The Savages Page #4

and this is what they do, see?

- Dad...

- You werent here, I said! Nobody!

- Jon, go get somebody.

- We weren't here 'cause we live on the East Coast.

- Remember?

- Yeah?

We haven't seen you in a long time.

We're here to help you.

So do something!

You're the doctor!

I'm gonna go get somebody.

He's not that kind of doctor, Dad.

He... He's a professor.

I thought my boy was a doctor.

Doctor of Philosophy.

PhD. Teaches college.

Medicine?

No.

Drama.

- He teaches theater.

- Like Broadway?

No, like... theater of social unrest.

Stuff like that.

He's doing a book on... on Berthold Brecht.

I'll release him

only if he promises to be good.

We can't have him get out of bed by himself.

Are you going to be good, Mr. Savage?

Are you going to be good, Dad?

You're not good, they won't let you go.

You can't keep pulling on everything.

This is for your own good.

This is your food.

We don't want him

climbing out on his own.

- He's unsteady. He can fall.

- We'll keep an eye on him.

Thank you.

Vascular dementia or multi-infarct...

usually follow one or more strokes...

but I'm not seeing

any sign of a stroke here.

But the disinhibition,

the aggression, masked facials...

with a blank stare that we had talked about

earlier, are all fairly good indicators.

- Is it like Alzheimer's?

- There are a lot of illnesses that can cause dementia.

I'm not prepared to make

a diagnosis yet, but I think...

his symptoms are much more

characteristic of Parkinson's disease.

So, w... what do we have

to look forward to?

Well, he's not a young man, so cardiac

or respiratory failure may spare him...

from the worst of it, but, uh,

tremors when the limb is at rest...

a shuffling walk, freezing up,

unable to initiate movement...

more and more loss

of motor coordination in general.

You make me feel so young

You make me feel

like spring has sprung

And every time I see you grin

I'm such a happy individual

The moment that you speak

I want to go play hide and seek

I want to go and bounce the moon

Just like a toy balloon

You and I

Are just like a couple of tots

Running across the meadow

Picking up...

Maybe Dad didn't abandon us.

Maybe he just forgot who we were.

- I'm gonna give Brian Deener a call.

- Who's that?

He's a friend of mine,

teaches in the English department.

He just put his mother

in a nursing home near campus.

Could we have some more nuts?

- Nursing home?

- Yeah. What?

- I wasn't thinking about putting him in a nursing home.

- What were you thinking?

- I don't know, but I wasn't thinking that.

- Where else is he gonna live?

I mean, really, what's the alternative?

You want to-

- You want to change Dad's diapers, wipe his ass?

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