A Spine-Tingling Story - TDG Fanfic

Double Sciatica is a Female Dog

*sighs* The more I do research, the more I realise that this story contains/will contain so many inaccuracies and inconsistencies. Such as, it was only recently that I found out about pro bono i.e. unpaid professional work, especially legal work for a client with low income. I'll need to go back and change the other chapters.

Speaking of research, I haven't the foggiest of how legal contracts are supposed to work/sound, so that's why this chapter took so long.

Credit to invisible__light for designing the amazing cover

Happy New Year to all you lovely people.

6 spoons.

"You're very lucky, by the way," Mr Albaston said, bringing a wad of papers stapled together back into the room. "I usually charge £500 for three questions."

"That's a bit steep, isn't it?" Ryan commented, though not without noticing Finley facepalming next to him.

"Maybe so, but it's a living," Mr Albaston shrugged.

"What if they only ask one or two questions?"

"£200 each, £500 is a deal." Mr Albaston smirked slightly before asking, "Now, what's your third question?"

Ryan blinked in surprise, but Finley facepalmed again and groaned loudly. "Do you have to do that every time, dad?" Even the facepalms had left him with a bruise on his bald head.

Mr Albaston was roaring with laughter in the meantime. "I'm joking, Ryan, I'm not charging you a penny," he reassured. "All of this is pro bono."

"Basically, he means that he's not charging you because he feels sorry for you because you're living in care, living on a peanut allowance and dying of cancer to boot," Finley put it bluntly.

Ryan rolled his eyes. Now he saw where Finley's tendency for quips had come from.

"Now, let's look at this, shall we?" Mr Albaston said, placing the contract in Ryan's lap. "I'll let you read over it, take as long as you need and don't be afraid to ask if you don't understand something."

Truth be told, there was rather a lot in the contract that Ryan didn't understand, making him feel painfully simple, but he refused to ask for help out of sheer pride, despite the fact that cancer had forced him to step off his high horse. But he could get the gist out of some parts - he knew this surgery would paralyse him, he was prepared to deal with the consequences and he wouldn't blame or take legal action against the medics who allowed it or carried it out.

All there was left was for him, his legal guardian and all the medics involved to sign it.

Shit. He hadn't told Mike and May-Li he was doing this. They knew he wanted it, but as far as they knew, it wasn't going to happen as Dr Gareth had disallowed it. It wasn't as if he could go through with the whole thing on the sly either.

It was degrading, truth be told - he used to be able to talk his way out of a room with no doors, but it seemed like his new situation had robbed him even of that. The sooner he could get this tumour out of him, the better.

"You okay?" Finley asked, seeing the look on his face.

"Yeah," Ryan said quickly, snapping back to reality. "Just thinking."

"Having second thoughts?" Mr Albaston asked. "Can't say I blame you, this will be a radical operation."

"I can't be the first person to have thought of something like this, though," Ryan pointed out.

"You're not," Mr Albaston said. "Have you ever heard of the hemispherectomy, Ryan? It's an operation where they cut out half of your brain."

Ryan's eyes widened. "Who on Earth would want that?"