"It’s more or less, I want to be alive again. Going here, going there. My husband, I want to be able to do things for him."

So says the patient to the palliative care doctor. Palliative care doctor? " They study how to deliver bad news, and they do it again and again. They know secrets like who, as a rule, takes it better. They know who is more likely to suffer silently, and when is the best time to suggest a do-not-resuscitate order."