November 22nd. Two and a half weeks had passed since Hill's injury on the 3rd.
It had also been over a week since he'd received PRP therapy at the Mayo Clinic and returned to Orlando.
"You're recovering well."
After breakfast, Chen Yu performed his routine check-up on Hill, although a quick glance with his eyes was all he really needed.
Hill was in a good mood. He stood up and moved around a bit. "I feel pretty good, too, Chen. Those movements you taught me, like the flying bird one, feel especially helpful."
He stood on his right foot and mimicked a great roc spreading its wings.
Chen Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That's just your imagination."
The move Hill was demonstrating was actually from the bird portion of the Five Animals Qigong.
After they returned from Jacksonville and the initial recovery period for the PRP therapy had passed, Chen Yu had consciously arranged for Hill to begin rehabilitation exercises.
The swelling in his ankle had already gone down, so as long as the movements weren't too strenuous, it wasn't a big problem.
Lying around without moving would only hinder recovery by impeding blood flow.
Moving around would also help maintain his athletic condition.
Chen Yu took a gradual approach, arranging a variety of exercises for him, which included the Five Animals Qigong.
Chen Yu selected a few movements from it that didn't require excessive use of the left foot and taught them to Hill.
The main purpose was just to stretch his muscles and get his body moving.
In Chen Yu's opinion, what was truly effective were the medicine, the acupuncture, the massages, and the anti-inflammatory drugs.
Coupled with a proper diet, a regular daily routine, and the absence of pressure from games, his body was able to recover this quickly.
In fact, a simple ankle sprain would normally be more or less healed after just over two weeks.
The real trouble was the cartilage damage.
As far as Chen Yu could see, the damaged cartilage looked the same as ever; its recovery was limited.
The glucosamine and the PRP therapy had likely had some effect, but it was far from enough.
Cartilage's ability to self-heal was just too, too poor.
He could only pin his hopes on the effects of his own systematic treatment.
Hill shook his head. "It's not my imagination. You know, I can already feel it—that 'qi' you were talking about. There must be some kind of mysterious power helping me recover so quickly."
After his time with Chen Yu, the distant, ancient Eastern country had taken on a mysterious halo in Hill's mind.
"Qi?"
Chen Yu glanced speechlessly at the earnest expression on Hill's face. He really wanted to tell him that his so-called 'sensation of qi' was really just rapid blood flow.
"Come on, time for the plaster."
Chen Yu gestured for Hill to sit down.
The plaster was ready, and he planned to apply it today.
At the mention of the plaster, Hill's expression changed slightly. He asked in a low voice, "Chen, are you sure this stuff isn't poisonous?"
All those centipedes, boiled down with a random mess of herbs... no matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a magic potion concocted by a medieval witch.
Chen Yu took out a piece of the plaster and began to heat it. "Don't worry. If I wanted to poison you, I have a hundred ways to do it that are much less trouble than this."
Hill's smile froze. He watched as Chen Yu slapped the plaster onto his ankle, making him flinch from the heat.
"Let's go," Chen Yu said, standing up.
Today, the Magic had a community outreach event.
All the players on the team were required to attend.
Normally, since Hill was recovering from an injury, he wouldn't have been expected to go.
But yesterday, Gabriel had come over personally to ask if Hill would participate.
Two weeks ago, in Maitland, a city north of Orlando, a violent incident had occurred at an elementary school.
A young white man—it was unclear if he was motivated by a hatred of the rich or was just high—had forced his way into a local private elementary school with a gun, causing a panic. Fortunately, no students were hurt. Only a security guard was injured by a stray bullet during a confrontation with the perpetrator, and the young man himself was shot and killed at the scene.
The story had been in the news for a week, causing a huge stir.
As for this, Chen Yu could only say he wasn't surprised.
Orlando's public safety wasn't that great to begin with.
And Florida has always had a reputation for producing crazies.
Because of this, the city government had invited the Magic players to host a community event for the children.
So, after hearing the reason, Hill agreed without hesitation.
Chen Yu naturally had no objections. In Hill's current condition, moving around like a normal person wasn't a problem.
Besides, Chen Yu planned to go along himself.
Chen Yu wanted to meet more of Hill's teammates. He'd already gotten the clinic set up, but there were no patients yet.
For one, business might just be slow to begin with.
For another, these past few days had been a critical period in Hill's recovery, and Chen Yu hadn't been able to spare the time.
So, Chen Yu wanted to use this event as an opportunity to get to know Hill's teammates and see if he could drum up a few clients.
For example, he was quite interested in Tracy McGrady's congenital scoliosis.
The two of them drove off and soon arrived at their destination.
The others had already arrived.
There were reporters at the scene as well.
Hill's appearance caused a considerable stir.
Especially among the reporters.
This was Hill's first public appearance since his injury.
"Grant, has your sprained ankle recovered? When can you return to the court?" a blonde female reporter with a stunning figure, dressed in a gray pencil skirt and a white shirt, stretched her microphone toward him as she asked.
Chen Yu noticed the logo on her microphone: the Orlando Sentinel, the city's largest media outlet.
Hill smiled and shook his head. "Today isn't the time to answer that question. Let's focus on the children who have been psychologically affected."
Since Hill's injury, the Orlando Magic had only made one public statement about his condition, stating it was a sprained left ankle with an indefinite recovery period.
For some unknown reason, the Magic hadn't announced the cartilage damage.
With that, Hill led Chen Yu through the crowd and into the school to meet up with the team.
"John, Coach."
Hill greeted them.
Gabriel and Rivers were both there.
Chen Yu didn't see any sign of Billings.
'All the better. It saves me the trouble of having to see him.'
Hill went on to greet his teammates one by one.
Having come to Orlando all alone, Hill wasn't actually that familiar with this group of teammates.
After all, he'd gotten injured after just one game.
"Monty."
Hill hugged a tall, thin Black man.
Perhaps the only person he felt a close familiarity with was Monty Williams, who had been in the same draft class as him.
"Grant, how's your ankle? Joe never told us what actually happened. We've all been worried about you," Monty asked.
Hill showed off his left foot. "Don't worry, I'm doing great. And it's all thanks to my private doctor."
As he spoke, he pulled Monty over to Chen Yu to introduce him.
"Chen is a professional orthopedic specialist. If it weren't for him, my recovery wouldn't be going this well."
Hill hadn't forgotten about finding clients for Chen Yu.
"Is that right?" Monty finally noticed Chen Yu and quickly extended his hand.
Even top athletes like them held a great deal of respect for doctors.
Chen Yu snapped back to reality and shook Monty's hand.
Just a moment ago, Chen Yu had been observing Tracy McGrady's spine.
To be honest, when Chen Yu had heard from Hill that Tracy McGrady had congenital scoliosis, he had imagined it would be quite severe.
Now that he saw it with his own eyes, he realized he had clearly been overthinking it.
Chen Yu estimated his Cobb angle was probably only around 5 degrees.
By medical standards, a curve of that degree couldn't even be considered scoliosis.
A Cobb angle has to exceed 10 degrees to be classified as mild scoliosis.
Chen Yu speculated that McGrady might have just had some developmental issues as a child.
A curve of this degree would have a negligible impact on his athletic ability. That team doctor who claimed he could only play for three to five years was talking complete nonsense.
At worst, it was a potential risk for injury; he just needed to be careful to protect his back.
Monty, on the other hand...
After shaking Monty's hand, Chen Yu subconsciously scanned him with the Eye of All-Seeing.
Then, Chen Yu's gaze locked onto Monty's left knee.
"Monty, do you have any pain on the inside of your left knee?"
Chen Yu asked with a wide smile.
'I really did come to the right place.'
'And just like that, I have a client.'