HyperNatural - Show Sponsor
The Best Men’s Polo Shirts-Men’s Journal
HYPER NATURAL “The Best Men’s Polo Shirts of 2024” – Men’s Journal. HyperNatural offers polos, tees, and button-ups that deliver unmatched comfort and style, featuring Hyper-Cool Jade® technology for natural cooling. Enjoy an exclusive discount with my promo code! 20% Off HYPER NATURAL
In this gripping episode of CBS Radio Mystery Theater, host EG Marshall introduces a tale that explores the mysterious ways of divine intervention. Set in Belleville Community Hospital, the story unfolds amidst the chaos following a train wreck. As the hospital staff, including Dr. Hugh Bradley and Dr. Mike Bernardo, work tirelessly to treat the influx of patients, Chaplain Dan Morgan collapses from a ruptured appendix. Despite his own critical condition, Dan's selfless dedication to comforting others, particularly a dancer named Elizabeth Riggs, becomes a focal point of the narrative.
Elizabeth, facing the end of her dancing career due to her injuries, grapples with her faith and future. As Dan fights for his life, the story delves into themes of sacrifice, belief, and the mysterious workings of fate. In a poignant turn, Elizabeth's prayer for Dan's recovery becomes a testament to the power of faith and the interconnectedness of human lives. This episode beautifully weaves suspense with a profound exploration of human resilience and divine mystery.
(00:00) Introduction and Theme
(02:18) Belleville Hospital Crisis
(04:10) The Train Wreck and Its Aftermath
(08:24) Chaplain Morgan's Dilemma
(15:27) A Surgeon's Struggle
(22:29) Elizabeth's Decision
(31:03) Facing the Truth
(37:02) A Prayer for Healing
(41:54) Conclusion and Reflection
Listen to our radio station Old Time Radio https://link.radioking.com/otradio
Listen to other Shows at My Classic Radio https://www.myclassicradio.net/
Entertainment Radio | Broadcasting Classic Radio Shows | Patreon
Remember that times have changed, and some shows might not reflect the standards of today’s politically correct society. The shows do not necessarily reflect the views, standards, or beliefs of Entertainment Radio
[00:00:01]
Unknown:
The CBS radio mystery theater presents
[00:00:21] Unknown:
Come in.
[00:00:24] Unknown:
Welcome. I'm EG Marshall. Before you joined me, I was sitting thinking of all the murders, mayhem, and malevolence I have brought to you in the name of mystery. Suddenly, in this unaccustomed mellow mood, I thought upon the obverse side of the coin. The antithesis of the devil's advocates. The ministers of God. And it occurred to me that as much terror and suspense are contained in the mystery and magic that is invested in them by a higher power a greater force. Only this time, not a force for evil. So I thought a story from the other point of view might be interesting for a change.
[00:01:08] Unknown:
Nurse. Nurse. Somebody. Help. Help. What is it, miss Briggs? What happened?
[00:01:15] Unknown:
Chaplain Morgan. He just just suddenly collapsed.
[00:01:19] Unknown:
Is he dead, doctor Sheldon? Nurse, take care of the patient. Orderly send me another nurse from the floor quickly. What is it, Liz? What happened to Dan? I don't know yet, Mike.
[00:01:27] Unknown:
Well, so help me if anything has. This one, I'm pinning directly on that cold fish, doctor Hugh Bradley. Our mystery drama, He Moves in a Mysterious a Mysterious Way, was written especially for the mystery theater by Ian Martin, and stars Terry Keen. It is sponsored in part by Signoff, the sinus medicines, and Anheuser Busch Incorporated, brewers of Budweiser. I'll be back shortly with act one. It was the eighteenth century poet William Cowper who gave us that familiar and wonderful quote. God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.
This story is a reflection of that. Belleville Community Hospital, though located in the town of its name, services the entire county of Fairchild. It is the pride and joy of the five main towns and their smaller brothers and sisters who draw on its dependable service. But Belleville Hospital is stretched beyond its usual adequate capacity at this moment
[00:02:54] Unknown:
as a result of a train wreck on the line to New York. This is doctor Shelton. Just want to alert you, Brownie. We can expect twenty to thirty more casualties according to police estimates. Our patient facilities are already jammed, so we'll use the children's emergency section temporarily. In case of serious injuries that look surgical, refer all admissions to doctor Bradley. Nurse, I'm admitting this patient on the, card,
[00:03:16] Unknown:
Elizabeth Riggs. I knew you'd have to, doctor Bradley, so I had her chart prepared. Yes. Very efficient, doctor. My compliments to the optician department. I want my service to satisfy the new chief of staff. As long as it stays efficient, it will. Yeah. Doctor Bradley? Yes, doctor Bernardo. They're screaming for you in OR. You can hold the dramatics. I'm on my way. Oh, better check out this patient in the meanwhile, Elizabeth Riggs. I've given her light sedation. She's pre op. No need to diagnose her. I've already done that. Slight concussion, fractured patella, calpainus, and some messy damage in the ankle to the fibular and tibial termini.
You'll find it all on the chart. Well, I'm on my way to the OR.
[00:03:55] Unknown:
I would like to take his child. Mike, remember who he is. Sure. A genius at getting my backup. Come on, Orly. Let's go. Fly easy by then. What do you want for a crazy Italian?
[00:04:08] Unknown:
Liz, I got here as fast as I could.
[00:04:10] Unknown:
What is it? Trainwreck chaplain. Sorry to haul you out of bed in the middle of the night. Only time anyone really needs a chaplain or a minister is when there's trouble. You look a little under the weather. You alright?
[00:04:20] Unknown:
Oh, just half asleep.
[00:04:23] Unknown:
I'm the last one to be worried about.
[00:04:28] Unknown:
Not my leg. No.
[00:04:30] Unknown:
Not my leg. What's going on in here, nurse?
[00:04:34] Unknown:
Miss Riggs. I won't let them. I won't let anyone. Miss Riggs.
[00:04:39] Unknown:
Yes? I oh,
[00:04:43] Unknown:
you're the doctor. I treated you when you came in. What's the matter with my arms? You had to be put under restraint. It's imperative you stay as still as possible.
[00:04:52] Unknown:
I can't. Don't you see? I can't. I can't. Miss Rick, you are not the only victim of the train wreck.
[00:04:59] Unknown:
Train wreck?
[00:05:02] Unknown:
Oh, that's it. My leg.
[00:05:05] Unknown:
I lost my leg. Now don't be silly. You have some broken bones, but you have not lost your leg. Now give me that nurse. You're lying to me. I don't feel it. Help me hold her nurse. Now where's doctor Leonardo? Here doctor.
[00:05:19] Unknown:
And you hold her. Now lie still, miss Gibbs. We only want to help. I don't want to be helped. Sure you do, baby. That's what we're here for. Oh. You wanna walk out of here as soon as possible, don't you?
[00:05:31] Unknown:
Are you are you are you a surgeon? Just hired help. I'm the surgeon. Swab that nurse. This is doctor Bernardo. If you're the surgeon, I want to know something.
[00:05:42] Unknown:
Why can't I feel anything when my left leg ought to be? Because I immobilized it till doctor McNeil, the orthopedist, has time to operate on it. I don't believe you. I haven't time to argue. I want to see you a moment, doctor Bernardo. Now convince this grown up child that she has two good legs, will you? I'll try to the best of my limited ability. I don't ask for any more than you have to give. Why, you cold, inhuman
[00:06:18] Unknown:
nurse, bring me that hand mirror from the bureau. Surest way to convince you, miss Riggs. Let you see for yourself. Oh, thanks, nurse. You wanna pull the bed clothes back? Okay. I see. One of them in a light plaster bandage cast, but both where they belong.
[00:06:38] Unknown:
Oh.
[00:06:41] Unknown:
Why why didn't Doctor. Bradley show me that? Well, he might have. You should given him a chance instead of throwing a wingding.
[00:06:49] Unknown:
Oh, I shouldn't have but my legs are very
[00:06:53] Unknown:
special to me. I can see where they would be.
[00:06:57] Unknown:
I didn't mean the way they look.
[00:07:01] Unknown:
Neither did I. Although I wouldn't knock it but I know you're a dancer. It's my whole life.
[00:07:08] Unknown:
If I couldn't have oh, especially now.
[00:07:12] Unknown:
Nothing to worry about at the moment.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
But I've got oh,
[00:07:17] Unknown:
I feel woozy. That's the sedation. What is that surgeon going to do to me? Do you have a cracked kneecap and a broken ankle? He's going to fix them.
[00:07:29] Unknown:
I don't want an operation.
[00:07:31] Unknown:
We'll work that out when the time comes. You rest now and let the sedation work.
[00:07:36] Unknown:
I don't want to be alone. I would I just wish that What? You wouldn't understand. I'm I'm scared. I I think God is punishing me and I want to oh, I don't know what I want. There's a chaplain in the hospital.
[00:07:55] Unknown:
Reverend Dan Morgan, real good guy. Want to talk to him?
[00:08:00] Unknown:
Could I? I I know I can't sleep until would he have time for me?
[00:08:07] Unknown:
Miss Riggs, Dan Morgan could be drawing his last breath and he'd hold it till he got through helping anyone who needed him.
[00:08:25] Unknown:
Come in.
[00:08:27] Unknown:
You looking for me, Pat?
[00:08:28] Unknown:
Mike Bernardo just called down, Dan. Could you talk to that dancer with the badly injured leg? Sure. Of course. About what? She's fighting an operation and she asked for a minister.
[00:08:40] Unknown:
Alright.
[00:08:43] Unknown:
Should she have the operation?
[00:08:45] Unknown:
If she doesn't, she may never walk properly again. She could even lose it. Oh. Dan, you look tired. You don't look well. Maybe you should go home and rest.
[00:08:57] Unknown:
When I'm needed? No. Not in your life.
[00:09:01] Unknown:
What's the girl's name? Elizabeth Riggs, Room 317. A dancer you say, Yes. Ballet?
[00:09:08] Unknown:
Modern, I suppose, not classical. But a professional?
[00:09:11] Unknown:
Yes. And if the operation is successful, will she will she dance again?
[00:09:18] Unknown:
I doubt it.
[00:09:20] Unknown:
And more than ever she needs me. Yes, of course I'll see her. God's will be done. Hello, Elizabeth Riggs. I'm Chaplain Dan Morgan.
[00:09:37] Unknown:
Oh, how good of you to come. Was I asleep?
[00:09:41] Unknown:
For a while. I'm sorry. It was good for you. Not good enough.
[00:09:47] Unknown:
I need help, Chaplain.
[00:09:49] Unknown:
Help? Wireless.
[00:09:52] Unknown:
I'm afraid of the operation. I think they want to cut off my leg or or my foot. How did they say they would? No, but doctors never tell you. Of course they do. No one thinks you're gonna lose your leg. I do. Why? Because I think God wants to punish me. Punish you? What for? There's a a boy, Peter Starett. We're we were very much in love. That's what I went upstate for to marry him. And? At the last moment I couldn't. I ran out on the whole wedding. My parents, his, everyone. I I I took the train back to New York. That's why God
[00:10:33] Unknown:
punished me. Oh, I wouldn't say that. There were 64 people in that train wreck. God's a little more efficient than that.
[00:10:41] Unknown:
Now you make me feel ashamed.
[00:10:43] Unknown:
I meant to. I don't believe in a God of vengeance who reaches out to hurt and punish and neither should you, Liz. We make our own punishments.
[00:10:54] Unknown:
And I didn't make the train
[00:10:56] Unknown:
wreck. No, but you climbed aboard that train to run away.
[00:11:02] Unknown:
But I had to. Chaplain Morgan dancing isn't just a profession it's a whole way of life. And that's what I realized at the last moment. I I I couldn't give it up to marry Peter. Well, you said you loved him. I do. It it tore me apart to give him up, but I I had to make the choice. Child, why couldn't you have both? Because Peter, the minister, just like you. Can you imagine him running a parish with his wife in a Broadway show in cleavage down to my navel and net stockings up to my bikini?
[00:11:35] Unknown:
Okay, Dan. Buddy boy. I'm on my way. That was Dan. He's calmed our Terpsichorean terror. And she now is ready to sign for the operation. Alright. Give me a form, hon. I'll go make sure she's prepped. Now here's your form. Just watch your own.
[00:11:53] Unknown:
What's that mean? You wanna be a resident in surgery, don't you? It's my life outside of you. Me, you got. Just take it easy if Doctor. Bradley's the surgeon. Okay. Okay.
[00:12:04] Unknown:
So the guy gravels me. Now, try to stay out of his hair. Mike, he's a new bloom. Give him a chance to work in. Oh, I'll be a good little soldier. Anything he can dish out, I can take. That's my boy. Just hold a good thought. Too bad it's neither sane nor sanitary for one doctor to kiss another. I take the wish for the deed. I love you. There's an order of the cart to take her up to the ready room nurse. She's all cleared for O. R. Oh, hi, Dan. Hey. Come and stop. Hey, sir. Hey. You don't look so hot. Oh, I'm a little tired. Why don't you hit the sack? No. Not till the action's over. Hey, wait a minute.
Maybe I ought to run a little check on you. No. It'll be silly. Why? What are you rubbing your gut for? Oh, come on. Come on. Like a little indigestion. Somebody sneak some cucumber in my cell. I think No. No. No. You don't double over like that from cucumber. I better take You were assisting doctor McNeil? Yes, doctor Bradley, but Then you ought to be up in the scrub room already. Now let's go. I was on my way, but the chaplain here needs a checkup. The chaplain can take care of himself. Has miss Riggs been prepped? Yes, sir. But But get in the elevator, doctor. Yes, sir. Doctor Bradley.
Yes, sir. Private Bernardo reporting for duty. But may I recommend that the chaplain be temporarily relieved from his?
[00:13:33] Unknown:
Do you wanna be relieved chaplain? Oh, come on. You
[00:13:36] Unknown:
you have enough to worry about besides me. Now if you need a No, no, no. I I think I'll go in and sit with that poor child when she's taken up to O. R. She needs me more than I need anything. Well, how are you feeling, miss?
[00:13:51] Unknown:
I don't know.
[00:13:53] Unknown:
Far away but still scared. Oh, now you mustn't be.
[00:13:57] Unknown:
I won't lose my leg. You mustn't think about that. Even if it's saved, will I dance again?
[00:14:03] Unknown:
Whatever is to be,
[00:14:05] Unknown:
just leave it in God's hands.
[00:14:08] Unknown:
It's so easy for you. Words, just words.
[00:14:12] Unknown:
No, never just words, Liz.
[00:14:16] Unknown:
I've stayed with you because I I wanted to help you find strength. Don't let it be for nothing.
[00:14:24] Unknown:
Let me have achieved at least that.
[00:14:30] Unknown:
Nurse. Nurse. Somebody
[00:14:33] Unknown:
help. What is it? What's happened? Chelsea Morgan. He just su suddenly collapsed. Nurse, take care of the patient. Orderly get me another nurse in the floor right away.
[00:14:47] Unknown:
How'd the operation go? I don't know. Good, I guess. McNeal's the best bone man around, but that leg, it was a mess. How's Dan? I don't know. Running fever? Low grade, but he's still in
[00:15:00] Unknown:
in coma.
[00:15:01] Unknown:
What were the symptoms when you first examined him? Oh, nothing too definite. He's got a surgical abdomen. No doubt about that. But what? Did you get blood samples? Waiting for them now. You haven't been able to bring him too at all? No. If God owes anyone a break, it's to him. A bitter young man, but then a very tired and exhausted one, and a deeply concerned one for a man who is as close as his father. Still, doctor Michael Bernardo should know that in the eyes of God, all men are equal. Or are they? We have listened so many times to the triumph of evil on this program. Perhaps the power of good is not as strong.
I'll return shortly with act two. Doctor Patricia Shelton and doctor Mike Bernardo's eyes lock in concern for their barely breathing friend. From beyond the curtain and the other bed in the room, from the big heavily muscled early middle aged man in it comes a rhythmic and ear shattering snore. Oh, great.
[00:16:35] Unknown:
That the best roommate we could find for Dan? Oh, we were lucky to have a bed at all. Even the the standby rooms are all taken. Well, get him off his back. But you can't. He's in traction. Back? Yeah. McNeil's patient too. From the train wreck? No. He's been here a week or so. Oh, I'm tired. Why don't you grab some shut eye, We can't do anything till we get the test back or Dan comes to go stretch out in the lounge. I'll I'll wake you the moment the test are back. Come on. I'll walk you there. How'd the operation go for Liz Riggs?
[00:17:13] Unknown:
McNeil patched the knee fairly easily, but the ankle and the socket of the tibia were fragmented. Plus, the broken calcaneus. She'll be lucky to retain even partial mobility. Which means no more dancing. Certainly not professionally. I'd hate to have to be the one to tell her.
[00:17:43] Unknown:
Hey. Hey. Where is Sam? Who is that? Damn. Hey, you. You're on the next bed. Hey, you're awake. What is this? A morgue? Hey, you.
[00:18:02] Unknown:
Yes? What is it?
[00:18:05] Unknown:
I don't know what's with you, brother, but my back is killing me. I I wanna ring for the nurse, but the gizmo with a button just fell off the bed. Can you get up on me,
[00:18:19] Unknown:
just a minute. Here. I'll get the call button.
[00:18:26] Unknown:
Shall I ring for you or I'll get you a doctor?
[00:18:30] Unknown:
Forget it.
[00:18:31] Unknown:
I'm alright for the moment. Yes. But you're in pain, you.
[00:18:35] Unknown:
I can take it. What do you got, Mike?
[00:18:40] Unknown:
I don't know. I don't even know how I got here. I hope it's nothing catching. I know. I'm sure it isn't. I I I thought I had a
[00:18:51] Unknown:
but there isn't any pain anymore. Catch your blessings, fella.
[00:18:56] Unknown:
Dan, what are you doing out of bed? No. I'm alright. You are not. Nurse, help me get him back in bed. No. I I You're running a fever. And nurse, get doctor Bernardo down here right away. He's catching a nap in the father's lounge on maternity.
[00:19:11] Unknown:
Dan won't you ever take care of yourself. Hey. What's the big fuss? Who is this guy? I was right.
[00:19:18] Unknown:
A doctor. He's not an MD. He's the hospital chaplain, the Reverend Dan Morgan.
[00:19:23] Unknown:
A minister for crying out loud. That's all I need.
[00:19:33] Unknown:
Okay, Dan. Let me know if and where it hurts. Oh, there. Uh-huh. How about here? Tender doesn't doesn't hurt as much. Okay, Dan. That's it. Confirmed. The W. B. C. Will bear it out this time around. The peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix that perforated.
[00:19:55] Unknown:
How did you ever take the pain Dan? It was not bad. Everyone was busy with real emergencies. My help was needed by others. So you just let your appendix explode.
[00:20:06] Unknown:
Alright. Roll them to you Pat. Streptomycin two nurse.
[00:20:12] Unknown:
Your technique is too good, Mike. I didn't feel any needles. A bowl of bonehead
[00:20:17] Unknown:
stunts to pull. So many people. I couldn't I couldn't let them down. Fever is rising. I don't like it.
[00:20:29] Unknown:
You in pain still, Dan?
[00:20:33] Unknown:
No, no. I was just thinking about that poor little dancer. Look, concentrate on yourself. Let us worry about miss Riggs. There's no problem of her losing her leg. Doctor McNeil did a bang up job. With luck, she'll regain almost total mobility. Pat, when you sit on this stubborn mule till that kick goes out of him. I will. Go make like a doctor. At least my other patients treat me like one. You you still going to marry that crazy Italian?
[00:21:08] Unknown:
The first moment I can pin him down. Then I'll stick around.
[00:21:12] Unknown:
I don't know who he figures will be best man, but Dan Morgan knows who'll be the most important. Or I'll make sure he ties the knot within the faith with my own two hands. My own two hands joining the two of you in the side.
[00:21:41] Unknown:
Morning, miss Riggs. Morning, doctor Bernardo.
[00:21:44] Unknown:
You look pretty pretty this morning. Oh, I feel wonderful.
[00:21:48] Unknown:
I can almost feel the bones knitting. I could just jump right out of bed du a chate or handle a wall clock just like that. Yeah. Well, I wouldn't rush things. Well, not without a warm up anyway. I bet you I'll be dancing in no time. Thanks to Chaplain Morgan. How is he today? Is he better?
[00:22:07] Unknown:
I wish I could say he was.
[00:22:09] Unknown:
Didn't they take out his appendix? No. Not yet. You mean it it's serious?
[00:22:15] Unknown:
It could be very serious.
[00:22:19] Unknown:
Oh, I wish I could do something for him.
[00:22:23] Unknown:
You could. You could see a young man who's waiting downstairs. Peter Starrett.
[00:22:30] Unknown:
How did he find me?
[00:22:32] Unknown:
As sick as the chaplain was last night, he managed to contact him. What for? He knows it's all over between Peter and me. Why? Because you just can't bear to hang up those little red shoes?
[00:22:44] Unknown:
Something like that.
[00:22:46] Unknown:
I think maybe what Chaplain Morgan wanted to tell you was that a dancer has a short life and sooner or later she has to hang them up. A marriage can last a lot longer.
[00:22:59] Unknown:
I can't. It wouldn't be fair to Peter or to me.
[00:23:04] Unknown:
That's the message you want me to give him? And the chaplain?
[00:23:10] Unknown:
Doctor. Bernardo, I will be able to dance, won't I?
[00:23:15] Unknown:
I'm not the one to ask that question to, Miss Riggs. You'd better ask it of the surgeons, Doctor McNeil or Doctor Bradley. Morning, mister Wolfen.
[00:23:31] Unknown:
Hey. Morning, Chaplin.
[00:23:34] Unknown:
I see you're out of traction.
[00:23:36] Unknown:
Yeah. Yeah. How you feeling?
[00:23:39] Unknown:
Oh, I felt better. Thirsty.
[00:23:45] Unknown:
Hold it a minute. I'll get you some ice water. No. No. No. You're back. You you mustn't get a Thirsty. You can lug a busted appendix around and not complain. I can manage a stiff back. Here.
[00:23:59] Unknown:
Thanks. Oh, yeah.
[00:24:05] Unknown:
Thanks. You want some more? Yeah. Please.
[00:24:09] Unknown:
Yeah. That was That was good. It's good. It's
[00:24:19] Unknown:
Hey. What is it, Parson? A knife. Knife. I'll get the doctor.
[00:24:30] Unknown:
Don't answer that. It might be Peter for me. Could be a call for me too. But if it should be Peter, I'm I'm just not ready to talk to her. Couldn't you just let it go? Sure.
[00:24:42] Unknown:
Nothing so urgent it won't last till I get to the nurse's desk. I'll be seeing you, miss Riggs.
[00:24:52] Unknown:
Oh, I swore her for a man with peritonitis. Where were you, doctor Bernardo?
[00:24:58] Unknown:
I went to see miss Riggs.
[00:25:00] Unknown:
You know, the dancer. Who is not your patient?
[00:25:04] Unknown:
No, sir.
[00:25:05] Unknown:
You don't like me very much, do you, Doctor. Bernardo?
[00:25:09] Unknown:
Well, that is a bit direct.
[00:25:11] Unknown:
Puts me at quite a disadvantage. Because you applied here for a residency in surgery? My personal feelings would not dictate my judgment of your qualifications unless you wish to withdraw your application.
[00:25:24] Unknown:
Not yet, sir. No?
[00:25:27] Unknown:
What does that depend on? The success of our operation on Chaplain Morgan? To a degree. Then we must be sure that it is immaculately successful.
[00:25:39] Unknown:
As far as I'm concerned, it's the same way no matter who's on the table.
[00:25:46] Unknown:
I deserve that rebuke. I bought it because of my own resentments. I'm human, not a robot.
[00:25:54] Unknown:
You are a kind of a stickler for detail. You're damn right.
[00:25:58] Unknown:
A doctor can make minor mistakes which can be rectified. Isn't quite the same with a surgeon. Habit, discipline, minute attention to detail, constant vigilance and objectivity, that's what a surgeon has to pay. Still wanna be one?
[00:26:15] Unknown:
As long as I don't have to retire from the human race.
[00:26:19] Unknown:
Like me, that perhaps is a personal trait, but I have some reason. You see, one surgeon's momentary carelessness, his anxiety to look up and be a nice guy and assure me everything was going well, cost me my wife and with it a large part of me. Well, no one is very much interested in my immortal soul. Now Dan Morgan is something else again. But for the moment, objectively, just another surgical problem. Agreed?
[00:26:57] Unknown:
I'll assist to the best of my ability. I'll accept that, doctor.
[00:27:01] Unknown:
The patient is waiting. Shall we go?
[00:27:13] Unknown:
The great poet, WH Auden, had a craggy face so masked with wrinkles that Igor Stravinsky once said, soon we'll have to smooth it out to see exactly who he is. Dan Morgan's face is like that. Only now, under anesthetic, it is smoothed out. The only difference is that as the two surgeons approach, it is less a revelation than a mask. A mask of encroaching death. I'll return shortly with act three. The operation is completed and the two surgeons return to the locker room, still gowned, capped, gloved, and masked. With a quick practice move, doctor Bradley divests himself with gloves, mask, and cap, dropping him in a sanitary container.
What are Dan's chances?
[00:28:18] Unknown:
You saw what was there when we opened. Infection is massive and well established. The drain should bring relief, I hope, more than temporary.
[00:28:27] Unknown:
But once we can get a reading on the culture, we can pick the right antibiotic to knock out the infection?
[00:28:33] Unknown:
If we're lucky.
[00:28:35] Unknown:
If Dan
[00:28:37] Unknown:
doesn't pull through this If he doesn't, doctor, I, I shall resign from this hospital. I was guilty of just what I demand from my staff. Total thoroughness on every case.
[00:28:52] Unknown:
Well, in all fairness, sir, with 65 victims of a train wreck suddenly dumped on your agenda. Doesn't excuse carelessness or inattention.
[00:29:02] Unknown:
Now I'm going to recovery room to check on Chaplain Morgan. I might suggest you get together with doctor McNeil and prepare miss Riggs to face her future.
[00:29:19] Unknown:
Yes, Mike. I guess I understand. Oh, he's here in the waiting room alright looking pretty forlorn. What? Well, I'll do my best. Yeah. Okay. I'll talk to him. Hello, Reverend Starett. Oh.
[00:29:40] Unknown:
Oh, hello. Doctor,
[00:29:43] Unknown:
doctor Sheldon.
[00:29:45] Unknown:
Yes. Excuse me. I I know the others, but I wasn't as sure of you.
[00:29:51] Unknown:
Because I'm a lady doctor? No.
[00:29:54] Unknown:
Because I I only met you once briefly. I know.
[00:29:58] Unknown:
Have you seen miss Riggs? No. No.
[00:30:02] Unknown:
She she doesn't want to see me.
[00:30:05] Unknown:
That's because she she doesn't know the truth yet. The truth? That she'll never be able to dance again.
[00:30:14] Unknown:
But he didn't tell me that. He didn't know it then.
[00:30:17] Unknown:
Just lives. Reverend Starett, after the accident, your fiance was in psychogenic shock. It took Dan, the chaplain, to persuade her to have any operation at all just so she could walk again. All the doctors agreed that since her career was so vital to her, the news that she didn't have one anymore had to be broken to her carefully. Oh, I agree.
[00:30:42] Unknown:
Elizabeth has to be told the truth, and we've got to figure out how.
[00:30:55] Unknown:
Good evening, mister Riggs. I'm, doctor Hugh Bradley. I don't know if you remember, but I treated you an emergency and admitted you to the hospital.
[00:31:04] Unknown:
Yes. I remember.
[00:31:05] Unknown:
How soon can I dance again? Well, the first thing is to walk. As for the other miss Riggs, I I think you will have to make an adjustment in your mind. Now I don't believe in hiding the truth from patients. There isn't a chance that you'll ever be able to dance professionally again.
[00:31:26] Unknown:
Oh, good morning, doctor Bradley. Did you have me on page?
[00:31:29] Unknown:
Yes. Yes. McNeil is off today and his patient, miss Riggs, had an attack of hysterics last night. I had to sedate her. What happened? Was it Peter Starrett being here upset her so much? Whoever he is, no. I simply told her something that should have been made clear to her from the first that her dancing days are over. Just like that? She had a right to know.
[00:31:51] Unknown:
But abruptly, coldly,
[00:31:54] Unknown:
you're just not Miss Riggs is not under psychiatric care. She is of age, and we are doctors. Our function is to heal and inform. She asked for you, and I said you would stop by this morning.
[00:32:14] Unknown:
Hi, ladies. Do you wanna see me?
[00:32:17] Unknown:
Yes. I want you to get Peter's dirt off my back and out of here.
[00:32:23] Unknown:
I never want to see him again or any of you. Now now look, I just got the bad word about you too. So you're not going to be Margaret Fontaine or whatever, but you're not going to be crippled either. And this way there's nothing to stand between you and that nice guy who loves you and Nothing to stand between us, that's the laugh.
[00:32:45] Unknown:
Now it's worse than ever. We just don't stand a chance at all. What do you mean? Oh, you wouldn't understand. No doctor would. That's why I've got to see the chaplain.
[00:33:02] Unknown:
Well, all things considered, you seem in fairly good shape this morning. How do you feel, Dan? All things considered, not so hot.
[00:33:11] Unknown:
But I think if Elizabeth Riggs wants to see me,
[00:33:15] Unknown:
I must see her. Once we've licked the peritonitis,
[00:33:18] Unknown:
you're in no condition. I must see her to convince myself that I didn't fail. And if you did No disgrace and failure, Mike, as long as you try to the utmost.
[00:33:29] Unknown:
If I'm to be called home, let me try to go with a clean conscience.
[00:33:39] Unknown:
You're sure you feel alright, doctor Bradley? Yeah. Yeah. Of course. You know you're supposed to rest after donating blood. I I realize that
[00:33:48] Unknown:
By some strange chance, the chaplains and mine match. I
[00:33:53] Unknown:
well, I'd like to think that well, I mean, I I He's due for a replacement. I'll see he gets this particular bottle. Oh, hi, Mark. Where are you taking miss Riggs? To see Dan. He's in no condition for visitors.
[00:34:07] Unknown:
He was the one who insisted. And, just in case, I wouldn't deny him anything he asked. Well, I've wheeled it to you, Dan, although you shouldn't be seeing any visitors.
[00:34:29] Unknown:
I wonder doctor if I might claim the privilege of the confessional.
[00:34:33] Unknown:
Well, not for long. You have less strength than you think you have.
[00:34:39] Unknown:
And maybe Liz and I can find a lot of it between us.
[00:34:51] Unknown:
But if you hadn't been worried about me, you'd have gone back to the doctors for help.
[00:34:56] Unknown:
If I hadn't been worried about you, I would have no right to the principles I serve.
[00:35:03] Unknown:
I should say principle. Will you still turn your back on him?
[00:35:09] Unknown:
I'd rather talk about you.
[00:35:11] Unknown:
There may not be much time to talk about me, so I have to be abrupt cause I have so little strength left.
[00:35:22] Unknown:
Are you going to marry Peter? I can't.
[00:35:26] Unknown:
More than ever now. Why? Don't you love him? I've always loved him. But I broke that love for a simple thing like a wish for a career. Chaplain and doctor Bradley told me that I could never dance again. Of all the reactions that I had, the most definite and unshakable was that I cannot believe in a God who would take away from me the one thing that I have worked all my life to achieve.
[00:35:55] Unknown:
Because of that, even though it removed another less important barrier,
[00:36:02] Unknown:
You can't go back to the man who loves you.
[00:36:06] Unknown:
Of all men how can I? He's a minister like you and I no longer believe in God. Oh, it is. I don't believe that. I don't think you're like all the people who put on religion like a Sunday dress
[00:36:18] Unknown:
just for the occasion. You can't deny him any more than I can.
[00:36:24] Unknown:
Or Peter, because no matter how hard all of us try, in the end we must have a personal God. Take him to your heart.
[00:36:39] Unknown:
How can I? Forget me. How can he destroy a man like you? Can't I convince you that death is not destruction?
[00:36:49] Unknown:
Certainly not not for me.
[00:36:53] Unknown:
What would you ask? A miracle?
[00:36:57] Unknown:
I don't know. I don't know what I want. Just
[00:37:01] Unknown:
just for you not to die. Alright then. Help me to live. Don't deny him
[00:37:08] Unknown:
as I once prayed for you. Now, well, if you want try to to pray for me.
[00:37:21] Unknown:
Oh, Chaplain. Don't you see? It would just be a mockery when I don't believe. Chaplain. Chaplain, are you
[00:37:34] Unknown:
oh. Oh, I've got to get the doctor. Excuse me, miss. Who who Hey. It's okay. It's okay. I've been Chaplain's roommate these last days. I was I was in the bathroom shaving and cleaning up to go home. And you overheard? Yeah. Yeah. I couldn't help hearing some of it. And you gotta listen to me because I got something to say. No. I can't listen now. The chaplain It'll only take a minute. And the way I see it, maybe you can do him more good right this moment than all the doctors in the world. Faith and belief didn't put any fingers on you or the chaplain. The one on him, he put there himself.
I don't know what you mean. I mean, when you were brought into this hospital, the chaplain was dying of pain. He needed a doc a lot more than you did, but he stuck with you. Even with his appendix exploding inside him, he covered it up to help you out. The poison's all through now, and maybe he's dying. But if it is, it's a risk he took for you to save not only your leg but, well, all of you. Now are you gonna make the belief that made him sacrifice himself for you the way he did? Be offered nothing? Or you're gonna give back something of yourself in return? Well, I'll, I'll go get the docs to leave you to think about it.
Oh my God,
[00:39:10] Unknown:
I have heartily offended you.
[00:39:14] Unknown:
I beg you to forgive me.
[00:39:18] Unknown:
I implore you to listen to me. I am nothing, but he. This man is so important. And I don't know how to say it to ask him, but please, in your infinite mercy, dear father in heaven, who looks after us all and wants to help us, Please help this one man who deserves it more than any of us. Don't let him be wasted. I ask it with all my heart in your name.
[00:39:58] Unknown:
It's alright, miss Riggs. Just take it easy.
[00:40:02] Unknown:
I should have called you sooner. Oh, forget it.
[00:40:06] Unknown:
As a doctor, I tell you it's alright. You you mean he's going to live? Have you ever seen anything more beautiful than plain ordinary sweat? It's broken.
[00:40:22] Unknown:
Whatever of a fever is broken. We're on the way.
[00:40:27] Unknown:
He asked me to pray,
[00:40:29] Unknown:
whatever it was that did it. He answered.
[00:40:34] Unknown:
He answered. You mean that God
[00:40:38] Unknown:
somehow The oldest cliche in the world, miss Riggs. Man proposes, God disposes. No matter how far medicine takes us, in the end, that's the result.
[00:40:53] Unknown:
Then the chaplain will be alright.
[00:40:56] Unknown:
Just give him a look. Bathed in perspiration, his fever tumbling and blissfully asleep. We're all getting out of this lucky. Except you, maybe. Oh,
[00:41:11] Unknown:
that's decided. Oh, it isn't all that much of a life as a dancer.
[00:41:17] Unknown:
As long as Peter is still around, if he still wants me. He is and he sure does. We couldn't have moved him out of here with a bulldozer. Now we've only one restriction before you leave here. We expect to be invited as guests at the wedding.
[00:41:30] Unknown:
Well, it won't take place without you. Because one thing I'll never give in to Peter about. The chaplain will have to marry us. Why not?
[00:41:41] Unknown:
We, we might even make it a double wedding. Well, there it is. No sound, no fury, but certainly a tale that signifies something, a mystery. I think it qualifies for the title. As I said in the beginning, and as you have seen for yourself, God does move in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. I'll be back shortly. The reverend Daniel Morgan did recover. Fortunately, because four anxious young people no longer wanted to postpone weddings too long delayed. It wasn't a double wedding as once had been considered. Mike was operating the morning Liz and Peter were married, but he was able to make the reception afterwards.
As for Pat's marriage to Mike, it was a very simple and quiet one in the hospital chapel, notable for only one thing. The best man was doctor Hugh Bradley. Our cast included Terry Keen, Patsy Bruder, Leon Janney, Robert Dryden, and Ian Martin. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. And now, a preview of our next tale.
[00:43:19] Unknown:
It was long before I could get to sleep. But when at last I did, if indeed I really was asleep, I was conscious of something huge and black circling by the foot of my bed. A monstrous cat like shape that suddenly sprang. And I felt the stinging pain as if two needle sharp claws had plunged like hot irons into my breast. And then suddenly, my eyes were open, and I thought I saw Carmilla standing there. The figure moved quickly to the door, and I followed it only to find the door securely locked from the inside just the way I had left it before I retired. I sprang into my bed with the covers over my head, and I laid there more dead than alive until morning.
[00:44:14] Unknown:
Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Anheuser Busch Incorporated, Brewers of Budweiser, and Signoff, the sinus medicines. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time, pleasant dreams.
The CBS radio mystery theater presents
[00:00:21] Unknown:
Come in.
[00:00:24] Unknown:
Welcome. I'm EG Marshall. Before you joined me, I was sitting thinking of all the murders, mayhem, and malevolence I have brought to you in the name of mystery. Suddenly, in this unaccustomed mellow mood, I thought upon the obverse side of the coin. The antithesis of the devil's advocates. The ministers of God. And it occurred to me that as much terror and suspense are contained in the mystery and magic that is invested in them by a higher power a greater force. Only this time, not a force for evil. So I thought a story from the other point of view might be interesting for a change.
[00:01:08] Unknown:
Nurse. Nurse. Somebody. Help. Help. What is it, miss Briggs? What happened?
[00:01:15] Unknown:
Chaplain Morgan. He just just suddenly collapsed.
[00:01:19] Unknown:
Is he dead, doctor Sheldon? Nurse, take care of the patient. Orderly send me another nurse from the floor quickly. What is it, Liz? What happened to Dan? I don't know yet, Mike.
[00:01:27] Unknown:
Well, so help me if anything has. This one, I'm pinning directly on that cold fish, doctor Hugh Bradley. Our mystery drama, He Moves in a Mysterious a Mysterious Way, was written especially for the mystery theater by Ian Martin, and stars Terry Keen. It is sponsored in part by Signoff, the sinus medicines, and Anheuser Busch Incorporated, brewers of Budweiser. I'll be back shortly with act one. It was the eighteenth century poet William Cowper who gave us that familiar and wonderful quote. God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.
This story is a reflection of that. Belleville Community Hospital, though located in the town of its name, services the entire county of Fairchild. It is the pride and joy of the five main towns and their smaller brothers and sisters who draw on its dependable service. But Belleville Hospital is stretched beyond its usual adequate capacity at this moment
[00:02:54] Unknown:
as a result of a train wreck on the line to New York. This is doctor Shelton. Just want to alert you, Brownie. We can expect twenty to thirty more casualties according to police estimates. Our patient facilities are already jammed, so we'll use the children's emergency section temporarily. In case of serious injuries that look surgical, refer all admissions to doctor Bradley. Nurse, I'm admitting this patient on the, card,
[00:03:16] Unknown:
Elizabeth Riggs. I knew you'd have to, doctor Bradley, so I had her chart prepared. Yes. Very efficient, doctor. My compliments to the optician department. I want my service to satisfy the new chief of staff. As long as it stays efficient, it will. Yeah. Doctor Bradley? Yes, doctor Bernardo. They're screaming for you in OR. You can hold the dramatics. I'm on my way. Oh, better check out this patient in the meanwhile, Elizabeth Riggs. I've given her light sedation. She's pre op. No need to diagnose her. I've already done that. Slight concussion, fractured patella, calpainus, and some messy damage in the ankle to the fibular and tibial termini.
You'll find it all on the chart. Well, I'm on my way to the OR.
[00:03:55] Unknown:
I would like to take his child. Mike, remember who he is. Sure. A genius at getting my backup. Come on, Orly. Let's go. Fly easy by then. What do you want for a crazy Italian?
[00:04:08] Unknown:
Liz, I got here as fast as I could.
[00:04:10] Unknown:
What is it? Trainwreck chaplain. Sorry to haul you out of bed in the middle of the night. Only time anyone really needs a chaplain or a minister is when there's trouble. You look a little under the weather. You alright?
[00:04:20] Unknown:
Oh, just half asleep.
[00:04:23] Unknown:
I'm the last one to be worried about.
[00:04:28] Unknown:
Not my leg. No.
[00:04:30] Unknown:
Not my leg. What's going on in here, nurse?
[00:04:34] Unknown:
Miss Riggs. I won't let them. I won't let anyone. Miss Riggs.
[00:04:39] Unknown:
Yes? I oh,
[00:04:43] Unknown:
you're the doctor. I treated you when you came in. What's the matter with my arms? You had to be put under restraint. It's imperative you stay as still as possible.
[00:04:52] Unknown:
I can't. Don't you see? I can't. I can't. Miss Rick, you are not the only victim of the train wreck.
[00:04:59] Unknown:
Train wreck?
[00:05:02] Unknown:
Oh, that's it. My leg.
[00:05:05] Unknown:
I lost my leg. Now don't be silly. You have some broken bones, but you have not lost your leg. Now give me that nurse. You're lying to me. I don't feel it. Help me hold her nurse. Now where's doctor Leonardo? Here doctor.
[00:05:19] Unknown:
And you hold her. Now lie still, miss Gibbs. We only want to help. I don't want to be helped. Sure you do, baby. That's what we're here for. Oh. You wanna walk out of here as soon as possible, don't you?
[00:05:31] Unknown:
Are you are you are you a surgeon? Just hired help. I'm the surgeon. Swab that nurse. This is doctor Bernardo. If you're the surgeon, I want to know something.
[00:05:42] Unknown:
Why can't I feel anything when my left leg ought to be? Because I immobilized it till doctor McNeil, the orthopedist, has time to operate on it. I don't believe you. I haven't time to argue. I want to see you a moment, doctor Bernardo. Now convince this grown up child that she has two good legs, will you? I'll try to the best of my limited ability. I don't ask for any more than you have to give. Why, you cold, inhuman
[00:06:18] Unknown:
nurse, bring me that hand mirror from the bureau. Surest way to convince you, miss Riggs. Let you see for yourself. Oh, thanks, nurse. You wanna pull the bed clothes back? Okay. I see. One of them in a light plaster bandage cast, but both where they belong.
[00:06:38] Unknown:
Oh.
[00:06:41] Unknown:
Why why didn't Doctor. Bradley show me that? Well, he might have. You should given him a chance instead of throwing a wingding.
[00:06:49] Unknown:
Oh, I shouldn't have but my legs are very
[00:06:53] Unknown:
special to me. I can see where they would be.
[00:06:57] Unknown:
I didn't mean the way they look.
[00:07:01] Unknown:
Neither did I. Although I wouldn't knock it but I know you're a dancer. It's my whole life.
[00:07:08] Unknown:
If I couldn't have oh, especially now.
[00:07:12] Unknown:
Nothing to worry about at the moment.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
But I've got oh,
[00:07:17] Unknown:
I feel woozy. That's the sedation. What is that surgeon going to do to me? Do you have a cracked kneecap and a broken ankle? He's going to fix them.
[00:07:29] Unknown:
I don't want an operation.
[00:07:31] Unknown:
We'll work that out when the time comes. You rest now and let the sedation work.
[00:07:36] Unknown:
I don't want to be alone. I would I just wish that What? You wouldn't understand. I'm I'm scared. I I think God is punishing me and I want to oh, I don't know what I want. There's a chaplain in the hospital.
[00:07:55] Unknown:
Reverend Dan Morgan, real good guy. Want to talk to him?
[00:08:00] Unknown:
Could I? I I know I can't sleep until would he have time for me?
[00:08:07] Unknown:
Miss Riggs, Dan Morgan could be drawing his last breath and he'd hold it till he got through helping anyone who needed him.
[00:08:25] Unknown:
Come in.
[00:08:27] Unknown:
You looking for me, Pat?
[00:08:28] Unknown:
Mike Bernardo just called down, Dan. Could you talk to that dancer with the badly injured leg? Sure. Of course. About what? She's fighting an operation and she asked for a minister.
[00:08:40] Unknown:
Alright.
[00:08:43] Unknown:
Should she have the operation?
[00:08:45] Unknown:
If she doesn't, she may never walk properly again. She could even lose it. Oh. Dan, you look tired. You don't look well. Maybe you should go home and rest.
[00:08:57] Unknown:
When I'm needed? No. Not in your life.
[00:09:01] Unknown:
What's the girl's name? Elizabeth Riggs, Room 317. A dancer you say, Yes. Ballet?
[00:09:08] Unknown:
Modern, I suppose, not classical. But a professional?
[00:09:11] Unknown:
Yes. And if the operation is successful, will she will she dance again?
[00:09:18] Unknown:
I doubt it.
[00:09:20] Unknown:
And more than ever she needs me. Yes, of course I'll see her. God's will be done. Hello, Elizabeth Riggs. I'm Chaplain Dan Morgan.
[00:09:37] Unknown:
Oh, how good of you to come. Was I asleep?
[00:09:41] Unknown:
For a while. I'm sorry. It was good for you. Not good enough.
[00:09:47] Unknown:
I need help, Chaplain.
[00:09:49] Unknown:
Help? Wireless.
[00:09:52] Unknown:
I'm afraid of the operation. I think they want to cut off my leg or or my foot. How did they say they would? No, but doctors never tell you. Of course they do. No one thinks you're gonna lose your leg. I do. Why? Because I think God wants to punish me. Punish you? What for? There's a a boy, Peter Starett. We're we were very much in love. That's what I went upstate for to marry him. And? At the last moment I couldn't. I ran out on the whole wedding. My parents, his, everyone. I I I took the train back to New York. That's why God
[00:10:33] Unknown:
punished me. Oh, I wouldn't say that. There were 64 people in that train wreck. God's a little more efficient than that.
[00:10:41] Unknown:
Now you make me feel ashamed.
[00:10:43] Unknown:
I meant to. I don't believe in a God of vengeance who reaches out to hurt and punish and neither should you, Liz. We make our own punishments.
[00:10:54] Unknown:
And I didn't make the train
[00:10:56] Unknown:
wreck. No, but you climbed aboard that train to run away.
[00:11:02] Unknown:
But I had to. Chaplain Morgan dancing isn't just a profession it's a whole way of life. And that's what I realized at the last moment. I I I couldn't give it up to marry Peter. Well, you said you loved him. I do. It it tore me apart to give him up, but I I had to make the choice. Child, why couldn't you have both? Because Peter, the minister, just like you. Can you imagine him running a parish with his wife in a Broadway show in cleavage down to my navel and net stockings up to my bikini?
[00:11:35] Unknown:
Okay, Dan. Buddy boy. I'm on my way. That was Dan. He's calmed our Terpsichorean terror. And she now is ready to sign for the operation. Alright. Give me a form, hon. I'll go make sure she's prepped. Now here's your form. Just watch your own.
[00:11:53] Unknown:
What's that mean? You wanna be a resident in surgery, don't you? It's my life outside of you. Me, you got. Just take it easy if Doctor. Bradley's the surgeon. Okay. Okay.
[00:12:04] Unknown:
So the guy gravels me. Now, try to stay out of his hair. Mike, he's a new bloom. Give him a chance to work in. Oh, I'll be a good little soldier. Anything he can dish out, I can take. That's my boy. Just hold a good thought. Too bad it's neither sane nor sanitary for one doctor to kiss another. I take the wish for the deed. I love you. There's an order of the cart to take her up to the ready room nurse. She's all cleared for O. R. Oh, hi, Dan. Hey. Come and stop. Hey, sir. Hey. You don't look so hot. Oh, I'm a little tired. Why don't you hit the sack? No. Not till the action's over. Hey, wait a minute.
Maybe I ought to run a little check on you. No. It'll be silly. Why? What are you rubbing your gut for? Oh, come on. Come on. Like a little indigestion. Somebody sneak some cucumber in my cell. I think No. No. No. You don't double over like that from cucumber. I better take You were assisting doctor McNeil? Yes, doctor Bradley, but Then you ought to be up in the scrub room already. Now let's go. I was on my way, but the chaplain here needs a checkup. The chaplain can take care of himself. Has miss Riggs been prepped? Yes, sir. But But get in the elevator, doctor. Yes, sir. Doctor Bradley.
Yes, sir. Private Bernardo reporting for duty. But may I recommend that the chaplain be temporarily relieved from his?
[00:13:33] Unknown:
Do you wanna be relieved chaplain? Oh, come on. You
[00:13:36] Unknown:
you have enough to worry about besides me. Now if you need a No, no, no. I I think I'll go in and sit with that poor child when she's taken up to O. R. She needs me more than I need anything. Well, how are you feeling, miss?
[00:13:51] Unknown:
I don't know.
[00:13:53] Unknown:
Far away but still scared. Oh, now you mustn't be.
[00:13:57] Unknown:
I won't lose my leg. You mustn't think about that. Even if it's saved, will I dance again?
[00:14:03] Unknown:
Whatever is to be,
[00:14:05] Unknown:
just leave it in God's hands.
[00:14:08] Unknown:
It's so easy for you. Words, just words.
[00:14:12] Unknown:
No, never just words, Liz.
[00:14:16] Unknown:
I've stayed with you because I I wanted to help you find strength. Don't let it be for nothing.
[00:14:24] Unknown:
Let me have achieved at least that.
[00:14:30] Unknown:
Nurse. Nurse. Somebody
[00:14:33] Unknown:
help. What is it? What's happened? Chelsea Morgan. He just su suddenly collapsed. Nurse, take care of the patient. Orderly get me another nurse in the floor right away.
[00:14:47] Unknown:
How'd the operation go? I don't know. Good, I guess. McNeal's the best bone man around, but that leg, it was a mess. How's Dan? I don't know. Running fever? Low grade, but he's still in
[00:15:00] Unknown:
in coma.
[00:15:01] Unknown:
What were the symptoms when you first examined him? Oh, nothing too definite. He's got a surgical abdomen. No doubt about that. But what? Did you get blood samples? Waiting for them now. You haven't been able to bring him too at all? No. If God owes anyone a break, it's to him. A bitter young man, but then a very tired and exhausted one, and a deeply concerned one for a man who is as close as his father. Still, doctor Michael Bernardo should know that in the eyes of God, all men are equal. Or are they? We have listened so many times to the triumph of evil on this program. Perhaps the power of good is not as strong.
I'll return shortly with act two. Doctor Patricia Shelton and doctor Mike Bernardo's eyes lock in concern for their barely breathing friend. From beyond the curtain and the other bed in the room, from the big heavily muscled early middle aged man in it comes a rhythmic and ear shattering snore. Oh, great.
[00:16:35] Unknown:
That the best roommate we could find for Dan? Oh, we were lucky to have a bed at all. Even the the standby rooms are all taken. Well, get him off his back. But you can't. He's in traction. Back? Yeah. McNeil's patient too. From the train wreck? No. He's been here a week or so. Oh, I'm tired. Why don't you grab some shut eye, We can't do anything till we get the test back or Dan comes to go stretch out in the lounge. I'll I'll wake you the moment the test are back. Come on. I'll walk you there. How'd the operation go for Liz Riggs?
[00:17:13] Unknown:
McNeil patched the knee fairly easily, but the ankle and the socket of the tibia were fragmented. Plus, the broken calcaneus. She'll be lucky to retain even partial mobility. Which means no more dancing. Certainly not professionally. I'd hate to have to be the one to tell her.
[00:17:43] Unknown:
Hey. Hey. Where is Sam? Who is that? Damn. Hey, you. You're on the next bed. Hey, you're awake. What is this? A morgue? Hey, you.
[00:18:02] Unknown:
Yes? What is it?
[00:18:05] Unknown:
I don't know what's with you, brother, but my back is killing me. I I wanna ring for the nurse, but the gizmo with a button just fell off the bed. Can you get up on me,
[00:18:19] Unknown:
just a minute. Here. I'll get the call button.
[00:18:26] Unknown:
Shall I ring for you or I'll get you a doctor?
[00:18:30] Unknown:
Forget it.
[00:18:31] Unknown:
I'm alright for the moment. Yes. But you're in pain, you.
[00:18:35] Unknown:
I can take it. What do you got, Mike?
[00:18:40] Unknown:
I don't know. I don't even know how I got here. I hope it's nothing catching. I know. I'm sure it isn't. I I I thought I had a
[00:18:51] Unknown:
but there isn't any pain anymore. Catch your blessings, fella.
[00:18:56] Unknown:
Dan, what are you doing out of bed? No. I'm alright. You are not. Nurse, help me get him back in bed. No. I I You're running a fever. And nurse, get doctor Bernardo down here right away. He's catching a nap in the father's lounge on maternity.
[00:19:11] Unknown:
Dan won't you ever take care of yourself. Hey. What's the big fuss? Who is this guy? I was right.
[00:19:18] Unknown:
A doctor. He's not an MD. He's the hospital chaplain, the Reverend Dan Morgan.
[00:19:23] Unknown:
A minister for crying out loud. That's all I need.
[00:19:33] Unknown:
Okay, Dan. Let me know if and where it hurts. Oh, there. Uh-huh. How about here? Tender doesn't doesn't hurt as much. Okay, Dan. That's it. Confirmed. The W. B. C. Will bear it out this time around. The peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix that perforated.
[00:19:55] Unknown:
How did you ever take the pain Dan? It was not bad. Everyone was busy with real emergencies. My help was needed by others. So you just let your appendix explode.
[00:20:06] Unknown:
Alright. Roll them to you Pat. Streptomycin two nurse.
[00:20:12] Unknown:
Your technique is too good, Mike. I didn't feel any needles. A bowl of bonehead
[00:20:17] Unknown:
stunts to pull. So many people. I couldn't I couldn't let them down. Fever is rising. I don't like it.
[00:20:29] Unknown:
You in pain still, Dan?
[00:20:33] Unknown:
No, no. I was just thinking about that poor little dancer. Look, concentrate on yourself. Let us worry about miss Riggs. There's no problem of her losing her leg. Doctor McNeil did a bang up job. With luck, she'll regain almost total mobility. Pat, when you sit on this stubborn mule till that kick goes out of him. I will. Go make like a doctor. At least my other patients treat me like one. You you still going to marry that crazy Italian?
[00:21:08] Unknown:
The first moment I can pin him down. Then I'll stick around.
[00:21:12] Unknown:
I don't know who he figures will be best man, but Dan Morgan knows who'll be the most important. Or I'll make sure he ties the knot within the faith with my own two hands. My own two hands joining the two of you in the side.
[00:21:41] Unknown:
Morning, miss Riggs. Morning, doctor Bernardo.
[00:21:44] Unknown:
You look pretty pretty this morning. Oh, I feel wonderful.
[00:21:48] Unknown:
I can almost feel the bones knitting. I could just jump right out of bed du a chate or handle a wall clock just like that. Yeah. Well, I wouldn't rush things. Well, not without a warm up anyway. I bet you I'll be dancing in no time. Thanks to Chaplain Morgan. How is he today? Is he better?
[00:22:07] Unknown:
I wish I could say he was.
[00:22:09] Unknown:
Didn't they take out his appendix? No. Not yet. You mean it it's serious?
[00:22:15] Unknown:
It could be very serious.
[00:22:19] Unknown:
Oh, I wish I could do something for him.
[00:22:23] Unknown:
You could. You could see a young man who's waiting downstairs. Peter Starrett.
[00:22:30] Unknown:
How did he find me?
[00:22:32] Unknown:
As sick as the chaplain was last night, he managed to contact him. What for? He knows it's all over between Peter and me. Why? Because you just can't bear to hang up those little red shoes?
[00:22:44] Unknown:
Something like that.
[00:22:46] Unknown:
I think maybe what Chaplain Morgan wanted to tell you was that a dancer has a short life and sooner or later she has to hang them up. A marriage can last a lot longer.
[00:22:59] Unknown:
I can't. It wouldn't be fair to Peter or to me.
[00:23:04] Unknown:
That's the message you want me to give him? And the chaplain?
[00:23:10] Unknown:
Doctor. Bernardo, I will be able to dance, won't I?
[00:23:15] Unknown:
I'm not the one to ask that question to, Miss Riggs. You'd better ask it of the surgeons, Doctor McNeil or Doctor Bradley. Morning, mister Wolfen.
[00:23:31] Unknown:
Hey. Morning, Chaplin.
[00:23:34] Unknown:
I see you're out of traction.
[00:23:36] Unknown:
Yeah. Yeah. How you feeling?
[00:23:39] Unknown:
Oh, I felt better. Thirsty.
[00:23:45] Unknown:
Hold it a minute. I'll get you some ice water. No. No. No. You're back. You you mustn't get a Thirsty. You can lug a busted appendix around and not complain. I can manage a stiff back. Here.
[00:23:59] Unknown:
Thanks. Oh, yeah.
[00:24:05] Unknown:
Thanks. You want some more? Yeah. Please.
[00:24:09] Unknown:
Yeah. That was That was good. It's good. It's
[00:24:19] Unknown:
Hey. What is it, Parson? A knife. Knife. I'll get the doctor.
[00:24:30] Unknown:
Don't answer that. It might be Peter for me. Could be a call for me too. But if it should be Peter, I'm I'm just not ready to talk to her. Couldn't you just let it go? Sure.
[00:24:42] Unknown:
Nothing so urgent it won't last till I get to the nurse's desk. I'll be seeing you, miss Riggs.
[00:24:52] Unknown:
Oh, I swore her for a man with peritonitis. Where were you, doctor Bernardo?
[00:24:58] Unknown:
I went to see miss Riggs.
[00:25:00] Unknown:
You know, the dancer. Who is not your patient?
[00:25:04] Unknown:
No, sir.
[00:25:05] Unknown:
You don't like me very much, do you, Doctor. Bernardo?
[00:25:09] Unknown:
Well, that is a bit direct.
[00:25:11] Unknown:
Puts me at quite a disadvantage. Because you applied here for a residency in surgery? My personal feelings would not dictate my judgment of your qualifications unless you wish to withdraw your application.
[00:25:24] Unknown:
Not yet, sir. No?
[00:25:27] Unknown:
What does that depend on? The success of our operation on Chaplain Morgan? To a degree. Then we must be sure that it is immaculately successful.
[00:25:39] Unknown:
As far as I'm concerned, it's the same way no matter who's on the table.
[00:25:46] Unknown:
I deserve that rebuke. I bought it because of my own resentments. I'm human, not a robot.
[00:25:54] Unknown:
You are a kind of a stickler for detail. You're damn right.
[00:25:58] Unknown:
A doctor can make minor mistakes which can be rectified. Isn't quite the same with a surgeon. Habit, discipline, minute attention to detail, constant vigilance and objectivity, that's what a surgeon has to pay. Still wanna be one?
[00:26:15] Unknown:
As long as I don't have to retire from the human race.
[00:26:19] Unknown:
Like me, that perhaps is a personal trait, but I have some reason. You see, one surgeon's momentary carelessness, his anxiety to look up and be a nice guy and assure me everything was going well, cost me my wife and with it a large part of me. Well, no one is very much interested in my immortal soul. Now Dan Morgan is something else again. But for the moment, objectively, just another surgical problem. Agreed?
[00:26:57] Unknown:
I'll assist to the best of my ability. I'll accept that, doctor.
[00:27:01] Unknown:
The patient is waiting. Shall we go?
[00:27:13] Unknown:
The great poet, WH Auden, had a craggy face so masked with wrinkles that Igor Stravinsky once said, soon we'll have to smooth it out to see exactly who he is. Dan Morgan's face is like that. Only now, under anesthetic, it is smoothed out. The only difference is that as the two surgeons approach, it is less a revelation than a mask. A mask of encroaching death. I'll return shortly with act three. The operation is completed and the two surgeons return to the locker room, still gowned, capped, gloved, and masked. With a quick practice move, doctor Bradley divests himself with gloves, mask, and cap, dropping him in a sanitary container.
What are Dan's chances?
[00:28:18] Unknown:
You saw what was there when we opened. Infection is massive and well established. The drain should bring relief, I hope, more than temporary.
[00:28:27] Unknown:
But once we can get a reading on the culture, we can pick the right antibiotic to knock out the infection?
[00:28:33] Unknown:
If we're lucky.
[00:28:35] Unknown:
If Dan
[00:28:37] Unknown:
doesn't pull through this If he doesn't, doctor, I, I shall resign from this hospital. I was guilty of just what I demand from my staff. Total thoroughness on every case.
[00:28:52] Unknown:
Well, in all fairness, sir, with 65 victims of a train wreck suddenly dumped on your agenda. Doesn't excuse carelessness or inattention.
[00:29:02] Unknown:
Now I'm going to recovery room to check on Chaplain Morgan. I might suggest you get together with doctor McNeil and prepare miss Riggs to face her future.
[00:29:19] Unknown:
Yes, Mike. I guess I understand. Oh, he's here in the waiting room alright looking pretty forlorn. What? Well, I'll do my best. Yeah. Okay. I'll talk to him. Hello, Reverend Starett. Oh.
[00:29:40] Unknown:
Oh, hello. Doctor,
[00:29:43] Unknown:
doctor Sheldon.
[00:29:45] Unknown:
Yes. Excuse me. I I know the others, but I wasn't as sure of you.
[00:29:51] Unknown:
Because I'm a lady doctor? No.
[00:29:54] Unknown:
Because I I only met you once briefly. I know.
[00:29:58] Unknown:
Have you seen miss Riggs? No. No.
[00:30:02] Unknown:
She she doesn't want to see me.
[00:30:05] Unknown:
That's because she she doesn't know the truth yet. The truth? That she'll never be able to dance again.
[00:30:14] Unknown:
But he didn't tell me that. He didn't know it then.
[00:30:17] Unknown:
Just lives. Reverend Starett, after the accident, your fiance was in psychogenic shock. It took Dan, the chaplain, to persuade her to have any operation at all just so she could walk again. All the doctors agreed that since her career was so vital to her, the news that she didn't have one anymore had to be broken to her carefully. Oh, I agree.
[00:30:42] Unknown:
Elizabeth has to be told the truth, and we've got to figure out how.
[00:30:55] Unknown:
Good evening, mister Riggs. I'm, doctor Hugh Bradley. I don't know if you remember, but I treated you an emergency and admitted you to the hospital.
[00:31:04] Unknown:
Yes. I remember.
[00:31:05] Unknown:
How soon can I dance again? Well, the first thing is to walk. As for the other miss Riggs, I I think you will have to make an adjustment in your mind. Now I don't believe in hiding the truth from patients. There isn't a chance that you'll ever be able to dance professionally again.
[00:31:26] Unknown:
Oh, good morning, doctor Bradley. Did you have me on page?
[00:31:29] Unknown:
Yes. Yes. McNeil is off today and his patient, miss Riggs, had an attack of hysterics last night. I had to sedate her. What happened? Was it Peter Starrett being here upset her so much? Whoever he is, no. I simply told her something that should have been made clear to her from the first that her dancing days are over. Just like that? She had a right to know.
[00:31:51] Unknown:
But abruptly, coldly,
[00:31:54] Unknown:
you're just not Miss Riggs is not under psychiatric care. She is of age, and we are doctors. Our function is to heal and inform. She asked for you, and I said you would stop by this morning.
[00:32:14] Unknown:
Hi, ladies. Do you wanna see me?
[00:32:17] Unknown:
Yes. I want you to get Peter's dirt off my back and out of here.
[00:32:23] Unknown:
I never want to see him again or any of you. Now now look, I just got the bad word about you too. So you're not going to be Margaret Fontaine or whatever, but you're not going to be crippled either. And this way there's nothing to stand between you and that nice guy who loves you and Nothing to stand between us, that's the laugh.
[00:32:45] Unknown:
Now it's worse than ever. We just don't stand a chance at all. What do you mean? Oh, you wouldn't understand. No doctor would. That's why I've got to see the chaplain.
[00:33:02] Unknown:
Well, all things considered, you seem in fairly good shape this morning. How do you feel, Dan? All things considered, not so hot.
[00:33:11] Unknown:
But I think if Elizabeth Riggs wants to see me,
[00:33:15] Unknown:
I must see her. Once we've licked the peritonitis,
[00:33:18] Unknown:
you're in no condition. I must see her to convince myself that I didn't fail. And if you did No disgrace and failure, Mike, as long as you try to the utmost.
[00:33:29] Unknown:
If I'm to be called home, let me try to go with a clean conscience.
[00:33:39] Unknown:
You're sure you feel alright, doctor Bradley? Yeah. Yeah. Of course. You know you're supposed to rest after donating blood. I I realize that
[00:33:48] Unknown:
By some strange chance, the chaplains and mine match. I
[00:33:53] Unknown:
well, I'd like to think that well, I mean, I I He's due for a replacement. I'll see he gets this particular bottle. Oh, hi, Mark. Where are you taking miss Riggs? To see Dan. He's in no condition for visitors.
[00:34:07] Unknown:
He was the one who insisted. And, just in case, I wouldn't deny him anything he asked. Well, I've wheeled it to you, Dan, although you shouldn't be seeing any visitors.
[00:34:29] Unknown:
I wonder doctor if I might claim the privilege of the confessional.
[00:34:33] Unknown:
Well, not for long. You have less strength than you think you have.
[00:34:39] Unknown:
And maybe Liz and I can find a lot of it between us.
[00:34:51] Unknown:
But if you hadn't been worried about me, you'd have gone back to the doctors for help.
[00:34:56] Unknown:
If I hadn't been worried about you, I would have no right to the principles I serve.
[00:35:03] Unknown:
I should say principle. Will you still turn your back on him?
[00:35:09] Unknown:
I'd rather talk about you.
[00:35:11] Unknown:
There may not be much time to talk about me, so I have to be abrupt cause I have so little strength left.
[00:35:22] Unknown:
Are you going to marry Peter? I can't.
[00:35:26] Unknown:
More than ever now. Why? Don't you love him? I've always loved him. But I broke that love for a simple thing like a wish for a career. Chaplain and doctor Bradley told me that I could never dance again. Of all the reactions that I had, the most definite and unshakable was that I cannot believe in a God who would take away from me the one thing that I have worked all my life to achieve.
[00:35:55] Unknown:
Because of that, even though it removed another less important barrier,
[00:36:02] Unknown:
You can't go back to the man who loves you.
[00:36:06] Unknown:
Of all men how can I? He's a minister like you and I no longer believe in God. Oh, it is. I don't believe that. I don't think you're like all the people who put on religion like a Sunday dress
[00:36:18] Unknown:
just for the occasion. You can't deny him any more than I can.
[00:36:24] Unknown:
Or Peter, because no matter how hard all of us try, in the end we must have a personal God. Take him to your heart.
[00:36:39] Unknown:
How can I? Forget me. How can he destroy a man like you? Can't I convince you that death is not destruction?
[00:36:49] Unknown:
Certainly not not for me.
[00:36:53] Unknown:
What would you ask? A miracle?
[00:36:57] Unknown:
I don't know. I don't know what I want. Just
[00:37:01] Unknown:
just for you not to die. Alright then. Help me to live. Don't deny him
[00:37:08] Unknown:
as I once prayed for you. Now, well, if you want try to to pray for me.
[00:37:21] Unknown:
Oh, Chaplain. Don't you see? It would just be a mockery when I don't believe. Chaplain. Chaplain, are you
[00:37:34] Unknown:
oh. Oh, I've got to get the doctor. Excuse me, miss. Who who Hey. It's okay. It's okay. I've been Chaplain's roommate these last days. I was I was in the bathroom shaving and cleaning up to go home. And you overheard? Yeah. Yeah. I couldn't help hearing some of it. And you gotta listen to me because I got something to say. No. I can't listen now. The chaplain It'll only take a minute. And the way I see it, maybe you can do him more good right this moment than all the doctors in the world. Faith and belief didn't put any fingers on you or the chaplain. The one on him, he put there himself.
I don't know what you mean. I mean, when you were brought into this hospital, the chaplain was dying of pain. He needed a doc a lot more than you did, but he stuck with you. Even with his appendix exploding inside him, he covered it up to help you out. The poison's all through now, and maybe he's dying. But if it is, it's a risk he took for you to save not only your leg but, well, all of you. Now are you gonna make the belief that made him sacrifice himself for you the way he did? Be offered nothing? Or you're gonna give back something of yourself in return? Well, I'll, I'll go get the docs to leave you to think about it.
Oh my God,
[00:39:10] Unknown:
I have heartily offended you.
[00:39:14] Unknown:
I beg you to forgive me.
[00:39:18] Unknown:
I implore you to listen to me. I am nothing, but he. This man is so important. And I don't know how to say it to ask him, but please, in your infinite mercy, dear father in heaven, who looks after us all and wants to help us, Please help this one man who deserves it more than any of us. Don't let him be wasted. I ask it with all my heart in your name.
[00:39:58] Unknown:
It's alright, miss Riggs. Just take it easy.
[00:40:02] Unknown:
I should have called you sooner. Oh, forget it.
[00:40:06] Unknown:
As a doctor, I tell you it's alright. You you mean he's going to live? Have you ever seen anything more beautiful than plain ordinary sweat? It's broken.
[00:40:22] Unknown:
Whatever of a fever is broken. We're on the way.
[00:40:27] Unknown:
He asked me to pray,
[00:40:29] Unknown:
whatever it was that did it. He answered.
[00:40:34] Unknown:
He answered. You mean that God
[00:40:38] Unknown:
somehow The oldest cliche in the world, miss Riggs. Man proposes, God disposes. No matter how far medicine takes us, in the end, that's the result.
[00:40:53] Unknown:
Then the chaplain will be alright.
[00:40:56] Unknown:
Just give him a look. Bathed in perspiration, his fever tumbling and blissfully asleep. We're all getting out of this lucky. Except you, maybe. Oh,
[00:41:11] Unknown:
that's decided. Oh, it isn't all that much of a life as a dancer.
[00:41:17] Unknown:
As long as Peter is still around, if he still wants me. He is and he sure does. We couldn't have moved him out of here with a bulldozer. Now we've only one restriction before you leave here. We expect to be invited as guests at the wedding.
[00:41:30] Unknown:
Well, it won't take place without you. Because one thing I'll never give in to Peter about. The chaplain will have to marry us. Why not?
[00:41:41] Unknown:
We, we might even make it a double wedding. Well, there it is. No sound, no fury, but certainly a tale that signifies something, a mystery. I think it qualifies for the title. As I said in the beginning, and as you have seen for yourself, God does move in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. I'll be back shortly. The reverend Daniel Morgan did recover. Fortunately, because four anxious young people no longer wanted to postpone weddings too long delayed. It wasn't a double wedding as once had been considered. Mike was operating the morning Liz and Peter were married, but he was able to make the reception afterwards.
As for Pat's marriage to Mike, it was a very simple and quiet one in the hospital chapel, notable for only one thing. The best man was doctor Hugh Bradley. Our cast included Terry Keen, Patsy Bruder, Leon Janney, Robert Dryden, and Ian Martin. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. And now, a preview of our next tale.
[00:43:19] Unknown:
It was long before I could get to sleep. But when at last I did, if indeed I really was asleep, I was conscious of something huge and black circling by the foot of my bed. A monstrous cat like shape that suddenly sprang. And I felt the stinging pain as if two needle sharp claws had plunged like hot irons into my breast. And then suddenly, my eyes were open, and I thought I saw Carmilla standing there. The figure moved quickly to the door, and I followed it only to find the door securely locked from the inside just the way I had left it before I retired. I sprang into my bed with the covers over my head, and I laid there more dead than alive until morning.
[00:44:14] Unknown:
Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Anheuser Busch Incorporated, Brewers of Budweiser, and Signoff, the sinus medicines. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time, pleasant dreams.
