Touched by an Angel (1994) s03e20 Episode Script
Amazing Grace (2)
MONICA: Previously on Touched By An Angel God wants Josh to come with me.
What? This is Monica.
She's an angel in need of help.
A funny thing happened on the way to my assignment.
You got a problem? Would you mind taking us with you to Denver? Man, I don't believe this place.
What does it look like? I think the word is godforsaken.
Beverly Hills, Tonya.
That white boy might as well be from another planet.
You the new landlord? You're not going to be lord of this land very long, are you? Those damn Koreans been keeping a gun in that box.
People don't like their free expression whitewashed.
White boy just pulled up in a red Cadillac.
Notice anybody suspicious out there when you came in? (GUN FIRING) Josh, get down! (SCREAMING) â« When you walk down the road â« Heavy burden, heavy load â« I will rise and I will walk with you â« I'll walk with you till the sun don't even shine â« Walk with you, every time â« I'll tell you I'll walk with you â« Walk with you â« Believe me I'll walk with you â« (TIRES SCREECHING) (SHOUTING) (GROANS) Somebody help us! Call 911.
The children.
Come here.
Oh, my Oh, God.
(GROANING) Anderson? Anderson? Hey, buddy.
Oh, no.
Oh, God.
SERENA: Call 911! I'm so sorry.
Sorry, I didn't know, man.
I didn't know.
Looks like you had a 45 in there after all, huh? (AMBULANCE SIREN BLARING) (SHOUTING) 911! TESS: Mr.
Greene.
Where's Josh? Get your family together.
Your son needs you.
(ER STAFF CHATTERING) Did you get a look at the driver? No, I barely got a look at the car.
It all happened so fast.
How many shots? Yeah, I don't know.
Chanice and Calvin are with us, yeah.
No, she and Josh are still in surgery.
Anderson's out.
Yeah, but it's touch and go.
Look, I'll be there as soon as I know everybody's out of danger, okay? Just handle it for me.
Yeah.
Thanks.
When's Grandma coming out? Soon.
Excuse me.
We're Mr.
and Mrs.
Greene.
Our son Josh is here.
We've been trying to contact you.
We need some information.
How is Josh? He's in surgery.
Mr.
Greene, we need a copy of your insurance card, please.
Could you tell us about our son, please? What happened? Gunshot wounds.
NURSE: Drive-by shooting.
(SOBBING) Where was he hit? Please, take a seat and fill out the form.
NURSE: The attending surgeon will answer all your questions.
Good luck, man.
We've been here for six hours and they still won't tell us nothing about my grandma.
HATTIE: Did I hear them say that Josh had been shot? Yes, ma'am.
(CLAIRE SOBBING) I thought angels were supposed to help people.
We are and we do, but every once in a while people have to help angels.
Huh? Come with me.
(TONYA HUMMING) Go to her.
She needs you.
But I'm just a kid.
Tell her what's on your mind, and when she answers your questions, she'll answer a few of her own.
Go on, baby.
Go on.
Those are the footsteps of a little boy.
You're the angel that took away my mum.
Are you going to take away Josh, too? I'm not sure what's going to happen to Josh.
How can you be an angel and not know what's gonna happen? You can be an angel and not know a lot of things.
Something's wrong with you, huh? I can't see.
I'm blind.
Angels can't go blind.
Yep, you're blind all right.
I knew bad things could happen to people, but I didn't know bad things could happen to angels.
Bad things can even happen to God.
Every time one of his children gets hurt or every time one of his children is sad, or every time one of his children turns their back on him, God suffers, too.
Well, why does he let that stuff happen? Because he loves us so much he gives us freedom, for humans, and for angels, too.
Is this making any sense to you at all? I think.
I'm getting a headache.
That's usually a good sign.
I still don't get why he made you go blind.
I don't know that, either, but God knows what he's doing.
He always does.
Sometimes that's the hardest thing to see of all.
My headache's spreading.
TESS: That's all right, Nathaniel.
I think Monica's is finally starting to go away.
Thank you.
Well, better get back.
Tess, before Nathaniel came along, I was sitting here thinking that, if I had my sight, I could've seen who was black and who was white, and maybe I could've done something to stop all this.
Miss Wings, your job is not to observe differences in skin colour.
It's to make people blind to them.
(TONYA AND QUEENIE SINGING HYMN IN HALLWAY) Tess, where am I? Josh's room.
You needed to be here, honey, when he came back from surgery.
Such beautiful voices.
Yes.
There just aren't enough of them yet.
(HUMMING) Those ladies know where they are? (BOTH SINGING A HYMN) I can't fault them.
Yeah, well, I can.
This isn't a church, a theatre, or a park.
(SINGING) Ladies, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but this is a hospital.
There's sick people in here and they need quiet.
Excuse us.
Well, you know, we all deal with our grief the best way we know how.
We didn't mean to bother nobody.
Well, you didn't.
It was inspiring.
At least it gave a little hope to the rest of us, and anybody else in this hospital who happened to hear it.
RUSSELL: I am sorry.
Our son is in here, and we're waiting to see how he is, and I just I beg your pardon.
My apologies.
Is anyone in here for Josh Greene? Yeah.
I'm his mother.
Okay, Josh is out of surgery and we're trying to keep him stable.
Is he gonna be all right? We're monitoring his condition.
We'll keep you informed if there's any change.
Can I see him? Soon.
Very soon.
Where's my grandma? Oh, that's Miss Harding.
She's my grandmother, too.
Are your parents here? They live with their grandmother.
I'm the family doctor, Dr.
Hall.
I run the neighbourhood family clinic.
Okay, Mrs.
Harding didn't survive the surgery.
DOCTOR: I'm very sorry about your grandmother.
Oh, no.
(QUEENIE GROANS) Where's Grandma? Where's my grandma? Come here, sweetie.
(GROANING) (SOBBING) QUEENIE: Oh, no.
Monica? I'm right here.
Don't talk.
Try and get some rest.
I'm still alive, right? Yes, very much alive.
Did you ever find out why God made you blind? I'm starting to, more and more.
Find out, okay? (HEART MONITOR BEEPING) So you can tell me why he made me blind.
Thanks for being a donor, Mr.
Greene.
Thank you.
No, thank you.
It's the least I can do.
Now, take it easy for a few minutes, then go back out to the lobby when you're ready.
Listen, my son just got out of surgery and they are still holding us out there in that lobby.
ANDERSON: Incoming.
Incoming.
We got to evac I know that man.
Incoming! Incoming! We got to evacuate.
Hey, Lieutenant, just calm down now.
We got to evac Now, these people are trying to help you.
You better give me a pos in 10 seconds or I'm out of here.
(GRUNTING) Negative C1.
Negative C1.
We gotta evac! We gotta evac! Zero, zero, niner, zero.
We gotta evac! We gotta evac! All right, you're 03.
You're on the ground.
NURSE: There's enough drugs in here to knock out an elephant.
ANDERSON: Ow, ow, ow.
All right.
All right.
Easy.
Thanks for helping out with your friend.
Well, we were in the service together, but we weren't exactly friends.
What happened to him? He was in the shooting, the one your son was in.
CLAIRE: You knew him? Lieutenant Anderson Walker.
He was a sea wolf.
He must've flown us on half a dozen missions.
We hated each other.
I mean, hated each other.
He had no business being an officer.
He was one angry man.
So were you.
What are the odds of this happening? A million-to-one? A hundred million-to-one? Only I've stopped believing in coincidence ever since those angels came into our lives.
Yeah, me, too.
Where's Mom? The kids were hungry.
(BANGING) Oh, you just had to be the big man, huh? Michael's the landlord, Serena.
And when did you slither in, Pacheco? All I'm saying is that any improvements done on the property were within his rights.
People are dying here, and the lawyer's talking about rights.
What is with you, lady? I'm the bad guy for trying to clean graffiti off the walls? Trying to make this place better? Or doesn't it count because I'm white? You don't make things better by whitewashing them, Michael.
You make changes the way Mary did with her life.
What were you thinking? I just took it for granted that maybe cleaning the walls would make this place a better That's the problem.
It's not that you're white and we're black.
You take everything for granted, and we can't because we get everything taken away too easily.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Greene? Yes? You can see your son now, but I have to warn you, there's been a complication.
Josh is experiencing blindness.
We're not sure if it's permanent or temporary.
We're gonna have to do some additional testing.
Take us to him.
Why did God let this happen? God did not send Josh here to lose his sight.
Then why didn't he stop it? The shooting, the blindness, the death.
He could have stopped it.
But he can heal it, baby.
He can make the darkness go away, and he will.
He will, in his own time.
Just trust him.
That's all you got to do.
Just trust him.
(SIGHS) He's sedated.
You'll only be able to stay a short time.
(HEART MONITOR BEEPING) I love you.
You're gonna be just fine, son.
Just fine.
Oh, I know you.
Good.
Red Cadillac.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
What's a white boy like you riding around in that part of town in a red Cadillac? Same thing I'm doing here.
Checking up on you.
Uh-huh.
The car's not mine, though.
It belongs to a friend of mine.
Nice car, man.
Yeah.
Yeah, I gotta take you for a ride in it someday.
Not not too soon though, I hope.
Am I hallucinating, or you are you really there? I'm here.
I don't have to be.
It's up to you.
(GROANS) I been taking too many pain killers.
NURSE SPEAKING ON PA: Engineering unit to third floor nurse's station.
Hey! JOSH: Mama? JOSH: Daddy? Yeah, we're all here, son.
Sure gave us a scare.
How you feeling? Sore, and Yeah, we know.
Is everybody else okay? Anderson Walker was shot.
He's alive.
But an older woman, Mary, I think, she didn't make it, honey.
Excuse me.
This young man has a date with the radiologist.
I'll have him back to you in a couple hours.
No, I'd like to come with him.
How's Anderson doing now? Well, there's no reason why he shouldn't be doing just fine, but some people want to live and some people don't.
If he doesn't get some fight in him, he's not gonna make it.
JOSH: Dinah? Miss you, Josh.
Never thought I'd hear you say that.
Well, I'll take it back as soon as you're out of the hospital and making my life miserable again.
I'm right here.
Daddy? Yeah, son.
Yeah? You've gotta go to that shopping center.
JOSH: There's a little girl there named Chanice.
There's something wrong with her.
It's her hearing, I think.
I should've said something earlier, but I didn't.
That's okay, son.
No, it's not.
Promise me you'll help her.
Take her to the doctor there, Dr.
Hall.
I'll go over there right now.
(CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO) (CAR DOOR SLAMS) I need to understand what happened here.
Me, too.
There's something else.
Something my son wanted me to take care of.
What? SERENA: Well, we'll have to have her hearing tested to confirm it, but, uh, there is some damage.
There's scaring around her ear drum.
Please thank your son for picking up on that.
Any idea what caused it? Chronic infections to the inner ear, usually caused by colds or fever.
If the infection goes untreated, it can eat away at the bones in the middle ear.
How could they let something like this happen? SERENA: They? There is no they.
There used to be a she, but she got shot down in your parking lot yesterday.
I know that may be a rarity in the white world, but it's a very popular way of dying out here, Michael.
Mary worked hard every day to take care of her grandkids, and to pay the damn rent that your family wanted for that sandwich shop.
How dare you waltz in here and self-righteously ask us, "Oh, how could they let that happen?" We don't need you to solve our problems.
We are doing the best we can down here, Michael.
How about you? You're not the Great White Hope.
You're not the master of a plantation here.
You're right.
I'm sorry.
This was a big mistake.
You know, you're only one person.
You can't do everything.
This wasn't your fault.
But I should've picked up on this.
This baby's here all the time, you know.
I could've done something.
Well, I think you are doing something.
Both of you.
I just wonder if you could do it without scaring this little girl to death.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, God, I'm sorry.
I want my grandma back.
SERENA: Oh, I want her back, too, honey.
All I wanted to do was just take back the wall.
My job was to sell this place.
That's it.
Just fix it up and sell it.
ANDREW: That's where Josh fell.
What are we doing here, Andrew? And why was my son shot alongside a man I hoped I'd never see again? That man that you hoped you'd never see again saved your son's life, Russell.
He dove on top of him.
And right now, he's lying in a hospital bed flat on his back, counting those little holes in the ceiling tiles, waiting to die.
He's lost his fight.
And in this little corner of the world, they can use all the fighters they can get.
(SIGHING) I was hoping it was a bad dream.
I keep hoping this whole thing's a bad dream.
How you doing? I've had a bullet in my gut before.
Yeah, I was there for that one, bleeding from a wound of my own.
You could've left me there.
Yeah, I wanted to.
Didn't believe you then, don't believe you now.
Greene, you're redneck, honky, white trash.
Everything I hate.
Well, that boy you saved yesterday I didn't save anyone.
My son.
Your son? Josh? How's he doing? He's lost his sight.
They don't know for how long.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Hey, hey, look, look, I'm feeling a little tired.
I think you should go.
And, what, you got great plans to leave here in a body bag? Is that it? Hey, man, it's much more dignified than the way I been living my life.
We're all supposed to go sometime.
Why not now? Because God wants you to live.
An angel told me so.
Oh, man.
Why don't you call one of them pretty nurses in here? I don't want your face to be the last thing I remember.
No.
I'm gonna say this, and you're gonna hear me out.
Yeah, right.
Where's, where's that cord? Ow.
There are angels.
Now, I know it sounds crazy, but there's two of them right here in this hospital and they are all around us.
Man, come on.
And there's another one that they don't want you to meet.
(SIGHS) Young fellow, blonde-haired, real good-looking.
I saw him in Vietnam, and I saw him just this morning at that wall, and wherever he goes, people die.
I did see him.
He was there.
The Angel of Death.
He took Mary Harding home.
Took her back to God.
Mary? She didn't get hit.
It was just me and Josh.
Oh, my God.
Who's gonna take care of those grandchildren? Nobody knows.
Now, this is your time, Walker.
Now, the best quality you ever had was being a mean son of a gun.
So why don't you get angry, huh? Come on, get angry.
I know you can get angry.
I've seen you do it.
Get up off this bed and fight.
NURSE SPEAKING ON PA: Engineering unit to third floor nurse's station.
Engineering unit to third floor nurse's station, please.
So, what are they saying? Am I going to see again or not? Only time will tell, honey.
The doctor said a full recovery is possible, I believe that, but the important thing is that you believe it, too.
I'll try.
Have faith.
God has taken you this far down the road.
He won't abandon you now.
I know he won't.
I need to be alone, okay? All right.
NURSE SPEAKING ON PA: Dr.
Savage to Obstetrics.
Dr.
Savage to Obstetrics.
RUSSELL: Okay, we'll, uh We'll come back a little later.
(SIREN BLARING) I made a bet with Tonya you wouldn't last a week.
Thank you.
Well, I cheated.
My sister's husband's got a cousin who fixes those copy machines out in Beverly Hills, California.
Your grandfather's office copier breaks down all the time.
I've heard all about Mr.
Landlord and his wayward grandson.
So I got the inside track on you.
Never bet on a horse you ain't seen run.
Famous words from my ex-husband.
Well, I sure ran, didn't I? Honey, when the bullets start flying, everybody runs.
If I had a rich granddaddy, I suppose I'd hurry back to him, too.
You know, I don't like your music too much.
What, is this supposed to be a pep talk or something? Oh, now, wait a minute.
Hold on.
What I'm trying to say is, music is your real dream.
Have I got that right? You're pretending to be this big businessman to keep your family out of your hair, but music is your thing, right? I got a dream.
I'm saving money to open up a spa.
Put green mud on ladies' faces and charge them 50 bucks.
Now, sometimes, just when I think I'm getting ahead, something happens.
Say, my rent gets raised.
But I press on, Michael, because it's something I just gotta do.
And running out there like that yesterday to protect you and Josh was something Anderson had to do.
You couldn't have talked him out of that.
You can't let anybody talk you out of anything that's inside of you.
The point is, Mary would still be alive today if I wasn't so naive.
I don't belong here.
Nobody belongs here, but since all of us are still here, well, we spend some time talking about our dreams, and it kind of makes us feel like family.
Sure does.
Now, you know, if I lose this bet, I gotta go to church for six Sundays.
Hell, I guess it's not that bad.
Anyway, I'm giving up all that astrology stuff, you can bet that.
Last Friday, it said a stranger would be showing up here.
But, you know, all week long, I never saw a stranger, Michael.
Maybe the stars do control our lives, but you know what I want to know? I want to know who controls those stars.
Maybe that's who we all need to be talking to now.
MONICA: She's right, you know, Michael.
Monica? The one who controls the stars, it's God, and he controls the sun and the moon and the heavens.
But he doesn't control our lives, and he doesn't control our hearts.
They belong to us, and he will speak to them only if we ask him.
If we wait and watch and listen.
I'm really kind of frightened right now.
I don't know I don't know why.
Don't be afraid, Michael.
I am an angel sent by God.
He He's taken away my sight for a while so that my heart can become a better listener.
So that I may teach you and Josh to become better listeners.
And do you know what I hear, Michael? I hear how beautiful you are, and how much you want to belong to a family, any family, and I hear how you finally have found one.
MICHAEL: Why? Why why would God send me an angel? What about them out there? Those those people.
God, they deserve angels.
They're the people getting shot, people trying to survive, not me.
Not me.
No one is ever without an angel when they need one most.
This is your time, Michael.
Listen to me.
God loves you, and he knows how lost you have felt, and he knows how alone you have been, and he knows that if you walk out of here today, you will be alone once more.
But if you stay, Michael, you can ask him for direction right here, right now, and he will put you on a new road.
And it may not be easy, but it will be a worthy journey that matters, and it will last for the rest of your life.
Will you ask him, Michael? Will you? Do you think he'll answer me? I promise.
(SIGHS) College? That's right.
I'm gonna kick your butt all the way to graduation, too.
That's what Mary would've wanted, that's what Mary's going to get.
But how am I gonna pay for college, making sandwiches? I make a pretty good one.
I got a good name for a sandwich.
What's that, baby? The Grandma.
Permission to come aboard? Denied.
Yeah, right.
You never did give me an ounce of respect, did you? Boy, you know, Walker, you look very nearly alive.
Don't rub it in.
How's your boy? Beginning to get up and around.
He wants to come to the funeral.
MICHAEL: So do I.
Now, why don't you sell that place so you can get I have a proposition for you.
Kind of an inspiration, really.
Oh, yeah? You been talking to them angels? (HYMNS PLAYING IN CHURCH) Where's Daddy? He's gonna meet us here.
He had to run an errand.
We weep today, for we have lost a good friend.
Yes.
The the violence of this world has taken our sister away from us, and yet we can still rejoice today.
(ALL MURMURING IN AGREEMENT) That's right.
REVEREND: We rejoice because we know that even though our beloved Mary is absent from the body REVEREND: Is today, right now, present with the Lord.
(PARISHIONERS CHEERING) Afternoon.
Hi.
I know you probably don't feel like talking to me right now, but I suppose you're leaving.
No, actually, I came to give you this.
Goodman Heating and Plumbing.
Everything's fixed.
Anything else, you just let me know.
I'll be here.
Okay.
You get everything? Yep, got it all.
Good afternoon, sir.
Easy does it.
Thanks.
But the thing I'm going to remember most about Mary is her dignity.
Didn't matter what she was doing, whether she was talking politics or throwing out the garbage, she did it with dignity.
That's right.
WOMAN: Yes, she was.
Yes, she was.
MAN: Yeah.
So sorry.
Good woman.
So sorry.
If you need anything, come to me.
WOMAN: Bless you.
My grandma was the best woman who ever lived.
CALVIN: She worked hard, and yelled at me to go to school.
(MURMURING IN AGREEMENT) She always told me that you can't change the world all at once.
You gotta change it one life at a time.
All I could say is, she sure changed mine.
And I just want to say, I'm gonna try my best to make sure it was worth it.
That's right.
Amen.
Amen.
Is that all? (HARMONICA PLAYING AMAZING GRACE) Blood's been spilled in our house, y'all.
(CHAIR CREAKING) (COUGHING) It's the blood of our parents and the blood of our children.
And for every drop of blood that's been spilled on the street, a thousand tears have been shed for the lives that were lost here.
And I'm angry, because I I know who pulled that trigger.
Hopelessness pulled that trigger.
Shattered our lives.
Took away that boy's sight.
Took away the life of my friend, because hope was not there to stop it, But I want to tell you something, y'all.
Hope is here today.
WOMAN: Yes.
Yes.
Hope is here today because WOMAN: Preach it, come on! Tomorrow, when evil whispers in the ears of our children, who's gonna be there to stop it? We're gonna be there to stop it.
And we're going to do that by taking our dreams back.
ANDERSON: You know, I've learned a great lesson in this week of sorrow.
I've learned that God is watching us, and that he sends his angels down to protect us and to advise us.
Yeah, and sometimes to take us home.
And I've learned that God does love us, and when we tell God our dream, now he just don't laugh in our faces and say yeah, good luck.
In fact, God asks more of us than we'll ever ask for ourselves.
That's why this time, y'all, we're gonna succeed.
We will succeed! Because, uh God will return more to us than we'll ever expect for ourselves.
So, we're gonna have to ask him, though.
We're gonna have to ask him today.
(SIREN BLARING) We're gonna have to ask him for ourselves, for our families, for our children, huh? And for Mary.
CHOIR: â« Amazing â« Grace â« How sweet â« The sound SOLOIST: â« That â« Saved â« A wretch â« Like me â« Excuse me.
CHOIR: â« I once â« Was lost â« But now â« I'm found â« (CAR ENGINE REVVING) (HIP-HOP MUSIC BLARING FROM CAR STEREO) â« He taught me how â« To watch, fight, and pray â« Good Lord, oh, Lord, yeah.
Fight and pray CHOIR: â« And then rejoice â« In every day â« Every day â« Oh, happy day CHOIR: â« Oh, happy days TONYA: â« Oh, happy days â« MONICA: What a beautiful wall.
You can see the wall? I can see it all now.
Come on, angel babies, let's go home.
(CHOIR SINGING O HAPPY DAY)
What? This is Monica.
She's an angel in need of help.
A funny thing happened on the way to my assignment.
You got a problem? Would you mind taking us with you to Denver? Man, I don't believe this place.
What does it look like? I think the word is godforsaken.
Beverly Hills, Tonya.
That white boy might as well be from another planet.
You the new landlord? You're not going to be lord of this land very long, are you? Those damn Koreans been keeping a gun in that box.
People don't like their free expression whitewashed.
White boy just pulled up in a red Cadillac.
Notice anybody suspicious out there when you came in? (GUN FIRING) Josh, get down! (SCREAMING) â« When you walk down the road â« Heavy burden, heavy load â« I will rise and I will walk with you â« I'll walk with you till the sun don't even shine â« Walk with you, every time â« I'll tell you I'll walk with you â« Walk with you â« Believe me I'll walk with you â« (TIRES SCREECHING) (SHOUTING) (GROANS) Somebody help us! Call 911.
The children.
Come here.
Oh, my Oh, God.
(GROANING) Anderson? Anderson? Hey, buddy.
Oh, no.
Oh, God.
SERENA: Call 911! I'm so sorry.
Sorry, I didn't know, man.
I didn't know.
Looks like you had a 45 in there after all, huh? (AMBULANCE SIREN BLARING) (SHOUTING) 911! TESS: Mr.
Greene.
Where's Josh? Get your family together.
Your son needs you.
(ER STAFF CHATTERING) Did you get a look at the driver? No, I barely got a look at the car.
It all happened so fast.
How many shots? Yeah, I don't know.
Chanice and Calvin are with us, yeah.
No, she and Josh are still in surgery.
Anderson's out.
Yeah, but it's touch and go.
Look, I'll be there as soon as I know everybody's out of danger, okay? Just handle it for me.
Yeah.
Thanks.
When's Grandma coming out? Soon.
Excuse me.
We're Mr.
and Mrs.
Greene.
Our son Josh is here.
We've been trying to contact you.
We need some information.
How is Josh? He's in surgery.
Mr.
Greene, we need a copy of your insurance card, please.
Could you tell us about our son, please? What happened? Gunshot wounds.
NURSE: Drive-by shooting.
(SOBBING) Where was he hit? Please, take a seat and fill out the form.
NURSE: The attending surgeon will answer all your questions.
Good luck, man.
We've been here for six hours and they still won't tell us nothing about my grandma.
HATTIE: Did I hear them say that Josh had been shot? Yes, ma'am.
(CLAIRE SOBBING) I thought angels were supposed to help people.
We are and we do, but every once in a while people have to help angels.
Huh? Come with me.
(TONYA HUMMING) Go to her.
She needs you.
But I'm just a kid.
Tell her what's on your mind, and when she answers your questions, she'll answer a few of her own.
Go on, baby.
Go on.
Those are the footsteps of a little boy.
You're the angel that took away my mum.
Are you going to take away Josh, too? I'm not sure what's going to happen to Josh.
How can you be an angel and not know what's gonna happen? You can be an angel and not know a lot of things.
Something's wrong with you, huh? I can't see.
I'm blind.
Angels can't go blind.
Yep, you're blind all right.
I knew bad things could happen to people, but I didn't know bad things could happen to angels.
Bad things can even happen to God.
Every time one of his children gets hurt or every time one of his children is sad, or every time one of his children turns their back on him, God suffers, too.
Well, why does he let that stuff happen? Because he loves us so much he gives us freedom, for humans, and for angels, too.
Is this making any sense to you at all? I think.
I'm getting a headache.
That's usually a good sign.
I still don't get why he made you go blind.
I don't know that, either, but God knows what he's doing.
He always does.
Sometimes that's the hardest thing to see of all.
My headache's spreading.
TESS: That's all right, Nathaniel.
I think Monica's is finally starting to go away.
Thank you.
Well, better get back.
Tess, before Nathaniel came along, I was sitting here thinking that, if I had my sight, I could've seen who was black and who was white, and maybe I could've done something to stop all this.
Miss Wings, your job is not to observe differences in skin colour.
It's to make people blind to them.
(TONYA AND QUEENIE SINGING HYMN IN HALLWAY) Tess, where am I? Josh's room.
You needed to be here, honey, when he came back from surgery.
Such beautiful voices.
Yes.
There just aren't enough of them yet.
(HUMMING) Those ladies know where they are? (BOTH SINGING A HYMN) I can't fault them.
Yeah, well, I can.
This isn't a church, a theatre, or a park.
(SINGING) Ladies, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but this is a hospital.
There's sick people in here and they need quiet.
Excuse us.
Well, you know, we all deal with our grief the best way we know how.
We didn't mean to bother nobody.
Well, you didn't.
It was inspiring.
At least it gave a little hope to the rest of us, and anybody else in this hospital who happened to hear it.
RUSSELL: I am sorry.
Our son is in here, and we're waiting to see how he is, and I just I beg your pardon.
My apologies.
Is anyone in here for Josh Greene? Yeah.
I'm his mother.
Okay, Josh is out of surgery and we're trying to keep him stable.
Is he gonna be all right? We're monitoring his condition.
We'll keep you informed if there's any change.
Can I see him? Soon.
Very soon.
Where's my grandma? Oh, that's Miss Harding.
She's my grandmother, too.
Are your parents here? They live with their grandmother.
I'm the family doctor, Dr.
Hall.
I run the neighbourhood family clinic.
Okay, Mrs.
Harding didn't survive the surgery.
DOCTOR: I'm very sorry about your grandmother.
Oh, no.
(QUEENIE GROANS) Where's Grandma? Where's my grandma? Come here, sweetie.
(GROANING) (SOBBING) QUEENIE: Oh, no.
Monica? I'm right here.
Don't talk.
Try and get some rest.
I'm still alive, right? Yes, very much alive.
Did you ever find out why God made you blind? I'm starting to, more and more.
Find out, okay? (HEART MONITOR BEEPING) So you can tell me why he made me blind.
Thanks for being a donor, Mr.
Greene.
Thank you.
No, thank you.
It's the least I can do.
Now, take it easy for a few minutes, then go back out to the lobby when you're ready.
Listen, my son just got out of surgery and they are still holding us out there in that lobby.
ANDERSON: Incoming.
Incoming.
We got to evac I know that man.
Incoming! Incoming! We got to evacuate.
Hey, Lieutenant, just calm down now.
We got to evac Now, these people are trying to help you.
You better give me a pos in 10 seconds or I'm out of here.
(GRUNTING) Negative C1.
Negative C1.
We gotta evac! We gotta evac! Zero, zero, niner, zero.
We gotta evac! We gotta evac! All right, you're 03.
You're on the ground.
NURSE: There's enough drugs in here to knock out an elephant.
ANDERSON: Ow, ow, ow.
All right.
All right.
Easy.
Thanks for helping out with your friend.
Well, we were in the service together, but we weren't exactly friends.
What happened to him? He was in the shooting, the one your son was in.
CLAIRE: You knew him? Lieutenant Anderson Walker.
He was a sea wolf.
He must've flown us on half a dozen missions.
We hated each other.
I mean, hated each other.
He had no business being an officer.
He was one angry man.
So were you.
What are the odds of this happening? A million-to-one? A hundred million-to-one? Only I've stopped believing in coincidence ever since those angels came into our lives.
Yeah, me, too.
Where's Mom? The kids were hungry.
(BANGING) Oh, you just had to be the big man, huh? Michael's the landlord, Serena.
And when did you slither in, Pacheco? All I'm saying is that any improvements done on the property were within his rights.
People are dying here, and the lawyer's talking about rights.
What is with you, lady? I'm the bad guy for trying to clean graffiti off the walls? Trying to make this place better? Or doesn't it count because I'm white? You don't make things better by whitewashing them, Michael.
You make changes the way Mary did with her life.
What were you thinking? I just took it for granted that maybe cleaning the walls would make this place a better That's the problem.
It's not that you're white and we're black.
You take everything for granted, and we can't because we get everything taken away too easily.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Greene? Yes? You can see your son now, but I have to warn you, there's been a complication.
Josh is experiencing blindness.
We're not sure if it's permanent or temporary.
We're gonna have to do some additional testing.
Take us to him.
Why did God let this happen? God did not send Josh here to lose his sight.
Then why didn't he stop it? The shooting, the blindness, the death.
He could have stopped it.
But he can heal it, baby.
He can make the darkness go away, and he will.
He will, in his own time.
Just trust him.
That's all you got to do.
Just trust him.
(SIGHS) He's sedated.
You'll only be able to stay a short time.
(HEART MONITOR BEEPING) I love you.
You're gonna be just fine, son.
Just fine.
Oh, I know you.
Good.
Red Cadillac.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
What's a white boy like you riding around in that part of town in a red Cadillac? Same thing I'm doing here.
Checking up on you.
Uh-huh.
The car's not mine, though.
It belongs to a friend of mine.
Nice car, man.
Yeah.
Yeah, I gotta take you for a ride in it someday.
Not not too soon though, I hope.
Am I hallucinating, or you are you really there? I'm here.
I don't have to be.
It's up to you.
(GROANS) I been taking too many pain killers.
NURSE SPEAKING ON PA: Engineering unit to third floor nurse's station.
Hey! JOSH: Mama? JOSH: Daddy? Yeah, we're all here, son.
Sure gave us a scare.
How you feeling? Sore, and Yeah, we know.
Is everybody else okay? Anderson Walker was shot.
He's alive.
But an older woman, Mary, I think, she didn't make it, honey.
Excuse me.
This young man has a date with the radiologist.
I'll have him back to you in a couple hours.
No, I'd like to come with him.
How's Anderson doing now? Well, there's no reason why he shouldn't be doing just fine, but some people want to live and some people don't.
If he doesn't get some fight in him, he's not gonna make it.
JOSH: Dinah? Miss you, Josh.
Never thought I'd hear you say that.
Well, I'll take it back as soon as you're out of the hospital and making my life miserable again.
I'm right here.
Daddy? Yeah, son.
Yeah? You've gotta go to that shopping center.
JOSH: There's a little girl there named Chanice.
There's something wrong with her.
It's her hearing, I think.
I should've said something earlier, but I didn't.
That's okay, son.
No, it's not.
Promise me you'll help her.
Take her to the doctor there, Dr.
Hall.
I'll go over there right now.
(CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO) (CAR DOOR SLAMS) I need to understand what happened here.
Me, too.
There's something else.
Something my son wanted me to take care of.
What? SERENA: Well, we'll have to have her hearing tested to confirm it, but, uh, there is some damage.
There's scaring around her ear drum.
Please thank your son for picking up on that.
Any idea what caused it? Chronic infections to the inner ear, usually caused by colds or fever.
If the infection goes untreated, it can eat away at the bones in the middle ear.
How could they let something like this happen? SERENA: They? There is no they.
There used to be a she, but she got shot down in your parking lot yesterday.
I know that may be a rarity in the white world, but it's a very popular way of dying out here, Michael.
Mary worked hard every day to take care of her grandkids, and to pay the damn rent that your family wanted for that sandwich shop.
How dare you waltz in here and self-righteously ask us, "Oh, how could they let that happen?" We don't need you to solve our problems.
We are doing the best we can down here, Michael.
How about you? You're not the Great White Hope.
You're not the master of a plantation here.
You're right.
I'm sorry.
This was a big mistake.
You know, you're only one person.
You can't do everything.
This wasn't your fault.
But I should've picked up on this.
This baby's here all the time, you know.
I could've done something.
Well, I think you are doing something.
Both of you.
I just wonder if you could do it without scaring this little girl to death.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, God, I'm sorry.
I want my grandma back.
SERENA: Oh, I want her back, too, honey.
All I wanted to do was just take back the wall.
My job was to sell this place.
That's it.
Just fix it up and sell it.
ANDREW: That's where Josh fell.
What are we doing here, Andrew? And why was my son shot alongside a man I hoped I'd never see again? That man that you hoped you'd never see again saved your son's life, Russell.
He dove on top of him.
And right now, he's lying in a hospital bed flat on his back, counting those little holes in the ceiling tiles, waiting to die.
He's lost his fight.
And in this little corner of the world, they can use all the fighters they can get.
(SIGHING) I was hoping it was a bad dream.
I keep hoping this whole thing's a bad dream.
How you doing? I've had a bullet in my gut before.
Yeah, I was there for that one, bleeding from a wound of my own.
You could've left me there.
Yeah, I wanted to.
Didn't believe you then, don't believe you now.
Greene, you're redneck, honky, white trash.
Everything I hate.
Well, that boy you saved yesterday I didn't save anyone.
My son.
Your son? Josh? How's he doing? He's lost his sight.
They don't know for how long.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Hey, hey, look, look, I'm feeling a little tired.
I think you should go.
And, what, you got great plans to leave here in a body bag? Is that it? Hey, man, it's much more dignified than the way I been living my life.
We're all supposed to go sometime.
Why not now? Because God wants you to live.
An angel told me so.
Oh, man.
Why don't you call one of them pretty nurses in here? I don't want your face to be the last thing I remember.
No.
I'm gonna say this, and you're gonna hear me out.
Yeah, right.
Where's, where's that cord? Ow.
There are angels.
Now, I know it sounds crazy, but there's two of them right here in this hospital and they are all around us.
Man, come on.
And there's another one that they don't want you to meet.
(SIGHS) Young fellow, blonde-haired, real good-looking.
I saw him in Vietnam, and I saw him just this morning at that wall, and wherever he goes, people die.
I did see him.
He was there.
The Angel of Death.
He took Mary Harding home.
Took her back to God.
Mary? She didn't get hit.
It was just me and Josh.
Oh, my God.
Who's gonna take care of those grandchildren? Nobody knows.
Now, this is your time, Walker.
Now, the best quality you ever had was being a mean son of a gun.
So why don't you get angry, huh? Come on, get angry.
I know you can get angry.
I've seen you do it.
Get up off this bed and fight.
NURSE SPEAKING ON PA: Engineering unit to third floor nurse's station.
Engineering unit to third floor nurse's station, please.
So, what are they saying? Am I going to see again or not? Only time will tell, honey.
The doctor said a full recovery is possible, I believe that, but the important thing is that you believe it, too.
I'll try.
Have faith.
God has taken you this far down the road.
He won't abandon you now.
I know he won't.
I need to be alone, okay? All right.
NURSE SPEAKING ON PA: Dr.
Savage to Obstetrics.
Dr.
Savage to Obstetrics.
RUSSELL: Okay, we'll, uh We'll come back a little later.
(SIREN BLARING) I made a bet with Tonya you wouldn't last a week.
Thank you.
Well, I cheated.
My sister's husband's got a cousin who fixes those copy machines out in Beverly Hills, California.
Your grandfather's office copier breaks down all the time.
I've heard all about Mr.
Landlord and his wayward grandson.
So I got the inside track on you.
Never bet on a horse you ain't seen run.
Famous words from my ex-husband.
Well, I sure ran, didn't I? Honey, when the bullets start flying, everybody runs.
If I had a rich granddaddy, I suppose I'd hurry back to him, too.
You know, I don't like your music too much.
What, is this supposed to be a pep talk or something? Oh, now, wait a minute.
Hold on.
What I'm trying to say is, music is your real dream.
Have I got that right? You're pretending to be this big businessman to keep your family out of your hair, but music is your thing, right? I got a dream.
I'm saving money to open up a spa.
Put green mud on ladies' faces and charge them 50 bucks.
Now, sometimes, just when I think I'm getting ahead, something happens.
Say, my rent gets raised.
But I press on, Michael, because it's something I just gotta do.
And running out there like that yesterday to protect you and Josh was something Anderson had to do.
You couldn't have talked him out of that.
You can't let anybody talk you out of anything that's inside of you.
The point is, Mary would still be alive today if I wasn't so naive.
I don't belong here.
Nobody belongs here, but since all of us are still here, well, we spend some time talking about our dreams, and it kind of makes us feel like family.
Sure does.
Now, you know, if I lose this bet, I gotta go to church for six Sundays.
Hell, I guess it's not that bad.
Anyway, I'm giving up all that astrology stuff, you can bet that.
Last Friday, it said a stranger would be showing up here.
But, you know, all week long, I never saw a stranger, Michael.
Maybe the stars do control our lives, but you know what I want to know? I want to know who controls those stars.
Maybe that's who we all need to be talking to now.
MONICA: She's right, you know, Michael.
Monica? The one who controls the stars, it's God, and he controls the sun and the moon and the heavens.
But he doesn't control our lives, and he doesn't control our hearts.
They belong to us, and he will speak to them only if we ask him.
If we wait and watch and listen.
I'm really kind of frightened right now.
I don't know I don't know why.
Don't be afraid, Michael.
I am an angel sent by God.
He He's taken away my sight for a while so that my heart can become a better listener.
So that I may teach you and Josh to become better listeners.
And do you know what I hear, Michael? I hear how beautiful you are, and how much you want to belong to a family, any family, and I hear how you finally have found one.
MICHAEL: Why? Why why would God send me an angel? What about them out there? Those those people.
God, they deserve angels.
They're the people getting shot, people trying to survive, not me.
Not me.
No one is ever without an angel when they need one most.
This is your time, Michael.
Listen to me.
God loves you, and he knows how lost you have felt, and he knows how alone you have been, and he knows that if you walk out of here today, you will be alone once more.
But if you stay, Michael, you can ask him for direction right here, right now, and he will put you on a new road.
And it may not be easy, but it will be a worthy journey that matters, and it will last for the rest of your life.
Will you ask him, Michael? Will you? Do you think he'll answer me? I promise.
(SIGHS) College? That's right.
I'm gonna kick your butt all the way to graduation, too.
That's what Mary would've wanted, that's what Mary's going to get.
But how am I gonna pay for college, making sandwiches? I make a pretty good one.
I got a good name for a sandwich.
What's that, baby? The Grandma.
Permission to come aboard? Denied.
Yeah, right.
You never did give me an ounce of respect, did you? Boy, you know, Walker, you look very nearly alive.
Don't rub it in.
How's your boy? Beginning to get up and around.
He wants to come to the funeral.
MICHAEL: So do I.
Now, why don't you sell that place so you can get I have a proposition for you.
Kind of an inspiration, really.
Oh, yeah? You been talking to them angels? (HYMNS PLAYING IN CHURCH) Where's Daddy? He's gonna meet us here.
He had to run an errand.
We weep today, for we have lost a good friend.
Yes.
The the violence of this world has taken our sister away from us, and yet we can still rejoice today.
(ALL MURMURING IN AGREEMENT) That's right.
REVEREND: We rejoice because we know that even though our beloved Mary is absent from the body REVEREND: Is today, right now, present with the Lord.
(PARISHIONERS CHEERING) Afternoon.
Hi.
I know you probably don't feel like talking to me right now, but I suppose you're leaving.
No, actually, I came to give you this.
Goodman Heating and Plumbing.
Everything's fixed.
Anything else, you just let me know.
I'll be here.
Okay.
You get everything? Yep, got it all.
Good afternoon, sir.
Easy does it.
Thanks.
But the thing I'm going to remember most about Mary is her dignity.
Didn't matter what she was doing, whether she was talking politics or throwing out the garbage, she did it with dignity.
That's right.
WOMAN: Yes, she was.
Yes, she was.
MAN: Yeah.
So sorry.
Good woman.
So sorry.
If you need anything, come to me.
WOMAN: Bless you.
My grandma was the best woman who ever lived.
CALVIN: She worked hard, and yelled at me to go to school.
(MURMURING IN AGREEMENT) She always told me that you can't change the world all at once.
You gotta change it one life at a time.
All I could say is, she sure changed mine.
And I just want to say, I'm gonna try my best to make sure it was worth it.
That's right.
Amen.
Amen.
Is that all? (HARMONICA PLAYING AMAZING GRACE) Blood's been spilled in our house, y'all.
(CHAIR CREAKING) (COUGHING) It's the blood of our parents and the blood of our children.
And for every drop of blood that's been spilled on the street, a thousand tears have been shed for the lives that were lost here.
And I'm angry, because I I know who pulled that trigger.
Hopelessness pulled that trigger.
Shattered our lives.
Took away that boy's sight.
Took away the life of my friend, because hope was not there to stop it, But I want to tell you something, y'all.
Hope is here today.
WOMAN: Yes.
Yes.
Hope is here today because WOMAN: Preach it, come on! Tomorrow, when evil whispers in the ears of our children, who's gonna be there to stop it? We're gonna be there to stop it.
And we're going to do that by taking our dreams back.
ANDERSON: You know, I've learned a great lesson in this week of sorrow.
I've learned that God is watching us, and that he sends his angels down to protect us and to advise us.
Yeah, and sometimes to take us home.
And I've learned that God does love us, and when we tell God our dream, now he just don't laugh in our faces and say yeah, good luck.
In fact, God asks more of us than we'll ever ask for ourselves.
That's why this time, y'all, we're gonna succeed.
We will succeed! Because, uh God will return more to us than we'll ever expect for ourselves.
So, we're gonna have to ask him, though.
We're gonna have to ask him today.
(SIREN BLARING) We're gonna have to ask him for ourselves, for our families, for our children, huh? And for Mary.
CHOIR: â« Amazing â« Grace â« How sweet â« The sound SOLOIST: â« That â« Saved â« A wretch â« Like me â« Excuse me.
CHOIR: â« I once â« Was lost â« But now â« I'm found â« (CAR ENGINE REVVING) (HIP-HOP MUSIC BLARING FROM CAR STEREO) â« He taught me how â« To watch, fight, and pray â« Good Lord, oh, Lord, yeah.
Fight and pray CHOIR: â« And then rejoice â« In every day â« Every day â« Oh, happy day CHOIR: â« Oh, happy days TONYA: â« Oh, happy days â« MONICA: What a beautiful wall.
You can see the wall? I can see it all now.
Come on, angel babies, let's go home.
(CHOIR SINGING O HAPPY DAY)