For Brendan’s purposes, Al’s mental output is no longer at the level needed for the emulator to successfully access it or record it. The hospital staff probably have their own standards for certified brain death and triaged the organ failure as being more urgent to treat at this moment.
I didn’t see any EGK so probably yes – until a neurologist comes around and checks for brain functions he will unlikely to be noticed. I don’t think right now they are very rich and they aren’t given the 5-star treatment, not even a private room…
It’s a sign of a great story that we’re attributing motivation to a fictional character! I didn’t read anything more into the doctor’s actions than it was a way for the author to end the scene by having Brendan leave Al’s bedside.
P.S. I’ve been through something like this in real life; I’m gay and an ex was brain dead in the hospital and I had paperwork letting me make medical decisions. It was odd being alone in the room with him – his body was functioning, but I didn’t really feel like “he” was there anymore; I felt I had to stay with him out of sense of duty rather than to comfort or help him. And although we weren’t in a big gay friendly city, the staff and doctors must have guessed I was more than a “friend” and were kind to me and let me stay as long as I wanted.
Actually, I saw it more as that she’s worried the shift change nurses will notice something, and is protecting Brendan from being “caught”. In other words, the opposite of nastiness.
It’s so sad. In the films people get their troubles cleared before the end, but in real life things tend to be unspoken, sore points not to be touched, questions to be hushed over, never to be answered before the eternal silence.
Still, what a weird way to celebrate your three-hundredst page with vomiting!
I totally agree. One of my greatest fears is having an argument with someone I love dearly, like my Mom and Dad or my fiance, only to have them die right afterward. To know that the last exchange that I’d ever have with that person was a fight would haunt me forever.
Oh no. Oh no. Oh gosh. This is-I mean we knew from the beginning, Al would pass but but… like it was through the perspective of Al and now we are seeing the.. the real world side of it the people (person!) left behind when someone dies and its Brendan and he just lost AL like ohH MY GOD IVE NEVER COMMENTED FOR YEARS BUT IM JUST! NOT READY
In my university physiology course last semester my lab partners decided to try modifying the EKG electrode setup to measure my brain activity (more like an EEG, electroencephalogram). Beyond finding out how difficult it is to not move any muscles in my face (there’s a lot more electricity in raised eyebrows than you might think) it was fun to see the background noise of tiny amplitude that the electrodes could pick up inside my head.
So much feels in this comic all the time. On another note, I’ve been having trouble figuring out what exactly is being communicated in the doctor’s expression. Props, Blue, for presenting such complicated emotion so well. The face as a whole says “reserved, unattached, businesslike, just do your job and don’t feed into the drama”, her slightly knitted brows seem like a mix of concern and displeasure, yet somehow the eyes scream sadness, pity, and the creeping suspicion that the worst is yet to come.
Discovered this comic from a link on Mare Internum, and binge-read the whole thing over a few days. What a horrible spot to catch up with the archive! :-)
Congratulations on 300 pages!
Is it normal that loved ones are asked to leave when the nurses change shifts in the ICU? I have had family in the ICU more times than any of us would have liked, and we were allowed to stay as long as we wished during visiting hours.
Also, Brendan’s face in panel two is absolutely heartbreaking.
Wait. He’s the only one that knows that Al’s brain has ceased to function?
For Brendan’s purposes, Al’s mental output is no longer at the level needed for the emulator to successfully access it or record it. The hospital staff probably have their own standards for certified brain death and triaged the organ failure as being more urgent to treat at this moment.
I didn’t see any EGK so probably yes – until a neurologist comes around and checks for brain functions he will unlikely to be noticed. I don’t think right now they are very rich and they aren’t given the 5-star treatment, not even a private room…
Edit: What do I know, EGK is for heart and NHS web page shows a series of physical tests to detect brain stem death so yes – definitely no one else knows… (citation: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Brain-death/Pages/Diagnosis.aspx)
That doctor has all the empathy of a friggin doorknob.
Optimist scenario: The doctor believes the two are just business partners and don’t have any reason to believe Brendan’s grief is deep.
Pessimist scenario: The doctor suspects that’s there something more behind the business partners façade and disapproves.
Sadly, I have lived long enough to think the latter is more probable.
Either way, being that inconsiderate is inexcusable.
ICU in many hospitals moves people in and out fast and hard.
It’s a sign of a great story that we’re attributing motivation to a fictional character! I didn’t read anything more into the doctor’s actions than it was a way for the author to end the scene by having Brendan leave Al’s bedside.
P.S. I’ve been through something like this in real life; I’m gay and an ex was brain dead in the hospital and I had paperwork letting me make medical decisions. It was odd being alone in the room with him – his body was functioning, but I didn’t really feel like “he” was there anymore; I felt I had to stay with him out of sense of duty rather than to comfort or help him. And although we weren’t in a big gay friendly city, the staff and doctors must have guessed I was more than a “friend” and were kind to me and let me stay as long as I wanted.
Actually, I saw it more as that she’s worried the shift change nurses will notice something, and is protecting Brendan from being “caught”. In other words, the opposite of nastiness.
It’s so sad. In the films people get their troubles cleared before the end, but in real life things tend to be unspoken, sore points not to be touched, questions to be hushed over, never to be answered before the eternal silence.
Still, what a weird way to celebrate your three-hundredst page with vomiting!
I totally agree. One of my greatest fears is having an argument with someone I love dearly, like my Mom and Dad or my fiance, only to have them die right afterward. To know that the last exchange that I’d ever have with that person was a fight would haunt me forever.
Oh no. Oh no. Oh gosh. This is-I mean we knew from the beginning, Al would pass but but… like it was through the perspective of Al and now we are seeing the.. the real world side of it the people (person!) left behind when someone dies and its Brendan and he just lost AL like ohH MY GOD IVE NEVER COMMENTED FOR YEARS BUT IM JUST! NOT READY
The test in question would be an EKG or ECG. (electrocardiogram-ecg, elektrokardiogramm from the German for EKG)
In my university physiology course last semester my lab partners decided to try modifying the EKG electrode setup to measure my brain activity (more like an EEG, electroencephalogram). Beyond finding out how difficult it is to not move any muscles in my face (there’s a lot more electricity in raised eyebrows than you might think) it was fun to see the background noise of tiny amplitude that the electrodes could pick up inside my head.
So much feels in this comic all the time. On another note, I’ve been having trouble figuring out what exactly is being communicated in the doctor’s expression. Props, Blue, for presenting such complicated emotion so well. The face as a whole says “reserved, unattached, businesslike, just do your job and don’t feed into the drama”, her slightly knitted brows seem like a mix of concern and displeasure, yet somehow the eyes scream sadness, pity, and the creeping suspicion that the worst is yet to come.
Discovered this comic from a link on Mare Internum, and binge-read the whole thing over a few days. What a horrible spot to catch up with the archive! :-)
Congratulations on 300 pages!
Is it normal that loved ones are asked to leave when the nurses change shifts in the ICU? I have had family in the ICU more times than any of us would have liked, and we were allowed to stay as long as we wished during visiting hours.
Also, Brendan’s face in panel two is absolutely heartbreaking.
That walk of a man about to fall apart is so tragically well executed.