Chapter 4

Gavin was spasming endlessly in his sickbed, while the monitors attached to him were blaring, warning that he was at his limit.

Ingrid's usual composure faded too as she froze up, her slightly puffy eyes filled with fear and misery.

That was when Ivan, Gavin's butler, rushed toward her. "Hurry, Ms. Carter—your grandfather wants to speak with you."

With that, Ingrid's usual composure returned as she strode to Gavin's bed, leaning her ear over his lips.

However, Gavin's words were unintelligible, and Ingrid anxiously glared at the balding man standing beside the bed.

"Chuck King—don't just stand there!" she snapped at the balding man. "Hit Grandpa with a dose of adrenaline. Just one minute of coherence is enough!"

Chuck King was the physician in charge of Gavin, but he shook his head and explained, "The patient is suffering from multiple organ failure. Everything from his heart rate to blood pressure is dropping rapidly—"

"English, please!" Ingrid snapped, her tone cool.

Though annoyed, Chuck sighed and said, "That means there's nothing we can do for Mr. Carter. Even adrenaline won't work."

"That's your business! Just do something so that Grandpa regains coherence!"

"You're… asking for too much," Chuck mumbled under his breath despite his annoyance. "There's really nothing we can do—"

"Allow me," someone spoke from behind the crowd around them just then.

Everyone watched as Tony strode in, while Chuck was at first taken aback before snorting in disdain. "You? And here I was wondering who it could be, but it's just the disgraced heir of the Quill family…

"I heard it's your wedding anniversary, but I'm sure it's difficult to live off women these days. Perhaps you got kicked out, so you're now pulling cons by passing yourself off as some venerable healer?"

The insult naturally left Tony scowling—it was clear that everyone except him knew about him getting a divorce.

Still, he snapped coldly, "Move!"

Chuck laughed. "What, did you think you're still some important—"

That was when Ingrid bellowed, "Move!"

Chuck grinned at Tony gleefully right then. "Don't you hear?! Ms. Carter is talking to you—"

"No, I'm talking to you!" Ingrid bellowed as she strode up, shoving Chuck aside while hurrying up to Tony. "Please, Mr. Quill—you have to save my grandfather… Or if you can keep him conscious for a minute, that's fine too!"

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Please, Ms. Carter—don't fall for his con. He's nothing more than a loser and a sugar baby! He probably wasn't given anything after the Willows kicked him to the curb, so he wants to earn a quick buck from you!"

Then, he turned and gestured at an elderly man standing behind the crowd. "This is Roch Jarek, a savant in non-conventional medicine who's famous in three states! He's already done his work, but there was nothing he could do, so there's no reason to put your hopes in some loser!"

Roch nodded clearly in agreement, when Gavin's heart rate monitor blared, the screen showing a flatline.

Ingrid turned to look, her figure shuddering, while Ivan cried, "Master Carter…"

"Ms. Carter," Roch finally spoke, sighing as he continued, "Life and death are the natural course of life, and I've done my best. Although I can't save your grandfather, I've at least made sure he can leave peacefully…"

"Peacefully?!" Ingrid growled, her eyes flaring with rage.

Her grandfather was clearly in anguish!

Noticing the tense vibes, Ivan walked up to try to calm her down. "Please, Ms. Carter. Roch Jarek is a venerable healer and has done his best, but Master Carter is too far gone. Please take care of yourself—the family still needs you."

"My condolences," Roch added with a nod, while gesturing for Chuck to pull Gavin's blanket over his face.

That was when Tony frowned and snorted loudly. "You people are so negligent. The patient can still be saved."

"Watch it! Who do you think you are?!" Chuck was bellowing at him at once. "Didn't you hear Healer Jarek? Mr. Carter has gone peacefully—"

"Shut up!" Ingrid bellowed at him, but her expression was helpless as she turned to Tony, her voice cracking. "T-Tony…"

Tony clapped her on the shoulder, gesturing for her to relax. "Don't worry. I promised to help—your grandfather will be fine!"

He walked up to Gavin's bed, studying him while Chuck snorted sarcastically. "You're crazy! He's already dead!"

Roch was even smiling smugly as he rubbed his chin. "It's fine for the youth to be brave and try new things, but that still depends on the situation…"

However, Tony completely ignored them as he stared at the needle protruding from Gavin's chest and found an answer after a brief observation.

Closing his fingers, he struck Gavin's chest with his palm so firmly that even the bed shook.

The needle shot out and stabbed into the ceiling, while specks of dust wafted down.

Chuck was at once snapping, "What are you doing?! Show some respect! He's Gavin Carter!"

Even so, Tony kept smacking Gavin's chest with his palm, leaving Chuck shouting, "Stop it already! Even if he's alive, you'll kill him—"

"Breathe another word and I'll kill you!" Ingrid suddenly bellowed at Chuck murderously, already having had enough of him hollering.

Chuck cringed, as he could clearly feel Ingrid's murderous intent.

With that, the hospital room was silent, save for the smacking as Tony repeatedly struck Gavin on the chest.

That was when Roch's smug smile faded as his eyes slowly widened in astonishment. "Could that be the lost art of Soulspin?!"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

That was when the miracle happened—the heart rate monitor indicated that Gavin's heart was beating again, and steadily at that!

Everyone was hence standing there, stupefied as they watched Gavin opening his eyes, looking like he was perfectly fine!

"Ingrid, what's going on here? And who are you people?" Gavin asked, able to speak and clearly coherent too!

Ingrid's dam of emotions burst right then, choking with tears as she hugged her grandfather.

On the other hand, Chuck was at once hysterical, his eyes wide as he blurted, "He's alive…? How?"

Tony, who was already writing down a herbal recipe, snorted as he worked. "The thirty minutes after a patient's heart stops is the most vital in resuscitating a patient. However, here stands one specialist and one venerable healer who did nothing remotely of the sort. Or perhaps you don't know medicine at all?"

Chuck was stumped and could not argue at all, and he turned to see that Roch was flustered too.

And Chuck was certainly afraid, as Tony had instantly pointed out that he was culpable for malpractice…