Highway to Heaven

Oh, no.

- What's the matter? - Gas.

- What, we need gas? - No, we don't need gas, I got gas.

Never should have eaten that last burrito.

I don't think it was the last burrito that got you,

I think it was the two before the last one that did you in.

Cute, Jonathan, cute. I knew you wouldn't understand.

I mean, what would you know about lower back pain and gas?

- You got that, too? - Yeah, sure I got that.

- I got everything today. - Are you sure you can drive?

I knew you wouldn't understand.

Try to explain physical pain to an angel.

You know, you get thirty years of age, everything starts to go.

Boy, to be a kid again.

Youth, it's wasted on the young and they don't appreciate it.

- None of them. - I don't know.

- None of them. - Some of them do.

No, they don't. I'm telling you. And they got it all too, you know.

They got health, they got stamina, regularity.

They take it all for granted.

They don't know what's waiting for them.

What's our next assignment, anyhow?

Camp Good Times.

What... What, do you mean a kid's camp?

- That's right. - Oh, Jonathan, come on.

Give me a break, will you?

I just told you how I feel, now you tell me I gotta go to some camp,

spend time with a bunch of noisy, unappreciative, spoiled brats.

How do you know they're spoiled?

Because I know. They're all spoiled.

You think I went to camp when I was a kid?

No sirree, bob, I worked on my grandpa's farm.

I mean, I had it tough. Not like these kids today.

They don't know what tough is.

- I think these kids do. - Oh, really?

Yeah, really.

All these kids have cancer.

From the looks of these references, you fellows should do just fine.

The way these recommendations read, you two sound like angels.

Oh, that's half right.

In this precamp period, your jobs are going to be centered around

reaching those kids we really think could benefit

from the camp experience.

Talk to them, tell them about the camp, see if you can't sign them up.

How did you get started in this? Are you a social worker?

My son has cancer.

This is where they do their radiation therapy.

It doesn't hurt or anything.

And the kids don't feel it unless they have a brain tumor.

And then they get side effects: Nausea, stuff like that.

Those pen marks on the side of his face,

that shows where to localize the radiation.

He's just a baby.

Yeah.

They're all babies.

Especially when they're yours.

These are the laminar-flow units.

They're for kids who have just had bone marrow transplants

or leukemia kids who are at a high risk of infection.

Any kind of little infection can be deadly for these kids,

so they keep them in here.

There's a constant flow of air coming from the room,

so bacteria on the outside can't go in.

But at least they can keep the door open so they don't feel totally shut in.

How long do they have to spend in here?

Three, four months for most.

It can be nine months to a year for a few.

Their mother can't kiss them or anything?

No. They can't even touch them, except with gloves on.

There's a little boy down here named Curtis.

He's gonna be getting out in a couple of days.

I'd love to be able to get him to camp.

His mother needs him to go to camp as much as he does, maybe more.

What do you mean?

For the past year now, she's been in the hospital with him.

She's in here 16 hours a day.

Can't really blame her, can you?

I'd be the last person to blame anyone.

When my son first went back to school,

I used to go there three times a day

just to be sure he was still alive.

I used to take him into the shower with me

because I was scared to leave him for a few minutes

when he first got home from the hospital.

I know what she's going through

and if you guys could get him to camp,

that would be a minor miracle.

Okay.

Let's see what happens.

- -

- Hi, Betty. - Cindy.

I'd like you to meet two new counselors,

- Mark Gordon and Jonathan Smith. - Hi.

This is the sweetest nurse on the floor, Cindy Meyerson.

Cindy, would you take Jonathan and Mark upstairs?

Show them the playroom, answer any questions they might have.

Sure, I was just going that way myself.

Good. Thanks. See you guys later.

On the clinic days, when the parents bring the kids in for tests,

the kids go through their procedures

and then it can be three or four hours before they get the results.

This is kind of a nice place where they can wait and play with the kids.

Betty will tell you, when you've got a kid with cancer,

even if they're in remission, you live from one blood test to the next.

Cindy.

Yeah?

What's the kid doing with the needle and the doll?

She's administering a spinal tap.

It's kind of play therapy.

Our kids don't play with dolls in quite the same way as other kids.

I had a spinal tap once, I still remember.

Yes. She has one every month.

These kids,

they know how serious their sickness is?

Do you mean, do they know about death?

Yeah, I guess that's what I mean.

Yes, I think they do.

I don't think they're afraid of it, though.

Especially the little ones.

They're afraid of their illness.

The pain and everything.

But I don't think they're afraid of death.

How can that be?

I held two kids in my arms while they died.

You know what their last words were?

"Take care of Mommy and Daddy.

Take care of my brother and sister."

I'll wait for you outside, all right?

Cindy, I'll be right back.

Hey, you okay?

Look,

I don't think I can handle this one, you know.

I think maybe this is one assignment, maybe I should just sit out.

Well, why?

Why?

Look around you.

Look at these kids.

I can't handle it, okay?

I'll meet you in the TV room.

- Last, but not least, the play yard. - It's nice.

So that's the whole fifty-cent tour.

And I appreciate it. I think I see one of my first customers right over there.

Oh, Jason.

You won't have to sell him on camp.

Look, I have a lot of office work to do.

Jonathan, I'm really glad to have you with us.

- Thank you. - See you later.

- All right. - Bye.

- How you doing? - Hi.

- You're Jason, right? - Yeah.

My name's Jonathan.

A nurse named Cindy told me you really like camp.

You bet.

Look, my job's to go around and talk to the kids about going to camp

and I've never been there. I thought you might be able to help me.

You know, give me some ideas about stuff you liked about it.

Well, there's stuff I like about camp because it's not there.

And there's stuff I like about camp because it is there.

Well, tell me some of the stuff you like because it isn't there.

Nobody teases you.

When I'm at school, sometimes kids...

Especially this kid named Timmy.

He pulls off my cap.

You know, to see if I have any hair.

Well, lots of kids at camp don't have any hair.

And no one really cares anyway,

because everybody just wants to have fun.

What else do you like?

My best friend goes there.

He lives pretty far away, so we only see each other at camp.

That's him and me. His name's Jimmy Patterson.

He knows all kinds of neat stuff.

Looks like you guys caught a couple of big ones.

Oh, I wouldn't have caught nothing without Jimmy.

His dad goes fishing with him a lot, so he knows about that stuff.

Jimmy, he plays these real gross tricks on the girls, you know.

That's a lot of fun, too.

I don't know, it's just lots of fun.

Is there anything you don't like?

The only thing I didn't like about camp was

when it was over.

Camp's the way the whole rest of the world should be all the time.

I mean, I hate it when people feel sorry for me.

I just want to be ordinary, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah, Jason, I know.

Look, I just think this thing's a waste of time, you know?

That's not what your family doctor thinks.

Come on, it's a football injury.

I got tackled hard, I mean, big deal. That happens all the time.

All we want to do is run some tests.

If there's nothing there, there's nothing there.

Yeah, well, I don't have what these kids have, you know.

Nobody said you did.

Then why do we have to have the tests here?

It's not very pleasant being around these children.

Can't we have these tests someplace else?

Your family doctor said he wanted a specialist to look at your son.

This is where those specialists are.

That's why the tests have to be done here.