My view on it remains the same; I have too much time for him to denounce his actions until I know what's really happened. I'm so glad he's staying but if it's something really horrendous then I wouldn't have begrudged him leaving. Just putting myself in similar shoes, I have to do 6 months abroad for work at some point, if my girlfriend/a family member was really ill I'd probably want to come home. BUT if it's just leveraging and he wants out, then I will lose respect for him.
I don't think there's any other realistic and sensible way to look at the situation.