Everyday Hero

Tough Decisions

As soon as the door closed behind the Team, Bruce swiftly handed the first paper back to his son's doctor, his self-control apparently wavering.

"I am not signing that!"

James quickly took hold of that lightly crumpled paper and worked to smooth it out again before setting the document on the bedside table, letting the title and paper of the purpose of the paper now be obvious to Alfred. Who thought he was going to be sick upon seeing what it was.

It was a DNR... a Do Not Resuscitate order.

James took a deep breath before taking on a firm voice.

"Mr. Wayne, I understand it is difficult but it needs consideration. If worse comes to worse, this may be the most humane choice. And I want you to know all of your options--"

"If he has the surgery, will he likely die?"

James stuttered for a moment before regaining his composure.

"It is a very high-risk surgery, yes. For his case and condition there is only about a 25% chance of survival..."

Bruce took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes tiredly before gazing at his son. He was so still and pale, it was like looking at a corpse.

"If he does not have the surgery then unfortunately there is nothing else we can do other than keep him comfortable. If another seizure like his last happens he will likely not survive, and even without experiencing another seizure his body will not recover on its own. His organs are already weak, and they will continue to grow weaker until eventually his body will give out. If one of these scenarios happens and we resuscitate him, we would likely have to repeat this process until--"

Bruce sharply turned his head to face the doctor and answer for him.

"Until his organs fail completely and his body just gives out. He'd die slow... and likely in pain, wouldn't he?"

James just nodded slowly and Clark finally had to walk Alfred out of the room. He needed a break, a walk, just some air. Anything.

Once Clark and Alfred left the room, James took the DNR and slipped it into the drawer of the bedside table before taking one of the chairs and pulling it up to face Bruce.

He sat down heavily and regarded the other man with a serious look, temporarily dropping his 'doctor' voice and instead speaking to him as a fellow father.

"Bruce..."

Bruce's eyes shot up to meet James's in surprise.

"Whether you consent to this or not, your signature is not needed right now. It is just something you need to take into serious consideration. I don't know Richard like you do, which is one of the reasons why it is your responsibility. You have to think about what he would have wanted. But..."

James's quickly glanced at the low readings on all of the monitors before turning back to Bruce.

"If we are going to operate, we need to do it soon. That form... can be signed last. There are others that need your attention regarding the surgery. First of all, the surgery itself. We need your consent to operate..."

After a few minutes Bruce had signed most of the required papers needed for James to operate, except for one. Once James saw it, he immediately tried to take it and put it away for later, as technically that one didn't need Bruce's signature since Dick had already made his decision known--

"Is... is this...?"

James sighed and leaned back in his chair a little.

"Richard is an organ donor. It's indicated on his license so technically it is already his legal decision. However, we wanted to make sure you were aware of it in the event that he... passes. If any of his organs were to be viable, we would need to... um... remove them right away."

Bruce stared at the paper in silence for a moment, occasionally glancing at his son before back down at the paper.

Eventually he surprised James by softly shaking his head with a sad smirk on his face.

"Yes... of course he is."

Without another word he handed the last paper to James and stood up, absently straightening his tie.

"I need to talk with my family about that other one..."

James nodded but his gaze was focused on the signed paper in his hands. Consent for Dick's operation.

He turned to face his patient, a hard look passing over his face.

'Okay... we're doing this then.'

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I don't know, would you sign the DNR knowing Dick and what he does?

Got to take into consideration his quality of life too, we had to do that with my mom...

If the person has a very low chance of good quality of life, then why bother? I mean I wouldn't want to be a human vegetable, just let me go.

Still, Dick was making progress, both in physical and mental recovery.