"All right, you can try getting down and taking a few steps now."
Brad took off his purely symbolic rubber gloves and clapped his hands, signaling to Barbara that the operation was over.
"But you only gave her a shot in the lower back with some weird-looking syringe..."
Nightwing scratched his head. When Barbara tried to get up, he hurried forward to support her by one hand. Then he watched in shock as his girlfriend lifted a leg and planted both feet on the floor.
Barbara's legs were weak after so long without walking. Even with Nightwing's help, she could barely shuffle along one small step at a time, but there was no question that her paralysis had been cured.
At Barbara's own request, she had chosen the nanobot injection. Brad had thoughtfully prepared a tiny dose of Pain Blocker as well, making the repair of her spinal nerves less painful.
The paralysis that had plagued the Gordon family for so long had been cured with a single, simple injection. After walking for the first time in ages, Barbara thanked Brad with tears in her eyes.
"No big deal. It was just a simple exchange. Batman agreed to let me use this old Batcave from now on. A perfectly ordinary trade of equal value."
Equal value?
Barbara fell silent. Over the years, Bruce Wayne had found countless renowned neurologists for her. The cost of all those consultations and examinations had long since exceeded the value of this Batcave.
Yet after examining Barbara's condition, every one of those leading neurological specialists had shaken their head and said they dared not attempt such a risky operation.
It wasn't that there was no hope of a cure at all, but the odds of success were far too slim. Of course, those specialists weren't