It took a long time for Paxton to realize what Mrs. Robson meant. In the case of non-awake patients whose vital functions are supported by a respirator, the family had the right to disconnect the patient from the life-support machines, which was a radical and terrible step. They could also sign a document stating that in the event of the cessation of vital functions, they would not consent to resuscitation.
Both of these decisions were terrible. The first functioned in human imagination almost like murder or euthanasia, but the second was consent to natural death. It was simply not to rescue a life that could not exist without machines.
Steve closed his eyes. Both decisions were terrifying. For three years, Ms. Robson flatly refused to take them, so why so suddenly…?
"Why?" he asked, His voice was oddly calm.
"I couldn't look at her suffering anymore. She was neither alive nor dead. Suspended neither here nor there. I had to let her go. Have I done right? Steve? "
