The Technician’s Invention
Copyright© 2025 by Heel
Chapter 2
Recovery was never meant to be simple.
For the first few days, Elena seemed to stabilize under Simon’s new device. Her pain lessened, her breathing steadied. The doctors were impressed — and Simon allowed himself a small glimmer of hope. But the body heals on its own rhythm, and sometimes it resists even the best engineering.
One night, Elena woke in distress. Her leg — the one held by the frame’s support rods — began to tremble violently, muscles seizing without command. The strain sent ripples through the system of pulleys and straps. A nurse called for Simon immediately.
He arrived within minutes, still in his work clothes, eyes sharp with concern.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice calm but urgent.
“Muscle spasms,” the nurse said. “The lower section’s over-tensioned.”
Simon crouched beside the bed, examining the frame. The leg was elevated at a steep angle, higher than it should have been. He adjusted one of the fine-tuning pulleys, loosening the cable by just a fraction. The metal sighed softly as the pressure eased.
“How’s that?” he asked.
Elena, still pale and sweating, managed a faint whisper. “Better ... but it feels like my toes won’t move.”
Simon’s brow furrowed. He carefully ran a finger along the line of the external rods, checking each connection. “No tension on the nerve,” he murmured to himself. “It’s the muscle fatigue — too long in traction.” He loosened another strap slightly and lifted the leg just a few degrees higher, allowing blood to flow back more freely.
After a moment, Elena’s breathing steadied. “You always know what to do,” she said weakly.
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