Homecoming to an Empty Heart

When Julia and Elijah first met, she was a reckless rookie who'd just joined the police force, while he was a brilliant young doctor who'd just returned from studying abroad.

She'd been a little too heavy-handed with a criminal, not only breaking his nose and bashing his face in, but even going as far as breaking a few of his bones.

Elijah, who'd been on duty at the emergency room, asked her in shock, "Did you do this to him? Is he your boyfriend? Did he cheat on you?"

"Ask any more questions, and I'll make sure you end up on a hospital bed, too!" Julia snapped ferociously.

…

Julia ended up at the hospital so often that she might as well call it her home. And every time, she'd run into Elijah. Thanks to their constant bickering, they got to know each other pretty well.

Once the two finally started dating, Alfred Tolliver, Julia's mentor, tearfully declared, "Finally! Someone has come along to keep this troublesome mentee of mine in check!"

Elijah had proposed to Julia when she was still lying injured on a hospital bed. He got down on one knee, and with both his and her colleagues as witnesses, vowed to hone his medical skills to guarantee that she would remain healthy and mobile no matter what.

Everyone laughed at that.

As the years passed, Julia became the captain of the detective division of Greendale's police force. Elijah, on the other hand, became the youngest associate chief of his department at Greendale Hospital.

They eventually had a son, so everyone said they were the perfect, blissfully happy family of three.

This all changed a year ago, when Juliette came knocking on the Grahams' door. Her face, which was identical to Bertha's, was the only evidence needed.

Juliette accused Julia of stealing her place in the Graham family, calling her shameless, amongst other things.

That was the day Julia discovered that she and Juliette had been born in the same hospital on the same day, just minutes apart.

However, something had gone wrong. Perhaps they'd been switched when they were being bathed. Either way, they swapped lives from that point onward.

Juliette was the true daughter and only child of the Graham family, while Julia was meant to live a harsh life out on a desolate island with nothing but the ocean wind to keep her company.

The Graham family made a public display of welcoming Juliette back into the family. As for Julia, she had no choice but to accept her new role and constantly yield to Juliette. However, that wasn't enough to satisfy Juliette, for she even set her sights on Elijah!

Julia had always believed that even if the whole world sided with Juliette, Elijah and Coby wouldn't hesitate to take her side.

Alas, they'd changed as well.

Time and time again, Elijah and Coby sided with Juliette, acting like her knights in shining armor.

In the second month of Juliette's return, they celebrated Juliette's birthday and completely forgot about Julia, leaving her alone in the house even though it was also her birthday.

During the fifth month, they went traveling with Juliette for an entire month. Meanwhile, Julia had been attacked from behind during a mission. When her life had been hanging by a thread, it was Lawrence who signed the surgery consent form.

When the eighth month of Juliette's return rolled around, the Grahams and the Sherwoods gathered for a Christmas Eve dinner, but no one informed Julia about it.

She'd specifically traded shifts with her colleague to spend the festive holiday with them. But in the end, her Christmas Eve dinner was a pack of frozen lasagna she'd found in the freezer.

Even after it was heated up, she barely had any appetite for it. Instead, she volunteered to do an extra shift at the police station and ultimately spent the night there.

The past year was filled with countless similar incidents.

Perhaps it was Coby's drawing and his words that proved to be the final straw for Julia. Her disappointment had been accumulating for a long time. On that day, she could no longer hold herself back.

Her emotions exploded out of her as she snatched the drawing and ripped it up.

Coby pummeled Julia with his fists as he wailed, "You're evil, Mommy! Give me back my drawing! I don't want you to be my mommy!"

Elijah admonished her as well. "Have you lost your mind? Why are you getting upset with a child? You may need to act domineering in your line of work, but don't bring that attitude back home!"

Juliette pulled Coby into her arms before seemingly attempting to ease the tension, though her words were thinly veiled mockery. "Children don't mean any harm, Julia. He's just saying whatever comes to mind."

Not once had Julia ever cried when she was shot, stabbed, or had her bones broken while fighting criminals. But that day, she fled the house in tears.

"Go on! Leave, and don't bother coming back!" Elijah shouted after her.

…

Lost in these memories, Julia wandered along the streets until she arrived at a bank without realizing it. She transferred all of the money she'd saved up over the years to a new account. It wasn't much, only 120 thousand dollars in total.

That was nothing to the Sherwoods, but she still wanted to leave something to Coby. He was, after all, her child. Even if she divorced Elijah, she would provide child support.

Once done with that, she found that she had nowhere to go. After she'd made her decision, Lawrence had taken her identification paperwork and documents so that they could be destroyed. This meant she couldn't even check into a hotel.

Julia had no choice but to head back home, even if no one there wanted her.

Along the way, she passed by a pet store with a basket of little kittens in the window who were mewling softly. Remembering how Coby had once said his birthday wish was to have a pet, she stopped and picked out a kitten.

The kitten would be the last symbol of her love for Coby. She hoped it would accompany him in her place as he grew up. Once she left, she probably wouldn't be a part of his life ever again.