Atheists and agnostics, in the end, how would you face the inevitable?

A dear friend of mine passed away two nights ago. He was 82 but it was not of old age that he died of. A terrible accident put him in a wheelchair 20 years ago and gave him short term memory and other brain injuries. His body just gave up. No surprise there.

I wasn’t there the moment he died but I’ve known him long enough to assume that if he was fully aware that he was near death, he would have been a little afraid. Which makes me now wonder about atheists and agnostics, who do not have a God to rely on for what could be an assurance that they will be taken care of in the next life.