After the Divorce, I Became a Super Doctor

Chapter 004

Fifteen minutes, right on time.

The man stepped out of the elevator at an easy, unhurried pace. He was somewhere in his forties, hair slightly graying at the temples, his face warm with laugh lines at the corners of his eyes. Not the face of a bureaucrat. More like someone who genuinely enjoyed his work.

His eyes found Caelan in the waiting chairs right away.

He walked over and extended his hand with a smile that wasn't forced.

"Good to see you again, Caelan. I didn't know you were out. These past few days must have been rough."

Caelan stood and shook his hand. His smile was small but genuine. "Good to see you too, Emric. Not as bad as you'd think. Honestly, it wasn't bad in there."

Emric Vane. Head of HR at Aurelian Hospital Velmont for the past ten years. The only person in this building who had once fought for Caelan's name harder than anyone else.

Emric let out a short laugh and shook his head. "You never change. Always carrying that positive energy no matter what." He released the handshake and looked at Caelan with a warmth that was still serious. "So what brings you to Aurelian today?"

"I want to come back and work here. As a doctor, like before."

Emric didn't answer right away. His eyes read Caelan for a moment, like someone carefully weighing something.

He knew what Caelan was capable of. Everyone at Aurelian who had been around long enough knew. But four years had passed. The medical world doesn't wait for anyone. Technology changed, protocols were updated, standards rose higher. Even active doctors had to keep learning constantly.

"I need to discuss this with my superiors," Emric said finally. His voice was honest, not a refusal dressed up in politeness. "You know this process can't be settled today, Caelan. But I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Caelan nodded. "I understand."

He wasn't expecting more than that. His reputation was in pieces, his license had been dead for four years. The fact that Emric had come down to the lobby and spoken to him directly was already far more than he had received from anyone else today.

Caelan was about to say goodbye.

Then a nurse came running from the direction of the elevator, out of breath, her eyes sweeping the lobby for someone.

Her gaze stopped on Caelan.

"Excuse me, sir." The nurse stopped in front of him, chest heaving. "Mr. Dorian Ashford is asking you to come to the catheterization room immediately. He's begging you to treat his father."

Emric, standing beside him, immediately straightened up. "Dorian Ashford?" He looked at the nurse sharply. "The patient in catheterization is Victor Ashford?"

The nurse nodded. "His condition is critical, sir. Doctor Aldric has tried everything but..."

Emric didn't let that sentence finish. He turned to Caelan, and this time his expression was different. No longer the HR head carefully weighing things, but someone who knew exactly how many lives the man standing in front of him had once saved. Four years had passed, but Caelan was still Caelan. He was still a brilliant doctor.

"We have to move fast." His voice was short and serious. "Victor Ashford can't wait any longer."

Caelan didn't answer with words. He simply started walking, and this time his stride was different from before. Faster, more purposeful, like someone who already knew what needed to be done before the question had even finished being asked.

Emric followed behind him. The nurse ran alongside them.

The elevator opened. They stepped in.

The button for the seventh floor lit up.

---

The door to the catheterization room opened.

The monitor alarms were still going off. The air inside felt heavy, a mix of antiseptic and a panic that wasn't visible but was felt by anyone who walked in.

Dorian was standing in the corner of the room with eyes that had already run out of tears. When he saw Caelan step through the door, he moved forward without hesitation.

"Please." His voice broke. "Please save my father, Doctor. You're my only hope right now."

Caelan looked at the young man for a moment, then gave a calm nod. "Don't worry. Your father is going to be fine."

"How arrogant!"

Aldric was standing at the side of the table, face red, sweat still unwiped. His hands were still holding the defibrillator paddles that had already failed twice.

"You think this is easy, Caelan?!" His voice exploded. "I've tried everything. The stent is in, two doses of epinephrine are in, the defibrillator has been used twice, and his blood pressure is still in freefall. Even the dopamine drip isn't giving any response at all!" His eyes blazed. "If I've already done all of this and still failed, what exactly can an ex-convict like you do?!"

Caelan wasn't looking at Aldric. His eyes had been on Victor since the moment he walked in.

He stepped closer to the table and stood at the patient's side. His hands moved slowly, pressing three points on Victor's left wrist, then shifting to his neck, applying light pressure just beneath the jawbone.

"Everything you did was pointless because you've been treating the wrong condition." His voice was flat, not insulting, just stating a fact. "Like I said before, this is Jue Xin Tong. Absolute heart pain syndrome. Not an arterial blockage, but a disruption in qi flow along the pericardium meridian, triggered by chronic stress and the accumulation of heat toxins in the body over many years. A stent won't touch this problem. The defibrillator is only forcing an already exhausted heart to work harder than it should." His fingers pressed lightly beneath Victor's sternum, right at the Jiuwei point. "The blockage is here, and it runs into the Juque. Two points that will never show up on any monitor screen."

No sound for a full three seconds.

A nurse in the corner opened her mouth but nothing came out. Aldric frowned, caught somewhere between anger and confusion.

Caelan stood straight and looked at the nurses one by one.

"I need five sterile acupuncture needles, thirty-two gauge, forty millimeters long." His voice shifted into clear instructions that left no room for hesitation. "And three materials. First, Danshen extract, Salvia miltiorrhiza, to restore qi flow and break the blockage in the pericardium meridian. Second, Huanglian powder, Coptis chinensis, to clear the accumulated heat toxins that are the root of the problem. Third, a fresh Maidong infusion, Ophiopogon japonicus, to restore the heart's moisture that has been depleted by excessive heat."

A senior nurse raised her hand hesitantly. "But sir, we don't have..."

"I remember Aurelian has an integrative medicine unit on the ninth floor. All of those materials are there." Caelan was already putting on gloves. "Quickly."

The nurse moved without asking anything more.

Those who remained in the room stood in silence. Aldric, the other nurses, Emric near the door, Dorian gripping the edge of the table with both hands.

Everyone was waiting to see what Caelan would do.