Marinette and Adrien have not spoken to each other for a whole week. Everyone in the department instantly noticed the change of their dynamic when the long weekend was over and it was time to go back to work.

First, Doctor DC asked Doctor Chloé if she could have Nurse Nath tagging along with her instead of Nurse Adrien. The blonde doctor did not want that in the beginning, but when Marinette started begging - she knew that something happened between the doctor-nurse couple over the weekend.

Second, Nurse Adrien would avoid the doctor at all costs. He would not walk down the same corridor if he saw Doctor DC doing her rounds in that specific area. He even stopped spending every break time with her.

And third, even Doctor Couffaine, the newcomer, has noticed the new tension between the two. Now that is a clear indication that things have gone bad.

“We have an incoming patient,” Doctor DC announces the moment she arrives in their shared office, gaining the attention of Doctors Chloé and Couffaine who were speaking to each other before she entered. “I read her files an hour ago. I can handle her, if ever,” the doctor continues as she takes a seat before her desk.

“I’m not going to allow you to do that, Marinette,” Doctor Couffaine utters.

“What? Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? You’ve been taking up 24-hour shifts for the past few days!”

“So? I can handle that kind of shift.”

“I know you can, but your body is not immortal, Marinette!”

“Luka’s right,” Doctor Chloé chimes in. She crosses her arms before her, then points out, “You’re literally working yourself to death.”

“What if that’s what I want?” Doctor DC mutters softly under her breath.

Doctor Couffaine walks over to Doctor DC’s desk. “Marinette, what happened the past weekend? You think we don’t notice?”

His words send a shiver down Doctor DC’s spine. The nurse said something similar to that last statement that night.

She clicks her tongue and sets her gaze on the pile of reports on her desk. "I'm sure you both notice. You're just wasting your time worrying about me."

"Marinette," Doctor Chloé starts, "we just want you to know that you can talk to us."

Losing her patience, Doctor DC slams her hands on her desk and roughly pushes herself to her feet. "Talking led me to feel this way!" She snaps out loud all of a sudden. "Utter shit!"

Her sudden outburst shocked the two other doctors with her in the room. Usually, Doctor DC was calm and collected, even standoffish at times. But never was she the one to lose her patience in front of her colleagues, the people she went to medical school and spent her residency with. Of course, when she lost her patience with Nurse Adrien, that would be a different story.

Nurse Adrien…

God, she hated when her thoughts would go back to him.

Why is she this bothered? That man knew the whole time. What was the point of putting up a front this whole time when he knew so early on? She cannot handle it and she feels so stupid.

After giving it more thought, it was highly possible that he would find out from the other nurses. She just never expected him to be someone who would keep it from her. She thought that he was the type of person to talk to her about it immediately.

Maybe she feels this hurt because at some point, she wanted to be with a person who would like to be with her without knowing about her past - and she wanted that person to be Adrien.

…but that’s too late now.

As much as she wants to place all the blame on him, she cannot find it in her heart to do that. All the blame is on her. He’s right. She just continued to play with his heart while still in the process of figuring out hers.

Doctor DC exhales heavily and mutters under her breath, “Sorry.” She looks at her colleagues. “I just need another cup of coffee and maybe some croissants and I’ll be fine.”

Croissants. Chocolate croissants. Adrien would always get those for me.

“Never mind with the croissants,” she instantly adds, “I just need a cup of coffee-”

“D-Doctor Couffaine!” A nurse utters in a loud voice. He stands by the doorway, looking as pale as a ghost and breathing heavily from running.

“Yes?” Doctor Couffaine walks up to the nurse. “Is something wrong?”

The nurse stammers, “Y-You, you have to come with me! Something is happening at the nurses’ station!”

Distress was evident in his voice and without saying anything else, the three doctors immediately ran with the nurse to the nurses’ station.

The nurse did not mention anything about the situation as they ran since it mattered more that they get to the place immediately. It made Marinette dread for the worst. What could be happening that’s causing this much internal panic?

The doctors arrive at the corridor leading to the nurses’ station but a crowd of other nurses and doctors has formed, blocking their way.

“DOCTOR COUFFAINE!” A gruff voice shouts out loud from the middle of the crowd followed by some loud whimpers in pain.

Doctors Couffaine, DC, and Chloé force themselves through the crowd and freeze when they see a man holding Nurse Rose to him while pointing a scalpel against her neck. The nurse cries softly while letting out soft whimpers from time to time. The rest of the nurses and doctors try to placate him but he continues to shout at them. “Don’t you dare go near me! Where is Doctor Couffaine?!!”

“I’m who you’re looking for,” Doctor Couffaine takes a careful step toward the man. He places his hands before him and takes another step. “I’m Doctor Couffaine. What do you need?”

As the doctor attempts to placate the man, Doctor Chloé immediately whispers to the other nurses around to make sure that the patients stay in their rooms and that none of them should try to leave. Not all the nurses leave because some stayed behind in case they need to hold the man back if ever he decides to attack.

The palpable air around them is unarguable. Doctor DC wants to run to Nurse Rose and save her from the man, but that scalpel near her neck can cause harm to the nurse if she were to try. Where in the world did he even get that scalpel in the first place?

The man does not look like he’s in his twenties. He’s more like in his late thirties, still young but some features on his face show that age is catching up to him.

The security team suddenly arrives by the entrance of the corridor and it causes a stir within the crowd and especially, the man. “Don’t go near me or else I will hurt her!” He threatens them and Nurse Rose squeezes her eyes tighter as she feels the cool metal of the scalpel press into her skin.

“Stop!” Doctor Couffaine commands the security team, and they listen to his order. He turns back to the man. “Sir,” he starts out slowly, “I need you to put down the scalpel and we will talk, alright?”

“No!” The man exclaims in fury. “You’re the chief of this department, right? There is this doctor that is part of your department. I heard her name is Doctor DC. Where is she?”

Doctor DC felt her heart quicken the moment she heard her name.

“Sir,” Doctor Couffaine tries again, “I need you to put down the scalpel and-”

“I ASKED WHERE DOCTOR DC IS!” The man presses the scalpel deeper on Nurse Rose’s skin, creating a wound where blood is starting to seep out of.

Doctor DC was breathing heavily from where she was standing. What she hated was that she could feel their eyes on her. Ever since the man shouted her name out loud, everyone would throw glances her way and it made her hyper-aware of what was happening around her.

“WHERE IS DOCTOR DC?!"

Her knees were shaking and she felt that they could buckle down any second from now. She has gone through countless surgeries and even went through a near-death experience, but this is more terrifying than any of those. She doesn't know why, maybe it's the fact that Nurse Rose is getting hurt in front of everyone. Doctor DC knows that she can do something about that. She knows that she's the only one who can stop it.

She looks around her, meeting the careful gazes of the surrounding people. Some of their eyes were trying to tell her to step out, some wanted her to stay put. Despite somewhat making her mind, she still had some apprehension.

That is until her gaze lands on the man she’s been avoiding for the past week.

Adrien could not take his eyes off her, but the doctor could not read what he was trying to say. Meeting his gaze after a week of not talking to each other caused this sudden pain in her heart. A sudden realization dawned on her, she missed looking into his eyes.

He blankly stared at her and she still could not read him. His crestfallen eyes always had so much life in them, but now it’s as if she’s staring into a dark abyss.

Doctor DC decided to interpret the way he looked at her in another way. She believes that he’s not giving her a fixed answer, he’s telling her that it’s her decision to make - whether she steps forward or not.

She balls her hands into fists and quietly breathes out a heavy breath before breaking her gaze from him to look forward. “I’m Doctor DC,” she announces, taking a brave step forward. She keeps her eyes on the man who still had Nurse Rose with him. She glances at Nurse Rose before continuing, “Why are you looking for me?”

“Are you really Doctor DC?” The man asks.

“Yes. My name is embroidered on my coat and you can ask anyone here. They will tell you that I am Doctor DC.”

“You studied pediatric surgery before moving to cardiology, right?” The man’s hold on the scalpel was still very secure.

“Yes, you are right.”

Tears then start to pool in his eyes, and slowly they roll down his cheeks. “M-My son,” he cries and Doctor DC felt her stomach drop, “my five-year-old son is very sick and his doctors refuse to have him operated on. They are afraid of the risk that the surgery may bring upon him.”

No… This was not what the doctor was expecting. She thought that this would be a matter regarding money, but this is something else. Something that affects one of her weak spots, children.

The man continues, “His heart is not well, but I know that there is still hope! I beg of you. Please, please help my son!”

“Doctor DC,” Doctor Couffaine whispers harshly from the side, “you are not aware of the child’s condition. Don’t say yes-”

“I will help your son," Doctor DC utters in a loud voice that carries a vast amount of conviction. Doctor Couffaine squares his jaw out of frustration and stubbornness displayed by her. Doctor DC carries on, “Let go of the nurse now and I will help your son.”

—---------

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Doctor DC keeps her lips set in a tight line as Doctor Couffaine paces back and forth before her as he lashes out his anger at her for acting irrationally. The security team took the man away, but amidst all that, he repeatedly thanked Doctor DC while crying. After, Doctor Couffaine could not keep it in and literally pulled Doctor DC with him back to their office.

"You've been acting odd ever since we came home from the medical conference. You always would not act like yourself whenever Nurse Adrien is around. You think I'm not aware of what's going on between you two? Come on, Marinette, I'm not stupid. Even the whole department knows!"

"This is not about Adrien! I stepped forward for that man and his son!"

“What that man did was coercion!” He stops to berate her in a loud voice.

Doctor DC does not flinch at all. She even maintains her pointed look towards the doctor. “Luka, I already said yes to that man. I am going to fix his son-”

“Even the pediatric surgeons have said that the child is at great risk if he were to be operated on!”

“I spent years in pediatric surgery before transferring here! I can help him!”

“No!” Doctor Couffaine exclaims in anger, “You foolishly said yes without ever knowing the child’s condition! We are not allowing you to conduct that surgery and that is final!”

“You have no say when it comes to my decisions-”

“I have no say?” He says incredulously. “I am the chief of this department, everything that happens is under my jurisdiction. And if I say no, then that means it will never happen.”

Doctor DC scoffs and crosses her arms in front of her, “Before you were my number one supporter. Have you no faith in me, Luka?”

He furrows his brows. “This is merely not a professional matter to you now, isn’t it? It is clearly laced with something personal now.” He looks away out of bewilderment. “I have been telling you this since we were residents, since we were engaged, that you should not wear your heart on your sleeves. You would never stop to think and maybe, in some way, listen to me. Now that the patient at hand is a child, you’re throwing away all common sense!” He purses his lips and shakes his head in disapproval. “You always acted on impulse, Marinette. I never wanted to bring up the past with you, but you left me with no choice.”

“...You’re wrong,” Doctor DC utters in a voice above a whisper. She swallows down a huge lump in her throat before she continues, “This is not about us, but my integrity as a person, as a doctor, who could help this child.”

Doctor Couffaine then peers straight into her eyes. With all seriousness, he asks, “And if that child dies under your hands, what will become of you? What will happen to the father?”

He expected an answer from her, but she said nothing. Not a single word or sound, her face does not even give much away. She simply continued to glare at him and it was not the reaction he wanted. He points at her, “Starting tonight, you are not permitted to enter the pediatrics department. You gave that man false hope - no. Even worse than that. You gave him ambiguous hope.” He storms out of the office after and that was when Doctor DC felt a tear slip out of her eye before another one followed, and another one until she became a crying mess, all alone in their office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) I'm very thankful that people still read this book ♡

My goal is to really go back to working on this book ♡ I fell out of love with it for the past months, but now I plan to have it finished before it turns 2 years old (hwaiting! Let's go!)

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