Sophia felt truly exhausted from being taunted by Scott Livinus. She wondered if she and Scott were somehow inherently incompatible. In all her career, she’d never encountered a medical patch that wouldn’t come off—this was a first. How could it get so firmly stuck after only an hour?
Especially in that sensitive area—it must’ve hurt.
Now she felt utterly embarrassed.
In the end, she could only offer every possible solution she could think of.
Eucalyptus oil, warm blasts from a hairdryer, cold compresses with ice, baby oil for lubrication…
She presented everything she could think of and handed it to Livinus.
Livinus looked at her calmly, took the items, and said, “Wait outside.”
Sophia heard the hairdryer’s hum coming from inside, followed by a brief pause, then silence.
Fifteen minutes later.
The door opened, and Livinus handed the hairdryer back to her.
“How is it?” Sophia asked.
He gave a low grunt in response, his face expressionless.
“Just keep an eye on it. If there’s any discomfort tonight, call me anytime!” Sophia advised him.
Scott closed the door, listening to her footsteps as they receded. Memories of the entire incident flashed through his mind, his brows knitted tightly, though the corners of his lips curved up slightly, almost involuntarily.
The cooling sensation from the eucalyptus oil on his inner thigh was both refreshing and oddly tingling. It was… a memorable experience.
Livinus could hardly remember the last time he had done anything so utterly foolish.
This unexpected loss of control seemed to mock him.
Even Scott Livinus had days like this.
—
The next day, as soon as Sophia arrived at her clinic, she saw Tina and her family coming down from the mountain path. As soon as the elderly woman spotted her, she grabbed Sophia’s hand, full of gratitude.
“Dr. Smith! We can’t thank you enough! Your medicine is truly miraculous! Since my daughter-in-law started taking it, her stomach pains are gone, her energy is back, and she’s already able to walk around on her own! She has an appetite again!”
Sophia chuckled. “That sounded just like an ad.”
She glanced over at Tina, who indeed looked a lot healthier—her skin had a rosy glow, entirely different from the pale face she’d had days ago.
This result didn’t surprise Sophia at all.
“Please, take a seat, and I’ll check your pulse,” she said.
Tina sat down, and Sophia took her wrist to feel her pulse. After a moment, she smiled and confirmed, “Your condition has indeed improved. The fetal pulse is strong, and your body is healthier now. The blood stasis in your uterus from previous abortions has mostly cleared. With that gone, your uterus is able to support the fetus properly, and the baby is beginning to grow.”
Tina’s face lit up with joy, and her whole family exchanged happy glances, clearly relieved.
“But…”
Their smiles froze, and Tina nervously asked, “Dr. Smith, is there something wrong with my baby?”
Sophia nodded, responding truthfully. “To be honest, without treatment, the baby wouldn’t have survived. But even though I’ve managed to stabilize things, I can’t guarantee there won’t be further issues. You must take care to rest and nurture yourself. Get through these first three months, and if the fetus continues to develop normally, it should be fine. But otherwise, the fetus may not make it.”
Their faces clouded with worry as they looked at one another. Tina finally spoke up, “Dr. Smith, hearing you say all this makes me anxious. Please, just help me save my baby!”
Sophia reassured her. “Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”
She sat down to revise Tina’s prescription. “I’ll adjust the formula, removing some of the blood-activating herbs and adding others that support fetal development. Take it as directed, and come back for a follow-up after the critical period.”
“Understood, understood!” Tina and her family were all nodding in agreement.
They looked at Sophia as if she were their savior, full of gratitude and respect.
Before they had even left, a group of people arrived at the clinic door, all carrying backpacks and looking like tourists.
Just as Tina and her family assumed they would keep heading up the mountain, the group stopped, and one of them exclaimed with excitement:
“Is this the place? Let me check the map. Yes! It’s here!”
“Yep, it’s here!”
“This clinic is really tiny! If someone hadn’t told me, I’d never have known such a talented doctor was here!”
“Yeah, I didn’t expect the medicine would be so effective…”
One by one, about ten people lined up to see Sophia.
Tina’s family looked on, stunned.
In this remote, hard-to-reach spot up a mountain path that cars couldn’t even reach, how had all these people heard about this place?
And acne-clearing miracle medicine? Was Dr. Smith’s reputation really that good? Was she already attracting patients from other regions?
Tina asked in astonishment, “The doctor you all mentioned—is it Dr. Smith here?”
“Yes! The very same Dr. Smith!” they said, showing Tina a photo on their phone.
The image showed Sophia in a white lab coat, taking someone’s pulse, her face lit up by the sunlight. Her delicate features and fair skin made her look almost ethereal.
It was undoubtedly Sophia!
“I can’t believe it. How did you all find out about her?” Tina asked, still shocked.
“Oh, Dr. Smith’s name is spreading through our online group. A lot of us have been here before and swear by her treatment. People shared photos and the location, so we came as soon as we could.”
Tina took a moment to absorb this, glancing at the tiny, signless clinic in awe.
It was human nature to be impressed by popularity. Previously, when no one else came, Tina had her doubts about this clinic. She didn’t trust Sophia’s treatment and had gone to a hospital instead. But now, seeing all these people lining up, she realized that this small, unremarkable clinic could soon be so popular that even she, as a long-time neighbor, might struggle to get an appointment.
She and her family left, still stunned.
—
Watching the long line forming, Sophia sighed. She’d originally promised only to see five patients a day, but these people had traveled from other states, and she couldn’t turn them away.
Most of these patients had previously purchased their acne treatment ointment through WhatsApp and found it very effective. However, they had heard from people like Mary that the effect was even better when paired with the traditional medicine Sophia prescribed, which treated acne from the inside out. So, this group had traveled together from various cities, some as far as over a thousand miles away, even flying in at great personal expense.
