Chapter 511: How did the tumor grow into the bone!

Ah, stealing patients...

Garrett remained calm, unruffled, and unangry. Under the astonished gaze of the patient, he slightly curled the corner of his eye, revealing a somewhat nostalgic smile.

Stealing patients, well, it wasn’t unheard of in hospitals before. Between Internal Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery, between Urology and Urological Surgery, between Orthopedics and Neurosurgery...

Overtly and covertly, all tactics were employed. From applying for projects, research grants, and publishing influential papers in journals;

To organizing academic conferences, touring lectures, performing demonstrative surgeries;

And even department heads arm-wrestling each other, openly and secretly, engaging in subtle and indirect confrontations...

Of course, maintaining a good relationship with the emergency department to ensure they refer patients was also a common strategy. In his past life, from being a resident doctor to head resident, to attending physician, to associate chief physician, he had seen it all through decades of ups and downs.

However, directly confronting a patient to question why they switched doctors, such crass methods... It had been a long time since he last saw that.

Garrett just smiled, saying nothing. After all, during his time practicing medicine in this strange, otherworldly place, he had never had someone poach a patient directly from him. The reason being, mostly, he treated the hard cases nobody else wanted:

Either they were penniless or could barely scrape together a few coins;

Or during a major plague, when the number of patients skyrocketed, and even all the healers in the city combined couldn’t keep up;

Or in emergency resuscitations, when no other healers were around;

Or, it was a situation where many doctors were at a loss, and he just gave it a try, not making others lose face...

Slowly, to his surprise, someone had actually come right up to him to steal a patient.

Garrett looked up. Standing before him was a white-robed mage, whose mage rank was higher than his, but arcane level the same—

Three silver stars on the mage’s badge indicated an eighth-level magician; the four white circles around the stars marked a fourth-level arcanist.

Hmm, speaking of which, after publishing so many papers, why hadn’t his arcane level risen? Could his mentor be holding back his arcane points?

If there was anyone with less backing than him, it was rare. Having a legendary mage as a mentor wasn’t something everyone could boast.

He slowly shifted his gaze from the confrontational white-robed mage to the increasingly embarrassed patient standing beside, then back to the mage, smiling:

"May I ask your name? How long have you been treating him? What do you think his condition is? How have you been treating it?"

The white-robed mage’s eyes narrowed slightly. He had arrived in a rush, full of anger. Only now did he notice that the person opposite him was also a fourth-ring arcanist.

And also younger than him, three mage ranks below. What did that imply?

It meant the other had more potential!

It meant, in any minor conflict, the big shots would likely side with the other party!

"Jason Tarn, fourth-ring arcanist, eighth-level magician, affiliated with the Weavers." He steadied himself, nodding at Garrett:

"I’ve been treating Ramos for half a month. In my view, he’s been overworking, resulting in wrist injuries."

He glanced at the patient who was gradually relaxing, pointing to his wrist:

"For the past half month, I’ve cast spells three times from his wrist to his fingers, and advised him to rest and apply heat regularly. I estimate that he should fully recover in two or three months."

...So, your diagnosis is tendinitis?

Not entirely unreasonable, after all, most causes of ulnar nerve damage are due to compression in the wrist area. Garrett nodded with a smile:

"Garrett Nordmark, fourth-ring arcanist, fifth-level magician. Thunder Horn."

!!!

Jason Tarn was taken aback, his look at Garrett suddenly changed. Garrett Nordmark?

The one who published papers on both "Arcane" and "Magic"?

The mage who invented penicillin and the use of cowpox?

His own teacher had lamented more than once: "Why is he in the field of potential manipulation... Why isn’t he in the medical branch..."

Why did he have to steal his patient? —Ah, if he had known it was him, what harm would there have been in letting him steal the patient, why bother confronting him?

At that moment, he thought to retreat. However, after glancing at his patient, he paused, leaning closer to Ramos:

"I’ve treated him and his fingers have improved, but the results are not satisfactory. —What do you think could be the issue?"

From the corner of his eye, Garrett’s newly acquired

patient also moved slightly toward the white-robed mage. Glancing at her, then at Garrett, there was a hint of guilt in her eyes, seemingly embarrassed.

—Was she brought here on someone’s behalf?

Brought to him perhaps out of politeness?

In his past life, those big shots who snatched patients in every conceivable way weren’t just doing it for their own fame and fortune. He had often seen two department heads clashing, eventually slamming the table: "My treatment method shows quicker improvement!" "My approach has better outcomes!"

Garrett’s heart softened slightly. He took a deep breath, speaking earnestly:

"I can’t be sure yet. I need to run some additional tests. Wait a moment, I need to borrow something—Madame Alva? Madame Alva, are you there?"

Madame Alva walked slowly from the next room. Since the two mages weren’t causing trouble, she didn’t need to interfere. Only when Garrett knocked and called did she come out to respond:

"What do you need to borrow?"

"An item of magic level 12 or above. —Anything will do, I’ll use it right here and return it once done."

Borrowed on the spot, used on the spot. Garrett had the transmutation mage take off his coat and raise his arms. Then, he skillfully activated 【Detect Magic】, peering ahead—

His eyes narrowed slightly, then abruptly widened.

As he suspected. The culprit causing the transmutation mage’s right hand to remain unchanged was indeed the tumor on the right upper arm.

Stuck next to the humerus. Under the X-ray, or rather, under the shadow cast by 【Detect Magic】, a low-density mass was visible, with smooth, clear edges. And the part attached to the bone—

The bone surface showed protrusions, with a broad base connected to the humerus. As for the inside of the bone...

Garrett circled around for a closer observation, nodding slightly. It was indeed this.

It looked harmless and painless on the outside, but inside, it had grown large enough to press on the nearby ulnar nerve.

To be safe, Garrett scanned from the patient’s right wrist up, from wrist to elbow, from elbow to shoulder, from shoulder to neck, checking it all.

He confirmed there were no apparent abnormalities—at least, no obvious straightening of cervical curvature, calcification spots, or bone hyperplasia that might compress nerves. Only then did he confidently point to Ramos’s right upper arm:

"It’s here. It’s this tumor—you can see with 【Detect Magic】 that something’s off, there’s something strange on the bone..."

Jason Tarn looked at him skeptically. He too released the spell, gazing intently. Then, the white-robed mage let out a genuine exclamation:

"By the mysteries above! How did that tumor grow into the bone!"

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