"Salute!"
With Captain Oldman's loud shout, all the officers and soldiers quickly and forcefully raised their right arms.
Benjamin Lee, also dressed in the formal Flame Blue uniform, walked up to Henry Mitchell, who seemed to be rooted to the spot, and gently pushed him.
It was just a few short steps, but Henry Mitchell felt as if he were walking in a quagmire. Every step was full of difficulty and he could hardly move an inch.
Mrs. Sang, extremely grief - stricken, finally managed to hold herself up and handed the urn to Henry Mitchell: "Since you're here, I'll leave it to you."
Henry Mitchell took it subconsciously. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a faint sound from his throat: "Mom..."
"Salute to the family members!"
Captain Oldman shouted and saluted solemnly towards Henry Mitchell, Mrs. Sang and others.
Immediately, all the officers and soldiers stood at attention and saluted, shouting in unison: "Salute to the family members!"
The deafening shouts kept echoing over the playground. However, Henry Mitchell seemed to have gone deaf and could no longer hear any sound.
The urn in his hands seemed very light, but Henry Mitchell felt it was as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Even when he was fighting the epidemic on the front line before and hadn't slept for several days and nights continuously, he had never felt so heavy.
After the burial ceremony, Mrs. Sang looked at the photo of her daughter on the tombstone, her eyes full of tears.
"May you rest in peace. Mom is proud of you."
Henry Mitchell supported Mrs. Sang beside her, silent and speechless.
After coming out of the cemetery, Henry Mitchell and Benjamin Lee sent Mrs. Sang home together.
After helping Mrs. Sang lie down on the bed, Henry Mitchell said softly, "Mom, I'll come to see you tomorrow."
Seeing Henry Mitchell's pale face like a wandering spirit, Mrs. Sang was full of pity in her heart.
She forced a smile at the corner of her mouth: "It was Sophie who let you down..."
Henry Mitchell didn't respond. He just silently helped Mrs. Sang cover the quilt and then walked out of the room.
Back at home, Henry Mitchell looked at the suitcase in the living room and suddenly fell into deep confusion.
His eyes were empty and dull, without the slightest glint of vitality. Those deep eyes were like a dark whirlpool that could suck people in deeply.
The room was terribly quiet. Only the tick - tock of the clock on the wall could be heard, and each sound seemed to strike at Henry Mitchell's heart.
Henry Mitchell sat on the sofa. He didn't feel hungry and had no sense of sleepiness at all. He was like a lifeless "stone".
He had no perception and no reaction.
"Ding - ling - ling -"
A sudden, sharp and harsh mobile phone ringtone broke the silence.
Henry Mitchell suddenly came to his senses and picked up the phone to answer it.
Immediately, his colleague's anxious voice came from the receiver: "Dr. Henry, come to Healing Haven quickly!"
The next moment, Henry Mitchell rushed out of the house like an arrow leaving the bowstring and ran towards Healing Haven.
There were several more surgeries one after another.
When Henry Mitchell got off the operating table, it was already the next morning.
The highly concentrated mind for a long time made him temporarily forget Sophie Lawrence during this period.
So, he trapped himself in Healing Haven all day long, as if he was escaping from something.
Two days later, at 12:30 noon.
When Henry Mitchell was passing the nurse station on his way back from the cafeteria, the head nurse suddenly called out to him.
"Dr. Henry, someone is looking for you. I let him go to your office."
Henry Mitchell nodded to show his gratitude and then walked towards his office.
In the office, Captain Oldman placed a file bag neatly in front of Henry Mitchell.
"This is Sophie's stuff left in the team."
Henry Mitchell's heart suddenly skipped a beat. After a long while, he slowly reached out to take it.
Captain Oldman sighed and said, "Actually, before this incident happened, Sophie had already submitted an application for suspension report."
Hearing Captain Oldman's words, Henry Mitchell felt his head buzz and he was completely stunned.
When he got off work in the evening, he brought the file bag home intact.
These days, he had already put all the things related to Sophie Lawrence at home into the second bedroom and sealed them up, trying to force himself to forget everything about Sophie.
But just when Henry Mitchell was about to put the file bag into the box, a sudden sense of uneasiness flashed through his mind.
Finally, he still opened the file bag.
Inside the file bag were some daily notes. At the bottom was an ultrasound report.
Looking at the examination date on the ultrasound report, Henry Mitchell's pupils suddenly constricted and all the color drained from his face instantly.
He seemed to fall into an endless abyss all of a sudden, without a trace of vitality.