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Chapter 17

作者: TEG
last update 最終更新日: 2026-01-17 07:27:54

The tunnel splits into three directions. Sarah stops. Breathing hard.

"Which way?" one of the other subjects asks. A man. Young. Scared.

"Left goes to Section B. Middle goes to Section D. Right goes to the exit." Sarah looks at Emma. "We need to choose. We don't have time for all three."

Emma's mind races. Lily is in Section B. Her father is in Section D. Freedom is to the right.

Save one. Save the other. Or save themselves.

"We go left," Emma says. "Get Lily first. Then my father. Then we all
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  • The Debt He Can't Collect   Five Years Later

    Emma sat in the garden behind the house she and Damien had bought in Brooklyn, watching her three-year-old daughter chase butterflies across the grass.Charlotte Lily Hartley, named after Emma's grandmother and the little girl who'd changed everything, had her father's dark hair and her mother's determination. She ran with the fearless energy of a healthy child, her laughter filling the warm June afternoon.Emma's hand rested on her chest, feeling the steady rhythm beneath. Fifty-eight percent heart function now. Not normal, never normal, but improved beyond what anyone had predicted five years ago.Dr. Walsh called it remarkable. Emma called it lucky.Sophie's daughter, four-year-old Lily Lawson, played alongside Charlotte, the two cousins inseparable despite the age difference. Sophie sat beside Emma on the bench, her hand resting on her own growing belly. Second child, due in October."Can you believe we're here?" Sophie asked quietly. "Five years ago, you were in heart failure. I

  • The Debt He Can't Collect   Chapter 67

    Epilogue - One Year LaterEmma stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom she shared with Damien, adjusting the collar of her blouse for the third time.Her wedding ring caught the morning light—simple platinum band matching the engagement ring she'd worn for the past year. They'd married in September, a small ceremony in the same botanical garden where Sophie had gotten married. Twenty guests. Fifteen minutes standing at the altar. Emma's heart rate monitored the entire time, staying safely below ninety-five.It had been perfect.Now, one year after Sophie's wedding, Emma was preparing for something she hadn't thought possible six months ago: a full day at the fund office. Not just remote consultation—actual in-person work.Dr. Walsh had cleared her for it last week."Your heart function is at fifty-three percent," Walsh had said during Emma's monthly appointment. "Stable for eight consecutive months. Medications optimized. No cardiac events since your relapse last February. Emma, y

  • The Debt He Can't Collect   Chapter 66

    Sophie's wedding took place on a perfect July afternoon in a small botanical garden outside the city.Emma arrived early, her role as maid of honor requiring her presence for photographs and last-minute preparations. Dr. Walsh had adjusted her medications specifically for today—additional beta-blocker to keep her heart rate controlled during the stress and excitement of the event."You look beautiful," Damien said, helping Emma from the car. She wore a pale blue dress Sophie had chosen specifically for its comfort—no tight waist that might restrict breathing, no complicated fastenings that would frustrate Emma's still-limited shoulder mobility."I look like someone trying very hard not to have a cardiac event at her sister's wedding," Emma said, but she was smiling.Sophie was in the bridal suite, surrounded by friends and a makeup artist who was doing final touches. She turned when Emma entered, her wedding dress simple and elegant, her face radiant."You made it," Sophie said, pulli

  • The Debt He Can't Collect   Chapter 65

    Six months afterEmma stood at her father's grave for the first time in nearly a year.It was late May, the cemetery transformed by spring into something less bleak than she remembered. Trees in full leaf. Grass vivid green. Flowers left by someone—Emma wasn't sure who—brightening the simple headstone.David LawsonBeloved Father and Researcher1965-2023Sophie stood beside her, quiet and patient. They'd driven here together after Emma's morning cardiac appointment—the monthly checkup that had become routine over the past six months.Dr. Walsh had delivered cautiously optimistic news. Emma's ejection fraction had improved to fifty-one percent. Not normal, not cured, but stable. Her heart rate stayed controlled. Her medications were working. She was, in Walsh's careful words, "managing her condition successfully."Managing. Not thriving. Not healed. Just managing.But alive."I haven't been here since the funeral," Emma said quietly. "I kept meaning to visit, but there was always anoth

  • The Debt He Can't Collect   Chapter 64

    Emma spent five days in the ICU before Dr. Walsh cleared her for transfer to the cardiac step-down unit.Five days of constant monitoring, medication adjustments, and the slow realization that her body had limits she could no longer ignore. Her ejection fraction had stabilized at forty-nine percent—better than the forty-seven it had dropped to, but still firmly in heart failure territory.Dr. Walsh delivered the news with her characteristic directness on day six."Emma, we need to talk about realistic expectations. Your heart has sustained significant damage—Compound 7 exposure, two cardiac arrests, chronic stress. The stem cell therapy helped, but it can't undo everything. You're now classified as having heart failure with reduced ejection fraction."Emma had known this was coming. Had treated enough cardiac patients to understand what the numbers meant. But hearing it applied to herself felt different."What does that mean practically?""It means your heart can't pump blood efficien

  • The Debt He Can't Collect   Chapter 63

    Emma collapsed during her Wednesday cardiac rehab session in mid-February.She'd been doing well—thirty minutes on the treadmill at 2.5 miles per hour, heart rate steady at ninety-two. Patricia had been discussing increasing the intensity next week. Emma felt strong, confident, almost normal.Then the room tilted.Patricia caught her before she hit the floor, easing her down carefully while simultaneously hitting the emergency call button."Emma, stay with me. What are you feeling?"Emma tried to answer but couldn't form words. Her chest felt like someone had wrapped steel bands around it and was tightening them systematically. Her heart rhythm was all wrong—she could feel it stuttering, racing, struggling.The world grayed at the edges.Patricia was talking to someone—medical staff who'd responded to the emergency call. Emma felt hands on her, people checking vitals, someone placing oxygen over her face."Heart rate one-forty-two. Blood pressure dropping. Possible cardiac event. Get

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