After having their hot chocolates in the cozy café, the two individuals decided to head back to the hospital.

To be honest, Nathalie wasn't thinking anything would've happened or changed while they were gone from there.

This thought reassured, yet also stressed her out, since a part of the assistant wished that her boss could've already been awake and well, like that things would've returned to 'normal' and her heart wouldn't be aching so much.

On the other hand, the woman also knew that her superior waking up would be a very overwhelming feeling, she probably wouldn't be able to handle it alone mentally or physically.

Therefore, as much as it felt wrong to admit; Gabriel being in a constant comatose state felt 'normal', at least like that Nathalie's life remained 'stable'.

Thought eventually something would happen;

He could regain consciousness, or not, either way, both Adrien's and Nathalie's reality would dramatically change then.

The simple thought of this all once again made the assistant feel anxious and even lightheaded as if she could faint any second.

Thankfully though, the blond boy noticed this on the way back to the hospital when his stepmom began to slow down with her steps and squeeze the teenager's hand harder for a better grip to support herself.

"Nath?" Adrien tried to help the dark haired woman. "Are you okay?" He asked regardless of seeing this pale, basically lifeless face of the assistant and her trembling body.

"I-I-I-"

It was only when she couldn't formulate a proper sentence that the boy stepped closer and firmly placed his hands on either side of his step mom's shoulder.

"Nath calm down." His voice tried to sound reassuring with its soft tone. "Forget those stupid thoughts I know you have and focus your eyes on me!"

"I-"

He was too much like Gabriel.

His voice, the tone of it, the phrasing, the "Nath", everything reminded her of the designer.

He was the one who spoke to her like this.

Nathalie couldn't help but reminisce about those good memories, their shared memories.

"Nath." The boy spoke calmly again. "Look at me."

With a deep breath in, this time the assistant did as told; firstly, she shook her head to erase those Gabriel filled thoughts, then, with teary eyes the woman looked down to meet Adrien's wonderfully green eyes, smiling at her, trying to make her feel better.

Everything suddenly felt so amazing.

In the meantime though, no one was smiling in the hospital, instead, all of the staff happened to be rushing around in panic and still trying to get in contact with both Adrien and Nathalie.

By now they had called those two individuals almost a thousand times and asked everyone around where they could be.

Yet no answer.

The doctors's and nurses's quest to find them only came to an end as the blond boy and his step mom walked in through the main entrance with the most innocent expression ever.

Immediately, everyone's stare was directed at them, and before Nathalie or Adrien could've even blinked, an army of nurses formed around them.

"Miss Sancoeur!" They grabbed her arm. "Mr Adrien!" The boy was also dragged into this.
"We have an emergency!"

Almost instantly, Nathalie's mind thought her boss's state had quickly taken a bad turn and was going downhill, maybe even near death.

She panicked, her breathing became heavier and she felt nauseous.

Not to mention everyone else's overwhelming behavior was only worsening this, their yells, strong pushes and aggressive instructions all increased the dizziness of the dark haired woman.

Nathalie didn't even fully understand what was going on, all she saw was a shared panic which fueled this group's nervous flame, but other than that, she had to ask:

"A-an emergency?" The assistant's weak voice stuttered, however, there was no way she could be heard while everyone was rushing and loudly telling her to go faster.

"W-what is this emergency?" She tried to get answers to her question once again, yet despite using her 'loud' voice, no one said anything useful.

The dark haired woman would've almost thought that she could never get to know what everyone was worrying her about, or at least that was until they'd finally made it to her boss's room and there he was.

Eyes open.

"Sir?"

"Father?"

Adrien and Nathalie shared a quick look before the medical professional began speaking:

"Mr Agreste had obviously-"

"Woken up." The blond boy interrupted while staring at his dad in amazement.

He couldn't believe it and neither could the assistant beside him.

"Well..." a hesitant doctor's voice suddenly emerged from the crowd of people in the room.
"Mr Agreste did clearly open his eyes, so he is able to do some simple things physically, but since this incident has severely traumatized his body, he can't fully move."

"He is paralyzed?" Everything in Nathalie broke.

She hoped she would never have to ask such a question, because the woman knew she couldn't have handled getting a 'yes' answer back to it.

Now, this turning into her reality made everything even worse than she had imagined;

Although the sight of seeing her boss alive, with his eyes open, made a wave of relief wash over the assistant's exhausted self, at last she could see him once more, but thinking of how he wasn't able move without assistance or the help of medical staff made Nathalie's soul shatter into a million tiny pieces.

The assistant sighed;

His recovery would most definitely take a long while, and as much as she loved the man in front of her, Nathalie didn't know if she'd be prepared for the emotional journey of assisting Gabriel in his 'new life'.

The assistant wasn't ready to witness the impact that the designer's injury had on him.

Just in that moment of sorrow, where she thought the world had collapsed on her,
a male voice interrupted Nathalie's fast flowing thoughts:

"So..." the doctor once again began to slowly explain: "As mentioned previously, Mr Agreste has some difficulty speaking and moving." He stated. "That obviously includes standing up and walking."

"I-"

"But he should recover soon." The medical professional added as he saw the assistant visibly unwell.

Nathalie's tired, teary eyes were fixed on her boss, who too looked back at her, innocently.

Thought he didn't smile, wave, or even say anything at all, the grey haired man simply remained still in his hospital bed and glared into his employee's eyes as if she would've been some stranger.

The woman's heart crumbled at the sight of him being incapable of responding, it hurt the assistant more than anything ever.

She felt like a part of her heart had just gotten ripped out.

All their memories, those moments of him smiling which vividly stuck in her brain, even just the grey haired man saying sweet things, everything began to play down in Nathalie's mind.

"Sir." Her voice ached before she wiped her own tears away and forced a tiny, fake smile onto her face.

Still, nothing in return, just a confused blink from Gabriel.

As if she would've gotten stabbed in her heart, Nathalie didn't have enough strength to finish her sentence, she instantly began sobbing her eyes out from all the piled up pain, frustration and anxiety.

For the assistant, her world had collapsed.

She would've almost collapsed too if it wasn't for one of the doctors who held onto her while she let go of everything.

Meanwhile this, Adrien's attention was still focused on his father.

The grey haired man wasn't looking at his son, instead Gabriel's eyes watched his assistant's breakdown closely, without a reaction though.

So, in that moment, to distract him, Adrien tried to say:

"Dad?" The boy's harmless voice whispered softly into the cold air around them. "C-can you look at me?" His words had almost faded into silence by the end, but still no reaction from the designer.

"Please." The teenager tried to add. "Please father."

Adrien's voice was silently begging the man to do something, even the slightest movement would've been good enough for them.

It felt as if everyone in that room was waiting for a miracle, but most knew it wouldn't happen, or at least not today.

Needless to say that they were also aware it would take a significantly long period of time for him to learn moving on his own again.

"Mr Adrien." Said the doctor who was still holding onto Nathalie's weak body. "I think we all should let your father rest a bit." He tried to ease those concerned hearts "This must be overwhelming for him too."

The boy sighed to the sound of that.

He tried his very best to be understanding of this harsh situation, but he was impatient and wanted his father back.

The only 'real' parent he had left.

"Fine." He sighed "I'll let him rest."
The teenager's voice sounded terribly disappointed.

To be continued-

Sorry if this was a bit bad, I am quite tired and not sure how well this writing turned out.