warmed by the hope that marty would not only emerge from the coma but with all his brain functions intact , smith sat beside the bed , among the flashing dials and gauges of the monitors , and watched him , thinking all the way back to council bluffs and high school , where he and marty had met and jon 's uncle had first diagnosed marty 's asperger 's syndromehellip ; to sophia 's murder and the hades virus pandemic , when he had needed marty 's genius with all things electronic .