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When Julius woke up, Delilah was standing over him. Her face was a mixture of worry and concern, but when she saw his eyes open, she fell to her knees with relief.

"You're awake!" she whispered, hugging him. "Alive! Oh, I was so worried!"

Julius smiled weakly. "What happened?"

Delilah let him lean back into the pillows of the Academy's medical room bed. She pulled up a chair. "You blacked out and wouldn't wake up. That was three days ago."

Julius sat up. "What about ..." he paused. "Al?"

When Delilah averted her eyes, Julius' heart sank. "No news is good news. They found the guy who pushed him overboard. He'd drowned and washed up on shore."

"And there's no trace of Al?" Julius asked again.

"No," Delilah murmured. "I'm so sorry, Julius."

Julius lowered his head. "I shouldn't have let him go ..."

Delilah turned his head to he faced her. "Then I wouldn't have a partner, a best friend, and the two most important guys in my life would be gone."

Julius smiled slightly, but he didn't feel any better.

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[Later that day]

Julius was let out of the Academy's hospital an hour later. He noticed that the building had a sombre mood. Everyone was broken up about losing Al. They would all say, "Yeah, he's fine. Now worries!" but deep down ... everyone doubted it. Al was no champion swimmer, and there was no land for miles ...

No one wanted to believe it. Every time Julius passed someone in the hallway, they would grin, flash him a thumbs-up, say "Good job," or something stupid and useless like that. The only thing he wanted to hear was, "Julius! We've found Al! He's alive!"

Scarlett was now head of the Academy. It was nearly impossible to do both Al's job and her own, so she was forced to hire an assistant. He was a snobby young man named Dr Carter. No one really liked him, thought mush to Emmet's dismay, he seemed to have taken a shine to Ursula.

"JULIUS!"

Julius turned around to see Ursula running towards him. "Julius, you have to help me!" she whispered urgently. "Dr Carter's after me, and I think he wants to ask me out!"

Julius opened a broom closet and shoved Ursula inside. He leaned against the door, whistling and looking bored. Then Dr Carter rounded the corner.

"Ah, Mr Chevalier!" he beamed. "Have you seen Ursula?"

Shrugging, Julius replied, "Sorry pal, haven't seen her all day. Maybe she's in her room."

Dr Carter raced off, shouting over his shoulder, "Thank you, Mr Chevalier!"

Julius rolled his eyes. When the love-struck doctor was out of sight, Julius opened the door to the closet. "He's gone to your room, so I'd head in the opposite direction."

Without a word of thanks, Ursula took off down the hallway.

"You're welcome!" Julius shouted after her.

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Later that evening, Julius was met by Delilah outside his room.

"Where were you all day?" she asked.

Julius shrugged. "Just ... hanging around, helping people out. Do you like that Dr Carter guy?"

Delilah wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You mean the guy who's got it bad for Ursula? No way, he's such a jerk!"

"If only Al were back ..." Julius whispered. "It's all my fault. I let him go."

"Hey," Delilah soothed as she pulled him into a hug. "It's not your fault. It's that poacher's fault, he pushed all over."

Julius nodded sadly. "Still ... I feel like I should have done something."

"You did do something. You did everything you could."

It was then that Scarlett rounded the corner. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cell phone hung in her limp hand. When she spoke, her voice was strained from crying.

"Kittens ..." she began. "I just got news from the Coast Guard."

Delilah and Julius hugged tighter, ready for the worst.

Scarlett sighed heavily. "Al's green bathrobe has washed up on shore."