Confusing reading book

I have this thing in my mind for a while...

I'm reading this book. The main character was a very-young-poor-lonesome-homeless-fall-out artist. He thought he could never love anything more than just drawing. He'd drawn like a mad man since he was even younger. It's just that he was not crazy or anything and he had his own reason. One day he met the one of his life. He knew he was in love, deep in love even though they had just met for not a very long time. That one person was a very good youngest child of a middle-class family with (very) bright future since being too intelligent. They had very good relationship and the poor artist knew he hardly wanted anyone else in his life but that one. But... He had also known for a very long time that he had not a future with the one he loved. And it was where his biggest problem laid. He was an artist and he had a rare disease that made his eyesight worse and worse until the day he could not see anything else in the world, including the most favourite object of his drawing: his lover. Homeless. No money. No family. No future.

Then a street-mate (is there a word?) who was very fond of him offered him a chance being porn star. That meant he had this chance moving out of the city, being away from his lover and giving the one a chance of forgetting him, of reaching the bright future without him. However, he could not suffer the fact that he had to be away from his lover and betraying his lover and his heart that way. He stayed. But for how long his eyesight went to hell? For how long he could never see his lover again?

The artist was not a selfish person who only wants what he wants. He knew he'd better being away so his lover had the chance growing bright and shining. He also wanted that future for his lover even though it meant without him on the scene.

So... this is the thing on my mind. From writer POV I know the writer can give them a chance of being happy ever after. And that is also what the readers want - fighting for the hope, and archiving it. But from my own POV, I see no hope in this case. I can hardly imagine the day an artist loses his eyesight. It's a lot like a person losing the air to breath. How can a person facing the day? Living the now, enjoying every single minute of the last days drawing and making love with his lover is exactly what I have in my mind for the case. But after that? The hopeless is drowning me. From my POV I just can see only one way street. And it's also the chance leaving the lover the right future. (or at least the right future as in my mind) I know the lover always had own idea about their future since forcing the artist searching for some help. But for what? And being brought up in a good family also had the affect on one's character, hadn't it? It made them seeing the world through pink glasses. And it's not the answer for a very-young-poor-lonesome-homeless-fall-out artist....

Ok, how about your idea? I want to hear from all of you. The situation really depresses me here.

Note: I write about the problem here (and not in the reading and sharing blog) since it's more personal problem struggling with the situation in a book than a reading review.