"If She Dies" is the first segment of the fifth episode of the first season (1985–86) from the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

''. The

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or an ...

, written by David Bennett Carren, was based on a 1982 story originally written by Carren for the '' Twisted Tales''

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

. In the story, a widower's daughter falls into a coma with no prospects of recovery, and he is subsequently haunted by the apparition of an orphan who died before he was born.

Plot

After the recently widowed Paul Marano's only daughter, Cathy, is put into a coma by a car accident, he is guided by the apparition of another girl to buy an old wooden bed from an orphanage sale at a convent next door to the hospital. He places the bed in his daughter's room. That evening, he finds that the bed is haunted by the girl who asked him to purchase the bed. She asks him to find "Toby" for her. Returning to the convent the next day, he learns that the girl's name was Sarah and she died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

many decades earlier while sleeping in the bed. He also learns that Toby was her teddy bear. The sister at the convent who remembers Sarah is reluctant to part with the bear, which was not included in the orphanage sale because it is a memento of Sarah, but Paul convinces her that Sarah is a ghost, and that she may have been left on Earth to accomplish a purpose. He is given the teddy bear and then takes Cathy home from the hospital and places her in the bed he purchased on behalf of Sarah. Cathy wakes up the next morning and asks for Toby.

External links

* {{The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episodes 1985 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series season 1) episodes Ghosts in popular culture fr:Pour qu'elle ne meure pas