Inside the examination room.
Hill's brow was furrowed. "So, you're saying I need to rest for two months?"
He immediately looked toward Gabriel.
Gabriel stood to the side with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable.
Chen Yu nodded. "That's the bare minimum. To be honest, your left ankle didn't recover as expected after the surgery. This sprain is actually an opportunity for you to get some thorough rest and return to your peak condition."
In truth, Chen Yu's two-month estimate was on the long side.
'After all, I have the system. With all the treatment buffs, the recovery will definitely be faster than expected.'
Just then, Gabriel spoke up. "Grant, don't overthink this yet. Doctor Chen said you have cartilage damage, but that hasn't been definitively confirmed. As Doctor Chen just mentioned, we can wait a week for the swelling in your ankle to go down, then run more tests to confirm."
"Only then can we truly determine how long you need to rest and what the rehabilitation plan should be."
Chen Yu frowned slightly.
'So what he means is, he still doesn't believe me.'
'Then again, it's true that you can't see the problem on the MRI right now.'
'But the problem is there, whether you want to believe it or not.'
'Fine, we'll wait. We'll see what's what in a week.'
"So we wait?"
Hill looked at Chen Yu.
Chen Yu nodded, then added, "Grant, if you'd like, I can stay in Orlando for the next week to help you with your ankle. We'll deal with the swelling first, then consider the subsequent cartilage treatment."
Hill nodded eagerly.
His trust in Chen Yu had grown even stronger.
He had been worried that the examination would reveal a problem, and sure enough, as soon as Chen Yu arrived, a problem was found.
That could only mean he had found the right person.
The group left the clinic.
Chen Yu went straight back to his hotel. Hill, who was not short on cash, directly covered all of Chen Yu's expenses in Orlando.
Hill was still in the acute phase, within the first 48 hours, so it wasn't appropriate to perform any procedures. Chen Yu wasn't in a hurry.
He needed to think carefully about how to treat Hill's cartilage damage.
There were three ways to treat cartilage damage.
Physical therapy, mainly hot compresses and physiotherapy, to alleviate the cartilage damage.
Next was medication. As for which drugs to use, Chen Yu actually felt that some Chinese medicines, like medicinal patches, would be more effective.
Western medicine focused mainly on anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects.
The [Sports Medicine] skill Chen Yu had obtained from the system actually included Chinese medicine.
However, these methods only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.
After all, cartilage is non-regenerative.
That left only the final option: surgery, such as arthroscopic microfracture surgery or osteochondral transplantation.
These were all common surgical treatments.
But none of them were suitable for Hill's situation.
The recovery period for surgery was long. Even with an arthroscopic procedure, it would take four to six months before he could return to high-demand sports.
Most importantly, Hill's cartilage damage wasn't severe enough to warrant surgery.
But that actually made things more troublesome.
If the damage were truly severe, there would be no choice but to operate, end of story.
But his wasn't severe, yet if left untreated, it would remain a hidden risk. Plus, it couldn't heal or regenerate on its own. That was the real pain in the ass.
Chen Yu could only hope his system had some special abilities up its sleeve.
Meanwhile, after leaving the clinic, Gabriel immediately went to find Billings.
Billings was still sulking.
He felt his authority had been challenged.
First, Hill didn't trust his examination results. Fine, if he didn't trust him, whatever. If he'd brought in an expert who was better than him, Billings would have accepted it.
But to bring in some rookie who just got his medical license to point a finger in his face and say he was wrong? Who could stand for that?
Upon seeing Gabriel, Billings didn't look pleased. The guy hadn't said a word in his defense earlier.
Unexpectedly, however, Gabriel came right out and said, "Joe, we can't completely trust that guy."
Billings was taken aback for a moment, looking at Gabriel speechlessly. 'Where were you earlier?' he thought. 'Why didn't you say this back at the clinic?'
Gabriel continued, "If we go by that guy's diagnosis, Grant will be out for at least half the season. The impact on us would be too great."
It's not just our record, but ticket sales, too.
The successor to Jordan—what a resonant title.
Back when they chose to keep Hardaway, wasn't it because they valued his title as the 'original' successor to Jordan, counting on him to sell tickets?
If Hill is injured for half a season, imagine the loss in ticket sales.
And then there's his salary.
Player injuries are unavoidable, but paying a max salary for someone to sit on the sidelines? No one feels good about that.
Billings nodded in agreement. In his opinion, two weeks of rest would be enough.
Gabriel continued, "I don't think Grant trusts us enough right now. Since that's the case, we should contact a better doctor to diagnose him and confirm whether his cartilage is actually damaged and if he really needs such a long rest period."
Billings cut Gabriel off, saying decisively, "John, don't listen to that guy's nonsense. He doesn't know anything. I can stake my reputation on it—there is nothing wrong with Grant. He absolutely does not need that much time off."
Gabriel looked at the supremely confident Billings, his gaze complicated.
In the past, he had been just like Billings—overconfident, trusting only his own judgment.
And what was the result?
Never mind the whole affair of whether O'Neal was worth a hundred-million-dollar contract; he still regretted that to this day.
Then there was Hardaway. Thinking back on it now, Gabriel felt he had also mishandled Hardaway's injury. He had been too rash, especially in forcing Hardaway to return to the court early for the sake of the team's record.
Having gone through all that, Gabriel had learned his lesson. That was why his attitude regarding Hill's situation was so much more measured.
Billings, on the other hand, was the same as ever—authoritarian and overconfident, completely unwilling to listen to other opinions.
"Joe, I do believe you, but on this matter, you need to follow my lead."
"Grant is at home now. In a bit, I'll call Doug, and we'll go see Grant together to have a good talk with him."
"We'll support him getting a more detailed diagnosis, but we can't let Grant keep believing that guy. Just as you said, he's just a rookie who recently got his license. His words are completely unreliable."
Billings nodded. 'Now that's more like it,' he thought.
'A rookie who's probably examined the bones of a handful of people at most dares to question an authority like me?'
After returning to the hotel, Chen Yu didn't stay idle. He took a taxi to Chinatown.
He bought some medicinal patches.
In Chinese medicine, there were only a few types of plaster formulas for sprains and bruises; he could have bought them with his eyes closed.
Chen Yu also bought a set of silver needles.
For an everted ankle, one could use a 'reducing' method of Acupuncture on acupoints along the Bladder and Gallbladder meridians to invigorate blood circulation, resolve stasis, reduce swelling, and alleviate pain.
However, the very next day, when Chen Yu contacted Hill to prepare for his first treatment session, Hill sounded hesitant on the phone.
"Chen, I'm sorry, but I think I need to find another doctor to give me a diagnosis."