It Wasn't Supposed To End This Way (A Starkid Fan Fiction)

Chapter 59-To Trial Or Not To Trial, That Is The Question

Chapter 59

"Wait wait wait," I say, shaking my head. "A brain tumor. A tumor. You're telling me that a tumor is causing him to act this fucked up? A tumor?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" Dr. Hern asks me as we look over the MRI images.

"Yes actually," I tell her, a hint of sarcasm and anger in my voice. "I do find it hard to believe. I had a tumor last fall, I had surgery and we caught it really early."

"How would you know a tumor couldn't cause all this when yours wasn't even pressing on anything that would cause your symptoms to show like Jeff?"

I don't know how to answer that question.

"Let me explain," the doctor says as she pulls up the MRI images on the computer. "See, there is a tumor pressing on the frontal and temporal lobe. Do you know what that means?"

I look over at her and nod. "There's four parts of the brain, and temporal and frontal are a part of that. I took psychology for two years in college, I know how the brain works."

"Okay, so then what does the frontal do?"

I think for a second. "Frontal controls things like...movement and intelligence, as well as reasoning and judgment and the mood."

"Yes...and no. You're forgetting the bigger factors. The frontal lobe of the brain controls behavior, decision making and memory, as well as personality. You said Jeff was acting different every so often? His brain was feeling the affects of the tumor when he was angry, and when he told us last night that during all this he's been drinking some nights to cope as well, we deduced drinking helped with the memory loss, which was from his temporal lobe. That part of the brain controls speech and memory and emotions, which is why when the tumor presses harder on the brain, he acts out. It affected his memory of ever hurting you, which ultimately created a second persona. Does this make sense?"

I nod, slowly.

"Alex listen to me. Jeff needs treatment, soon. The tumor is far too along to remove like you said yours was. Jeff's going to need chemo, radiation and then eventually surgery. The tumor is so far along that there's a good chance it'll take over a year to get rid of. If we can save him."

I take a step back, my eyes widening. "What do you mean 'if we can save him'? You can save him, the tumor isn't over his entire head. I studied brain tumors, there's no way you can't save him."

"It's not about us not doing our job. It's a matter of him going to jail or not for this. He spends maybe a month even in jail? He's dead. The tumor is going to kill him before he can serve time."

I feel something in my chest snap, and I can't breathe for a second. The Jeff I knew is still inside the Jeff that is sitting in the hospital's jail room. He's still in there and can be saved.

"You have to talk all this over with the detectives and Lorraine Hagerty. I'm just a doctor. I'm sorry, Alex. I wish I could help. But also know: the tumor might have caused him to act out, but it doesn't mean that he wasn't always angry to begin with. It's your choice. Just remember, there's a layer of everyone we can't see with x-ray's and tests."

Prosecutor Lorraine Hagerty is a mid-aged woman. Shoulder length dirty blonde hair, pursed lips and a shorter but firm stance, Hagerty tells me to come in when I knock on her office door.

"Lorraine Hagerty?" I ask as I open the door slightly.

"Yes?" She looks up at me, and I can see wrinkles on her face, obviously from stress of the job. I could never be a lawyer, too much school for someone who can't stand authority.