The Shrinker

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (PART-1)

Chapter 18

Jamie stared blankly at Meredith, mind racing, feeling a mix of disbelief and dismay, Oh fuck...thought I convinced her there's nothing I can do. Can't blame her for being desperate, but is she gonna hold me responsible for what happens to her Mum after all? How the hell do I get out of this?

"Merry, I can't help you..." Jamie answered, looking away with shame.

The smile slowly left Meredith's face. She trembled, "W-Why not? J-Just try testing your power out the way I suggested, next time you're training at that abandoned field. It'll work, I know it will! Give it a chance!"

"Even if you're right, which I doubt, I'd still need an exact mental image of the tumour to shrink it," Jamie reminded her, "How am I meant to get one when it's lurking where your Mum's brain is? Do we cut her head open by ourselves and take a peek? Am I meant to barge in mid-way through her brain surgery and shrink it in full view of the surgeons?"

Jamie tried to keep the dry sarcasm out of her voice but failed. She felt a great fear and not just because there was a high chance Meredith would hate her for failing or not even trying. Images of a shrunken Mrs Finley falling dead to the floor flashed repeatedly in her mind, More than anything, I'm afraid I could accidentally shrink someone else if I ever used the power again.

Meredith seemed optimistic, "Me and my Mum made a 'subject access request' at the hospital. That means she's got a legal right to look at her own medical records in her own time...including copies of her x-rays pictures. We haven't got them on hand just yet, they're still processing our request, but we'll have the pictures before surgery happens. As for when THAT is, it's not confirmed. About a month away they promised."

"You want me to shrink as much of the tumour as I can BEFORE the surgery, don't you?" Jamie asked disbelievingly, "So it'll be easy for them to remove it all? Meredith, I've never shrunk anything just by looking at a picture of the thing. It'll never work."

"If you've never tried using your power like that, then that only means you've never failed doing it either," Meredith replied brightly; they kept their voices hushed as a few upper-sixth students walked by onto the staircase.

"It's not even a precise image of the tumour! It's just a bloody x-ray!"

"If your power really does only require a mental image of your target to shrink it, then just use your imagination to fill in the gaps of a missing one," Meredith was smiling but stubbornly refusing to accept even the tiniest suggestion her idea couldn't work, "You'll find real-life pictures of a Glioblastoma tumour on the internet. Just imagine one in the shape of my Mum's x-ray."

Jamie gaped at her, "You make it sound so damned easy. A day ago, you didn't have a clue I was a size-shifter, or even that there was such a thing. Now you act like some master expert, thinking you know better than the wielder. Do you have any idea how deadly my power is? Even if I could precisely picture the tumour, it's right where her brain is. Just the slightest mistake means I'll end up shrinking her brain, maybe even her whole head. Either scenario will kill her instantly. Just wait for the brain surgery and leave it to the surgeons to save her. Merry, your idea's MADNESS."

Meredith stopped smiling; her eyes became teary, "I have faith in you Jamie, and I trust you with my mother's life. Maybe everything you've said is true. Maybe I should just have faith in the surgeons...but the doctors were really pessimistic. They warned us parts of the tumour have spread to places it's unlikely they'll be able to remove them from. There's a high chance Mum will need palliative care even after radiation. This nightmare won't end by medical means. That's why I'm asking for your help. Please."