No Life is Ever Saved.

"Are there any cliche phrases you really can't stand? Write about one of those."
You lot aren't making it easy on me, are you? Right.
...

"You saved my life! How can I ever thank you?!"
The man brushed some broken glass from his jacket and shook his head. "No I didn't, and I'm just glad I was here to help."
Emma grabbed his arm and drew him closer. "I'm serious. If you hadn't come along when you had, I'd still be stuck in that car..."
They both turned back towards the burning wreckage behind them, which belched out a gust of black smoke as though to help prove Emma's point.
With a tight smile, he removed her fingers from his sleeve and took a step backward. "I did not save your life, I just prolonged it for a little while. You're still going to die... just not today."
Her jaw slackened a little at that pronouncement and she pulled away from him further. "What do you mean? Are... are you a psychic or something?"
"Hardly. Just firmly aware of the ephemeral nature of existence, madame."
Emma blinked. "What?"
"Ephemeral, as in fleeting. Impermanent. Temporary. Everyone currently alive will cease to be so eventually; it's just a matter of time. It could be tomorrow, or next year, or several decades from now, but the expiry date will roll around eventually. Death is an inevitability for anything that lives, from bacteria to stars... so I'm happy that I was able to extend your life for a little while longer, but please don't think that's a 'forever' thing. Appreciate what you have in the moment, with full awareness of the fact that you might never experience it again."
"That's such a horrible thing to say! I don't want to think about dying!"
"Maybe you should. Maybe everyone should, for that matter. If every single person on the planet woke up each day thinking 'hey, this could be my last day on Earth', maybe they'd spend less time behaving like self-absorbed wankers and more time appreciating everything they have. Every latte would be a transcendental experience instead of just something sucked back while preparing PowerPoint presentations. Conversations with friends might actually be sincere and engaged, rather than everyone present checking their phones every few seconds. Wouldn't people's lives have much more gravitas and purpose if they knew that they might not be around tomorrow?"
She shook her head. "I can't think about that, I'm sorry. It would just scare me and depress me too much."
He shrugged. "It's far more depressing to walk through life in a bubble of self-distraction and superficiality, instead of really living. If that's what you choose to do with your gift, I should have just left you in the car and not bothered."