Chapter 3: The one I need the most.
12 days ago
It was an unusually cold Saturday evening in Paris. The sun had just set, the streets almost empty and quiet, save for a few footsteps—the sound of heels down the hallway in the hospital.
Click. Clack. Click. Clack.
The footsteps came to an halt. "Where is Adrien Agreste, I tried looking for him in his room, but I guess he has been moved to another one" a female frantically asked the first nurse she found.
The nurse pointed down the hallway to the girl's left and was saying something, but the teenager ignored her. At the end of the short hall was an open room filled with ten hospital beds that were all empty except for one which had the curtains mostly drawn around it. The girl recognized the blonde nurse that had been in Adrien's room several times standing a few feet back from the end of the bed, watching anxiously as the other nurses and doctors moved quickly around the bed and in and out of view behind the curtain.
Their eyes met, and the nurse started walking towards the teen.
"W-what's going on?"
"I'm sorry but you can't be in here now," the blonde nurse murmured, guiding the girl out of the room.
--
She sat in the hard waiting room chair and rotated her coffee cup in her hands over and over, rubbing her soft fingers over the smooth Styrofoam. She took her first sip since one of the nurses had brought it to her several hours ago, barely noticing that the coffee had gone ice cold.
She stared blearily at the TV. After four hours of mindless sitting, she wasn't even sure what she was watching anymore. It appeared to be some sort of infomercial for knives that could cut through two by fours and cans. Although, why anyone would ever actually need to cut through a board with a kitchen knife was currently escaping her imagination.
After a few more moments of numb staring, she swiped the palm of her hand over her eyes and groaned. She didn't realize this sort of thing took so long.
Then the afternoon news started, and several pictures of Ladybug began to flash on screen, a history of Ladybug and her most recent victory.
"Once again, Ladybug is victorious, but where is her partner Chat Noir at? There has been no reports on her loyal partner for days," the reporter looked directly into the cameras.
"That damn Ladybug," she hissed. "Always ready to save the day,"
Another hour passed before the blonde nurse walked out into the waiting room. The teenager shot out of her chair like a bullet out of a gun and was in front of the nurse in seconds.
"Can I see him now?"
"You can only be in there for thirty minutes,"
The girl nodded, picked up her bag and followed the nurse back into Adrien's room.
She was well known for lying and playing people. Pretending to be someone else. Right now she appeared to be ever the bull-headed, stubborn person, someone who never gave up. She came to see Adrien every day; sat with him, talked to him.
But today she had already planned her monologue in her head. She knew that the nurse could hear her, so today would be the first time she truly told Adrien how much the blonde had changed her. All she wanted was to see those bright green eyes again, to have Adrien hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay.
Sniffing, trying to stop her tears, she pretended to be exhausted. Standing up, she leaned over to place a soft kiss on Adrien's forehead. She rest her forehead against the model's forehead. Salty tears still dripping down her face, she closed her eyes and whispered, "Please Adrien, I'm begging you. Please wake up. I need you."
Tears ran down her face as she gripped Adrien's hand even harder. "Adrien.." She started, knowing that the nurse would probably hear her. "Please. Love, you need to wake up, I need you to wake up. I don't know what to do without you." The girl crouched down next to the hospital bed where the model was lying. Resting her forehead next to his arm, she mumbled, "You changed my life, for the better. You changed me. I know you always told me that you loved me as me and to never change, but I couldn't help it. You challenged me in ways I never thought were possible. I miss our fights, I miss our conversations about what music artist was best. I miss your insistence that you're a badass, but still know the words to Justin Bieber songs. I miss that you always insisted that you hated being a model, but still let me join you during a photo shoot. I miss that you always put up a front for everyone but me. Your walls that you built to keep everyone out, but those walls that fell whenever it was just us. And most of all I miss your smile. That one that graced your face whenever you looked at me, even when you thought I wasn't watching. I could always feel your eyes on me, and whenever I looked at you, I could see the love in your bright green eyes." She laughed through the tears now streaming down her face.
The blonde nurse was standing in the background, checking the papers. "I must say, it is really considerate of you to come and visit him every day."
"Of course, I worry about him. I'm his girlfriend after all."
"Well I mean it, he's lucky to have you in his life, Ms. Rossi."
"And I'm a lucky girl," Lila sighed, "I hope he wakes up soon."
"Well if any changes happen, I will let you know."
She dried her tears as soon as the blonde nurse had left the room, and her expression drastically changed. Her eyebrows furrowed as her face hardened.
--
When Marinette got inside she ran over to the first nurse's station she could find.
"Hi, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I'm looking for Adrien-"
The nurse was an older woman in dark red scrubs, she cut Marinette off. "Of course dear, you're with the rest of them?"
"The rest of them?" She wondered. "W-who's with him now?"
"His girlfriend,"
"His what?!" She almost choked on her own saliva. "He doesn't even have a girlfriend,"
The nurse's expression changed to one of confusion. "Yes, he does. She has been visiting him every day since he came here," she checked the papers. "Mr. Agreste was moved to this room earlier today."
"Oh, well that's nice I guess, can you give me directions?"
"Here dear, why don't I take you up there myself?"
"Okay, thanks."
Marinette followed the nurse into the elevator and waited until they had reached the right floor. When they got off the elevator the nurse led Marinette over to a door.
"Here we are dear. My name is Alice," she smiled. "I'll come by later if I get any news."
"Thank you." Marinette said and the nurse walked off.
"All right, here we go."Marinette muttered to herself as she pushed the door to Adrien's room open. When she walked in a familiar figure turned to look at her.
"Oh my God." She let out a soft breath when it finally dawned on her. "Of course, it had to you." She paused. "You're unbelievable," Marinette yelled.
"Oh, hello. Marinette." her voice was void of emotion.
"You really got the nerve, don't you?" Marinette stopped in front of her as she screamed the words in her face. She clenched her hands to hide her trembling hands. Lila's lies were spiraling out of control. "I just can't believe that you are sitting here, crossing your fingers that he'd wake up soon, so that you can spoon feed him lies about you being his girlfriend."
"T-that's not what I'm doing, I'm simply caring for a friend."
"You're using every trick in the book to take advantage of someone who's in a coma! I never thought you would stoop so low." she snapped, feeling angrier by the second.
"How can you accuse me of such terrible things? I worry about him just as much as you do,"
"Don't play stupid with me. I know exactly what you were planning to do." She stormed. "I just can't understand you, we don't know what state he will be in when he wakes up - if he wakes up. And you were planning to take advantage of that."
"Fine, Marinette. I like him, I have always liked him ever since I laid my eyes on him. And I needed to get you out of my way."
"YOU? You and Adrien? Puh-lease. You don't even got half the heart to like him. You're mean." Got to admit, it felt good, she just wish she hadn't said the 'mean' part, though.
"Mean? MEAN?" Her brows furrowed, as she offered her a wicked grin. "You're one to talk. You have been trying to shut me out ever since I entered the school, telling the others to keep out of my way because I'm a nasty liar who can't be trusted. And by the way, does the word 'seaweed brain', 'loser' and 'pathetic freak' mean anything to you, Marinette?"
"I-I-uh-I wasn't thinking back then! I was blind! You know what? I'll scream it to the world! I like Adrien Agreste! You got a problem with that?!" She shouted. God, this was heating up. "He deserves better than you,"
"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Marinette." she smirked, sending her a nasty look."Who are you to decide who he deserves? You can't even communicate with words when he's in the same room." She paused. "I like him, all right?! You already have everything! What else do you need?!" she shouted.
" I had everything I wanted, but then you came and tried to turn everyone I love against me. I've never understood why you hate me so much," she replied, as if answering her question. "I need..." she trailed off. "I need Adrien more than you do."
It was then when she clenched her fist and punched herself in the face. Lila tumbled to the floor. It happened so fast, Marinette was watching with her jaw on her knees.
"Lila?! What the-"
Two of the nurses came storming into Adrien's room, they stared at Lila, who was rolling on the floor, pretending to be in great pain, and then their eyes moved to Marinette.
"What is going on in here?!"
"This girl, she-" Lila started.
"I don't want to hear another word." The blonde nurse then pointed in their direction. "You two; come with me." She said with intense anger in her eyes.
--
There were only a few instances where Marinette felt truly at peace. One of those instances was when she sat on her balcony late at night, when there was nothing but the sky and the moon above her. She felt safe here—she was outside and exposed to the city, but still within the comfort and safety of her own home.
"Marinette, are you all right?" Tikki flew into her face, so close that her eyes crossed.
"I-I could have handled the situation better I guess. We were in a hospital, after all." She paused. "And I get jealous easily."
"Marinette, you're only human. It's natural to get jealous. And that lie was beyond anything she has done before. I think your reaction was natural." The red kwami wavered.
"Yeah, I'm human." She sighed. "But that's not an excuse to act inappropriate in Adrien's room. The poor thing was right behind us."
Tikki flew into her partner's cheek and nuzzled. Marinette slowly began to cry, the tears running down her cheeks and dropping onto her trousers.
She heaved a long sob. "Oh, Tikki, what if..." she trailed off. "I'm just scared that the hospital will refuse me from visiting him now, because of the drama we caused."
Tikki sighed softly and rubbed her tiny hands over Marinette's cheeks in a soothing manner.
"Oh sweetie, I'm sure they will let you in. What if you apologize for the situation again? Having your crush in a coma can make anybody do strange things. I am sure you have been sick with worry for days now," The little fairy's face fell. "And it's not like you actually attacked her, Lila is just really good at manipulating others."
Letting Lila go on lying didn't sit right with Marinette. She knew Tikki didn't like it either, but had no clue how to proceed. Marinette shook her head, unable to think any further. She was emotionally drained enough for one day.
"I am tired. I might try to get some sleep now."
"Good night, Marinette."
