A terminally ill ex-con seeks revenge on the partner who double-crossed him and killed his girlfriend.

I agree

Richiev:
What I should have said is you only need to use one or the other -- not both.

Besides, first you said, "At deaths door" and "Terminally ill" were redundant, now you are saying they are two separate things.

That's the point, the heroes body, at key moments, gives way. A good writer asks, how can I make this harder on the lead character. Make him on death's door. Make his body weak. Make him have to really fight to win.

In the real world, I have yet to know of anyone with a diagnosis of "a week to live" who had the strength to even get out of bed, let alone get revenge. But if you've got some hocus-pocus for making it a credible premise, more power.

Just saying.

I like the "week left to live"
Because I wasn't really feeling "terminally ill."