The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

The guests exchanged excited glances and raised their glasses in celebration, the atmosphere buzzing with energy.

"How should we pick the ten people?" someone called out from the crowd.

Karen flashed a small smile, microphone in hand, and slowly said, "There will be a raffle drum on stage filled with lots of cards, each bearing four different symbols. Those who scratch off the orchid symbol will be the lucky participants! Of course, there are only ten orchids."

With a gentle gesture, a crimson raffle drum was brought up and placed center stage.

Guests lined up, taking turns to draw their lots, each one eagerly scratching their card, hoping for the orchid.

Karen, with a light voice, announced, "Now, those who have found the orchid symbol, please come up and state your wish. I'll do my best to fulfill it."

The first to approach was a middle-aged man in a dark blue suit, sitting across from Karen. His pale, slightly gaunt face betrayed his anxiety as he hesitated, "Can you really solve any problem?" Karen's eyes shone with a calming light, "I'll agree to one request. Speak freely, within my means."

The man, not overly hopeful but desperate for a miracle, shared, "I've been sick, consulted numerous doctors to no avail. When the illness strikes, my heart races, I break out in cold sweats, and my skin erupts in crimson blisters covering my body, save for my face and neck. The ones on my chest have burst open and are festering. Can you help me?"

so many was a monumental act of bravery

directly addressed it, "The blisters have reached your neck.

neck, panic-stricken, "Can

serene, asked to examine his

the audience, until those near the stage encouraged him, suggesting the women could

vest, revealing his torso. The sight of densely packed, festering blisters oozing yellow

heat" condition typical of intense irritation and prescribed a treatment involving care herbs, "May Grass" and "April Blossom," not commonly found but available through the Linklater family. She instructed him to mix these with other herbs and apply the concoction to his wounds twice a day

was palpable, his eyes brimming with

prognosis reassured the audience, who

as Cory, a postdoctoral researcher from M State Newford College's Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, he sought Karen's insight on a perplexing scientific question regarding the conversion of skin

sharing her own experiences with iPSCs and their potential in studying Parkinson's disease, a subject of

to

either