Coma

Why are they hanging?

They are suspended

by painlessly inserted rods.

The suspension allows us to tilt and

rotate the body to prevent blood pooling.

I know it may be shocking at first,

but our methods have been approved by the AMA, the CDC

and the World Health Organization.

They are covered by artificial skin

that protects them from infection and injury.

They're more comfortable than they would be

in a standard hospital setting.

If there's the least possibility of rousing, then...

the computers will notify us.

You see, they're not really alive.

But they're not dead, either.

Someone has to take care of them.

It's empty now, ma'am.

Oh, thank you, dear. There.

Will I be allowed to leave now?

What else would we do with you?

- Hey. - Hi.

What are you doing here so late?

Another coma.

At least we didn't cause this one.

What happened?

Guy tried to off himself in a running car locked in his garage.

Guess it was taking too long,

so he cut his wrist with a hacksaw.

Sliced right through the tendon.

Good chance he'll lose the hand, but he'll never know.

By they time they found him,

he was brain-dead from the exhaust.

Why is the blood so bright?

Oh, if I had to guess,

I'd say it's from the carbon monoxide.

Dr. Ramirez? Hey.

Can I ask you one more question about Nancy Greenly?

I don't think so.

Just which operating room was she in?

- The file says O.R. 3. - Then that's what it was.

No, wait.

Uh-uh, three's on the left.

No, it was one of the rooms on the right.

- Could it have been O.R. 8? - Maybe.

I don't know. It just wasn't three.

When my study is complete,

I believe we will finally be in a position for live testing.

Oh, sounds like Nobel territory.

I just want to kill dementia.

I'm looking for keen minds who can help me take this project

to the next level once the data comes in.

Unless, of course, you've chosen a different specialty.

I'm all yours.

All yours.

You've reached Susan Wheeler.

Sorry I missed you.

Leave a message, and I'll call you back. Thanks.

Susan, hey. It's Mark.

Uh, I just got in,

and I am just wondering how the Jefferson tour went,

so give me a call when you get a second.

Liza. Hi. What are you doing?

- Come inside. - No, I... I can't. Donna's in the car.

Are you okay? What's wrong?

I didn't want to leave without seeing you.

I'm driving down to Sarasota to stay with friends.

In the middle of the night? Why?

My mother won't talk about it,

but they came to the house after he died.

They took all of his papers, all of his financial records...

- Whoa, whoa. Who came to the house? - I don't know.

- Did you call the police? - My mother wouldn't let me.

- Liza, what the hell is going on? - I don't know what's happening,

but I know what happened to my dad.

Stay out of it, Mark.

He loved you.

Okay.

Excuse me, miss?

You're... you're bleeding.

- Oh. - Can I help you with it?

No. I... I didn't even feel it.

Um, thanks.

You okay, miss?

Hi. Yeah, I'm fine.

I just... cut myself on the way down the stairs.

I'm leaving now. Thanks.

Yeah, I...

Let me call you back.

We never see each other anymore.

What's the occasion?

It's a courtesy call, actually.

I didn't want you to hear this from anybody else.

I'm taking a leave of absence from teaching, actually.

But you love teaching.

That's what you are.

Yeah.

It's what makes me immortal.

Ah.

Oh, dear.

Well, these numbers aren't so good, are they?

But I suppose, if anyone can beat them, you can.

I see the lab work was done at Macon.

Should I be insulted?

No. Forrester's an old, old friend of mine,

and it's only an hour and a half away.

But you will have the surgery here.

Justin is the best oncologist.

The best.

Forrester is doing the surgery.

I know what's going on, Sam. I'm feeling it, too.

I mean, we started with her grandfather.

With her grandfather.

It's been that long, not that either of us

needs to be reminded how old we're getting.

She is like him, isn't she?

Oh, boy.

I see him every time I... I look into her eyes in class.

Anything you need.

Anything.

In less than

six months, the 607-CLW therapy

has completely altered the gene array

in three of the twelve pre-Alzheimer's patients.

Well... Ahem... That's encouraging.

But Dr. Stark's work with the Friedrick-Kane

bioengineered heart is getting even better data.

You know, it's tough selling prevention over cure.

Stark's going to fight you on this.

I need one more subject to begin the trial of the 608.

If I begin within the week,

we can publish the results simultaneously.

I thought you already had

a full complement of test subjects.

One subject, a female, proved unviable.

She was, uh, pregnant and was moved to another study.

It's not going to happen.

It has to. We are so close.

One more? You know it would require

the full committee's approval to add another subject

to your study, and Stark's backing the heart.

We're talking about preventing thousands of cases

of Alzheimer's in screened subjects.

This is the breakthrough that we've been looking for.

It's absolutely an emergency.

I heard you were all up here.

- Sorry, sir. - Uh, it's all right.

Boy, someone searched my car, and now this.

This must be some presentation.

What are you doing?

Who put pills in my car?

- Pills? - Yes, pills.

I'm sorry, doctor. I have to ask you to leave.

The ethics board, of which you are not a member, has serious...

I'm sorry, but what kind of ethical bombshell

demands a guard at the door?

He's your candidate.

This is neither the time nor the place.

Uh-huh.

We have to protect our intellectual property.

Afraid of another Dr. Taylor incident?

Is that it? Maybe we should put a guard

- at all the doctors' houses. - Mark, you are out of line.

Dr. Bellows, I'm sure your students need you.

Where is Stark anyway?

Pull!

Hell of a shot.

- Now I need to hit one. - It's simple, Bill.

You just got to know where your target's going to be

before he gets there.

It's like medicine. Pull!

If you know where medicine's going to be in five years, say,

well, then, the rewards would just

be there for the taking, wouldn't they?

We're just a little skittish about when we'll see a return.

We haven't seen much from the Alzheimer's project.

We're putting Alzheimer's on the back burner,

because I'm advancing a new study... the bio-hybrid heart.

The genetic test markers on this thing are astonishing.

It's going to be a billion dollar business right out of the...

Heart disease is where the money is.

Yeah.

Right out of the gate.

Pull!

Okay.

Oh, my God.

Mark, it's me.

I really need to see you, so can you meet me

at the university library after your shift?

Ramona,

I need the department heads in an hour.

Oh, and conference in London.

It's evening in London, sir.

Just get them for me, please.

Oh, and I need, um, uh... what's his name...

- Chad Morgan at NIH. - Right away, Dr. Stark.

Thank you. I'll wait.

Mr. Morgan's wife says he's out.

She's not sure when he'll be back.

He won't pick up at dinner, sir.