His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 103: A Long Day

Frank's eyes lit up, his mouth hanging open. "Whoa! A remote control car! It's huge and cool! I like it. I really like it!"

Then Frank looked down at his broken hand, his face dropping. "But I can't play with it, Uncle Julian. My hand's hurt."

Ethan smiled and patted his shoulder. "It's all good. You can play once your hand heals."

Julian set the remote control car on the hospital bed, pulled out a chair, and started unpacking it. "Frank, you can play this with just one hand."

"For real?" Frank perked up. He sat cross-legged on the bed, his big bright eyes fixed on Julian as he waited for him to finish unpacking.

As Julian unpacked, he glanced around like he was searching for someone. "Did Iris go out to eat?"

"She didn't come today." Ethan picked up the plate and kept feeding Frank.

Julian's hands froze for a second. A faint gloom crossed his eyes.

Frank had food in his mouth, muffling his words as he pushed. "Uncle Julian, why'd you stop?"

Ethan glanced up at Julian.

Julian snapped out of his daze, forced a stiff smile, and quickly pulled the toy out of the box, setting it on the floor.

He took out a sleek, high-tech strap and fastened it around Frank's uninjured wrist and fingers.

"Frank, let me show you." Julian took his small hand and moved it slowly. "Flick your wrist left, and the car goes left. Flick it right, and it goes right. Make a fist to stop it, open your hand to speed it up..."

Frank picked it up fast. He controlled the remote control car with one hand, the cool toy zooming under the hospital bed. Frank even stopped eating, standing on the bed in excitement as he played, a big smile on his face.

Ethan watched Frank's happy smile and felt relieved. "Julian, you didn't have to spend so much."

"Don't mention it." Julian sat down in the chair. His smile faded, and his voice was heavy with loneliness. "Did Iris not come this morning either?"

Ethan still didn't get it. He answered honestly, "I told her last night I have a few days off. I'm taking care of Frank here at the hospital, so I told her not to come."

Julian looked down, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.

Ethan finally caught on. "Did Iris lie to you? Say she was coming to take care of Frank?"

"No." Julian forced a weak smile. "I just thought she'd be here."

Ethan kept explaining, "She's at work."

"Yeah."

Ethan could tell Julian's smile was stiff, and his eyes brimmed with raw loneliness. He pulled out his phone quickly. "I'll call Iris and ask where she is."

Julian didn't stop him. He sat up straight, leaning back in the chair and watching Ethan make the call.

He didn't have the courage to ask himself.

But he hoped Ethan would get a good answer.

Ethan held the phone to his ear and then frowned. "Her phone is off."

Julian pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. "It's fine. She's probably just busy."

He didn't sound like he was talking to Ethan.

It sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

*****

It was eleven thirty at night.

Iris finally got back from out of town. She'd been busy all day, totally worn out.

The ten virus-carrying experimental monkeys had been stolen. The government took it really seriously, telling them to keep it quiet. They couldn't let the public know; otherwise, it would cause panic.

They sent a bunch of police officers to work with drug research experts to track down Gary and find the missing virus-carrying monkeys.

She went to a meeting at city hall with David and other experts. Then she drove a long way to Gary's hometown with the police. But they were too late—Gary had run away again, and they couldn't find the missing monkeys. They rushed back to the research institute that evening.

That night, she had another meeting with police and fire department leaders to talk about the next steps in the manhunt. They discussed how to handle the monkeys safely once they found them, so no one would get infected by the viruses. They also talked about what kind of viruses the monkeys had and what effects they might cause...

The living room was dark. Iris didn't turn on the lights. She changed her shoes and walked toward the bedroom by moonlight.

She saw light peeking through the crack in Julian's bedroom door.

She knew he was home.

Iris was so tired. It was hot in June, she was on her period, and she'd been running around all day. She was dirty, so she went back to her room to shower first.

After showering and drying her hair, Iris was so tired she could've fallen into bed right then.

But she really wanted to see Julian. She wanted to lie in his bed, snuggle in his warm arms, and fall asleep.

With a little selfish hope, she dragged her tired body out of her room.

Light was still peeking through the crack in Julian's door.

He wasn't asleep yet.

Iris wanted to knock, but she was too shy. She just couldn't work up the courage to make the first move.

She wanted to get close to him, but she felt shy.

She turned on the living room light, poured a glass of warm water, and took a couple sips. She made some noise on purpose, hoping Julian would come out of his room.

She set the glass on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa.

Her knee hurt a little when she bent it.

She pulled up her loose pajama pants, bent down, and looked at the purple bruises on both her knees.

When she went with the police to hunt Gary in his hometown, the mountain roads were rough and hard to walk. The police ran really fast. She was delicate, and David was old. They both ran slowly, but they were scared of falling behind. If the virus-carrying monkeys attacked the police, things would've been really bad.