Chapter 2

I keep waiting in my hospital room.

By the time it gets dark, no one has come back.

My phone is still the same model I had three years ago. It stopped working a long time ago.

I struggle out of bed and make my way home from memory.

Our front door has been changed to a fingerprint lock.

I hesitantly press my finger against it.

A harsh beep sounds, and a red light flashes.

“Wrong password.”

The cold voice seems to remind me that I’m the one who doesn’t belong here anymore.

I jump and quickly pull my hand back.

With nowhere else to go, I crouch down outside the door.

I don’t know how long I wait.

My legs are already numb from crouching.

Finally, I see them.

Sophie is talking nonstop.

Mom is carrying a bag of nutritional supplements.

Ethan is helping Emma walk, leaning down to say something to her. Her cheeks turn red.

The moment they see me, everyone freezes.

“What are you doing here?”

Ethan frowns.

There’s concern in his voice, the same familiar concern I remember.

“You just woke up and ran out of the hospital? What were you thinking?”

Then he enters Emma’s birthday into the lock.

The door unlocks.

We walk inside.

Everything is completely different from what I remember.

A huge wedding photo of Ethan and Emma hangs on the wall.

The master bedroom has been redecorated in Emma’s favorite pink.

Even the family photo has changed. I’m not in it anymore.

There’s nothing left of me in this house.

Sophie sighs and takes my hand.

“Claire, please don’t take this the wrong way.”

“None of us thought you’d ever wake up…”

Her voice gets quieter. But I understand exactly what she means.

They assumed I was never coming back. So they erased everything that belonged to me and started a new life.

Mom quickly tries to smooth things over.

“Claire, come eat. You haven’t had Mom’s cooking in years. Come on, try some.”

The table is covered with spicy food and seafood.

Emma loves spicy food.

I’m allergic to seafood.

Mom used to remember that.

But three years is a long time.

I don’t touch my food. I watch Mom put food onto Emma’s plate.

“Eat more. Look how thin you’ve gotten.”

Ethan peels shrimp for her.

He removes the bones from her fish and gently wipes the food from the corner of her mouth.

Sophie eats while sharing all the latest news.

And suddenly, I feel like a complete stranger at someone else’s table.

I mechanically take a few bites and silently think about three years ago.

Back then, Ethan was staying up late working on a proposal for a promotion. He told me that once he got a raise, he’d buy me my favorite bag.

Emma had just gotten into grad school. Mom was so happy that she invited relatives and friends over for dinner.

She was so happy she could probably smile in her sleep.

Sophie was always coming over to eat at our house.

At night, she and I would lie in the same bed and talk until midnight.

They used to be the people closest to me.

Why did I wake up to find them all so distant?

A pair of chopsticks places a piece of fish in my bowl.

It’s Emma.

“Claire, eat something.”

I’m a little lost. I quietly answer, “I don’t feel like eating.”

Mom suddenly drops her chopsticks.

“Ever since you woke up, you’ve had that look on your face! We’ve done everything we can to make you comfortable. If you’re unhappy about something, just say it. Stop acting like we all owe you something!”

Emma turns away and quietly wipes the corner of her eye.

Ethan pulls her into his arms and comforts her. Then he looks at me coldly.

My chest tightens so badly I can barely breathe.

I don’t know what to say.

Am I supposed to hate Emma?

She’s my little sister. I practically raised her.

When she was three, she had a fever of 104 degrees. I carried her through the rain for two miles to the hospital.

When she was in high school and some troublemakers followed her, I stood in front of them and told her to run. They beat me so badly I ended up with a split head.

When her first breakup left her depressed, I quit my job and took her on trips. I held her and told her she still had me.

I know she didn’t mean to hurt me.

But who’s going to pay for the three years they left me behind?

Dinner ends in silence.

Afterward, Mom gives me an awkward look.

“Emma and Ethan sleep in the master bedroom now. I use one of the spare rooms, and Sophie uses the other. So… maybe you can sleep on the couch for now?”

Ethan looks at me and frowns slightly.

“The living room gets cold at night.”

He brings out a blanket and makes up the couch for me.

I awkwardly thank him. The bitterness inside me only grows.

I never thought we could go from being so close to being this distant.

That night, I can’t sleep.

Then I hear muffled moans coming from the master bedroom.

The bed creaks rhythmically. It’s Ethan and Emma having sex.

“Ethan, slow down. Don’t hurt the baby…”

My whole body goes rigid. That’s the bed Ethan and I picked out together.

Back then, he told me, “We need a big one. When we have kids, the three of us can all fit.”

Then he paused and gave me a wicked smile.

“And it better be soft. And sturdy.”

I playfully punched him on the shoulder.

Now the memory cuts straight through me.

I curl up under the blanket and break down, crying silently.