Headache
Marinette rubbed her eyes as a familiar searing pain appeared behind her eyes. She let out a quiet groan, straining her ears to hear what Ms. Mendeleiev was saying.
"Is there something you'd like to add, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?" Asked Mendeleiev, glaring at Marinette.
"No, professeur, I've got a headache, I'm sorry for interrupting." Responded Marinette, as she felt another stab of pain.
"That's the fifth headache this week," Noted Mendeleiev, glancing around the classroom, "Bourgeois, take her to the nurse."
"What?" Demanded Chloé, staring at the teacher.
"Now."
Chloé scowled, as Marinette got out of her seat and stumbled slightly. Chloé grabbed Marinette's arm and practically dragged her to the nurse's office. Marinette's headache to taking up most of her attention, so she didn't argue with Chloé during the trip.
The nurse looked up from her computer and spotted Chloé and Marinette, "Can I help?"
"Dupain-Cheng's had a headache for the past week." Said Chloé, before turning on her heel and leaving the office.
"So, this headache," Said the Nurse, after a moment, "have you been having any other pains alongside it?"
"I've been having some issues with my eyes, and I've felt dizzy and sick at times." Said Marinette, wincing with her eyes closed, "I've been taking some pain killers, but those haven't touched it."
The nurse hummed, before looking at Marinette, "What did your doctor say?"
"He said it'll pass in a few days." Responded Marinette, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Do you require glasses?" Questioned the Nurse, typing on her computer.
"I haven't checked."
"When you said your doctor told you it'd pass in a few days," Asked the Nurse, "when did he say that?"
"About a month ago, so in January."
The Nurse stopped and looked at her, "Marinette, we're in May."
H
"And you've had this headache for five months?" Asked Dr. Bateman, looking at her computer screen, "And you've also been feeling dizzy and nauseous?"
"Yeah." Replied Marinette, as her mother sat next to her.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Interrupted Sabine, looking between Marinette and Dr. Bateman, "Dr. Marsille didn't ask any questions."
"I think the migraines, nausea and dizziness are symptoms of another issue." Confessed Bateman, looking at the mother and daughter, "I'm going to schedule an MRI, just to make sure it isn't anything to be worried about."
Sabine and Marinette left the doctors surgery with more questions than answers, and, in Sabine's case, a quiet voice suggesting everything that could be wrong.
H
Alya chewed on the end of her pen, Lila, while her stories had been interesting at first, was droning on and on about some charity gig she went to with Clara Nightingale or some other popstar. Marinette had left half-way through science to attend a doctors appointment, so Alya was left to deal with the headache that the class often called 'big boss in charge headache'. Thank you very much Kim, for that oh so wonderful name.
Speaking of Kim, Alya glanced to the side and saw him making spit balls with Alix, each choosing another member of the class at random. Alya groaned as Chloé squawked as a spit ball hit the back of her neck.
When was Mari going to get back?
"Okay," Said an orderly, as Marinette was loaded into the MRI machine, "try not to move, so any scans we take are as clear as possible. And, don't be afraid, it's going to be loud, but you'll be quite safe."
Marinette nodded, feeling terrified, she taken the earrings off and left them with Tikki in her purse. She took a deep breath, before the procedure started.
"Okay, so," Said Dr. Bateman, "This is Marinette's brain, the different areas, like the hippocampus and brain stem. Now, we discovered a mass in your temporal lobe. We believe it's the source of your headaches, and other symptoms."
"Is, is it dangerous?" Asked Sabine, as Marinette just stared at the scan.
"We don't know, we might start preparations for surgery, if that's what you'd like." Answered Bateman, as Marinette chewed her bottom lip.
"I-it's nothing dangerous, right?" Asked Marinette, looking at Bateman.
"Until we do an angiogram, we can't tell for sure."
H
A couple weeks and one angiogram later, Marinette sat across Doctor Bateman, with her mother next to her.
"I'll be honest, finding two abnormal aneurysms was a surprise." Admitted Doctor Bateman, "We can schedule surgery and have them removed, if you'd like to. There have been people who have had aneurysms that have live long and healthy lives."
"But…"
"But that number is few."
Marinette tried to keep herself calm, thinking on the treatment for the aneurysms, "W-when can we have the surgery?"
H
"Okay, we have the tickets bought and the hotel paid for," Said Bustier, looking over the list, "almost everyone in my class has paid the fee and all the paperwork is up to date."
"Almost everyone?" Questioned Rebecca Chamber, another teacher, with a smirk on her face, "Is it your resident liar, or one of those blond brats?"
Caline sighed, "Okay, first of all, Adrien isn't a brat, and it's Marinette who's not going on the trip. She has an important appointment."
"Your little goody two shoes?" Scoffed Chamber, "What's more important than a trip to London?"
"She has a medical issue." Responded Bustier, "She needs the time to prepare for the procedure, undergo it and recover from it, by the time we get back, she'll be ready to reattend class."
"Ooh, she has a procedure?" Said Chamber, haughtily, "What's going on? Is she having a face lift?"
"She'd having a brain aneurysm removed." Said D'Argencourt, "Her parents told us and asked that the news be shared with her teachers, including you, Mademoiselle Chamber."
"Oh, is that what that email was about?"
"Yes."
H
"Okay, Marinette," Said Dr. Bates, looking down at her, "we've started the anaesthetic. Now, I want you to count backwards from ten, can you do that for me?"
Marinette gave a small nod.
'Ten.'
'Nine.'
'Eight.'
Marinette didn't reach seven.
H
When Marinette opened her eyes, she was in a different room. Giving out a small whine as she looked around, before spotting an orderly.
"Hiiii." Slurred Marinette, giving the orderly a dopey smile.
"Hi."
"I have a secret."
"Really?" Answered the orderly, looking at Marinette's chart.
"'m Ladybug."
"No way."
"But it's a secret."
The orderly silently nodded, as Marinette rolled onto her side and went to sleep.
"Another Ladybug?" Asked a nurse, getting a nod from the Orderly.
"It's nice that kids these days have someone positive to look up to." Commented the Nurse, as they started to wheel Marinette to the discharge ward.
H
Marinette looked around the room she was in, her parents were sitting in the chairs next to her bed and she was scribbling in her sketchbook. A knock alerted them to doctor Bates entering the room, frowning at a scan done after the surgery.
"Is everything alight?" Asked Sabine, making Bates look at them.
"I don't know how to tell you this," Said Dr. Bates, turning the scan so they could see it, "There appears to have been a mistake, there was only one aneurysm."
"B-but the scan showed two." Said Marinette, feeling a chill run down her back.
"We think there might be an issue with the machine," Confessed Bates, "I was confused when we only found one. It might've been large enough to be confused as two, but we'll schedule an appointment for another scan a few weeks from now."
H
Marinette rubbed her eyes, squinting at the front of the class, absently rubbing her head. The follow-up scan didn't show any more abnormal masses and, after a quick chat with Tikki and Alya, Marinette had decided to bring Chat into her secret.
"You okay, girl?" Asked Alya, quietly, jerking Marinette out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, the board's really fuzzy today, isn't it?" Responded Marinette, before freezing, "Merde."
"What?"
"I have an eye test in ten minutes."