Shaking off Misha hadn't been an easy task, and considering the pouty, annoyed expression he had thrown his way when he left the house with Masha, Gabriel knew he was in for a long, painful time later. He'd need to think about how to coax him, lest he wanted to sleep on the floor tomorrow. Maybe one day, Misha would grow out of his petty habits, but Gabriel wouldn't bet on that. In any case, it wasn't like he minded it much. No, if anything, he found this side of Misha quite cute and endearing… As long as it didn't involve worms in muffins, of course.
'Well,' he thought, 'a few kisses should do the trick and coax him enough into allowing me into the bed.'
"What are you thinking about?" Masha asked, eyeing Gabriel from the passenger seat with a bit of concern. The light smirk stretching the corner of her friend's mouth was putting her ill at ease. It was the kind of smile that usually indicated an insidious thought had crossed his mind, and he was contemplating it.
"Nothing much," Gabriel glanced back after stopping the car at a red light. "It's the usual: I'm just thinking about Misha and feeling afraid for my well-being. I'm too old to sleep on the floor, and I feel like I'm going to be sore all over in the near future."
"Ah. Right, fair enough."
Masha awkwardly scratched her cheek, aware that it was her fault. Gabriel was coming to the hospital with her to play bait so that they could figure out Camille's real aims. They could be paranoid and overreacting, but what if they weren't? In the end, it was better to take the offensive than stay passive. No one wanted a repeat of the first timeline or yet again, the kidnapping incident.
If her two-faced ex gravitated toward Gabriel or if, on the contrary, ignored him altogether, they would have their answer. They would then be able to plan their next course of action accordingly.
Still, Misha wasn't too happy with the prospect of his de facto boyfriend being courted by a viper, and understandably so. Just thinking about Yuki playing bait, just like Gabriel was about to do, was enough to make Masha's blood boil. Right. Misha must have been livid inside. Even if he knew it was the easiest and quickest way to shed light over that woman's motives, it didn't mean he was alright with it. He hated the idea and made sure everyone knew about it, even as he gave Gabriel the go-ahead. His reluctant face was still fresh in Masha's memory, making her let out a wry laugh.
"I think I'll need to be careful with what I eat for the next few days, too," she shook her head, gazing out at the window as Gabriel pressed the gas pedal, bypassing the intersection. They would reach her workplace in a few minutes. "I still feel a bit bad about making the doctors lose their time with you, though."
"I'm pretty sure they get plenty of patients who aren't really sick and are coming for nothing. So what's one more? And you know me, I've chosen symptoms that would put me in the last category of emergency, and the ones that do deserve to be treated will have priority over me. That said, depending on the flow of the ambulances in the back, I should be stuck in the waiting room for half a day, long enough for Camille to strike up a conversation. Well, that's assuming she's coming tonight."
"She should be," Masha snorted. "She's been coming every Friday for a month already and every other day. I don't see why she wouldn't pop up tonight. You won't be the only one making the doctors lose their time today."
"Stop fretting. The moment I'm done conversing with her, I'll go to the reception to inform them that I've decided to go home and am alright with not being seen today. I might not even get to meet with the doctor."
Masha pursed her lips, not answering.
They had a little less than an hour to concoct a plan earlier, and it wasn't very elaborate. It was still full of loopholes. However, the sooner they dealt with Camille, the better Masha would feel, especially now that she knew her fantastic ex had tagged along with a bad crowd in the past two timelines. She wouldn't be surprised if it had happened this time, too, just as Tristan's dreams suggested.
Camille's behavior was strange, and, most of all, Masha had noticed faint needle marks in her elbow. Some makeup had been applied over the tiny wounds and blueish-purplish bruises, but a layer had come off during one of Camille's abrupt visits. The woman was too nervous and unconsciously rubbed her itchy elbow, smearing the foundation makeup with her thumb. It allowed Masha to catch a glimpse. But although she noticed the marks, she didn't point them out.
Because Masha worked in a hospital known for its great psychiatric facility and its well-trained medical staff, she had come across the paths of several poor people who had grown addicted to drugs, and whose brains had been irreversibly damaged by the illicit substances. She had seen too many young lives being cut short by these things. Some, even, were left with scars so severe they could barely register any new memories, and others were left with difficulty speaking, even though the rest of their brains worked just fine.
After seeing so many people afflicted by the effects of long-lasting usage of drugs, addiction, and overdoses, Masha could recognize some signs. In their few encounters, Camille did show symptoms of either withdrawal or being high. Notably, she was too skinny, only having skin on her bones, showing signs of malnutrition and insomnia.
It was one of the main reasons some colleagues had told her to endure and be patient with the woman's nonsense, as she needed help and probably wasn't in a good place at the moment. It was their job to handle patients like her so that they didn't bother other patients or go after the medical staff. Deliriums weren't rare in their cases. If talking to them calmed them down, then that was what they would do, as long as it didn't prevent them from doing their duties. Since Masha was mainly tasked with standing guard in the emergency waiting hall, unless something happened in another part of the hospital that required her attention, it wasn't too problematic for her to entertain patients.
"Anyway," Masha said, a smile slowly stretching the corner of her lips as she temporarily put Camille aside, "You–"
"No, don't ask," Gabriel cut her short. It was easy to deduce the topic of conversation his friend wanted to bring up now that they were alone.
"I haven't said anything yet!"
"It's clear as day what you want to talk about, and I won't talk about it."
"Why the heck not?!"
"Are you really that interested in your brother's love life?" Gabriel sighed, turning the steering wheel. "I'm personally not very interested in knowing what my brothers' love lives are like, nor what Jake is up to in bed. It doesn't concern me."
"But you're my friend! Give me some gossip!"
"No."
"You're a freaking cheapskate."
To his friend's outrage, Gabriel didn't comment.
***
Since accompanying Gabriel was out of the question, Misha decided to get ready for work instead. He had the late-night shift to cover and climbed into Stephan's car to get there. Gabriel was driving Masha to work, and the Café wasn't in their itinerary, meaning he had no driver for tonight. Misha didn't feel like taking the not-very-reliable bus to get to work, so he opted to just pop into Stephan's car, regardless of his boss' thoughts on the matter. Of course, before leaving, he prepared Jake and Tristan's meal and ordered the eldest brother to watch over the youngest. Yuki was also off, going back home to sleep as she had the early morning shift.
Closing the still half-open door behind the little storm that was Misha, Jake rubbed his temples and then went back to the couch. It was strange how he felt more at home in the Lesskov siblings' house than in his own parents'. It had become natural now to wander around the place even when the owners were absent. Misha's parents were yet again at his grandparents' house, passing as much time as possible with Gulnas' ill mother. She didn't have much time left, according to the doctor.
"Do you think Gabriel will be alright?" Tristan asked after his brother sat beside him, fidgeting. He had told the few things he knew about Camille to the little group, but it wasn't much. All he could tell for sure was that Pierrot met up with a few thugs a while back, and Camille was present in the background, sitting on a man's lap as she sniffed a white line of what Tristan deduced was most likely cocaine. "I mean, I know he can fend for himself, but still…"
"Don't worry," Jake smiled reassuringly, reflexively trying to ruffle his brother's hair, only to be reminded that he had shaved it for the surgery. So instead, he patted his shoulder. "They're trying to meet her in the hospital, where there are plenty of witnesses for a reason. Camille won't be able to do anything rash."
"I hope so…"
Tristan lowered his eyes, not totally convinced. This woman's mind hadn't seemed all there, and he feared what she could do in the name of drugs.
"It's–"
Jake was interrupted mid-sentence by the sound of the bell ringing. He glanced at the door, which he had closed barely a few minutes ago, and frowned. Did Yuki perhaps forget something? He let out a "coming" and stood up again, putting down the report he had just taken and hadn't even had the time to skim through. In fact, he barely managed to glance at it since his arrival, Misha being too much on his back when he wasn't busy nursing Tristan.
Not bothering to look through the peephole, as he was fairly certain the person outside was the nurse, Jake swung the door open and asked, "Did you forget something…?"
Then, he froze and forgot how to breathe. On the doorsteps stood a man whose face was all too familiar to him, and who had been haunting him for too many nights. The cold chocolate eyes and fake gentleman-like smile had been engraved into his mind, becoming things he could never forget. Why? How? What the hell was he doing here?!
Regardless of Jake's mental state, Pierrot spoke, greeting him with a wave of his gloved hand and a simple, "Good evening."