What if (different ending, spoilers)

With the long shot at the end, after the surgeon declares Jacob dead, I half expected him to twitch awake. This got me thinking: it would be interesting if he died for a brief period of time and came back, and the events of the movie really did take place and weren't just hallucinations on his death bed.

Jacob would divorce Sarah and date Jezebel, but he would still be consumed with guilt over his son's death. He would still see the "demons", except they would be genuine hallucinations of a mentally ill man. It would also make the palm-reader woman's prediction correct, as she says he was already dead, but he technically hadn't died by that point.

At the end, Jacob realizes he can never get a lawyer on his side and can't live like this; still hung up on Sarah, he goes to her apartment and downs some pills. When he is near death, he sees his son welcoming him into what he believes to be the afterlife. Compared to the actual plot of the film, Jacob doesn't let go of his fantasies but rather embraces them because he has nothing else.

Now I prefer the actual plot of the movie over this, but it's still a nice thought to entertain.