Chapter 10: What if I can save him?

Words : 1892 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

Officers from the police station had cordoned off the entire cypress grove. Jason Yare rode with the ambulance to the hospital, while Marlee Juggins stayed behind to give a statement. All the way, Jason gripped his mother's hand, guilt pooling in his eyes. In his memory, even when she couldn't afford fine clothes or cosmetics, his mother had always kept herself neat and spotless. A calm, gentle poise had always made his classmates envy him for having such a beautiful mom. Now her clothes carried a sour reek, clearly worn too long without change. Her long hair had lost its glossy black, shot through with white, turned dry and greasy. Time had carved new lines into her face, and her hands were covered with calluses and old scars. She was only forty-three, yet she looked like a woman past sixty. It spoke volumes about how wretched Renee's five years had been. "Mom, don't worry. I won't let anyone push you around again," he said under his breath, a silent vow weighing on his chest. At the hospital, he planned to get her admitted right away, no tests. Renee had fainted from the emotional stress and simply needed rest. But the doctor insisted on examinations first, then arranged a room and ordered two IV drips. Soon after, Jason got the bill. "Have prices gotten this ridiculous?" he muttered. A simple blood panel, an echocardiogram, a head CT, plus the bed and the IVs came to 150 dollars. He was still wrestling with where to find the money when four young men burst into the lobby carrying a stretcher. An elderly man lay on it, his face a deep purplish color. "Help! Doctor, please save our director, Joe Garner!" they shouted, dropping the stretcher to the floor and pleading with the nurses. The on-call doctor rushed over and began checking right there. His expression grew heavier. He checked for a pulse at the neck. Finally, he tucked the stethoscope back into his pocket and sighed. "You brought him too late. He has already passed." The young men collapsed to their knees, clutching at his coat. "Please, have mercy and save him! We have money, we really do…" They dug in their pockets and fanned out a fistful of bills, offering them up with shaking hands. The doctor shook his head. "It's not that I refuse. He was gone before he got here. Short of a miracle, there's nothing anyone can do." The light drained from their eyes. They lay across the old man and wailed. "Want me to try?" Jason stepped forward and spoke carefully. He opened his Heaven's Eye. Death clung to the old man, but his Innate Vital Energy had not dispersed. The doctor turned and eyed him. "Are you a doctor too?" Jason nodded. "I studied traditional medicine." The doctor's gaze flickered with contempt. "Then don't waste your breath. There's no sign of life." The four young men stared at Jason like men who had found their last lifeline. "You can really save our director?" "If you can save him, I'll owe you my life," the nearest one blurted. Thud! He dropped to his knees. The other three followed. "I can only try. Get up first." Jason helped Sean up, crouched beside the old man, and checked the carotid pulse. The doctor's brow tightened. "What is wrong with you? When I say he's dead, do you take me for a liar? Or do you think a country quack works better than a department head in a major hospital?" Jason did not answer. He took the man's wrist to feel the pulse. The doctor flushed, his dignity pricked. "Security! Security!" Two guards with riot batons ran in from outside. "Dr. Cyrus, what's going on?" Cyrus pointed at Jason, impatient. "Get this quack out of here. If he wants to put on a show, he can do it somewhere else." "Got it, Dr. Cyrus. Don't get upset, we'll-" "Wait!" Jason lifted his head. "Cyrus, right? I get that you're in charge, but what if I can bring him back?" Cyrus's eyes went wide, rage blazing. "Nonsense! If you can bring a dead man back, you can have my job." Jason smiled. "I don't want your job. Just cover my mom's hospital bill." Without waiting for Cyrus's reply, he pulled a needle kit from his pocket. "Open his mouth and pull out the tongue." Sean obeyed at once, pried the mouth open, and gently drew out the tongue. Jason drew a silver needle the length of his index finger, narrowed his eyes, found his spot, and drove it into the tip of the tongue. Snick! A thin jet of blood shot out at once, splattering across Sean's chest. He yelped and fell back on his butt. Cough, cough… The old man started coughing, spitting up a little blood, and the purplish cast drained rapidly from his face. "That did it," Jason breathed, relief loosening his shoulders. The nurses and guards gasped. "Whoa!" Cyrus went livid. Jason pocketed the needle and stood, easy and cheerful. "He had a sudden blockage in his head that made him look dead. We let out a little blood-let him rest tonight and he'll be fine." "Thank you, doctor, thank you for saving him!" Sean scrambled up, trying to kneel and bow, but Jason stopped him. "I don't need that. Use your head. It's obvious he was driven to this by anger." Jason pulled Sean to his feet, ready to give him a proper talking-to, but Sean blurted out through tears, "It wasn't us. A convention set him off." "A convention?" Jason frowned. "That could nearly kill a man?" "It's the Jaston Convention," Sean explained. "Joe Garner was hurt by them years ago. When he saw the streets full of people in Japanese-style outfits, he got worked up and collapsed." Understanding dawned. Jason patted Sean's shoulder. "Take him home and let him rest. Do your best to keep that kind of thing out of his sight." Sean nodded, waved to the other three, and they left with the stretcher. Jason let out a long breath, turned to Cyrus, and said, "Well?" Cyrus's face had gone stiff. He spoke to a nearby nurse. "Charge his bill to me." Jason shrugged, ignored the nurse's awestruck stare, and walked back toward his mother's ward. Ding! An icy gust whistled through the corridor, and Jason shivered. The elevator doors slid open. An elderly man with a hunched back and a vivid purple birthmark on his left cheek stepped out slowly. Jason's eyes widened in shock. Heaven's Eye was still active. A strange coil of Black Energy clung to the man's shoulders like a dragon lying in wait. The sight felt eerily familiar. It was just like what he'd seen at Dragon Lake earlier today-the exact same Black Energy.

Chapter 10: What if I can save him?

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