It's 2:33 a.m.
A daughter sits in an empty waiting room. She flips pages in the magazine she's not reading. She's too nervous. Her father's surgery should have been done by now. Suddenly, the door opens and the surgeon comes out. "He made it," he says. For the first time in a long time, she breathes a sigh of relief.
A wife pulls a chair closer to the hospital bed. She slips her left hand into her husband's, clinking their scuffed wedding bands together as she folds her fingers over his and gives his hand a squeeze. She looks up at the monitor as it beeps. She is reassured because, for now, his heart still beats.
A teenager holds a dish towel over the gash in his knee, the blood slowly turning the cream fabric into dark red. As the nurse starts to clean the wound, a sharp cry escapes his mouth. He looks over at the man standing in the corner—he doesn't want to cry in front of his father. He looks back at the nurse. She squeezes his shoulder and says, "You're doing great."
A father holds his new baby boy to his chest, moving the wires and IV away. He knows his son has a long road ahead of him. He leans down and faintly whispers in the newborn's ear, "I'll be with you every step of the way."
Healthcare isn't just about state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge treatment—it's about people.
Let's tell their stories together.
