def remove_middle_character(s):
h = len(s)//2
mod = (len(s) + 1) % 2
return s[:h - mod] + s[h + 1:]
if __name__ == "__main__":
print(remove_middle_character(""))
print(remove_middle_character("x"))
print(remove_middle_character("xy"))
print(remove_middle_character("apple"))
print(remove_middle_character("banana"))
print(remove_middle_character("discount"))