Chapter Text
“You’re going to make me addicted to these things,” Sabine said, sipping her bubble tea.
“You just keep spreading your addiction,” Nathalie said.
“I regret nothing,” Gabriel said.
Currently the five adults were sitting at an outside table in front of a regular cafe while the kids were in a bunny cafe nearby. Gabriel had made sure to make them put on raincoats before they went to pet the bunnies so that the fur wouldn’t stay on their clothes and affect Nathalie.
“I didn’t know you got a divorce,” Tom said.
Gabriel shifted in his chair. “Yes. It came through a while ago. She’s been missing for so long that it processed quickly.”
“I told you not to marry her in the first place,” Tomoe said. “Even Audrey told you not to.”
“Yes yes,” Gabriel said. They’d had that conversation before.
Tomoe huffed. “At least you made a better choice this time. Nathalie can actually function like an adult.”
“Thank you Mrs Tsurugi,” Nathalie said.
“We all know Gabriel couldn’t survive on his own,” Tomoe said.
“Hey,” Gabriel said. The others chuckled. He just rolled his eyes. He was still in a good mood from the day before.
Nathalie got a message on her phone. “Sir, it’s an update from Mark. It’s been almost six weeks and his wife hasn’t rejected the bone marrow. The doctors say she isn’t cured but she should improve a lot.”
Gabriel sighed with relief. “That’s good news. I could do with another bubble tea to celebrate. Anyone want anything else?”
“I like this tart,” Nathalie said then she began to cough.
“Nathalie?” Gabriel asked. He looked around and saw a man at the table next to them smoking. Nathalie wheezed. Her lips began to turn blue. He put an arm around her shoulder to hold her body upright and fumbled around in his pocket for her rescue inhaler. Tomoe said something to the man. Gabriel only cared about the woman in his arms.
“We’ll take my car. You two get the kids. I’ll send it back once we reach the hospital,” Tomoe said.
Gabriel lifted Nathalie and carried her to the car the stopped outside the cafe. She clawed at the neck of her sweater, her eyes wide and panicked. He tore the sweater down the front then used Nooroo’s inhaler.
“We’ll be there soon,” he said.
She managed a weak nod, every breath coming out a wheeze.
The car pulled up in front of the hospital. Tomoe sent it back for the others. She spoke to the nurses as they took Nathalie into the emergency room. He was thankful she was there. He knew a bit of Japanese but his brain wasn’t working well enough to handle a conversation.
“What did they say?” he asked when the nurses left.
“To wait. They’ll let us know as soon as they can.”
He could see them work on her from where he stood nearby. He saw them cut away the remaining of her sweater. He saw them put a ventilator around her face. He saw the doctor put a tube in her arm. He saw her wide and panicked eyes and heard her wheezing. He felt his own chest tighten
The nurse pulled the curtain around the bed.
“Gabriel. Gabriel,” Tomoe said, snapping him out of his daze. “She’ll be fine.”
She had to be fine. She had to pull through.
Minutes or hours later a nurse came to talk to Tomoe and he saw them wheeling the bed out of the emergency room.
“She says she’s stable now but she has to stay for a few days just in case,” Tomoe said.
“Can we see her?”
“She says yes.”
Gabriel went in the direction he’d seen them go. The nurses were hooking up the machines to her chest. She was completely bare from the waist up underneath the thin blanket but looked too out of it to notice. He went to stand by the bed. He brushed her hair out of her face and rested his hand on her cheek. Most of her face was covered by a large mask.
“They say she needs her rest. Only two visitors at a time,” Tomoe said.
“I’m not leaving,” Gabriel said.
“I know. I told them you were her husband and they said you can stay with her if you want but just you.”
“Thank you,” he said.
Nathalie didn’t seem to be registering the conversation. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused.
“Are you sure she’s okay?” he asked.
“They say she’s tired and the drugs may make her a bit whoozy.”
“Nathalie, you’re going to be fine. Do you understand me?” he asked.
She didn’t move for a few moments then he saw a slight, weak nod of her head.
“They want us to leave so they could change her,” Tomoe said.
Gabriel had to tear himself away from her side to leave the room. The others met them outside.
“How is she?” Adrien asked.
“Weak, tired,” Gabriel said. “Only two people can go in at a time. Be quiet. Try not to overwhelm her. She can’t speak right now.”
The door opened and the nurses told them two could enter. Adrien and Nikki went first.
“I need some coffee,” Gabriel said.
He got some from a machine nearby then took it outside to sit on a bench away from everyone. He felt when someone sat next to him.
“How are you holding up?” Tom asked.
“I’m not the one lying in the hospital bed,” Gabriel said.
“I know. I asked how you were doing.”
“How do you think I’m doing? We haven’t even been engaged for a full day and she’s…” Gabriel hung his head. He reached into his pocket for Nooroo’s tablets and inhaler and the normal rescue inhaler. “Two pumps morning and evening. One tablet with dinner. I’ve been so careful and yet still, she still ends up exposed to something that triggers it. No matter what I do it isn’t enough.”
“You can’t save her from everything.”
“I know. I know.”
“Asthma is one of the most common illness on the planet. The doctors know what they’re doing,” Tom said.
“It’s not just asthma,” Gabriel said. He sighed. “Last year she was kidnapped. She was hurt really badly, internal bleeding, broken bones, she had to have a tube down her throat because she couldn’t breathe on her own and every time she ends up in the hospital, I remember seeing her like that. Her lungs are damaged and scarred. Tom, in the past year I’ve come this close to losing her no less than five times. Do you know how terrifying that is?”
“No. I don’t.”
“I still see that image in my dreams and today, watching them work on her, it was like I was living it all over again.” Gabriel looked down at the coffee in his hands. “More than anything I want her to be healthy and strong but she still ends up back here.”
“She may not be healthy but she is strong,” Tom said. “She’ll pull through. I know it.”
Gabriel didn’t say anything for a moment. “I have something to confess.”
“You don’t need to confess anything to me.”
That was true but Gabriel needed to talk to someone and he felt comfortable with Tom.
“Emilie is dead,” Gabriel said. “She’s not missing. She fell into a coma and died.”
“Does Adrien know?”
Gabriel nodded. “Yes. She left me for another and then got sick and died.”
“I can see why you’d want to keep that a secret,” Tom said.
Gabriel forced on a smile. “You’re handling this so well.”
“I won’t claim to understand but I know you must have your reasons.”
“Thank you,” Gabriel said. He looked up at the hospital. “I’ve lost my wife once. I can’t go through that again.”
“That I can understand. I don’t know what I’d do if Sabine died,” Tom said. He rested his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “But even knowing that the time together may be short we both know it will be worth it.”
“Yes. For Nathalie, I’d do anything. She’s worth everything and so much more. I’ve made many mistakes before. I don’t want to repeat them. That’s the scariest part of all. I’m trying but I’m not sure it’s enough.”
“Adrien boasts about you,” Tom said.
Gabriel turned to him. “He what?”
Tom smiled and nodded. “He said he was proud of you for making it to the first round of his fencing tournament before you had to leave and that you attempted his video games. Maybe you can’t save them from everything but don’t think they don’t see your effort or that they don’t appreciate it. Even Marinette speaks highly of you. I love seeing her so excited about designing. I just wish she’d sleep more,” he said, laughing.
“She has talent and she’s started to get the drive. When she wants to be successful as much as she wants to breathe, that’s when she will be,” Gabriel said.
“She wants it more than sleep, I can tell you that much,” Tom said. “Gabriel, you can’t prevent every problem or asthma attack from happening. That doesn’t mean you’re a bad husband or father. You just have to do your best and stay with them when things get hard.”
Gabriel nodded.
Tom stood. “I’ll go check on them,” he walked away.
“Master?” Nooroo asked from his jacket.
“I’ll be fine. Nathalie will be fine too, right?”
“Once everyone leaves I can see what I can do. The hardest part is over already.”
“Thank you Nooroo.”
“But Master, asthma is common.”
“I know.”
“My medicine can help other people,” Nooroo said. “I want to help more people.”
“I know,” Gabriel said. “I’ve been thinking that maybe Adrien wouldn’t mind having a lab.”
“He helps me make her medicine all the time,” Nooroo said.
“Starting a pharmaceutical company won’t be easy,” Gabriel said. He felt the kwami shift in his pocket.
“I know, but it will be worth it. We can talk to Adrien,” Nooroo said. “Marinette can take over the fashion company and Adrien is more interested in medicine anyway.”
“Once we’re back in Paris we’ll discuss it more,” Gabriel said. He stood. “Let’s go see Nathalie.”
******
Adrien and Nikki went back to the hotel with the Dupains. Gabriel stayed with Nathalie. He’d calmed down enough to use his rudimentary Japanese. He’d still need Tomoe’s or Kagami’s help with the paperwork. Nathalie would normally handle everything. He depended on her for so much.
“Gabriel,” Nathalie said, her voice weak and hoarse.
Gabriel got up from the sofa bed he’d been lying on. In his haste to get to her side, he tripped over the corner of the blanket.
“Do you need something?” he asked.
She reached for his hand and held it to her cheek, her eyes still closed, the mask still tight around her face. “Just this.”
Gabriel smiled and bent down to press a small kiss to her forehead. “I thought I’d lose you today.”
“You won’t get rid of me that easily,” she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
THE END