In the end, Mai got sick. Perhaps it had something to do about being around the supernatural too much, or maybe she was simply weak, but now she was dying, and there was nothing anybody could do.
Everyone else couldn't stand to see their dear friend dying, and Naru refused to come out of his room, so that was why Lin was standing by the window, staring out. He detested hospitals. Too bright, too clean, too...cold. He turned back to Mai, and gazed at the girl with an oxygen mask. Her eyes lit up when he did so.
"Lin," she wheezed. "Thank you for coming." He frowned, and then hastily walked out the door, closing it firmly behind him.
The next time Lin came, he brought a gift. Mai was sitting up, and he handed it to her silently, and then went to his place by the window. She took the book out of the plastic bag, her eyes widening.
"You write poetry?" She gasped. He snatched it from her hands and sat down on a chair. Opening it, Lin narrowed his eyes at her.
"I will read it to you, but you will tell no one," he warned. She laughed weakly, then leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes.
She flinched from the needles and cried when they read her medical report. Lin wished she wouldn't. He wished she could be stronger, and face her death with calm eyes, but then again, she was young.
When the doctor left and Mai wiped at her face feebly, Lin handed her a handkerchief and asked, "Are you afraid to die?" She swallowed and folded her too pale hands.
"I wanted to live for mom and dad," she whispered. "I wanted to fall in love and date and get married and have children." she let out a sob. Lin nodded, and went back to his book, eyes narrowed.
Some days were better, and some were worse. Since she was feeling better, the doctors allowed her to go outside in a wheelchair. Lin found himself pushing said wheelchair. He pushed her past a group of children.
They ran around, laughing, and crying when they fell down. A ball rolled towards them, and Mai reached over and picked it up. Warily, the children approached her. One accepted the ball, and then faded back into a crowd. One of the children raised their hand.
"Are you going to die, Ma'am?" He asked innocently. Another smacked him.
"Idiot, she's too young to die," a girl whispered. Another boy with pale skin shook his head. He kissed Mai's hand, and looked up at her.
"You're never too young to die," he murmured.
Something was different when Lin walked into the hospital the next day. Mai was gazing out the window from her bed. She wiped at her eyes, and then looked at him with a smile.
"I'm going to die today, Lin," she said. Lin felt something deep, deep inside him crack and shatter. He sat on the bed next to her, and she leaned against his shoulder and cried. Then she looked up at him.
"I wanted to thank you for being here," she patted his arm softly. "You're going to be the last person I see." Lin kissed her pale lips. And the hours went by.
He was awoken by a doctor. Mai was sobbing and gasping. The doctor looked at her.
"She's struggling. We thought you'd want...?" Lin took off her oxygen mask and held her, like a child. She was shaking.
"It's okay," he whispered. "Don't be afraid. I've got you, Mai." She gasped one last time, and then screamed. And she was gone.
Lin died in a car accident two weeks later, and his death was swift and painless. And though he searched and searched, Naru found that they had died peacefully, and he never saw them again. In ghost form or otherwise.