When the doctor arrives, he tells the distraught mother that her son has been seriously injured in a car accident and is now in a "venerative state" . She begs the doctor to take care of her son, but the doctor refuses, saying that his injuries are not life-threatening. The doctor tells her that his son's brain injury has left him in a state of "intermittent vegetative state," meaning that he is unable to communicate. He says that he has seen many patients who have suffered such injuries, but that he does not know what is going on in the patient's mind. He tells the mother to talk to her son and not to let him think that no one will care about him in the world. The mother, however, refuses to leave her son alone with the doctor.