"Did I hear you right? You''re saying..." Jimmie''s handsome face was a mask of disbelief, his voice hoarse. "Juniper is going to perform a craniotomy on Saskia?"


    This was surgery. Not just any surgery, but one of the most difficult procedures possible. Juniper hadn''t even started college yet. How could she?


    "Juniper, when did you learn medicine?" Melvin asked outright. He knew his sister was brilliant, far beyond her peers, but medicine wasn''t something you could master in just a few years.


    "Years ago," Juniper replied, her voice raspy and dry. Many, many years ago. She had been studying medicine for longer than most specialists.


    "Years ago?" Melvin and Jimmie exchanged a look of pure shock. Just how capable was their sister? What had she been learning all those fifteen years they were apart?


    "She needs to rest before the surgery," Shanley interjected, bringing the brothers back to the present. "There''s still a lot to prepare."


    The two men said nothing more, allowing Shanley to lead their sister to a quiet rest


    area.


    About ten minutester, Shanley came out and found the brothers waiting by the door.


    "You''re really going to let her do this?" Melvin asked, leaning against the wall, his eyes fixed on Shanley.


    "Juniper is a master dancer, the racing legend ''J'', and a student with perfect scores across the board. These are just the things she''s picked up recently," Shanley said, his hands in his pockets, his deep eyes narrowed slightly. A faint smile touched his lips. "Oh, and she''s also the founder of J-Five Studio. Before any of that, she saved my grandfather''s life when he was on the brink of death. Juniper never does anything she isn''t sure of. I trust her."


    Jimmie and Melvin were dumbfounded by the flood of information.


    "But she''s only eighteen..." Jimmie began, his expression grave. "This is brain surgery."


    "Age has nothing to do with it," Shanley said, ncing back at the girl resting on the bed inside. His voice was firm and certain. "What matters is that she''s Juniper. If she says she can do it, she can. After all, I''ve spent the most time with her. I know her."


    Jimmie and Melvin were left speechless. No ordinary person could acquire so many skills. Perhaps... their sister was no ordinary person.


    ...


    At five o''clock, Juniper confirmed that all the surgical equipment was ready.


    "I need an assistant," she said, her gaze sweeping over the room full of specialists and senior surgeons beforending on the man in the center.


    "Sorry, I''m busy," the lead specialist said, seeing this whole situation as a


    farce. Assisting a teenager in a craniotomy... wasn''t that


    tantamount to malpractice, to treating a human life as worthless He couldn''t believe Mr. Schwartz had brought in someone like this. It was madness!


    Juniper frowned and looked at the others.


    "The surgery is too risky. I can''t be a part of it."


    "Me neither."


    "I refuse."


    "No."


    The other surgeons also refused, one by one.


    "You," Juniper said, tired of arguing, pointing directly at the lead specialist. "You''ll be my assistant."


    The specialist was a man in his forties with a salt-and-pepper buzz cut and a face that radiated stern integrity.


    "I said, I refuse."


    "Refusal denied," Juniper retorted,


    at him. "You''ve never


    have you? Ever figured out why