Helen Cho wasn't surprised at all when she heard that Wilson Fisk had come to her for help saving someone.
In fact, over the past few days, there had been plenty of people just like him.
During the past half month, Helen had cured a large number of stubborn chronic illnesses—things like rheumatoid arthritis and varicose veins. They weren't exactly deadly, but they were notoriously difficult to cure.
At the same time, she had also healed genuine terminal conditions—things like paraplegia and leukemia, the kinds of illnesses that destroyed lives.
At first, the people she treated came from her own circle.
Relatives and friends of the staff at the research center.
Her own acquaintances.
That sort of thing.
But later, as Helen's name spread, the circle expanded like a rolling snowball.
Even though she had repeatedly urged every patient to stay quiet and keep things low-key, there was no way something like this could truly be contained.
Helen Cho had become impossible to ignore.
Almost every day now, people came to seek her help.
And Helen had never turned anyone away.
So naturally, she had no intention of rejecting Wilson Fisk either.
"Mr. Fisk, what illness does your fiancée have?"
Seeing how genuinely anxious he was, Helen skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.
"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure."
Fisk shook his head, a flash of pain crossing his face, as if even recalling the scene hurt him.
"Last night, I was hosting a banquet. Vanessa was happy. Everything was perfect. Then all of a sudden, she collapsed to the floor and started foaming at the mouth…"
He briefly described what had happened at the banquet.
Yes, as it happened, Kingpin's woman and Deadpool's woman shared the same name.
Sometimes the world really was that amusing.
Helen wasn't a doctor by profession, but she was still a top expert in biological nanotechnology, so she naturally understood many common illnesses.
From what she could judge, this didn't sound like disease.
It sounded more like poison.
And poisoning cases weren't something she had personally dealt with before.
Even so, Helen was still confident.
She could cure terminal illnesses now.
Handling poison shouldn't be beyond her.
"Dr. Cho, time is critical. Can you come with me right now?" Fisk's voice sounded again, almost pleading. "No matter the outcome, Wilson Fisk will remember this favor."
Helen didn't know who Wilson Fisk really was, so she had no idea just how much weight that promise carried.
But from her perspective, this was still about saving a life.
So she agreed immediately.
"Mr. Fisk, lead the way."
She rose at once.
"Dr. Cho, don't you need to prepare anything?"
Wesley couldn't help asking from the side.
Normally, when doctors made house calls, didn't they bring specialized equipment or instruments with them?
How else were they supposed to examine the patient?
"I won't need any of that. Let's go."
Helen was already moving.
Though doubts still lingered, Fisk said nothing more.
As the biggest underworld kingpin in New York—arguably in all of America—his vision and decisiveness were beyond ordinary people.
Since he had chosen Helen Cho, then he would trust Helen Cho.
He wasn't the type to second-guess every step.
Fisk immediately left with her. Down below the research center, his people had already prepared the car.
The group got in and headed at full speed to an upscale private care facility in Hell's Kitchen.
Soon, they arrived at Vanessa's bedside.
She lay there with her eyes closed, her face pale as paper, drained of every trace of color.
She looked terribly weak.
An oxygen mask covered her face, and from the faint mist gathering inside it, it was obvious her breathing was shallow and fragile.
Before going to Helen Cho, Fisk had already gathered the best doctors he could find.
Those doctors had only managed to barely preserve Vanessa's life.
Nothing more.
They couldn't restore her.
They couldn't save her body from what came next.
According to them, Vanessa would spend the rest of her life living in pain.
That was something Fisk could never accept.
So without hesitation, he had mobilized every resource at his disposal and sought out every famous doctor he could find.
That was how Helen Cho had finally entered his line of sight.
"Dr. Cho, if you need anything, just say the word. I'll have it prepared immediately."
Fisk lowered his voice at her bedside, afraid of disturbing Vanessa.
"There's no need, Mr. Fisk. I can begin right now."
Helen shook her head.
Then, without any warning, she pulled back Vanessa's blanket—
and took her hand.
Fisk: "…"
Wesley: "…"
What exactly was Dr. Cho doing?
Was she... examining Vanessa?
But this method of examination was something they had never seen or even heard of before.
It was so strange it bordered on eerie.
Fisk and Wesley exchanged a glance, and both saw the same uncertainty in the other's eyes.
"I'm going to begin now, Mr. Fisk. While I'm doing this, please make sure I'm not disturbed."
Helen turned serious as she addressed the two men.
Just moments ago, she had already used her ability to carefully sense Vanessa's condition.
She now understood her body completely.
And she was certain she could heal her.
For Helen, it honestly wasn't that difficult.
"Dr. Cho, you have my word. Please begin."
Even with all his doubts, Fisk still nodded.
At a time like this, they had no choice but to let her try.
And even in the worst case, all that would happen was that another woman had held Vanessa's hand for a few minutes.
There really wasn't much risk to worry about.
Helen wasted no more words.
She activated her ability and began carefully repairing Vanessa's damaged body, bit by bit.
The room fell utterly silent.
So silent even the soft drip of the IV seemed loud.
Fisk and Wesley stood there staring as Helen held Vanessa's hand, almost as if she were simply caressing it.
Neither dared even breathe too loudly, afraid of interrupting her.
Fortunately, the process didn't last long.
About three minutes later—
Vanessa opened her eyes.
Color returned to her face.
Vitality returned to her body.
She looked completely different from the pale, dying woman from moments before.
Feeling her hand being held, she blinked in confusion.
"Excuse me... may I ask... Wilson?"
But halfway through speaking, she caught sight of Fisk standing beside the bed, trembling with emotion.