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Ethan Park.
Amazon Rainforest, 9:00 AM — May 3rd, 2026.
Twenty-four hours. That was all the time remaining before the Senate hearing against Ethan.
His phone buzzed.
Ring... Ring... Ring...
The caller ID: "Bruce Banner."
After the third ring, he picked it up.
"You never call," Ethan said, skipping the pleasantries.
"Hey... good morning to you, too," Bruce spoke through the line.
"What is it, Bruce? Are you hulking out in public again?" Ethan asked. Banner wouldn't have called if it wasn't important.
"NO," Banner replied, sounding offended. "No... I am not 'hulking out.' And that was one time..."
"One time too many," Ethan countered.
"I agree, I agree... but no. I need your help," Bruce replied.
*Crunch... Crunch...*
"What are you doing right now?" Banner asked, hearing the peculiar noise over the line.
Ethan looked down at his right hand, where he clutched the insect-like face of a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.
"Oh... you know. Same old, same old," Ethan replied, crushing the head in his grip. In the background, a horde of Curses could be seen dissipating into nothingness.
"Go on..." Ethan prompted.
"It's a little boy, Ethan... he... he drowned," Bruce answered.
"Oh," Ethan replied.
A heavy silence hung in the air for a moment. "Where is he right now?" He asked.
"Pittsburgh... Allegheny General Hospital, 320 East North Avenue. Ask for Andrew Phillips," Banner replied quickly.
"I'll be there," Ethan promised. But before he could disconnect, Banner spoke up again.
"Can you save him? Like you did with Agent Coulson?"
"I don't know," Ethan replied as he cut the connection. "I don't know," he repeated aloud in the quiet of the Forest.
" Agent Coulson case was unique, Ethan... probably one in a billion. Or perhaps even trillions," Tora reaffirmed through their mental link as he opened a portal inside the hospital truma center.
**Half an hour ago:**
**Doctor Robinavitch** and **Doctor Collins** could be seen talking in the ER of **Allegheny General**
**Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch** is the Chief of Emergency Medicine at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. He is renowned for his sharp sarcasm, blunt honesty, and exceptional skill in emergency medicine.
**Dr. Heather Collins** is a senior emergency medicine resident at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, known for her competence and resilience under pressure.
Doctor Robby had just stopped her to discuss their previous patient when an EMT team rushed in with a drowning victim.
"DROWNING VICTIM HERE!" the EMT on the right announced, as they continued performing CPR on the young boy.
"Andrew Phillips, six years old. Found at the bottom of a pool with unknown downtime. He's asystole on the monitor," the EMT added.
Doctor Collins rushed toward them from behind. "Intubate with a cuffed 4.5. Get a 22-gauge in the left AC," she ordered as more doctors and nurses swarmed into the emergency surgery room.
**Dr. Melissa "Mel" King** and **Dr. Dennis Whitaker** were also present; coincidentally, this was their first day of residency at Allegheny General Hospital.
"0.25 of epi given three minutes ago," the EMT added, clearing the way for the hospital staff to take over.
Doctor Robby took over the chest compressions as they transferred the boy. "One, two, three—" They shifted the boy from the EMT gurney to the trauma bed.
"Whitaker, take over compressions!" Doctor Robby ordered. "Any other family members coming in?"
"Grandmother and a little sister are on their way," the EMT replied.
"He is really... cold," Dr. King assessed, touching the boy's skin.
"Okay, get a core temp," Dr. Robby added, his eyes fixed on Andrew's flatlining heart monitor.
"Good breath sounds bilaterally," Dr. King noted after checking the placement.
"Should we use the Lucas device?" Whitaker asked while pumping.
"No, he's way too small for that," Dr. Collins replied firmly.
"Rectal temp is only 85 degrees," the nurse announced.
"What do you think, Mel?" Dr. Robby asked.
"Uh—he's cold. Moderate hypothermia," Mel diagnosed.
Dr. Robby nodded. "We need to get him up to 90 if we have any chance at all of restarting his heart."
"250 cc of heated saline! Set up the Arctic Sun. Continuous core temp monitoring... and prep another 0.25 of Epi," Dr. Collins announced.
Dr. Robby stepped out of the emergency room as Nurse Dana approached him.
"Robby, these are the parents of our drowning victim," she said, stepping out of their way. "This is Dr. Robby."
"Where is Andrew? Is he okay?" the mother asked.
"What have you heard so far?" Dr. Robby questioned, gauging their understanding of the situation.
"He was pulled from the pool," the father replied.
"He wasn't breathing," Robby said, shaking his head. "We are doing that for him now. We're trying to get his heart started again."
"Wait... his heart stopped?" the father asked, panic rising in his voice.
"I have to be with him. Now," the mother added.
"Yes, of course. This way," Robby said, leading them into E1. "There are a lot of people in here trying to help him right now."
"We understand," the father replied.
"Andrew? Oh my god... Andrew!" The mother rushed to his side. "I'm here. I love you," she said, kissing his forehead.
From behind them, the grandmother walked in. "I am so sorry, Gina," she said, looking at the mother.
"Where is Bella?" Mr. Phillips asked.
"She's with our social worker just down the hall," Robby replied.
"I should be with her," the grandmother said.
"I'll go with you, Mom," Mr. Phillips added. "I'll be right back," he told Gina.
All the while, Dr. Whitaker had continued performing CPR. Gina kissed Andrew's forehead once again.
From the side, Dr. Collins said to Whitaker, "Rhythm check. Hold compressions."
*Beep... Beep... Beep...*
The heart monitor flatlined the moment Whitaker stopped.
*Beeeeeeeeee—*
"Asystole. Resume compressions," Collins announced, and Whitaker immediately followed.
"Three minutes since the last epi," Whitaker noted between compressions.
"Push another," Collins ordered.
"Did you shock his heart?" Gina asked.
"No," Whitaker replied.
"Why? Why didn't you shock his heart? We have to—we have to save him! You have to shock his heart!" Gina cried frantically.
"The heart rate is flatlining. That rhythm isn't treatable with a shock," Dr. Robby said, stepping up behind her. "We're trying to get the rhythm to change into something we *can* shock by warming him up."
"Okay... so you have to warm him up! You need to get more blankets in here!" Gina said, trying to hug her son, desperately attempting to pass her own body heat to him.
"We are giving him warm I.V. fluids... and you can feel these blue pads. They have warm water running through them, like a hot tub," Robby replied, placing his hand on the Arctic Sun pads.
"Are you sure you're doing everything?" Gina asked, her eyes never leaving Andrew.
"Yes, we are," Robby replied, as he and Collins exchanged a saddened, knowing glance.
"Andrew, honey... I'm here," Gina whispered, caressing his hair. "It's going to be okay. I promise you... everything is going to be okay."
Just then, Ryan made his way back inside and stood beside his wife. She collapsed into him, sobbing against his shoulder as he struggled to hold back his own tears.
"Temp is up to 91," a nurse announced.
"He's so much warmer! Is it working?" Gina asked with a flicker of hope.
"Can you shock his heart now?" Mr. Phillips asked.
Robby nodded. "91 is warm enough for the heart to respond."
"Hold compressions!" Collins ordered.
*Beep... beep... beep... beeeeeee—*
"Asystole," Dr. King spoke, her eyes fixed on the monitor.
"Resuming compressions," Whitaker said. Just then, the emergency telephone from the lab rang inside the trauma room.
"Got the potassium level back," the nurse said, staring at the floor before looking up. "It's 12.2."
The looks on the faces of the doctors and nurses across the room revealed exactly what that meant: Andrew Phillips was dead.
Robby slowly walked up beside the parents. "No one has ever survived cardiac arrest with a potassium level over 11. There is absolutely no chance of recovery... I am so sorry. Andrew has died."
"No... no, no, no, no, no! This isn't happening!" Gina sobbed, clutching Andrew's body. "NO! NO! NO!"
"Before we stop, do you think his sister would like a chance to say goodbye?" Robby asked the father gently.
"No. Bella shouldn't see him like this," Mr. Phillips spoke through a choked gasp.
"Ryan, our baby—" Gina turned toward her husband as a look of sudden realization passed over her features. "Ethan Park... he can save Andrew, just like he saved that Agent. It was in those files S.H.I.E.L.D. released! He can save him."
Seeing where the conversation was heading, Dr. Robby stepped in. "Ma'am... I believe you are talking about the case of Agent Phil Coulson—his alleged resurrection after the Battle of New York. But that is an unconfirmed report; we don't even know who wrote it. What we *do* know—" Robby choked on his words for a moment. "What we do know is that nobody survives from where Andrew is."
"And even if he could," Collins added from the side, walking closer to them, "we have no way of contacting Mr. Park."
"Call him," Gina insisted, turning toward Ryan. "Call Bruce. He would know how to contact Park."
"Bruce... as in Bruce Banner? The Hulk?" Dr. King questioned, her brow furrowed in disbelief.
Ryan nodded as he made his way out of the room to call Bruce Banner.
A few minutes after the call, a shimmering orange portal materialized in the middle of the trauma center... and out walked Ethan. His outfit consisted of a crisp, slim-fit black suit paired with a stark white dress shirt and a thin black necktie. Nurses, patients, and doctors alike backed away from the shimmering portal, and as Ethan stepped through, it closed behind him.
Ethan scanned the surroundings; he spotted an elderly blonde nurse and walked towards her. "Ma'am, could you point me toward where Andrew Phillips might be? He is a drowning victim, I suppose."
Nurse Dana stood stunned for a few moments, then looked toward E1, where the pediatric drowning case was located.
"THIS WAY!" Dr. Robby stepped out of the room and shouted from across the hall.
"I am sorry for startling you," Ethan said, looking at Dana as he made his way toward E1.
As he walked, he incanted, "Partial Summoning: Chimera Samsara," and an eight-handed wheel emerged from his shadow, materializing above his head.
A few minutes later, Ethan could be seen performing RCT on Andrew as the parents, doctors, and nurses stood around them.
"Is this even ethical? Letting him perform whatever it is he wants on the patient..." Dr. Collins asked.
Dr. Robby simply raised a hand, stopping her rant. "I can't believe I am asking this... but can you save him?"
Ethan didn't answer. He looked at Dr. Whitaker. "Stop compressions," he requested.
Whitaker looked conflicted.
"Do it," Dr. Robby replied, looking at Whitaker, and he stopped.
Ethan's hands glowed with a concentrated white RCT glow as he swept them across Andrew's upper torso.
*Clunk.*
The wheel above his head gave a sharp turn as He continued outputting RCT undeterred.
"What is that thing above your head?" Gina asked. "Why did it turn? Does that mean he is getting better?" Her voice was hopeful.
"It is the Wheel of Harmony. The rotation of the wheel is just a process," Ethan replied.
*I felt that resistance again...* Ethan thought, recalling when Thor had summoned him to save his mother.
*Is this an absolute point? A nexus event, Ethan?* Tora asked through their mental link as Ethan stopped outputting RCT. For a moment, everything else vanished for him as he looked at the boy.
*He looks so peaceful,* Ethan thought. Then he turned toward the parents.
"He is gone. I am so sorry," Ethan said, looking at the mother and father.
Gina collapsed into Ryan's arms. "No, no! Please, please... you can bring him back," she told Ethan. "Like you did with that Agent! I will give... I will give you anything. Money... we have money." She turned toward Ryan, who was also crying.
"It will be a struggle for a bit... but we will get through it. We always do. Right, Ryan?" Gina asked.
"Honey... honey... he's gone. He's gone, Gina," Ryan spoke between sobs. "Our boy is dead."
Gina and Ryan rushed to their boy.
"It's okay," she said, caressing his head. "It's going to be okay."
"You can stay in here as long as you like," Dr. Robby stepped forward looking at the Parents. "We are going to stop now."
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A/N: So how was the chapter?