Homecoming to an Empty Heart

The kitten, which had been lying on the carpet licking its fur, quickly ran over to rub against Julia's legs when it saw her return.

Julia's heart softened. She suddenly thought back to when Coby could barely walk. Every time she came home, he would crawl and stumble toward her, babbling for a hug.

Later on, when Coby grew a bit older and could understand more things, he'd always ask if she was hurt whenever he saw her. He would also proudly brag to others, "My mom catches bad guys! She's a superhero!"

But now?

Julia shook her head, not wanting to dwell on such thoughts. She bent down to pick up the kitten and muttered to herself, "It's too bad I'm leaving. No one here likes you, either. I've got to find someone to adopt you soon."

With that thought in mind, Julia headed out of the house with the kitten in her arms. She visited every nearby pet store, but they all refused to take in the kitten.

"We're a business. We don't take in animals. Perhaps you could try asking an animal shelter?"

Out of the blue, Julia remembered that Owen Anderson, who worked at the police station, had a pet cat. After calling him up, she ended up taking the cat to his place.

She'd just left Owen's house when she received a call from Elijah.

"It's Dr. Harper's 70th birthday celebration today. Are you free?"

Richard Harper was Elijah's boss and mentor. He'd witnessed nearly every stage of Elijah's medical career, and he had also been a witness at their wedding. Since it was his birthday celebration, Julia couldn't refuse to attend.

The birthday celebration was a grand affair.

When Julia arrived at the venue, Elijah, Coby, and Juliette were all waiting at the entrance. Their outfits were of the same color, making it seem like they were a family. Julia, on the other hand, looked every bit like an outsider.

Once Richard went up on stage to say a few words of gratitude, the celebration began, and everyone started eating. Elijah was the only one who barely took a bite. He spent all of this time waiting on Juliette, serving food onto her plate, and peeling shrimps for her.

Coby also did what he could, keeping her glass filled and passing her a napkin.

Luna Whitman, a young woman who sat across the table, remarked enviously, "Elijah and his son take such good care of his wife! I hope I can find a husband like him who will take good care of me, too!"

The atmosphere turned awkward at once.

Sally Everett, who was sitting beside Luna, quickly laughed and explained, "Elijah's wife is the one sitting on his right.

"Julia, this is Luna Whitman. She's only been with the hospital for two months, so she has never met you before. Please don't take it to heart."

"It's fine. It's not a big deal," Julia said with a chuckle.

Her reaction made Elijah, who was halfway peeling a prawn, stiffen. He felt a surge of anger. How could she say it was no big deal that someone had mistakenly assumed he was married to someone else?

He turned to look at Julia, only to end up meeting her indifferent gaze that was as cold as ice. He tried to speak, but she looked away before he could, as if he'd mistaken her reaction.

Elijah was going to place the shrimp on Juliette's plate, but he ended up turning around and placing it on Julia's plate instead.

Julia loved eating shrimp, but she hated peeling them herself. In the past, she would always grin happily whenever he peeled the shrimp for her and gobble everything up. Recalling this, he looked expectantly at her.

However, she simply thanked him before tossing the shrimp onto the table.

Elijah was just about to speak when Juliette set down her cutlery and introduced herself. "I'm Juliette Graham, Julia's younger sister. Eli and I are family, too."

Her words only ended up worsening the awkwardness in the air. Everyone began eyeing Elijah and Juliette with looks of contempt.

"You're just his sister-in-law? With how intimate you two were being, I thought—"

A piece of chicken was stuffed into Luna's mouth before she could complete her sentence. Someone else quickly raised his glass, saying, "Come on, everyone. Don't just focus on the food. Let's have a toast!"

Thanks to the booze, the atmosphere grew lively again. Elijah, who rarely ever drank, had been persuaded to have a few glasses of wine. Even Julia couldn't avoid getting coaxed into having a glass as well.

Since the two had been drinking, they couldn't drive, and Juliette didn't know how to drive either. Thankfully, Sally was sober and had driven over in her own car, so they decided to get a ride from her.

Julia thoughtfully took the front passenger seat, letting Elijah and Coby share the backseat with Juliette.

Even though Elijah's mind was a little hazy from the alcohol, he could still sense that something wasn't right. He got the feeling that Julia was voluntarily distancing herself from him.

He was on the verge of speaking up when there was a loud bang, and the car flipped over. Elijah just barely managed to wrap his arms protectively around Coby, who was sitting in the middle of the back seat.

Julia didn't know how much time had passed. It was the agonizing pain coming from her arm that made her open her eyes. She found herself pinned under the mangled car, and the other person pinned as well was Juliette, who sat on the same side as her.

Elijah was desperately trying to lift the car, to no avail. Coby was crouching beside Juliette, crying as he called out to her. Sally was also trying to find a way to help them.

When Elijah noticed that Julia had regained consciousness, he cried out agitatedly, "Don't panic, Julia! Help is on the way!"

He was telling the truth. The rescue team arrived in no time, followed by an ambulance.

Thanks to the tools the rescue team had brought with them, the car wreck was soon pried open. Both Julia and Juliette were dragged out.

"There's a shortage of ambulances right now," the paramedics grimly explained. "We could only get one dispatched first. The other is still on the way. Who should we take to the hospital first, Dr. Sherwood?"

"Save Aunt Juliette first!"

No one paid any attention to the words of a kid like Coby. They all looked at Elijah, waiting for his response.

When he saw the ghostly pale Julia, his heart squeezed in pain. "You should obviously save—"

Just then, Juliette wailed, "I'm so scared, Eli! My head is killing me! Am I going to die? I don't want to die! I'm still so young. I only recently got the chance to live a good life. I'm not ready to die."

Elijah looked between Julia and Juliette. Julia's arm was bleeding profusely. The bleeding had to be stopped as soon as possible. But Juliette said her head was hurting. What if she had a brain injury?

His dilemma was precisely what made the paramedics hesitate as well. The official procedure was to save the patient who was most injured first, but they couldn't tell who that was in such a situation.

One of the paramedics urged, "Please hurry up and make a decision, Dr. Sherwood. Time is of the essence here!"

"Save Juliette first!" Elijah said without any further hesitation.

Upon hearing his choice, everyone present was thunderstruck. No one expected him to abandon his wife for another woman. Coby was the only one who cheered and scrambled over to help.

Julia wasn't surprised at all. It wasn't his first time choosing Juliette over her. She'd been disappointed enough times that this was no longer unexpected to her.

"Take her to the hospital. I'll stay back to deal with Julia's wounds," Elijah said before running into the ambulance to get some gauze and disinfectant.

Juliette, who was on the stretcher, clung to Elijah. "I'm scared, Eli. Will you stay with me?"

Elijah's brow furrowed. In the end, he handed the supplies to Sally before saying to Julia, "You're her older sister, Julia. You should let Juliette have her way. She suffered all throughout her childhood on your behalf, and her body is not as strong as yours.

"Just hang in there for a bit. The other ambulance will be here soon. Let Sally tend to your wounds first.

"I promise this is the last time. After this, it'll be just us again."

Julia realized that what she detested hearing the most was being told that she was the older sister who should just let her younger sister have her way. Those words seemed to be the reason why every person she cared about was stolen away from her.

And the most ironic thing about that was the fact that she and Juliette weren't even related by blood.

Smirking, she said in a shaky voice, "There's not going to be an 'us' anymore, Elijah."

Her voice was drowned out by Juliette's much louder screams. Elijah turned around and looked at her puzzledly, as if to ask what she'd said.

Having lost a lot of blood, Julia started to feel woozy. Before she lost consciousness, the last thing she saw was Elijah and Coby getting into the ambulance after Juliette.