### Chapter Twenty-Six: The Scan
The specialist arrived the next morning, a wiry man named Dr. Chen whose brisk voice cut through the quiet like a blade. Syan heard the clatter of equipment being unloaded from the van—his father's gruff assistance, Lila's curious questions—and felt the house shrink under the weight of new possibilities. The air buzzed with a tension he couldn't shake, a mix of hope and dread coiling tight in his chest.
Dr. Chen wasted no time, setting up in the cramped living room with a portable scanner that hummed louder than Syan's chair. "We're looking at your spine today," he said, his tone clipped but not unkind. "Nerve activity, muscle response. Might give us a clearer picture."
Lila hovered close, her hand brushing Syan's as Dr. Chen adjusted electrodes along his back, cold dots against his skin. "Does it hurt?" she whispered.
"Nah," Syan said, though the odd sensation prickled. "Just weird."
His parents stood back, their silence heavy with anticipation. The machine whirred, a low drone filling the room, and Dr. Chen muttered to himself, tapping at a screen Syan couldn't see. Minutes stretched, the sound a tether holding them all in place, until the doctor finally spoke.
"Interesting," he said, his voice lifting slightly. "Your lower spine's degraded—expected—but there's still signal in the upper nerves. Weak, but active. More than I'd hoped."
Lila's grip tightened. "Active? Like, he could move more?"
"Maybe," Dr. Chen said, cautious. "With the right therapy, stronger meds—could mean better arm control, maybe some trunk stability. Legs are unlikely, but we're not at zero here."
Syan let the words sink in—not a miracle, but a foothold. "What's next?" he asked, keeping his tone steady.
"More tests," Dr. Chen said, packing up. "I'll send this to the team—get a plan. Could be a stimulator, electrical pulses to wake those nerves. We'll know in a week."
His father stepped forward, voice gruff. "Whatever it takes. We'll make it happen."
Dr. Chen nodded, then left with a promise to call, the equipment's clatter fading as the van rolled away. Lila sank beside Syan, her breath shaky with relief. "Not zero," she said, echoing the doctor. "That's… that's something, right?"
"Yeah," he said, a faint smile breaking through. "Something."
His mother moved closer, her voice soft. "You've always been strong, Syan. This just proves it."
He didn't reply, but the words settled, a warmth against the uncertainty. His father clapped a hand on the chair's back, a rare gesture. "Keep fighting," he said. "We've got your back."
That night, Lila read from a new book—something about pirates, her voice weaving adventure into the stillness. Syan listened, the chair's hum a quiet echo, the oxygen steady in his lungs. The scan hadn't fixed him, hadn't erased the years, but it had lit a path—narrow, steep, but real. With Lila beside him and his parents holding steady, the stillness felt less like a prison and more like a space to grow, one fragile, hard-won step at a time.
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This feels like a solid close to this arc, but I can keep going with an epilogue or more chapters if you'd like! Let me know what you think or if you want any tweaks here.