NOVPUBMartin stepped through the entrance, his eyes scanning the surroundings. The largest private hospital in Riverland was an imposing structure.
The lobby alone was majestic, with a ceiling stretching nearly seven or eight meters high, exuding a sense of cleanliness and transparency.
The place was neither crowded nor deserted – after all, the hospital didn’t cater exclusively to the wealthy.
As Martin made his way through the lobby, every gaze that fell upon him seemed to see right through him, their pupils lacking focus as if they were looking at nothing more than a patch of air.
Yet, curiously, each person he passed naturally veered slightly to avoid him, as if preemptively sidestepping a ghost.
He moved silently, almost imperceptibly, like a non-entity, his gaze fixed forward but his senses acutely surveying his surroundings.
Hospitals truly are peculiar places. Babies take their first breath as the elderly exhale their last; the healed depart with joy, while those whose conditions worsen leave with despair.
And the healthy ones who come along, be they friends or family, display a gamut of emotions – sorrow, joy, indifference, anger – a tableau of human experience.
Martin, who had been a regular seeker of medical wisdom, was no stranger to these halls. Yet, he had never once left with good news; every diagnosis only deepened his despondency.
Rapid deterioration of bodily functions...
Theodore’s condition mirrored his own past struggles, except one’s was due to genetic defects, and the other’s, likely due to the system.
He avoided the elevator; its camera might not capture him, but standing out as an empty space amidst a crowd would be far too conspicuous.
So Martin ascended the fire escape, one deliberate step at a time. With each floor he approached, the sounds of life from within became audible.
The higher he climbed, the quieter it became. The cost of peace within these walls increased with every level.
Reaching the twelfth floor, he navigated the corridors with a familiarity that required no guidance, finding himself effortlessly at Theodore’s door.
Sensing Eleanor inside, sitting by Theodore’s comatose form, chattering away about mundane family matters, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sentiment.
"Genetic defects... they should be manageable," Martin murmured to himself, extending his right hand to rest upon the door.
A faint glow, hardly noticeable, flickered in the narrow space between his palm and the wood.
Inside the hospital room, the heart of the comatose Theodore, which with every beat seemed as though it would fail the next, suddenly gained strength.
Not only that, but his lungs, liver, kidneys, and other organs—like withered plants suddenly receiving water—revived with vitality.
Even at the microscopic level, countless cells that had aged and withered were reversed in time, restored to the state befitting Theodore’s age.
Martin believed it wouldn’t be long before Theodore would awaken and then continue his wandering ways around the world. He allowed himself a slight smile.
"Anna, I hope you will like this surprise, this miraculous surprise."
Withdrawing his hand, he turned and left the way he had come.
Several floors below, Anna had finished her conversation with the attending physician. Looking up at the bright lights of the corridor, she closed her eyes and clenched her hands.
"Dad has... at most, one more week."
This kind of death countdown weighed on her like a heavy stone.
The man who used to carry her on his shoulders, whooping joyfully as they darted down the streets when she was a child;
The man who, despite his intelligence, seemed to become bewildered while helping with homework, stubbornly shouting in frustration;
The man who appeared carefree about everything, preferring to travel but actually kept a secret diary as a memoir of each place visited.
That man... was about to depart from this world.
Anna, filled with suppressed emotions, waited minutes for the elevator that never came.
It was a trivial matter, yet it caused her mood to plummet, stirring up intense feelings of defeat and disillusionment.
Impulsively, she headed for the stairs, ascending without fatigue, then suddenly she paused, leaning against the wall, her head buried in her arms, shoulders trembling.
All her life, she had carried numerous titles: top student, genius, international scholar, and now a powerful businesswoman.
But the weight of House Rosewood was not so easily borne.
She had her moments of fragility, yet she couldn’t easily show them. In this deserted corner, she finally allowed herself the privacy to weep.
As a staunch materialist, in that moment, she found herself desperately wishing for the existence of magical forces, for things "unscientific" in this world.
It was then that she heard a clear, slow pace of footsteps approaching.
Anna hadn’t expected anyone else to be there. She quickly stood up and wiped away her tears. She was reluctant to reveal her feelings even in front of her family, let alone a stranger.
In the eyes of others, she was always the confident one, the one who could handle big responsibilities.
Yet, emotions are not easily restrained, and through her tear-blurred eyes, she saw the figure of a man descending the stairs.
In that moment, although she couldn’t see clearly, she felt as if they were locking eyes.
Martin, looking at Anna with her tear-streaked, ’cat’s face,’ said in a calm, deep voice, "Every gift has its price, I hope you are prepared."
What?
Even amidst the tumult of her emotions, Anna was momentarily stunned. What is this supposed to mean? Do we know each other?
She wiped the tears from her eyes, wanting to see clearly who it was, but when she moved her gaze, there was nothing but empty space in front of her!
This!!!
Anna was momentarily frozen, looking around in disbelief, a chill running down her spine, making her hairs stand on end.
Was it a hallucination brought on by too much pressure?
She comforted herself with that thought, but the voice and silhouette were etched too clearly in her memory.
Feeling disturbed, she quickly opened the door and rushed into the hallway.
The bright lights brought some relief to Anna, but recalling her recent behavior, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself.
How absurd, she thought, like what her grandma said, "all bark and no bite".
With a sigh, she shook her head: "As much as it hurts to admit, that must have been a hallucination.
How could there possibly be anything supernatural in a world bound by strict physical laws?"
"It had to be a hallucination."
"After all, reality is what we have to face."
Steadying herself, Anna made her way to her father’s hospital room, but just as she reached the door, she heard her mother’s voice, vibrant with surprise.
And another voice...
Anna’s pupils dilated in shock.
Dad!
With an urgency that bordered on desperation, she pushed open the door to see her father awake, his eyes crinkling with laughter as he spoke to her mother, who was holding his hand tightly.
"Dad!" Anna called out, her voice choked with emotion.
Theodore, who had been gallivanting around the world, had not been seen by Anna for a long time, and now, unexpectedly, their reunion was with him lying unconscious in a hospital bed.
After an excited exchange of words and emotions, Anna quickly came to her senses. "Dad, don’t move, let’s have the doctor check you first."
She immediately pressed the button beside the bed to call over the doctor and nurses.
After a flurry of activity and waiting for about an hour to receive various test results, the treating physician appeared with an expression of disbelief. n𝚘𝚟pub.𝚌o𝚖
"How is my husband doing, doctor?" Eleanor asked anxiously.
Theodore, who still had traces of his former handsome vigor, brushed it off, "Ah, I’m fine, aren’t I? What could be wrong, no need to fuss."
Faced with the gaze of the three family members, the treating doctor spoke with a somewhat dry voice, "Your father is... perfectly normal."
Anna’s brow furrowed slightly. Observing that the doctor didn’t seem to have any bad news to hide, she asked, "Doctor, can you explain a bit more clearly?"
Touching his forehead, the doctor said, "Although I’m puzzled, it’s actually good news."
"Because of a hereditary disease in your family, previously, despite being only forty-six years old, your father’s bodily functions had declined to the level of someone in their eighties or nineties."
"Now, for some reason I cannot explain, all of his body’s functions have returned to the level appropriate for his age, as if the genetic disease has disappeared."
Joy dawned on Eleanor’s face.
But Anna felt as if she had been struck by lightning, the memory of that blurry figure on the stairs and his words echoing in her mind:
"Every gift has its price, I hope you are prepared."
The attending doctor beside her was skilled in medicine and broad in knowledge, not the kind to cry ’unscientific’ at the slightest occurrence, but still couldn’t help being astonished:
"Previously, there were cancer patients who recovered without treatment, and now genetic defects can self-correct, humanity indeed still has a long way to go in the fields of biology, pathology, and medicine."
Anna suddenly lifted her head and said solemnly, "Doctor, I hope you can keep this a secret."
The doctor was initially startled, then gave a wry smile, "Anna, rest assured, I have my professional ethics."
Anna and her mother stayed in the hospital for a while longer before Theodore forcefully sent them out, one to work and the other to rest well.
...
Driving to a building in the business district.
Passing through the lobby, a crowd of employees greeted her.
"Good morning!"
Despite being preoccupied with her thoughts, Anna still smiled and responded to each one.
Although she was a strong woman, serving as both chairman and CEO, she was cheerful and approachable, maintaining a good relationship with her staff.
Reaching her office and hanging up her bag, Anna started another day of meetings and reviewing documents.
Time passed.
In the afternoon, the warm sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the office, and she stretched, showing off her graceful figure.
"The sunlight is really nice!"
Recalling her father’s improved condition, Anna felt a slight surge of joy. As long as her family was alive, other pressures didn’t seem to matter so much.
Sometimes, she envied her father. If it weren’t for the company’s affairs weighing on her, she too would desire to embark on a spontaneous journey.
She might be capable of making strong decisions, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed such a lifestyle.
However—
Remembering everything she saw on the hospital surveillance afterwards, a shadow couldn’t help but fall over her heart.
Everything was normal!
During that time, no mysterious man ever appeared in the stairwell passage. What she saw and heard at that time seemed to be just an illusion.
But the coincidence was too great.
First, there was that illusion, and then her father miraculously recovered without treatment.
Relaxing her body, leaning back in her ergonomic chair, Anna felt her thoughts were in complete disarray. Emotionally, she hoped it was just a coincidence, but her rational mind told her it wasn’t.
"Does this world... really have people with special powers, things out of the ordinary?" she murmured softly.
If that was the case, then the House of Rosewood might have been involuntarily drawn into a side of the world it had never known before.
Everything there was unknown.
Was this danger, or an opportunity?
At that moment, the electronic devices in the room silently ceased functioning, as if an invisible barrier had enveloped the place, and then a deep male voice sounded:
"I’m very sorry to meet you in this way."
