My Boss is Felix: Alternative Miraculous Ladybug Tale

Ch21: Forbidden

I hate hospitals.

Between their strange sanitizer smell, the sterile look of the hallways and rooms, and the sickness looming in everyone here - it made me feel sad and helpless.

It had been about an hour since Felix and I arrived. Due to flu season, the hospital was only allowing two people to enter a room at a time for visitation. Currently, that would be Felix and Natalie. Meanwhile, I was sitting in boxy waiting room lined with chairs. In the center was a oval table with a pile of fashion and celebrity gossip magazines. Attached to the the wall was a large TV playing my favorite show - Wonderous.

My energy was gone and I didn't have it in me to fully process Felix and I's conversation on the bus. Instead, I allowed my mind to drift into pure nothingness as me and a little girl (with brown pig tales, a tan complexion, and purple overalls) watched the show for a couple episodes - they were episodes I had watched so many times that I basically had the dialogue memorized. We chatted over our favorite characters and how we loved the female lead, Butterfly (aka Audrey Alexander) and her humorous partner White Tiger (aka Mason Deleon).

Yes, I felt a little stupid that I was so knowledgeable on this show - but it was my freakin' life whenever I needed to chill. Forget the fact I was an eighteen year old adult. Something about it made me happy and I often envied Butterfly's relationship with White Tiger. If only I could find something like that.

After the fourth episode, the little girl claimed she was bored and asked her tired mother for an IPad. The mother first told her no - but then the little girl starting shouting "give me." The frustrated looks from others were enough to weaken the mother to her daughter's demanding will - if only to quiet her and avoid "making a scene." When the little girl noticed I was still watching, she told me "dinosaurs like you are to old for kids shows." Children these days...

I ignored her, needing something to distract my mind from the pending sadness. For Felix. For his father. But no amount of Wonderous could wash away Felix's depressed look in my mind- the way his sad puppy dog eyes drooped at the sight of his father - the intensity by which he clenched his fist when we first stepped through the hospital's doors - the morbid jokes he kept making. This version of Felix was frightening. And cold. But more than anything he seemed depressed.

He told me I should go home. That me being here was a waste of my time. But I couldn't leave him. His mental state was in such a dark place, I felt like I needed to stay in case he wanted me to hold him or if he needed a shoulder to cry on.

More than anything, I didn't want him to be alone if Mr. Agreste died. It was a terrible thought, but from what I saw past the doors, Mr. Agreste was in bad shape. His stroke was serious - and he wasn't waking up.

I sighed, sinking further into my chair. This was heavy. And draining.

"Your face looks ugly," the little girl said, looking past her IPad.

I knew I was frowning and it was probably causing wrinkle lines or something like that. But this girl was so rude.

"Well, you look very pretty," I said, "And Rainbow Dash is my favorite Pony," I gestured to her shirt.

"You know who Rainbow Dash is?" The girl's eyes grew wide.

"Of course. My Little Pony is my second favorite show," I wearily smiled. It wasn't true, but I'd figure I'd humor her.

"You really are a loser," she laughed, "Dinosaur head!"

I shot a glance at her mother who was sound asleep - her face was familiar - as if I'd seen it once before on TV. Perhaps the news?

"That's not nice," I scolded the girl.

The little girl ignored me and went back to her IPad. I crossed my legs, suddenly realizing that the bottle of water I chugged thirty minutes prior, had shot right through me.