When Alek Hermon remembers the most painful week of his life—the time his father lay in a coma before passing away—he also remembers the unexpected comfort of a nurse named Ray. Though their relationship began with tension and judgment, as Hermon struggled through lonely early morning ICU shifts, Ray gradually revealed his quiet compassion, asking about Hermon’s father and connecting over books. When the moment came to say goodbye and donate his father’s organs, Hermon felt surrounded yet completely alone—until Ray, stripped of his sterile gear and full of tears, ran down the hall to embrace him. In that moment, Hermon found solace not in protocol, but in human connection. “He took my suffering seriously,” Hermon said. “I was a real person to him.” Read the full story of Alek and Ray’s journey through grief and loss in the hospital at NPR.org.