Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 126. Food Poisoning

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."