Desperate Measures

Hold on!

S. F.P.D.

Okay, go ahead.

Come on, baby.

Here you go.

Yes! We're in.

This is our last shot.

Should've tried this six weeks ago|instead of wasting time...

with those television appeals.

Now we go finer.

If they all go away, we're finished.

Don't even think about it.

We got one! We got one!

Don't make a sound.

Thank you.

Oh, man.

He crushed his cell mate's legs, so they|put him in solitary through the year.

He's the real thing.

No formal education beyond the ninth|grade, but he has an IQ of over 150.

I appreciate what|you're doing for me.

McCabe has escaped twice.

Second time he took|two guards hostage.

Buried them alive,|used their uniforms and l.D.s.

If he'd done it two years later, they|would've put him in the gas chamber.

Jesus!

This is a mistake, Frank.

I have no choice.

McCabe!

McCabe!

You have a visitor.|Get dressed.

I have to warn you not just about|the physical danger...

because he's already killed one prisoner|and crippled another.

Also, McCabe is very sharp.

He likes to f*** with you.

Frank Connor.

You know why I'm here.

My son has leukemia.

He will die|without a bone marrow transplant.

He's only nine years old.

And somehow, somehow...

I've been identified|as a compatible donor...

for your son.

I was told you volunteered.

We're through here.

Officers!

You lied to me, Frank.

You were identified by a computer match.

I broke into the FBI computer system.|I violated state and federal statutes.

Grounds for dismissal|from the police force.

Right?

That's right.|Give me a shot.

What's the problem?

No problem.

My mistake.

I went through all the other registries,|and there's nobody.

You're our last chance.

- What do I get out of it?|- You get to save my son's life.

Why do I care about your son's life?

Am I supposed to find redemption|in the eyes of God?

Do you want redemption?

You think I do?

You brought it up.

Don't try to get inside my head,|Frank.

If I want you in,|I'll send you an invitation.

Sorry. I thought|you were opening a door.

I killed...

a lady in a hat, a guy in a store.

That was real.

That happened.|I did it.

But I cannot make myself|feel bad about it.

I cannot imagine a god who would care.

I put my faith in the power|of my own mind.

Which is all I own|after half a life of incarceration.

I can appreciate that.

Really?

Then maybe you can appreciate|my amusement...

at the irony, that now...

after all those years being locked up,|I'm given the opportunity to kill again.

Cop's kid, at that.

All I've got to do is stay here.

What do you want from me?

-Have you been a good father to the boy?|-I've tried.

You tried.|Isn't that nice you tried?

Yep. Even my daddy can say that.

Beat the sh*t out of me every day,|but he tried.

I've never hit Matt.

I'm sure you didn't.

Where's the boy's mother?

She's dead.

You still wear a ring.

You feel responsible in some way|for her death?

She died in a car accident.

Dead wife.

Kid with cancer.

I'd wonder about myself, too.

Will you do it?

Will you give my son your bone marrow?

I'll have to think about that,|get back to you.

No. Tell me right now.

Why?

Because I haven't told him|that his cancer is back.

And when he went into remission...

he wouldn't even|let himself celebrate...

'cause he knew the odds.

And when I go back, I'm gonna tell him|that his cancer is back...

and that he will die if he doesn't get|a bone marrow transplant.

I want to tell him|that I found that donor.

- And I want to give him hope.|- To make it easier for you.

To make it easier for him,|and to save his life.

Well, since you have to know|right now, Frank...

my answer is no.

Officers!

That's not acceptable.

We'll need more topicide.

I'll get back to you.|Mr. Connor.

- Hi, Doctor. How are you?|- Good morning.

Can we sit in my office a few moments?|I'd like to talk to you about Matt.

Why?

- I prefer to do this in private.|- Tell me right now.

I've learned about Peter McCabe planning|to be a donor, and I'm concerned.

Matt has blood in his urine.|His creatine levels are up.

And without a transplant,|we have very little time.

- Where is he?|- He's resting. Give him a moment.

I'm concerned about you, too.

I've learned one thing in a specialty|where you can lose many patients.

- You have to care for the family.|- Matt is not going to die.

We won't give up hope.

You may want someone to talk to.|The hospital has counselors.

For what? To adjust to my son dying?

I don't want to adjust to my son dying.|May I see him now?

Absolutely.

Why don't you ask Gladys?

Can you build a rocket ship|out of tongue depressors...

without using glue or other adhesives?

That holds together without glue?

Yeah.

Dad, look.

He's going to be an architect.

- Thank you, Gladys.|- How are you doing?

- How are you feeling?|- Not so great.

Thanks, Dad.

Yes!

Cool, huh?|Move over.

We saw this in the library.

P-47 Thunderbolt.

- See the Thunderbolt?|- What is that?

Its nickname is "Little Demon."

There's a little demon.|I think it's...

some sort of crazy monster.

The cancer's back, isn't it?

Yes.

B-24 bomber.|This guy's nickname--

I think I found a donor...

for a bone marrow transplant.

- Really?|- Yeah.

- Is he compatible?|- He's compatible.

But he's thinking it over.

He might not want to?

He'll do it.

Dad, if he doesn't--

What do you mean, "if he doesn't"?|What did I just say?

Even if he doesn't,|or my body rejects the transplant--

'Cause that happens sometimes, right?

I just want you to know...

it's okay, Dad,|you did your best.

Excuse me. Mr. Connor,|there's a call for you.

You can pick it up in here.

Hi, Matt.

Frank Connor.

Frank, how's it going?

- That depends, doesn't it?|- Yeah.

I've been thinking it over. Why don't|you send Matt here so I can meet him?

Meet him? What for?

Look, if it's too much trouble--

Hi, Matt.

I'm Peter McCabe.|You can call me Pete.

Let's see, you're nine.

What is that, Matt?

- Fourth grade?|- Yeah.

You like school?|I f***ing hated every minute of it.

Yes, sir.

Not "sir," Matt.

You just call me Pete.|All right?

Uncle Pete.

But you're not my uncle.

- Let's do it.|- Do what, sir?

I'm going to do|the bone marrow transplant for you.

Dad, he's going to do it!

- Let me talk to your dad alone.|- Wait for me outside.

- Thank you.|- Sure.

Now...

I will do this if, and only if,|certain things are done for me.

Name it.

You will instruct the warden|to give me back my smoking privileges.

Reinstate my access|to the prison library.

Allow me four sugars in my coffee.|And get me out of that one-man box...

and back into the general population.

I'll do everything I can.

Good, Frank.

Do everything you can.

What's on your mind?

You could have decided this|last time I was here.

I wanted to meet Matt.

This way, maybe he'd appreciate me more.

- Sounds like redemption.|- Maybe.

In a way.

Help a kid, help myself.

Who knows, right, Frank?

Who knows?

This is great.

I'm happy things are working out|for both of us.

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