[His pleasant smile faded in the wake of those questions. Skeptics were hardly new, but they were always an interesting experience.]

Not exactly. It is so that when they die, they can move on to whatever awaits them. Sometimes they cannot do that without help.

[If he still breathed, he might have let out an exasperated sigh.]

Whether they do or not doesn't matter most of the time. All actions have consequences and some of them leave their marks... You bear some of those marks as well.