GABRIEL #4
Edgar remains in prison and is facing charges of kidnapping, attempted rape, and collaboration with a terrorist organization, but Marcel might not even make it to trial, and his condition could be considered a mitigating factor if experts determine his mental capacity was impaired.
I have to admit, the news doesn’t surprise me, since Blue had already suggested something like this.
But the possibility that the bastard might avoid a trial is making me super angry.
Maybe I’m a vindictive person, maybe I hold grudges, but what he planned for us feels outright monstrous, and I can’t just brush it off like it never happened.
Blue catches me off guard, though, when one morning at breakfast he says he wants to visit Marcel in the prison hospital.
"For what purpose exactly?" I ask, raising my brows, suspicion creeping in.
Blue studies me for a long moment, as if testing the ground for what he’s about to say, then continues, "You’re not going to like this, but the type of tumor Marcel has is one we’ve been studying extensively in my labs.
It could significantly alter a person’s behavior.
We have highly advanced therapies that can reverse its progression.
Prison medical care won’t provide anything like that. He’ll be dead in a few months."
I just stare at him, stunned.
"I can’t believe you’re saying that. You want to save his life?"
Blue lets out a sigh. "I know it’s going to sound strange, but yes."
I close my eyes and raise my hands.
"Blue, please! This is madness!"
He just watches me with a calm face.
"You know that I love that kind side of you, and what you’re suggesting is…
very generous and merciful, but Marcel hated you a year and a half ago.
I doubt the tumor had anything to do with that.
True, over time his behavior got more extreme, more ruthless, but from the start he was against you. You don’t owe him anything."
Blue watches me for a moment before answering.
"Call me naive, but I have a feeling Marcel wouldn’t have organized that attack if it weren’t for the tumor.
Maybe he’d still hate me, maybe he’d still be an activist, but in the early stages of his activity his group focused on protests, marches, blocking roads and getting on people’s nerves, but there was no violence.
The first plan for an attack on Malden showed up nine months ago, and by then the tumor was already there.
Does the fact that he disagreed with me mean I should refuse to help him when I know I can? "
"Blue, he wanted to kill us…"
"I know. But if you want a more pragmatic approach, think about it. He’ll be dead in two months and that’s it.
But if he’s cured, he can face charges and receive punishment.
Yes, the charges will likely be reduced on the basis of diminished capacity due to a preexisting neurological condition, but either way, he’ll be in prison for many years.
Maybe that will convince you if the merciful approach doesn’t work for you? "
I study Blue for a long moment.
"You want to… show him mercy. Just like that?"
"Yes."
A brief pause. Blue looks down at his hands for a moment, softly moving his fingers as if he were playing some kind of instrument.
"Do you know how I’d like to go? Lying on my deathbed with a completely clear conscience, knowing I did everything I could to help wherever I could. What others feel, that’s on them."
I want to argue, to convince him that you don’t help your enemies, but then it hits me who he really is at his core.
A doctor. A scientist. Someone with a calling. He isn’t like most people. There’s a kind of moral scale in him, a kind of integrity and greatness I might not fully understand or even agree with, but it’s an inseparable part of who he is.
"You know you’re beautiful, right?" I say quietly, pushing my plate aside and focusing on him, pouring everything I feel into my gaze. "Inside and out. I’m not capable of being as noble as you are, but I admire you for it, and… I love you. So even if I don’t completely agree with you here, I respect your decision. "
Blue slowly nods and gives me a soft, melancholic smile.
If this is what Blue wants, I’m not going to stand in his way. It would mean forcing him to change who he is at his core.
Two hours later, we’re in his limousine, heading to the prison hospital on the other side of the city.
I stay quiet, looking out the window, thinking about everything, about the past that now feels blurred, about the kidnapping, about us. And through all of it, one thing rises above everything else, one overwhelming feeling: my love for Blue.
My absolute devotion to him, and the deep, almost unreal happiness that he is my True Mate, not someone like Marcel. I can’t even imagine there being someone better for me. The feeling fills me completely, like sunlight, and I have to look at him, I just have to.
I turn my head.
Blue.
Leaning over his tablet, working as always. Well, besides the heat period, his mind never really switches off, planning, handling things, making decisions. His fingers glide across the screen as he scrolls through emails.
I lean in and plant a loud kiss on his cheek.
"What was that for?" Blue smiles, lifting those sapphire eyes to me.
"Just… thanks for being here."
"No need to thank me. I like being here."
"This is going to sound like the cheesy confessions we talked about, but I… I like being around you all the time. Watching you. Being close to you. You’re like… the sun that keeps me alive."
A faint blush spreads across his cheeks.
"You are everything," I whisper. "In my every day, in my every breath."
We look at each other, and I can tell he has no idea how to respond.
Because now I already know. The one I’m talking to, the one listening, is still that sixteen-year-old version of him, only just slowly growing along with us, with what we have.
So I decide to spare him the rest of it. "Okay, enough with the cheesy thing—"
"You… don’t have to limit it," he blurts out. His voice isn’t like his usual voice.
And I realize it's what his inner, teenage Blue wants. It's him who just spoke.
So I just softly smile, and he leans back over the tablet, but… I notice that for a while he just sits there staring at the same email, scrolled all the way down, no longer working.
I wonder what’s going through his head. I must have knocked him out of his rhythm.
But when some time later we step out of the car, he’s the one who reaches for my hand first.
We exchange small smiles, and even if I’m not exactly happy about this hospital visit, I’m with Blue, and that’s what matters.
◆◆◆
We find Marcel in his hospital cell.
There’s a cot, and he’s lying there hooked up to IVs, motionless, emaciated, pale as death.
The sight of him hits something in me, because I remember him as the most beautiful omega on campus, full of life and passion, and now what’s left is just a shadow of someone slowly fading away on a hospital bed.
I know he’s an orphan, no parents, no siblings, and I doubt anyone visits him. Access is restricted, so he’s probably just lying here alone, staring at the same walls, facing the consequences of his choices and a disease that is killing him.
The physical changes in him are severe. Half of his face barely responds, and his gaze drifts slightly when we walk in. But his mind is still there.
"Hello, bastard," I snarl, not caring to conceal my hostility. "We meet again!"
"Gabriel?" he says when he sees me, slowly blinking. "I didn’t expect you. And definitely not… you, Mr. Lowen."
Oh, really, now it’s Mr. Lowen instead of Blue, with such a respectful tone.
I feel my irritation spike instantly. Marcel has always been slippery, pleasant when it suited him. I don’t trust his polite tone at all.
"I’m honestly surprised your condition still lets you recognize us," I say, some sarcasm slipping into my voice.
Well, it feels off talking like that to someone who’s dying, but I can’t forget what he planned for us. No fucking way.
Blue walks up to the bed and sits beside him. Marcel’s pale blue eyes follow his movements, one corner of his mouth twitching into something like a weak smile while the other side remains still. The tumor has done real damage.
"What are you doing here? Is this even allowed? Without my la—lawyer?"
"Oh, relax. Don’t worry about lawyers. You won’t need one in the grave."
Marcel swallows hard, but then Blue cuts in.
"Are you aware that Malden is conducting research on exactly this type of tumor growing in your brain?" Blue says, his tone factual. "We’ve had excellent results in reversing its progression."
Marcel wears a dumbfounded expression, clearly not getting what Blue’s talking about.
"I came here to offer you treatment."
Marcel watches him for a moment, then chuckles.
But Blue remains quiet.
A tense silence settles over the room as Marcel’s eyes move back and forth between my face and Blue’s.
Finally, he speaks slowly, "Why would you do that? Is this some kind of mo—mockery?"
"No."
"That doesn't make sense. What's the purpose of this? To show me how wr—wrong I was? How noble you are? To prove your point?"
"I simply have that option. The therapy has been extensively developed by my research teams. If you want, you can undergo it."
Marcel squeezes his eyes shut, and to my surprise, a tear slips out from beneath his lashes.
"Is it just a cruel game?"
The room falls completely silent. I don’t say anything. This is between him and Blue.
Blue’s not engaging, not explaining, as if he’s already said everything he needed to.
Marcel stares out the window for a moment, his pale blue eyes drifting away briefly, before he starts speaking slowly, as if with resistance, forcing each successive sentence out of himself.