After the Divorce, I Became a Super Doctor

Chapter 005

Less than ten minutes later, the nurse was back.

A sterile tray was set down at the side of the table. Five acupuncture needles gleamed under the operating lights. Beside them, three materials were laid out neatly, a dark red vial of Danshen extract, dense yellow Huanglian powder, and a cup of Maidong infusion still releasing faint wisps of steam.

Caelan checked each one carefully. He held every needle up to the light, making sure there wasn't even the smallest defect. He uncapped the Danshen vial and briefly inhaled its scent. He touched the texture of the Huanglian powder with his gloved fingertip.

"Perfect." He set everything back down gently. "We begin."

On the table, Victor Ashford lay like a candle that had almost burned out. His face was pale yellow, his lips grayish, his eyes shut tight with eyelids that looked too heavy to lift. Every breath he drew was short and irregular, broken by gaps that stretched long enough that anyone listening would find themselves holding their own breath without realizing it. The monitor at his side showed a chaotic heartwave, rising and falling without pattern, like a signal running out of power. The man could die at any moment.

"I just want everyone in this room to know." Aldric's voice broke the silence from the corner, his tone completely unashamed. "Whatever happens after this is not my responsibility. I performed the correct procedure in accordance with international medical standards. If the patient's condition deteriorates because of this insane experiment, Caelan Voss is fully accountable."

Several pairs of eyes shifted toward Aldric. No one spoke, but those looks said everything that needed to be said.

Dorian gripped the edge of the table harder, his jaw tight. Emric near the door briefly closed his eyes like he was holding something back.

Caelan didn't react at all. He was already somewhere else entirely.

Both his hands moved to Victor's body with a stillness that felt different from ordinary calm. Not calm from indifference, but calm because he knew exactly what needed to be done, step by step, without a single wasted movement.

His index finger and thumb pinched the first needle.

The Jiuwei point. Just below the sternum, one finger above the tip of the xiphoid process. The central point of the pericardium meridian, where the most severe qi blockage had settled.

The needle went in with a smooth rotating motion, three centimeters deep. Caelan didn't rush. He turned the needle handle clockwise three times, then stopped, letting the point respond.

Second needle. The Juque point, two fingers above Jiuwei, the continuation of the same meridian pathway. Inserted at a fifteen-degree angle, shallower, more precise.

Third needle at the Neiguan point, left wrist, six centimeters above the crease. This was the primary connecting pathway between the pericardium meridian and the circulatory system. Caelan pressed this point briefly with his thumb before the needle went in, making sure the flow was already open.

Fourth needle at the Ximen point, five fingers above the wrist, the emergency point of the pericardium meridian used for acute critical conditions.

Fifth and final needle at the Danzhong point, right at the center of the sternum at nipple level. The qi gathering point for all the organs in the chest. Caelan drove it in vertically, very slowly, with pressure that was almost invisible.

Five needles set perfectly in a pattern forming a single pathway from the chest down to the wrist.

Caelan stepped back half a pace, looked for a moment, then picked up the Danshen vial.

He mixed it with the Huanglian powder in a ratio he measured not with a scale but with his own fingers, the method his Master had taught him in a stuffy prison cell lit by a single fluorescent bulb. The resulting mixture was deep red, thick, with a sharp scent like earth after rain.

The mixture was applied in circles around each needle point with counterclockwise strokes. Helping to open the blockages, drawing the heat toxins out through the meridian pathways the needles had activated.

Finally, the Maidong infusion.

Caelan lifted the cup, carefully opened Victor's jaw, and let the warm liquid drip slowly beneath the patient's tongue. Little by little. Not to be swallowed, but absorbed directly through the sublingual vessels that connected to the heart pathway by the fastest route.

The room was completely silent except for the sound of the monitor.

One minute passed.

No change.

Two minutes.

Aldric crossed his arms over his chest, a thin smile forming at the corner of his lips that he tried to hide but couldn't quite manage.

Three minutes.

Then something happened.

The waves on the monitor that had been chaotic began to shift. Slowly, but clearly. The irregular peaks started finding more consistent intervals. The blood pressure reading on the side screen climbed, one number, two numbers, paused briefly, then climbed again.

A young nurse near the monitor held her breath.

Five minutes after the last needle was placed, Victor Ashford's heart rhythm settled into a clean and steady wave. Not perfect, but stable. His blood pressure rose to one hundred twenty over eighty and stopped there, like it had found its way home.

Victor's skin color changed slowly. The pale gray gave way to a faint but real pink. The blue fading from his lips was replaced by color returning. The short, labored breaths from before expanded into deep, steady draws.

Then Victor's fingers moved. Just slightly, but enough for Dorian to press his own hand over his mouth.

Victor's eyes opened. Slowly, heavily, like someone coming back from somewhere very far away. His gaze was unfocused for a few seconds before it finally settled on the ceiling, then shifted to the first face he saw.

Caelan was standing at his side, watching him calmly.

"Welcome back." Caelan's voice was quiet.

Victor opened his mouth. No sound came out, but his lips formed something. Maybe a question. Maybe someone's name.

"Father!" Dorian moved to the table, his hands reaching for his father's with a trembling grip.

In the corner of the room, Aldric stood without a word. The thin smile that had almost appeared earlier was completely gone. His eyes moved to the monitor now showing a normal heartwave, then to the five needles still sitting neatly in Victor's body, then to the back of Caelan's head.

No one said a single word to him.

Caelan began removing the needles one by one with the same calm as when he had placed them. Five needles, five points, removed in the reverse order of insertion.

He set the last needle on the sterile tray, pulled off his gloves, and said to Dorian, "Your father's condition is stable. His qi is flowing normally again. He only needs rest and to continue taking Maidong twice a day for the next seven days. No additional procedures are required, just standard care from the hospital team."

Dorian nodded repeatedly, his eyes still wet. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Doctor."

Caelan gave a short nod, then turned and walked toward the door.

"Wait."

Dorian's voice stopped him.

Caelan turned around.

Dorian was standing straight, his expression nothing like the man who had been clutching the edge of his father's table just minutes ago. There were still traces of tears at the corners of his eyes, but his gaze was serious and fully present.

"You saved my father's life, Doctor." His voice was quiet but heavy, each word weighed with genuine gravity. "As I promised in the lobby, I will grant whatever you ask. Just say it. The Ashford family will do everything to make it happen."

The room went quiet again.

In the corner, Aldric stood with his hands clenched at his sides. His eyes moved from Dorian, who was still looking at Caelan with undisguised respect, then shifted to Caelan himself.

Aldric's jaw tightened.

The Ashford family, one of the biggest names in Velmont. And Caelan Voss, an ex-convict fresh out of prison, had just pocketed their debt in less than an hour.

The hatred boiled in his chest, hot and bitter.