A.N. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ♡ Thank you for all the support and for your patience :) Part 2 of this chapter will be out the following day ♡

“O-Oh, Oh, my God.”

She couldn't wait another moment. The machine beside him was showing brain activity for the first time in 14 days and it caused a low siren to start playing, its sound reverberated between the walls of the room. She dashed out of the room, and called out, “Nurse! Nurse, he’s awake!”

She can't handle him on her own. The doctor needs assistance and another witness to see if Adrien really is waking up. She rushes back to his side and sees that his eyelids are still trying to flutter open.

It’s okay. It’s normal.

As long as he’s responsive.

“Adrien?” Marinette begins, holding his hand. “Adrien?”

A nurse finally enters the room and breathes out a sigh of relief to see that the vital signs displayed on the monitor are normal.

Marinette continues watching him for any reaction with a careful gaze, “Adrien?”

Suddenly she feels a slight movement of his finger brushing through her palm and then nothing else.

She does not see him try to open his eyes more and just like that, he falls back to sleep.

“Doctor,” the nurse from beside starts to speak, “after a few days we can transfer him to a private room.”

Marinette nods. “I will take charge of the necessary arrangements for his transfer.” She still was holding his hand and she gives it a gentle squeeze. “Please continue to look after him.”

“Yes, doctor.”

It’s normal for coma patients to fall back asleep after a few seconds of staying awake. Just because Adrien showed signs that he woke up, it does not necessarily mean that he is fully awake. He might still sleep for a full day before waking up again for a few minutes.

Marinette is sure that he will be unresponsive to any verbal or nonverbal communication with the doctors, nurses, and family members. She is even sure that he will be agitated and confused for the next few days or weeks.

But what matters is that he has shown signs that he has woken up.

Eventually, he will get better. Marinette will make sure that will happen.

“Thank you,” she whispers to him once the nurse leaves the room. “Thank you for making this decision to stay.”

—---------

Unresponsive. Agitated. Confused.

Marinette knew that he was going to be feeling those things for the next few days and it really showed.

Adrien woke up again after 24 hours and that time he could fully open his eyes. The nurses reported to Marinette that he only had a blank look on his face and nothing else. Even when they cleaned him up, gave him a half bath, and replaced his NGT, he was unresponsive to everything. Then he fell back asleep.

After another 12 hours, he woke up, this time with Marinette and Emilie in his room, patiently waiting for him.

“D-Doctor,” Emilie stammers, her eyes widening when she is the first to spot him slowly waking up. Her look turns to one of horror when Adrien begins to show signs of agitation. She seizes in panic. The rising digits on his monitor caused it to bleat loudly – clearly showing that he was panicking. His eyes were glued on what was on him, the ventilator. His eyes held the main emotion he felt, terror, and they were looking right at Marinette who proceeded to sedate him instantly.

Slowly he relaxes and his vital signs begin to decrease to a normal measure and soon, he is back to sleep.

“Doctor,” Emilie breathes out at length. “What happened to him?”

“He was panicking,” she answers levelly. But inside, she too was in horror to see his face contort in panic and pain from the sudden realization of what was on him. “He’s beginning to get a sense of his surroundings and the ventilator on him must have been a shock to wake up to.”

“But you made him fall back asleep, doctor. What happens if he takes a long time to wake up again?”

The doctor faces Emilie and explains, “I sedated him to calm him down. It wasn’t a high dosage, Emilie. It was only enough for him to be asleep for another few hours.”

Still, the mother couldn’t shake the worry off her face. “He looked like he was in a lot of pain, doctor.”

I think it really is painful for him. Who wouldn’t be set in a wave of panic to wake up and realize that you can’t make any sounds due to this machine attached to you? Marinette decided to not tell her the truth. Instead, she shows her a tight-lipped smile and says, “Just because he woke up doesn’t mean that all the pain is gone. Yes, it is still sometimes painful now, but he will heal faster now.”

“...Are you sure, doctor?”

“Yes.” I will definitely make sure of it.

It was a shock for the department to see Doctor DC volunteering to take 24-hour shifts. Doctors Chloé and Couffaine were beginning to get worried that the doctor might be overworking herself. But apparently, the opposite was happening.

There was more vigor in the way she handled her rounds and it seemed like she became energetic whenever she came from Nurse Adrien’s room to see that his condition was improving.

For this hour, Doctor Chloé has free time to spend to stay with Doctor DC and a sleeping Nurse Adrien.

Doctor DC watches her colleague cross her arms before her. “Got a problem, Chloé?” She asks as she writes down the vital signs of Adrien in her own record book.

The blonde doctor shakes her head. “None. I’m just…impressed.”

“Impressed,” Doctor DC scoffs. “What do you mean you’re ‘impressed’?” She closes the book and sets it on the bedside table.

“What else does impressed mean, Marinette?” the doctor sassily points out. She then breathes out a sigh. “Sorry, long shifts can dampen a mood.”

Doctor DC waves a dismissive hand at her. “Don’t be sorry.” She then adds jokingly, “As if we weren’t close since med school. I know who you are, Chloé. You can’t hide anything from me.” The doctors share light laughter, reminiscing for a moment about their bond that started in medical school and how so much has changed since then.

“I just wanted to say that I’m impressed with how much effort you put into making sure your nurse gets better,” she explains after a while.

Doctor DC throws her a look of incredulity. “I’m just doing what every doctor would do for a patient.”

“What are you talking about? Not every doctor would do the same thing as you’re doing now.” Doctor Chloé then walks to the chair at the side of the room and takes a seat on it, loosening her arms to rest them on her sides. “Unless,” she continues, “those doctors are taking care of their loved ones.”

Doctor DC freezes in her actions. Loved ones.

Who is Adrien to her? Just a patient?

During her days as a resident, she looked up to her senior doctors as people with unbreakable spirits. They were strong both physically and mentally.

But one day, she witnessed a senior doctor on the verge of a breakdown. That doctor’s wife was dying and he couldn’t do anything to stop it even if he gave his all and used up all his resources to prolong her life.

Marinette did not understand it at first. And even when she was in her own accident which took a person she loved and even a part of herself, she vowed that she wouldn’t show weakness to other people.

It hardened her as a person and it made her strong in the face of difficulties.

…But this guy just had to enter her life.

How ironic that this bright, cheerful, and optimistic person would be the cause of her stoic downfall.

This guy that held her in such a high position in his mind only to be let down by the opposite reality she wreaked on him unapologetically. But that did not stop him, no, it made him work harder.

He is a peculiar person and that made her so intrigued. She only wanted to use him, but eventually, it led to other developed feelings.

And she knew that she has fallen deep.

“...This is why I love you.”

She remembers how he murmured those words to her. She felt a shiver run down her spine that moment she heard him.  And she knew, she felt, that he really loved her.

Maybe a reason why she couldn’t find an answer to the actions she’s been doing in the past weeks was that she never considered the possibility that she was in love with him.

And that she was doing everything in her power to help him out of love.

She’s not going to hide it anymore. She loves Adrien and she wants him to know. She’ll do anything to make sure he heals so that she could tell him that she loves him.

“He is a loved one…” She whispered to herself at length.

It was a whisper so faint that no one else would have been able to hear it.

“What?” Doctor Chloé asks from behind.

Doctor DC turns to face her colleague and she repeats in a louder voice, “Adrien is a loved one.”

Doctor Chloé grows silent.

She continues, “And that’s why I’m doing all of this for him.” A serene smile spreads across her face. “I love Nurse Adrien, Chloé.” It felt good to finally say that out loud.

There is a shared silence between them and Marinette wasn’t so sure about what Chloé was thinking since she continued to stay silent and the expression on her face did not give anything away.

Suddenly, the blonde doctor stands and takes a few steps toward her. Then brings her arms out to wrap them around Doctor DC. She whispers in her ear, “It’s about time you acknowledged it, bitch.”

Doctor DC laughs, amused at her colleague’s comment and also relieved that finally, someone else knows. Well, maybe they all knew it was bound to happen at the beginning (the doctor hears all kinds of gossip that spreads within the department), but it’s different now that it’s her who has claimed it out loud.

Doctor Chloé pulls slightly away from the hug and squeezes Marinette’s shoulders. “Tell me what you need to help him and I would do it for you. That’s a promise from me. And Luka. Let’s include him even if he doesn’t know about this yet.”

The other doctor chuckles softly. “Your support is enough to get me going,” she murmurs truthfully.

“...Does he remember what happened?” She carefully asks.

Doctor DC shakes her head. “I don’t think so. He’ll have to start rehab to learn how to talk, eat, and walk again, but even without that, I notice that he always looks lost. I’ve seen the way he would stare at his mom. There is a hint of familiarity on his face. Aside from that, I don’t know who or what else he remembers.”

“He would remember you.”

“I doubt that. Adrien has been here for only more than a year. I think it would take months or maybe another year for him to recollect his memories.” She sighs and looks at the sleeping form on the bed. “I bet I’m just a stranger to him for now.”

“Stranger?” Doctor Chloé scoffs. “Did this great Devil before me forget your encounter more than five years ago??”

Doctor DC gasps softly, suddenly remembering. “When he helped me save that old woman.”

“You are the reason why he suddenly wanted to become a nurse! How could the oh-so-great Doctor DC forget that you are a pinnacle in his life?”

“...But I wasn’t nice to him when he started working in the hospital, Chloé.”

“And he’s going to remember that eventually. It’s bound to happen…but at least,” she shrugs in thought, “he’ll remember you maybe even faster.”

“This is what I get for being a bad person to him. Karma would always try to bite me back in the ass.”

“Yes, he’ll remember all of those things…but he’ll remember other stuff like…like how you followed him back to his hometown. Like how you granted his every request for your patients. You were also able to bring him immense joy, Marinette. He’ll remember your mistakes, but he’ll also remember why he loves you.”

“...It’s all up to time and trust now, isn’t it?”

Doctor Chloé nods. “But, Marinette, when has anything ever stopped you?”

She smiles. “Nothing has ever stopped me.” She takes one last look at Adrien before her shift ends and she’ll have to return home to rest. “Especially now.”

—---------

Doctor DC has it all ready.

She planned this visit, making sure that she had everything she prepared. It’s a day before Adrien will begin his eating and speech therapy. It will take another five days before he begins his physical therapy.

Ever since he has been staying awake for longer periods of time, his neurologist ordered him to move to a regular room in the neurosurgery department. Doctor DC stopped visiting him when he was awake in order to not cause more confusion. The only time she would enter his room is when he was sleeping. But if awake, she would only let his mothers and the nurses enter. Sometimes his neurologist would enter to check on his progress.

However, on this particular day, she was ready to re-introduce something to him.

Doctor DC watched him and his mother from the glass window on his door before knocking on it and allowing herself to enter the room.

Both persons in the room watch her from the entrance.

“Good morning, Doctor,” Emilie greets her immediately.

She flashes a smile at her. “Good morning, Emilie.” The doctor is carrying a brown paper bag with her. She turns to Adrien who is silently staring at her.

“What brings you here, doctor?” Emilie asks.

Without taking her gaze away from Adrien, she answers, “I want to introduce myself to your son.”

“Why–”

“Hi, you must be Adrien,” Doctor DC begins, walking a bit closer to Adrien. “I am Doctor DC.” She heads to the empty seat on the other side of Adrien’s bed and allows herself to sit on it. She props the brown paper bag she was holding on her lap. She beams at him who was still staring at her with a blank expression. “You look familiar, Adrien. I think we met before.”

Emilie grows quiet, deciding to let the doctor continue to speak without any interruptions.

“Have the nurses told you that you were in a coma, Adrien?” The doctor asks carefully.

Again, Adrien just blankly stares at her.

“...They did,” Emilie answers for him. “They would recount what happened to him every time they would come to check on him.”

Good, the nurses are doing their job well. Doctor DC nods in assent, but the smile on her face has not disappeared. “Well then, since that’s settled, I brought a snack for your mom and I brought special chocolate powder that we can add for when we eat.” Doctor DC found it disheartening that Adrien can’t eat normally and would have to intake food through an NGT. Yet maybe with this plan of hers, he’ll find the strength to do well in his eating therapy sessions once they start.

She unrolls the top flap of the bag and brings out, with a paper napkin, a freshly-baked pastry. Its aroma wafts throughout the air of the room and Adrien’s eyes widen once he gets a sniff of it.

“Mmmm, this always smells good when it’s freshly baked at the bakery in the hospital lobby.” The doctor notices that Adrien couldn’t take his eyes off the pastry. The doctor knew her plan was working. “This is a chocolate croissant, by the way. It’s my favorite snack here. But,” she then moves her arm to hand over the pastry to Emilie, “this is a snack I bought for your mother, Adrien. I'll give you one once you get better through eating therapy.”

Even as Doctor DC gives the chocolate croissant to Emilie, Adrien still wouldn’t look away from the pastry. And to the women’s surprise, his hand gingerly rises, just maybe an inch high. His fingers, although shaking, try to reach toward a specific direction, and it's right at the chocolate croissant that Emilie is holding.

“D-Doctor,” Emilie gasps and she even lowers the chocolate croissant, bringing it closer for Adrien to touch.

The doctor notices that on his monitor, the digits of his heart rate are slowly increasing. Not to the point that it’s becoming dangerous for him, but it’s enough to show the doctor that he has become excited to see and smell the chocolate croissant.

“He’s moving,” Emilie whispers in growing delight. Tears begin to pool in her eyes and the hand that’s holding the croissant is shaking, showing how she’s overcome with emotion.

Adrien is able to brush the tip of his index finger on the pastry and a raspy, throbbing soft groan emits from him.

“H-He’s trying to talk, doctor.”

Suddenly, his gaze flies toward the direction of Doctor DC. His hand has fallen back limply on the bed, but he has set an unwavering gaze on the doctor.

The doctor thought that her eyes were deceiving her, but no, she was sure of what she was seeing as she couldn’t keep her eyes off Adrien too.

There is a hint of pure affection in those eyes of his.

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

I hope you liked this chapter ♡

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