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Part Eighteen: Chapter 128: ShockNumbnessDenialBargainingRageGuiltAcceptance

The next day a doctor came in with test results. By then the Joker had convinced Bruce to leave. The Joker had reminded Bruce that Batman and the Joker were supposed to be enemies. The Joker appreciated Bruce's concern, but he knew that Bruce couldn't hide the concern on his face. But the Joker pushed him to leave because he himself couldn't take the concern Bruce was showing him. Batman wasn't supposed to care that much, especially not for him.

The doctor who gave the results looked as if he were in fear for his life. He probably never thought he would be treating the mad psychopath the Joker. Poor guy. He probably expected the Joker to kill him for delivering not so great news. The Joker would be lying if he said the man's fear hadn't lightened his mood just a hair. But still, the Joker knows things aren't going to be peachy keen.

"M-mister Joker sir...I'm doctor..."

The Joker raises his hand and stops the man from going further. "Save the moonlight and seranade doc. Your name is irrelevant to me. Your small talk is pointless and a waste of my time. Just give it to me straight. Is it cancer?" The Joker swallowed and waited for the doctors response.

"No. No it isn't cancer," the doctor shakes his head.

The Joker let's put a sigh of relief that he wasn't even aware he was holding. It feels like the weight of the world has been removed from his shoulders. But that weight came crashing right back down on him.

"Yeah that's the good news," the doctor says then hesitates, "but unfortunately it's not all good news I'm afraid. See, the tumor isn't cancerous, but it's still growing. It's putting pressure on your brain. It will start to interfere with everyday basic functioning. And it will keep growing until it basically gives your brain no room to even perform a task as simple as breathing."

"Can't you go in and remove it?" The Joker asks.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it's inoperable. If we try to remove it you could fall into a vegitive state you could never recover from," the doctor tries to explain.

The Joker's eyes fall to the hospital bedspread over him. "How long do I have?" He almost whispers.

"It's hard to know. We don't know how long it's been forming. It could be a year old tumor or a twenty year old tumor. You have no previous MRI's to go by. All we know is that the headaches you mentioned go back about two years. We'll know more with regular MRI's."

The Joker still just stares at the bed. You could say he was in shock. But not so much that his over-analytical wasn't working. He was still trying to cover all the bases. "What symptoms can I expect?"

"Well, the frontal lobe of the brain is where our personalities lie. There are a number of symptoms that someone could experience. Things like, motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgement, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior," the doctor rattles off things as he had remembered them from some text book.

The Joker's eyes meet with the doctor. The doctor mentioned things that seemed to resonate in his mind. "You may leave doctor," he says softly. The doctor sighs in relief and rushed from the room, all too happy to get the hell away from the Clown Prince of Crime. But the doctors absence was quickly filled by another person coming into the room. The Joker looks at the man in a suit as he approached his bed side.

"You know who I am?" He asks the Joker.

"District Attorney Alday," the Joker gives a curt nod of his head and forces a smile to cast across his face, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I just wanted to personally meet you before the court hearing gets underway," the DA gives a sarcastic smirk. "I also wanted to let you know that this little hospital stunt of yours is only delaying the inevitable. There will be a hearing and I will prove you competent. Then you will be tried for hundreds of crimes. I will personally see to it that you fry. I want to be right there when they do it."