The Million-Dollar Heart

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."

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

a monumental act of bravery for him, a sign of

anomaly, she directly addressed it, "The blisters have reached your

his neck,

serene, asked to

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

his embarrassment, he removed his suit, followed by a black shirt, and then a white vest, revealing his torso. The sight of densely packed, festering blisters oozing yellow pus was profoundly disturbing, their stench driving those nearby to recoil

not commonly found but available through the Linklater

man's relief was palpable, his

the audience, who nodded

clutching a stack of academic papers approached. Introducing himself 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

briefly reviewing Cory's research before sharing her own experiences with iPSCs and their potential in studying Parkinson's disease,