"Seiya, your legs are mechanical prostheses." Doraemon was not the only one who was amazed, as were Nobita's parents. The blue-haired boy just gets nervous about having to show them.
"Do you remember when I told to the Baron when he was running away that he had hurt me before?" The blue-haired boy only exhales "Three years ago, my sister and I lived a normal life, well, almost without taking into account that mom left us. But one of Baron Kurai's attacks happened when my father assumed the presidency of Suchimu, there was explosions and chaos, some died and others were injured, including my sister and me. I lost my legs and my sister her arms." Tamako and Nobisuke are shocked to hear that story. "As dad was left in charge, he inserted us into the company's special prosthetics program out of desperation to save us and have a normal life again. Yes, my case wasn't as dangerous as Nobita's, but dad did everything in his power to try to give us a good life despite everything"
"The risk of a heart is worse than that of legs, but I want to help, we were away from the world for 3 years, with school at home because of the fear that dad had, until he gave us the opportunity to have a normal life again, the first friend I made at school was Nobita, he cared about how I felt when I was down. I consider those kinds of details a lot, I get along very well with Shizuka and Dekisugi and other students but, the first friend means a lot when you come back to a routine that you had to interrupt due to circumstances"
"Poor thing" Tamako says, looking at the metal legs and screws with sadness. "Imagine how many have suffered because of someone who wants power, including you." Seiya nods while putting his boots back on and adjusting the hem of his pants.
"That's why I say yes, I understand what you're going through now, my time with my kids may have been more limited because I agreed to step up and give the twins a second chance, but I'll do whatever it takes for them, I won't rest until all this with the Baron is resolved and if I have to overload myself with work to offer help to other media so that they can stop him, I'll do so. Those prostheses have cost me my time but... Is love like that? No?" Olivier smiles tiredly as he strokes the blue-haired boy's head. "You do what's necessary for them."
"As for the money issue, there is no need for you to pay me for all this." Mr. and Mrs. Nobi is surprised to hear that. "If everything works out, it will benefit both of us equally. I'm grateful to you for how good you were with my children. Reintegrating into routine life after 3 years hasn't been easy for them, but thanks to your son, they were able to open up a little more to the world, especially Seiya, since unlike Melia, he is a little more shy." The blue-haired boy can't help but blush with shame at that comment.
"But we can't accept something so important and expensive just like that, as a father I said I was going to do whatever it took to save my son, but also as a mechanic I know it must have cost you a lot of your time and resources to do that heart. You are about to use a unique prosthesis to save our son, I want to at least repay you at least with the cost of..." Olivier interrupts Mr. Nobi
"I'm very happy that even though I said it wasn't necessary, you want to reciprocate the gesture, it's not very common to see that in people. So let's do something if you insist on it." The president takes out an employment contract "I don't really want monetary compensation because it helps me that you have helped my children a lot, but if you are really insisting on wanting to return the favor, then you are going to work for the company as a mechanic. Of course, you will continue working in your workshop, but you will also do work for us, this way we also avoid misunderstandings with people, Seiya said that you aren't doing it badly, your labor would be the pay, at least in the sight of the curious, since in the same way, you won't have to pay but if you would have to help us with our work, that is what I can offer you. Of course, first let's see what will happen with Nobita regarding the contract."
"A contract at Suchimu Corp? It's very difficult to get a place in that factory." Says Tamako "My husband has been self-employed like the vast majority of mechanics in Sutirushiti, this is something new for us"
Although Nobisuke preferred to continue working as an independent mechanic, he remembered how he had seen Nobita's state: Hurt, weak and with his life hanging by a thread, for him now his son's life was more important, so he signed the consent permission, giving the pen to his wife, who, seeing that he didn't hesitate to sign, does the same and hands both the paper and the pen to the president "Please, save Nobita"
"We will do everything in our power, I promise. And if this doesn't end the way we want, I'll still help you with whatever is necessary." Olivier stands up and takes an old telephone that was on the wall behind the desk "It's me, you can proceed." Once he hangs up the call, he approaches the Nobis and Doraemon again. "They are going to be very hard and long hours, so I ask you to be strong, please."
In the operating room, Dr. Keta walks away from the phone, he was already ready to operate, Hikaru was also ready to assist him along with his colleagues who already had all the machines at their disposal and one of them had a box next to him, there was the main prosthesis. "We have the green light to start operating and replace the heart with the prosthesis"
"Really?" says one of the colleagues.
"There is no other option, anyway, he will be condemned whether we do it or not" Dr. Keta just exhales worriedly.
Curiously, for a moment Nobita regained consciousness a little, weakly opening his eyes a little, but since he didn't have his glasses on, he saw everything blurry and also because of how weak he was, his gaze looked weak and dull due to the condition he was in, another of the doctor's colleagues talks to him. "Sir. We've tried with adults and it didn't work. What's the chance with this child?"
"I promised that I was going to try even if his chances are minimal, the life machine isn't going to keep him with us for long, we must try. Now he has become the Subject 807" The anesthesiologist who was next to the doctor puts the oxygen mask on the kid and then anesthetizes him, making him fall asleep.
The operation had begun, Shizuka, her parents and Dekisugi arrived at the waiting room near the operating room, Melia was waiting for them there. "Shizuka, Dekisugi!"
"Melia! What happened to Nobita?" Asks the girl with the pigtails, who didn't know what to answer since she wasn't in the meeting, then Doraemon arrives, along with Nobita's parents, and Seiya. Tamako was wearing the clothes her son wore that one of the orderlies gave her, including the half-heart necklace.
"Thank you for coming Shizuka, Dekisugi, it means a lot to everyone" Doraemon says smiling "Now they are operating on Nobita, let's hope everything goes well, now everything depends on whether the heart accepts him"
"I figured Nobi needed a heart transplant, from what little I saw, his condition was very bad. It's good that you were able to get a donor in time" Dekisugi says to which Seiya shakes his head.
"Actually, there are no donors, but there is a somewhat different substitute." While the Minamotos were talking to Nobita's parents, Seiya approaches both kids and his sister to tell them the news, both newcomers are surprised.
"A mechanical heart? Impressive, I thought something like this was impossible due to the level of difficulty of imitating the human heart without consequences." The smart boy is surprised but at the same time impressed by the new information.
"Wow, so they're going to use the prosthesis, let's hope everything turns out well, because if not..." Melia covers her mouth and looks at Shizuka "B-but everything's going to turn out well! We just have to have hope!"
Shizuka just looks at the half heart necklace and the cap in her arms, she starts walking towards the adults. "We are very sorry for what happened to Nobita, we know that you are going through a very difficult time, we hope that everything goes well for you. We want to thank him when he gets out of this. Your son saved our daughter when she was trapped with the one who caused all this and he defended her" says Shizuka's father.
"I appreciate it. Is that true?" Tamako says surprised.
"That's true" Shizuka arrives with them "Nobita defended me from the baron when he tried to kill me using the ship we made as a project, he didn't leave me alone." She just looks at the cap and shows it to Nobisuke "I know this cap means a lot to him, that's why I protected it until he could have it with him again" Seiya, Melia and Doraemon come over to see the scene.
"It is, the cap was given to him by my mother when he was younger, she felt that it was time to go due to old age, so she wanted to leave him one last memory, he adored her very much and that is why it is a valuable object for Nobita. Thank you very much for taking care of it." Mr. Nobi smiles as do the other adults, Seiya now understood why Nobita always prioritized the cap among other things, he can't help but get a little closer.
"Could I keep the cap a little longer? It has a cut right at the top and I would like to repair it." The couple agrees to Shizuka's request and she is grateful.
"Nobita didn't just save Shizuka." The adults turn to look at Seiya. "I heard from Dr. Keta that there were no fatalities and only injuries, and that's because Nobita noticed a couple of strange people at the event and he told me that"
"It's them" Nobita says in the great hall
"They?" The blue haired boy asks confused.
"Yes, a while ago I saw a couple of adults with black suits and dark goggles talking and now they are looking at the inventions on display, they look strange" The silly boy says, confused and thinking that it was just a couple of strange guys who liked the black color.
"Because he noticed those pair of Baron Kurai's henchmen, Dr. Keta called in the Sutirushiti Special Forces and they neutralized a large number of bombs that were under the building, if they had exploded together with the ones that did there, many would have been dead and the number of injured would have been worse."
Everyone is shocked by the horrible possibility that was avoided "I had no idea. So Nobita saved many just by telling you about this" Doraemon says surprised and the blue-haired boy nods.
Shizuka's father was surprised but immediately smiles "Shizuka" the girl with the pigtails looks at her father "Your friend really is a good child"
Dekisugi nods and Shizuka looks at the cap in her arms. "He is."
Inside the Suchimu president's office at the hospital, Olivier was arranging the paperwork with a folder with the number 807 while Mia who had arrived at the hospital and had heard what Seiya said, arrives at the office and sits in front of him. "I have heard about the attack, it was thanks to 81's friend that the damage was less, since he reported the strange behavior"
"Wow, I had no idea, I think now I have to thank him for something else when he wakes up and meets him" says Olivier writing on one of the papers
Mia just exhales sadly. "The mechanical heart of the program has rejected many adults. Why give false hope to his parents? I think it's better to be honest and tell them directly that this isn't going to work."
Olivier just scratches his forehead tiredly "Come on Mia, you never know. Like I said, the posibilities are low but never 0"
"I'm just being realistic, as a mechanic I know that these types of inventions are very complicated for the human system, I respect the former owner and founder, but the prosthesis is difficult. Making a couple believe that their child is going to survive is only going to hurt them."
Olivier only sketches a hopeful smile "106, I think it's better in these moments to think more with the heart than with the brain. Let's see what happens and if not, it's better to give a happy hope than to go directly to a possible harsh reality." Olivier only jokes, pointing to the orange-haired girl's eyes. "Don't get carried away just by what your eyes tell you."
"You're as bad with phrases as Hanz" Mia just exhales tiredly.
As Olivier said, there were long, hard hours for everyone, the school director had announced that the school was going to be closed due to investigations in the area for a few days. They were the most complicated moments while the Nobis were sitting in the waiting room, there was only one thing: Everything depended on Nobita.
Doraemon takes out some blankets from his pockets to pass them to those waiting there, it was already 10 at night. "I want to stay and wait, I won't leave Nobita alone" Shizuka says as she takes refuge in the heat of the blanket.
"It's already 10 o'clock honey, we can come back tomorrow morning, you haven't eaten anything" Shizuka's mother says but she refuses to leave.
"I can no longer trust what can happen if I let my guard down." The image of Nobita being hurt in front of her eyes keeps going through her head. "I want to stay."
"I will stay here to see Nobi's situation. Shizuka, you have to go rest, as his friend I must also watch over him. Please" Dekisugi says, worried about the girl's situation, but she just hugs the cap without wanting to move.
"Come on, surely Nobita wouldn't want to see you like this" Doraemon says "You're tired and shocked because you saw firsthand what happened, much closer than us, you're the one who needs to rest the most."
"But..." Shizuka doesn't finish speaking when Dr. Keta leaves the operating room tiredly along with Hikaru, everyone immediately approaches the doctor.
"Doctor! What happened?! How is our son?!" Nobisuke trembles with anxiety and nerves waiting for an answer.
"The first phase has been completed, your son is strong, not many of the adult volunteers who volunteered for the prosthesis passed this phase. The transplant was complicated because we are talking about a mechanical prosthesis of a vital organ, but we managed to transplant it"
You could feel a little relief in the room, especially on the part of Shizuka who began to lovingly hug the cap of her friend who saved her. "And now, what's next?" Doraemon asks.
"The second phase is the adaptation study, if your child manages to spend at least 72 hours with the heart, which is the longest time our volunteers lasted, we could consider this as a mission accomplished" says Dr. Keta smiling "But If his body ends up rejecting the heart before the deadline is up, I'm afraid we'll have to go back to life support and then say goodbye. Now it all depends on your son's strength, we had to induce him into a coma to make this process more feasible for him. After 72 hours we will see what happens, also, there will be some alterations due to his body struggling to accept the heart, so he will have a lot of pain, so I will be very attentive to stabilize him when he needs it"
Everyone looks at each other, part of the problem had passed, now we just had to wait more, just... 72 more hours