 Family Theatre presents MacDonald Carey and J. Carol Nash. From Hollywood, the Mutual Network in Cooperation with Family Theatre presents Emergency Starring MacDonald Carey. And now here is your host, J. Carol Nash. Well, thank you, Tony LaFranco. Family Theatre's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives if we are to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families, and peace for the world. Family Theatre urges you to pray. Pray together as a family. And now to our transcribed drama, Emergency, starring MacDonald Carey as Nagle. Captain, help me move him onto the table. Right. Take it easy. You want to kill me? It's an idea, Jordan. Not a bad one. Get your hands under his shoulders. That's right. Yeah, I got it. Now lift. Easy. Oh, can it. Where's the doctor? You want me to bleed to death. Have you got any doctors in this hospital? There's a typhoid epidemic going on, you know? Maybe the doctors think you're a little more expendable than the kids the typhoid hit. Doctors on the way. Just relax. Relax. But try to relax with a bullet in you. Oh, Chief, not one of your boys, I hope. No, Doc. No, I just happened to be the police escort this time. Hello, Doc. You. You got to do something, Doc. Some citizen put two and two together, Chief. Yeah, that's as near as we can figure. Black and white found him on the street right after it happened. They saw a woman with a target pistol leaving the scene and caught her, but she escaped while the officers were giving him first aid. Haven't the slightest idea who she was. Too bad, eh? Her name was Mullin. I told you that. Thelma Mullin. Think anybody in this town is going to believe you? You corrupt you! Quiet. I want to take a look at this. I've got surgery all set up, Doctor. I did that before. I even took him off the gurney. Good girl. I'm glad you're here, Cunningham. Looks like we've got a couple of hours' work here. It was only at 22, but she must have used a long round. See where it went in? Mm-hmm. Came out all the way over here. No chance it might be too late. Too late. I don't think so. Too bad. Your boys do as good a job in first aid as they do in law enforcement, Chief. I'm not even going to touch those dressings right now. Cunningham, clean them up as well as you can and give them some plasma. Yes, Doctor. Anybody around to give an anesthetic? Well, there's Dr. Terry. Now he's been in the go all day. We'll do it ourselves. Too fat for a good caudal. I'll give him a spinal. Well, I'll go scrub. Yes, Doctor. Come on, Chief. You can tell me what happened. Well, I'm going to have to speak to the boys about their first aid. You did a nice job. Yeah. I'm the wrong man. And what about this business of the woman getting away? Mullen, was that her name? Her son died of this typhoid this afternoon. She was out of her mind. But if I make the state go to all the expense of proving it, even if she didn't cop a plea of temporary insanity, a jury would probably have found her actions justifiable anyway. Now, will you stop smirking? Five. So, maybe I, maybe I figured the woman had enough trouble, so I played God a little. Is that so wrong? I don't know, Chief. You have all people ought to understand. Jordan Holbein and his outfit ruined 10 years' work for you. They work to destroy what you're dedicated to preserving. Made a political football out of it. Maybe you'd better hold off on that kind of talk for now, Chief. I got to go in there in 10 minutes and work on saving his life. Even though I know what he is, know what he's done to this town, I've got to stand over him with a knife and try to keep him from dying. Hey, maybe this might be one of the times for one of those Freudian slips I've heard so much about. Cut it out, will you, Bruce? Just cut it out. Oh, sorry, I'm only kidding. I don't. When you're a surgeon about to work on your worst enemy, there are a lot of thoughts you can't afford to let yourself think. You've got to think of the man in there on that table as just another emergency. Just another human being in need of your skill. You try to think these things as you finish your scrubbing. As Alice Cunningham, your operating room nurse, helps you into the sterile pale green of the gown and the amber gloves. You resolve to do your work on this man just as she does hers. As a quiet, highly efficient, life-saving machine. You resolve not to permit yourself even to think of your emotions toward this man on the table. Lest the hate carry over and express itself in some action of your hands. Obein, listen to me. You've been given heavy sedation. You won't go to sleep, but you won't be entirely awake either. It should be taking effect about now. Can't you put me out? Now, we're short-staffed right now because of the typhoid. If you're all the way under, it'll be harder for me to keep up with your reactions and I'm gonna be pretty busy as it is. Now, we're gonna give you a spinal. From this point on, I don't want you to move. If there's any moving to be done, Miss Cunningham and I will do it. All right. And I don't want you to talk either. Not talk. Talking moves the diaphragm and that's where I might be working. No movement, no talk. Understand? You're the doctor. All right, Cunningham, let's get to work. Ready, doctor. One, two, three. Right here. That's it. Now, the syringe. You watch the spinal fluid running clear and white into the glass cylinder. Then you replace it with the anesthetic. A few seconds later, Cunningham slaps a scalpel into your hand and the operation begins. Mop, hemostat. Another one bullet. It's amazing. What is, doctor? What one little bullet can do. I clamp that off with you. Does it? The forceps. You're going to have more of a scar than you thought you would hold on. Got your retractors ready? Ready, doctor. There's the muscle. I'm going to part it as close as I can to where the bullet did. Retractor. Here we are at the inner man and what we find. Same kind of blood, same kind of flesh, same muscle, same nervous tissue. Retractor. Hold this. What does it make this man different than all the rest? The sole, doctor. All right, the sole. Not that. Better give me a hemostat. You better wait a second to see if the area is going to stay clear. Hate to work on a fat man. You've known him for quite some time, haven't you, doctor? About six months. Six months too long. I think it's going to be all right. All right, let's get back to work. As you go through the layers of muscle through the fascia, the membrane of the peritoneum into the viscera, you work almost automatically following the path of the bullet, appraising the damage, making mental notes on what must be repaired on the way out and how you're going to do it. And finally that part is done. Now the repairing begins. This is the part that takes time. Something you don't want because it means you have time to think, time to remember, to remember things like your first meeting with this patient. The day Jordan Holbein walked into your office. Mr. Holbein? Very nice to meet you, doctor. Sit down, won't you? Oh, thank you. I've heard a great deal about you, Dr. Nagle. Oh, good, I hope. You're the very best. As your chief surgeon at Queens Hospital, faculty member and member of the board of directors over at Grayson, and that you're about the best all around surgeon in this part of the country. That last bit of information is strictly a rumor, I'm sorry to say. Not from what I've heard. How can I help you, Mr. Holbein? Did your physician recommend that you... Oh, no, no, nothing like that. As a matter of fact, I'm in the best of health. At least I like to think I am. Well, you're lucky. I came to help you, doctor. Help me? Well, how do you suppose to do that? Well, perhaps I shouldn't have worded in quite that way. What I should have said was, I've come to enlist your aid. I think in the long run it'll help you. Spread your bread upon the waters, that sort of thing. How much bread on what kind of waters, Mr. Holbein? If it's a matter of charity... No, no, no, nothing like that. Well, then what do you mean? Something with a little more social importance and charity. I'm talking about community improvement. Well, isn't that something for the voters to take care of? Yes, ordinarily it would be doctor, but as you know, this community is growing pretty fast. I believe the population has doubled in the last five years or so. That's what I mean, doctor. That's why we're asking you just as we're asking some of the other leading citizens to help us. Help you do what, Mr. Holbein? Just to keep this city up with the population. That's why the Committee for the Protection of the American Way of Life was formed. Committee for the Protection of the American Way of Life? Don't believe I've heard of your organization. Well, we're relatively new. Just what sort of improvements did you have in mind? Well, there are certainly plenty of improvements possible. That's true. Now you take, well, parks for instance. Housing projects are springing up over the city. Now naturally enough, the builders don't leave room for parks. Cut into their profits. It also means that children will have to play in the streets. Now ordinarily the voters would do something about it. Except the builders are the only ones who campaign on the issue and they're not going to fight for something that'll cut their profits. Now the Committee with a combined strength of the community's leaders would help show the other side to the public. Well, that sounds pretty good, Mr. Holbein, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have very much time to give to political activities. One of the other committee members thought you'd be eager to join us. They said something about a knax you were currently trying to grind. Well, yes, that's right. I, you know, I hadn't thought about that. Something about the reservoir, I believe. Yes, yes, that's right. The reservoir and the city dump are in a very dangerous proximity to each other. In the last few years, the situation has become almost critical. Oh, how so, Dr? Well, the more trash the larger the city dump gets and the greater the danger of contamination. I've been working on getting the whole area cleaned up for a long time, got it to the voters just once. But you couldn't afford to campaign. Yeah, that's about right. Well, the committee would be able to afford to campaign. As a matter of ethics. You know, Dr. Marshall said that would come up when dealing with you. Marshall? You mean Hayden Marshall? Is he a member of your committee? One of the charter members, along with Dr. Glass and Dr. Purcell. Purcell? I wouldn't think they'd have time. Oh, it doesn't really take much time, Doctor. All we really need from you is an occasional statement and, of course, permission to use your name on our letterhead and so forth. This matter of the water contamination, Doctor. Yes, I would like to see something done about that. Yeah, it would be a terrible thing to see it. What would it be, diphtheria? As things stand, other conditions are perfect for a typhoid epidemic. Typhoid? I haven't heard of a typhoid epidemic in a long time. Of course you haven't. They're rare things, but they're pretty terrible. And the way things are now, it could happen here. And maybe we'd better do something about it. You say, Marshall, Purcell, and Glass are on your committee? They are. I think a little proud of the fact, too. Well, then you can include me. I'm happy to hear you say that, Doctor. Oh, I'll just ask you to fill out this card, you know, a release for the printers and so forth. Certainly. Anna? Yes, Doctor? Will you step in here for a moment? Yes, Doctor. I'll have my nurse fill this out for you and we'll mail it to you, all right? Oh, I'm in no particular hurry. I suppose I just wait for it. Oh, as you wish. Anna? Yes, sir? Would you type out the information required on this, please, then bring it back in for my signature? Certainly, Doctor. And there's a Mrs. Hall waiting to see you. Oh, Mrs. Hall? Mr. Hoban, I wonder if you'd mind? No, no, no, certainly not. I'll just wait in your reception room. Oh, thanks. Thanks a lot. I'm proud to have you with us, Doctor. I'll have this filled out for you in five minutes. No, Harry. Oh. What is this committee for the protection of the American way of life? It's sort of a citizen's action group. And it may just give me a bigger stick to fight with on the water contamination problem. Now, what about this Mrs. Hall? I don't remember any Mrs. Hall. Oh, well, she is Doctor Marshall's patient. Marshall? Mm-hmm. And what's she doing over here? Well, she says he isn't doing her any good. Well, I better give him a call before I see her. I'll place it for you right away, Doctor. No, no, never mind, Anna. Just fill that card out to Mr. Hoban. I can call Dr. Marshall. Oh, and Mr. Hoban will pick it up? He's waiting for it now. You'll have to bring it back for my signature. All right, Doctor. Hello? Dr. Marshall, please. This is Dr. Nagel. Hello, Hayden. Say, one of your patients, the Mrs. Hall, is sitting in my outer office. Does it matter, run out of prescription blanks, or did your bedside manager turn sour on you? Now, she's what? Oh, a heart case, huh? Won't take her medicine because it upsets her stomach. Okay. Well, I'm going to give her a little lecture about edema, heart conditions, and the side effects of myctin sent her back to you. Fine. Oh, say, while you're on the phone, I guess you ought to welcome me into the club. By the Committee for the Protection of the American Way of Life, you think I meant... Oh, I was told you remember. Well, this comes as quite a surprise. A man just dropped in. Yes, now that you mention it, it does sound like it might be a front organization. I guess I'm pretty gullible, Hayden. No, no, I haven't signed up yet. I'll talk to you later. Yeah. Goodbye. We'll have to find out about this. Oh, Doctor, I was just coming in. I have the little card ready for your signature. Just hold on to it for a moment, Anna. Mr. Holbein. Oh, right here, Doctor. You say Dr. Marshall belonged to your organization? Yes, that's right. Did you talk to him yourself? Just yesterday. You're a liar, Mr. Holbein. Now, let's not be hasty, Doctor. The Committee... I don't need you to explain it to me. I think I know what it is now and I won't have my name connected with it in any way, shape, or form. And it would have been easier with your name on our letterhead, but I guess we can get along without you. We always had... I'll give you three seconds to get out of my office. But you can't blame me for trying. Get out! That's fine. What are you looking at? Say, I'm your nurse, remember? I'm on your side. Oh, Anna, I'm sorry. It's just that I have never seen you so mad before. Well, he tried to trick me into this phony organization of his. You know, they'd have destroyed my name, my practice, my whole life just to raise their own prestige one notch. Who is they? Communism, Anna. He almost railroaded me into a front organization. Would you send Mrs. Holbein and then go through the book? I want to talk to every doctor in town. Talk to every doctor in town? To warn them. It's doubtful, but I just want to be sure Mr. Holbein doesn't have any more success with them than he had here. Any sign of bleeding? I think you stopped it, doctor. Then let's get on with it. So, sir? Cut. 25 minutes, doctor. Wish I had another pair of hands. Cunningham, get me a stethoscope. I want to see how he's doing. Holbein, I'm going to listen to your heart. It's not a very good way of keeping tabs on a patient while you're working on him, but we're a little short of health right now. The type for epidemic hit us, remember? Here you are, doctor. Put it in my ears and hold it. Yes, doctor. Fine. That's good. You listen to his heart. You try to appraise the beat. A little slow, perhaps, but still strong. You wonder how it is that a man like this can thrive in an epidemic-ridden city with a bullet hole from front to back, while so many of the good are dying so easily. It's the children typhoid hits hardest and fastest. As you push the stethoscope aside and continue with your suturing, you think about the typhoid and about the children. And you remember how you brought out the germs affinity for children in your pre-election speech in town hall. If one of this city's children were lost in the forest or involved in a cave-in, there isn't one of you who wouldn't do everything he could to save that child. This is basically the same problem. The only difference is that all of the children are in danger. The Weather Bureau forecast is for a hot and humid summit. When it comes, the conditions will be as bad as they can get. They'll be like a medical school textbook description. Almost every doctor in town was there giving you moral support. Most of the city fathers were there and a considerable number of the voters. For the first time in the 10-year fight you were making real progress. The issue to move the site of the city dump was on the ballot and its chances were good. They were good until you went to the smoking room backstage after your speech. Doctor, was it a fine speech? Just wanted to tell you that. Thanks chief. Want to have a smoke with me? No, I can't. I'm the next speaker. Just wanted you to know that I'm coming out strong for everything you said. Well, thanks. I appreciate it, Bruce. Appreciate nothing. I've got kids, too. Well, enjoy your smoke, doctor. I'll see you later. Right. Hello, doctor. Oh, hold on. Can I give you a light? I'll do it, thanks. Have a joy. Urge your speech. It's good. I think you would have had the issue in the bag. What of? My committee is going to give you its full support. You can't mean that. Can't I? Well, it'd be the kiss of death. Mm-hmm. Too bad. But why? We tried to get you to join us, remember? That didn't work, so now we're going to join you. That'll kill it. That's right. 100% right, doctor. Thanks to you, the committee is known for what it is. Words you would probably use. A front organization for the Communist Party. What would you gain? Since we are known, giving you our support will kill the issue with the polls. But it'll mean lives. This is more than just a political issue. Okay. We're alone in a year, so I'll tell you something, doctor. We're not interested in the welfare of this particular city. The city is a strong state of strong, the state of strong and so is nation. Last thing we're interested in, building is the strength of this nation. So as far as we're concerned, this is nothing but a political issue. Typhoid is the issue. You said you heard my speech, that part about hitting the children first. Yeah. Very touching. Now if you'll pardon me, I think it's probably just about my turn. Your turn. You mean you're going to speak here tonight? Well, sure, doc. I'm a citizen. It's free country. I have a right, doc. It's in the Constitution. Doctor. Doctor. He's hemorrhaging the patient. So he is. So he is. Well, you're not just going to let him bleed. Oh, but doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Don't worry, Holbein. I'm not going to let you die. Hemostat. Yes, doctor. Just set the tray down here, Cunningham. You better get some plasma. Hello, doctor. Chief. Back again? Been here all the time. Long wait. Just wanted to see how everything turned out. Did he make it? He made it. A lot of damage, but we patched him up. Well, can I talk now? Talk sure. Sure. And if he hadn't made it, no one would have blamed you. I think by this time, everybody in town knows that he's the one who blocked you and the other doctors. Made this epidemic possible. If he endorsed something, the people would automatically turn it down and that was his trump card. Well, I think the citizens are wise to it now. I think so. If Thelma Mullen, the woman who shot him, if she's any indication, yes. You and I are working on him all this time. I've been cleaning him up for the last half hour. If I'd known you were waiting, I'd have come out a little sooner. That's something I wanted to say. What? Oh, this business about playing God. I don't think it's such a good idea. You try it? I have to be honest with you. I thought about it for a minute. Doctor. Doctor. Cunningham looks like she's got trouble. Yeah. What is it? Your surgical patient. Holbein? Looks like he's developing typhoid symptoms. Him? I do wish you take a look, doctor. Think he's got it, doc? She says he's got it. He's got it, chief. Cunningham, see if he wants a priest or a minister or something. I'll be along directly. Yes, doctor. Right away. And set a watch on him. Yes, doctor. With all that surgery, he's a sucker for a perforation. And maybe there is some justice in the world after all. Well, there is mercy. I just hope Holbein will use it. Think he might make it? If you mean live, no, not a chance. If you mean heaven, even he's got a chance. Well, this is J. Carol Nash again. You know, it's amazing how many people think that it isn't manly to pray. I've known a lot of strong, courageous, and virile men who pray. Pray sincerely, deeply. But you know, for the really strong, sensible man, prayer is not just a last resort, a desperate remedy to be saved for in a tight spot, the critical moment in good times and bad and sickness and in health. We all need the help of prayers. I guess you recognize the phrase in sickness and in health. This comes straight out of the marriage ceremony. Well, that fits right in with what I'm trying to say, because no one needs God's help more than married people, fathers and mothers, who have the responsibility of raising children to be decent, God-respecting citizens. Every family must depend on divine assistance, and I can't think of a better way of ensuring it than by making family prayer a daily practice in the home. For with God's assistance, we can be sure. We can be sure that a family that prays together stays together. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. From Hollywood Family Theater has brought you transcribed emergency starring McDonald Kerry. J. Carol Nash was your host. Others in our cast were Lou Krugman, Gigi Pearson, Lawrence Dobkin and Ralph Moody. The script was written and directed for Family Theater by Robert Hugo Sullivan with music composed and conducted by George Wright. This series of Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type of program, by the mutual network which has responded to this need, and by the hundreds of stars of stage screen and radio who give so unselfishly of their time and talent to appear on our Family Theater stage. To them and to you, our humble thanks. This is Tony LaFranco expressing the wish of Family Theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home, and inviting you to join us next week when Family Theater will present Uncle Jim starring Dorothy Warren Scholl. Readjust to me will be your host. Join us, won't you? Family Theater is broadcast throughout the world and originates in the Hollywood studios of the world's largest network. This is Mutual, the radio network for all America.