The Officer's Runaway Wife & Secret Son novel Chapter 303

St. Anne's Hospital, Emergency Observation Room.

When Daniel arrived, a nurse was about to change the IV bag. The man on the bed was burning with fever, the fluid in the bag dripping slowly. Daniel sat in a chair, watching him with a grim expression.

Even in his unconscious state, Rhys was restless, his lips moving constantly, murmuring something unintelligible.

Daniel leaned closer and managed to make out two syllables, repeated over and over.

"Clara."

Daniel scoffed.

His gaze fell to Rhys's left hand, which lay outside the blanket, clenched into a fist. A piece of a red string was visible between his fingers, digging so deeply into his flesh that it looked painful.

He was delirious with fever and still clutching that thing. Daniel couldn't tell if it was because he was afraid of losing it, or afraid of waking up with nothing in his hand at all.

Daniel got up to get some water. As he turned, the man on the bed suddenly moved.

"Don't go!"

Rhys startled awake as if from a fall, his right hand grabbing wildly in the air until it latched onto Daniel's wrist.

His palm was still searing hot; his temperature hadn't dropped at all.

He thought he had seen Clara.

"Clara..." Rhys's eyes weren't fully open, his voice weak. "Don't go."

Daniel's expression remained flat. He let Rhys hold on for a moment before speaking coldly, "Wake up. Take a good look at who I am."

The sharp tone had some effect. Rhys forced his eyes open and finally saw the person in front of him.

A man in a suit.

In that instant, Daniel clearly saw the light in Rhys's eyes extinguish.

His grip on Daniel's wrist slackened, and his arm fell back to his side.

"Oh, it's you."

Rhys's voice was hoarse as he turned his head away. The hallway was filled with the hurried footsteps of doctors and nurses and the worried faces of patients' families.

"Stop looking. She's not here."

Rhys grunted in acknowledgment and slowly opened his right hand. The good luck charm was warm and slick with sweat. He stared at it for a moment before his fingers closed around it again, hiding it in his palm.

"...What time is it?"

With that, she washed her hands and walked out.

As daylight broke, Noah helped Clara's parents clean up the yard, Clara dealt with the standing water on the patio, and Eloise went out for groceries, leaving Emily and Simon whispering in the kitchen.

Felix seized the opportunity to sneak over to the trash can. The crumpled piece of paper his mother had thrown away was sitting right on top.

The little boy glanced around, and seeing no one was watching, he quickly fished out the paper ball. He tiptoed over to a side table and carefully smoothed it out.

Staring at the line of writing, Felix chewed on his finger, puzzled. The writing at the beginning was too loopy, and he couldn't make it out, only recognizing the words "clean" and "come back" in the middle.

As for the last two words, his kindergarten teacher hadn't taught them, and neither had Daddy Noah.

"What's... this?" he mumbled to himself, tilting his head in concentration.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him.

Felix jumped, trying to cover the paper with his hands, but someone behind him picked it up first.

"Let me see."

The voice was gentle and tinged with a smile.