The Verdict Page #18

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DR. TOWLER

I was her doctor.

CONCANNON:

You were the anesthesiologist at her

delivery May twelfth, nineteen

seventy...

DR. TOWLER

...I was one of a group of...

CONCANNON:

Answer affirmatively. Simply. Keep

those answers to three words. You

weren't 'part of a group,' you were

her anesthesiologist. Isn't that

right?

DR. TOWLER

Yes.

CONCANNON:

You were there to help Dr. Marx

deliver her baby. Were you not?

DR. TOWLER

Yes.

ANGLE:

Concannon starts to stroll a bit around the conference room,

in back of the assembled assistants, by the large windows,

which offer a panoramic view of Boston.

CONCANNON:

Anything special about the case?

DR. TOWLER

When she...

The young lawyer (BILLY), Concannon's right-hand assistant,

raises his hand to get Concannon's attention.

CONCANNON:

(to Dr. Towler,

correcting him)

When 'Debby'...

(to Young Lawyer)

Thank you.

Young Lawyer nods, makes a notation in his pad.

DR. TOWLER

Thank you. When Debby...

CONCANNON:

(switching his tack)

Dr. Towler, who was in the operating

room with you?

DR. TOWLER

Ms. Nevins, nurse-anesthetist; Dr.

Marx, of course...

He nods toward Dr. Marx who is in the audience, who nods

back.

DR. TOWLER

Mary Rooney, the obstetrical nurse...

CONCANNON:

What did these people do when her

heart stopped?

DR. TOWLER

We went to Code Blue...

CONCANNON:

'Code Blue,' what does that mean...?

DR. TOWLER

It's a common medical expression,

it's a crash program to restore the

heartbeat. Dr. Marx cut an airway in

her trachea, to get her oxygen, her

and the baby... Ms. Nevins...

CONCANNON:

Why wasn't she getting oxygen...?

DR. TOWLER

Well, many reasons, actually...

CONCANNON:

Tell me one?

DR. TOWLER

She'd aspirated vomitus into her

mask...

CONCANNON:

She THREW UP IN HER MASK. Let's cut

the bullshit. Say it: She THREW UP

IN HER MASK.

A beat.

DR. TOWLER

She threw up in her mask.

Concannon nods to the Young Lawyer, who is conscientiously

taking notes.

CONCANNON:

...and her heart stopped and she

wasn't getting oxygen.

DR. TOWLER

That's right.

CONCANNON:

And what did your team do...

DR. TOWLER

Well, we...

CONCANNON:

...You brought thirty years of medical

experience to bear. Isn't that what

you did?

DR. TOWLER

Yes.

CONCANNON:

...A patient riddled with

complications, questionable

information on her, on her admitting

form...

DR. TOWLER

...We did everything we could...

CONCANNON:

...to save her and to save the baby.

Is that...

DR. TOWLER

Yes!

CONCANNON:

You reached down into death. Now,

isn't that right?

DR. TOWLER

(getting overcome)

My God, we tried to save her... You

can't know... You can't know...

CONCANNON:

(changing tactics;

soothing)

Tell us.

Beat. Dr. Towler sighs. He begins to speak.

EXT. SOUTH STREET STATION - BOSTON - DAY

People coming out of a just-arrived train.

ANGLE:

Galvin watching them, he has a large

boutonniere on his lapel.

The departing PASSENGERS stream past him. An elderly BLACK

MAN passes him by, turns and comes back to him.

ANGLE - THE BLACK MAN AND GALVIN

DR. THOMPSON

Mr. Galvin?

Galvin turns. He is taken aback. He registers who it must

be.

GALVIN:

Dr. Thompson...?

DR. THOMPSON

It was good of you to meet...

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