Chapter 3: Worse Than Highway Robbery

With Cassandra Yale fully cured, Shane Yale saw no reason to linger. He let his mother and sister rest on the bench and went to handle the discharge paperwork. After settling the bill at the cashier, he had a single buck left in his pocket-besides the $20,000 in loan-shark debt hanging over his head. He frowned. Cassandra was fine now, but over the past few days he had borrowed more than thirty grand from every source he could find, even online loans. He hadn't dared power on his phone; the collectors would have blown it up. He had the Ancient Medical Sect's inheritance. Spreading medicine would come later. For now, he had to get his family a decent life. Thinking as he walked back, he reached the emergency room just as the doors swung open. Walker came out with a face like a funeral mask, lips trembling. "C-Chairman Zorn, I'm sorry. We… we did everything we could…" He tried to control himself, but his voice still shook. "What did you say? Say it again, damn you!" Omar Zorn, frantic, hauled him close, eyes bloodshot. Darwin Zorn was his only son. Walker rushed to explain, "There's nothing we can do. Your son's injuries are too severe. Both legs are shattered, there's intracranial hemorrhaging, a fractured sternum, and a broken rib punctured an organ. With wounds like that, no one could bring him back…" Omar Zorn roared and jammed a knife up against his throat. "I don't want your excuses. Can he be saved or not? If my boy dies, you die too!" Walker was just an ordinary doctor. He had never faced a blade to his neck. He nearly wet himself. He could tell this wasn't a bluff. But Darwin's injuries were too grave. Killing him wouldn't change that. A voice came from the side. "One hundred grand. I'll save your son." "If you can save him, I'll give you a million!" Hearing there was a chance, Omar Zorn lit up, shoved Walker aside, and turned-only to find the speaker wasn't a doctor but a plainly dressed young man. His face went cold. Murder flooded his eyes. "Who are you, kid? You messing with me?" "Remember what you said." Shane didn't bother with the threat. He strode into the emergency room and shut the door behind him. Omar blinked, then yanked Walker back by the collar. "Who is he? One of your doctors? Can he save my son?" "This…" Walker hesitated. "Let him try. Maybe he can." He hadn't expected much from Shane before, but Cassandra's miracle had happened just moments ago. Now his life was tied to Darwin's. He could only pray for a second miracle. "Try? Is my son a lab rat to you?" Omar snapped. "Call your director. Get your top experts here." Walker shook his head. "The young master's condition is too critical. There isn't time. Besides, that door only opens from the inside. We can only wait." Even as the Underground King, Omar Zorn had no move to make. His face darkened. "If he can't fix my son, I'll sink him in the river and let the fish feed." Mia Looske and Cassandra huddled together, not sure what Shane planned. It was already in motion. All they could do was pray. Time crawled. Omar Zorn grew more and more agitated. If the emergency room door hadn't been solid metal, he would have had it ripped open already. After more than half an hour, his patience hit its limit-just as the doors eased open. Shane walked out, calm as a pond. "He's back. Go see for yourself." "He really saved him?" Omar's fury snuffed out in an instant. He charged in with his men. Walker followed, heart thudding. Inside, the monitors at the head of the bed had all gone quiet. Heart rate, normal. Blood pressure, normal. Breathing, normal. "Th-this is impossible…" Walker stared, dumbfounded. Cassandra had been a miracle. Now Darwin too? He couldn't call it a fluke anymore. That young man truly had skill. On the bed, Darwin Zorn had his eyes open. His voice was thin. "Dad, make sure to thank that young doctor. He saved me." "Son, don't worry. From today on, he's a benefactor of the Zorn family." Omar soothed his son, then looked back at Walker. "Why are you standing there? Run those tests again." "Oh. Right." Walker snapped out of it and called the nurses for a second round of checks. Outside, saving two patients in a row left Shane a touch drained, even with his Foundation Establishment strength. He meant to sit and catch his breath. Just then, a racket rose from down the hall. A dozen people marched over, led by two men and a woman. Shane looked up and arched a brow. He knew all three. The woman was tall and striking-his ex, Cameron Zerba. Beside her waddled a short, dark-skinned youth with beady eyes and a pockmarked face. He was ugly as sin but dressed to the nines: a tailored suit, Italian leather shoes, and a gold Patek Philippe on his wrist. Dorian Zimmerman, eldest young master of the Zimmerman family. Rumor had it his developer father was worth nine figures. All three were students at Skynos Medical University. A few months back, Cameron had ditched him for Dorian because he was broke. There was also a middle-aged man in his forties-Tanner, the loan shark who had lent Shane the money-trailing a dozen punks. They rolled in like a storm. Trouble was written all over them. Dorian slung an arm around Cameron's slim waist, a smarmy grin on his face. He scanned the area and finally fixed on Shane. "Yale, we're here to collect. Time to pay what you owe." Shane motioned for his mother and sister to stay seated and stepped forward. "Didn't we agree I had a year to repay?" "A year, sure-for the principal." Dorian's grin widened. He slid a contract from his jacket, flipped a couple of pages, and tapped it. "Says right here, interest settles daily." Shane hadn't pored over the fine print when he'd rushed to save his sister, and TCM majors weren't exactly contract sharks. He didn't know all the traps they'd laid. "What's the interest?" Dorian's mouth curled. "I did the math for you. Fourteen thousand four hundred. Since we're schoolmates, I'll even round it down-call it fourteen grand." Even knowing they were playing him, Shane still felt the hit. "I borrowed twenty grand. It hasn't even been a full day. How is the interest that high?" "Watch your mouth. We signed a contract." Dorian tapped the page again. "See? Clear as day. Zero point eight percent-calculated per minute." He could barely contain his glee. "You're the top student. Do the math. It checks out. Fourteen grand. Chop-chop. Every minute you waste, the number gets bigger." Shane's brow twitched. Interest by the minute. Dirtier than dirty. Worse than highway robbery. He didn't blow up. He swallowed the heat in his chest and asked evenly, "So that twenty grand was you too? You had someone steal it?"