Every time Kelsey had a dream in the middle of the night, she would see a child with no face shaking in front of her.
She wanted to see the child clearly, but a thick white mist blocked her view.
When she reached out her hand, the whole scene crumbled like dust.
Through the heavy fog, what she saw wasn't what she wanted to see. It was a heart-wrenching scene, repeating again and again:
"Choose one. Who do you choose?"
"I choose Elise… she's afraid of heights…"
Even though it was a dream, those words cut straight through her like knives. They were too real. Too sharp. They stabbed at her nerves.
Then the dream changed, she was lying in the middle of the road, covered in blood.
Her child was slipping away from her, and not far away, two people leaned sweetly against each other, stepping back and forth on her and her baby's blood and flesh…
Kelsey jolted awake, her body drenched in sweat. Her back was soaked.
Dexter was standing outside the door, hesitating. She couldn't let him see her like this.
Grabbing her hair tiredly, she said in a raspy voice, "I'm fine, really. Go back to sleep. I still have to work tomorrow."
Her voice sounded dry and worn-out.
Dexter's hand tightened slowly around the doorknob. He stood there for a while, silent, then finally sighed. "I get it… Sis, rest well."
"Okay."
As she listened to the sound of his footsteps getting farther away, Kelsey finally let out a breath. Her body collapsed back onto the pillow, weak and drained.
The next morning, Dexter had an early class and left at seven.
He was still at the age where he had to go to school. He had originally been accepted into Spring City University, one of the top schools in the country, just like Kelsey.
But because of his health, he had to take time off.
Pearl City wasn't as developed as Spring City, but it was still a big city with deep culture and history. Pearl City University was a top-tier school.
Rhett arranged for Dexter to transfer to Maple University and gave both of them new identities.
Now, Kelsey was known as Kaitlyn, and Dexter was Derek.
Since both of their parents had passed away and their relatives weren't very close to them, it wasn't hard to get new identities.
Dexter's health had gotten a lot better, but he still needed regular check-ups. Just being able to go back to school normally was already a big improvement.
Kelsey had found work again, teaching at a training center.
Even though the money Rhett gave them was enough for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, she still felt like she needed to have her own job.
Preferably something that kept her busy, so she wouldn't have to remember those painful memories.
Sometimes when she walked past a baby store or saw a mom playing with her kid, she'd freeze up for a second.
She really… loved kids.
But as someone carrying dinosaur blood, she might only be able to have one child in her whole life.
Water from the dispenser spilled everywhere on the floor.
"…This is hot water. Aren't you burned?"
A startled voice came from behind her, and Kelsey finally snapped back to reality. There was a sharp sting on the back of her hand. She quickly pulled it back. "Sorry…"
Quiana grabbed a tissue and helped her wipe it off. "Good thing it wasn't boiling. Otherwise, your skin would've gotten scorched…"
She's from Pearl City, and her dad is a respected doctor there. Their hometown is here, but they opened a training institution in Spring City because her husband worked over there.
Lately, they've shifted their focus back to Pearl City, so she naturally opened the institution here instead.
The casual education place they used to run couldn't find a good replacement after Kelsey left.
With other changes going on too, they just decided to stop it altogether and start fresh with the training center in Pearl City.
It's only been a few days since they opened, and Quiana's still busy recruiting new teachers, besides a few people she already knows.
Sometimes the world really is full of coincidences.
When Kelsey was job hunting, she just happened to find Quiana's institution.
At first glance, Quiana thought she was seeing things. "Kelsey?" she blurted out, her face going pale. "Weren't you already…"
Quiana didn't know Kelsey super well, but she had a good impression of her, hardworking, capable, not the type to play games.
When she heard Kelsey had suddenly passed away, she was sad for a bit. But Kelsey was just a short chapter in her life, and all she heard was that she died in an accident, so she didn't think about it too much.
But now, running into her in a completely different city, Quiana was completely shocked.
Kelsey was surprised too, but after a moment of emotion, she decided to just go with it and get along with her under her new identity.
Quiana couldn't believe there could be two people in the world who were so alike.
Not just the looks and voice, but even the way they danced, played instruments, and even their names sounded almost identical…
If Quiana hadn't worked with Kelsey before and heard she'd died in an accident, she would've thought the girl standing in front of her—Kaitlyn—was Kelsey.
Sometimes, after a while, she would get confused and start thinking Kaitlyn really was Kelsey.
But the dead can't come back to life.
Eventually, Quiana got used to Kaitlyn being around.
Though every now and then, she'd still see Kelsey's shadow in her, like just now.
She remembered back when Kelsey was going through her divorce, she was just like this: forgetting to shut off the faucet while pouring water, then burning her hand with hot water.
Quiana immediately helped her take care of the burn.
Kelsey glanced at her skilled movements and asked, "How do you know how to do this?"
Quiana smiled a little. "My husband's a doctor. He taught me some basic first-aid stuff."
As she said that, her eyes suddenly dimmed. "You really remind me of my old friend. Sometimes I feel like you are her… It's just crazy how there can be two people this alike in the world. Same face, same voice, even the same job…"
She stared at Kelsey like she was trying to see through her or find something.
Kelsey felt uncomfortable and pulled her hand back. "The world's huge and full of weird stuff. If you read the news more, you'll see this kind of thing actually happens sometimes."
She smiled at Quiana. "So, how's that friend doing? You bring her up a lot, I'm kinda curious about her too."
Quiana's expression shifted, and she sighed softly. "It's nothing… she passed away, just all of a sudden. I wasn't super close to her, but I thought she was a really good person. I didn't think she'd leave so early."
She didn't say anything else after that.
Kelsey felt a little tight in her chest. "Sorry… I didn't know."
"It's alright." Quiana shook her head. "Sometimes when I look at you, I really feel like I'm seeing her. Maybe it's just fate."
Kelsey didn't reply. She turned her head slightly, her eyes quietly turning red.
She hadn't expected that someone in this city… still remembered her.
Even if it was just a stranger she once worked with.