Chapter 23 - He's not fun!

When Gabriel came out of the toilets, his appearance was all neat and clean, and a warm smile stretched his lips. It was as if the boy had never spilled apple juice on him.

'Tch. He's not fun at all!' pouted Misha in his heart, wishing he could strip that silly smile off his face. Although he knew Gabriel wouldn't reveal his true colors this easily – the teenage boy wouldn't lose his temper for this much, not with all the patience he had shown him in the previous timeline –, the boy still couldn't help but hope for some reaction.

However, Gabriel's emerald eyes were as gentle as ever, and the teenager didn't say anything, not even reprimanding him for the sake of it. His mouth didn't twitch; neither did he frown. He still wore that perfect gentleman mask, making Misha wonder what kind of nasty prank he would have to pull to break it.

Oblivious to Misha's disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, the teenage boy sat on the chair near the old lady's bed. With a soft voice, he asked how was her day and how does she feel, if her body was painful, and so on. Meanwhile, Masha tugged her little brother's gown, then shook a deck of cards under his nose. "Wanna play?"

"Sure!" The boy smiled, and his sister stretched her arm to grip the wheeled table and bring it closer to the bed.

While they were playing, with Masha purposely losing, another nurse came by, asking the child to pee in the sample cup. Since she was professional and not a pain in the neck like the other nurse, Misha decided not to make things difficult for her and properly peed in the cup before handing it back to her. Well, he did think of pouring it over Gabriel's head, but he wasn't sure his sister would appreciate such a crude prank. Was it even a prank? Or just plain bullying? Even he found the idea a bit disgusting, so he quickly discarded it.

Moreover, his mother did want him to pass the test. She accepted his previous prank with the thought that he wouldn't cause trouble for the next nurse. Misha still had to comply with the doctors' orders if only for his mother. The boy already knew the results of the urine test, but he couldn't exactly blow the medical staff off, telling them that it was utterly useless to keep on examine him over and over again. It wasn't like his words were worth something, anyway.

In the end, Misha could only shut his mouth and hope for his fever to go down soon. Just before wrapping the golden watch around his wrist, Santa Claus said that he would suffer from headaches and fevers, but he also said that Misha would be fine even if his memories were sent to his younger self. He said it with so much confidence that Misha had no other choices but to believe in his words. Thus, no matter what, he wouldn't lose hope and 'patiently' wait for his recovery. It would happen sooner or later.

Perked up, the boy finally fully concentrated on the game of cards he was playing with his sister, and time flew by. Focused on the game, he forgot to ask his sister about their mother's strange reaction to his hospitalization. In any case, his room didn't provide any intimacy, and it wasn't something he could openly discuss in front of outsiders. He didn't want his mother to be gossip material for others.

A few hours later, his eyelids became heavy, and even if he still wanted to play and chitchat with his sister, his body didn't obey. Soon, he started to nod off and drool. Without noticing it, he slowly fell asleep, and his sister tucked him in.

Afterward, Gabriel and Masha left, biding their goodbye to Misha's roommates. The teenage boy had to promise the old lady to visit her again. Otherwise, she wouldn't let him go, tugging on his shirt with pleading eyes. She even asked him to bring her home, saying that she was fine and didn't want to stay here, all alone. The teenager had to coax her a few times before leaving.

Before going out of the hospital, he notified the reception that the old lady would probably try to leave on her own. Therefore, he wanted them to pay extra attention to her, just in case. If she were to take off the nasal cannula that delivered the oxygen to her lungs in order to leave her room, the consequences could be tragic.

Once Gabriel and Masha were outside, they walked to a bench and sat down. The next bus was in half an hour, so they had to wait for a while. Since it was almost the end of June, the heat lingered even after the sunset. Thus, it was neither hot nor chilly.

Both of them preferred to wait outside than stay in the hospital. Its waiting area wasn't exactly a place filled with joy, and at least, outside, there were fewer people and fewer patients.

For a while, they didn't say anything, sitting next to each other while watching the sky. Gabriel had lost his smile, a cold expression plastered on his face, which contrasted vividly with his elegant and gentle features. There was almost no one wandering around at this hour, and they sat quite far from any light source, shrouding themselves in darkness. Hence, he didn't need to keep on the façade. Moreover, after taking care of the old lady for so long, even he felt dead tired and wanted to stop smiling like a fool – his poor cheeks were sore.

Swiftly, the teenage boy took a small cigarette packet from his pocket. Not long after, smoke filled the air between the two of them. Although the smell of cigarettes didn't linger on his clothes, mostly because Gabriel always smoked outside and never in a closed place, the teenage boy did enjoy smoking once in a while. It calmed his nerves and cleared his mind. He also always carried a pack of chewing gum to get rid of the bad breath left by the cigarette.

"Sorry about Misha's prank," suddenly sighed Masha, rubbing her temples. She didn't mind her brother's pranks, but she had to admit that she didn't know how Gabriel would react to such silly things. Even though that man was patient and wouldn't let his real emotions show on his face, Masha still cared about how he felt deep down. If her brother's pranks did anger him, she would try to speak to Misha. It was clear to both of them that the boy had targeted him when spitting out the apple juice.

"Don't worry. Your teasing is more annoying than your brother's childish pranks," sneered the teenage boy, glancing at the girl from the corner of his eyes.

"What are you saying? We both know that you love my teasing very much," murmured the young girl, a devilish smile on her lips.

Raising an eyebrow, Gabriel glanced at her, and the look in his eyes seemed to say that no one would buy her bullshit, much less him.

"You're not fun!" Masha laughed weakly, then looked at her slender and white hands. She added, "Thank you for always coming with me."

"You're welcome."

Again, there was complete silence. A few minutes passed, with neither of them talking until Masha opened her mouth.

"Do you want to stay at my home tonight?" asked the teenage girl with a soft voice, her gaze lost in front of her.

"Ok," answered Gabriel, his tone cold. When he didn't play his persona, he was a man of few words. Masha was probably the only one who heard him speak so much when he dropped the act. She was also one of the very few who knew the real him.

"Thanks," she murmured, closing her eyes.

Tonight, she didn't want to be alone. Even if she didn't show it, always smiling and laughing in the presence of her little brother, she was as worried as her mother. Like Mrs. Brown, she couldn't forget the image of her baby brother in an incubator. Back then, she was still young, but it had marked her for life. Misha was so frail, so small; she was afraid he would disappear from her life at any time.

Little did she know that she and her mother were the first to disappear in their past life, leaving their precious baby all alone.