"Dr. Claire, if you have any concerns, feel free to speak your mind."
The General was fully awake now.
With his agony alleviated, a small fraction of his vitality had returned.
"Your physical condition is incredibly fragile. You might not survive the operating table."
This exact risk was why Dr. Sterling had been so hesitant.
"She is right. You know exactly what state your body is in," Dr. Sterling added.
"The risks of surgery are astronomically high."
"If we avoid the knife, you might actually live a bit longer, though the pain will be grueling."
The General had lived long enough.
His old comrades resting in the earth were probably growing impatient waiting for him.
If he had not been so worried about Noah, he would have abandoned treatment long ago.
Of course, on the surface, he claimed it was solely for Noah's sake.
Whether he was secretly holding out for the sake of the entire Darwin family was a truth only the old man knew.
However, even if he was trying to protect the Darwin family, it was completely understandable.
Those useless parasites were still his flesh and blood, after all.
Noah would have to be incredibly naive to believe the General was enduring this hell strictly for him alone.
"I will think about it," the General murmured.
The old soldier was visibly conflicted.
Claire glanced at him but remained silent.
Once they stepped out of the ward, Dr. Sterling pulled Claire into an adjacent office
and presented the General's comprehensive medical files.
"Things were too chaotic earlier, so I did not have the time."
"Take a look at these. They are the latest scans of his brain."
"Cross-reference them with the holistic pulse records I have maintained for him over the years."
Claire did not reach for the documents. "I do not think that is appropriate. For someone of his rank, these records should be highly classified."
What she did not say was that even without looking at the files, she already had a solid grasp of his condition.
She would not be the lead surgeon anyway, so reviewing them now was pointless and could only invite unnecessary scrutiny.
It would be better to confirm her official participation in the surgery before handing over the charts.
"Desperate times call for desperate
measures," Dr. Sterling chuckled l
already called the higher ups for clearance. They approved, which is the only reason I am showing you this."
"If I had not made that call, I never would have known you participated in that other major operation."
Claire was genuinely surprised that the authorities had pulled her files so quickly, even keeping a meticulous record of her involvement in Van's surgery.
"Our medical board actually attended a debriefing to study that exact procedure."
Dr. Sterling admired Claire immensely, feeling a familiar pang of regret that she was not his own granddaughter.
Had she been his flesh and blood, she would have flawlessly inherited his medical legacy.
"You are a master of traditional medicine. What exactly were you observing in a Western surgical suite?" Claire asked, utterly bewildered.
Dr. Sterling shot her a knowing look. "You utilized acupuncture to control hemorrhaging during an invasive surgery You pioneered a completely new approach, and the consensus is that it is highly viable."
"The higher-ups wanted all of us old-timers to study your technique."
"The goal is that once the methodology matures, we can seamlessly integrate traditional and Western medicine in the operating room, allowing them to complement each other perfectly."
Claire nodded in understanding.
Still, if everyone could replicate the technique, it would hardly be considered a rare talent.
As if reading her mind, Dr. Sterling offered a bitter smile. "Very few practitioners can actually pull it off."
An active surgical environment leaves absolutely zero margin for error. Acupuncture was a mandatory foundation in traditional medicine.
But it was rarely a discipline that physicians truly mastered to perfection.
Even the elites of the holistic medical world often only specialized in one specific area.
His own Sterling's Thirteen Needles technique was already considered formidable.
Yet the techniques passed down by Hale were nothing short of legendary.
If Claire had utilized the Sterling's Thirteen Needles, it undoubtedly would have been effective during surgery as well.
It was just a shame...
"I am getting old. My fingers simply lack the dexterity of youth."
While Dr. Sterling's hands were incredibly steady.
He was undeniably hindered by his advanced age.
He simply did not have the physical stamina required to endure a grueling, hours-
long surgery.
It was not a lack of skill, but a heartbreaking reality that his body could no longer keep up with his mind.
And the other holistic doctors capable of such a feat were virtually non-existent.
Nevertheless, the medical community was already working tirelessly to study the integration.