"Andrea", Miranda began softly as they left the studio, "I need you to call Donatella and rearrange our lunch meeting, call Patrick and make sure that he can do the photoshoot on Friday, if not we will have to get someone else". "Collect twelve scarves from Hermes, check that the delivery from Berardi has arrived and if not then call them and ask them why", the Editor-in-Chief continued as they crossed the street to where the town car was parked, "Organise a new piano tutor for Caroline, she doesn't like the one she has now and research soccer schools or teams or groups or whatever they are for Cassidy". "That puppy that you bought the girls needs its vaccinations and it needs a new bed... it ate the last one", she said with a roll of her eyes as she walked behind the car to make her way to the curb.

The new puppy had been named 'Hedwig' by the girls as it was pure white, Andrea had bought it for the girls shortly after Patricia had passed away in the night. It was Andrea's way of cheering the two of them up but also of making Miranda happier too as she had noticed that the woman had been quite down since the death of the dog. It was not something that had been ordered of her or demanded of her but something that she had volunteered to do without any prompting from anyone else.

Miranda had turned back to Andrea in order to tell her about how the puppy had eaten a pair of Prada shoes along with Cassidy's homework, although she suspected that the child had, in actual fact, fed the homework to the dog as it had mysteriously managed to get from the desk upstairs into the dog's mouth downstairs when the dog had never been up the stairs at all since being in the home.

By the time that she had seen it, it was too late.

She could not stop it from happening.

She could only scream.

The sound echoed around the street as the sound bounced off of the buildings that surrounded them on either side.

Everyone turned around as the sound of the scream blended with the sound of a crash.

The crash sound was the impact of the car as it hit.

It did not stop, however, the car simply continued as it left her body lying in the middle of the road where it had been flung carelessly by the impact of the vehicle.

Miranda ran forward, not caring about what anyone else would say or do about her panic as she had only one thing on her mind and that was the fact that her assistant was lying on the cold, hard ground.

Nigel was already calling an ambulance when Miranda reached Andrea.

The woman knelt down on the floor, not caring about her clothing or shoes and how they could get ruined from being on the ground.

Those that were passing by were shocked, not at the reaction of the Editor-in-Chief but at the fact that the car had sped up shortly before it hit the dark-haired woman. It was clearly a targeted attack but by the looks of the way that the car sped up it was more likely that the target was the older woman herself rather than her assistant.

"Andrea!", Miranda gasped as she leaned over the woman's body, "Andrea, please".

"Mi...Mir", Andrea tried to speak before coughing, a small amount of blood leaking from her lips.

"It's going to be okay", Miranda reassured her with false confidence, "It's going to be okay".

Andrea smiled softly as she leaned her face to press it against the hand that was currently resting on her left cheek, cupping it gently.

"Where are they?", Miranda shouted as she turned to look at Nigel.

"They're on their way", Nigel replied quickly whilst still on the phone to the ambulance as he moved forward, "They just not to move her".

It was a one-way street and Nigel noticed that Roy had moved from the car to the middle of the street further up from them with a gentleman that he did not recognise. It seemed that the two of them were creating a temporary road blockade in order to protect both Andrea and Miranda from any further vehicles coming down the street towards them whilst they were on the ground.

"See?", the white-haired woman said quietly, "They're going to be here soon, you just have to hang in there".

"Okay", Andrea replied with a slight croak in her voice as she struggled to breathe before the last part came out a little quieter than the first, "I'll try".

"That's my girl", the Editor-in-Chief said with pride in her voice, "You're the one who can do anything remember? You're the one that can make the impossible into the possible".

Andrea smiled at that but she did not speak in response.

Miranda remained close to the other woman as she knelt on the floor beside her injured body, "You have to stay awake", she continued, "You have to, I know it's hard, Andrea, but you have to stay awake". "This is the most important task I have ever given you, okay?", the woman said with a small smile, "So, you have to, okay? You just... you have to". Tears streamed down her face and her voice crackled with the agony of the concept of possibly losing the other woman.

The dark-haired woman's eyes slipped closed as a tear dropped on to her cheek from the woman who was leaning over her.

"Wake up", Miranda begged, "Please?". "Wake up", she cried desperately as members of the public watched on with tears in their own eyes, "I'll do anything, anything at all... just... just wake up".

It was a few moments before Andrea's eyes opened again, it was clearly a struggle to do that, but she was soon looking up into the beautiful blue eyes of her boss, "I love you", the younger woman whispered in a pain-filled voice before coughing up more blood.

"I love you too, Andrea", the Editor-in-Chief replied with a smile, a smile that was tainted with the sadness of the situation, "So much, so you have to stay with me okay?". "You can't leave me", she pleaded with her in desperation, "You can't leave us". "The girls and I", she continued, "We need you, so just hang on, okay?".

Nigel knew to stay quiet as he witnessed his, usually perfectly composed, boss on her knees and literally begging her assistant to stay alive.

"I...don't...I don't", Andrea coughed again, the red colour painting the front of Miranda's skirt in a flickered-style spray, "Know.. if... if...I... can".

The admission had tears streaming down Miranda's face as well as Nigel's, "You have to, you hear me?", she attempted to demand, "It isn't optional".

"Stay with me", Miranda whispered as she knelt on the ground, leaning her forehead against Andrea's, "Please?".

Andrea turned her head ever so slightly in order to press a kiss to Miranda's hand, "I love you", she whispered as her eyes slipped shut.

"Noooo", Miranda screamed out in pain as tears streamed from her blue eyes, "Don't... you can't say that and... you can't". "Andrea", she sobbed, "Please... wake up... I love you too... please... please just wake up".

There she was, in the middle of the street, crying, screaming, and begging for her assistant to wake up. Begging the woman she loved to come back to her.

When the ambulance arrived, they had to act quickly in order to get the young woman's heart beating again and whilst they were doing that, Nigel had the task of keeping Miranda back.

Nigel had his arms wrapped around his boss, something that he never imagined ever doing, holding her back, and trying to comfort her as they both watched the paramedics performing CPR before she was put into the ambulance.

They didn't even attempt to stop Miranda from going with them, they knew that it would be a waste of their time and they did not have very much of it at all when it came to their patient.

Miranda spent hours in the waiting room as she waited for the woman she loved to get out of surgery, she had been led to a private room in order to wait for Andrea. The Editor-in-Chief insisted on paying for the best medical care physically possible for the younger woman and by the looks of the room, it showed. It was a double room, so it had the hospital room as well as a guest room but also a full bathroom as well.

Those that were there with her in the room were unsure as to what to say to her. Miranda simply stared at her phone. A photo was on display of Andrea with Caroline and Cassidy, it had been such a good day out at the zoo. Miranda had claimed originally that she 'needed' an assistant to be with her but in reality, there was nothing work-related that was discussed or that happened that day, other than Miranda comparing some of her staff members to the baboons of course.

Nigel was sat on the other end of the sofa whilst Serena and Emily was both sat beside each other on a large wingback chair, Jocelyn had been tasked with collecting the girls from school. She had been chosen because she appeared to get on okay with the twins and they did not attempt to prank her, Miranda suspected that it was because she wasn't an assistant and she also suspected that it was something to do with the fact that it was Andrea that introduced them to her. She knew that if she had sent Emily then the English woman would be driven insane before she could even tell them what was going on, let alone get them to the hospital. Miranda had been originally unsure as to whether or not the children should come to the hospital but Serena pointed out that they would want to be there no matter what.

Days went by gradually. Day by day. Each of them consisted of Miranda remaining at Andrea's side whilst Nigel took the reigns at Runway and a temporary assistant was put into place. It was not an external assistant, however, because Miranda did not want anyone to be working at Andrea's desk, not at that point in time anyway. Instead, various Runway staff members took it in turns to be the assistant for the day. Those that knew Andy had no problems with volunteering for the temporary position and the free coffee and lunch for the day definitely added a bonus to the temporary move.

It was not until day four that it was discovered by the officers who were working the case that the 'accident' had been orchestrated in an attempt to get rid of Miranda and that Andrea had not been the intended target at all. They were reluctant to tell Miranda that and so nobody did. How can you tell someone that the woman they love is lying in hospital in a coma and may never wake up because someone tried to hit them, not the one in the coma?

When day five began, it began with handcuffs being secured around the wrists of Irv Ravitz, an event that happened in front of everyone at Runway when he arrived for a 'meeting' with Nigel. The man was dragged downstairs and through the lobby in plain view of everyone, including the many members of the press that were waiting outside after a mystery tip-off had been received.

The days continued as did Miranda's begging. She begged Andrea to listen to her, to come back to her, and to wake up.

On day twenty, Caroline and Cassidy both climbed up on to the hospital bed and lay either side of the sleeping woman, it was not the first time that they had done that. They looked at each other before looking up at Andrea's sleeping face and then put their arms over her middle as they snuggled their heads against her sides. They were careful with her but they wanted to be close to her. They wanted her to wake up, as did everyone else. Whenever people started losing hope, it seemed like it was the girls that injected it back into their lives.

When it came to the fifty-fourth, Miranda was sat with the girls at Andrea's bedside, holding on to the woman's hand carefully. The twins had fallen asleep either side of the comatose woman.

"I love you, Andrea," Miranda whispered softly, "Please, my darling, please wake up." She stood up to lean over the woman's bed and pressed a soft but loving kiss to her lips.

There was a little flutter of Andrea's eyelashes.

"Andrea?" Miranda questioned when she saw the movement, "Come on, my darling, you can do it."

Both girls started to wake when they heard their mother's voice become louder.

"You can do it, my darling," Miranda encouraged, "Wake up for me."

When the girls realised what had happened, they both sat up and tried to encourage her again.

Miranda leaned in, pressing another but much longer kiss to Andrea's lips.

Her eyelashes fluttered more.

Cassidy and Caroline decided it was a great method to wake up the dark-haired woman and started kissing her cheeks with enthusiasm.

Andrea gradually smiled as she opened her eyes.

Miranda smiled brighter than she had in a very long time and she felt the weight lift from her chest as the relief of seeing those beautiful brown eyes flooded her.