Left for Dead Came Back for Everything novel Chapter 165

The acupuncture hurt far worse than she had anticipated.

The second the old master drove the silver needle into the pressure point on the outside of her knee, Eliza's entire body snapped taut like a bowstring.

A deep, agonizing soreness drilled straight out of her bones, crawling all the way up her fascia into her thigh. It felt like someone was scraping her bones with a dull blade.

But she didn't make a single sound.

She bit down hard on the inside of her lower lip, her fingers gripping the edge of the bamboo mat so tightly her knuckles turned stark white.

Vivian stood nearby, arms crossed over her chest. After watching her for two seconds, she suddenly reached over and pried Eliza's white-knuckled fingers off the mat.

"Don't bite your lip. If it hurts, let it out. Holding it in does your body no favors. Tensing up will just block your circulation and ruin the effects of the treatment."

Eliza relaxed her jaw and took a deep, shaky breath.

"I'm fine... it just aches."

"It's supposed to ache," Vivian said steadily. "The master's technique targets the deep fascial layers. You completely deadened your pain receptors with those cortisone shots, so right now, he's basically forcing those pathways back open. The first three sessions are going to be agonizing, but it'll get better after that."

The old master stood by with his eyes closed, his fingers resting on the final silver needle, slowly twisting it three times.

Eliza's brow twitched violently, but she clamped her back teeth together and refused to make a sound.

Twenty minutes later, all the needles were removed.

Vivian handed her a cup of warm herbal tea. Eliza took a sip; it was incredibly bitter, but once it went down, a comforting warmth spread through her stomach.

"Stand up and try walking a few steps."

Eliza set the cup down, using the back of the chair to slowly pull herself up.

The moment her left foot touched the ground—

She froze.

It didn't hurt.

It wasn't the deadened, numb sensation that followed a cortisone shot. It was a genuine, weightless feeling. It felt like the tightly coiled spring inside her knee—one that had been wound up for three years—had suddenly been released.

She tentatively bent her knee, then straightened it.

It felt sore, but there was no pain.

"This is..."

Vivian's lips curved into a slight smile. "The master's acupuncture combined with the external poultice always shows the most dramatic results after the first session. But don't celebrate just yet. You still have a long road ahead. No strenuous exercise for the next two days, and change the patch every twenty-four hours. I've packed fourteen for you. Julian will give them to you."

Eliza bowed deeply, thanking the old master profusely.

Eliza's ears burned.

"...How did you know?"

"A wild guess," Julian said, his expression unchanging. "There's no way you pulled off the moves in that video without numbing the pain first. It must have hurt like hell."

Eliza opened her mouth but found herself entirely at a loss for words.

Out of the millions of people who had watched that viral video, everyone had only seen the brilliance.

He was the only one who saw the agony.

Outside the window, streetlights blurred past one by one, casting alternating flashes of light and shadow across her profile.

She turned her head to look out the window, her fingers unconsciously brushing against the sticky note on the back of her phone case.

"I won't get them anymore," she said.

Julian gave a soft hum of acknowledgment.

The car continued smoothly down the road. They sat separated by the center console, neither of them speaking, but the silence between them felt comfortable and perfectly complete without words.

When they arrived at her apartment building, Julian parked the car and walked around to open the passenger door.