her arm, there's something else. I explained all this at the front desk Well if there is something else there we will find it Look maybe there's a doctor, someone I can talk to, someone who knows what's going on around here? Listen I'm sorry sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. Ira. How's that? It says there that you are not her father. Oh no, I'm not leaving this room until
. Listen we really need you out here. Look, you have done everything you could, you got her here, there's nothing more you can do, go on with you life. and Gino let's get started looking for this girls folks. Listen kiddo, I gotta get going. Promise you'll come back Yeah, I promise I'll be brave Alright, you be brave. I hope they made it. Everybody off the train please, come on folks move it along. Excuse me; we need to get to the airport. Good luck lady, power's out in this whole part of the city, nothing's coming this stretch. Then how are we supposed to get there? Take a cab. Move it along, move it along. Our tax dollars at work. Now what'll we do? Guess we gotta find Gary. Where to? Airport, I got 40 minutes. Just drive the cab hospital neglect? Where is she? You again? Where is she? Gino, the little girl that was in 7, what happened? They moved her till they could find the parents. Moved her where? Beats me Did they look at her head? Nurse: She's been examined. Did they look at her head? Sir, I'm sorry you just can't go wandering
Sir Doctor, Doctor. Well, well Oh, boy. Mr. Life and death, what brings you to our humble establishment? Look, I'm sorry about the cab this morning, but I need your help. You got a little girl here who's not getting the right treatment. She's been examined. Then everything's been taken care of No everything hasn't been taken care of, they looked at her arm they missed what was wrong. And your medical training would be? None, and that's why your going to find her. Sorry, that's not my job. You're a doctor. Wrong, I'm a surgeon, not a detective, not a short-order cook. If you need an appointment, please call my office, otherwise, I'm due in surgery. this is my appointment, something needs to be done and you're gonna do it. You're right and I will. Come on guys this isn't necessary. Don't you have anything better to be doing? Thanks! Gar, what are you doing, taking a nap? Gary: What are you doing here? It said in the paper she was at Columbia General Hospital. No, did you get to the airport Did you stop the plane? Not even close, we couldn't get near the place. We tried everything
it's like something didn't want us to get there. Then it's still going down. We couldn't get there maybe we're not supposed to, but you can. No, I gotta get back in there. Marissa: Look Gary there's 190
No I gotta get back in there, there's a little girl in there that trusts me and I made her a promise How'm I doing? Doing great. Uh oh, I think we have a problem, big guy 12:00- go Ohhh noooo, I'm sick Help! Help! What the hell is going on here? My husband, he's sick Ohhhhhh I'm sick Very I'm dying, ohhhh Don't push it. What's going on here? It's
his stomach my head
.his head
stomach. Hurts all over, It's a virus; did you see the movie Outbreak? My face is going to turn into putty. Get him out of here before he starts a riot. Thank you Nurse, where do you want me to take him? Nurse: Tell someone to order him an upper and lower GI and give him a *** What! been on the links lately? shot a 71 on the links at Bilmar yesterday. Hi Excuse me, that's Doctor Connelly's locker. Oh yeah, I know, he asked me to find something for him. And what would that be? His glass eye Amanda. Amanda you came back. Yeah Did you save the world? How ya feeling? Cold Come on Honey, we're gonna go for a little ride Doctor, you need some help with that? No thanks Why don't you let us do that for you? Can't, incarcerated petunia What did he say? Ok, another day, another dollar. Turn the music off will you; let's get Mr. what's his name up to post op. Okay, let's talk Listen Mister, you gotta get out of her right now! No I said we're gonna talk. This little girl's name is Amanda Bailey, she is 6 year old. She doesn't like orange juice but she'll drink it. She can curl her tongue up and spit between her two front teeth. Her favorite teacher is Miss Pideli who teaches pottery at school, she likes to get the clay on her fingertips. You've got two options, you can pretend this girl is just another name or you can save her life. What's your choice? You're a very persistent man Mr. Life and Death! Yes I am You could go to jail for this. Just look at the girl Gary: not the chart look at the girl! Surgeon: And what would I be looking for? It's called
I don't know what it's called. Your unconscious and then your Okay, it's a doma, doma.. uh Epidural hematoma That's it Let's get a head CT stat, then prep her just in case. Skip the paperwork; we need to move on this now. And don't let me hear she got left in some hallway! anything else? Yeah, can you get me to the airport in half-an-hour? I'm a surgeon, not a taxi service! It's important huh? Oh yeah Doctor So is this. This yours? Gary: What's the date? Today No Take her down to the second floor. yes Sir Piece of cake.
.. pretty close thing though, few more minutes and we'd of had some explaining to do. I sound like a bureaucrat don't I. Look, um
I won't pretend that I understand what is going on with you. Something tells me I don't even want to know. But I get the feeling we're both in the same kind of business
.saving lives. Thing is one of us hasn't been doing his job. Not that I'm very good at saying thanks
. but, there it is. You saved more than one life today. No, no I didn't But you tried And I failed Maybe, Maybe not. It's what you said; this is what you had to do. And that makes it alright? You're only one guy Gary. Marissa, that plane went down today and I should have been there, me not anyone else, but me! no you shouldn't Why!? Cause you couldn't. You can't do it all Gary; the world doesn't turn that way. Sometimes you need
Excuse me; I'm looking for the recovery room! It's down there Honey, I got here as fast as I could. Gary Wait She should be waking up soon, Doctor says she's going to be fine. I heard they had trouble finding you. I was almost in Miami. I was on the runway when they radioed, halfway through my take off roll, ten second later and I would have been in the air. I guess I was lucky; I'd of never forgiven myself for not being here. Mom, Dad. Hey Amanda I broke my bike it's okay, it's okay. I'll get you a new bike You're going to be fine You know what, I think in the next scene; Sami is going to find Carrie in bed with Austin and leave him flat. Anybody want to make a little wager, a little bet. Woman sitting next to Chuck: Oh I'm in it for ten Chuck: ten bucks, why don't you make it twenty? okey dokey alright twenty bucks. Anybody else, you young lady down at the end, you look like a gambling woman. where is it! What? The paper Shhh, can't you see these ladies are dilating, this man has zero sensitivity Gar, come on now, you owe me. I bent over backwards for you. Look Like the man said- I think it was me. Everybody makes choices. Cab mister? Hey, cab, cabbie? No, I think I'll walk thanks. Some you make because you want to. Say Abe Lincoln for President, no brainer. 'Sorry, you lost again. Yep Mostly though, it's a matter of guess work, going with your gut. I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Hobson, but I wanted to tell you I left that book on your table. I found it in the trash downstairs. It's *** the nerves. Really all you can do is give it a shot, and hope to God it turns out alright.