"The needles are effective, but you can't rely on them entirely."
Claire explained.
"In traditional medicine, insomnia is considered a stagnation syndrome."
"Depending on the specific pattern, the symptoms present differently."
"Acupuncture alone can help you sleep and treat the insomnia, but for a complete cure, it needs to be paired with herbal medicine."
"Otherwise, the results will be quite slow."
"Unless you're only looking for a single treatment to get one good night's rest."
"I'll have to find time for you to treat him, Claire."
Caleb couldn't make the decision lightly. His father was far too busy, and it wasn't his call to make.
Claire nodded, leaving it at that.
Tonight's gathering had finalized the equity distribution. After dinner, everyone suggested playing a game to unwind.
After tossing around ideas, they somehow settled on Bridge.
Although Claire wasn't an expert at the game, her memory was flawless. After playing two rounds, nobody wanted her at the table anymore.
"Claire never misses. That's terrifying."
Hanson chuckled, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
He was just holding it to satisfy a craving; with Claire and Serena present, he had no intention of actually lighting up.
Sitting right after Claire in the rotation, Caleb constantly had his plays blocked. He shook his head. "Tell me about it. Sitting next to her, I barely get to touch the cards. She's too good."
Across the table, Serena giggled. The table was perfectly split between two men and two women.
She sat opposite Claire, and the two of them were sweeping the board.
"Then I have to thank Claire for letting me pick up the scraps every time."
The other table consisted of Dane, Owen, Xavier, and Yanni.
Ewan wasn't playing.
The height of his wheelchair made it awkward to sit at the Bridge table.
And he refused to switch to a regular chair.
So, he simply opted to watch from the sidelines.
It made sense they chose Bridge, as they had just enough people to perfectly fill two tables.
They played until ten o'clock, at which point Ewan headed home to sleep.
The rest of the group played until midnight.
Serena was still buzzing with energy, but Claire couldn't stop yawning.
She finally reached her limit. "I'm exhausted. I need to go home and sleep."
Hanson and Caleb couldn't exactly argue with that.
"Alright, our table is calling it a night."
Even though the two men had lost money, they took it in stride with perfect gentlemanly grace.
Claire had
aushen quite a bit early on, bankrupting them. Conet
but she had subtly held back
Thanks to her going easy on them, the final losses weren't too severe.
At the other table, Dane and Owen were also getting ready to head out.
In the end, Hanson, Caleb, Xavier, and Yanni decided to keep the game going.
Remembering Claire's strict warning
about staying up, late Serena decided to call it a fight as well.
whi
wont
Oh, actually, it was Owen who drove her back.
Claire and Dane left together.
Dane dropped Claire off at the Churchill estate before finally heading to his own place.
Yawning the whole way, Claire retreated to her bedroom.
After washing up, she crashed and didn't wake up until ten o'clock the next morning.
Whenever she stayed up late, Claire always slept incredibly deeply.
Her internal clock usually woke her up early, but on days like this, Would force herself back
Without making up for the lost rest, she would be sluggish for the entire day.
t belongs to sw
Once fully rested, Claire spent some time playing chess with her grandfather.
She had lunch at home, and by the afternoon, she was out seeing her patients.
She needed to make a trip to Ewan's place.
Then, in the evening, she went to visit Sienna.
When Claire arrived, she was surprised to find Oakley there as well.
"Sienna."
Claire looked at her, then glanced at Oakley.
Had these two finally gotten together?
"Oakley just got back from a business trip and brought me some local specialties."
"Do you want some, Claire?"
Sienna noticed Claire's curious gaze and felt a flush of embarrassment.
She didn't know how to explain the situation.
Lately, whenever Oakley wasn't working, he would drop by.
He would either sit and chat with her or bring her exotic fruits and gifts.
Sometimes, he even stayed to have dinner with her.