REPORT: UNDER THE REDS
FILE #: 116

Jarod works as paramedic Jarod Randolph in Atlanta, Georgia, to reveal the circumstances that caused the coma of a young man called Steve Chambers. Jarod suspects that his partner Gary Rennert had willingly transported Steve to the Queen of Mercy Hospital, even though a different hospital had been closer to the scene of the accident, and thus worsened his condition because the accurate treatment could not be provided in time. It seems the same thing has happened with other patients under Rennert's care.

At The Centre, Sydney gets a message from Jarod. It's a formula of a new experimental treatment for comatose patients, which Jarod had previously tested successfully on mice in a research project during his last pretend. Sydney gets together the required components of the formula and sneaks away from The Centre.

In the meantime, Jarod meets Steven Chambers' parents, who won't leave their son's bed, although there is nothing they can do. Convinced that he is capable of understanding them, they read his favorite books to him. In his further investigation, Jarod discovers that Rennert gets an envelope for each patient he brings to Queen of Mercy.

Miss Parker, meanwhile, follows Sydney's tracks to the Mount Pleasant Home, where she encounters him and his comatose twin brother Jacob. Sydney tells her about the accident that caused his brother's coma. His mind flashes back. Sitting in a car, Jacob and Sydney are having an intense argument about The Centre's methods. Jacob reproaches Sydney for only thinking about his career and not noticing what's really going on. "I'm talking about the children", Jacob says. "What's wrong with children for God's sake?" Sydney replies. "Do you know how we got these children?" Jacob wants to know. "I know what I need to know" his brother replies. "No, you only know what The Centre wants you to know" Jacob says. Sydney apparently hasn't been paying much attention to the road, and that's when he suddenly has to make a quick turn to avoid collision with another vehicle (the only other car on the road...). He loses control over the car and gets off the road down the hill. Jacob is flung out of the car and loses consciousness, while Sydney survives the accident without further injuries.

Back in the present. By increasing the dosage of the therapy, Jacob finally wakes up from his dead-like state. Sydney wants to apologize for not listening to him the night of the accident. His brother is still not very stable and unable to talk, but he writes a note saying "SL-27".

In the meantime, Mr. Raines has found out what Sydney is up to. He believes Jacob to be a threat to the Centre and therefore wants Miss Parker to silence him permanently. Since he doesn't trust Miss Parker, he sends Sam the sweeper as a witness. Following Raines' orders, Miss Parker suffocates the helpless Jacob using a pillow and then leaves the Mount Pleasant Home together with Sam. When the two of them are gone, Sydney gets up from the bed (being a twin can come in very handy...). He and Miss Parker had arranged to deceive Raines and make him believe Jacob was dead. Meanwhile, Jacob, however, has slipped back into coma, Jarod's therapy turned out to have only temporary effects. (Jarod had found out about that too, just recently, because he had kept one of the mice from the research project that showed the same symptoms. He had named it "Jacob")

In Atlanta, Jarod sets up a fake accident with the help of one of his assistants from the research institute. He makes it look like the young man is wealthy, by giving him his expensive watch and then faking a bicycle accident. Again, Gary Rennert drives the patient to Queen of Mercy instead of a closer hospital. But this time, Jarod is prepared and intervenes the delivery of the envelope, which he opens in front of many witnesses. As had to be expected, he finds a considerable amount of money in it. It turns out that the hospital's financial manager, a man named Fletcher, had been trying to make a profit by getting as many wealthy patients into the hospital as possible, so that they could get their insurance money (as opposed to patients with no insurance for which the hospital would have to pay).

Steven Chambers' parents are now facing a difficult decision. There is almost no chance that their son will wake up from his coma, but there are people whose lives could be saved by getting a transplant from Steve's organs. The two of them decide to donate Steve's organs. The life-supporting machines are turned off, but not before they have finished reading the last story.

Tears in his eyes as he watches the touching scene, Jarod remembers one of his old simulations, in which he had failed to save a little boy from a shaft. "You can't save them all, Jarod" Sydney had told him then. As a helicopter pilot for Med Flight, Jarod now delivers Steven's heart to its lucky recipient.