You might be dealing with a pathological liar, which makes it likelier that the court will order him to pay you back. Just because here you refer to him as "friend" doesn't mean that you're compelled to forgive his liabilities upon the blackmail that he's a "dying friend". I don't know enough about small claims, but I doubt that the judge would strike your claim simply because there was "no deadline" for the "friend" to reimburse you. That deadline could well be set up by the court itself.
You need to argue those details in court, which certainly touch on what I wrote in
#5. And going forward don't lend the "friend" any money. Otherwise you might lose on grounds that you fail to mitigate your damages and unreasonably rely on his promises.