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The hospital waiting room?

50 (33.3%)

Faye on a trip down Deriver Denial?

26 (17.3%)

Emergency Cast Meeting?

45 (30%)

The police station, charged with the assault (or even murder) of Pintsize?

9 (6%)

Weird archetype-filled dream sequence for Faye in which she sees her life as a strange Pyroland-like fantasy and is Elightened?

20 (13.3%)

Total Members Voted: 139

[Omega Entity]

It does look like Marten is coming apart at the seams. More than worried, he seems a bit frantic. Maybe he is being would up by Hanners anxiety? that doesn't seem in character, generally Marten is more calm when people around him are freaking out.

In todays I'm not seeing frantic I'm seeing tired. Probably been up all night. Hanners has the same look. Though maybe that's where the comparison comes from, since she often looks like that.

Same. All I'm seeing is a very tired Marten.

[ZoeB]

Hanners - well done. You're good people.

[BenRG]

I honestly didn't think that Faye would awaken until next week's strips so that this week could all be about her friends reactions.

It's probably indicative of how used to alcohol over indulgence Faye is that she's broadly functional despite the jackhammer convention going on in her skull. As for the "patchy" memory? I think Faye is going to have the drinker's ritual of being told all the horrifyingly embarrassing things that you did by people whom you trust but of which you have no memory alive all! I expect a shame-faced Faye apology to Dora and Pintsize.

Beyond that, I think that Faye will do everything she can to avoid thinking too much. Something tells me that she won't have much luck! I suspect that she's been out for the better part of a day; much may have changed since the last time she had reliable cognition!

Is it me or is everything Hannelore says or does sweet in some way?

[pwhodges]

ell, she may have even followed them to the hospital, one way or another. It'd explain why we didn't see her before and are seeing her now.

She didn't come until she'd fully decontaminated the sofa and restored it to her standards of cleanliness.

[hakko504]

And yes, it's appropriate Hanners, there's no sucn thing as an inappropriate Teddy Bear.

Although I agree with Hanners' decision, I must argue with you. We were just talking about rule 34 a couple pages back.

I'm with Smallest link here: (spoiler due to NSFW)

(click to show/hide)

Warning: While you were asleep, lots of people posted much more relevant things. You may wish to go back and change the subject.

[Omega Entity]

Is it me or is everything Hannelore says or does sweet in some way?

Well, except when she's reiterating her experience with DJ Phallus and his telling her to kill her friends with a knife.

[Oilman]

It does look like Marten is coming apart at the seams. More than worried, he seems a bit frantic. Maybe he is being would up by Hanners anxiety? that doesn't seem in character, generally Marten is more calm when people around him are freaking out.

I do hope that Marten stands firm and discusses with Faye how serious her situation is, possibly lays some ground rules/ limits? idk, I just feel like Marten being a pure well of support for Faye would just enable her to keep up her current drinking habits.

I think they're all probably exhausted at this point.

And yes, he does need to set some boundaries, but a bit of compassion and gentleness in the meantime isn't out of place.

When you have Hannelore eyes and you are not Hannelore, something has obviously gone wrong.

At least she doesn't have Bette Davis eyes. 

"I don't know how you got the Bette Davis knees,
but worst of all, young man
you've got Industrial Disease!"

[BenRG]

How long has it been since we last saw creepy!Hannelore anyway?

[maxh]

How many people in the US are familiar with cricket at all?

Lionel Tribbey?

[davedig]

I learned the most I know about Cricket from Steam Train.

[Loki]

No idea if it has been mentioned before, but the second panel not being blurry and Faye not reaching for her glasses is rather unrealistic, as clearly Faye has exactly the same awful eyesight as I do because my experiences apply to everyone.

[Is it cold in here?]

It's magnifying the effect on his affect.

=applause=

[Omega Entity]

No idea if it has been mentioned before, but the second panel not being blurry and Faye not reaching for her glasses is rather unrealistic, as clearly Faye has exactly the same awful eyesight as I do because my experiences apply to everyone.

[slow clap] Well done, sir.

I'm nearsighted (can't see far), but my vision is passable so long as what I'm looking at's not too far from my face. Martin's also presumably right at her bedside - it's not like he's saying hi from across the room.

[Dark Matter]

Hey everyone, been lurking for a few weeks now, but this latest arc finally inspired me to post something.

This latest comic in particular has me wondering a couple of things. The fact that Hannelore is right at the edge of the panel makes me wonder whether anyone else is there as well. If not in the room, I wouldn't be surprised if others are waiting outside.

I'm also wondering whether or not it's a good thing that Faye can't remember much. On the one hand, that seems like a traumatic experience that no one would really want to remember. On the other hand, remembering that experience might be the motivation Faye needs to realize that she has a problem. Maybe someone who is more knowledgeable about alcoholism and other related issues could shed some light on that.

[Jedit]

Having dealt with being poor and having to go to the Emergency room several times for various injuries while having no insurance, there are also other things you can look into. I think the thing I qualified for was called LIAA, or something like that, low income something something. Anyway, I paid 0 dollars for my emergency room visits back then, and have never been contacted by a debt collector/have no debt on my record. And this is not for life threatening things either, this was for things like getting stitches, etc, so not just "stabilizing" care. I think if you got admitted it was a bit different though.

Hilariously, I pay more for them now that I'm paying enormous health insurance premiums every month... I would say the biggest health care burden isn't on the poor, but on the lower middle class.

Anyone shaking their fist at "the guy complaining that he has it worse than the poor" needs to watch Michael Moore's movie Sicko.  Insurance companies are like any other bookmaker, they don't want to pay out.  So, they find any possible reason they can to have necessary - even lifesaving - treatment deemed non-essential so they won't have to pay it.  A lot of policies have such a high co-pay that they're more expensive than not being insured.

[Oilman]

I learned the most I know about Cricket from Steam Train.

I actually WATCH cricket, and played it at school, and don't understand it. But as an excuse to sit in the sun in a deckchair, drinking tea and cold cider, with a Panama hat and a copy of the Daily Telegraph it beats baseball any time.

[bartman]

Another question: when did her cannula come out? There's not even a mark on her hand. Or maybe Jeph forgot.

It may be that some time (say 18 hours, maybe even 24) has gone by. Both Hanners and Marten look a bit 'shop worn' and tired. If they've been doing the bedside vigil thing for some time then that's to be expected. Faye's cannula may have come out relatively early in the process.

I bruise and bleed quite easily because of blood issues. I was in hospital last july for a nice 3 day bout of emergency surgery and even with my blood and bruising issues it wasn't terribly noticeable after a day or so where  the cannula in one of my hands had been (the other hand and both my inner elbows looked like a disaster area mind you). I think it depends on the thickness of the needle, how long it's been in and how 'carefully' it was inserted.

[BenRG]

Another question: when did her cannula come out? There's not even a mark on her hand. Or maybe Jeph forgot.

It may be that some time (say 18 hours, maybe even 24) has gone by. Both Hanners and Marten look a bit 'shop worn' and tired. If they've been doing the bedside vigil thing for some time then that's to be expected. Faye's cannula may have come out relatively early in the process.

We'll have to wait and see but, like Bartman, I suspect that Faye may have been out for about half a day to a full day, in-comic time. It is quite possible that Marten and Hanners have been keeping a bedside vigil for the whole time (which has started quite the rumour mill amongst the nurses).

I can also see Claire being quite impressed (for good or ill) by how devoted Marten is to his friends.

[Geographus]

My first post, so hello to everyone!

@Topic:
I highly suspect that Marten and Hanners know about Dora firing Faye and the reasons
as to why. If Faye was asleep for a reasonable time I doubt that Marten would not have
called at least Dora to tell her what has happened and that Faye will not show up for work.

I hope Marten will let Faye tell her story of what she rememberes to give her a chance to
admit that she has problems. That would be a very big first step for her rehab ...

... but I somehow doubt that Faye will do that.

[DSL]

FAYE: "I remember cutting my hand pretty bad while I was making dinner for the two of us. ... Who's the blonde chick with the bear?"
MARTEN: "No idea."
BLONDE CHICK WITH BEAR: "I saw you in the Emergency Room and you two seemed nice, so I went ahead and signed you up for the apartment in my building that's just gone vacant. Now I gotta go tell the people who live there now, and then get Winslow here a new chassis."

[Japheree]

Maybe someone who is more knowledgeable about alcoholism and other related issues could shed some light on that.

I wouldn't exactly say knowledgeable but I know more than I ever wanted to. What I will say is that from my own perspective the fear of repeating bad experiences can take you some way towards stopping harmful behaviours but eventually Faye is going to need some positive reasons not to drink on top of the fear of consequences. She has to start to learn to like life/ herself again.

This could be completely off the mark but it is how I have found recovering to be.

[hedgie]

PS: why does Hanners have a cricket bat? How many people in the US are familiar with cricket at all?

Don't know.  My grandfather sometimes played cricket, but then again, the part of California he lived in had a large number of migrants from India || Pakistan who played in the park on weekends.

[Oilman]

Indians and Pakistanis love it, it is THE sport there.

Oddly enough the English don't much care for it, outside certain areas. Like most sport here it is very polarised socially.

[Tova]

I actually WATCH cricket, and played it at school, and don't understand it. But as an excuse to sit in the sun in a deckchair, drinking tea and cold cider, with a Panama hat and a copy of the Daily Telegraph it beats baseball any time.

No, you've more or less got it.

[jwhouk]

FAYE: "I remember cutting my hand pretty bad while I was making dinner for the two of us. ... Who's the blonde chick with the bear?"
MARTEN: "No idea."
BLONDE CHICK WITH BEAR: "I saw you in the Emergency Room and you two seemed nice, so I went ahead and signed you up for the apartment in my building that's just gone vacant. Now I gotta go tell the people who live there now, and then get Winslow here a new chassis."

ISWYDT.


Bravo, and this isn't even the caption thread.

[TieDyeKat]

I would suspect that, like hospitals in my part of the woods, there's a limit on the number of visitors in certain wards.  Two is the usual number, especially for non-family.

[Mafarfloune]

Faye's glasses are off. How is she seeing Marten? Why isn't she looking/asking for them as a reflex?

Maybe Hannelore screamed.

Hopefully Marten bought Faye's spare/backup pair from home then, 'cause I'd imagine her regular pair of glasses getting lost in the chaos of getting her to the hospital.

Faye wasn't wearing her glasses when Marten found her.

[Zebediah]

PS: why does Hanners have a cricket bat? How many people in the US are familiar with cricket at all?

She's not from the US. She's from spaaaaace.

John Ellicott-Chatham invented a space version of cricket that can be played in free-fall. Hannelore is one of the two people who understand the rules.

Station is the other one.

[Oilman]

Would that be like zero-gee football in Red Dwarf? Or more like Quidditch?

[ankhtahr]

Hmm. After reading this thread and the speculation about Dora, I can totally imagine Marten calling Dora to tell her that Faye won't come in to work tomorrow. Depending on te words he used ("Faye won't come in tomorrow" or "Faye's in the hospital right now") I'd guess Dora's reaction might either be "Yeah, I fired her for drinking at work today" or "Oh my god, what have I done"…

[NilsO]

Unless Faye has been out a long time, she really should have the mother of all hangovers. She looks quite well, however, so I would guess at least 18 hours have passed. Whether Marten has been there the whole time is unclear, but I would not be surprised if he was. Obviously, he must have called Hanners, but I am surprised Hanners bought a germ-infested teddy bear instead of a (properly sanitized) stainless steel thingy. Also, Hanners would be expected to show up in a hazmat suit at the hospital, perhaps this is an indication that Hanners really is overcoming her phobias.

As for Dora, I would expect that Marten has talked to her, but advised her to stay away for the time being. I guess the topics for the rest of the week is going to be:

• Thursday: Faye's reaction
• Friday: Dora's reaction

Next week: Hanners and Marten take care of Faye.

[dexeron]

Hanners may have her own issues she is struggling with, but at the end of the day, friendship trumps all of them.

[Zebediah]

Next week: Hanners and Marten take care of Faye.

While Claire takes care of Hanners and Marten.

[Thrillho]

So Dora is going to be sorry for firing Faye despite doing it on pretty legitimate grounds, and then she's going to take Faye back, and I suspect this may run a little bit more smoothly than it probably should.

But then, I may not be giving Jeph enough credit as a writer there, given how good the comic has been recently. Honestly this past few months is pretty much the best it's ever been.

[hedgie]

Much like Pratchett, Jeph's storytelling wasn't the greatest at the start, but has improved with time to become awesome. 

[BenRG]

So Dora is going to be sorry for firing Faye despite doing it on pretty legitimate grounds, and then she's going to take Faye back, and I suspect this may run a little bit more smoothly than it probably should.

I think she felt guilty when Marten first told her. However, if Faye has been out for a while, she's probably had time to at least start to sort out her feelings and decide exactly what she did wrong and right. I suspect that there will be a difficult confrontation between Faye and Dora some time in the near future but I also expect that neither of them will be particularly angry; the moment for passion and rage will have long-since passed and they'll both be more focussed on apologising for the things they did wrong to their friend.

[valkygrrl]

So Marten and Hanners. Who's the ghost of bourbon past and who's the ghost of bourbon present?

[TRVA123]

How many people in the US are familiar with cricket at all?

Lionel Tribbey?

Yay, West Wing reference!

[Oilman]

If FAYE has been asleep for 12 to 18 hours, and on a saline or glucose drip she is probably pretty much fine, apart from very tired.

That's aside from any permanent liver damage, stomach ulcer or whatever but no information on that.

[cabbagehut]

Regarding the glasses thing, it's probably just a space-saver.  This comic tends to favor fewer, bigger panels, and I think it's likely that worrying about certain details, even if they're realistic, interrupts the emotional flow of the story.

I'm legally blind, too, so I would definitely be asking for my glasses first thing, but admittedly, it doesn't make for as interesting of storytelling in a comic format.

[FunkyTuba]

I did wonder about the COBRA reference. COBRA in the UK is some sort of Government Security Comittee

American politicians love acronyms. This one is the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985

It did a bunch of things…tariffs, price supports, etc but is most famous for its "you can buy equivalent health care for a while after losing your job" stuff that experienced human resources people can chunder out in a 20 second spasm of monotone as security walks you out the door.

It's also where the "hospitals can't turn you away from the ER if they accept Medicaid funding" comes from.

[TheEvilDog]

As for Dora, I would expect that Marten has talked to her, but advised her to stay away for the time being. I guess the topics for the rest of the week is going to be:

• Thursday: Faye's reaction
• Friday: Dora's reaction

You know, I was just thinking about this and tomorrow's comic might be Faye trying to remember what happened. Friday's comic could be the mirror to Monday's, this time from Marten's perspective.

[swapna]

Hm, this is interesting - I would have expected Faye to remember at least that and why she has been fired (I mean, it has been one of the reasons why she drank so much).

Now Dora has to fire her again; I don't think she's going to take her back. I don't think Faye should go back even if Dora would take her - while she had been in a position of responsibility (even training others) and had been invested in the job, I don't know if she ever got a pay raise; I won't assume she did. Dora never thanked her except  hugging her, something Faye clearly felt uncomfortable with. And then there's the point where she fired her on the spot - clearly this is as much a cultural issue as it gets, as I still think it's a despicable thing to do especially if it involves denying Faye insurance, unemployment benefits and all that while others think it's a perfectly fine thing to do.
To make it clear: I don't think Dora shouldn't fire her at all or tolerate all of Faye's faults including insubordination and drunkenness, but I feel she owes Faye at least a normal termination of employment.

Marten: Oh god, that guy looks SO tired. I bet he stayed at the hospital all night (I'll assume it's early next day or really late in the night, since Marten looks really tired)

Angus: I'm with you guys - that man is out of the picture. Done, gone, up in New York, I don't know if Marten or anybody else even has a contact address for the guy. I don't doubt he would try and make time and come - I think he's not happy about being dumped that unceremoniously, but he doesn't seem like a guy who would punish somebody who's clearly hurting that much.

Faye's welding: Man, that would be way more interesting - it could open up Faye finding her way to doing something she really, really likes. Hanners could help! She's been an example to Faye throughout the comic, interestingly - Faye leaned from her to push boundaries she had (even if her relationship with Sven hurt her, pushing her boundaries helped her.). She could learn about self-employment from her, how to advertise special services (like her art or espressoraptors, whichever sells better) and how to stand on her own two feet. I would love to see that.

[Geographus]

It's more likely that she does not remember anything after a specific point
during drinking and is just confused about how she ended in a hospital bed.
She was not totally drunk when Dora fired her so I think she will remember that.

[swapna]

Right, could be. Probably she just doesn't remember passing out, but then I would have expected gloomier reaction, kinda. We'll see tomorrow

[Aimless]

I wonder if Marten thinks this may have been due to his new wonderful relationship

[MrNumbers]

I wonder if Marten thinks this may have been due to his new wonderful relationship

He couldn't have seen this coming. He's not Clairevoyant   

[KevxD]

I wonder will we get  a recreation of what happened between Faye leaving CoD and passing out on the couch, subject to what she can actually remember. This would follow naturally from Marten asking her what she remembers.

Pintsize may fill in some blanks later on, depending at what point he was deactivated.

Alternatively, Faye may just shut up shop and not talk about it.

[Halloween Jack]

I'm shocked that Hanners is in a hospital without full PPE (personal protective equipment), i.e. a hazmat suit. If any non-hospital person would know about nosocomial infections, it would be her.

[emilygrrl]

Regarding the glasses thing, it's probably just a space-saver.  This comic tends to favor fewer, bigger panels, and I think it's likely that worrying about certain details, even if they're realistic, interrupts the emotional flow of the story.

I'm legally blind, too, so I would definitely be asking for my glasses first thing, but admittedly, it doesn't make for as interesting of storytelling in a comic format.

The last time we saw Faye with her glasses on was when she was in The Great Schism. If Jeph was going for realism here, the non-blackout panels in Close To Home would have been blurry, too. But blurring those panels would have made the strip much harder to understand what was going on, if not impossible.