Five Years Later, He Reappeared

Synopsis

Five years after the divorce, I lived off the buildings my parents left me, played the role of a landlady, raised my kid, Charlie, and lived a pretty comfortable life. I honestly thought I'd never see Alex Grant again. But then Charlie spiked a high fever in the middle of the night, and I rushed him into the ER. The nurse at triage called out, "Dr. Grant, we've got a pediatric emergency with a high fever." I looked up—and there he was in a white coat. He was still the same—calm, aloof, like nothing in the world could faze him. But the moment he saw Charlie in my arms, the pen in his hand slipped to the floor. After that, he started finding all sorts of "reasonable" excuses to show up in my life. "Charlie needs a follow-up. "I was passing by, so I came to check on him. "With his constitution, you need to watch his diet. I'll write you a list." I watched him awkwardly peel apples for Charlie, answer every wild question with endless patience, and even stand in line—still wearing his white coat—just because Charlie said he wanted KFC. The man who once acted too cold and lofty for the mortal world suddenly felt human. And Charlie seemed to have discovered a huge secret because he started secretly calling that handsome uncle who showed up every day "Dad."