Being there: 24 hours with Pastoral Services

In the darkness, the pager beeps.

Chaplain Intern Troy Spencer still hasn't fallen asleep. 3:25 a.m., his phone says.

This time, it's Neuroscience Critical Care.

"Potential End of Life," is the call.

When he arrives, an unconscious man in a hospital bed is gasping fruitlessly for air. A woman stands next to the bed, weeping.

As he has more than a dozen times tonight, Spencer introduces himself and asks, "How can I be with you right now?"

"I don't know," the woman says.

"It's OK to not know," Spencer says.

He asks if she'd like to pray. Yes, she says. How can he help her pray? Spencer asks.

Again, the woman doesn't know.

It is the last of a series of short but fathomless walks Spencer will take on this night with people who hoped they'd never have to meet him. For 12 hours, the young chaplain has worked mostly in trauma bays helping doctors connect with patients, helping keep patients informed and, as much as possible, at peace. He has seen motorcycle accidents, stabbings, heart attacks, bleeding children - and now a final goodbye.

And when it's over, Spencer's shift won't be.

Read more from night shift

Pictured:

Troy Spencer, a chaplain intern at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, waits for updates about a patient outside of one of the rooms of the Surgical and Anesthesia Intensive Care Unit during a recent overnight shift.

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