Day Thirty-Seven…
~~*****~~
[ At Stephen's Place… ]
Abigail dropped by Stephen's place to check on both Cherry and her body. After her confrontation with Nathan, he went to Syphiruz Mafia Headquarters to deal with the organization's operation.
Abigail requested Nathan to drop her at Stephen's place as she joined him in his car. Upon reaching Stephen's place, Abigail headed to Phantomflake's ward. Cherry was there, taking care of her.
She saw her wiping her body with a clean wet towel. She was also massaging Phantomflake's muscles so that once she woke up from her coma, her body wouldn't get too stiff for her to move.
'Black Rose, she cares for me above all. I'm so lucky to have her as my friend. I'm glad she survived. I want her to start over and live a simple life away from dangerous jobs, especially now that the Assassin Guild is gone.'
Abigail just stood at the door, silently observing Cherry. Later on, Cherry finally noticed her presence. She tossed a look in Abigail's direction and saw her.
"Abi! How long have you been standing there? Come here." Cherry invited her in. There was a vacant chair on the other side of Phantomflake's sickbed.
Abigail smiled back at Cherry, tracing her steps toward her.
"How are you?" Abigail asked her.
"I'm good. Here, wishing that Sis Phantom will wake up soon." Cherry heaved a deep sigh, shifting her gaze from Abigail to Phantomflake.
Abigail became silent and she glanced at her body. Her eyes fell on her lips. As expected, her original body experienced the same thing. A few marks could be seen on her lips. Fortunately, Cherry hadn't noticed it.
"Abi, are you okay now? Last time… you seemed like you got a panic attack." Cherry glanced at her worriedly.
"I'm sorry about that. I think I was triggered by something. A traumatic event happened to me in the past. But don't worry. I'm fine now." Abigail couldn't remember the memory. It was fragmented. But she was certain now. King Stallion Mafia triggered her.
"Actually, I'm here to find something. I feel like Stephen knew something more about Phantomflake. I wonder what kind of session they had as her psychologist."
'Even I myself couldn't remember anything about it.' Abigail added to her thoughts.
"Huh? What are you planning to do?" Cherry asked her with intrigue.
"I will try to sneak into his Study Room to check for her patient record. He might be keeping some records on his computer." Abigail shared her plan with Cherry.
"Do you want me to hack his computer and stole the data? But what name did sis Phantom use when she made appointments with Stephen? Too bad Dr. Stephen couldn't disclose more information because of doctor-patient privacy and confidentiality." Cherry offered her some help, forgetting that Abigail was also an expert hacker.
"I think… she used Jane Frost. Let me do it, myself. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me. You have to stay close to Phantomflake. " Abigail wasn't certain if she revealed her name to Stephen. She was adopted by her Master Miss Frost so she became Jane Frost. She also lost her memory when she was young and was rescued by their master.
"But I need your help. Stephen is here. Can you entertain him and don't let him enter his study while I am still looking for Phantomflake's patient records of their session?" Abigail requested Cherry's help. They needed to divert Stephen's attention and kept him occupied while Abigail was conducting a thorough search inside his study room.
"Okay, Abi. Leave it to me. I will deal with Dr. Zhou." Cherry would be glad to assist Abigail. She was also curious about Phantomflake's session with Stephen. What did they talk about? Was her trauma severe? She wanted answers!
Abigail and Cherry strategized what they would do so that Abigail could sneak into Stephen's study without getting caught. Fortunately, the robots stayed on guard outside Phantomflake's ward only. They were not roaming around the house.
It would be easy for Abigail to enter Stephen's study. She had been there together with Veronica. So far, she didn't see any security camera installed inside his Study Room.
When they already set their strategy, Abigail and Cherry began to move and implement their plan. Cherry went to see Stephen while Abigail headed to Stephen's room.
Cherry would invite Stephen into the garden to ask him more about Phantomflake. Cherry could tell that Stephen was paying more attention when their topic was related to Phantomflake. After a minute, Cherry succeeded in bringing Stephen outside the house. They proceeded to the garden.
"Stephen, can you tell me more about the moment you shared with my sis in Country Z?" Cherry was hoping to hear more of their story together. "What do you think of my sister… I mean, what is your first impression when you first met her?"
Stephen had a dreamy look in his eyes as he reminisced his moments with Phantomflake, including their first meeting.
"The first word that popped into my mind when I first saw her was the word Cool. She fought ten men and defeated them. A group of gangsters chased me and cornered me in a dark alley. They planned to rob me and take all my money and gadgets. I tried to fight them but I was outnumbered. Furthermore, they were holding weapons. Knives and baseball bats."
Cherry's eyes went round when she heard that. "Eh? She fought ten armed men?!! I thought she was physically injured when she went to Country Z for her therapy. Now I understand everything. I think… it's not physical therapy. She went there for trauma treatment…"
Stephen bobbed his head. But his eyes dimmed for a moment. Phantomflake was not in her usual self when she fought those men. Her emotion was unstable. She fought them with killing intent in her eyes. He just got lucky that Phantomflake ended up passing through that dark alley that night.
'She was like a killing machine. She didn't grunt or wince in pain when she was being punched and hit by those gangsters. She looked like she didn't feel any pain. I saw hatred, resentment, and anger in her eyes.' Stephen thought to himself, not sharing this with Cherry.
"After saving you, what happened? Did she know that you were a psychologist?" Cherry asked him curiously.
Stephen let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "Honestly, I'm not her doctor at first. She was receiving treatment from another psychologist. But that psychologist couldn't handle her. She almost beat him up to death if not for the interference of her mother." Stephen mistook Miss Frost for Phantomflake's mother. "Since then, no one wants to accept her as their patient. She was very aggressive."
Cherry giggled. She could imagine how those psychologists suffered under Phantomflake.
"How about you? Did you get beaten up by her? How were you able to control her?"
Stephen smiled meaningfully and said, "A hug. I just gave her a hug. A hug is like a therapeutic pill that can help you calm down. I always told her that a hug is the best way to comfort someone when they are feeling down and broken." Stephen said the same statement Abigail used to speak to Nathan when she hugged him in Country F.
Cherry blinked her eyes several times as she watched Stephen in awe. She didn't know why but she could see love in Stephen's eyes right now. 'Wait. Don't tell me… he has feelings for my sis Phantom… Stephen likes Phantomflake…'
"But of course, I received two to three punches from her. But I can endure it. Besides, I was indebted to her. She saved me from those gangsters." Stephen let out another husky laugh. Dealing with Phantomflake before was not easy. It took him several months before she started opening up to him.
Stephen didn't want to admit it but he was totally smitten by her. He knew he should set boundaries with her because he was her doctor and she was his patient. Romantic feelings between them were forbidden and not allowed.
Stephen restrained himself and tried his best not to fall in love with his patient. He had a mission to do and that was to treat her and help her move on. He convinced himself that he was doing this because he was indebted to her. But deep inside, his heart had another reason. However, he had to suppress it no matter what.
"When I saw her in pain… my heart felt suffocated as well… as if it was being squeezed inside my chest…" Stephen uttered, sharing his inner feelings with Cherry.
Cherry was rendered speechless. She could only listen to Stephen.
"She was slowly recovering… but I felt so happy I was able to help her cope up. But…" Stephen paused for a moment. A cold glint flashed through his eyes, rolling his fingers into balls of fury. Just when Phantomflake was about to recover another mishap happened to her, bringing her back to her misery. Stephen had no choice but to erase her memory for her to continue living.
"But what?" Cherry frowned as she noticed the changes in Stephen's expression. The rage of fury was evident on his face. He was angry about something.
But seconds later, Stephen's expression went back to normal. He was able to conceal his negative emotions. "Oh, it's nothing." Stephen was evading her question.
"Huh? You left me hanging. What happened next?" Cherry urged him to speak up.
"We went to separate ways and I hadn't seen her for long. She might have forgotten me already." Stephen simply said, keeping something from Cherry.
"Huh? But why? You helped her recover, there was no way she could forget you."
"Because I erased her memory to heal her completely…"
Cherry: "..."
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om