Chapter 10
Natalie waved her hands. “No, no, it’s not your fault. If Josie really dislikes me because of this, I’ll explain everything to her another day. There’s nothing between me and you.”
“No need to explain!” Aiden’s expression darkened. “Whoever I hang out with is none of her business. If she loses control over something like this, it just makes me dislike her even more. It might be better for her to leave the team sooner.”
Natalie felt secretly delighted. ‘Aiden is mine. Josie can forget about competing. Humph!’
After a good night’s sleep, Josie opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling above her bed, still feeling a bit surreal. She really did come back! No longer was she locked in prison, suffering from depression and insomnia, or constantly banging her head against walls. No longer was she that naive Josie who fantasized about someone coming to rescue her from prison or hoped for forgiveness from the seniors and approval from the professor.
“Up already?” A hand waved in front of her eyes as Claire’s bright face peered down from the top bunk. “Where’s your phone? Let’s add each other—I’ll send you today’s consultation notes.”
Josie pushed herself up, tidied her things with a few quick moves, and grabbed her phone. Twenty-one missed calls—besides Kyle, everyone else had called—and messages filled up WhatsApp notifications, including group chats and direct messages from Vincent et al. In the past, she would’ve been excitedly replying one by one right away. Now, she just casually scanned through them before adding Claire.
“Did you finish Professor Wilcourt’s tasks yesterday? She might spot-check when we meet today; if not done, there could be punishment—be mentally prepared.” Claire yawned, stretching her arms overhead. “Oh yeah, you don’t have your own silver needles yet, right? I’ll get Sean to tag along someday and have a custom set made. Always stick to our own needles. That’s the rule.”
“Okay,” Josie replied. “Thanks, Claire.”
Claire chuckled and ruffled Josie’s hair. “You’re so cute. I want to pinch you.” She waved a hand. “Cut the formal crap with me? This field’s always been tight-knit. Honestly, I’ve been starving for some new blood. You showing up? Made my whole damn day. Seriously.”
Josie’s lips curved softly. “Glad to be here, too, really.”
“Hurry up and get ready; we’ll see the professor soon.” After Claire went to the bathroom, Josie looked through the group chat messages. Everyone already knew about her quitting the team but didn’t believe it. They thought she was just throwing a tantrum and waiting for everyone to comfort her.
Josie snorted and typed in the group: “The thing about quitting is real, no joke.” After sending the message, she quit the group and put her phone on silent.
Delilah’s consultation was at ten o’clock; they arrived at the clinic at nine. True to Claire’s word, Delilah tested them before their consultation.
“Sean first. Move that dummy over there and go through yesterday’s needle techniques.” Delilah pointed at the dummy.
Hearing this, Josie breathed a slight sigh of relief. When Delilah taught Sean needle techniques yesterday, she didn’t hide anything from Josie or Claire. With a photographic memory, Josie could remember most of it after listening once. The dummies had acupoints marked on them; going through one set of needles wasn’t hard.
But as Sean began his precision needlework, Josie realized just how naive she’d been. Professor Wilcourt, whose reputation rivaled David’s? Hell no, she’d show mercy to her handful of students. By the time Sean finished his last needle insertion, Josie realized she hadn’t remembered any of his techniques correctly. In just fifteen seconds, he completed twenty-one acupoint insertions in front-back-left-right order—it required not only good memory but also relentless practice day and night to achieve such precision.
As soon as Sean finished, Delilah turned to look at Josie. “Anything you want to say?”