The moment she saw Noah, she ran into his arms.
She was thin and fragile, with dark hair falling around a pale face. Even the short walk across the room left her breathing heavily.
“Noah, where are we?” she whispered.
“We’re somewhere safe,” he told her, although he was no longer certain.
“Where’s Mom?”
“She’s still at home. Mr. Harrow said he’d help us.”
Lily looked past him at the marble walls and unfamiliar servants.
“I don’t like it here.”
Noah held her more tightly.
“You won’t have to stay long. They’re going to make you better.”
Dr. Keller examined Lily that evening.
He was a calm, middle-aged man with tired eyes and a gentle voice. He listened carefully to her heart, reviewed her medical history, and ordered a series of tests.
When he finished, he asked Noah to take Lily to the adjoining room.
Noah remained close enough to hear the adults speaking.
“Her condition is severe,” Dr. Keller told Victor. “She needs surgery soon.”
“Can you perform it?”
“Yes, but we need more imaging first. There are complications.”
Victor glanced toward Noah.
“And the boy’s ability?”
Dr. Keller lowered his voice.
“We know almost nothing about what happened to you.”
“But it happened.”
“I’m not denying that.”
“Could he heal her?”
The doctor was silent for several seconds.
“Her condition is congenital. Her heart developed abnormally before she was born. Whatever Noah did for you appears to have restored damaged nerve function. That does not mean he can reconstruct a child’s heart.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Test every possibility.”
“She is not an experiment.”
“She is under my roof because I am paying for her treatment.”
“And that does not give you ownership of her.”
Noah stepped away before either man noticed him listening.
For the first time, he understood that Victor’s help came with conditions no one had explained.
The Price of the Gift
Days turned into weeks.
Lily underwent scans, blood tests, and examinations in the estate’s private medical wing. She slept in a room surrounded by machines and white walls.
Noah visited her every morning.
At first, she tried to remain cheerful.
She talked about returning home, seeing their mother, and sitting beside the cracked apartment window where sunlight entered in the afternoon.
But as the days passed, her voice became weaker.
Meanwhile, Victor began studying Noah.
He brought the boy into his library and asked him to demonstrate his ability.
The first test involved a gardener with a deep cut across his palm.
Noah placed his hands over the wound.
Warm light gathered around his fingers. The bleeding stopped, and the torn skin closed until only a faint line remained.
Victor recorded everything.
The second test involved a housekeeper suffering from a severe migraine.
Noah touched her temples. Within minutes, the pain disappeared.
Victor wrote detailed notes in a leather-bound journal.
“What do you feel when it happens?” he asked.
“Heat.”
“Where?”
“Everywhere. Mostly in my chest and hands.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes.”
“Can you control the amount of energy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you heal something that isn’t human?”
Victor placed a dying plant on the desk.
Its leaves were dry and brown.
Noah reluctantly pressed his fingers against the stem.
The familiar light appeared.
The plant did not change.
Victor frowned.
“Try again.”
“I can’t.”
“You have barely begun.”
“I said I can’t.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“You are living in my house. Your sister is being treated by my doctors. Do not forget what that costs.”
Noah looked directly at him.
“You promised to help her.”
“And I am helping her.”
“You also promised me a million dollars.”
Victor closed the journal.
“You will receive what you deserve when I understand what you are.”
The words chilled Noah more than an open threat would have.
That night, he wandered through the silent mansion.
He could not sleep.
His body had begun to feel weaker after every demonstration. The healing sessions left him dizzy, and sometimes he woke with blood beneath his nose.
His grandmother had warned him about that before she died.
The gift was never free.
Noah reached Victor’s library and noticed that the door had not been completely closed.
Voices came from inside.
“The boy’s ability is extraordinary,” Victor said. “You saw the recordings.”
“I saw them,” Dr. Keller replied. “I also saw his bloodwork. His body is under stress every time you force him to use it.”
“He recovered.”
“For now.”
Victor’s voice became colder.
“I did not bring him here to discuss fatigue.”
“You brought him here because you believe he can help Daniel.”
The name meant nothing to Noah.
Not yet.
“Daniel is my son,” Victor said. “I have spent sixteen years watching him lie in that room. Do not tell me to accept there is no hope.”