Nathalie couldn't help it, when the truck swerved into her lane there was nothing she could besides brace for impact. She could barely make out any sound and if she tried to open her eyes her vision was skewed worse than usual with her glasses knocked off her face. The sunlight was blindingly bright, the colors were faded and not how they usually appeared, and the outlines of the shapes around her were blurred. She tries to move her body but she's too weak and so she lets the pounding headache overcome her.
Gabriel paces back and forth in his office as he checks the time once again. She should've been here almost an hour ago and it wasn't like her to be late. He wondered what was keeping her, hoping it wasn't his fault, or rather the fault of the peacock miraculous. He gets a phone call and rushes over to see an unfamiliar number, he was really hoping it would be Nathalie, she was one of the very few people that had his personal number, and he didn't know who would be calling him right now. He picked up the call even though he didn't want to.
"Who is this?" Gabriel asks rudely, as he picks up the call.
"Is this Gabriel Agreste?" the person on the other line asks in turn.
"Yes, how did you get this number?" Gabriel asks this time.
"You are listed as an emergency contact in Ms. Sancoeur's phone," it is explained to Gabriel.
"Wait, emergency? What happened? Where is she?" Gabriel asks, frantically.
"She got into a car crash about twenty-five (25) minutes ago," they explain.
"I'm going to be there!" Gabriel says quickly before hanging up.
He isn't in a safe state to drive but he could care less about that. He doesn't think about how someone reckless like him driving is what caused Nathalie to be in the hospital right now, but even if he was thinking about that, he doesn't care, he just needs to see her alive. Gabriel couldn't let go of her, he had been preparing himself to learn that the peacock miraculous had taken her the same way it had taken his wife, but that didn't make him prepared for what he had actually heard.
"Where is she?" Gabriel immediately asks the receptionist, looking like he had run all the way to the hospital, "Nathalie Sancoeur."
"She is currently in surgery, you may take a seat in the waiting room if you would like to wait for her to be out," the receptionist offers calmly.
"Do you know when she'll be out?"
"A few hours still," the receptionist tells him.
Gabriel rolls his eyes at the woman because it's clear she doesn't know anything about Nathalie's condition. He can't let himself assume the worst, it could be a fracture, but the thought of her being paralyzed, or worse dying during the surgery, keeps crawling back into his head. He tries to remind himself that everyone who works here is a professional, he wishes the professionals of his job were more capable so he could have higher faith in the professional's hands that Nathalie was currently in.
"Mr. Agreste?" a doctor says and Gabriel immediately snaps upright, "she's asking for you. Are you two related in any way? At this point in her recovery, only family members are allowed in."
"I'm her husband," Gabriel lies without a second thought, "she just chose to keep her maiden name."
"I'll show you to her room."
His breath stops as he looks at the woman in the hospital bed in front of him. Her skin is paler than normal and is covered with purple bruises. One of her arms is also in a cast and bandages are wrapped around her torso.
"What happened to her?" Gabriel asks the doctor.
"The truck ran into her lane. It broke her right arm and one of her ribs punctured the lung on her left side. She's lucky that she got here when she did. If it wasn't for her timing she might not be here now."
"Oh, my Nathalie," Gabriel mutters and her eyes flutter open as if she knew he was there.
"Sir?" Her voice is a hoarse croak and that title isn't selling their marriage story but there are bigger issues right now.
Gabriel rushes to her side and the doctor leaves the supposed couple be.
"Oh, Nathalie," he says because he doesn't know what else to say.
"Hey, it's okay," she promises, she tries to lift an arm only to realize it's in a cast, she lifts her other and it's a slightly awkward angle but it works, "don't cry, I'm fine."
Gabriel doesn't know how she can say that from a hospital bed because she is clearly not fine.
"Mr. Agreste, I'm sure you're very concerned about your wife but it's important she gets some rest. You may come back tomorrow," a doctor says, interrupting them.
"Wife?" Nathalie mumbles quietly, did she have some sort of amnesia?
"I'll explain tomorrow," Gabriel promises, and kisses her forehead gently before leaving.
"Where is Nathalie?" Adrien asks when his father arrives home.
"At the hospital," Gabriel admits dully, he can't deal with the questions now, he had a stressful day and is tired.
"Why?" Adrien asks though immediately concerned.
"She got into a car accident this morning."
"Is she alright?" Adrien asks, concern flooded in his voice.
"Yes, you may come visit her tomorrow if you wish. Just, you're her stepson if anyone asks."
"Do I want to ask about that one?"
"Family members were only allowed to visit her, I couldn't very well pass as her brother so I went with her husband."
As promised, Adrien and Gabriel visit Nathalie early in the afternoon when the hospital allows visitors again. Nathalie moves over slightly so the three of them can share the small hospital bed.
"Are you alright, Nathalie?" is Adrien's first question, concern and worry are evident in his voice, and he looks like he is about to cry.
"I'm fine, Adrien," Nathalie tells him, "it's just a small fracture in my arm and a punctured lung, there are much worse things."
Gabriel hates when Nathalie talks like that, almost as if she deserves to be in more pain, as if she deserved a worse fate than the one she is in.
"So, would we like to explain why my doctor thinks I'm married to Gabriel Agreste?" Nathalie asks, though her voice demands an explanation.
"They were only allowing family members to visit you, I thought with our slightly odd relationship as well as our ages, a married couple would make the most sense."
"So I am your stepson," Adrien tells her.
"Well, I am glad my son cares but I do think he should be in school," Nathalie tells him and glares at Gabriel who allowed him to miss school.
"The boy was worried about you, what did you want me to do? If he didn't come to see you, he would have been stressed all day and wouldn't have learned anything anyway," Gabriel says, trying to justify his actions, though he shouldn't have to, Adrien is his son.
"I was worried about you mom," Adrien emphasizes the word mom hoping to plant the idea in his oblivious father and his stubborn assistant's head, "the school day is practically over now so there is no point in me leaving."
"Except for your fencing and Chinese lessons," Gabriel points out, "your bodyguard is here to pick you up, I allowed you to miss school only."
Adrien groans and Nathalie can't lie, she is impressed that Gabriel had found Adrien's schedule and made sure to arrange the transportation, it's something she had always done.
"You're not even going to need me, it seems like you have this assistant stuff figured out all for yourself," Nathalie tells him once Adrien leaves the room.
"Don't worry, I'm not touching your inbox, you are definitely still employed."
Nathalie laughs a little bit and Gabriel loves it. She was always so uptight in the office, she held herself to a professional standard and stuck to it. Though maybe she was just high off the painkillers that they were giving her.
"Tell the doctors to let me out," Nathalie complains, "I'm fine and they insist I have to be here at least another two days."
"Nathalie, you should listen to the doctors, they know what they are doing."
"I'm going to call Hawkmoth to come and break me out of here," Nathalie snickers, "this place is worse than prison."
"I think Hawkmoth would prefer not to go to prison for breaking you out of the hospital," Gabriel points out. He really didn't want to end up in prison, he was sure there were worse things but prison sounded far from pleasant.
"And to think I thought you cared," she huffs.
"You're right Nathalie. I only paced my office worried about where you were yesterday. I came here the second I got the phone call. I lied to see you but sure, I don't care," Gabriel holds himself back from shouting but his voice has definitely risen.
"Hey," Nathalie says and uses her good hand to grab one of his and gives it a gentle squeeze, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
"You're very important to me Nathalie, I would hate for you to think otherwise."
"I'm not," Nathalie tells him, "Mayura might be important but I'm not."
Gabriel lifts her hand and brings it to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of it, "you are very important Nathalie. You always have been, you always will be."
Nathalie tugs her hand away because it isn't fair the amount of power he doesn't know he has over her. Words like that could make her think he cares more than he does, she has to remind herself that they don't mean a thing. She blames the high amount of painkillers in her system and the fact that the hospital wouldn't give her coffee when she starts crying.
"Nath, are you okay?" Gabriel asks frantically, "should I go get a doctor?"
"No, no, I'm fine," Nathalie assures him.
"If you were alright you wouldn't be crying. What hurts? Did I accidentally put pressure on your other arm or where you had surgery?"
"No, I'm not crying due to physical pain," Nathalie tells him.
"Why are you crying then?"
"I don't want to talk about it!" Nathalie pouts.
"Please, Nathalie," Gabriel begs her for an answer, "I can't help if you don't tell me."
"I don't want your help either! You've never offered it before! I practically wait hand and foot on you like some servant but you can't even spare a thank you!"
"Is that what this is about?" Gabriel asks, raising an eyebrow, it didn't seem like something Nathalie would care about, "I do appreciate you, Nathalie. I'm thankful for everything you do for me. I'm thankful for everything you do for Hawkmoth. The only reason my brand can continue is because of you. I would be lost without Nathalie."
"Don't say it like that!" Nathalie complains.
"Like what?"
"Like there is a possibility you care for me more than a boss cares for his assistant. Don't say it as if you could love me."
"You-, I-," Gabriel stutters because that isn't what he had expected to hear, wasn't it obvious that he only loved Nathalie, wait, no, Emilie, he was just thinking too fast, a person could do that right?
Nathalie opens her mouth to rebut against Gabriel's indecision that hurts her more than it should. The dizziness hits her like she ran into a brick wall and the heart monitor she is hooked up goes crazy for a moment before making a long beep.
Gabriel is a coward, he knows that, it's why he's always been thankful for the power of transmission which makes it so he doesn't have to be out on the battlefield himself. As he is ushered out of the room so they can make sure his 'wife' is okay, he tries to calm himself down. His life had never been this complicated, he loved Emilie and he was going to get her back, end of their story. Nathalie had always been a part of the story and Gabriel didn't know when she became a love interest. Gabriel curses himself mentally, he is making a bigger deal out of this than he needs to, Nathalie isn't interested in him and he shouldn't have even thought about her in any more than a professional way. He can't deny how worried he had been, he couldn't bear the thought of harm coming to her, he hated seeing her all bruised and bandaged, and even just then he hated seeing her cry.
Gabriel can't tell you when he fell in love with Nathalie Sancoeur and he can't believe it took a car crash for him to figure it out. He wants to run back into the room and tell her how he couldn't lead her on, if, after all this time, he did love her. It's a ridiculous thought though because Nathalie doesn't love him and he can't blame her. The lie that he is her husband feels unfair now and it's a burden he put upon himself.
Gabriel doesn't return the rest of the day but the next day he knows he has to, he isn't going to leave her alone to suffer in the hospital when he knows she hates it there.
"Look what the cat dragged in?" Nathalie rolls her eyes when Gabriel enters the room.
"I'm sorry," Gabriel tells her. She raises her eyebrow, an apology is rare from Gabriel Agreste.
"So you think you can show up here with your apology and all is forgiven and forgotten?" Nathalie questions, "I'm not some puppet you can play with."
"No, I just want you to consider that I love you," Gabriel mumbles.
"What?" Nathalie asks, in part because he was hard to hear and partly because she swears he said 'I love you' and she knows that can't be right.
"I was worried about you because I love you. I understand that you don't feel the same but you said I shouldn't put thoughts like that in your head if I didn't mean them, it took me a while, but I did mean them. I do love you, Nathalie."
Nathalie knows she must be dead or maybe she's in a coma. Whatever just happened wasn't real. It was a fantasy created by her brain due to her own feelings for her boss, she knew they would only lead to trouble.
Gabriel is worried when Nathalie doesn't say anything immediately. He knows he shouldn't have just admitted his feelings like that, he knows a part of that was probably unfair to her. The silence reminds him of right before her heart stopped yesterday.
"I love you," Nathalie repeats the words, and Gabriel, who had let his head fall after realizing that Nathalie must hate him now, picks his head up. This time, it's Gabriel's turn to not believe what she said. It's not that he has ever believed Nathalie to lie, but who would love someone like him?
"Come here," Nathalie requests and Gabriel walks across the small room to the side of her bed.
"Do you love her?" she asks him.
It's a simple question but one he hadn't thought about. He knew he loved Nathalie, he knew that she meant more to him than anybody else, but did that mean he didn't love Emilie anymore? He wants his immediate answer to be no but it isn't fair to lie to her.
"She was an important part of my life, but no, I don't love her," Gabriel decides.
Nathalie nods, that makes sense, as much as she may want the memories of Emilie to vanish, if they did that would mean he never loved Emilie and he would never love her.
Gabriel presses a gentle kiss to her lips. It's a quick kiss, it's a soft and sweet kiss, but in the few delicate seconds, passion is shared. It's like a simple understanding that there is so much more that could be said. Instead, there is silence, well besides for the heart monitor that is. Neither says a word, both at a loss for what they want to say.
Nathalie moves over on the bed which offers Gabriel some space. He sits next to her and wraps an arm around her. He wants to protect her, let nothing else hurt ever again. He kisses the top of her head as he rubs his hand up and down her arm. He isn't leaving her side.