Brian walked down the corridor.

Few minutes ago, he had died.

He wasn't old. Had he lived a few months longer, he would celebrate his 26th birthday.

It wasn't bad life. He managed to end college with Bachelor's.

After that, he quickly found a job. The pay was better than he expected. Well, his expectations might have been a bit too low. But after working for two years, he managed to get a raise and had a potential to have an above average pay in a few more years.

Then, the illness hit. He was unable to leave hospital for more than a few hours. His days consisted of short morning walks, then staying in bed the whole day. He read some books, talked with visitors, played chess with other patients. But mostly, he just stared at the ceiling. Just.. Thinking about life. Mostly during the evenings and night.

He had more visitors than he expected. Of course, his parents visited him the most. They came to hospital every day. They were telling him about their day, what they did, their plans. He noticed that his father started to be more active, just so he would have something interesting to tell him about. Something that would be able to fill the empty space in conversation, the blankness of Brian's own life.

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The other visitors were his friends and former schoolmates. Firstly they came as a big wave. They visited him many times during the first weeks. As time passed by, the visits dropped, but some still came once or twice per month.

Brian did not mind. They had their own lives to live, and he was glad when they made time for a visit.

He spent nearly two whole years in the hospital. After the first year, he lost the physical strength for the morning walks. During the nights, he started having short bursts of pain. His parents slowly lost hope. He could see it in their eyes. They always told him how brave he was, not breaking down and fighting. Brian disagreed. In his opinion, the brave ones were his parents. Seeing their only child slowly dying before their eyes. Someone they raised, someone who was supposed to spend their final days with them. Instead, it was reversed.

Although the bursts of pain before his death were bad, he knew that the two old people next to him had it worse. But he was glad that the medicine that was supposed to help him was not one of the expensive ones. He hoped he would not ruin their life more than he already did.

All in all, Brian believed it was not the worst ending. During his illness, his relationship with parents deepened. They managed to say their final goodbye. He hoped they would listen to his words and try to continue living to the fullest.

Brian continued walking down the corridor.