Gabriel Agreste was sitting in his son's bed, thinking about how he had failed in his most important task and what he could do to compensate and correct his mistakes. Every second felt like an eternity. Adrien's life was saved and completely out of danger, but not completely rescued; from the most famous designer perspective, his only child attempted suicide and there was the strong possibility for him to try again. There was no possible way in which Gabriel Agreste would let this happen again, even if at the moment he did not know what to do. Adrien needed to feel happiness again, to love life like he always did. Most importantly, to experience the affection of a loving family, just like when his mother was alive.
Suddenly, Gabriel's phone rang. It was Nathalie.
'Hello sir'. Nathalie could not even finish her sentence before he was interrupted by the anguished father.
"How's my son? Did something change?". Gabriel asked; the doctors had told him that Adrien, in fact, was out of danger, but a parent could never be so sure.
'Sir, he is fine, just woke up, right now he is with the nurse'. The assistant tried to reassure the designer.
"Okay". Gabriel could not believe it, he only left for about 1 and half hours and his son wakes up, the irony.
'Sir, are you still in the house?'. Nathalie asked.
"Yes, is there anything you need?". The designer felt completely helpless, he should be with his son, not in the house.
'Yes, Adrien needs clothes, some pyjamas, underwear and a change of clothes for when he gets discharged". She paused a moment. 'He also has an IPad and his phone in his desk next to his computer'.
"Is there anything else I might get?". Gabriel did not understand how Nathalie could be so aware of everything.
'Yes, the chargers of his phone and IPad'. Nathalie knew that, if she didn't say what was needed in a very specific way, her boss might forget it, like men always do (sexist IK, but this is how my dad acts).
"Fine, I am already grabbing everything you told me". Gabriel took a deep breath. "How are you holding up?".
'Do not worry about me right now, sir, I can manage'. Nathalie tried to explain.
"I see. In that case, I will get going, see you in a few minutes".
'We will be waiting. And sir, eat something before you come, please, this is an order'.
"You giving me orders?". Gabriel couldn't help but smile a little.
'Yes. Good bye, sir'. She hanged the phone.
Gabriel found a backpack under Adrien's bed and began to put all of his stuff inside it. When he touched the bottom of the backpack, he felt something sharp pricked his finger; it was a small razor, next to it, there was a firelighter. Gabriel felt sick to his stomach. Why would Adrien keep those things hidden in his bedroom? Even if he wanted to cry again, there was no time for it. He needed to be strong for his son, especially now that Adrien woke up.
"Not now, not now". Gabriel Agreste repeated internally, while holding up his tears.
After he finished packing everything and taking away the razor and the firelighter, he headed to the garage, where the body guard was already waiting for him.
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The road to the hospital was quiet. Gabriel Agreste was entirely lost in his thoughts. To begin with, after finding what his son was hiding, he started to blame himself for allowing this to happen; of course, that was not the only weapon he used, since there was another in the bathroom, the one that sent him to the hospital. There was a big chance that Adrien had more of these hidden, maybe in his room, maybe in his school locker.
The most famous designer of Paris knew that he could not let this situation be repeated in any kind of circumstance. For instance, things were going to change inside the mansion; he would be more present, share every single meal with his son, drive him to school and let him hang out with his friends. But he would also take measures regarding his schedule; Adrien was in no condition to model, and he would not let him for a while; regarding his other activities, that was yet to be discussed. Gabriel was also thinking about taking away the doors for Adrien's room and bathroom, just to be sure he could be guarded most of the time.
Those were, at least, the ideas that came into Gabriel Agreste's mind.
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When Gabriel and Gorilla arrived to the hospital, they were again received by the same bunch of paparazzi, who were asking the same questions. Unlike the image Gabriel showed in the early morning, he would now stand strong, if the media wanted to harm him, then he would not give them the pleasure. He decided that he would not answer any question, since he believed that was a waste of his time, which at that moment happened to be the most valuable thing that existed. He thought that answering questions was not an option until he heard:
"Gabriel Agreste, what do you think about your son being an attention seeker? Doesn't he have enough with all the spotlight he received?". One paparazzi asked. He was tall, about two inches shorter than Gabriel, had black hair and eyes and his skin white.
"You can talk whatever you want about me, I do not care, you can make up stories, make up all the lies you can come up with, but, and listen carefully you stupid bastard, I hear you saying something like that about my son again, and I will destroy you". Gabriel stated. "And that goes for all of you as well". He screamed, referring to the other paparazzi around him. Everyone got silenced.
He turned to the door entrance of the hospital without looking back. His son was fourteen and going through a hard situation and, in addition, he would need to learn to endure the comments of the media during his recovery.
He went directly to Adrien's room, when he entered, his heart broke.
His son was pale, really pale; his eyes were swollen, like if he had been crying; his lips were dry; his hair was messy; his arms had injections inserted in his arm; and he was just staring at the ceiling. Nathalie was playing with his hair, like if she was consoling him, while Adrien was slowly breathing.
'Emilie'. Gabriel thought. Adrien, his only child, looked like his mother in her last days. He did not want to believe the similitudes between the two persons he loved the most in a hospital bed; yet, he could not unsee how similar, even in a situation like this, Emilie and Adrien were.
Gabriel got closer to the bed and kneeled beside it.
"Good morning son". Gabriel whispered to Adrien's ear.
Adrien turned his head to the right, where his father was, but turned it again to see the ceiling, he did not have the guts to stare at his father after what he did. He felt embarrassed.
"Hi". Adrien answered, with his voice cracking.
Nathalie stood up from the chair she was sitting and left the room. Father and son needed some time alone.
"I brought you an IPad and your phone". Gabriel tried to break the ice. "Also clothes, maybe you might prefer a pyjama rather than hospital clothes". Having a conversation was harder than he thought. "Son, I am really sorry, I'm sorry I was not strong enough, I was not with you when you needed it most, I'm sorry about being too strict, I, I am sorry I failed you". Gabriel's voice cracked.
Adrien felt a tear coming down his cheek again. Now his father was apologizing for the mistakes he committed.
"Dad, I'm sorry". The teen answered. "It was not your fault". He started to sob.
"Adrien, it's my responsibility to look after you, and I did not do it right". Gabriel explained, holding his son's shoulder. "I should have noticed that something was wrong, that you needed me, and yet, I did not do it".
"But…". Adrien couldn't finish, and he started crying again. He could not formulate a word. His dad was blaming himself for his own stupidity. If had been smarter, he would have not cut wrists and none of this would have happened. First he lost his miraculous and now his father felt responsible because of him. He really was a failure.
"Listen son, we will overcome this, I promise". Gabriel said, trying to sound convincing and strong.
Adrien was just crying, staring at the ceiling, knowing that he could not hold his tears. For some reason, he felt safe with his dad next to him, even if he was not looking at him, he needed his dad and, for a long time, he was begging for his dad to catch him. He finally did. After a few minutes. Adrien fell asleep, his face was red but somehow relieved; it was like if he waited to be with his dad to be able to sleep peacefully, he even forgot about the ring for a while.
The doctor then comes into the room, but she waited not to interrupt the moment the patience and the parent shared.
"Good morning mister Agreste". Giselle greeted. "Is it okay if we head to my office for a few minutes?"
"Sure". Gabriel replied. He stood up and followed the doctor.
When they arrived, the doctor opened the door and invited Gabriel to enter. Giselle proceeded to go to her desk.
"Take a sit sir". Giselle pointed to the chair. Gabriel seated.
"Thank you". Gabriel said, Giselle nodded her hair.
"I'm going to be very honest, sir". Her voice was serious. "If your son came two minutes later, there is a big possibility that he would not have survived. He needed to bags in blood transfusion, we could not even ask for his type when we used the first one since it was an emergency. What bothers me is that, when a nurse was putting the catheter, we found cuts and burs all over his thighs and hips, which seemed were self-infringed. Today, before you came back, my nurse informed me that he also experienced what seemed like an anxiety attacked".
"I found a razor and a firelighter in his room". Gabriel explained; he was right; this was not the first time Adrien injured himself on purpose.
"Okay. Lister, sir, we cannot and should not make assumptions of what happened today. We are not certain if your son attempted suicide, you need to talk with your son about what happened". Giselle explained. "I will address you to a therapist that I recommend, he is an expert in this kind of situations. I'm also writing the contact of a psychiatrist. They both work together".
"Don't you think a psychiatrist is a bit too much? You just said maybe he did not try kill himself. Maybe it can wait". Gabriel questioned. Adrien was still fourteen, a kid. It was too much to take in.
"I know what I said, but even if he did not try to kill himself, the attack he had earlier and the marks of self-harm are serious; it's very possible that he has a mental disorder we do not know about, and they require treatment and medication in the most cases". Giselle explicated.
"I see". That was the only thing Gabriel could say.
"And please, do not take away any doors or deny your son his privacy. Every time parents ask that questions and, if you asked me, that's the worst thing they could do". Giselle stated. Gabriel's face seemed surprise.
"How did you know I thought about it?". Gabriel Agreste was perplexed, it felt like if the doctor could read his mind.
"I work in urgencies with patients that happen to be in situations like Adrien's. Parents ask these questions all the time". She gave a small smile.
"I see". Gabriel said again. He felt shocked.
"He should be discharged tomorrow, btw. What bothers me is the paparazzi; Adrien should not experience that kind of environment, so maybe we could discharge him at midnight to avoid any kind of attack he can suffer, but we will decide it depending on his progress today". Giselle told the father.
"So, you are not certain when he will be discharged?". Gabriel felt annoyed, and it showed with his voice.
"Should be today at midnight, but that depends on his condition and if his body is strong enough". Giselle tried to calm Gabriel down.
"Perfect, thank you doctor". Gabriel stood up and left the office.
Apparently, hell was just getting started.