My Sister's Keeper Page #6

She's exhausted.

Dialysis really wiped her out.

KATE [FAINTLY]:

I wanna go to the beach.

- What did you say, baby?

- She wants to go to the beach.

It's the damnedest thing.

She's been talking about it all day.

[WHISPERS]

Dad, he's here.

CHANCE:

You have to count to what, five?

Well, you're not counting.

- You gotta count.

- One, two, three, four, five.

Okay. All right, sweetheart.

[GRO ANS]

All right, you beat me.

How's our girl?

Well, she wants to go to the beach.

The beach, huh?

I'm not sure that's a bad idea.

She is not gonna be any sicker

at the beach than she is here.

It might even be good for her.

- Not too dangerous then, huh?

- I don't think so.

She was dialyzed yesterday and she has

no scheduled treatments until Friday.

Um, how do I do this? I mean, just get

her up and walk her out of here, or?

Discharge her for the day.

The insurance company

will definitely not approve this...

...so we'll have to re-admit

through emergency.

But if she happened to be there at,

let's say, 7:
00...

...I just might be there to meet her.

Okay.

It's one day.

Kate's been through the wringer,

so if it's not gonna make her any worse...

...I say take the kid to the beach.

ANNA:
Hey, Dad, what's going on?

BRIAN:
Hey.

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

What?

ANNA:

Oh, my God!

Get your stuff.

March in, march out. One minute.

SARA:
Hey. What's going on?

BRIAN:
We're going to the beach.

- You're going to the beach?

- Get your bikini.

- Kate? Kate, what are you doing...?

KATE:
Mama, please. Don't...

Wait a second,

what is she doing out of the hospital?

Brian! Brian! It'll kill her! Give me the

keys, I'm taking her back to the hospital.

Give me the keys, Brian! Let... Give me!

SARA:
Are you insane? You trying to

kill her? BRIAN:
I talked to Chance.

SARA:
I don't give a sh*t who you talked to!

You are killing her! You understand?

Take her to the beach, you kill her!

- Come on.

- No, please.

SARA:
Come on, sweetie. It's okay.

KATE:
No, please, please!

BRIAN:
Don't do this.

- See how upset she is?

See what you're doing?

- I'll call cops.

- Do what you gotta do.

- Last 14 years I've let you have it your way.

- Last 14 years have been about saving her!

- Today is not about you.

SARA:
You want to undermine that?

BRIAN:
It's about Kate.

SARA:
It is.

She wants to go to the beach.

- Lf you'd like...

- She's gonna die!

- Better come, if you don't,

I want a divorce. - A divorce? Great!

- Good.

- You got a f***ing divorce!

We're divorced, Mommy and me

are divorced. Sit in the car. In the car.

SARA:
No. Anna!

BRIAN:
In the car!

SARA:

Brian.

- Give me the keys! This is ridiculous!

BRIAN:
Stop.

You're gonna regret this, Brian.

You understand? You're gonna regret this!

Brian!

Katie, sweetie,

you gotta go back to the hospital!

[MUTED DIALOGUE]

I don't suppose there's any way

around this without a hearing?

- I'm afraid not, Your Honor.

- Any housekeeping issues?

Open motion? Rule of witness?

Okay, let's get started.

BAILIFF:

The court calls Dr. Kenny Chow.

ANNA:
The doctors talked

for what seemed like forever.

They said that Kate was a miracle.

She should have never made it

past 5 years old.

They talked about

the psychological benefits of donation...

...and how losing my kidney

would affect the quality of my life.

They all said that nothing was their fault,

and it was a very complex problem.

When put to the test...

...most everyone thought

that I should give Kate my kidney.

But they also said that I was too young

to understand the situation fully.

And none of them could say at what age

I would be able to understand.

All in all, they were like me,

pretty confused.

CAMPBELL:

But can you tell us one single benefit...

...that Anna has received

from any of these procedures?

Yes.

She got to save her sister's life.

The court calls Brian Fitzgerald.

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

[LINE RINGING]

Hello?

- Hey, it's me.

- Hey.

What's going on?

I don't know if I can

do this anymore, sissy.

It's gonna be okay.

Do you hear me? I promise.

Who you talking to? Hello?

Hello?

Mrs. Fitzgerald, how old was Anna

when she started donating to her sister?

She was a newborn.

And at 5, she started donating lymphocytes,

is that correct?

Mm-hm.

- What does that involve?

- Giving blood.

- Did Anna agree to that?

- No, she was 5.

So you didn't ask her if they could

stick the needles in her arm?

I asked her to help her sister,

and she agreed.

Really?

Didn't two nurses have to hold Anna down

because she was fighting so hard?

Mm-hm.

So she didn't completely agree,

now, did she?

Mr. Alexander, it's just us chickens.

No showboating, please.

I'm sorry, Your Honor. Force of habit.

Mrs. Fitzgerald, how old was Anna

the next time she was hospitalized?

- When Kate was 9, she got a...

- That's not what I asked.

I want to find out what happened

to Anna when she was 6.

- She donated granulocytes.

- And what's that? More needles?

Yup.

And did you ask Anna if she was willing

to donate the granulocytes?

Her sister needed them.

She was the only match.

But did you ask her?

Mrs. Fitzgerald,

answer the question, please.

No, I didn't.

We talked about it a lot, but no,

I didn't ask her permission.

Next was the bone-marrow aspiration.

Could you describe

that procedure for us?

They put needles into Anna's hips.

- Into the bone? Big needles?

- Yes. Mm-hm.

Using your hands, would you indicate

to the court the size of those needles?

It's a tough procedure, am I right?

Anna had to be hospitalized afterward.

SARA:
Yes.

CAMPBELL:
For how long?

Six days.

There were some complications.

I see.

You add it all up,

it's not so innocuous, is it?

It's tough to hear

it all hashed out that way.

I don't see the point. Court's well aware

of the family's medical history.

Of Kate's history, Your Honor,

but not of Anna's.

Fair enough. Proceed.

Mrs. Fitzgerald, looking back and only

taking into account Anna's well-being...

...do you think it's reasonable to conclude

that you might have taken this too far?

Looking at only Anna's situation...

...yes, it is.

But I have to think about

my entire family.

- But Kate comes first?

- Kate's sick.

So this is a triage situation.

Compromising one child's health

on behalf of the other. Where's the line?

- For Kate, it's life or death.

- Not for Kate, for Anna.

- She's why we're here.

- That's a trick question.

Because Anna

isn't the only person in this equation.

And if we were looking at it only from

Anna's situation, sure, it is brutal.

I mean, who wants to be stuck

and poked and prodded by needles?

And you can look at me and you can say

how awful I am for doing that to my child.

You know what? It is awful. But it's not as

awful as putting your child in the ground.

- You stand up for your family.

- It's my job.

- And you stand up for Kate.

- I do.

But the real question is:

Who stands up for Anna?

Nothing further, Your Honor.

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