A few years back
The door of his hospital room was slammed open, startling Stephan into choking on his juice. It entered the wrong pipe and threw him into a coughing fit, but the little fury didn't give a damn and pounced on him at full speed, almost like a torpedo. A second later, the air was knocked out of Stephan's lungs, making it all the more difficult to breathe.
"What the hell is wrong with your brain?!" Misha screamed, shaking the teenager by the collar. "Do you have any idea how panicked we were when your father called?! You—"
The boy was interrupted mid-sentence as Gabriel wrapped his arms around his thin waist, dragging him down the bed. The man ignored his struggles and held him against his chest in a well-practiced manner, just like he would with an angry kitten. Then, he said with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, "He's still a patient, so try not to disturb him too much. We don't want the nurses to throw us out."
"But—"
"No but."
"Oh, come on, we all know you don't care one bit about me. You just don't want your little darling to cling onto someone other than you," Stephan scoffed wryly, wiping off the juice at the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "But what a surprise! I honestly didn't think you would come. It's not like I'm dying."
"Says the guy who was on death's door not even a day ago!" Misha growled, baring his teeth. "How many times did they have to empty your stomach? Eh?"
"You're exaggerating. Once was more than enough."
"Fucking liar!"
"Language!"
"Fuck you!"
"Misha…" Gabriel sighed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Calm down, or the nurses really will throw us out."
A snort was his answer. Still, Misha stopped yelling and instead grumbled unintelligible things under his breath, a frown creasing his little face. Then, with his mind elsewhere, he let himself be carried around by Gabriel, his lips pursed into a pout.
"However, Misha is right. Your father's call gave us quite a fright. How on earth did you manage to get food poisoning?"
"Hm? By eating some carrots that might or not might have turned pitch black. And potatoes that were a little mushy inside. And maybe also mushrooms with white mosses covering their tops."
"Are you stupid?!" Misha asked, befuddled. "What sane person would eat rotten vegetables?! Do you have a death wish or something?!"
"Well, broken bones wouldn't have kept my father in the hospital for long. But food poisoning is another story, depending on the severity."
"You're a crazy bastard, you know that?"
"Am I now?"
Misha inhaled loudly, clenching his fists as he told himself not to strangle the teenager. With this in mind, he squinted and took a better look at the idiot lying on the bed. His face was sickly pale and deep, dark circles etched under his eyes. His long hair was messily braided, loose silvery strands falling on his shoulders. His appearance was unusually frail, yet a smile still lingered on his pale lips and mirth sparkled in the depths of his heterochromatic eyes.
"Even if it's a sure way to keep your father away from work, eating suspicious food is not exactly the idea of the century," Gabriel sighed, fearing the incoming headache. "And where's Harold? I don't believe he's the kind to leave his sick son alone for very long."
"He went to the cafeteria to buy something to eat. He hasn't eaten much since yesterday."
"I wonder whose fault it is," Misha scoffed, glaring at Stephan. "I hope your stomach hurts like a bitch."
"That's not what you usually say to a patient…."
"Right. I misspoke, sorry," the boy cleared his throat to add in a more solemn tone, "I hope your whole body hurts like a bitch and you feel like shit."
"…" Stephan laughed wryly, looking at Gabriel with pleading eyes. But his friend pretended to be blind and didn't help out, leaving him to deal with the mess he created himself.
Honestly, that idiot deserved that much scolding.
"But more seriously, how do you feel?" Misha finally asked after spitting out all the swear words he knew. "You look like a ghost."
"Let's say I've seen better days."
Averting his eyes, Stephan stared at his feet under the blanket. He did not want to say it aloud, but Misha's wish had long been granted. His body felt like it had been run over by a car, and he could not move an inch without feeling dizzy. Thinking straight was a little hard, and his vision often went blurry.
Truthfully, he hadn't expected the after-effects to be this bothersome. He had fed on rotten vegetables to avoid being too sick, knowing rotten meat could be a real danger to his life—the idea of having worms and parasites freeloading in his stomach also didn't settle well with him. However, he had learned the hard way that rotten food was still rotten food, be it vegetables or meat, and it wasn't good for the body no matter what. Long story short, eating plates of spoiled vegetables would never end well, and he wouldn't fall just a little sick.
Because of this stupid idea of his, Stephan fainted the day before after puking his guts out, falling right before his father. Since then, his intestines seemed to be twisted in knots, and maybe they were. A fire was set ablaze in the pit of his stomach, slowly creeping its way up to burn his lungs. His head also felt heavy, and fever soon ravaged his mind.
Yep, never again would he swallow weird things. That was a bad idea.
"But well, my dad hasn't been to work since the beginning of the week, and he probably won't be for a few more days," Stephan chuckled. "So I guess it was worth it."
"Still a stupid plan," Misha sneered, trying to worm his way out of Gabriel's arms to sit on a chair. "When will you be discharged?"
"I don't know yet. In a few more days, probably."
"Hmm."
"By the way, Masha is not with you?"
"She has to attend school," Gabriel answered, reluctantly letting go of the boy, who then skipped to the plastic chair. "I came over as soon as I heard about your hospitalization and met Misha on my way to the front desk."
"Is that so," Stephan paused, staring at the child's innocent face with conflicted feelings. "Misha, do your parents know you're here?"
"What do you think?" the boy rolled his eyes, propping his chin on his knee. "I told them I was going to Dereck's since school ended earlier. He promised to cover for me, so I just jumped into the first bus that went to the hospital. It's not like you've been hospitalized next town."
The child shrugged. When Gabriel was in a coma, visiting him was a pain because the hospital was not the local one. But unlike Gabriel, Stephan was hospitalized relatively close by, and public transport did the trick.
"Stop pulling that face," Misha grumped. "Dereck is trustworthy. You've got no idea how many times he covered my ass in the first timeline."
"You do know he's currently just a kid…?"
"So what? He's still more mature and clever than you."
"Maybe you should bring him home," Stephan gave up trying to reason with Misha and glanced at Gabriel instead, an exasperated look on his face. "You know, just in case his parents have the bright idea to fetch him at Dereck's and notice a certain someone isn't there."
"Yeah, I think I'll do just that," Gabriel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Misha, we're going home."
"What? Now?"
"Yes, now. It's not like Stephan can relax with us around anyway. We're a little too noisy, I'd say."
"But…"
"You've seen for yourself that he's fine, right?"
"And? I'm still afraid he's going to do something stupid again if we leave," Misha admitted in a small voice, his face sullen. "Like, I don't know, gobbling some unknown meds and strange things? That's the best way to extend his stay at the hospital and keep his father away from work."
"Please, I'm not that foolish!"
"Really?" Misha and Gabriel chorused, narrowing their eyes in suspicion.
"…Just leave already!" Stephan shed silent tears, burying his face in his hands. "Stop bullying me!"
"Stop doing stupid things then!" Misha snorted as he stood up, walking up to the teenager's bed. "But well, I guess I'm glad you're ok."
After saying his piece, the boy quickly bent over to hug the teenager. It was a brief hug that barely lasted a few seconds, but considering Misha's aversion to touch, it spoke volumes.
Before anyone could react, Misha stepped aside and ran to the door, mumbling an awkward goodbye as he disappeared into the corridor.
"…" Stephan blinked, glancing back and forth between the door and Gabriel. "Did I just dream?"
"Unfortunately, you're wide awake," his friend sneered, his cold gaze sending shivers down his spine. "Rest well and don't do anything crazy for the time being, hm?"
"I won't. Pinkie promise."
And indeed, Stephan didn't do anything too crazy after this episode. Well, save for his sexual adventures, but that was another story.
All in all, Harold wasn't at work for almost a week, and whatever he had discovered in the past two timelines, he didn't in the current one. He was still oblivious about Matthew's true face, and Gabriel hoped it would stay that way.
"What are you thinking about?" Stephan asked, snapping Gabriel out of his reverie. "You're making quite the face."
"Nothing important," was the man's answer as he took a sip of his coffee. "I was just remembering the day you gobbled up plates of rotten vegetables."
Stephan coughed, not daring to look into his friend's eyes. All youngsters do stupid things thinking they're invincible, don't they? Still, he did not want to discuss the stupidity of his own teenage years with Gabriel and thus not-so-subtly changed the topic, asking, "Aren't the girls late? Oh, wait. Speak of the devil."
The moment the words left his mouth, the door opened and the bell rang loud and clear. Two women then entered the café and walked up to their table.
"It's been a while, hasn't it? How have you been?" Masha asked, flashing them a bright smile.
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Chapter revised on 2022-06-14
Edited by Clozed! ♥
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