Doing Time on Maple Drive Page #5

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- Shh!

No, seriously. I have to

get serious for a minute.

- No.

- Just for a minute. No, no. I have to say this.

Because Matt Carter

is my best friend...

- And I know everything about him,

- Aww.

And the truth

about Matt Carter is...

he really is

a great guy.

Hear! Hear!

Thank you for that spontaneous

and heartfelt burst of emotion.

But, no, it's really true.

He's dependable, and he's probably

the smartest guy I know who's my age.

Occasionally he says something

sort of interesting.

So, it's really difficult

for me to accept...

that he is going to have such

a beautiful woman to call his wife.

I mean, somebody who's just

as smart and just as nice...

and just as much fun

as he is.

I think the only thing that keeps me

from being completely jealous...

is the fact

that he really deserves it.

So, God bless, Matt,

and congratulations.

All right, Matt.

Wait, wait. Wa... Hold it.

Just, um...

Just wait.

Uh, I have a toast.

I think a brother should be

allowed to say something.

Right?

Can I say something, Matt?

- All right. Good.

- Go ahead.

Uh, Andy, introduced himself...

as the best man.

And that's a little hard for me.

I have a-a little problem

with that.

I mean, you're all right.

You're a nice guy and all,

but you're not the best man.

You're only the best man

by default.

And if anybody knows anything

about default, it's me. Right?

Now, I'd like to propose a toast

to the real best man...

in this li...

this little society.

Here is

a toast to...

my kid brother, Matt.

The best man I know.

I don't know how he did it,

but he did it right.

- Yeah.

- To the best man.

- Hear! Hear!

- Yeah.

- I love you, Matt.

- Thanks.

I do.

We don't see any

internal injuries...

any other fractures,

and the skull looks okay.

So, we're gonna keep him down here

till tomorrow for observation.

But I think he's gonna be okay.

Uh-huh. Did he say anything?

Is he conscious?

- I mean, how did this happen?

- I can't tell you that.

But he's lucky.

Very lucky.

May I see him? Please?

Sure. One person

only though.

Now, it looks

a lot worse than it is.

Excuse me.

Could you tell me?

I was wondering, what was

the alcohol level of his blood?

There's a law now, isn't there,

that you have to check...

the blood alcohol level

of a person in a car accident?

He wasn't drunk, Mrs. Carter,

legally or otherwise.

No drugs either.

I'll check back on you

in a little while.

Ohh.

Ohh.

Ohh.

Wow.

What's going on?

You were in

a car accident.

You drove your car off the road

and into a telephone pole.

Look, um,

I tried to call Allison...

but I couldn't

find her number.

Allison.

Karen, uh...

- You okay?

- Yeah.

It's just, um...

Well, listen, uh...

Don't tell anyone about this.

What?

Well, uh, Allison is...

What?

Allison decided

she's not gonna marry me.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

I know.

- Is that why she left early?

- Uh-huh.

Why? I mean...

Karen, I can't...

I'll tell you about this later.

I don't have the energy to go into it now.

But we'll have

a long talk eventually.

- Yeah, okay.

- Oh, and, Karen, you know...

Yeah, I'll keep Mom out of this

until you can deal with it.

- Thanks.

- God.

Well, look, I was thinking we can

go ahead with the wedding anyways.

I don't know. I think people

will notice if she doesn't show up.

God.

Well, it's just our family.

No... No, I mean, I'm sorry.

I know this is really,

really terrible for you...

But, um...

- You think you can wait

till Tom and I leave to tell Mom? - Yes.

- Wow.

- I really... I am sorry. I'm really sorry.

As best I can remember,

I turned the corner...

and there was this miniature

collie in the middle of the road...

and it looked up at me, and it had

the strangest expression on its little face...

and it was

just frozen there, and I-I...

turned the steering wheel

and I hit my brake.

And that's it.

That's all I can remember.

That happens all the time,

people doing that.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Except for, Matt,

next time, kill the dog.

Just aim your car straight

for the dog and kill it.

I'm just telling you this on behalf

of the insurance company.

Oh, by the way,

we tried to reach Allison...

but we couldn't find

the right number...

and I'm pretty sure her parents

have unlisted phones.

They have

unlisted addresses, Mom.

That's all right. I called her

this afternoon, and, uh...

she wanted to come up,

but I told her not to.

You know, she's very frightened that my cast

is going to upstage her at the wedding.

That was so funny.

- Yeah, it was. I almost hurt myself, Mom.

- He did.

Come in.

I asked the people at the desk if there was

anyone here before I came back.

I thought, you know,

this early...

You're okay, right?

So I'm told.

Kyle, why are you here?

You know, I heard...

I heard you had an accident.

Okay. I'll go.

I'm sorry.

Wait. Wait.

It's not that I...

I- I can't see you right now.

All right. All right.

Kyle! Kyle, wait a second!

- Who else?

- Andy's father.

- Get out.

- No, he called from California.

- Get out. - More to make sure, I think,

that Andy was in no way responsible.

Oh, now, who sent these?

You want me to open this?

Uh, no.

Mom, I got a problem here.

Thanks.

- Ah, you know, it seems cool in here. Too cool.

- Mom...

- Are you chilly? Is it cold in here to you?

- Mom...

- I need to talk to you.

- I'm going to ask the nurse. I'll be right back.

So Matt's

coming back tomorrow.

Oh, yeah.

What's the matter?

Nothing.

I'm just... tired, I guess.

Oh. I called in and,

uh, checked our messages.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Bridges's office wanted

to confirm your appointment next week.

Okay.

- Well, who's Dr. Bridges?

- Uh, he's, uh...

Oh, how you say it?

He's a...

I don't know the name of the specialty.

My last checkup, I had a low iron count.

Well, why didn't

you say something?

Look. It's nothing. It's a dietary thing.

It's nothing to get dramatic about.

- What's the matter with you?

- Nothing.

That's what I'm trying

to tell you. Nothing.

Look how well

he's walking, Phil.

Better than yesterday.

Come on. I'll race him in.

- Phil?

- Yeah?

I wanna put

those flowers upstairs.

Sweetheart...

We thank you for this food

which we are about to receive.

We hope Allison

and her family are well.

We're grateful to be here together,

but we're grateful most of all...

for the safety of our family

and for the quick recovery of Matt.

For this and all our many blessings,

we thank you.

- Amen.

- Amen.

Gee. I really wish

I could help.

- Uh-huh.

- I do.

Right. I believe you.

- I drove by that telephone pole today.

- What telephone pole?

The telephone pole

Matt ran into.

Curious thing about it was that you

could follow the path the car took...

once it went off the highway...

but there were

no skid marks.

It was literally like...

- Like Matt just deliberately drove it off the road.

- Tim, what is wrong with you?

- I am fed up with your...

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