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Monica becomes a substitute teacher for a class of “resource
students”. Their learning disabilities and health problems have
aggravated a number of subs and none of the temporary teachers
have stuck around. One student especially needs her help. Her
name is Charlee, and she has obsessive compulsive disorder. As a
result of her disorder, she is constantly plagued with worry.
Before class she checks her locker numerous times to make sure it
is locked. Later on, she thinks the air is dirty and after a few
minutes, she gets so worked up that she has trouble breathing and
is sent to the nurse’s office. The nurse, Tess, tries to comfort
her, but Charlee insists on going home, and her father, Rolando,
agrees to come get her. However, in order to do that, he must
sign a release form though he has trouble locating the signature
line. Rolando can’t read.
With this realization, the angels decide that Charlee is not the
only assignment here. They go to visit Rolando that evening, in
part to talk about Charlee and how she can keep up in school, and
in part to confront him about his illiteracy. As soon as the
subject arises, Rolando is on the defensive. He denies having a
problem and asks Monica and Andrew to leave, which they do.
Charlee meanwhile is still panicked from her OCD episode earlier
that day, so Rolando goes to the pharmacist to pick up her new
medicine. When he gets home and Charlee once again gets too
worked up to breath, he gives her the pills. The problem is, he
can’t read the instructions, only the number “4”, so instead of
giving her a pill every four hours, he gives her four at once,
causing an overdose. At the hospital, Gloria, who is working as a
social worker, reports the incident to social services, and
Rolando finally realizes the harm his illiteracy can cause.
When a letter from Social Services is hand delivered to Rolando,
he rushes to the hospital to have Charlee read it. She does and
discovers that she is going to be taken into foster care. Rolando
takes her out of the hospital and tries to run. He has no
intention of giving up his daughter, but no plans of where to go.
On a deserted road outside of town he is stopped by the angels,
who give him a glimpse of the miracle of reading as well as a
revelation. He agrees to learn and Charlee agrees to teach him.
When he is granted a hearing with social services, he will be able
to prove to them that he’ll do whatever is required to keep his
daughter. |
