Chapter 53 - Vanishing Into Thin Air

When Misha and his family went to see Gabriel on Saturday, they came across an empty room.

The only thing that was left was the white tulips.

For a second, they thought that they had walked into the wrong room, but after verifying the room number and noticing the flowers, it clearly wasn't the case.

They didn't get the room wrong, but Gabriel was not there, quietly lying in his bed as he usually would. In fact, it didn't feel like someone was using the room anymore. Even the bedsheets had been taken off.

Biting his lips, Misha stormed off the room, and he bolted toward the first nurse that he saw, looking very much like a predator pouncing on its prey. Without greeting her, he directly asked her where the teenager was, but she didn't reply, avoiding the boy's eyes.

She then bypassed him as if she was running away from the devil, leaving the boy speechless. He even had to pinch his cheek to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"What the…"

At the last second, Misha held back the curse that wanted to escape from his lips, and instead, he clenched his small fists and turned around, ignoring his mother's pleas not to run all over the place.

Afterward, every nurse Misha met reacted the same way, paling at his mere view. Their behavior had changed overnight, and the nurses who were still friendly yesterday night became as cold as ice in the morning.

After questioning a few nurses without much success, the child had to take a few deep breaths to calm down, or else he would probably lose his temper and chew out the next person he met, no matter who they were.

There was no need to be a genius to realize that something was amiss, and the root of the problem certainly laid with the teenager's family.

Now, the nurses seemed terrified, and none dared to answer his queries, although Misha only wanted to know what had happened to the teenager and nothing more. He didn't even want a precise address, just a bit of information!

While Misha was busy roaming about in the hospital, closely followed by his mother, Masha was trying to get in touch with Gabriel. However, no matter how many times she called, her phone call never went through, and the only thing she heard was the dial tone.

She clutched the cellphone lend to her by her father, a feeling of dread spreading over her. She wasn't as clueless as Misha about the teenager's family situation, and she could more or less guess what had happened.

But it didn't ease her anxiety, on the contrary.

Memories shape the mind, after all.

And once Angela was sure that Gabriel had become her obedient little pawn, she would consent to let him go out, but there would probably be a few restrictions to his release.

What made Masha even more disgusted was that Angela would proclaim that all of this was done in the name of love. Since long ago, that woman had a knack for distorting the facts.

After all, the teenage boy had just lost his memories, and it would be in his interest to stay at home and rest. For how long? Well, for how long that woman saw it as necessary.

As for the cellphone, Angela could easily make up a lie, telling Gabriel that it was broken in the fall, or that he simply didn't own one. This way, Gabriel was left with nothing to contact the outside world.

In short, Masha would probably never receive an answer. Still, she didn't want to admit defeat so readily. She dialed the number again and again under the stern eyes of her father, pacing back and forth inside the silent room.

Without much surprise, her phone call never connected, and Misha also came back empty-handed. No one in the medical staff dared to talk to him, only consenting to utter something about being very busy today. To make matters worse, he didn't come across Yuki, even though he had walked through every corridor thrice.

While he was at it, the child even asked his mother to verify if the nurse wasn't in the girls' bathroom, just in case. But there was still no sign of her. It was as if she had vanished into thin air overnight.

Misha could only comfort himself by repeating in his mind that it was probably her day off. Or at least, he hoped it was from the bottom of his heart.

The two siblings could only stare at each other, a blank look on their faces, whereas their parents didn't know how to console them. They knew empty words would only upset their kids as both had a pretty bad temper.

And thus, it was in a depressing atmosphere that they went back home, deep in thought.

Truthfully, Misha and Masha just wanted to barge in Gabriel's house, scolding everyone in their path. However, their parents were a bit more coolheaded, reminding them that they didn't even know where the teenager lived–the teenage girl never had the chance to go to his house as the only time she had met his parents, it was at a classy restaurant with sky-high prices.

It hadn't been a very pleasant dinner.

Therefore, their only option was to wait at home for some news. It wasn't like they could call the cops either, especially when it was their fault that Gabriel ended up in such a sorry state in the first place. It wouldn't be anything strange if his family wanted him to cut ties with them, and it wasn't like he had been kidnapped by strangers either.

Since then, Masha was glued to the cellphone, intensively staring at it with murderous eyes and even growling at her parents when they wanted to take it back. Now, it was hers, not theirs.

As for Misha, he foolishly stood in the corner, mumbling curses and whatnot. He resented his past self for the lack of interest he had shown in Gabriel's everyday life. He had taken his presence for granted and never asked where he lived.

Today, that bratty attitude of his had come to bite him in the a.s.s, and he couldn't help but ruminate about the past.

In this way, two weeks passed, and school started again. Summer vacation had officially come to an end.

But even then, Masha wasn't able to meet Gabriel.

On the first day of school, the teacher had announced that the teenager had an accident in August and had to stay at home to recuperate. It caused an uproar in class, yet Masha didn't learn anything more.

When she went back home and met the hopeful gaze of her little brother, she felt a lump in her throat and had the urge to hit someone. Although she knew Gabriel was able to take care of himself, having no news for so long was still worrisome, and she didn't like to crush her brother's hopes and see the light in his eyes dim.

It left a bad taste in her mouth.