After her rebirth
Chapter 56

Katniss was totally floored for a sec.

Aurora used to teach medicine?

She had no clue. Aurora never mentioned having students.

"Felix, all I know is my grandma was a military doc. She never said anything about teaching."

Felix was kinda taken aback too, but he realized he only heard it in passing and didn't have much more to add, so he just shrugged. Katniss didn't push it. If Aurora never brought it up, there had to be a reason. Maybe teaching wasn't a great memory for her.

After dinner, Katniss was about to do the dishes, but Felix jumped in, "Katniss, I'll handle these. Can you check out Maximilian's leg?" Seeing Felix all worried, Katniss put down the dishes and went over to Maximilian, squatting a bit, "Maximilian, I need to check your leg." Maximilian just stared at her silently.

Katniss took his silence as a yes and started pressing on his leg.

"Done with your exam?" Maximilian suddenly asked, his voice kinda raspy.

It felt like an elder grilling a kid about their grades, making Katniss a bit nervous. She smiled slightly, "Yeah." "How'd you do?"

"Not bad." Katniss wanted to say she aced it, but in front of a genius like Maximilian, her grades felt small.

She'd heard Maximilian had dual degrees and a full ride, with top universities fighting over him.

Maximilian's lips tightened a bit, "You seem kinda scared of me?"

Especially when they were alone, Katniss acted like a rabbit in front of a lion, all obedient and stuff.

Katniss wanted to deny it but ended up looking up sheepishly, "A little bit."

Maximilian was quiet for a few seconds, then gave a faint smile.

Katniss was momentarily stunned. Right then, Maximilian seemed gentler than ever.

After a moment, Katniss refocused and seriously checked his leg.

Maximilian looked down at her, his gaze lingering for a moment before looking away.

At home, Maximilian was in soft cotton lounge pants. The thin fabric transmitted the not-too-warm temperature of Katniss's palm, making him a bit uncomfortable, his muscles tensing up. Katniss thought, 'Weird; why are his muscles so firm and strong?'

Logically, after not walking for years, the muscles should've atrophied and gone slack.

Katniss furrowed her brows and started pressing along the acupuncture points on his leg, one by one.

Maximilian's shoulder twitched slightly, and he instinctively grabbed her hand as it moved upward.

Interrupted, Katniss looked up, confused, "Maximilian, what's up?"

Maximilian replied, "Is there a problem?"

"Not really." Katniss's eyes darted around before saying, "Maximilian, have you been doing physical training for your legs? I can feel you still have muscle, and it's well-maintained." Maximilian was silent for a few seconds, then smiled wryly, "You can tell that?"

"Of course!" Katniss responded cheerfully.

She could almost confirm that the cause of his leg condition was as Felix had said, due to prolonged illness and poisoning, as well as the side effects of some meds.

But it had been a long time, at least over ten years, and curing it would take some time.

But Aurora was always super proud of her acupuncture technique for treating legs and kept drilling it into Katniss to learn it well. Using that technique, Aurora once got a soldier who'd been disabled for years back on his feet after a battlefield injury.

Even though Katniss was all about Nathan's treatment back then, she still picked it up pretty well.

After checking Maximilian's leg, Katniss thoughtfully covered it with a thin blanket.

"All done with the exam?"

Katniss nodded, "Yeah, I'm just figuring out the treatment plan."

Even though Katniss looked young, she had this crazy skill and experience when it came to treating patients, like she'd been doing it for decades.

Maximilian put his hands back on his legs and asked calmly, "You've got classes and my treatment to handle. Can you juggle it all?"

"I can manage," Katniss said with a slight smile, "Plus, with the kind of money you're paying, how could I not take it seriously?"

Was it really just about the money?

Maximilian lowered his eyes. She always seemed to be in need of cash.

Katniss was deep in thought about the treatment plan and didn't catch Maximilian's expression.

After a bit, Katniss spoke up, "I'm thinking of using medicinal food and pills to help regulate your body. For the leg injury, I'll go with acupuncture and massage." "We'll start with a one-month plan and see how it goes."

She got up and jotted down the method on a piece of paper.

Just then, Felix walked in, and Katniss handed him the prescription, "Felix, take a look and keep this. It's the acupuncture method for treating Maximilian's leg."

Felix quickly wiped his hands clean and took it with both hands. After his initial excitement, he couldn't help but ask, "Katniss, aren't you gonna do the acupuncture yourself?"

Katniss said, "I will, but I just finished my exams for changing majors, and I'll be starting med school soon. I'm worried my studies might take up too much time. With this prescription, you can also find other doctors to continue the treatment." Maximilian had been drugged, and though she didn't know all the details, Katniss could guess it was complicated.

By treating Maximilian and leaving the prescription out in the open, she could ease their minds.

Plus, the future's uncertain. If something happened to her, Felix could use the prescription to find other top-notch doctors to keep treating Maximilian.

"You're so thorough." Felix touched the prescription, thinking that even though Katniss was young, she was super perceptive.

She handled things like a pro.

After the consultation, Katniss had finished her work and thought about whipping up a new dessert she'd come up with for them to try. "Felix, want some dessert? I just created a new one, and it's delicious!"

Felix smiled warmly, looking at Katniss with increasingly kind eyes, "Sure, Katniss, you're amazing. You can handle everything!"

With his approval, Katniss turned and headed to the kitchen to make the dessert.

After Katniss left, Felix turned and handed the prescription to Maximilian. "I'll have someone check this out to make sure it's all good." Even though he trusted Katniss, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Especially since Katniss had once been Desmond's fiancée and was head over heels for him.

The Boleyn family would love nothing more than for Maximilian to kick the bucket.

Maximilian lowered his eyes before saying, "Felix, do you think she would harm me?"