Late at night, Chen Yu, dressed in a white lab coat and humming a little tune, walked toward McCardel’s hospital room.
His luck from getting the sports massage technique yesterday continued, and today he had managed to get a Bronze Level treatment effect.
Chen Yu didn’t save it, using it on McCardel right away.
Two Bronze Level treatment effects.
Combined with acupuncture and the boost from the sports massage technique, even if it couldn’t compare to the miracle of Hill’s swelling disappearing in twenty-four hours, it should be enough to make McCardel’s swelling go down within forty-eight hours.
After the swelling went down, another week of rehabilitation training would definitely allow him to be ready for the game against the Cleveland Browns on the 3rd of next month.
For a doctor, a reputation is built by successfully treating one patient after another.
Curing McCardel would be the start of Chen Yu making a name for himself in the National Football League.
Moreover, through McCardel, he had also met his agent.
Boston had asked him about treatment following a cartilage removal surgery. He hadn’t specified who the patient was, but Chen Yu already had a good idea.
Chen Yu had specifically looked up Boston’s agency.
Its primary business was in the NFL, with 17 players under its management.
But at present, there was no news of any of those 17 players having suffered cartilage damage.
In the NBA, however, it was a different story.
Boston didn’t have much business in the NBA, representing only three players.
Rashard Lewis of the Supersonics, and this year’s rookie for the Bucks, Michael Redd.
Both of them were relative nobodies in the NBA.
But the final player was another matter entirely.
Chen Yu had only just discovered that Boston was the agent for none other than the famous successor to Jordan, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway!
And just last week, this superstar had been injured again.
He happened to be someone who had undergone cartilage removal surgery.
Boston must have been consulting him on Hardaway’s behalf.
Chen Yu couldn’t help but marvel. ’First Hill, and now Hardaway. Am I destined to keep dealing with Jordan’s successors?’
’But this is even better.’
Chen Yu needed a reputation in the industry, and there was no better way to get famous than by healing a top-tier superstar.
Although Hardaway’s stats had declined in the last two years due to injuries, as Jordan’s hand-picked successor, he was still one of the most-watched stars in the United States.
This was especially true after Jordan’s second retirement last year.
There hadn’t been any follow-up from Boston yet.
That was to be expected. Hardaway had just gotten injured last week and probably hadn’t decided on a course of treatment yet.
And given his status, he could pick from countless top medical experts in the United States, and even the entire world.
He himself was just a nobody who had recently gotten his medical license. If not for his work treating Hill and the recommendation from the Mayo Clinic, Boston probably wouldn’t have given him a second glance.
With these thoughts in mind, Chen Yu entered the hospital room.
It was almost midnight, but McCardel was still awake, watching TV.
When he saw Chen Yu enter, he looked like a student caught cheating on an exam and hurriedly fumbled for the remote to turn off the TV.
Chen Yu had instructed him to get plenty of rest.
Chen Yu sighed inwardly.
’Hill is so much more disciplined in this respect,’ he thought.
"I’ll get it."
Chen Yu grabbed the remote from the foot of the bed, preparing to turn off the TV.
Hm?
His eyes swept over the TV, and he suddenly frowned.
The TV was tuned to ESPN, airing a late-night program called "Sports Today"—a talk show that covered the day’s events in the sports world.
And right now, the two hosts were talking about Hill?
Chen Yu stopped, crossed his arms, and started watching the screen.
On the show, a man who called himself a sports expert was being interviewed remotely. "I’ve seen the footage of Hill’s activity during the event," he said. "First of all, it certainly wasn’t a real game. It didn’t even have the intensity of a scrimmage."
"But you can tell his movement wasn’t restricted. For instance, on this play, he pulls to the left for a three-pointer—the whole sequence is very fluid. And that final play, a crossover and drive to the basket for a layup, his posture looked very natural."
"From my professional standpoint, his left foot seems to have recovered most of its function."
"He was injured on November 3rd. At the time, media reports said it was a sprained left ankle with no structural damage. It has been exactly three weeks since then. That’s plenty of time for a sprained ankle to heal completely. He should be able to start rejoining the team, begin with some low-intensity training, spend a week getting acclimated, and then return to the court."
"The whole recovery process is very standard and safe."
Hearing this, Chen Yu’s brow knitted into a deep frown.
’Did I time travel or something?’
’Why is Hill, who’s supposed to be recovering from an injury, on a court playing in a 3-on-3 game?’
’I was just thinking about how disciplined you are, and you go and pull a stunt like this?’
Chen Yu immediately pulled out his phone and called Hill.
No answer!
Then Chen Yu remembered that, at his insistence, Hill had to be in bed before eleven o’clock every night.
He usually kept his phone on silent.
On the TV, the two hosts had already begun discussing a timeline for Hill’s comeback.
"Dr. Chen, is Hill already cleared to return?" McCardel asked, pointing at the TV.
’Return my ass!’ Chen Yu cursed inwardly.
Of course, Hill’s sprained ankle was completely healed. There was no issue there, which was why he could move around normally.
’But there’s still the problem with his cartilage!’
Even though Hill had received PRP therapy and Chen Yu’s own daily, nonstop circulation-stimulating treatments, and had recovered to a degree, the underlying damage still existed.
If Hill were an ordinary person, Chen Yu could have happily declared him fully healed and able to resume normal activities without any problems.
But Hill was a professional athlete. His current condition was like a ticking time bomb in his ankle; there was no telling when it might go off and cause far more serious consequences.
It was just like with Hardaway. What may have started as a minor injury could get progressively worse until, in the end, there was no choice but to remove the cartilage.
"No, his situation is complicated." Chen Yu turned off the TV, then motioned for McCardel to expose his knee for a massage.
A session right before bed was more effective.
Keenan noticed Chen Yu’s expression was off and was tactful enough not to ask any questions.
However, Chen Yu couldn’t stop himself from saying a few more words. "Keenan, your knee is in bad shape. I know you have a family to support and you need this job, but I’m still advising you to be careful with that knee. Then, during the offseason next year, get it treated as comprehensively as possible."
"You just had a baby son this year, and I can see how much you love him. You told me he’s got a strong grip and loves to play with a football. You want to train him to get into the NFL one day, right? You don’t want to end up with a permanently damaged knee, unable to train him personally, do you?"
McCardel’s brow furrowed. After a long moment, he nodded firmly. "I get it, Chen."
Chen Yu said no more. After finishing the massage and reminding him to rest well, he got up and left.
Returning to his office, Chen Yu didn’t rest. He immediately began drawing up the next phase of McCardel’s rehabilitation plan.
Originally, Chen Yu had planned to stay for another two days and return to Orlando only after McCardel was discharged from the hospital.
’Looks like there’s no time for that now.’
’Hill is humble, upstanding... he’s a great guy in every respect. His only flaw is that he’s too easily swayed. This is probably the Magic’s management pulling strings again.’
’When it comes to forcing players back early for the sake of team performance, they’re no better than the Pistons’ management.’

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