Nobody can stop me from drawing cards in Gotham!

Chapter 70 A Miraculous Healer, Dr. Zhang Chun!

With the rapid teleportation of the [door], Jaeger quickly brought Jason to his front door and put him down.

As soon as he landed, Jason didn't care about his disheveled collar. He opened the door and ran off in a certain direction.

"..." Jaeger, who was behind him, thought for a moment and then chose to follow, making sure to close the door that Jason had forgotten to close as well.

—After all, judging from Jason's reaction, his mother's condition might not be very good.

If there really is any problem, since I'm already here, I'll just lend a hand.

Just as Jaeger reached a half-open door, he heard a weak yet gentle female voice: "Jason... my child..."

Jaeger then peeked through the crack in the door and saw a middle-aged woman lying on the bed with a sickly flush on her face.

That was Jason's mother, Katharine Todd.

Even though she was extremely weak, she still managed to raise her hand and gently press it on Jason's head, who was sitting beside the bed: "I'm fine... it's not the first time anyway."

"Mom, don't talk anymore." Jason was a little anxious, his hand holding the water glass was trembling slightly. "Take your medicine first and get some rest."

Seeing this, Burks, who had been wrapped around Jaeger's arm, somehow climbed up to Jaeger's neck and whispered in his ear, "Hiss hiss hiss."

"What?" Jaeger turned his head and saw the writing board that Burks was handing to him with his tail.

The person lying in the room is in very bad condition.

"How bad is it?" Jaeger glanced at the situation in the room, then quietly took a few steps back and went to another corner to ask Burx.

Burks wrote:

[Long-term overwork, coupled with possible past experiences of violence, led to numerous hidden health problems for her. Furthermore, her excessive use of medication resulted in severe drug dependence and even withdrawal symptoms.]

I estimate that if things continue like this, she may not live more than three years.

"..." Jaeger thought for a moment, "Is there really no way to treat it? As you can see, that child is still several years away from adulthood."

"Yes," Burks said directly. "But the price is higher than treating serious injuries... for this level, it'll be $100,000."

One hundred thousand dollars.

Although it was many times more than the $500 cost of treating serious injuries, in countries where health insurance is exorbitantly expensive and not always effective, the cost of Birx's treatment was practically charity.

Moreover, while $100,000 might be a huge sum for Jaeger Winchester, it's really nothing to Langdon Parrells, who has already gloriously become Jaeger's walking ATM.

Although Langdon's money actually seems to mainly come from toxic fumes...

Getting back to the main point, since money wasn't an issue, what surprised Jaeger even more than the price was Burks's somewhat outrageous healing abilities: "You can even cure this???"

"Late-stage cancer, limb mutilation, the deceased... most importantly, those who have lost the will to live," Birx explained. "Apart from these, most other injuries and illnesses are treatable, just at different costs."

Jaeger: "..."

Where did this miracle doctor come from?

The poker table wasn't lying to him; Burks really was a "very useful snake" in every sense of the word.

Its healing power reminded Jaeger of the Staff of Asclepius—also known as the Staff of the One Serpent.

In the West, the single caduceus was regarded as a symbol of Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine, and later gradually evolved into a general symbol of medicine.

...I wonder if this has anything to do with Burks' medical capabilities.

With that thought in mind, Jaeger walked back to the door of the room he had just been in and knocked on it.

Jason's head popped out immediately: "It's you? I thought you were gone..."

Before Jaeger could say anything, Jason's expression turned serious again: "The thing about saving me, the scarecrow, bringing me home, and..."

"About the batarangs."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Winchester."

"I'm a little unaccustomed to your sudden politeness," Jaeger said, somewhat surprised.

"After all, I only show politeness to people I respect," Jason said bluntly.

"Alright," Jaeger accepted the answer, then continued, "I won't waste any more time. I want to ask... do you know anything about your mother's situation?"

"..." Jason's blue eyes dimmed at the mention of this. "I know."

"But I have no choice."

This was the first time Jaeger had ever seen this child, who always appeared strong and whose eyes revealed an indomitable spirit, show such a helpless expression: "I know she shouldn't take those medications anymore, but if she doesn't, her health will only get worse..."

"It's a terrible vicious cycle," Jason gritted his teeth. "But why did it have to happen to my mother?"

"She is the best person in the world, the best mother... Although she always feels that she owes me something, I know that I am the one who has dragged her down."

"Maybe she'd be better off without me." Jason looked away.

Jaeger thought for a moment, then crouched down and looked Jason directly into his eyes: "But what if I told you I could cure your mother?"

"What?!" Jason's eyes widened instantly, and he almost bit his tongue as he spoke. "...Really? Is it some kind of magical magic?"

"In a sense, you could say that," Jaeger said, "but you may not know that this treatment comes with conditions."

"I can! I'll do anything!" Jason said eagerly, "I'll even risk my life, as long as you can cure me..."

"Don't go all out right from the start. Is this some kind of Gotham culture?" Jaeger choked for a moment. "Calm down and listen to me."

He pressed Jason's shoulder, turned him around, and made him look at Catherine, who was lying on the bed: "Actually, my treatment conditions are not what you think."

"This treatment method only works on people who still have the will to live."

"The will to survive..." Jason murmured.

And Jaeger finally displayed the deductive reasoning worthy of his status as a detective: "If I'm not mistaken, did your mother suffer from domestic violence for a long time?"

This is a conjecture drawn from details such as Burks's previous statement about "enduring some kind of violence for a long time" and how his mother was sick, and how he could let a little boy run out to buy medicine in the crime alley in the middle of the night.

Jason paused for a moment, then lowered his voice: "Yes."

"But that scumbag is already in jail, and it has nothing to do with us now."

"Long-term domestic violence, drug abuse, poverty, overwork, and poor health." Jaeger's voice was incredibly calm now. "Do you know what the mental state of someone living in this kind of situation is like?"

"..." Jason clenched his fist.

"But I must say, your mother... she hasn't lost her will to live." Jaeger's tone suddenly shifted again. "Have you ever wondered why?"

"Why...why?" Jason asked, then suddenly froze.

Is it...

"That's right." Jaeger patted Jason on the shoulder. "She did it because of you."

"You feel like a burden to your mother, but do you know what? Without you... she might have completely lost the will to live."

"Jason." Jaeger walked past Jason and went straight to Catherine, who was lying in bed and had fallen into a deep sleep after taking her medicine. "—You are her glimmer of hope for treatment, and the anchor that keeps her alive in the world."

"At least, that's how I feel."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jaeger walked to the bedside, and Burks crawled out from his hand and gently wrapped himself around Catherine.

Almost instantly, the flush on Catherine's face began to fade.

At the same time, her complexion visibly improved, and some unseen, hidden ailments in her body were invisibly erased.

Finally, her rapid and disordered breathing calmed down, and the furrowed brows that had been furrowed in pain even in her drowsy state relaxed.

Jason had never seen Catherine sleep so peacefully, and for a moment, tears almost welled up in his eyes.

Jaeger took Burks back and quietly looked at the person on the bed. Suddenly, he turned his head and said, "By the way, I still don't know your mother's name."

"Catherine." Jason wiped away his tears fiercely, afraid that Jaeger would see. "It's just...Catherine."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Leaving Jason and Catherine in the room, Jaeger quietly left and went into the hallway.

But to his surprise, as soon as he closed Jason's door and turned around, he was startled by a dark figure standing against the wall in the hallway.

That was Batman, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking at Jaeger, and it was unclear how long he had been there.