Almost Too Late
She had gotten distracted during the akuma battle, she couldn't believe she had made such a mistake. Cold rain pelted down on them, as he fussed over her after finishing the battle. She coughed harshly, her hand going to the long slashes acrossed her front. The look of worry lit his green eyes as he watched her face, trying to figure out what to do. She ground her teeth together, her fingers clenching around the cat bell lucky charm.
"Miraculous ladybug," she called, throwing it into the air. The movement made her hiss in pain as the magical ladybugs flew to repair the city, but for some reason her wounds were not closed. She was suddenly pulled into her partner's arms, being held to his chest.
"Hold on Milady," he says looking around before extending his baton making his way to the hospital. She knew that without help, she would bleed out. She couldn't let him take her as she is now or her identity would be revealed to everyone in Paris.
"Kitty...I can't...they can't help me." He gave her a confused look opening his mouth to protest, but she beat him to it. "Not as Ladybug….I need to change back." She groaned softly curling into his warm body as the rain soaked the pair.
The leather clad superhero looked around as he got to the hospital landing on the roof and hid. She whimpered out her detransformion words. The red flash of light was the only prompt to Cat Noir to jump down, running inside. As soon as the staff saw the bleeding teen in the superhero's arms they flew into motion. In a flurry of movement, she was put in a bed and rushed back. The young girl felt every pain from every movement done to her body, but she couldn't hear anything. The pain was the only anchor she had to the world of the living, black was starting to edge her vision. She wanted her kitty, the familiar feel of leather, so that she could tell him everything was going to be okay.
She whimpered as they tried to get an IV into her arm, before hooking her up to a bag of blood and a clear bag. She suddenly couldn't feel her pain, she felt numb. She couldn't even twitch her fingers, feeling her consciousness fading. She couldn't even think about the fact that Cat knew who she was or if she would wake, as she went into the darkness of her mind.
~Cat Noir's POV~
It felt like a rock had settled into his stomach. His partner...his lady...his best friend….his love….No! This couldn't be happening, he couldn't lose both of the females that he loved at the same time. The shock of the news and her current state brought him to his knees. He couldn't let himself go...not here. He stood up trying to hide the pain in his heart. He ran out of the hospital going to Marinette's home to get her parents. He knocked on their door...well more like pounding on it. Her parents opened it, they watched the soaked hero, both rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
"Marinette is hurt, I took her to the hospital." He said quickly trying to hide that her being there wasn't his fault. "Hurry and I will get you there quickly, please."
Her parents ran inside to get dressed before rushing back to him. Both looked panicked, pain and worry darkening their expressions. Cat could barely stand to look at their faces as he held his hand out to her mother. When she took it he pulled the older female to him ready to extend his baton to take her to see her child.
"I ordered you a cab sir it is already paid for, we'll meet you there." He says before rushing back to the hospital. He took her mother to the woman behind the check in counter. "This is the mother of the girl that I brought in earlier."
"Thank you Cat Noir," she responded before he stepped away to let them talk. He had to get home and feed Plagg. So without waiting another moment he returned to his cold room. "Claws in."
Only at that moment to fall to his knees as broken sobs escaped him. It had been his fault that she had been hurt. Animan had gotten reakumatized after the cruel treatment of his panther. He had jumped into the fight before she had arrived, not knowing their was also an amuke as well. The panther had changed into an elephant charging at him. Her yo-yo wrapped around his waist pulling him out of the way. His eyes had gone to her, the words on his tongue dying being replaced with a look of horror. The large lion amuke was going after her and in a blink of an eye ripped through her front after she turned to see what was wrong. Blood! That splattered the ground as she screamed at the pain before she was thrown. Another scream tore out of her throat. He would never be able to get that sound out of his head. He almost lost her, could still lose her.
He barely registered the sound of his phone ringing, Alya's face lighting the screen of his phone. He picked it up trying to hide his pain. "What's up Alya?"
"Marinette…" A sob broke her normally strong voice. "...she is...she's hurt bad...Adrien." She could barely get out the words.
"I'll pick you up and take you to the hospital." He says, biting back a sob of his own.
He got his driver up and he drove him to Alya's place before the hospital. Both were silent, both trying to hide their tears from the other. When they pulled up, the teens ran in straight to their friend's parents. They were both in tears as they held each other as the doctor walked away.
"What's going on with Marinette?" Alya says more tears slipping out of her eyes.
"They don't know how she is still breathing….they are doing their best to save her." The older Chinese woman sobbed. Her husband pulled her closer trying to comfort her...it felt like a stab at him. This was his fault.
Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, each moment more painful then the last. It was three days till the doctor finally gave them the first bit of good news.
"She has stabilized and is showing improvement." He said to her parents while he was sitting behind them. He sighed in relief, the model looked haggard, he was sure of that. He hadn't left the hospital since that day. "She has been fading in and out of consciousness so we are going to allow the family to see her."
The doctor led both of her parents back to her room, but with some convincing from her parents he was allowed to follow. They came into a room where his lady lay, she looked so pale that she matched the walls of the hospital. He hung back as he watched her parents, her mother petting her hair as they watched the sleeping girl. An hour later, they had to get something to eat leaving the two teens alone.
"Tikki, how could I let this happen to her?" He says as he held out a cookie as the red spotted kwami took the snack.
"It isn't your fault Adrien and thank you." She whispered as she chewed on the treat. He knew that she needed it since she hadn't eaten since her owner's injury.
"Why didn't they heal her? The city shows no sign of the battle and here she lay on this bed near death." He ran his fingers through his hair, knowing that Tikki didn't have the answers.
The door started to open, the kwami hid once again as one of the nurses came in. He got out of the way as the nurse checked her vitals before leaving them alone again. He stood next to her bed taking her hand in his, allowing himself to slump next to her bed.
"Milady please forgive me...if I...if I hadn't rushed in as Cat Noir...you wouldn't..." He says looking at the floor, hot tears making trails down his face. He felt something squeezed his hand making his eyes shoot to her face.
"Not...your...fault….kitty." She says through gritted teeth as she squeezed his hand gently. She forced herself to smile despite the pain. All at once his relief flooded him before pressing a kiss to her lips, surprising both of them. His emotions ran wild as he ran his fingers through her dark hair being careful, as if afraid to hurt her again.
"Get some sleep princess, everything is going to be okay." He whispered their foreheads touching, as she closed her eyes, falling to sleep. He took a seat leaning back in the chair watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest, proof that she was still with him.
Weeks passed as Marinette's strength returned, letting Alya become Scarabella once more. Cat Noir missed his normal partner, who was satisfied as soon as he would visit her in the hospital. She sat up in her bed watching TV, her face lighting up when he walked into the room.
"Kitty, please tell me you brought me something better than this hospital food." She whined with a playful pout on her face, making him laugh.
"Princess I may have brought a peace offering." He says a wide smile on his face, glad that she had her normal color back. He held out a box with her parent's bakery logo making her face brighten. "Am I pardoned?"
"Yes silly Kitty," she laughed as he handed her the box of a variety of macaroons. She smiled, handing one to her kwami, who squealed while taking the cookie. "How was school today? Were there any akumas?"
"It was an easy one, nothing to worry about. I also brought you a copy of the notes for the day as well as homework." He says pulling them out of his bag as she enjoyed her snack.
"You are the best Kitty." She says putting the box to the side turning to him. "We need to talk about when we kissed...when I woke up." She muttered softly a light blush coloring her cheeks.
It was his turn to turn beet red as he tried to figure out the answer. "Marinette I love you...I am an idiot...It took me almost losing you to realize that." He says softly as he ran his fingers through her hair almost hearing the pounding of his heart
"Adrin, I have loved you since you gave me your umbrella on your second day of school." She muttered blushing deeply as the words that she had waited to say for so long now were spoken, hanging in the air around them. "You were the special boy that made me reject Cat Noir."
He smiled before leaning down cupping her jaw, her hot breath on his face. "That is a little ironic now that you think about it huh?" He muttered as she leaned up to kiss him, her fingers running up his neck before tangling in his golden locks. She groaned softly, laying back holding her stomach, making him worry as he watched her. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" He says worried about getting ready to push the button to call the nurse.
"It is just normal with the wound, the pain will subside." She whimpered softly, taking his hand in hers, squeezing it. He still pressed the button, when the nurse's voice sounded. "Marinette is complaining about some pain."
"Actually they are talking about letting me go home soon." She says laying back against the bed, careful of the IV in her arm. She heard a knock on the door as the nurse rolled in a cart.
"I brought your normal dose, may I see your bracelet?" The nurse says as Mari held out her medical bracelet. She scanned the barcode, then handed her two pills that Mari popped into her mouth before accepting the cup of water. She downed it before laying back again. "Let us know if you need anything else." She says leaving the room.
"I always get really tired after my medicine, I'm sorry." She whispered as he ran a hand through her dark mane, she sighed softly leaning into his touch. Soon she had drifted back to sleep though this time he wasn't worried. He sat down putting his head on the bed beside her soon drifting off to sleep himself.
