Ancient Medical Rising System: Rise Of The Forsaken Doctor

Chapter 4A: Evelyn’s Ultimatum

The apartment was dark except for the soft pulse of the city outside the window. Rick dropped his coat on the couch and pressed the heel of his hand against his eyes. 

Every heartbeat still throbbed like an echo from the trauma ward. A voice came from the shadows. “Rough night, Doctor Franklin?”

Rick spun toward it. A tall man stepped out of the dim light, gray suit, precise posture, the faintest scent of cigar smoke following him.

“Victor Harrington,” Rick said slowly. “You don’t usually visit people unannounced.”

Victor smiled, all teeth and civility. “Unannounced visits tend to reveal the truth, don’t they?” He glanced around the small apartment. “You’ve been busy. The city hasn’t stopped talking about your little miracle.”

Rick exhaled. “If you came for gossip, you can find it on any screen.”

“I came for an opportunity.” Victor pulled a small black card from his pocket and set it on the table. “The Syndicate’s Council is watching you. They think you’ve touched something ancient, something profitable.”

Rick’s pulse quickened. “I’m not selling anything.”

Victor tilted his head. “Everything sells, given the right buyer. They could protect you from the inquiry. In exchange, you share whatever secret made that child glow.”

Rick laughed once, bitterly. “You mean to betray Yuren Sun? My oath? My work?”

Victor’s eyes hardened. “I mean survive. Men like you burn fast in systems like this.” He tapped the card. “Call me before dawn. After that, I won’t be able to help you.”

He moved toward the door, then paused. “The Syndicate doesn’t just erase licenses, Franklin. They erase people.”

The door closed softly behind him. Rick stared at the card on the table until the city’s glow blurred around it.

Behind him, Evelyn’s voice broke the silence. “You should have told me he was coming.”

He turned. She stood in the doorway to the bedroom, robe drawn tight, eyes sharp with anger and fear. “I didn’t invite him,” Rick said.

“But he found you.” Her tone trembled. “Do you understand what that means? They’re circling.”

Rick’s throat was dry. “I can handle it.”

“No, you can’t,” she snapped. “Not alone. Not this time.”

The silence after her words felt heavier than the city outside. Rain pressed against the windows, a soft, endless percussion.

Rick crossed his arms. “Evelyn, I didn’t ask for Victor Harrington to show up. He’s Syndicate, he does what he wants.”

“That’s exactly why you should have walked away the moment he spoke,” she said. “You think they offer protection out of kindness?”

“I didn’t agree to anything.”

“You listened.”

Her voice cracked on the last word. “Every time you listen to people like him, we fall a little deeper into their net.”

Rick turned away, staring at the skyline. “I’m not going to live my life hiding because they’re afraid of what I can do.”

“You think this is courage?” She moved closer. “It’s suicide. They’ve already decided what you are, a threat. Do you know what the Syndicate does to threats?”

He met her eyes. “I know what happens when I don’t act. A little girl dies. A family breaks. That’s what I know.”

Evelyn’s expression softened, but only for a heartbeat. “You’re not responsible for saving everyone.”

“Someone has to be,” he said quietly.

She shook her head, tears forming. “You sound just like Yuren Sun did when he lost his first team in the Pulse Collapse. He thought he could carry the world, too.”

Rick’s voice dropped to a whisper. “You’ve been talking to him?”

“He came to see me this afternoon.” She swallowed hard. “He said if you don’t stop, they’ll shut the whole department down, and him with it.”

Rick turned sharply. “He told you that?”

“Yes. And he asked me to make you understand what’s coming.”

He stepped closer, anger and desperation mixing. “So that’s it? He sends you as his messenger? You think I’m going to bow because the Syndicate threatens paperwork?”

Evelyn flinched. “This isn’t about pride, Rick! It’s about staying alive long enough to help someone again.”

“I’m alive,” he said, but the pulse in his wrist flared with golden light, betraying him.

Her eyes widened. “It’s spreading.”

He pulled his sleeve down quickly. “It’s nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me!” she cried. “You’re changing. Whatever that light is, it’s not human.”

For a moment neither of them breathed. Rick’s reflection glimmered faintly in her tears, half man, half halo.

Finally he said, low and raw, “Maybe that’s what healing costs.”

She stared at him as if seeing a stranger. “Then maybe I don’t know how to love a miracle.”

The words hit harder than any Syndicate threat.