Love's Cunning Ruse novel Chapter 198

A little boy in a dark blue baseball cap bumped into Julie, like hitting a brick wall. He lost his balance and sat down on the ground. Just as Julie was about to bend down to help him up, the little boy pulled down the brim of his cap to hide his face. He picked up a dark blue pendant that had fallen to the ground and clutched it to his chest as if it were a precious treasure.

Julie extended her hand to the little boy, but he didn't look up. Suddenly, a tall man burst out of the hospital. He scooped up the boy from the ground without a word to Julie, then turned and headed towards a black SUV parked outside the hospital.

The little boy didn't cry or struggle, he just kept his head down. Julie couldn't see his face, only his small hands clutching the pendant.

She watched the man get into the car with the little boy in his arms until the car door closed. Inside the car, she saw a pair of red pointed heels, authoritative and imposing. Her eyes followed the woman's ankle up, until they were obscured by the car door.

All she could see was the woman's hand, with dark red nail polish, reaching out for the boy.

The boy hesitated, then placed the delicate blue pendant in the woman's hand.

The car door closed. Julie watched the black SUV drive away.

It wasn't until her phone buzzed in her pocket that she snapped out of her reverie and picked up the call.

It was Dr. Brice's voice on the other end, "I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Turns out it was really you."

The familiar voice not only came from the phone, but also seemed to be coming from behind her.

She turned around, and sure enough, Dr. Brice was standing right behind her. He was wearing his white doctor's coat, phone in hand.

They locked eyes. He ended the call, then walked towards her, "Last time I saw you, it was in the newspaper."

Julie smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to respond. Ever since he had bluntly expressed his affection for her, things between them had become a bit awkward. Even though they still occasionally chatted on WhatsApp, most of the time they talked about Sansa Abraham, no longer occasionally caring about each other's lives as friends.

Feeling the shift in their relationship, Dr. Brice took the initiative to speak, "Did you come to see your sister?"

Julie nodded, "Why are you here at the hospital entrance?"

"I just finished a consultation." Dr. Brice led Julie towards Sansa's ward, "Sansa's treatment fee was delivered by Mr. Hernandez three days ago. In fact, you and Mr. Hernandez remarried... it is very good.” Julie looked at Dr. Brice in surprise.

Dr. Brice laughed, "I've been dating recently, but I haven't found the right person yet. My family asked me if I had someone in mind. After thinking about it, I thought I might have some feelings for you, but I'm more focused on myself. So...just like we discussed last time, let's keep a pure doctor-patient relationship, how about that?"

Julie nodded with a smile, "Sure."

"Of course, I personally prefer us to be friends. Don't worry, I'm not interested in a married woman, and I won't have any thoughts beyond friendship towards you."

Dr. Brice's humor made Julie laugh, "Dr. Brice, you really have good taste."

At the entrance of Sansa's ward, Dr. Brice said to Julie, "If there's anything, feel free to contact me anytime."

"Sure." After watching Dr. Brice leave, Julie turned and pushed open the door to Sansa's ward.

Sansa lying on the hospital bed was so thin that her cheeks were sunken. That year, Sansa drove to find Darcey. She was speeding on the highway.

Her speeding car suddenly hit Darcey's car. Then, a large truck full of stones hit them, crushing both cars under its chassis. The huge impact caused the stones on the truck to slide off, completely burying the small car.

When the firefighters dug through the stones by hand, everyone else at the scene of the accident had already died, only Sansa still showed signs of life. At that time, Julie and Kieran were not divorced yet. With Kieran's help, Julie managed to rush Sansa, who was hanging on by a thread, to the Tranquil Care Hospital for emergency treatment. After 28 hours of rescue, Sansa miraculously survived. But she was left in a vegetative state.

Since then, her condition had been up and down, often suffering from heart attacks, central circulatory failure, or traumatic myocarditis. She had brushed past death many times. It wasn't until more than four months later that she gradually regained the ability to breathe on her own, and her body temperature returned to normal. She no longer needed a ventilator, and the drainage tube on her chest was removed, but she remained unconscious.

Julie couldn't imagine how she would have faced the drastic changes in her family without Kieran by her side during her toughest times. She had watched her closest people pass away one by one, and Sansa suffer from illness time and time again. She had thought about ending Sansa's life herself in despair, but Kieran grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the darkness step by step.

But the person who pushed her back into the abyss was also him.

After their divorce, Julie couldn't afford the high medical expenses at Tranquil Care Hospital, so Sansa was transferred to Oakhurst Hospital. Over the years, Julie had lost hope of seeing Sansa wake up, but no matter how tough life got, she never thought about giving up on Sansa's treatment. It had become an obsession.

She walked over and held Sansa's hand, feeling the stiffness. It was nothing like Sansa's hand in her childhood memories, but she held it tightly. When she was a child, she loved watching Sansa dance. She would spin and jump gracefully in her ballet shoes, like a real swan, like an angel.