Well, I don't know about you, but leaving him behind would serve as a good ending for him to me. As I see it he has come to the realization that he has lost everything, and there is really nothing waiting for him here. He wanted out, but seeing Josh and Jinny has made him recognize most of all he wants his family back.

We don't necessarily have to kill him so much as fade him out of the story, leave his end to the imagination of the reader.