Adrien started to wake up. His head hurt and was spinning; he felt dizzy and weak. Little by little, he began to open his eyes, but the sudden light of the room was not helping to make it more tolerable. He tried to raise his arms to rub his eyes, except that an unanticipated pain stopped him from doing in. When he managed to finally open his green eyes, he noticed that he was laying down in a hospital bed and dressed in a blue hospital gown, a white sheet covered from his chest to his feet; he also became aware of the I.V. that was connected in his right arm and that his left arm was covered in bandages. Last thing he remembered was when he was in the bathroom after patrolling, when he started to cut himself.
'I'm really an idiot' He thought. 'The first time I cut my wrist and this happens'. Adrien was really kicking himself internally. Truth be told, he always cut his tights and around his knees so no one would catch him with self-harm marks. Now, he was lying in a hospital bed because of his own stupidity. He hurt his body so his mental inner demons won't consume him, but he took it too far. 'Where's my ring?'. He questioned mentally. He did not have it and that was also a big problem. 'I'm going to be in serious trouble if I don't find the ring'. Maybe Adrien was being so harsh on himself; he just woke up after what could be seen as a suicide attempt and the first thing that comes to his mind is his miraculous, but he held a responsibility (that he accepted because he felt capable of doing so) towards the city of Paris and to Ladybug. 'In hospitals, they take everything you're wearing, so they might have my ring'. Adrien tried to reassure himself, that actually happened in an occasion his mom was hospitalized, so maybe it would not be different here. 'Plagg is definitely getting extra cheese'. Adrien thought. 'He is going to be so mad'. He turned his head to the left and saw Nathalie resting in a chair.
The assistant of Gabriel Agreste got caught by surprise. Adrien had woken up and was sort of staring at her. With a lot of caution and trying to avoid the fact that she was feeling really weak due to the use of the Peacock miraculous, but she could handle it (she needed to be strong right now). She stood as close as she could to Adrien, stroking his hair in a gentle way.
"Good morning Adrien" Nathalie said, this situation was, as a matter of fact, very awkward. "How are you feeling?"
"Di.. izzy" Adrien answered, his voice felt raspy. "Aw… ful". That was more honest.
"I see. You gave us the scared of our life" Nathalie had a sad expression on her face. "Do you remember anything from today morning?" She asked.
"Not (deep breath) really" It was true, he had no idea what was going on, he was still putting the pieces together. "You… okay?" Adrien then questioned; he knew Nathalie was in poor condition and that her health was deteriorating, yet she stood next to him, acting like a mom would.
"You do not need to worry about me right now, okay?" Nathalie commented. "You seem exhausted, do you want to sleep a little longer?"
"Let me… sleep… in?" Adrien reacted, Nathalie giggled; actually, first thing in the morning Nathalie would make sure of is that Adrien was already up, in case that did not happened, then she would be dragging him out of the bed. "I'm no sleepy" He was finally able to finish a sentence, even if it was not a long one.
"Okay, in that case, try to rest up a little" the assistant insisted. "You need it a lot" That was a call Adrien could not ignore.
Adrien nodded. "Fine" He kept staring at the ceiling.
"I will be out of the room to give you some privacy" Nathalie said, as she left the room. For her, this whole situation was extremely awkward. Everything seemed unbelievable, she did not want to believe that the teenager that was resting in that bed attempted suicide. She should have noticed that something was not right with the boy, especially when it must be taken into consideration the events occurred since last year. Nathalie sat in a chair outside the room and was about to cry, until someone appeared out of nowhere and touched her shoulder.
It was the nurse.
"Good morning miss". Eloise greeted. "How are you feeling?"
"There have been better days". Nathalie responded slightly disturbed.
"I see" The nurse could not really blame the lady's reaction, what they went through last night must've been traumatizing. "Is Adrien still sleeping?"
"He just woke up, maybe five minutes ago". Nathalie answered.
"Perfect, then I will get to check on him". Eloise said calmly as Nathalie nodded. The son of Gabriel Agreste was in good hands.
Silently, Eloise entered the room, trying not to scare nor disturb the boy resting. In an alternative way, she got caught by surprise as Adrien welcomed.
"Hi". Adrien saluted kind of abruptly, but not in a bad manner.
"Hello kiddo, how are you feeling?" Eloise asked.
"Been better" Adrien answered, his voice still felt weak. Another thing that worried him was his ring, and he needed to ask about it as soon as possible.
"I imagine. Your dad was here in the morning but he had to go home to take a shower and get some rest, he will be so happy when he comes and see you awake". Eloise tried to sound cheerful.
"I see". What the nurse said made Adrien smile; maybe his father cared.
"I completely forgot to introduce myself". The nurse mentioned ashamed. "My name is Eloise; I will be your nurse during your stay in the hospital".
"I'm Adrien… Agreste". He presented himself. "But, I guess, you knew".
"Yeah, occupational hazard" By this point, while Eloise was talking, she was also checking Adrien's temperature. "It seems that your fever is down, it's a very good sign". She told Adrien.
"I had a fever?" The model asked.
"Yup, in the morning, do you remember waking up few hours ago?". Eloise questioned.
"I don't remember anything since last night". Adrien explained. For a reason he felt embarrassed.
"That's a relief, I think" Eloise expressed. The pain that child experienced not so long ago must have been unbearable. "And if you want to know, better ask your dad about it". The nurse winked an eye while telling this. Adrien sort of chuckled.
"Okay?" Adrien said. "Anyway, by any casualty did you…?" He could not finish his sentence as he was interrupted.
"I almost forget; I was ordered to retire your catheter the moment you wake up" Eloise pointed out.
"What's that?". Adrien asked innocently.
"Well". Eloise did not know where to start. "It's between your legs, to help you go to the bathroom". Adrien's face got completely red.
"I see". He thought the embarrassment came a few minutes ago, but he was wrong.
"Do you want me to get the lady in the hallway to accompany you?". Eloise asked Adrien.
"Nope, go ahead, but we'll pretend this never happened". Adrien closed his eyes while the nurse did what she was told.
After no more than one minute, she was finished.
"That was not so bad". Eloise commented.
"I'm grateful this is over". Adrien truly felt embarrassed. 'If I'm getting hurt again, I will make sure I will not need a hospital'. He thought. He kept staring at the ceiling while Eloise was doing some other nurse stuff for a few seconds, until he spoke again. "By any means, did I happen to be wearing a ring when I arrived?" He finally asked.
"No, you didn't have one". Eloise mentioned. Now Adrien was going to be in real trouble. 'Maybe Plagg was mad at him for what happened and took the ring or I lost it'. Only negative thoughts started to come to his mind.
Maybe Plagg did not see him as a worthy holder.
Maybe Ladybug found out about what he did and she did not think he was responsible enough to use the Miraculous.
Maybe Shadow Moth discovered his identity and stole the ring.
Adrien, out of nowhere, felt how a tear dropped in his cheek. He began to cry, he was trembling and moving his fingers.
"I can't breathe". Adrien managed to say.
From what Eloise could understand, that child was having an anxiety attack.
"Hey kid, count with me, we will do it in threes" Eloise said, rubbing his head.
"3, 6, 9, 12…" Adrien kept going, until he reached 30.
"Good, take a deep breath and we will go backwards". The nurse inhaled and exhaled with him.
"30, 27, 24…" He counted until they reached zero. After that, Adrien was exhausted; he was still crying, but now he relaxed a bit.
"I need to contact the doctor; I will call the lady in the hallway to come with you". Eloise said, there was no way that boy could be left alone at that specific moment.
As Eloise stormed out of the room, Nathalie noticed there was something wrong.
"Did something happened?". Nathalie asked concerned.
"Yes, can you stay with him in the room, I need to contact the doctor now". Eloise did not hesitate to run to find Giselle, since the situation required it.
Nathalie entered the room, to find Adrien crying and scared, while he seemed to be looking into the void. She caressed his hair trying to console him, but other than that, she felt helpless.
Life was going to get harder from now on for Adrien.