Chapter 1

In the beginning, Jeff Hope was just an ordinary bloke who had a wife, two kids and drove a Black Cab in London. He was, you could say, a man of Hope. And that's how he stayed when the Doctor said that his head needed to be MRI'd to find the source of the headaches that tormented him.

"You see Doctor," he began. "I... I've got this... pain... on my r-right side." The Doctor hummed as he typed the symptoms: slurred speech, pain on right half of face into his computer

"And... my eyes... hurt... and it's getting hard to... see." He finished, rubbing his temples. Typing in the symptoms: pain in eyes, deteriorating vision, the Doctor almost immediately knew what the problem was, but without the results from an MRI head scan, he couldn't say for sure. All he could do was advise that Jeff take 2 paracetamol every 5 hours to help ease the pain.

"So what's wr-wrong with me?" Jeff asked, hopeful. The Doctor shifted uneasily.

"Well," he began. "I can't say for certain. There are a lot of possibilities, Mr Hope." Jeff nodded, slowly taking it all on board.

"It might be heart related, an early stroke, PTSD, a burst blood vessel or even a tumour. But without having an MRI scan, we can't know for sure. Do you understand what I'm saying Mr Hope?"

Jeff nodded. He knew exactly what was being said. Stay hopeful, he thought, over and over.

"I've booked you in for an MRI scan at St Bart's for Tuesday 17th at 11am. Is that OK Mr Hope?" Jeff nodded. He wasn't going to refuse.

"Good Luck."

"Thank You," They shook hands and Jeff took his Golfers hat off of the Desk and left.

Getting behind the wheel of his Black Cab, Jeff wiped away some escaped tears and said aloud:

"Stay positive, it's probably nothing. Yeah, it's nothing!" Although he had a slight gut instinct that it wasn't nothing, he chose to ignore it.

He started up the engine of his Car and drove home.

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Jeff arrived home just in time to catch his wife, Caitlin, in one of her foul moods. Unlocking the front door, he found Josh sitting on the stairs with a tear-stained face. He went to talk to him, when Caitlin stormed out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"DONT talk to him!" She yelled, aggressively. "He's got to sit there and THINK about what he has done until Dinner is ready."

Jeff looked at his 10-year-old son with apologetic eyes.

"He doesn't ne-need to th-think Cait. he ne-needs to talk about it so he kn-knows what he's done wro-ong."

Caitlin's face turned Red with rage. If Jeff looked close enough, he would've seen small hints of steam coming out of her ears.

"DONT TELL ME HOW TO PARENT MY CHILDREN! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BEING A FATHER ANYWAY? YOUR'S RAN OFF AND LEFT YOU! YOU'RE BARELY HOME ANYWAY! WITH YOUR PATHETIC STUTTERING AND SLURRING! YOU'RE A JOKE! AND A USELESS FATHER! I WORK 2 JOBS TO GET ENOUGH MONEY ON TOP OF YOUR POXY TENNER A NIGHT! AND IT STILL ISNT ENOUGH! AND YET I STILL HAVE TIME TO BE HOME FOR MY KIDS; TO MAKE THEM DINNER EACH NIGHT, TO PAY FOR TRIPS, TO PAY FOR LILLY'S BALLET AND JOSH'S FOOTBALL, TO SEE THEIR SCHOOL PLAYS! WHERE ARE YOU? HOW DO YOU HELP? BY COMING HOME LATE EVERY NIGHT AND EARNING NOTHING MORE THAT 60 QUID A WEEK! YOU KNOW WHAT? STUFF IT! I WANT YOU TO GO! GO! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! NOW!"

Lilly had joined Josh on the stairs by now, both sobbing.

"No! Mummy no! Daddy don't leave! She's sorry! Mummy, tell him you're sorry!

"No," she said. She turned around and went back into the kitchen.

Jeff sighed, there was nothing he could do to change her mind now. She went upstairs and packed a suitcase.

Coming back down the stairs, Josh was hugging Lilly, telling her that everything was going to be OK. He opened the front door.

"NO! Please Daddy! Don't go! Mummy is just tired. She didn't mean it! I'll be good forever! Please Daddy! Please Please PLEASE don't go!"

He smiled sadly. "It's OK. I'll only be gone a few days. I'll speak to you soon."

His heart broke as he smiled at his children for the last time, though they didn't know it yet. They looked like a couple of lost puppies. he took his car keys and shut the front door. He threw the suitcase onto the passenger seat and sighed deeply at knowing he had lied to his kids. He turned on the car engine and left the driveway for the last time.

And that's when he had the seizure...