Nope, unless Word Of God says otherwise, that’s probably just a colored whiteboard that the nurse used white markers to write on. My mom had something similar in her room during her hospital stay, although it wasn’t behind her head. If you look at the first panel, the shadows are all caused by the light coming in the window, not from the whiteboard.
Sam
Word of God has commented otherwise on the comment chain below.
I’ve been to two hospitals; the first time, I was too young to remember anything, and it wasn’t me in trouble the second time. What I did see is basically the same as what AgentKeen is saying, and that was at one of the more distinguished hospitals in the country. I suppose it depends on the hospital and the quality of their services, but I haven’t seen anything like that flatscreen before. Still, I’m definitely naïve and young, so I’ll trust Willis’s call on what is a relatively minor detail anyhow.
I dunno about Indiana hospitals, but this screen is directly copied from an Ohio hospital from one of our more recent stays. I had to cheat the screen to be way less space-efficient in real life to keep some of the details out of view.
“Welcome back to Citadel Station. We hope your somnolent healing stage went well. T-t-today is the 6th day of November, year 2072. You are currently in the Healing Suites located on the first level.”
Well, the last time I was in the hospital, in December, they had a whiteboard with that kind of stuff written on it. But it was on the other side of the room, so I could actually see it from bed.
Seriously though! Clearly I was in a low-end mental hospital. No screens except a tube tv in the tiny “common area.” Hell we didn’t even have real mirrors, just foggy plastic shit so that you couldn’t break it and cut yourself. No way they would give personal screens. And definitely no hospital beds. I’ve never heard of any place like this :/ I kinda woulda liked a futuristic set up like this.
You should see the place I work in (a combo hospital/mental health hospital). The mental health side is designed for long term stays, made to look as little like an institution as possible. The clinical side is pretty nice too…for a hospital. We have screens like that in the ER and OR but for keeping track of patients so doctor’s and nurses know where the patients are at any given time. We have screens at the bedside too, on arms, but for patient TV’s and internet. Was supposed to also be for docs and nurses to use but that didn’t pan out. This is in Canada mind you but don’t get any ideas that the hospitals here are flush with money…they most definitely are not. This one just happens to be a newer hospital and so had the money to invest at build time.
Yeah, it’s the fear that all the bad will come back when you’re outside the hospital doors, forgetting that the coping strategies they gave you aren’t actually going away.
Well, that and the fact that a few days worth of hospital can’t impart nearly enough coping skills for the life awaiting you outside. That’s what ongoing therapy is for.
Plus she face all these stressors while being really depresses in a less-ridiculously-safe environment, which reinforces all her depressed habits! Hooray.
She was taken to the hospital Sunday afternoon/evening, so Wednesday would be 3 days out – aka when a 72 hour involuntary hold would expire. So she could be leaving then, barring any decisions by the doctors to get an openended voluntary* extension.
*Speaking from personal experience, the definition of voluntary allows for a substantial amount of coercion.
I had a different experience. The hospital became a safe space to explore issues and to get away from the world. An oasis in life. Going home was the hard part. I’m guessing that’s the anxiety Ruth is feeling.
Leorale
You aren’t alone in that one, and it’s a fully sensible reaction.
Needfuldoer
That’s what I took from it too. In the hospital, Ruth doesn’t have to worry about anything but sorting out her issues. Back in tbe dorms, she’ll have to worry about classes, eating, not drinking, and everyone else’s judgement again and she’s not sure if she’s ready for that. Maybe this will encourage her to get professional counceling; self-medication and internalizing everything only caused a misery feedback loop.
Gwen
The hospital is generally a terrible experience. But depending what’s going on in the world outside (or inside your head), it can be a safe place to regroup.
That said, my shrink asked me yesterday if I should go there, and I said hell no. I try to save it for the biggest emergencies. And even with that philosophy, I’ve been there at least 10 times. Sorry for rambling. Been a weird few days.
192 thoughts on “Leave”
Ana Chronistic
What a rude screen! Talking about her behind her back!
TheAnonymousGuy
That’s not it, it’s making that annoying buzzing sound and it’s keeping her up all night.
a snow ʍousɐ
Haha, nice x3
Doctor_Who
Absolute best place to put that screen. I love needing to roll back my eyes 120 degrees and activate my X-Ray vision to read something.
Beef
I think it’s a script for the doctors
Doctor_Who
“Good evening, Ruth. Today is TUESDAY, OCTOBER-“
SgtWadeyWilson
“-17th. Looks like you’ll be able to leave tomorrow!”
DarkoNeko
I assume there’s another screen on the other side.
Aeron
“I love you, [RUTH LESSICK]!” – Dr. Lucy Liu-bot
Needfuldoer
“Good evening, [PATIENT NAME HERE], you are the pride of [PATIENT HOMETOWN HERE].”
Reltzik
Then there’s the awful blue glow keeping you awake when you want to sleep.
Lokitsu
Nope, unless Word Of God says otherwise, that’s probably just a colored whiteboard that the nurse used white markers to write on. My mom had something similar in her room during her hospital stay, although it wasn’t behind her head. If you look at the first panel, the shadows are all caused by the light coming in the window, not from the whiteboard.
Sam
Word of God has commented otherwise on the comment chain below.
TheTJ
Man… difficult issues…. I wish we could go back to the light-hearted Superhero subplo- OHWAIT.
CleverTrousers
Is that an actual thing they do?
MatthewTheLucky
Not in any hospital I’ve been to. Which is like 7.
de Combys
I’ve been to at least 10 and never seen that.
AgentKeen
I think it’s becoming a thing. I know I’ve seen writing on marker boards that basically says that, so I’m sure there’s places that have flatscreens.
TheAnonymousGuy
We could always try asking willis. Hey willis, are those screens a thing in Indiana hospitals?
Passchendaele
I’ve been to two hospitals; the first time, I was too young to remember anything, and it wasn’t me in trouble the second time. What I did see is basically the same as what AgentKeen is saying, and that was at one of the more distinguished hospitals in the country. I suppose it depends on the hospital and the quality of their services, but I haven’t seen anything like that flatscreen before. Still, I’m definitely naïve and young, so I’ll trust Willis’s call on what is a relatively minor detail anyhow.
David M Willis
I dunno about Indiana hospitals, but this screen is directly copied from an Ohio hospital from one of our more recent stays. I had to cheat the screen to be way less space-efficient in real life to keep some of the details out of view.
tim gueguen
Do they actually have stuff like that in hospital rooms?
tim gueguen
I guess that should be screens. Of course they have Ruths in hospital rooms.
Shiro
Multiple Ruths?! Sweet lord, is the hospital still standing?
Doctor_Who
The hospital is. The patients aren’t. You need femurs for that.
SgtWadeyWilson
The surgeons must be swimming in cash… and/or blood.
Reltzik
At least you don’t really need your femurs to live when there’s an emergency room thirty seconds away.
Rowen Morland
Omst of them aren’t up to much due to being truck magnets
Just Me
I’ve only seen white boards, never anything that high tech.
Kris
Some. I’ve never seen one over your bed like that though. Mine was like a little tablet that doubled as a tv remote and nurse pager.
Cholma
Didn’t you “PASSENGERS”? How else would you remember your name after waking up from Cryo-sleep??
StClair
“Welcome back to Citadel Station. We hope your somnolent healing stage went well. T-t-today is the 6th day of November, year 2072. You are currently in the Healing Suites located on the first level.”
brionl
Well, the last time I was in the hospital, in December, they had a whiteboard with that kind of stuff written on it. But it was on the other side of the room, so I could actually see it from bed.
Clocky
Seriously though! Clearly I was in a low-end mental hospital. No screens except a tube tv in the tiny “common area.” Hell we didn’t even have real mirrors, just foggy plastic shit so that you couldn’t break it and cut yourself. No way they would give personal screens. And definitely no hospital beds. I’ve never heard of any place like this :/ I kinda woulda liked a futuristic set up like this.
MechaBill
The mental facility I was in, Homewood in Guelph, Ontario, had hospital beds. No screens though.
Leorale
Same here, in small and big cities, never seen anything as nice as Ruth’s room. (Not to say it doesn’t exist, of course, just never seen it myself.)
LordHaw
You should see the place I work in (a combo hospital/mental health hospital). The mental health side is designed for long term stays, made to look as little like an institution as possible. The clinical side is pretty nice too…for a hospital. We have screens like that in the ER and OR but for keeping track of patients so doctor’s and nurses know where the patients are at any given time. We have screens at the bedside too, on arms, but for patient TV’s and internet. Was supposed to also be for docs and nurses to use but that didn’t pan out. This is in Canada mind you but don’t get any ideas that the hospitals here are flush with money…they most definitely are not. This one just happens to be a newer hospital and so had the money to invest at build time.
Kris
You know how it when you’ve been in so long you might not make it on the outside.
Falling Star
Just like prison!
…wait, that is not a good comparison.
Gwen
If you’ve been self-destructing spectacularly and the hospital broke that free-fall, it may only take a day or two to reach that point.
Cerberus
Yeah, it’s the fear that all the bad will come back when you’re outside the hospital doors, forgetting that the coping strategies they gave you aren’t actually going away.
Gwen
Well, that and the fact that a few days worth of hospital can’t impart nearly enough coping skills for the life awaiting you outside. That’s what ongoing therapy is for.
MatthewTheLucky
Hooray, now Ruth can go and… um… get fired?
Reltzik
And also be a week behind in her classes?
Plus three more weeks because she’s been whatever about her classes?
Plus have to face all the people in that wing even if she’s not fired?
Leorale
Plus she face all these stressors while being really depresses in a less-ridiculously-safe environment, which reinforces all her depressed habits! Hooray.
Opus the Poet
Well at least it looks like they only have her on one med once a day.
BBCC
It says her medication are – I’m guessing an ‘s’ was cut off and that we’re not seeing the full list.
Rosicrucian
Everything you’ve ever wanted floats above…
Wack'd
It’s bolted to the wall, actually.
Cephalo the Pod
Oh wow, you’re not Doctor_Who?
Wack'd
Why would I be?
Cephalo the Pod
It’s just that I never seem to find any posts by you here, and figured you would be someone who commented frequently.
Wack'd
I used to be!
I keep trying to get back into the rhythm of it.
SgtWadeyWilson
I think it’s about the same rhythm as Twelve Bullets on the Deadpool soundtrack.
Cattleprod
Close up, it looks like a blue T, reminding her of how terrible her team is. That’s the takeaway of what she’s reacting to, right?
Reltzik
The sign’s telling her to make like her team and leaf.
foamy
Lost 6-3 today too.
Keulan
I lost track of how many days Ruth has been there. Clearly she’s improved, but has she really improved enough that it’s ok for her to leave already?
BBCC
She’s likely considered ‘not at immediate risk of harm’ anymore so out she goes.
DinaWho
She was taken to the hospital Sunday afternoon/evening, so Wednesday would be 3 days out – aka when a 72 hour involuntary hold would expire. So she could be leaving then, barring any decisions by the doctors to get an openended voluntary* extension.
*Speaking from personal experience, the definition of voluntary allows for a substantial amount of coercion.
BBCC
They can also keep you longer if they believe you’re at immediate risk of harm for yourself or others.
Immediate harm being up to their discretion of course. Bah.
DinaWho
And the threat of that additional longer hold can be used to coerce consent to a ‘voluntary’ admission. :/
MechaBill
I had a different experience. The hospital became a safe space to explore issues and to get away from the world. An oasis in life. Going home was the hard part. I’m guessing that’s the anxiety Ruth is feeling.
Leorale
You aren’t alone in that one, and it’s a fully sensible reaction.
Needfuldoer
That’s what I took from it too. In the hospital, Ruth doesn’t have to worry about anything but sorting out her issues. Back in tbe dorms, she’ll have to worry about classes, eating, not drinking, and everyone else’s judgement again and she’s not sure if she’s ready for that. Maybe this will encourage her to get professional counceling; self-medication and internalizing everything only caused a misery feedback loop.
Gwen
The hospital is generally a terrible experience. But depending what’s going on in the world outside (or inside your head), it can be a safe place to regroup.
That said, my shrink asked me yesterday if I should go there, and I said hell no. I try to save it for the biggest emergencies. And even with that philosophy, I’ve been there at least 10 times. Sorry for rambling. Been a weird few days.
spoopyfox
what the fuck is that
Doctor_Who
They call it Ruth. Learn to fear it.
Koms
Funniest comment tree ever.
Reltzik
She’s gnawing her own lip because she hasn’t had anyone to eat for days.