Dying Young

Hold on.

- Hilary! - What?

Keys.

- Hey! Whoo! - You couldn't handle it.

What's up?

Get out ofhere!

Now, these are a collector's item.

You've got me on hold for 10 minutes already.

Look at that. There's only 39 left.

Oh, I love that hat.

And Roger Callahan...

and Misty Ryan...

and the Kinsella boy...

and-and his sister... what's her name?

- Rosemary. - Rosemary. Exactly.

Out of that whole gang, you were the smartest.

- You had the best report cards. - The best report cards.

And now she's a Realtor.

She has a Cadillac with a sign on it.

Hello. Hello?

Hmm. Could you at least put out the cigarette while you eat?

Hello. Oh, look at that! There's only 15 left.

Well, how 'bout the business course, then?

You could go back. You could.

Then call Danny.

Tell...

- A guy cheats on you once. - Don't.

And you walk out on him like he shot somebody.

Go back to him, yell at him, holler at him...

but make something happen, Hilary, for once in your life.

At least he supported you.

You missed it, Mom.

Didn't know it was gonna happen quite that fast, though. Isn't she something?

16 Nob Hill?

- Right up those stairs, miss. - Thanks.

Uh, straight back and to the right.

Thank you.

Will you please! You too! Here.

Hi. What's happening?

Take a seat. Fill this out, please.

Hi.

Does anybody have a pen?

Thank you for coming. We'll be in touch with the agency.

Ms. O'Neil.

Hi.

I know you're nervous. Yes.

- Please, have a seat. - Everything's in place, so relax.

Yes, bags are packed. Plane is waiting. Hotel is waiting.

All of Japan is waiting.

She's not on the agency list, David.

Yes. Yes.

Uh-huh.

- I have my personal briefs in the suitcase with my socks. - You're not on the agency list.

Oh, no. I'm answering the ad.

The very moment, Marvin, the second. Yes, I promise.

Right. Listen, Marvin.

I have to... I have to go.

- Take a pill, Marvin, please. I'll see you in Japan.

Excuse me.

- Ah, yes, Miss... - O'Neil.

I'm afraid, Miss O'Neil...

my son ran this ad...

and, uh, long story short, I need a nurse for my son.

- Are you a nurse? - No, but I thought that it said...

- I mean, only a few things... - I'm sorry.

Thank you for coming.

No, thank you for having me.

- Give her cab fare, David. - I don't want cab fare.

- Give her cab fare. - I don't want your goddamn cab fare!

Give her cab fare and hire the last nurse we saw.

Miss. Miss, please, come back.

Miss, the farther we go down, the farther we must go back up.

I'm not going back up.

Understand, this is my duty.

If I'm required to chase you back to, God forbid, Oakland, I will.

Oh, what a marvelous day.

Yes, all... all right.

And I quote, "There has been a terrible mistake.

Would you please come back to the house for an informal interview downstairs?"

- Downstairs? - Yes. Please?

Go ahead. It's all right.

Yes. Please come in.

I'm Victor Geddes.

- Trapped. - Hey, what's goin' on here?

No, no. I... I'm sorry.

A joke. Um, an icebreaker.

Oh. Well, I can see why the job's still open.

- Ms. O'Neil? - Hilary. Yeah.

Hilary.

Good.

This is going very well.

How old are you?

- Twenty-three. - I'm 28.

You are not a nurse.

- No, I am not a nurse. - But you were a candy striper?

Well, yeah, in school...

but I dropped out.

Well, I was in Future Nurses of America.

I was the vice president. Alert the media.

No, that's...

- What did you do? - We went to the hospital after school.

- Mercy? - Uh, Our Lady.

- Oakland. - It's where I'm from.

I interrupted.

- Oh, right. I dropped out. - You worked there?

Right. Well, the sisters... You didn't go to Catholic school?

The sisters at the hospital talked to the sisters at the school...

and if we did something like, um...

wear a skirt too short or committed some mortal sin...

such as French kissing...

Ah.

Then we got the terrific duties at the hospital.

- Bed pans. - Bed pans.

Changing sheets.

Uh, cleaning all kinds of things.

But sometimes they let us change the babies...

and then point them out to their parents through the glass...

hold them up.

That's about it.

I have leukemia.

I've had it for, uh, 10 years.

I'm 28. Uh... I said that.

So, since high school.

U- Uh, not the whole time.

I've had remissions. I've led a pretty normal life.

Been to Europe.

Finished college. Ran the dash.

The hundred.

You're not the first woman in my house.

I, uh...

Do you know anything about chemotherapy?

Well, I know it's a treatment for...

They give me a course of it every time I fail their blood test.

It, uh...

it's pretty...

Well, I need help during it.

Want the job?

You make it sound so attractive.

Your father said...

Forget my father.

- Well, he said you needed a nurse. - Forget what he said.

- Well, if he's the one hiring... - He's not hiring.

He is flying toJapan in a luxurious airplane. I am hiring.

Uh, if you choose to take this job...

you will be working for me, not for my father.

So why would you pick me?

Oh...

I got it.

I had the shortest skirt, huh?

Oh, actually, no, there was one with a shorter skirt...

but he was never a candy striper.

Anyway, um...

it's room and board...

and, uh, $400 a week.

Cash?

This is your room.

If you take the job.

He's got a cold, or what?

- How sick? - Cancer.

Oh, shit, Hils. Maybe I don't want to hear this.

- Okay. How's Jim? - Jim's a prick.

How's his prick, then?

Mike, give us two beers.

Okay, so what's this guy look like?

- Upper classy, Nob Hill. - Hmm. College snot.

- I kinda get the feeling that he was... - He was what, Hils?

- Cute. - Well, go ahead, girl.

- You gonna take it? - I don't know. The place isn't bad.

Fancy antiques. I have my own bathroom. It's not in the hall.

- How much a week? - Four hundred big ones.

Fuck me! Not you.

Grab it, Hils. Your mom would go crazy.

You could buy the Cadillac she's always talkin' about, go shoppin' every day.

You can buy the outfit for me... What?

Just be cool, girl. Don't worry about it.

Hey, hey, baby. You need a walk home?

Hey, watch it.

Yeah, yeah.

Ah. Welcome.

- Thanks. - Oh, let me...

Uh, that'll be all. Thank you, Malachi.

Yes, sir.

That'll be all, Malachi.

Wait.

You coming in this room is not part of the deal.

I never thought it was.

Pardon me.

Uh, yes.

- How are you doing? - My friend, how are you?

- Fine. - This is, uh, Moamar.

Moamar Gadhafi.

He, uh, drives me every Monday morning to the, uh, chemo.

- Hilary O'Connell. - My honor.

O'Neil.

O'Neil. I'm sorry.

Peter Schmidt, 1886.

Barth and Kenitzer, 1892.

Both of them stood up to the earthquake.

The incomparable Hiss and Weekes...

1910.