Locking In With My Life System

As Aiden kept staring at his Pop’s attribute, the question continuously repeating in his head, he slowly looked over to the man whom was happily reading his newspaper with a relaxed smile.

Perhaps if his old man had been much, much older, he would’ve chalked it off to him aging.

Even then, he would’ve still been genuinely concerned and wary. Afterall, he’d assessed him just a month and a couple days back so such drastic regressions weren’t normal, all things considered.

At the same time, there was a memory that Aiden hadn’t quite realized had now become crystal ever since he gained a photographic memory.

What should’ve originally been a vague series of memories he had a strong emotional connection to, suddenly surged to the forefront, further fueling his resolve and determination.

More than that, Aiden could now remember it clearly. The very thing that had resulted in his Pop’s death.

’Cerebral hemorrhage.’ the thought was whisper-cold withing the confines of his mind.

It also gave a perfect explanation as to what was happening with his father’s Mind attribute.

Aiden’s only hope right now, was that this regression in the grade of said stat hadn’t happened before he appraised him... especially since all of the man’s stats were in the high B’s.

If that was the case, then the condition was sure to be benign and was in its early stages. Which meant it could be easily treated without any bogus expenses.

If it had though, then the condition had definitely progressed beyond just simple medical interventions. That, for a fact, terrified him, hence the continuous chill running down his spine.

It was also why...

”Hey, Pops. Did you happen to have any accident at work in recent memory?” Aiden suddenly asked of his old man.

Naturally, Richard was a bit taken aback by the out-of-the-blue inquiry.

Placing his newspaper aside though, he then proceeded to answer;

”Not that I can remember. Why do you ask--”

”Wait a minute,” he suddenly cut himself off with a pause, his mutter audible.

Then he thoughtfully added with a hint of a frown;

”One of the metal beams did hit my head last week while we were trying to balance it on another beam...”

”Gave me quite the headache too but I simply chalked it up to--”

Richard hadn’t quite managed to finish that sentence when Aiden sprung to his feet.

”Pops, you’re going for a medical checkup. Right now. CT scan, in fact.” he immediately said, his expression dead serious.

In response, Richard grimaced a bit. Then he proceeded to reply;

”Checkup?”

”Champ, you know I haven’t been to the sterilized grounds of a hospital since, you know...” his voice began trailing off and the youth perfectly understood, his thoughts finishing the sentence;

’...Since mum.’

Ever since his wife died, Richard hadn’t exactly enjoyed walking into a hospital or catching sight of it for that matter. It only seemed to bring back memories he really didn’t enjoy recalling.

Nonetheless, his son dragged him to his feet and said;

”Well, I say we go for one right now. You and me.”

”I know you don’t like it, and I don’t like it either, but I read a post a couple days ago that has me really worried for the health of construction workers out there and I’d rather we don’t take any chances.” Aiden lied, though his expression remained genuinely concerned.

For a brief while, Richard looked at his son whom was now almost at the same height level as him.

The last time he had ever seen him like this with such a palpable sense of distress in his voice and actions, was when his late wife was diagnosed with cancer.

And though he was more than assured that he was perfectly fine, he opted to listen to his son nonetheless, just to put his heart at rest.

To that effect, he let out a resigned sigh a moment after, then nodded his head and said;

”Alright, champ. I hear you. Let’s head out.”

...

...

...

Richard expression was a mix of concerned disbelief as he kept staring at the ceiling of the room he’d been checked into.

Clearly, he was still trying to process the results of the checkup. Afterall, what he’d assumed would be a relatively simple trip to the hospital had turned out far more serious than he’d anticipated.

Soon, he glanced over to his son whom was currently seated on the chair next to his bed, his expression notably calm.

Yet, the man could tell that his son was putting up a brave front for him at the moment, his constant finger taps on the armrest clearly giving it away.

Richard had been diagnosed with a benign intracerebral hemorrhage... one whose prognosis was highly favorable and indicated a low-risk of worsening.

Simply put, there was a small pocket of blood in his brain that was highly stable in its bleeding, hence it hadn’t leaked into where it shouldn’t and could possibly remain as such for a fair while before it started bleeding out and causing irreversible damage.

That also meant it could be treated without having to go down the route of surgical interventions if continuous assessment from the doctors proved that the hemorrhage remained stable and hadn’t enlarged.

In fact, if things remained as is for the next 48 to 72 hours, the doctors had stated that they might begin considering discharge.

To that effect, Aiden had taken it upon himself to keep things as stable as he could from his own end.

It was also why he kept assessing his Pops at frequent intervals by pulling up his panel.

At the same time, he had seriously considered returning the man’s Mind attribute to its former grading.

Yet, he was pretty wary of doing so ’cause he could clearly remember how dizzy he typically felt whenever he bumped up that stat in particular.

Afterall, there was a genuine fear for him that suddenly doing that might cause complications for his old man.

Safe to say, Aiden was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

That was until it clicked for him that he had {Midas Touch}.

From the onset, Aiden’s thoughts towards the skill had been relative to simply using it to upgrade a person’s stats or improve the quality of things on a small scale.

Yet, it wasn’t until this very moment that he realized that he could equally try to employ its very use on a grander scale.

Which was why;

-

› {Richard North} – [20 LP].

└ Heal?

-

Aiden visibly sagged back into his chair, a plethora of emotions washing over him as a shaky breath left his lips... one that had clearly caught Richard’s attention.

Never in his wildest dreams, would he have imagined that {Midas Touch} had this much of an extensive function.

Wasn’t he practically walking around with a god hand at this point?!

If Aiden was being honest, the thought equally scared the living daylights out of him.

This was far too much power for one man to have.

Yet, in that very moment, he couldn’t have been more grateful.

Because even if he didn’t have the required amount of Life Points to get his Pops back in tip-top shape right now...

-

› {Richard North} – [10 LP].

└ Improve condition?

-

... he could at least do this.

But even then, Aiden had to force himself to not accept it on the fly.

It went without saying the sort of problems he could bring upon his Pops if he immediately went through with this.

For starters, it would raise questions that shouldn’t be raised, and problems they would never have answers to.

A sudden, inexplicable improvement in his Pops’ condition would undoubtedly catch the attention of the medical personnel, especially when they were already monitoring the hemorrhage closely.

So, for now, he would let them do their jobs.

He’d give the doctors the illusion that their treatment and continuous monitoring were gradually improving things over the next few twenty-four hours or so.

Only after enough time had passed, and assuming his Pops remained stable, would Aiden quietly follow through with the improvement.

That way, whatever changes occurred afterward could simply be attributed to the natural progression of his treatment.

Because when it came to something this serious, the last thing he needed was for his attempt to save his Pops to become the very thing that put him under a microscope.

”I’ll be fine, champ.” Richard managed to say after a while, his smile assuring as he extended an arm to pat his son’s shoulders whilst adding;

”Since we caught it early, I’m pretty sure it’s only going to be a while before I’m discharged. It’s the best possible scenario that could happen. Even the doctor said so.”

It was then than Aiden realized the sort of impression he must’ve given his father with his prior reaction.

Reassuring him with a genuine smile of his own, Aiden reciprocated his gesture by gently placing a palm onto his Pop’s hand as he said;

”Yeah, I know.”

No sooner had he said that, the doctor walked in alongside a couple nurses for yet another round of close monitoring.

To that, Aiden simply bided his time, waiting for the perfect moment he could comfortably improve his Pop’s condition.