Chapter 5 : Jacob's Story.

"Was it truly necessary?, I mean, you could have just used chloroform" asked Ivan, as he stood over, Lisa's unconscious body.

"There wasn't enough time for that, besides, I made sure she didn't feel anything" assured, Llyod.

As the protégé to Eric Weissman, Lloyd had mastered the art of "silent subjugation", granting him the ability to knock almost anyone out via pressure points at the back of their neck.

The recipient felt no pain, and there was no permanent damage.

But why exactly did Lloyd knock out his new wife?

The answer to that question lay behind the underground facility Ivan was currently driving into.

He couldn't risk her waking up and seeing the location of this facility, as it would put her life in danger.

Ever since Lloyd saw Lisa in her current condition, stricken with cancer because she saved his life, he was stricken with grief.

The only thing that caused him more pain was death of his family.

So since then, he knew that his next mission would be to fix this mistake.

As soon as they entered into the underground facility, Lloyd would carry Lisa out of the vehicle, refusing Ivan's help.

This was his weight to bear, he caused this and he will fix it.

The facility they had just entered was the national institute of core medicine.

The highest medical institution in the country.

As the Dragon duke, one of Lloyd's many powers was that of the Supreme healer of the nation.

It was a position that many didn't even know existed, but it meant that Lloyd was by far the greatest doctor in the country, which granted his access to this top secret facility.

In front of the facility were a group of men in dark suits wearing, dark glasses, carrying dark briefcases.

Lloyd had summoned these aids all the way from the capital, carrying his equipment in those dark briefcases.

Once Lloyd successful had Lisa on the operating table, the aids dropped the briefcases.

"OUT!" he ordered them, and they all scurried away.

Ivan would leave the operation room, but made sure to remain close in case of emergency, but knowing his boss, there probably wouldn't be any need.

Lloyd, opened these briefcases, and would on the spot create a "Regeneration solution", something he personally created himself, perhaps the most potent drug in the world.

The procedure he was about to perform on Lisa was perhaps the most complicated on the planet.

Lloyd was going to destroy Lisa's lungs, and also every part of her body infected with the Cancer, and then restore her body using this regeneration solution.

The process would take Lloyd the rest of the day, He didn't eat or drink within this period, but remained sharp as ever.

By the time he was done, over 16 hours later, Lisa had been almost entirely broken down and built back up.

The process was a complete success, and Lisa was now completely cancer free.

She was still unconscious, however, and she'd probably remain that way for the next few days, as her body worked to rebuild.

Lloyd decided to head to a suite within the facility, there he took a shower and got some sleep.

When he woke up, it had been exactly 24 hours since he dropped Jacob off at the hospital, and now it was the perfect time to return there.

This time, Lloyd didn't take the limousine, so he and Ivan would head over to the hospital using a taxi.

Once inside the hospital, Lloyd would demand to speak to the doctor concerning Jacob's condition.

"So doctor, how is my friend doing?, surely he's awake by now?" asked Lloyd.

But he would find the doctor's next words very unsatisfactory.

"Unfortunately Jacob is not yet awake, but he is stable"

"WHY ISN'T HE STILL AWAKE?!" asked Lloyd, trying to control his temper.

"I won't work without money, Mr Harland, you didn't pay me before leaving, and I had a lot of other patients to attend to, so..." The doctor would respond in a snub tone.

"You wanted a bribe before you'd treat my friend?" asked Lloyd baffled by the doctors brazen corruption.

"You are perhaps the least important person to bring me a patient in a week sir, so of course I wouldn't abandon my other patients to treat yours without.... incentives" the doctor replied, disrespecting Lloyd.

As disgusted as Lloyd was, he knew he had to control his temper, he didn't want to cause too much of a scene.

"Where did you keep him?" asked Lloyd.

"He's in the Emergency room, if you're too broke to incentivize for his treatment, and will have him disconnected from life support, and his corpse will be returned to you" said the doctor, in cold voice.

"Don't bother, I'll treat him myself" said Lloyd, as he began heading towards the ER.

The doctor, shocked by Lloyd's brazen sudden audacity, attempted to stop.

"Don't you dare go in there, that place is for trained professionals only, if you do I will call security" said the doctor, grabbing hold of Lloyd's shoulder.

In a flash, Lloyd would grab hold of his hand before twisting it and throwing the doctor on the ground.

“Argh”, yelled the doctor, as onlookers looked on, horrified.

"What the fuck do you think you're..." the doctors words were stopped by the ID he saw in front of him.

It was a Supreme medical doctorate from the nation institute of medicine, the highest medical known degree in the country.

This gave Dean the right to judge the actions of any doctor in the country, and if he deemed them unsatisfactory...

"It would seem that I am a more qualified professional than you, and I declare your current work at this institution, unsatisfactory"

The doctors eyes widened in horror, he had no Idea a man who looked as basic as Lloyd would have such a high medical position.

"Please... Please sir, I didn't know,I'm sorry, I'll treat your friend right away" pleaded the doctor.

"It's too late for that now doc... You're fired" was Lloyd's last words to the doctor.

****

Jacob opened his eyes slowly, his body felt heavier than it had ever been before.

He tried sitting upright on the bed, before feeling a calming hand on his shoulders.

“Hey man… relax, don't try to push yourself” said the voice.

Jacob looked slightly to his right to see who exactly was speaking to him, and his eyes widened the moment he saw who it was.

“Lloyd?” he asked, his voice filled with emotion.

“Yeah… it's me” replied Lloyd.

“You dropped this” added Lloyd, as he handed Jacob his ID card.

“How… how the hell did you get the…” the realization hit Jacob like a truck.

“Oh my God… it was you, yesterday… the guy in my taxi” realized Lloyd.

“Yeah” responded Lloyd, his voice low and saddened.

“Oh my God, I… I sent those thugs after… they would have killed you” said Jacob, his face filled with horror.

“Nah… don't worry about it, I can take care of myself” assured Lloyd.

“I'm so sorry, Lloyd… we haven't seen each other in over 10 years, and the first time we meet… I guess I am truly a failure” said Jacob, as tears began to form in his eyes.

Lloyd let him cry, he knew that in his situation, it would be more beneficial for him to let out his emotions.

He had spent the last hour reviving Lloyd with his regeneration serum, and it worked out well.

After Jacob had taken a minute to cry, Lloyd would ask him, “What happened to you Jacob, how did you end up like this?”

“A series of unfortunate events, Lloyd” he replied.

“At one point, my life was going great… everything was moving according to plan, then suddenly… everything that could go wrong sort of did” he added.

“I'm here for you Jacob” said Lloyd in a gentle voice.

“Tell me what happened”

Jacob began to look at Lloyd with suspicion, “Does it really matter… I mean, I thought you died with your family for all these years, why do you care?” he asked.

“I want to help you, Lloyd… I can see your current situation isn't the best, you're my friend, and I would like to see this change” replied Lloyd.

"My girlfriend, Anne" began Jacob.

"My life spiralled after my girlfriend died, I was about to propose to her at a restaurant, and a gang war broke out... She was shot"

"And then I got fired from my job for..." Jacob scoffed, a pained smile on his face as tears ran down his cheeks.

"I got fired for taking too long to mourn her, I couldn't find another job, so I had to get involved with the gangs", Jacob explained.

"So they're the ones that set you up to ambush me?" asked Lloyd.

"Yeah, the gangs get their money from all sources, kidnapping, mugging, and robbery are some of the few ways they do it, using patsies like me to scout possible targets" replied Jacob.

"What about the rest of the gang, Larry and Morty, what happened to them?" asked Lloyd.

"Morty works with his dad on with the police department" replied Jacob.

"But don't be fooled by this, that department is as corrupt as they come, and Morty right along with them" he added, removing Jacob's assurances.

"He's an enforcer for his dad, nothing more, I barely see him, but when I do, he acts like he doesn't even know me" concluded Jacob.

"And Walker, what about him?" Asked Lloyd.

"I actually don't know what happened to Walker" replied Jacob, "last I heard he was with the gangs, but I haven't heard anything concrete"

Lloyd sighed, despite not getting the most detailed info on his other two friends, he at least something to work with.

Looking at Jacob in his decrepit state, Lloyd felt genuine pity for his friend.

"Look Jacob, you can't remain in this situation, I have big plans for this city going forward, and you're going to be a part of it" said Lloyd.

"How, I am a junkie with no money, what could I possibly do for you?" asked Jacob.

Lloyd could only smile, "Oh you have no idea just how much you'll do for me" replied Lloyd.

"For now, just focus on getting sober, and about being broke... Don't worry, I'll make sure you never worry about money again" added Lloyd.

Jacob was shocked by Lloyd's words, what exactly happened in the last decade that Lloyd could now promise him such a thing.

"I'll leave you to get some rest, Jacob, but we'll see each other again real soon" promised Lloyd as he soon left the room.

"How did it go Boss?" asked Ivan as Lloyd stepped out of the room.

"It went well enough, but we're going to have to"

Lloyd's words were stopped in its tracks by a man in a black overcoat and dark glasses walking towards them.

But what he saw on the man's hand was something that caused an ancient rage to rise within Lloyd like never before.

A symbol he remembered well.

IT WAS THE DRAGON TATTOO!