Chapter 12
Richard stood up from his chair, walking slowly around the hospital bed until he stood directly in front of Leo. The CEO looked exhausted, humbled by the near-tragedy that his own stubbornness and rush to judgment had nearly made permanent. He extended a hand toward the young man, his posture completely devoid of its former arrogance.
"You saved my daughter's life, Leo," Richard said, his voice steady and resolute. "While three doctors, a coroner, and myself were ready to seal her inside a tomb, you stood your ground against all of us. You trusted the science, and you trusted your instincts when everyone else failed."
Leo looked down at Richard's extended hand, then up into the older man's eyes, before firmly grasping it in a solid handshake. "I just followed the data, Mr. Sterling. And I couldn't let Clara go."
Eleanor stood up from her chair, walking over to embrace Leo with a fierce, maternal gratitude that caught him entirely off guard. She buried her face in his shoulder for a moment, whispering a choked "Thank you" before stepping back to wipe her own eyes.
"The hospital board is already demanding a full explanation of the botanical protocol," Dr. Hayes said, stepping into the room with a thick file folder tucked under his arm. He looked at Clara, then at Leo, a faint, approving smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "They want to know how an undergraduate student managed to induce and reverse a state of human metabolic torpor that our best neurobiologists considered theoretically impossible."
"They can review our lab notes, Dr. Hayes," Clara said, her voice growing stronger as the oxygen therapy continued to revitalize her bloodstream. "Every single telemetry log, every biochemical formula, and every safety parameter is documented on our secure server."
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Hayes nodded slowly. "Good. Because the medical community isn't going to let this discovery slip away quietly. But more importantly, the university ethics committee is going to have a very long conversation about unauthorized self-experimentation." Hayes glanced at Richard with a knowing look. "Fortunately, having a powerful biotech CEO on your side tends to smooth over administrative hurdles."
Richard gave a dry, weary chuckle. "Let the committee try to discipline them. I'll buy the university if I have to."
