Ivan had just finished a surgery in the morning. It'd been rough work, and it'd taken him a whole morning to finish.
With the surgery done, he'd been planning on going back and resting.
But then there'd been complications after the patient was finished with the surgery, and Ivan could only stay and see if there'd be any further problems, so he could continue with the operation at any time.
He'd stayed there in the hospital for a whole afternoon, and the patient had gone back to normal at night.
He was planning on heading back then, then he'd run into Jasper's parents outside the operating theatre. Ivan couldn't help but be curious.
After all, Jasper had been in the hospital all the while, and he was worried if Jasper's parents were outside because his condition had taken a turn for the worst, and they were trying to pull him back from the brink.
Bailey and Elliot had been planning on telling Robert and Jason in the morning, then they'd run into Ivan.
Bailey sighed and explained how Jasper and Selena were inside under the scalpel.
Of course, they were going behind Jasper's back, which was why they were operating at night.
Jasper, in other words, was being forced to accept his sister's donated kidney while not knowing about it.
"So that's how it is."
Jasper heard it and sighed a long sigh.
It was Holland family internal affairs, and he couldn't really have an opinion about it.
After all, Selena was willing, while the recipient was the unwilling one. That wasn't really something an outsider could comment on, and Ivan could only comfort the old couple.
"It's not a difficult operation, and it'll go through in a while. Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Holland, Jasper and Selena can definitely complete the surgery. I know the doctor, and he's never failed this type of surgery."
Bailey and Elliot shot him a grateful smile, and Ivan left.
He'd worked all through the day and it was time to rest.
It was late, and Ivan didn't go to his brother's mansion this time, instead heading back to his own place to sleep.
Early morning the next day, Georgia had just woken up and washed when Professor Lee gave her a call.
"I'd been planning on looking at the data you sent yesterday, but the student reunion was just too exhausting, and I only gave it a look this morning."
Georgia had also tired herself out playing around outside yesterday, and she'd actually forgotten about the request she'd made of him.
"It's all right, Professor. But seeing as you've seen it, have you seen the symptoms I sent you?"
"I've seen a situation that's similar but not entirely the same."
Hearing that, Georgia grew excited, and put the professor to her question.
"What then? How was this person cured with their body in that state?"
"It's not exactly the same situation. The cancer cells in his body were almost uncontrollable, and the cAMP and anti-tumor substances had slowly lost their ability to fight against the cancer. Even with the cancer treatment substances that my and my mentor's research team failed to have any effect.
"That man finally had all his organs fail one by one, and died in agony. He even begged us to euthanize him. How did you come by such data? It's an incredibly rare situation, and I've only seen one case in all my years."
Georgia's heart sank right away.
Especially hearing how Professor Lee was describing that person's agonized death, she couldn't help but feel sorrow and dread, and her voice trembled.
"Professor, when you first saw that person's condition and how different it was from normal cancer, did you know what caused it?"
Professor Lee sighed.
"I only heard about it, and I was still young. They say that person was kept in the lab of a mad scientist for live research and injected with all sorts of radical chemicals, which damaged all his organs and eventually caused him to develop cancer. A mutated cancer. Regular cancer spreads from a single spot of cells, say lung cancer or leukemia or lymphoma. But he was different. The cancer seemed to spread all throughout his body, and it destroyed his body in an instant like tearing down a rotten tree."
It was eerily similar to Robert's situation, but with Robert, the two sides were in balance, and he didn't look any different on the outside.
Maybe, though, when that balance was broken, the situation would turn into that of the person the professor had described.
"Professor, can you send that person's data to me? I don't know if you have any copies on hand, but please, find them for me. It's important to me."
"What is it? Is there someone close to you who's developed those symptoms? The same person whose data you sent me?"
Georgia didn't want too many people to know Robert was sick.
She was afraid that too many of them would take advantage of his body's condition to start trouble. She replied to the professor.
"Professor, please, don't ask too much about this. It's dangerous. I'm afraid it'll threaten you. After you send me the information, please act like you haven't even heard of it. If the information needs to be searched for en masse, then forget it."
As Georgia said that, Professor Lee reacted.
"That makes sense. You can't tell too many people about this. Back then, that person my mentor and I encountered had already been at the end of his rope, which was why he'd gone to our elite cancer treatment team to try and see if his symptoms could be alleviated, or if his body could be used for research to synthesize usable anti-cancer substances.
"Later on, all our experimental data was stolen. I suspect that even on his deathbed, that person was being used to generate experimental data. If there were mad scientists or specialist labs for human experimentation, they might have taken a shine to this body and wanted it for their tests. If someone around you is in this state, keep it secret, and tell as few people as possible. Don't underestimate the darkness of this world. With more and more of the rich getting cancer, they might take a liking to this unusual condition to advance their own teams of scientists.
"After all, the report you gave me showed that the cancer cells and normal cells in his body are maintaining a balance, which proves that he's got a surplus of anti-cancer substances in his body. People will get greedy. Some others might try to synthesize usable cancer treatment substances from his body."
Georgia stiffened.
She'd thought that as the head of the Simpsons, Robert had enemies out there on the regular, so it wasn't the time to tell outsiders about his condition yet.
It took Professor Lee's reminder for her to realize that Robert's body had been experimented on by everyone inside the lab because they felt like his body had valuable data.
"I've got it, Professor. Thank you for telling me about this. Hurry up and delete the information I sent you. I might not be able to come to work for a while. It's important to me. I want to cure this."
"All right, I'll hide it for you. But if you can find the cause of this condition and even discover some useful substances to use against cancer, your career might develop rapidly. You'll find out what we've never found before, and with you researching those matters, you wouldn't do anything like hurting that body. You should go further, Georgia, aim higher. Don't give up on your dreams."
Hearing Professor Lee's encouragement, Georgia felt fear instead.
"Professor, I don't have that much faith in myself, but I can only try my best to do this. I hope I can become the kind of person you say I can."
Hanging up, Georgia headed to the dining room for breakfast.
Before she could make it to Annie and Wesley's side, there came a knock on the door to the mansion.
Georgia walked downstairs. Robert was sitting on the sofa.
Walking over, she saw Kenny and Dora walking in.
She found it strange that these two had come over.