(indistinct P.A. announcement)
* *
BLANCA: And how are you doing, baby?
Like a bee stung my tongue.
Oh, let me check.
All right, come on. Open wide.
It's just thrush.
Probably feels worse than it is.
We're gonna be sending you home
with some steroids and antifungals.
It's important that you don't smoke
while you're taking these meds.
I've been reading about some other drugs that are out there.
-Mm-hmm. -Um, the protease inhibitors?
Do you think I qualify to get on them?
Unless you got a connection with the black market,
those meds are still being held up by the FDA.
How many times have I watched you come in here?
About a year.
Mm-hmm.
You're still a baby on this journey.
I've been positive for seven years and look at me.
-You're gonna be okay. -But I read
it moves really fast in some people,
and they still don't understand why.
Well, I mean...
It says here that your T cells and red blood cells are low,
but everything else seems to be stable.
Other than that tongue of yours, how you been feeling?
-Not horrible. -Okay.
Mostly just scared.
Well, hold on to that.
"Not horrible" is...
a lot better than most people who come in here.
Thanks, Blanca.
I told them, when they checked me in,
that I only wanted Nurse Blanca to take care of me.
Oh, I'm not a nurse yet, honey. I...
I'm getting there, one day at a time.
-Mm. -(knock on door)
-Blanca, do you have a minute? -Uh, yeah.
I'll be back, Troy.
Keep reading up on that virus.
The more you know.
It's not like him not to call.
Who?
Wait, what's going on? Where we going?
Pray. He checked himself in without letting anybody know
-he was here. -What?!
(door opens)
Are you okay?
Why didn't you call?
You know how many times I rushed to the hospital
to be with Costas?
And for what?
We all die alone.
Don't say things like that.
Oh, hush up.
I knew you bitches would sniff me out
and find me sooner or later.
What is it now?
Pneumonia, again.
But this time, the doctor says I don't...
have enough of an immune system to fight it, so...
(exhales) This is it.
(groans)
This is the end.
No, no, no, no, no.
We haven't exhausted all of our options.
I'm gonna get a second opinion.
I'm gonna ask Dr. Williams who he'd recommend.
In the meantime, let's get some deoxy uridine
running into that IV.
Okay? I'll be right back.
No.
Don't be giving me one of your "Blanca pep talks."
We've been on this journey too long
to be getting all sentimental.
-Have you prepared a will? -Yeah.
My aunt has it. She knows to call you.
(coughing)
Well, is there anything I can help you with
to make you more comfortable?
(coughs)
Just...
Just lay with me, please.
I don't understand why I've been so sick,
with my low platelets and the pneumonia
and my eye and stuff.
But yet, you haven't been...
sick in over a year.
Just nothing.
Your guess is as good as mine.
This disease don't make no sense.
(coughing)
I don't want nobody to pity me.
I want everybody to know that I...
...died happy.
Satisfied.
But I do have one thing I need to finish.
What's that?
My panel for the AIDS Quilt.
And I want to finish it with you.
My sewing kit and all the trimmings and stuff
are in my bag over there on the chair.
* *
Got Liberace's cape in here?
(laughs weakly) No. I decided that
I wanted my panel to be gaudier and gayer than Sylvester's.
(laughs)
That way, when they unfold it on the national lawn...
...all those government people who did nothing
will be blinded by its fabulosity.
Well, let's see what we got here.
We got the sequins.
-(Pray Tell chuckles) -Where's the tulle?
Right. I was waiting for the tulle.
(laughs) You know I had to have it.
Wow.
* *
I'm not ready to lose you, Pray.
I'm not ready to let go.
I know.
(door opens)
(footfalls approach)
PRAY TELL: The category is...
Live...
Work...
Pose!
* *
Hey. I'm Blanca.
I'm your nurse's aide.
Blanca, it's me, Troy.
-Oh, my God, Troy. -(chuckles)
Look at you, all healthy and glow-y.
-Mm. -Let me see.
Yeah, I see those antifungals worked.
That, and I got into the trial.
The one where they give us multiple drugs at once.
-Oh, the cocktail. -Yes.
And it's working.
Within two weeks, my thrush was completely gone.
No more swollen glands.
I have an appetite again. I've gained weight.
I feel great.
Who in the hospital got you into the trial?
NURSE JUDY: It's bullshit.
I have never had an AIDS patient, Black or Latin,
offered a spot in one of these trials.
Or any trials, sweetheart.
Who do you think's running the pharmaceutical companies?
It's the same old, impotent white men
who are running the government.
I'm getting Pray on those drugs.
Well, baby, how we gonna do that?
The only way you ever get white people
to do anything.
Scare 'em.
* *
You coming?
The protocols for who gets in the study
are determined by the drug companies and the CDC.
I know the optics are bad.
BLANCA: Optics?
A pile of dead people is bad optics?
A pile of dead Black people is bad optics.
A pile of dead white people is a national tragedy.
Race is not the only factor
that determines who is getting these drugs.
How many people are in this study?
-I can't tell you that. -CHRISTOPHER: Oh, I can.
I asked the doctors who are administering it.
Eighty.
Out of the 80, how many are Black or Latin?
I can't tell you that either.
CHRISTOPHER: Two.
Two!
Doctor, calm down.
You're asking a doctor to calm down because
he wants to prevent people from dying?
I like all of you.
You're excellent employees,
but my advice to you is to take a breath and not cause trouble.
Not just because you could be terminated,
but because these drugs appear to be working.
Why would you want to interrupt the scientists
and possibly delay the results of their study?
Because the study is flawed
if it's only including white people!
It's not only biased, it's not scientifically sound.
BLANCA: Listen, Vanessa.
I know that ACT UP was slow in building a rainbow coalition
to fight this disease, but they're caught up now.
And they're gonna be all kinds of angry
when they find out that two out of the 80 people
in this specific study are people of color.
And it won't take three hours to get a crowd
of angry folk down here to protest,
to call up their TV people and chronicle this whole thing.
Now, I may be only a nurse's aide,
but I know for sure that, for this hospital,
that's bad optics.
NURSE JUDY: I like the look of terror in your eyes.
It tells me you're actually gonna do something.
I don't like to be threatened.
But I also don't disagree with you.
I'll make some calls
and get your friend into the trial.
CHRISTOPHER: It's not enough.
We need two slots.
One for Pray Tell and one for Blanca.
* *
(footsteps approaching)
CHRISTOPHER: We did it.
You and Pray are in.
What?
Look, I'm happy for Pray and all,
and he's much worse off than me, but I don't think I need this.
Shouldn't we give it to someone who is sicker?
This new idea of combination therapy
stops HIV from multiplying in different stages,
which, in turn, prevents it from attacking your immune system.
Waiting until you're sick
means the damage is already done.
Who said I was waiting to get sick?
Ain't you ever heard of the Tuskegee study?
Of course I have.
So you know that they let 600 Black men die
from syphilis in the name of science.
In Puerto Rico, they used local women as guinea pigs
to test birth control pills.
And a bunch of them died, too.
This isn't either of those situations.
This is a genuine, robust, scientific trial of a drug
by a publicly traded pharmaceutical company
in conjunction with the CDC, and it's working.
Sweetheart...
I love you.
And I don't want to lose you.
You don't have to trust the drug company or the government.
You just have to trust me.
Do you trust me?
Yeah, I do.
VANESSA: Those are confidentiality agreements.
You are now known as patients 00643
and 00644.
These are log books.
This particular trial is to test the efficacy
of combining protease inhibitors
with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors.
You need to take the pills on a very specific schedule.
Are there any side effects?
PRAY TELL: Besides living?
I don't care.
Just give me the pills.
We are still unsure of the toxicity
of this particular dosing.
Along with your weekly blood tests, we need you to come in,
once a month, for a thorough examination.
If you develop a fever or feel any body aches,
it's important that you call this number immediately.
(exhales heavily)
(groans weakly)
* *
Well...
here's to getting so old,
folks will start calling me grandmother.
(all chuckling)
* *
(Pray Tell coughs)
(breathes deeply)
(horns honking)
(indistinct chatter)
* *
(laughs): Come here.
RICKY: How long has it been?
Since Angel and Papi's wedding.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
You know, I really thought it was over for me.
But then I got into this trial at the hospital.
What's this trial?
It's a cocktail of meds.
Man, you know these meds are lethal.
You remember what happened to Blanca.
No, it's not AZT. It's some new stuff.
And it's working.
Look at me.
My T cell count is rising.
I feel like I have a new lease on life.
I feel like a 20-something again.
And now that I know that I'm gonna live, I...
I don't want to have a single regret.
Life has just been passing me by,
and there's so much living I've missed.
I feel you.
Oh, really?
And what have you missed?
You.
* *
I missed you too, baby.
But don't let it go to your head.
(laughs)
I've also missed performing.
I gotta get back on the stage,
but my ass is too old for ballroom.
Oh, I feel the same way.
You are too young to be feeling too old.
But I think I know what might help.
What's that?
(choir): * The spirit will shine *
* On everyone... *
So, after rehab, I was in search of community.
And a space where I could raise my voice in protest
of all the injustice I've witnessed.
-What about ACT UP? -I'm still involved with them,
but I just felt like I would be a liability.
You know, I couldn't see.
I could barely walk.
So, I had to find another outlet, a new way to protest.
And that is when I stumbled across
the Gay Men's Choir.
* Love lives on *
* Beyond goodbye *
* The truth of us *
-* Will never die * -* Never die *
* Our spirits will shine *
* Long after we're gone *
* And so *
* Our love *
* Lives on. *
Beautiful.
-Thank you... -Join us.
You need something to release all that pent-up energy you got.
We both do.
-JON: Hey. -Hey, buddy.
-What's happening? -Pray, are you joining us?
Yes, and I brought a new voice.
This is Ricky.
Nice to meet you, Ricky.
Oh, we're rehearsing "Love Lives On."
-Do you know it? -I do.
Oh, great. Here, I have a copy for you.
There you go.
Okay, gentlemen.
Our spring gala is a week from today.
Uh, let's get in formation,
and, uh, we're gonna do it one more time.
(mouthing)
Why are we turning our backs to the audience?
The men in white, facing forward,
represent the original founding members of the group
who have survived the plague.
The ones in black represent those we've lost way too soon.
JON: Uh, all right, one more time from the top.
Whenever you're ready.
(piano playing "Love Lives On")
* *
* You touched my life *
* And turned my heart around *
* It seems when I found you *
* It was me *
* I really found... *
* *
BLANCA: Shouldn't it say, "Live, Werk, Pray"?
No.
You know, people call me by my name
when they want to get my attention,
but the balls are my identity.
I want this quilt to tell people who I am.
And who I am is a celebration of that world.
Hmm.
I want to be remembered as a representation
of all that the balls could be.
Hope and joy and family...
Sometimes, viciousness.
(both chuckle)
Well, there ain't gonna be a lot to be remembered,
according to our last blood tests.
I honestly can't believe this is real.
The drugs are working.
Pray, we gonna live.
Not just live.
Be fully alive.
You know, I feel like...
I feel like Ms. Pac-Man when she eats those power pellets.
-Mm-hmm. -The world is ours to devour.
We can go to Paris for Christmas
and sit in the park
and watch the birds return for spring.
Or I can die tomorrow,
and there's joy in all of it.
Today could be a sweaty ballroom or sitting
in front of the couch watching The Young and the Restless
or having a drink with a friend.
-Mm-hmm. -Don't matter.
'Cause today...
today feels like enough.
You know what I want to do more than anything?
Make plans.
-Mm. -Any plans. Don't matter what.
I just want to know that I can make them.
That the future is still something that...
we're allowed to have.
The first plan we need to make
is to not work on this damn quilt again.
Okay, deal.
(both laughing)
(distant siren wailing)
* If I could... *
Thank you for coming.
Thank you. Good to see you.
Ah. Mwah, mwah, mwah.
See you at the next rehearsal.
It was so much fun.
Thank you for your amazing hospitality.
Thank you so much...
-for everything. -Mm.
-Good night. All right. -Good night.
-Yeah. -Oh. Thanks for inviting me.
We have to do this again soon.
You ain't going nowhere till you help me clean up this mess.
Wha...?
You always trying to put somebody to work.
Oh, just... (scoffs)
-(laughs) -Stay and hang out.
You know, I'm really shocked
how much I'm enjoying being a part of this Gay Men's Choir.
I honestly...
thought it was gonna be a bunch of soulless white boys
singing show tunes.
-But we pretty good. -I told you.
-Mm-hmm. -Singing with the choir
has been really healing for me.
You know, I've started thinking about my fashion line again.
You know, which means I can fly around the world
looking for inspiration.
You know, I might want to learn French.
Oh.
Run the New York Marathon or...
-scuba dive, maybe. -Mm.
Fall in love again. You know?
Just endless possibilities.
This all sounds great.
What about you? Do you have any tours or anything coming up?
Nah. You know, I'm not so sure that life is for me anymore.
I'm tired, Pray.
I'm tired of hustling, tired of auditioning,
tired of hopping between houses...
and beds.
I'm almost 30 years old,
and I ain't done shit with my life.
Oh, stop selling yourself short.
You ain't giving up on your dreams, are you?
(Ricky sighs)
Listen. Listen.
We've been through a lot together.
-Mm-hmm. -I know you.
And I know that you need to be up on a stage.
That's where you're at your best.
That's when you're the happiest.
That's why I asked you to join the choir.
(inhales sharply) I know.
Don't give up on your dreams.
What's wrong?
(cries softly)
(sniffles)
This is it.
(sniffles) No more plans.
I'm gonna die, Pray.
Don't. Don't say that.
-I am. -Don't say that.
I got you.
I...
got you.
* *
Don't it make sense that the food in a hospital
should be some of the finest gourmet shit in the world?
-Oh... -I'm serious.
For many people, it's their last meal.
Maybe put a little effort into it? (laughs)
What's wrong?
Pray, I'm so happy you're doing well.
This place has been like hell.
Seeing all those young men dying all these years.
You know? With no hope.
I trained to-to make people feel better, to save them,
but I haven't been doing that.
And now, with the cocktail you're on,
I see some light.
I-I feel the hope.
Pray, they not letting no more people of color into the trials.
Yeah, we just met with Vanessa again.
-She spoke to the drug company. -Yeah, they gave her
some bullshit about the study being too far down the line
and the cost of adding new patients.
NURSE JUDY: The cost?
Hundreds of thousands of people are gonna die
if they don't get on those drugs.
Fuck the costs.
It can't just be us who are the lucky ones.
We are no better...
than anyone else.
Our lives have no more meaning than our friends we've lost
and are losing!
So...
they're asking us to do nothing and live
while we watch them die?
To find proof that we're deserving
and they're not?
They give us life...
...and then charge us the price of survivor's guilt.
BLANCA: Pray's right.
How could I live with myself if I let this go on this way
without a fight?
What are we gonna do about it?
CROWD (chanting): Health care is a right! Health care is a right!
Health care is a right!
Health care is a right! Health care is a right...
All right. All right. All right. Listen up!
-Listen up, people! -(static crackles)
You pharmaceutical, commercial,
capitalist pigs!
Europe takes nine months
to test a drug,
but here, in the U.S. of A....
it takes years!
What the fuck is going on?!
Why?! The people are dying!
The people are dying in the streets!
-We're not asking you... -Health care is a right!
...to release unsafe products to us.
We're simply asking to speed up the process!
PROTESTOR: AZT isn't enough!
-Give us the other stuff! -Health care is a right!
PROTESTOR: Seize control! Seize control!
-Get your fucking hands off of her, man. -Go home, faggot.
-What's wrong with you?! -This is our home.
How dare you treat us this way!
PROTESTOR 2: Silence equals death!
Victory now!
-(crowd clamoring) -Health care is a right!
(chanting): Health care is a right! Health care is a right!
-Get your fucking hands off me! -(siren chirps)
Health care is a right!
-(sirens wailing) -(shouting)
(people screaming)
You ain't gotta do it like that. You ain't gotta do it like that!
-(sirens wailing) -(shouting continues)
Health care is a right!
-TYRONE: The category is... -BLANCA: I knew
what needed to be done was going
right to the source and scaring their asses
into doing the right thing.
How is their refusal to add more people--
people of color, poor people, our people--
to the trial doing the right thing?
Pray, they lowering the costs because we took action.
-The next step... -That's not enough!
It's outrageous how these people are fucking playing God!
Pray. Pray, I know.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I don't want to see any more of our people die.
I don't either.
(music playing in distance)
You sure you wanna do this?
Uh-uh. You don't get to use my rage
and my gift for tantrum-ing to chicken out.
-We are doing this. -(cheering in distance)
There was still leaves in Central Park
the last time we walked a ball.
It's been what?
At least five, six months.
Uh-huh, and I was a drunk hot-ass mess the last time.
That's why I'm here: to reclaim my glory,
and to get my name back in the good graces
-of the ball community. -Mm-hmm.
Because I can't let these children be dragging me
-into all eternity. -Mm-hmm.
Gotta let them know what a real legend looks like.
Ah. You mean legends.
Mm. I'm down for that.
Uh, you know Candy would be gagged
to see us performing together in her sweet honor.
Oh, see, I know that medication has gotten to your head.
'Cause Candy ain't never been sweet to your ass.
(both laugh)
-True. So true. -Mm-hmm.
PRAY TELL: So, word on the street is...
Dr. Christopher is in the house tonight.
His first ball.
I never been this nervous at a ball.
Thank God I'm not doing this alone.
It's so cute to see you like this,
all in love,
wanting to impress your man...
Look, I do love that man.
Oh, he just... he pushes me.
He tells me every day that I'm beautiful, that I'm smart,
(voice breaking): that I deserve...
That I deserve to be here.
I'm glad you found him.
Now, he's a little too clean-cut for my taste.
-But, you know, he's cute. -Okay.
-For you. -Yeah, stop hatin'.
'Cause you know my man is fine.
He most certainly is.
Pray, he is moving in when his lease is up
at the end of the month.
I am so happy.
-I'm a lucky girl. -No.
He's the lucky one,
'cause he got a real one.
The best one.
And don't you ever forget that.
I won't.
So, what's on your bucket list, huh?
I have done almost everything I set out to do
when I left my mama's house.
I've gotten to live my truth, unapologetically.
-Mm-hmm. -I've gotten to werk
the most treacherous of runways out on that ballroom floor.
And I've gotten to pose with the best of them.
Including you,
my most precious, precious sister.
So, no, I may not have my name on labels
across the Atlantic, but...
...my impact has been felt here.
I've left a lasting mark.
And I understand that now.
* *
Oof. (laughs)
-Is everybody ready? -Yeah.
Papi and Ricky waiting for us.
It's almost 2:00 a.m.
Well, we the grand finale.
And you know they all stunt queens at heart,
so they ain't worried about waiting.
(chuckles) All right, then.
Let's pin this girl on real nice and tight,
and give these children a show they will never forget.
(microphone feedback)
Now, just to remind y'all do-gooders,
this evening's admissions fee, as well as all cash prizes,
will be donated to the Ballroom Fund
to benefit our brothers and sisters
struggling with HIV/AIDS.
(cheering)
-Yo, Stepdad. Let's go! -Come on. Hurry up.
MANHATTAN: Now it's the moment you've all been waiting for,
the final category of the night,
Candy's Sweet Refrain.
(cheering)
Tonight, paying tribute
to the grandest diva herself,
Miss Diana Ross, who proved...
in her iconic 1983 "Live from Central Park" performance
that...
* No wind, no rain *
...can ever stop her.
We have two of our own divas making a special appearance
to cap off tonight's Winter Fundraiser Ball:
Mother Blanca Evangelista,
and the godfather of them all, Pray Tell!
("Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross playing)
Ain't nothing like a double dose of diva.
(cheering)
* Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh *
(lip-synching): If you need me, call me.
No matter where you are,
no matter how far.
Just call my name,
I'll be there in a hurry.
On that, you can depend and never worry.
-* No wind * -* No wind *
-* No rain * -* No rain *
* No winter's cold *
Oh! Yes, don't stop!
* Can stop me, babe *
* Ooh, babe *
* Baby, baby *
* If you're my goal *
(cheering)
* Oh *
-* No wind * -* No wind *
-* No rain * -* No rain *
-(laughing) -* Can stop me, babe *
* If you are my goal *
* Oh, oh, oh *
Oh!
* Oh, oh, oh *
* Oh, oh, oh, oh *
* Oh, oh, oh *
* Oh, oh, oh, oh *
* *
* Ooh, ooh, ooh *
(cheering)
(lip-synching): I know, I know you must follow the sun.
Wherever it leads.
But remember,
if you should fall short of your desires,
remember life holds for you one guarantee.
You'll always have me.
And if you should miss my lovin'
one of these old days,
if you should ever miss the arms that used to hold you so close,
or the lips that used to touch yours so tenderly,
just remember what I told you the day I set you free.
MANHATTAN: Oh, reveal!
* Ain't no mountain high enough *
-* No valley low enough * -Reveal!
-* Ain't no river wide enough * -Reveal!
* To keep me from you *
* Ain't no mountain high enough *
* Ain't no valley low enough *
* Ain't no river wide enough *
* To keep me from you *
* Ain't no mountain high enough *
* Nothing can keep me, keep me from you *
* *
Yes!
* Ain't no mountain high enough *
* Ain't no valley low enough *
* Ain't no river wide enough *
-* Say it again * -* To keep me from you *
* Ain't no mountain high enough *
(cheering loudly)
* Nothing can keep me *
-(laughing) -* Keep me from you. *
Tens!
Mm, mm, mm.
I don't think I've ever seen anything sexier in my life.
-Mm-hmm. -Mm-hmm.
You know how wet you make me.
-Ooh, I can't stand you. -(laughing)
(siren wailing in distance)
You did great tonight.
Thank you.
Now, you know damn well you not supposed to be smoking.
Yeah, I concur.
Oh, leave me alone.
I don't drink. I don't drug.
One cigarette after I have given my all in the ballroom
ain't gonna kill me.
So, Dr. Christopher,
what do you think of our humble abode?
Uh, I loved it.
I was a little nervous at first.
I didn't know what to expect,
but it kind of reminded me of church.
The costumes, theatrics,
-worshipping... -(laughs)
I'm into it.
-So, when you walking, my man? -Walking?
Oh, nah. Nah, that's not my ministry.
-(all chuckling) -No, that's-- y'all got that.
How about I cook dinner for the four of us
next Friday at Blanca's?
At ours.
-Oh. -Yeah.
-At ours. -Well, all right.
Sounds like a plan to me.
Good to see you, brother.
-Love you, Mom. -Love you, too.
-I'll see you tomorrow? Mm. -Yeah. Mm-hmm.
-So good to see you again. -You, too.
-You were beautiful tonight. -Thank you.
-Absolutely beautiful. -Thank you.
* *
(both laughing)
So happy for you.
(whispers): Ain't no mountain high enough.
* *
(Pray Tell chuckling)
Yo, Doc.
Keep her safe.
I will.
* *
(siren wailing in distance)
("I Say a Little Prayer" by Aretha Franklin playing)
* I say a little prayer for you *
* The moment I wake up *
-* Before I put on my makeup * -* Makeup *
-* I say a little * -* Prayer for you *
* While combing my hair now *
* And wondering what dress to wear now *
* Wear now *
-* I say a little * -* Prayer for you *
-* Forever, forever * -* Forever and ever *
* You'll stay in my heart *
* And I will love you *
-* Forever and ever * -* Forever and ever *
* We never will part *
* Oh, how I love you together *
-* Together, together * -* Together *
* That's how it must be, to live without you *
* Would only mean heartbreak for me *
* Ooh... *
* I run for the bus, dear *
* But while riding I think of us, dear *
* Us, dear *
-* I say a little * -* Prayer for you *
* At work I just take time *
* And all through my coffee break time *
* Break time *
-* I say a little * -* Prayer for you *
-* Forever, forever * -* Forever and ever *
* You'll stay in my heart and I will love you *
-* Forever and ever * -* Forever and ever *
* We never will part, oh, how I love you *
-* Together, together * -* Together, together *
* That's how it must be, to live without you *
* Would only mean heartbreak for me *
* Nobody but me *
-* Forever and ever * -* Forever and ever *
* You'll stay in my heart and I will love you *
-* Forever and ever * -* Forever and ever *
* We never will part, oh, how I love you *
-* Together, together * -* Together, together *
* That's how it must be, to live without you *
* Would only mean heartbreak for me *
* Ooh, ooh *
* My darling, believe me *
* Believe me *
* For me there is no one but you *
* Please love me, too *
* I'm in love with you *
* Answer my prayer *
* Answer my prayer, babe *
* Answer my prayer *
* Say you love me, too *
* Answer my prayer, baby *
* This is my prayer *
* Answer my prayer, baby *
* Answer it right now, babe *
* Answer my prayer, baby *
* Say you love me, too *
* Answer my prayer, baby *
* This is my prayer, babe *
* Answer my prayer, baby. *
Pray? You here?
Pray.
I told you I was coming.
(scoffs) Why are you still in the bed?
Pray.
Pray?
(gasps)
Pray.
Get up, Pray. Get up, Pray.
No, no, no, no, no. Pray, get up.
Get up, Pray!
Get up, Pray. Don't do this.
(blowing)
(panting)
Pray, I need you to breathe.
I need you to breathe, Pray.
Pray...
Pray!
Get up! Get up!
Oh, shit.
(sobbing): My friend is not breathing.
Please send an ambulance now.
I need somebody at 1355 Common Avenue, Apartment 2B.
Come on, Pray.
Come on.
Pray. Come on, just...
Come on. You can't...
You-- come on.
I need you, Pray.
* *
(sobbing): No, Pray!
Pray... (sobbing continues)
Get up, Pray.
* *
Ricky. Ricky.
How's Pray?
They tried everything...
No.
No! No!
-(sobbing) -I know. I know.
-No!
(both sobbing)
(Blanca wailing)
NURSE: Um...
* *
Well, come on, y'all.
Pray wouldn't want y'all going hungry.
ANGEL: I just don't understand.
It just happened so quickly.
I thought those meds that he was on was working.
NURSE JUDY: That's the thing with clinical trials,
they may give you a placebo, and you would never know.
That's fucked up. So you're saying he was
only getting better 'cause it was in his head?
Maybe. Or it's possible
that his organs just suffered too much.
Even though his immune system was getting better.
The coroner said the inflammation to the heart
is what brought on the attack.
Something like that doesn't just happen overnight.
Yeah.
Who knows how long his poor body was there struggling for.
(Ricky crying)
I don't want this to happen to you, Blanca.
I don't want it to happen to me.
I know. We're gonna be okay, baby.
They've been taking my levels on the trial,
and they said that the meds are working.
And look at you.
You look stronger than you've ever been,
and you ain't even on pills.
(sniffling)
What is it?
I'm on the same meds Pray been taking.
LULU: But...
How is that possible?
I found a lesion.
Pray told me not to worry,
that he had some new medication for me.
He said he had the hookup with the doctors in the trial.
So, I've been going to his place every week
for the past two months.
And he always got more for me.
(pills rattling)
It didn't really make sense
that the doctors would just give him extra pills,
but the spot went away...
and I got strong again, so I let it go.
I figured he was just swiping it from the trial.
No. There's no way he could've swiped anything.
And those doctors at the hospital?
There's no way in hell
they're gonna give anybody an extra dose.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
(gasps)
Oh, my God.
-What? -(Ricky breathing heavily)
No, Pray.
ELEKTRA: What, Ricky? What is it?
-Honey. -(sniffles)
He was giving me his own meds.
Oh, Pray.
Oh, God.
(crying)
Oh, Ricky.
(sobbing)
(sobbing continues)
* *
(sobbing echoes)
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org