Vanished (Lukadrien) • Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter 40 | turn for the worse

The guilt has been killing her.

Nathalie had done all she could to try and make it up to Adrien, but she couldn't bare it. Every day she lived knowing that she'd contributed to his suffering. She made Emilie a promise that she'd keep him safe, and she ended up putting him in danger.

And now she had to pretend there was nothing wrong in front of Gabriel, despite her growing hatred for him. She'd never let him find out where Adrien was, or that she was the one who took the ring and gave it to him.

It was even worse now that Felix and his mother were here to visit, only causing more stressed. She felt trapped, like she couldn't escape what she'd done in the past and couldn't leave the household without raising suspicions. She didn't know what to do.

And worst of all, her permanently damaged health was getting worse. The stress has taken its toll on her already weakened body. She should have never used that stupid broken miraculous...

She was dizzy, she was sore, she was nauseous, she was tripping over her words and felt off balance. As if things couldn't get any worse, she was expected to work now that there were visitors in the house. This morning she felt like she could handle it since she'd slept for most of the week prior, but by midday she was regretting the choice. It was becoming clear she needed medical intervention, she couldn't keep avoiding it.

Of course she couldn't exactly say it was miraculous sickness to a doctor, but she might at least be able to get some medication to help with the symptoms. Even if she knew she'd never fully recover, she just wanted to be able to live a relatively normal life again.

"Nathalie I need you to- Nathalie... Nathalie!"

She snapped from her daze, looking up from her desk to see her boss whom she'd started resenting standing before her.

"I need you to copy these for me, and make sure Felix and his mother are served lunch" Gabriel said.

"Y-yeah... ok" she replied, slightly dazed still.

Getting up, she took a moment to steady herself and took the papers she had to photo copy with her down the long hallways of the manor. Each step she took felt heavy, the room felt like it was swaying, everything felt hot. Taking off her blazer to try and cool down she made it to the photo copier and put the papers on to copy. While she waited for that she figured she could get a start on lunch, so she left her blazer by the photocopier to pick up later and headed back down the hall.

The back of her eyes hurt, she turned a corner too soon and ran into a wall. After realising what she'd bumped into she straightened her course and kept going down the hall.

The room wouldn't stop spinning, and she needed to stop and lean on the wall for a moment. She was used to dizziness, but she'd never gotten this bad before.

Oh no, that feeling in her throat... was she? Yeah she was definitely going to throw up. Changing her course for the nearest bathroom, luckily she was able to make it before she threw up all over the floor. Gabriel wouldn't be pleased if that happened.

How on earth could she be throwing up when she'd barely eaten? Eating makes her feel nauseous so she could never stomach a full meal nowadays.

Everything was either in pain, or heavy and tingly. She probably looked like a corpse.

She was pale, Eyebags under her reddened eyes, she'd lost weight from the lack of food she could keep down, she'd barely been able to pull her hair into its usual bun and just left it in a ponytail this morning. Sitting on the bathroom floor composing herself, hoping she didn't throw up again she knew this was getting serious.

There was no way she could keep working, she had to call it off for the day. And first thing tomorrow she'd have to go to a doctor, she could barely stay on her feet anymore. Once she was sure she wasn't going to throw up again, she took a second to steady herself on her feet and slowly headed back out into the hall to go find Gabriel.

Using the wall as support, she was careful to only take small steps. Her breath felt shorter than usual, her knees felt weak, it was a living hell.

She mentally beat herself up for letting herself use that stupid miraculous. While she was lucky she stopped when she did so she's not suffer the same fate as Emilie, it was still torture to live sick like this with no treatment.

She just had to make it back to the office that's all, just across the main floor and into the office...

Letting go of the wall to make her way across the main floor she tried her best to stay on balance, but stumbled slightly and had to stop so she didn't trip.

"Nathalie, have you got those papers?"

What? She couldn't make that out clearly... something about snappers?

"Nathalie?"

Who was saying that? Who was that blob over there talking to her?

"Nathalie are you listening?"

Before she should gather herself, she felt her knees buckle and with a thud she'd found herself collapsed on the floor. Ears ringing and vision blurred she couldn't make out who had come up to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Nat-ie? What... are- ok?"

That was all she could really make out before finally her body gave out and she slipped into unconsciousness. She'd fainted again... but this time it was a bad one. The long build up, the throwing up, the hard fall. Gabriel was the one that had come up to her, and it was clear to him that there was absolutely no avoiding medical treatment now. He already had a scandal on his hands because of Adrien, he couldn't afford another one because he'd denied his assistant medical treatment.

"Shit... everything just keeps getting worse... Amelie!"

Upon hearing him call, Amelie rushed in to find the scene of Nathalie passed out on the floor next to her boss. Immediately worried, she rushed over.

"What happened, is she ok?" She asked.

"We can't ignore this anymore, call an ambulance" Gabriel replied.

Of course, Felix had to know what was going on and as his mother rushed past to get the phone he watched from the doorway.

"You know... she shouldn't have used the miraculous" Felix taunted.

"You know full well she was the one who offered" Gabriel spat back.

"Yeah... because you brainwashed her..." Felix added under his breath.

Nathalie had worked with the family for years, even if she was growing to hate her boss, she still cared for Amelie and Emilie, and they cared for her too. She made that promise to protect Adrien, and failed. And now, she'd found herself unconscious on the floor of the Agreste household needing an ambulance because of her own stupid decision to chase a man that didn't want her.

Maybe Felix was right, maybe he did brainwash her. Of course that wouldn't excuse the things she'd done as Mayura, but it would definitely be an explanation...