Chapter Ninety-Five: The Attending Physician

“You mean... Quentin contacted you... to recommend Rowling’s attending physician to me?”

Although there was not a single flaw in Shu Ran’s words, the blankness in her eyes betrayed the shock in her heart.

Fu Yiqing answered at once.

Shu Ran still needed quite a while to digest the fact.

“But why? Qin Liubei clearly said before... that your relationship with him wasn’t very good.” Shu Ran said.

“I didn’t expect him to contact me either.”

In truth, Shu Ran still had many questions. For example, they were clearly rivals, so why had Quentin chosen to help her? And Fu Yiqing knew that well enough; how could someone as cautious as he was trust Quentin?

All these doubts circled around Shu Ran, and in the end she still asked, “You guard against Christina, but not against Quentin?”

Fu Yiqing did not answer right away.

Shu Ran turned onto her side toward Fu Yiqing. By the dim glow of the bedside lamp, she saw him lying flat, his left arm bent and placed beneath his head.

“It was not Christina I was guarding against.”

Shu Ran looked at him in silence.

He said, “That time, I was also guarding against Quentin.”

Shu Ran froze, not understanding.

Fu Yiqing turned his face to look at her. Seeing her bewildered expression, he understood where the contradiction lay and gave a small smile.

“Back then, I was wary of Quentin because I didn’t want him to know the true extent of your injuries. I was looking at it from the standpoint of a rival. Telling you to be careful then was because I suspected Christina might only be someone Quentin sent to probe for information. But this time is different.”

Shu Ran turned fully toward him, her gaze fixed on him now, and heard him continue, “This time, he was standing outside the situation. He was moved by you.”

Shu Ran cried out softly, “Huh?”

Fu Yiqing let out a light laugh, then quickly sobered.

“Your performance moved him. Your love for figure skating moved him. More than that, it was your character.”

Shu Ran scratched at her eyebrow. “He’s never even met me. How would he know what kind of person I am? Did Christina tell him?”

She began muttering to herself. “But I didn’t say anything to Christina that would really highlight my character. I only told her she could come spend the Spring Festival with us next year. Could Quentin be a foodie too?”

Fu Yiqing could not help but laugh. “As for why I didn’t doubt his motives, it’s because I’ve worked with him for five years. I know exactly what kind of man he is. He wouldn’t hurt someone behind their back. Otherwise, he and I would never have made that bet.” Then he sighed. “Sleep. Tomorrow morning we’ll go visit that doctor.”

Shu Ran murmured assent, turned over, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

Rowling’s attending physician was named Joseph.

Previously, Rowling’s injury had been so severe that everyone believed she would be forced into retirement, yet no one had expected her to still enter the Grand Prix series and, at the final stop of her career, the Grand Prix Final, to win the overall title for the 2020-2021 season.

Joseph had played an indispensable role in that.

Because Rowling had accidentally revealed Joseph’s name in a television interview after retiring, Joseph quickly became famous. Most of the people asking him about foot injuries were athletes, which made seeing him even more difficult.

Fortunately, Quentin knew Joseph, and so served as the bridge between them.

Fu Yiqing took Shu Ran to Joseph’s clinic, where they even ran into a famous basketball player.

The three of them exchanged a glance and then, almost at once, looked away.

Although Shu Ran was already somewhat well known in the figure skating world, figure skating remained a niche sport in the broader arena of athletics, so very few people recognized her.

After the prearranged basketball star left, the two of them were finally able to enter Joseph’s office.

Shu Ran had originally assumed Joseph would be an older doctor, only to discover that he was not only young, but very young.

Joseph examined Shu Ran’s injury carefully, then withdrew his hand with a slightly grave expression.

“How is it?” Fu Yiqing asked.

Joseph’s brow was still furrowed. “The situation is worse than Mr. Quentin described.”

Shu Ran’s heart lurched. “Can it be treated?” Her voice suddenly softened. “There are less than five months left before the competition.”

Joseph pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry. If it were me, I probably couldn’t do it, but there are still many excellent doctors in this world. Perhaps they will have a way.”

Shu Ran’s heart sank to the bottom, then flared with a fragile hope. “Is there really no way? But wasn’t Rowling’s injury even worse than mine, and yet she returned to competition?”

“Her situation is different from yours. Hers was an old injury, and she had an entire season to recover. But you only have five months, and among that time, should some of it not also be reserved for training? Your schedule is too tight, so I’m very sorry. I can’t help you.” Joseph’s tone was gentle, and by the end he even looked apologetic.

But Shu Ran was already wounded in heart and spirit by the news, and did not notice the change in Joseph’s expression.

Just as she thought this consultation might come to nothing, she heard Fu Yiqing speak solemnly at her side.

“If we follow your method of treatment, how long will it take before she can return to the ice?”

She looked up at him in surprise. His face was full of seriousness and appeal.

And so Shu Ran placed her last hope in Joseph. The two of them turned their gaze toward him together. Joseph froze, then shook his head repeatedly.

“It’s impossible. The time is too short. I’ve never encountered a case like this.”

Shu Ran said, “Now you have. I’m begging you to help me. At the very least, let me get back on the ice before the competition.”

Joseph still shook his head. “It’s not that I don’t want to help you. Clinically speaking, your foot needs at least a year to recover to normal. Forget the competition—even for the Winter Olympics five months from now, I can’t say for certain.”

At least all the experts they could think of back home had already been consulted, but the situation had not improved. Perhaps Joseph was their only hope now.

Fu Yiqing also added his persuasion, but though Joseph’s face showed sympathy, the circumstances simply did not allow him to soften and agree.

At that, Shu Ran’s eyes turned red.

Joseph’s words drifted near and far from her ears. All she felt was that figure skating seemed to be slipping farther and farther away from her.

“Doctor Joseph, if you won’t help me, perhaps I’ll have no choice but to stop treatment before the competition.”

Joseph looked up in surprise and saw Shu Ran’s reddened eyes. Such an expression on a girl younger than he was moved him deeply, and he frowned.

“Stop treatment?”

Shu Ran nodded hard, determination filling her eyes. “I’ll take painkillers during the competition and get injections.”

Though that kind of treatment was common in the sports world, it was the last resort athletes would only choose when they had no other option.

Once such a path was chosen, side effects were inevitable.

But the difference here was that a foot was the lifeline of a figure skater, and also a person’s means of walking.

This course might cost Shu Ran her foot, and then it would no longer be merely a matter of side effects.

Fu Yiqing’s gaze at Shu Ran was full of disbelief and anguish. He seized her wrist at once. “Shu Ran!”

Yet Shu Ran’s eyes were astonishingly resolute. “If you don’t help me, what waits for me can only be painkillers and injections. But if you do help me, perhaps I can still hold on a little longer.” Then she turned to Fu Yiqing and said, “Coach Fu, you know me. I’m only one step away from my dream. Please help me convince him.”

Fu Yiqing lowered his eyes, conflict written all over his brow.

Joseph drew in a deep breath. “This is madness.”

Shu Ran was trying to persuade two people by herself, and it was far too much.

Just as she was talking herself hoarse, she heard Fu Yiqing say, “Joseph, I know what you’re worried about. You can rest assured. If you cure her, then and only then will we tell the world that this was your achievement.”

In other words, if it could not be cured, the outside world would not be told, and Joseph would not be blamed.

Most people have compassion, but they are also creatures who are generally afraid of trouble.

Fu Yiqing said this so Joseph would be able to help Shu Ran treat her foot without any lingering worries.

Joseph considered for a moment, then nodded. “All right, I can help. But whether it can be cured, I can only try.”

At last Shu Ran’s face lit up. Almost reflexively, she took Fu Yiqing’s hand, smiling through her tears.

Seeing that only moments ago she had been crying, and now she was laughing so brightly simply because of his answer, Joseph was finally and completely moved by her sincerity.

Fu Yiqing only informed Qin Liubei and the others about Shu Ran’s foot after they returned to the hotel.

Joseph’s treatment soon began its first course.

During this stage, Shu Ran’s recovery was quite good, and within a month the cast was removed again. But her condition was no longer muscle atrophy; it had become an osteophyte on the ankle, with a noticeable swelling on top of it.

After a month together, Joseph and Shu Ran had already become friends.

After examining her, and seeing the cloud of worry on her face, Joseph even made a joke. “Perhaps you’ll need to spend a little more money and buy yourself a new pair of skates.”

Shu Ran curved her lips. “I just hope the swelling can go down.”

After all, changing to a new pair of skates meant a period of adjustment, and at present she did not even know whether she could resume training at all.

The second stage focused mainly on rest, with reducing the ankle osteophyte as a secondary goal.

With calcium supplementation and medication to treat the soft tissue, Joseph managed to keep the bone growth under control, but the swelling on the ankle only went down a little.

There were only a little over two months left before the competition.

Aside from having to arrive in Canada five days early, Shu Ran had only seventy-two days left to recover, and half a month of that still had to be reserved for regaining training form.

It was easy to imagine how low her spirits were.

After lunch, Shu Ran stared at her foot in a daze for a long time, not even noticing when Fu Yiqing called her to eat.

When he called again, she finally looked up. “Where are my skates?”

“They’re at home.”

Shu Ran asked, “Should we have a pair made one size larger?”

Fu Yiqing looked closely at her foot.

For the past month, they had not ordered a new pair because they had thought the swelling on her ankle would disappear. But now that Shu Ran had mentioned it, Fu Yiqing understood that things had reached an urgent point. They could no longer wait.

“Tomorrow I’ll have someone come measure you.”

Shu Ran nodded.

Toward evening, Fu Yiqing was about to go buy something for Shu Ran to eat, when Joseph suddenly came to visit.

Usually he came every other day, and since the last follow-up appointment, only a morning had passed.

Yet this time he brought dessert. Since Shu Ran was trying to keep her figure, she passed the dessert to Fu Yiqing.

Seeing how disciplined she was, Joseph smiled, then suddenly became serious.

This was hardly a good sign, and Shu Ran’s heart was lifted at once into midair.

“Shu, I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do for you from here on.”

Seeing Shu Ran’s slightly parted lips, he hurried to explain, “Please don’t misunderstand. I only think that, for the osteophyte you have now, your country may have better treatment methods.”

Shu Ran let out a breath of relief, and after a long moment gave him a small smile.

“Thank you, Joseph.”

Joseph bent slightly and drew her into an embrace, patting her back gently as his lips moved.

Fu Yiqing was startled by his sudden action. He only saw Joseph’s lips moving, not knowing what he had said to Shu Ran, when he saw the latter’s face fill with surprise, before she burst into laughter.

“Okay,” she said. “It seems we really are very much alike.”

Joseph let go, nodded, and smiled.

Fu Yiqing, standing to one side, had his brows drawn tight. Of the three of them, he alone remained expressionless, and his bearing was especially striking.