Lies #3: Craniotomy

Chapter 6

With the door shut behind them and safety being a luxury they had for the time being, Jay and Logan took a moment to breathe. They were both heaving in giant breaths of air. Logan looked Jay up and down, focusing in on any symptoms that might be from a heart attack. After a few moments, he resolved that she was mostly fine- other than her arm, of course. Looking around, he spotted the nearest surgery room and went over to it, Jay following after a few seconds. She sat down on the operating bed while he went over to the tray of supplies. I need to clean the wound and close it up. This was certainly going to be a tricky business. He'd only done this a few times, back when he was training. It should be fine- if I remember how to do it properly. He carefully removed the sling and the piece of curtain from the arm.

Jay's arm was an abomination. What had been completely normal-looking about an hour ago was now wretched-looking. Her entire limb from the mid-bicep down was jutting off in the wrong direction, and blood was still leaking from it. Logan thought for a moment before pulling Jay back up onto her feet and over to the sink, where he gently guided the injured arm under the faucet and turned on the water. Jay let out a shriek and lifted her left hand up to her mouth to bite down on her pointer finger, continuing to whimper. Logan avoided eye contact with her and instead went over to a cabinet to search for gauze pads. "Keep the injury under the water for seven minutes," he told her as he pulled out a package of gauze sponges. "Once I've cleaned it more thoroughly, I'll give you stitches. Then I'll dress and bandage the wound. It will probably take about twenty to thirty minutes. Then I'll put your arm in a real sling. As we are in a difficult situation and I am not an Orthopedist, I cannot commence surgery on your arm, which it will surely require. Once I have finished, we can head upstairs to warn the others. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Jay suddenly hissed and clenched her left hand into a tight fist. Then she looked over at him. "I know you said you weren't comfortable talking about it, but since we have a lot of time on our hands... I wouldn't mind you telling me a bit more about your condition. You can trust me, Logan. Whatever is wrong with you, I won't hate you for it. I'm not gonna throw you at that guy for something you can't control. As somebody who has to deal with a medical condition myself, I'm telling you that I won't judge you. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to get to know you a little better."

Hmm... There wasn't a reason not to believe her. "Alright, if you really want to know. When I was four years old, it was discovered that I had a brain tumor centered in my limbic system- the part of the brain that controls emotions, fears, and memory. Instead of chemotherapy or some other technique, the doctor decided that the best option would just be to remove the area of the tumor entirely- I've reviewed all the files, and he was correct. So, the surgery was performed later the same year and I had a computer chip implanted into my brain to help me retain memories. Unfortunately, the side effects of this were that I no longer could feel fear or emotions. I do not have a fight or flight reflex, or any reflexes at all, and I cannot sense when I am in danger. I am unable to feel love for anyone, even my parents, and it is impossible to make me feel any sort of human emotion. Along with these consequences, computers are nowhere near as powerful as a human brain, which is why I forget things easily- although, situations like this where I have to process many things at once make it worse. You can imagine that growing up was very strange, as it took a long time for me to grasp the reason for being polite or kind to other people, as I cannot feel empathy. I am unable to pick up on social cues- if someone is nervous, or sad, or happy, I do not notice it. I simply cannot connect the dots between their mannerisms and their emotions. This resulted in me getting into trouble with other people because I would do something that is not accepted in society. When I was six, I learned of my condition and decided I would try my best to learn how brain transplants could be made possible so I could become truly human instead of the shell I am now. Any questions?"