Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/845136
t m c » p u l s e | j u ly 2 0 1 7 24 "At some point, he will not be able to drink," Terrie said. "You're aware of that?" Brad nodded. "When that happens, you use ice chips, just inside his cheek." "What about IV drips?" "We don't do that," Terrie said. "Probably one of the hardest parts of hospice is when a patient doesn't want to eat and the family thinks they're starving them. And they're not. At the end of life, that's just a natural progression. When you're sick, you don't eat. And he's very sick." Terrie asked Brad if Karen had talked to him about transitioning. When people begin to detach from life, they often see visions from the past and relive memories and conversations. The visions, Terrie said, start in the corner of the room, up toward the ceiling. By the end, they always move onto the bed. It's a predictable pattern, she assured him, something every hospice worker knows well. "There's been a lot of talk about Selkirk, which is a place we used to go camping a lot as kids," Brad said. "The other day he was acting like he was fixing a bike and it was the bike reflectors. … He thinks we're actually there." — VIII — The following morning, Alan tapped on the bed and called for Pal. Moments later, he was petting the air near the crook of his arm. By mid-afternoon, Father Raphael had arrived at the apartment. Brad led him into the bedroom and showed him a wooden cross he'd found in Alan's pocket. Alan tried to clear his throat. A caretaker from the funeral home removes Alan's body from his apartment.