My father and mother; he drawing his final few breaths, she doing some final reading, selecting passages to be read at her partner of over 50 year's impending funeral. A gentle hand, checking his skin temperature, a need to still touch her husband's warm body before his system closes down forever, reassuring him with soft words, though there is no telling if he can even hear her. Not that it matters, it is part of the loving and the parting process, her bedside vigilance is daily, the nurses having told my mother that sometimes patients need time alone, so 24/7 is neither healthy for her nor helpful for my father. So, she does all she can in their time left together, but The End is very close, just a matter of breathes away.