Touched by an Angel

Come on. MAN 2: All right.

Lucas, leave him alone, please.

Move!

No, come on. Let's just go.

Come on. Leave him alone.

What are you still doing here?

I don't know.

It seemed like the place to come back to to ask why.

Why did it happen?

Why couldn't I stop it?

Why didn't God...

Hold it right there, Miss Wings.

We are not in the business of why.

Tess, you know, maybe I should go back

to Search and Rescue.

I was very good at that.

Swooping in, and pulling the human out of the raging river

and dropping 'em on the shore.

Or swooping by and catching the child,

just as the branch breaks,

just as the car passes,

just as the fire's about to break through, or...

Or Annunciations.

You know, I was very happy doing those.

"Fear not.

I bring you good tidings of great, great, great joy."

Oh, baby.

There is great joy.

Great joy.

But God told us

there'd be days like this too.

Days when humans behave so badly to one another,

it's all an angel can do to keep loving them.

But the good news is,

that's all we have to do.

How long you been a caseworker, baby?

Two years.

Two years.

That's like the blink of an eye.

Not even that.

It's like that itty-bitty little twitch you get

just before you think maybe you'll blink your eye.

You gotta get a couple of centuries

under your belt, Miss Wings,

before you can develop a perspective on the human race.

I don't think I could ever understand

something like this, Tess.

Something so senseless, so random.

And I'm beginning to think, you know,

maybe I wasn't the right angel for this job.

Maybe someone with more experience.

There is random violence in this world, Monica.

Because the people have a choice.

But God has a plan,

and there are no random angels.

( Slow, melancholy theme playing )

It was only two days ago.

A lifetime ago.

Have you reached a verdict, Madam Forewoman?

No, your honor. Why not?

Because one of our jurors won't make up his mind.

Don't tell me who. Let me guess.

Mr. Hawkins?

Mr. Hawkins, open your eyes.

Thank you.

Would anyone care to remind.

Mr. Hawkins here who said,

"The price of justice

is eternal vigilance"?

The price of justice is a good lawyer.

Sooner or later,

you're gonna have to make up your mind.

Do you want to build things up

or tear them down?

Court's adjourned.

Mr. Hawkins, I need to see you for a minute.

( Students chattering indistinctly )

Robbie, uh, you checked out the video camera,

but you never checked it back in.

What's going on?

It's gone, man.

It got stolen right out of my locker.

Robbie, the school board is not gonna replace that camera.

I need it back.

Like I care.

Another satisfied customer.

Hey, Phil. You know, I think Robbie Hawkins

stole our video camera.

You gonna turn him in?

Oh, I don't know.

The kid just breaks my heart.

Wow.

You went to a lot of trouble. Red, white and expensive.

Well, I had a choice: Either spend the weekend

with a beautiful girl out on the boat,

or turn my classroom into a courtroom.

It was a no-brainer.

Ah, you see?

This is why you live alone.

I do not live alone. I live with Alison.

Alison is your dog.

Uh-huh. So, what's the point?

My point is,

the kids don't care.

Why should you?

I don't know.

Come on, Alison.

Andrew,

what are you doing around here?

I just finished an assignment.

Just took home Mr. Perkins.

He's the one in the, uh...

The red house down the street.

Actually, the ambulance ought to be here soon now.

But...

It's too late? Yeah.

Oh, he is a really, really great guy.

He was so excited.

He saw the light. He started singing.

What about you?

Well, that's my assignment down there.

Mike and his dog Alison.

That's the problem with this job.

I'd like to have a dog.

Mike's a teacher.

He's one of those dedicated teachers

who just needs a little encouragement, keep going.

It ought to be a snap.

Take this from the Angel of Death:

Just when things look very, very easy,

they can get complicated really fast.

I guess that's one thing about this business.

You just...

You just never know what's around the next corner.

I mean, time could be running out,

and you wouldn't even know it.

What do you say I buy you a Frappuccino?

Sounds good. Okay.

Lucas, if you're there, answer the phone.

I really hope this means you're on your way,

'cause I hate when you leave me hanging like this.

My dad slapped me around this morning,

and if I can't hang out with you, and I can't go home,

what am I supposed to do?

Wake up.

Better not be in jail again.

Look, I know you're there.

And on your way over, will you pick up some of those donuts?

You know the ones I like, the jelly ones.

And you better hurry because they run out of 'em at 10.

Time's running out.

( Slow, melancholy theme playing )

Time was running out, wasn't it, Tess?

( Della Reese & The Verity All-Stars' "Walk With You" playing )

You went here?

Must be a lousy school.

What...

Why do you eat that crap, anyway?

Calms me down.

You wanna calm down?

Take one of these.

You think I ought to mix it with a jelly doughnut?

Just do it.

I was thinking about our tattoos.

What about 'em?

Maybe we should do it today.

All right, Mr. Hawkins,

you've had 24 hours to deliberate.

Are you ready to take a stand and cast your vote?

Are you undecided or just unconscious?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a hung jury.

That means I'm innocent.

It means that there's been a lot of time and expense wasted.

And we have to start over, except we can't,

because we have to move on to the electoral process.

While we're on the subject of wasted expense,

please take note of the new video camera.

This one is mine

because I bought it with my own money

to replace the one that was stolen.

So I'd like you all to please try

to hold on to this one, okay?

Now, this particular model loads differently than the old one.

You have to take the tape...

That's my tape.

I know, just sit down. No, but...

Candace, please have a seat.

Hello.

Come in.

Mr. O'Conner, is it? Yes.

I'm Monica, the student teacher.

The what?