The Technician’s Invention
Copyright© 2025 by Heel
Chapter 3
It happened without warning.
One morning, Elena tried to shift slightly in bed — just a breath of motion — and a sharp cry escaped her lips. The monitors jumped. Her fingers clutched the sheets. Simon, who was across the ward reviewing calibration notes, looked up instantly.
He was at her side in seconds. “Elena, what is it?”
“I—can’t feel—my legs,” she gasped.
Her voice was thin with panic. Simon’s eyes darted to the frame — nothing was visibly broken, but something was wrong deep within. The doctor on call rushed over, scanning her vitals. A fresh set of X-rays confirmed the worst: one of the lower vertebrae had partially collapsed, pressing against the spinal cord. The tension of the frame, once perfect, was now working against her. Any wrong adjustment could cause irreversible paralysis.
The surgeon’s tone was grave. “If we move her, even slightly, we could lose her motor function completely.”
The room froze. Everyone looked at Simon.
He stared at the image on the screen, then at Elena — pale, frightened, eyes wide with silent pleading. He took a slow breath. “Then we don’t move her,” he said. “We move the frame.”
In the next hour, Simon worked like a man possessed. He ordered the technicians to bring every tool and part from his workshop — carbon rods, stabilizers, micro-pulleys. His hands moved with controlled precision, his mind spinning through physics and anatomy simultaneously.
He loosened the lower section of the frame by a millimeter at a time, watching the sensors for pressure changes. Then, using a small winch system of his own design, he built a secondary brace beneath the spinal column — a flexible suspension cradle that would bear her weight without touching the damaged vertebra.
“Simon...” Elena whispered, barely audible. “Will I be paralyzed?”
He didn’t look away from his work. “Not if I can help it. But you have to trust me completely. Don’t try to move — let me move around you.”
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