The room was thick with emotion, yet it was almost completely silent.

Almost.

Elsewhere in the house, a little boy was sniveling. Three other children were confused at the situation that had just been sprung on them—a new kid in their home, someone they didn't know and had never seen before, sowing seeds of emotional distress among both of their parents and all three of them.

It had been like this for at least a week…maybe a little over. He had lost track. All he knew was that Erek couldn't remain with Alya and Nino. Nino was a fortress but even with what little help Alya could provide, he couldn't keep his family calm much longer. Erek was not considered part of their family, not even as Adrien was and not Marinette, even though this was her son. They kept him there out of pity and sympathy, more as a favor to Marinette. They had called her parents already and her parents had agreed to take Erek, but it became clear within mere days that they weren't up to the task. They were his grandparents but they were also much older and didn't have the energy to deal with a difficult child day in and day out. Alya, at least, was somehow managing.

"Her parents tell me she's awake now…barely," she told Adrien.

Marinette had survived by the skin of her teeth. The doctors had decided that the blood had been building up in her lungs for at least a month, but at the tail end, it was almost as if the condition had accelerated tenfold and the blood began pumping into her lungs at an unprecedented rate, like a dam bursting. The first few days were spent on life support, during which time she'd had multiple heart failures. She had only been moved out of the intensive care unit yesterday and now the doctors kept a chest tube in to drain any excess fluid from the lungs while they healed. She was still closely watched and still required oxygen, but instead of a ventilator she received it through a mask and tube, which was seen as a small step forward.

"When was this?" he asked.

She had been sleeping for most of her stay. The doctors actually preferred that. Scans had shown extensive and unexplained damage to both of her lungs. The more energy she could use to heal them, the more likely a full recovery could be expected, so sleeping was in her best interest right now. One fear was also a coma, however, so at least this way they knew she wouldn't be vegetative.

"Earlier this morning. Sabine said Marinette opened her eyes and looked around for a few seconds. I guess it's better than nothing…" Alya sighed. "She thinks Marinette might've been looking for something."

"I think she was looking for Erek, personally," Nino said as he sat beside Adrien on the couch.

"Even if she was, Erek can't see her that way," Adrien said. "He's too young."

"Speaking of being too young to see his mother that way…" Alya mumbled. "Have you thought about Chat Noir's offer, Adrien?"

Adrien shifted uncomfortably as another bout of crying came from a different room.

"Yeah, I have," he replied. "I think I can take him now."

He had discovered how the snake got Erek in the first place. Erek himself hadn't gone outside, nor had Marinette, when it first appeared. The snake was Marinette's ex, it knew where she lived and it knew where Erek was. Adrien had already agreed to take Erek, so he went back to Marinette's house to get the boy's clothes and toys only to find the entire structure smashed. He speculated that the snake had taken Erek and then tried to be rid of Marinette by crushing her. This would've forced her outside and into the storm. By extension, it forced him to buy new toys and clothes to help get his apartment set up to be more suitable for a child. But he'd needed time to do that, so Erek stayed with Alya and Nino while he prepared his place.

"I still can't believe she never told us she had a kid…" Nino murmured.

Alya and Nino were both completely aware of the conversation he'd had with Marinette, and the lack of progress he'd made trying to repair their broken friendship. They knew about all of it, not because he didn't value Marinette's trust, but because he couldn't carry all of this alone and needed help. Even taking care of Erek, he would probably be coming to Nino and Alya for parenting advice. Temporary or not, he knew it would be a huge responsibility and he wanted to do this right.

"I just hope she'll move in with you," Alya said. "I wish I could say we could take her too but…we have a really full house as it is and right now, with Erek, it's way too stressful for our kids. They don't understand what's going on."

"I don't know where else she would go. Her home is destroyed." Adrien drew a breath. "And Erek will definitely want to see her once she gets out of the hospital."

He would want to see her before she got out, actually.

"If she gets out, Adrien," Nino corrected him. "You heard the doctors."

There was a very real possibility that, simply due to the overwhelming amount of damage to her lungs, Marinette would need to be on oxygen for the rest of her life, however long that was. And even if she did recover enough to breathe normally again, she probably wouldn't be the same as before. Chronic shortness of breath was to be expected regardless of the outcome. There was a myriad of other side effects but all of those were more or less a gray area—nobody knew if or when they would pop up. Things like collapsed lungs, fainting, or lightheadedness were all just guesses.

The doctors said that if she did get out, rest was crucial. It was ill-advised to leave her alone so the doctors strongly encouraged somebody else to take her in and keep a very close eye on her. Naturally he had discussed this with Marinette's parents first. He would've respected their decision to take her if they refused his offer, but they both agreed that someone younger without a business to run should take her instead. They didn't mind if that person happened to be him so it was agreed that Marinette would stay with him. Assuming, of course, that she would get on board with this arrangement. She had been so firmly against the notion before, but now that her house was gone, there weren't that many options available to her. It would be too hard on her parents to run a small business alone and watch Marinette.

He even bought tiny surveillance cameras for his apartment that he could use to monitor Marinette if she stayed with him. He hadn't set them up yet but that was okay, it wouldn't take him too long.

"Marinette's a fighter," Adrien said. "I believe she'll get through this."

Alya shook her head and sighed heavily.

"I can't imagine…" she began.

"Imagine what?"

"I'm a mother of three and I don't think I could stand that strong for any of my kids," she answered. "I saw her with Chat Noir, I saw Erek losing his mind, but I never heard him crying before that. I've never seen so much blood come out of a human body before. There's no way she didn't feel that before she passed out. I just can't imagine how she smiled through it."

Adrien's eyes dropped and he shrugged.

"Like I said before…she's a fighter," he mumbled. "It's the only answer I can think of."

"It's crazy to think…that if…" Nino started to trip over his own words, and reluctantly continued when Alya gave him an encouraging glance. "It's just that… I mean… If we just made more of an effort…as her friends…maybe she would've met a better man…"

Alya and Nino's knowledge of Marinette was very limited. He had to carefully separate the information Chat knew from the information Adrien knew. And Adrien didn't know anything about her ex…so neither did they.

He had confessed his visits to Marinette though, and his numerous attempts to reconnect with her. He hadn't been aware of a child back then so at least this tidbit of information being left out was forgivable, but him knowing how sick she had been and visiting her in the hospital the first time that snake appeared and not telling anyone didn't sit well with Alya and Nino. He did try to explain why he hadn't mentioned this before, but there wasn't much of a defense. He was pretty sure they put it behind them so quickly because Marinette being a terminally ill single mother was such shocking and urgent news.

He also slipped them tiny crumbs of extra information he had learned as Chat by telling them that Chat had updated him on a few things with Marinette, primarily regarding Erek since Chat had asked Adrien if he could take the boy. So Alya and Nino knew the snake was her ex and they knew he'd been after Erek. He hadn't told them anything else about that but Alya, being the star journalist that she was, concluded that the snake must've also harbored a hatred for Marinette, "most likely" because she decided to keep Erek to herself…or at least restrict his rights as the father.

And, honestly, even though he had no idea what the whole legal situation was with Marinette, he had a strong feeling Alya wasn't too far off the mark on that one. His opinion was that this man had a violent nature that he was suppressing for whatever reason, but he wasn't supposed to know her ex so he didn't share that opinion with anyone else.

"If she'd met someone else, Erek wouldn't have been born," Adrien reminded them. "Alya, if you hated Nino, would you regret being with him even though you had three beautiful children only because of him?"

Alya looked surprised for a brief moment but answered, "Well firstly, I could never hate Nino, and secondly, even if I did, I think my appreciation for my kids would outweigh that hatred.

"Then let's try to believe Marinette feels the same way."

"Yeah…"

"Is Erek doing better, by the way?" Adrien asked.

"Emotionally no but he's eating and drinking normally again."

Being trapped in a giant snake hadn't meant Erek didn't fall prey to its storm. He was positive the snake never intended to keep Erek trapped forever and would've spat him back out at some point to be his father and all, but a child as young as that wasn't built to withstand what was essentially a "natural" disaster. He had started showing signs of illness the day after the akuma attack. It particularly worried Alya and Nino, who were brought back to their experience with Marcel. But, fortunately, Erek didn't progress to anything deemed critical. His worst was a mild fever that lasted two days. And although it was unclear what caused it, he had lost most of his appetite. He never threw anything up, he was just never hungry or thirsty despite all the crying. They were assuming he was too emotional but…who really knew.

"Do you think I can visit Marinette before I take him home with me? I can pick him up here, I just want to tell her what's going on with him first," he said.

"Uhhh…sure, but…maybe leave out the part about him being sick? Sabine said she's still not doing well," Alya nervously mumbled.

"Maybe it's best not to surprise her with anything. We can fill her in on the details later," Nino said.

"For now, just…I guess tell her Erek is doing well with us and he's looking forward to seeing her again soon," Alya added.

Naturally this was all under the assumption that Marinette would be conscious, and even if she wasn't, what harm could there be in letting her know anyway? This would be a golden opportunity for all three of them to prove they were still her friends, to prove she had other people genuinely concerned about her and keeping her in their thoughts.

"I will," Adrien replied as he stood up. "Thanks, guys. I'll be back soon, let me know if you need anything."

"Bye, Adrien!"

Alya and Nino waved their goodbyes as he left their house. It was mostly a follow-up visit anyway but he was also there to take Erek home with him, until he found out Marinette had finally woken up. He would take this last chance to see her one more time before relying on someone else to keep him in the loop while he created a barrier between mother and son…something he was sure Marinette would appreciate but something he would hate doing.

He arrived at the hospital in around fifteen minutes and headed inside. He already knew Marinette's room number and floor and informed the nurse at the desk of this as she gave him a visitor's pass. She didn't actually care, or so it seemed at least. He hadn't heard of any criminal activity in a Parisian hospital for a long time now. If there had been any, it hadn't been reported.

He thanked the nurse and made his way up to the third floor, where he expected the same sight as always: Marinette lying still, laboring to breathe even with an oxygen mask, eyes shut, pale skin, messy hair, and exhaustion evident.

Her parents weren't there. Usually, one of them stayed behind but perhaps the bakery was too busy and demanded both of them there. One or the other would likely come back later.

He let himself in and was met with the new norm for Marinette. Still as a corpse… Kind of looked like one, too…

He closed the door behind him and walked calmly over to her, stopping beside the front end of her bed. A small part of him was hoping he would see her eyes flutter or maybe some other part of her twitch. Some kind of reaction to show him up close and personal that she wasn't in a coma, that Sabine hadn't made a mistake. Coupled with the heart failures in the early days of her stay, the wait for her recovery had been disheartening.

He looked at the monitors. She'd been hooked up to various machines and artifacts that the doctors refused to take her off of, and due to the severity of her condition—a condition he had let her slip into—the doctors anticipated a longer stay…a much longer stay. She wouldn't be able to receive a feeding tube—something that would deliver a creamy concoction of fats, vitamins, and other dietary necessities directly to her stomach—due to the oxygen mask she needed to wear at all times, so she was stuck getting whatever nutrients she could intravenously. She was expected to wake up slender and hungry…assuming she ever did wake up...

He could see the weight loss more visibly as the days dragged on. Her cheeks were more sunken, her arms were slimmer, and her stomach was gradually taking on a concave shape. She was on her way to looking like a skeleton.

He reached out and put a gentle hand on hers. All he could think about was how weak she was now, because he decided to let the snake make everything so much worse. Marinette had already been gravely ill, that storm must've been too much for her to handle. She wasn't freezing but if her lungs had been so fragile that all it took was bad weather for blood to rush in and drown her, then the storm was precisely what made that happen in less than one day…and he had let the storm happen.

"Marinette…" he started.

The doctors were uncertain about a coma, although they were leaning towards it due to a full week's lack of consciousness, but they did say Marinette was able to hear her surroundings, and that talking to her was good.

He didn't ask if it was good for them or good for her.

"It's me. It's Adrien. I meant to visit you yesterday…got caught up with travel for work. I came back as soon as I could though. Visiting hours were already over…"

No movement. No response. Not that he really expected any…

"I just, um…I-I wanted to tell you about Erek," he continued. "Chat Noir asked me to take care of him for you. He's been staying with Nino and Alya while I was getting my place ready. I live in an apartment, by the way. I don't know if I told you that."

He took a deep breath and stared at the hand he was covering. He started rubbing his thumb over it, more for his own comfort than hers.

"Erek is really looking forward to seeing you again. We haven't brought him here yet; we didn't think you would want him to see you this way. He's sad that you haven't come home but we've all been reassuring him that you will soon…so…please wake up soon…if you can…"

He swallowed hard and blinked away tears. If she didn't wake up, that was on him. If Erek ended up motherless, that was on him too.

"He's only six." His voice came out strangled. "It's way too soon for him to lose his mother. He needs to know you're okay…and until you wake up…or prove it to us…I c-can't promise him that…"

He sniffled and cleared his throat. Chat Noir was the one who wasn't allowed to cry, but Adrien didn't want to either. He would've left right then and there under any other circumstance, but he felt it so selfish to leave her without at least finishing their one-sided conversation.

"I want you to know that…even if you don't ever wake up…you're loved, Marinette…you're loved so much… I'm begging you…to give us all the chance…to prove it to you… I know you said…you're already dying…but please…please don't let this be your last battle…"

She had to hang in there… She had to live, if not for anyone else than her young son.

"I'm so…sorry…I did…this…to you…" he choked out.

The doctors may have said she could hear him but he highly doubted that. He could reveal himself as Chat Noir right here and now and she would be none the wiser.

"I'm sorry that…Chat Noir…failed again…"

He felt tears on his face now but figured it would do no good to try to wipe them away. Nobody was around right now anyway. Nobody could see the weakness.

"I'm sorry…I wasn't there to…t-to protect you… I'm sorry…that…I didn't know and… I'm sorry…that I didn't…sa-save you…and I'm sorry…that I d-didn't do my job…and…I wasn't…a-a hero…and I was supposed to…to be there for you…and…I wasn't…and…I'm sorry," he hiccupped. "And…I'm sorry I…d-didn't email you…or text…or call… I didn't…didn't do enough for you… You're not…talking to me…r-right now because…I was too weak and…I-I'm sorry…and I'm sorry you're…like this… I w-wish…it was me and…if I c-could trade places…with you…I-I would…"

Somehow the fact that he had failed all of Paris twice didn't hit nearly as hard as the fact that he had failed Marinette twice, and he wanted so badly to take her place. He could probably fight just long enough as Chat Noir to deal with an akuma swiftly, perhaps with help from the good citizens of this beautiful city…a beautiful, albeit slightly damaged, city that Marinette may never see again. As if this poor woman hadn't already been through enough…

He gripped the rails of the bed and squeezed his eyes shut.

As if she didn't already have it hard enough, he made it worse. Put her in the hospital. Caused her heart to fail. Caused her lungs to fail. Caused her to drown in her own blood. Didn't bother paying attention to her, knowing she could die, knowing how uncertain her future was, personally seeing how slow and weak she had been prior to his ignorance.

How could Marinette feel loved or even cared about when Chat Noir, the person she was most receptive to and the person she welcomed so warmly, simply let her die on his back?

And not just once. No. His amateur, pathetic CPR attempt only led to more cardiac arrests. More CPR, which to his understanding, she hadn't responded to and needed to be defibrillated. She had to be electrocuted to restart an organ that was consistently trying to give up.

She must've been so tired, so ready to give up herself. What if she didn't even want to be revived in the first place? Erek or no Erek, how much longer would people force her to suffer the pains and daily battles for her life? That all would've been on him as well. He performed CPR, he brought her back to life just long enough to get her to a hospital where she would try to die many more times.

"I-I'm…so…sorry…Mari..nette," he softly sobbed, a hiccup between each vowel as his chest jerked and constricted. "I…I…am…b-being so…s-so self…ish… Y-You don't…don't h-have…t-to wake up if…y-you don't w-want to… I-If…you don't w-want…to k-keep suffering…like th…th-this…"

He rested his forehead on one of his hands and gripped the rails even tighter.

"Y-You…deserve to…to r-rest…and if…i-if…you're too t-tired…to keep…going…then…j-just rest…and w-we'll be…be okay…I p..p-promise."

It was the last sentence he could get out before the crying became worse. Before the guilt consumed his thoughts. Before the only thing he had left to give Marinette now was a million mental apologies. Apologies, he knew, that would never reach her. Meaningless ones.

And he deserved the images of finding her on the ground during the first snake attack, of following the ambulance and finally seeing her stable, but waking up confused and cold and him being able to do nothing about that again. He couldn't help her as Chat Noir, he couldn't help her as Adrien… In fact, either persona he took on still made her life worse. Chat Noir hospitalizing her, affecting her physically, and Adrien making her believe she was about to lose her job, affecting her emotionally. He was so toxic and never realized it until Marinette paid the price—a price he should've paid.

He suddenly heard alarms blaring in the room and the monitor keeping track of her heart flatlining with one long, single tune, and he knew in that moment that Marinette had made her decision.