How would you handle a friend passing away?

Less than 24 hours ago a close friend of the last 18yrs died. It was expected by him and I. I never expressed it because I did not want him to lose hope, but he expressed it to me because he spent the greater part of the last 11 months going down hill and a few times he was literally circling the drain, couple that with the throat cancer that was inoperable, the diabetes, and the failing kidneys I think he pretty much knew he was not getting out of this year. The past year our friendship was not smooth sailing, which he admitted was because he was scared and frustrated his body was abandoning him and that he was on the way out and worried he hadn’t atoned for the dirt he has done all his life.

The last time he was in the hospital I visited very often, this last time I didn’t because there was nothing that could be done and I knew he had no more rabbits to pull from the hat. After having seen my mother waste away from cancer I really didn’t want to do it again. Now he has passed before I could get up the moxie to put myself through that and I wonder if he figured I just abandoned him? Maybe I should have visited even if it would have been a hollow visit with me not having much to say or certainly not much good to think of saying? If you feel you won’t make the situation better is it better to just keep yourself out of it?