When I'm called forth, times must be tough

Question

I've got a puzzle for you to solve,

Like always, in three parts.

So start those engines, let those gears revolve

And let's let the puzzling start

---

My prefix is a common action

You might do it every day.

It's key to our communication,

Though if you can't, there's another way.

As seconds go by, the clock goes "tick!"

And the hands get farther apart

And the secret of my infix will finally click

When you find clock's action's second part.

My suffix is a friendly guy

He always says "hello"

While he drops out of Low Lunar Orbit

In which he'll frequently go.

As for my whole, that's a quite tragic tale.

One which we'll all someday know

When those who are there for you finally fail

Into my clutches you'll go.

---

What am I?

Answer 1

Just saw this puzzle bumped to the top. I'll give it a guess:

My prefix is a common action
You might do it every day.
It's key to our communication,
Though if you can't, there's another way.

Prefix: hear
Hear is a common action that we do every day to communicate. Some people can't hear but they can use sign language.

As seconds go by, the clock goes "tick!"
And the hands get farther apart
And the secret of my infix will finally click
When you find clock's action's second part.

Infix: tock
"Tock" is the clock action after "tick".

My suffix is a friendly guy
He always says "hello"
While he drops out of Low Lunar Orbit
In which he'll frequently go.

Suffix: he
The word "he" is repeated many times. Also "hello" minus LLO (drops out of Low Lunar Orbit) is "he".

As for my whole, that's a quite tragic tale.
One which we'll all someday know
When those who are there for you finally fail
Into my clutches you'll go.

Answer: heartache
Heartache is something tragic tales are all about, and which we'll all someday know. When people we count on let us down, we fall into heartache.

(We need to convert the infix tock to tac here, but the two sound similar).

Answer 2

My guess is:

Photochemotherapy

Prefix:

Photo -> "key to our communication"

Infix:

toc -> Second part in "tick tock", albeit without "k"

Suffix:

hemotherapy -> No idea about LLO, but there's "mother", which always says "hello"?

Additionally:

According to the title, "When I'm called forth, times must be tough". There're 4 stages of cancer, fourth being the worst. Photochemotherapy being a possible treatment for cancer. And, of course, all in all, "As for my whole, that's a quite tragic tale." is quite so.