Alexainie, what are you seeing, that I am not? You said the boy "deserved" to know. Is it possible, that the boy's words and deeds had earned him the right NOT to know.

In my experience, doctors ask terminally ill patients what they do and do not want to know - and then they honor their wishes. Having cared for my mother and husband through long terminal illnesses, I can tell you, that the caregiver is the only person who has to know that someone is dying.

Caregivers cannot NOT know. The desire NOT to know is the reason so, so, so many dying people must rely on strangers to help them through.

From my perspective, the boy's parents were his caregivers - and I think it very likely, that those parents were giving their son his dying wish, not to know.