Carter stared quietly at Chen Yu for a long moment, then gave up.
"Alright, I guess their bodies really are in great shape." Since Chen Yu wouldn’t say, Carter didn’t press the issue.
He guessed that Chen Yu probably had some special expertise, particularly when it came to post-operative rehabilitation.
’What doctor doesn’t have a few special tricks up their sleeve?’
And this brought back the idea that had sprouted in Carter’s mind after he left yesterday. Setting down the medical file, he began to talk about the patient who needed treatment this time.
This person’s name was Douglas Hurley.
He had just been selected as a NASA astronaut last summer and was currently undergoing training. He had been accidentally injured during a physical training session, resulting in a left knee ligament injury accompanied by a cartilage fracture.
Carter could perform surgery to repair the ligament injury himself, but the cartilage fracture was more troublesome.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle it; he had no problem performing the surgery.
However, the recovery was not easy, which was why Carter had tentatively sought him out after seeing Hill’s case file.
Then, he had been completely blindsided by how skilled Chen Yu was in the area of post-op rehab.
With a cartilage fracture, the most difficult part is the rehabilitation.
"He’s been in training for less than a year." Carter sighed. Hurley had an old back injury and often came to him for pain management. Over time, they became good friends.
"You should know how difficult it is to become an astronaut. He flew fighter jets for a full ten years for this day, and he was finally selected. Plus, his performance during training has always been excellent. It would be a terrible shame if this injury caused him to be eliminated in the end."
Chen Yu sighed as well.
’The cartilage fracture is easy to deal with, the key is still the post-op recovery.’
’If I want it to be fast and effective, I’ll have to use a treatment effect.’
’But the number of patients is increasing. At this rate, even if I find a way to grind for treatment effects, it won’t be enough.’
Still, since the person had come to him, Chen Yu was willing to help.
’Helping out NASA can’t be a bad thing.’
’They develop all sorts of high-tech stuff just to train astronauts. Maybe I can get early access and use it in my own clinic.’
"How about this, just have him come directly to my clinic. I’ll take charge of his treatment."
’I can just fix the torn ligament while I’m at it.’
’To upgrade my ligament repair technique, no amount of ligaments is too few.’
"Okay." Carter didn’t refuse. From Hardaway’s case file, it was clear Chen Yu also had a knack for repairing ligaments. He paused for a moment, then added, "Chen, I’ve noticed you have a great deal of experience with rehabilitation therapy, and our astronauts are also frequently injured. If it’s possible, I think we could perhaps cooperate and send our astronauts to your clinic for their recovery."
After witnessing Chen Yu’s methods yesterday, this idea had started to form in his mind.
After coming over today, this idea became even stronger.
Chen Yu called this place a clinic, but it was actually more like a sanatorium with outstanding medical technology.
"Why wouldn’t that be possible?" Chen Yu’s eyes lit up.
’From now on, can my clinic be considered a cooperative medical institution for NASA?’
’That’s a pretty big gold-plated sign.’
’Most importantly, every single astronaut is a treasured asset, and the government isn’t short on cash. The income earned from them would be no less than what you’d get from a star athlete like Ronaldo.’
’Although I didn’t invest a single cent in this clinic, the higher the revenue, the more I’ll get in dividends.’
Next, Chen Yu gave Carter another tour of the clinic. After seeing him off, he suddenly received a call from Monty.
"Chen, I hope you can help Tracy." After the pleasantries, Monty made his request in a heavy tone.
’McGrady?’
"What’s wrong with him?" Chen Yu was a little slow to react.
’He’s injured? I don’t think so.’
Chen Yu kept records of all injured players in the league.
Monty sighed. "We don’t know what’s wrong with him either. He’s been training incredibly hard lately, the kind that scares me just to watch. And in games, he’s been playing with extraordinary effort. He played in all 16 games last month without a single rest, averaging 32.2 points per game, even higher than Iverson."
"Although we’ve won a lot of games, I feel like if he keeps playing like this, something is bound to go wrong sooner or later."
McGrady had been practicing his jump shot since before the All-Star Game, but that wasn’t something you could master just by practicing. His scoring still mainly relied on attacking the rim.
To average over 30 points a game, you can imagine how many times he had to attack the rim each night.
The key was that he didn’t have Hill to help shoulder the defensive pressure. McGrady often found himself double-teamed. To average that many points, he was truly playing his heart out.
Monty continued, "The week before last, in the game against the Pacers, he got blocked out of the air by Little O’Neal and fell on his back. The checkup said nothing was wrong. Two days later, against the Digital People, he played a full 47 minutes with almost no rest."
"He didn’t say anything, but I can tell his back must be in a lot of pain. Every time he showers after a game, he always stays in the shower room for a very long time before coming out."
"Chen, Houston tries hard, and David is a good guy, but they’re just not skilled enough. I think if Tracy keeps playing like this, he’s going to have a major problem. Can you find some time to come over and check on him? We’d rather trust you."
Houston was very diligent with his massages, but the results just couldn’t compare to Chen Yu’s.
Chen Yu understood.
"That fool," Chen Yu sighed.
’He’s pushing himself this hard, obviously to fulfill his promise to Hill.’
’But that idiot, doesn’t he know that winning games isn’t a one-man job?’
’There are five of you on the court. Wanting the team to win, to create time for Hill to recover, that’s not just on you. It’s on the whole team.’
But McGrady was the quiet, reserved type, not one to show off. Chen Yu could understand why he kept it to himself.
’The key is, it’s not like you don’t know your own condition.’
’Scoliosis. I specifically told you not to train too hard, didn’t I?’
"Okay, how about tomorrow? I’ll go take a look." Chen Yu calculated the schedule.
The Phoenix Suns were on their last five-game road trip of the season, so he didn’t need to travel with the team.
At the same time, the Suns’ record was under no pressure; they were a lock for the playoffs.
And to be honest, it wouldn’t make much difference even if the Suns didn’t make the playoffs.
Brian had already pinned his hopes on next season. After Hardaway’s return, he could accept any outcome for this season.
So, a trip to Orlando was no big deal.
"Thank you," Monty said gratefully.
Chen Yu hung up the phone. ’Thinking about it, the atmosphere within the Magic team is actually pretty good. Otherwise, if you trained too hard and were about to get injured, who would care?’
With a sigh, Chen Yu turned and went to find Carl.
’Before I go, I should probably take two treatment effects with me.’
Chen Yu found Carl in the general ward.
It was a two-person room. Besides Carl, there was another patient with high-level paraplegia.
Her name was Sarah Lancashire.
She was only twenty-three this year, a recent college graduate in the prime of her life. But unfortunately, while coming home late from working overtime one night, she was clubbed from behind by a street punk.
Her wallet was stolen.
The pathetic thing was, her wallet only contained 23 US dollars.
For just those 23 US dollars, a 19-year-old punk went to prison, and Sarah was left bedridden forever.
She had soft blonde hair, a sprinkle of freckles on her cheeks, and because of some United Kingdom heritage, her eyes were a gem-like light green.
She was a very optimistic girl. When Chen Yu entered the room, she greeted him with a cheerful smile, saying that she had already learned how to press the TV remote with a stick held in her mouth to change the channel herself.
"That’s great. Keep it up," Chen Yu said encouragingly, walking over to Carl’s bed.
Jennifer had already stood up, nodding at Chen Yu with a smile.
She was glowing, her complexion much improved.
It was because she saw Carl improving. Although there were still no signs of him waking up, thanks to Chen Yu’s daily, uninterrupted massages and Acupuncture, Carl’s body was filling out. His face was no longer sallow and gaunt, but had gained some color.
Most importantly, the care at the clinic was excellent, which had lightened her burden considerably.
Caring for a patient in a vegetative state who was fed through a nasogastric tube was very troublesome.
Chen Yu didn’t waste any words and got straight to grinding for experience.
After finishing with Carl, he turned to work on Sarah.
A faint, foul odor hung in the air. Sarah blushed, looked at Chen Yu guiltily, and said, embarrassed, "Sorry, I think I soiled myself."
"It’s alright." Chen Yu was already used to it. He called a nurse over to help change her diaper.
He helped turn her over as well.
Sarah felt even more guilty. As Chen Yu performed Acupuncture on her, she couldn’t help but ask, "Chen, is there any hope that I’ll ever stand up again?"
Chen Yu was taken aback for a moment.
Sarah had a cervical spine dislocation from trauma, which caused nerve damage resulting in high-level paraplegia. The hope of her regaining sensation was about the same as the chance of Carl waking up—basically zero.
"Who knows? You never know," Chen Yu said with a smile, continuing the Acupuncture.
Sarah was smiling too, but her emerald-green eyes were filled with bitterness.
His luck was good. Today, Chen Yu filled up two rounds of experience and obtained one Silver Level treatment effect.
’That should be enough.’
’I still don’t know what McGrady’s situation is.’
「The next day, Chen Yu was on a plane to Orlando.」
He had just walked out of the airport and turned his phone back on when a slew of missed call notifications popped up.
The person who had called the most was, surprisingly, Hill.
He dialed him back, and Hill’s urgent voice came through, "Chen, did you go to Orlando?"
"Yeah, what’s up?"
Hill immediately said, "Then wait for me. I’m coming back right now."
Chen Yu understood immediately. Hill had probably found out about McGrady.
’Who told him? Hardaway, probably.’
Hardaway and McGrady had always kept in touch.
"Did Anfernee tell you? Grant, don’t be hasty. Focus on your recovery. Let me check on his condition first, and we’ll go from there."
But Hill disagreed. "Chen, that fool Tracy should understand that whether the team wins or not isn’t just his business—it’s all of our business. I can’t allow myself to rest on the sidelines while my teammate is playing his heart out to win games."
"No," Chen Yu cut Hill off.
’This guy is just making trouble. Although his bone tunnels have mostly healed, they haven’t fully recovered yet. Even if daily activities are fine, a game is a completely different matter. A high-intensity game could easily trigger unpredictable consequences.’
"Grant, what you need to do right now is focus on your recovery. I’ll help keep an eye on Tracy. And remember this: without my permission, you won’t be able to play even if you want to."
After saying that, Chen Yu hung up the phone directly and hailed a cab straight to McGrady’s house in Orlando.
McGrady’s house in Orlando wasn’t far from the airport, only about three or four kilometers.
Having signed a max contract, he wasn’t short on money at all. He had spent 6.6 million US dollars to buy a villa right here in Elworth.
In front of it was a lake, and on the opposite shore were the houses of O’Neal and Tiger Woods.
Standing in front of this mansion of over two thousand square meters, Chen Yu couldn’t help but feel a little emotional.
’Damn it, this guy is still two months shy of his 22nd birthday, and he’s already living in a house like this.’
’When I was 22, I had to wait tables after class every day just to earn a living.’
His fiancée wasn’t in Orlando, so he was living here alone. Chen Yu rang the doorbell several times before a pajama-clad McGrady opened the door. Seeing Chen Yu, he was completely stunned.
Chen Yu’s gaze also fell on McGrady’s back.
’A strained latissimus dorsi. Is this guy trying to kill himself just to win games?’

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