How could she possibly decide if he should live or die?

It was an inhumane decision to make about someone else's life.

The woman's mind was filled with these thoughts and doubts as she sat beside her boss's almost death bed.

Her and Adrien had driven all the way to the hospital without any hesitation to see Gabriel.

They felt that this was the right thing to do after they've received the 'unbelievable' call from the nurse.

Nevertheless, once actually making it inside the room it was a painful sight to see the designer covered in bandages, cuts and bruises while an uncountable amount of machines kept him alive.

The assistant started tearing up more with every minute passing by and wishing things wouldn't have ever ended like this.

Anything would've been better than whatever this was.

Nathalie wouldn't have minded if her and Gabriel never ever get together, or if she would've never had that 'thing' with Emilie.

All she wanted now was for everything to be back to normal.

"Miss?" A nurse's voice interrupted.

She was standing in the doorway, her hair tied up in a very neat bun, her attire perfectly fitted and her notebook in hand.

Her voice seemed to be the same as the one which spoke to Nathalie over the phone, so, the assistant figured this was the lady who told her the news.

"I've just come to ask if-"

"He hasn't moved." Nathalie's voice cut her off coldly.

She wasn't in the right mindset to respond nicely, plus the assistant herself couldn't believe she was saying such things; saying her superior was lifeless, or at least paralyzed as of right now.

She couldn't believe any of this.

It had to be a nightmare.

"Okay?" The nurse's voice suddenly shook Nathalie out of her thoughts. "Are you okay miss?" The lady asked again, she was much closer since her hand now rested on the dark haired woman's shoulder while the 'important' looking notebook laid flat on the table beside Gabriel's bed.

"I-yes!" Nathalie exclaimed a little startled.
"I-I a-am f-fine!"

"Are you sure miss? You don't need a glass of water maybe?"

"I-I-...actually that sounds great, may I-"

"Of course." The nurse smiled widely. "I'll be right back to bring some water for you."

With that the young lady who had a neat bun and a perfect work uniform walked out of the room, leaving Nathalie all by herself.

Or at least that's what it felt like.

Adrien had left a while ago for 'a walk in the hospital's garden' because he couldn't handle seeing his father in such a depressing state, so the assistant was forced to make all decisions by herself, as well as be in this cursed hospital room all alone.

The dark haired woman sighed while the beeping of machines became monotonous to her.

At this point her mind was lost in a spiral of doubts and worries.

"What is happening!" She cried. "Why is this happening?"

No response.

As predicted, her boss didn't move, and even though Nathalie knew he wouldn't have ever woken up to her sobs, she still felt disappointed.

"I'm back!" A cheerful voice made the assistant jump.

Of course, it was the nurse.

"Here's your water." The lady smiled before handing a clear plastic cup over to Nath who slightly tried to give the nurse a 'thank you' smile.

Despite it not being very clear, the medical 'professional' seemed to have understood the meaning behind Nathalie's weak gestures.

"You're welcome." The lady giggled while pulling a chair beside the assistant where she sat down.

The dark haired woman's eyes widened in shock as now this nurse was all of a sudden being incredibly friendly with her.

"So..." the perfectly dressed and happy lady began "...who is he?"

"You don't know who he is?!" Nathalie's voice was even more shocked than her facial expressions.

Regardless of how serious the assistant was making the situation, the nurse just chuckled:

"Oh that's not how I meant it, because I know who Gabriel Agreste is." She said "But who is he to you!?"

"My boss?" The dark haired woman's tone was unsure, almost as if she would've been asking the lady in front of her for the right answer, but once again, that nurse just laughed.

"Are you sure? You sound quite hesitant."

"Well what else would he be to me?"

"More than...a friend."

"WHAT?!" Nathalie scoffed "NO!"

"Well Miss not many assistants make the decision about their superior's life while also taking care of his kid."

"The boy needs me! I'm the only one he has left!" The assistant didn't even notice how defensive she immediately got and how her voice was becoming louder by the second. "What else am I supposed to do?! Leave them all behind?" She was almost shouting by now. "It's not like I have anything better to do, at least with this I'm making myself somewhat useful."

"Oh miss" the nurse sighed. "you're being too serious. What does your heart tell you?"

To the sound of that Nathalie immediately chuckled;

"I'm heartless." Her face stared at the ground with a broken expression after she said that.

It was somewhat true.

Her name said so, yet she knew that she could fall in love miserably well, therefore, it wasn't fully true that she was 'heartless'.

Even Gabriel disagreed with that statement every time the dark haired woman brought it up in a conversation.

Not now though, obviously.

Anyway, after a minute or two of reminiscing, Nathalie shook her head to get rid of those heavy thoughts.

"This isn't what we should be talking about right now!" The assistant stated "My boss's life is on the line and I need him to make it out alive!"

"He will be fine, I promise." The nurse voice became serious too while her smile faded into a stern look.

Then, she stood up from her little chair and grabbed her notebook off of the table beside Gabriel's hospital bed.

"I'm sorry" looking at Nathalie she apologized.
"I only wanted to ease the sadness, I didn't mean to ask too many personal questions."

With that the nurse gave the assistant one last apologetic look before stepping out of the room.

Now the dark haired woman was stuck here alone just like earlier.

It didn't take long for Nathalie to start regretting her dumb decisions of making the nurse leave, she was only trying to brighten up their situation, but the dark haired woman couldn't realize that until the moment she became isolated from everyone and everything alongside her paralyzed superior.

She sighed feeling lost for the millionth time.

It was almost like a never ending cycle of misery, or at least that's what it felt like while Nathalie didn't have anyone (alive) beside her.

However, that all changed the second someone else could be heard walking through the door.

At first the assistant didn't bother to turn around thinking it was some doctor, except once she heard:

"How is father?"

Nathalie knew it was Adrien.

"Adrien!" The woman's voice cheered as she got up and ran to hug the boy tight.

At first the teenager didn't think much of his stepmom's actions, in fact, he also quite enjoyed being held in such a protective way.

Though when the assistant didn't let go after multiple minutes of hugging the blond boy, Adrien began to get a bit worried;

"What's wrong Nath?" He asked "Did something bad happen?"

"No." Her weak and faint voice mumbled while still holding Adrien close by. "I-I j-just-..."

"What?"

"I'm sorry" she sobbed "...for everything."

"What are you talking about? You didn't do anything."

"A-a-ll this is m-my f-fault!"

"Nathalie." The teenager scoffed before pulling back a little from their hug to look at his stepmom in the eyes.

She was very obvious crying.

Her eyes appeared blurry from the tears, her face was red, and her whole body was shaking tremendously.

"It isn't your fault." Adrien spoke reassuringly to try and ease the woman's anxiety, but she didn't cooperate, instead Nathalie made it worse for herself by continuously repeating:

"It is my fault!"

"It isn't!"

"It is!"

"Look Nath." The boy put his arms firmly on her shoulders "...it's complicated, you feel guilty, I feel broken too, but once father recovers everything will be back to normal. Okay?"

"W-wh-what if he-"

"He will!" Adrien interrupted before Nathalie could've doubted everything. "He will recover, and our family will be perfect."

"Our?"  The woman's voice was trembling even more than her body.

She wasn't sure if it was a meaningless little word she was focusing on too much, or maybe it could've even been a mistake the teenager didn't notice he said.

Yet Nathalie felt so overwhelmed by it, the sound of;

Our family.

Almost as if she could've been apart of it.

Apart of them.

The Agreste family.

To be continued-

Sorry, maybe I was a bit dramatical with the ending of this chapter, lol, but I kinda like it.