Luca M Damiani is an artist, author and university fellow, focusing his ongoing creative practice and research on neuroscience/health, technology and nature. Luca has a neurological disability and has had various visual art books and academic articles published, as well as being exhibited internationally. He has worked and collaborated with institutions such as BMJ Medical Humanities, BBC, Science Gallery, Computer Arts Society, Disney, Yale University, Jewish Book Council, The Times of Israel, TATE, V&A and more. www.lucadamiani-art.com.

By Humaira Khan

He tells me his name but to every other question his answer is the same: a smile, a shrug of the shoulders, and an uncertain laugh. 

“I love him all the same, Doc,” his wife of 50 years says, answering the question she sees in my eyes.  

He watches her speak, then smiles, shrugs, and laughs.

Humaira Khan, M.D., is a neurologist, mother, nature-lover, and amateur photographer with a life-long passion for the written word. She has a Diploma in Freelance and Writing from the London School of Journalism and her work has been published in Intima as well as in lifestyle and consumer magazines, both online and in print.

By Roseanne Trost

My first AIDS patient. The 80s. Lots of fear. Misunderstanding. I hoped he could not see the horror on my face. Actively dying. Emaciated. He moaned, as I turned him in the bed. “So sorry,” I murmured. I moistened his lips. He whispered, “There must be a special place in heaven for someone like you.”

Shortly after Rosanne Trost, RN, MPH, began working part time as a hospice nurse, she met this AIDS patient. She encountered many patients with sad situations, but this dying young man, all alone, has remained with her through the years.

By Susan Golden

Bad news has a way of darting in, late on a Friday afternoon, ducking around the corner of the heavy, carved wooden doors as they are swinging shut, closing out the week and thwarting the ability to respond until Monday morning. More than patience, I need an extra helping of decatastrophization. 63 hours to go.

Susan Golden writes fiction and non-fiction. Her work has appeared in Harmony Magazine and Bright Flash Literary Review. Her writing is inspired by her longhaired mini dachshund, who tackled every obstacle with zeal.