The operation to take away the electroshock device was done by Roland's personal doctor, who was a man involved in the Jewish mafia in his youth back in the 1930s. His name was Dr. Meyer Rothstein, and he was already 81 years old.
He was imprisoned but received early parole thanks to Roland's grandfather. Because of his gratitude to the Faust family, he had served as Mr. Faust's physician and eventually Roland's.
They lost contact 10 years ago, but Roland only trusted this old man to keep the secret about his friend and the mermaid. And so he called him back all the way from his house in Chicago to perform the surgery.
Harker became a bit worried about the aged man handling the scalpels that will cut his and Princess Jinzhu's stomachs. Dr. Rothstein adjusted his glasses, and one of his eyes was already ridden with cataracts.
"Relax, Hark. He still got it even after all these years." Roland said when he noticed his friend shivering a little on the surgical operating table.
The old man smiled with his 3 remaining teeth, rubbing his goatee. "Yes! Just yesterday before I was called here, I performed three vasectomies and two appendectomies."
"Wow, just in one day?" Harker couldn't help but be amazed.
"Yes. Though it was for a demonstration with a dead cadaver, my co-workers were still very pleased with the result!"
Harker's amazement suddenly turned into horror. So it was corpses….
"There's really nothing to worry about." Roland placed a hand on his shoulder. "You two are in good hands."
His Nogia Communicator started to vibrate again, and he excused himself. Harker wanted to stop him as he wished someone would hold his hand for the first surgery he ever experienced in his life.
He was the only member of the Jones family who had a completely healthy track record. He had never been admitted to the hospital, and all he had were high fevers and colds. He had witnessed several surgeries before. But never would he have guessed he would be part of one after never going under the knife for 22 years.
It was even more troubling for him than fighting Xi Hua, Lady Aixiang, and Lord Jiaoshe combined.
But then he heard a soft groan from Princess Jinzhu who had received her dose of anesthesia.
She was laying on a shallower but longer tank where she could lay her whole body on. Her lateral height was 8 ft due to her tail, with only 3'7 feet of it being her human parts. There's water surrounding her and just enough for her gills to breathe in, but not too much so she could still be operated on by the doctor. Her arms hang out from the small tank.
"Harker sir…. I'm a little scared." She said. "The doctor said he won't make us fall asleep, but we won't feel anything because of this injection. But I'm still scared."
Harker's own anxieties suddenly faded away, as it turned into concern towards the mermaid. He toughened himself up, and reassured her despite being scared himself.
He reached out to the princess' right hand that was beside his left one. He clasped it, and said before he got injected too:
"Don't be scared. I'm here. We'll get through this together."
This did comfort the princess, as she wore a small smile. The lights were now flashed on to them and surgery began.
And after 4 hours, they made it out okay. Dr. Meyer Rothstein really still got it.
Harker was able to move again after this, and looked at the stitches in his stomach. He saw the old doctor looking at it too with curiosity.
"I've never seen anyone's wounds heal that quick. It actually took a long time for me because the cuts I made kept on closing." The doctor chuckled. "It was even faster for your pretty mermaid friend. You guys may have unlocked the mystery of immortality that we humans so sought after."
"We're not so immortal if you take our brains or hearts out." Harker said.
Dr. Rothstein chuckled again. "That is true. Oh, but what many people wouldn't do to have your abilities. Can't say the same for me, I'm just an old chap waiting for the ferryman to take me already. I'm just happy to help out the Faust one last time."
He then rubbed his goatee. "I do wonder…. Could this regenerative power also unlock the ability to cheat the Grim Reaper?"
His eyes saddened a little. "You see, my wife Delilah. The sweet thing…. I miss her sorely. I visit her grave every Shabbat and Hanukkah. I have no one else to celebrate it with anyway, never had children. When Roland was young, I used to treat him like my own grandchild and his father would allow us to celebrate it together."
Harker remembered his mom with this, and could understand what the old man was feeling. "You must love her very much."
"Heavens know I do, child." Dr. Rothstein chuckled. "If only I could see my Delilah again…. And introduce him to fine, young lads such as yourself…. I bet those dimples will show up when I see her smile again."
Harker could envision it in his mind, this old man reuniting with his wife in a beautiful garden. But since he doesn't know what she looks like, her image continuously shifts. Until eventually, the old man changed into a young boy, and the woman became someone he was all too familiar with.
"Mother…." He mumbled softly.
He could see his mother so clearly in his mind. Her hair in a tight braid, that yellow chiffon dress she loved to wear. Her smile was as radiant as sunshine, and her brown skin gleamed into the warmth of the light above her. She was a woman full of life, and found joy and laughter in the simplest things.
She would always tell little Harker to stand tall no matter what happened. Even if he was sad, or scared, or nervous….
"Lift that chin up and smile, baby. There's nothin' to look on the ground for, no use hidin' your face to world that wants to see you smile." She would always say to him.
He always remembered that lesson from her, along with his Dad's 'Don't get it twisted'. She and his dad were the reason he grew up the man he was today.
If he could get to see her again, even once…..
He thought he'd be so happy. That's what he thought at that time, at least.
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