There were three principal doctors, Nikolaos Kallikles, Michael Pantechnes and Michael the eunuch. Alexios' daughter Maria was seated by his head, giving him water and sprinkling rosewater over him. Anna herself was consumed by her sorrow, but trying to play a medical role. Alexios was moving in and out of consciousness, and Eirene was little better. Ioannes at this stage realised that a crisis had come, and had left to pursue his ambitions. The doctors would not exclude the possibility of recovery, and the family were unsure what to believe. Eirene and Anna decided to begin the funeral dirge, but Anna felt some pulse. Then she realised that Alexios was finally dying and she turned away. Eirene let out a shriek, removed her empress' veil and cut off her hair. She had appropriate black shoes, but no black dress: her daughter Theodora could easily supply one. At this point Alexios had clearly died, and all were overcome with wild grief. Anna and her mother were both distraught with mourning, yet each pretended to be recovering so as to encourage the other, thus reaching a kind of consolation. Anna at the end of her book wondered why she had been spared while her father had died. She was also forced to remember the other sufferings she had to bear later, the deaths of her mother Eirene and her husband Nikephoros