SEASON 5 - LUKANETTE VERSION PART 1 OF 2

EVOLUTION - PART 1

AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT

Luka had just finished his last delivery of the day for his part time delivery job on a sunny Saturday afternoon. As he cycled home on his bike he smiled, thinking about seeing Marinette soon for ice-cream at Andre's. He always looked forward to seeing her. He planned to pick up his guitar and meet her there and play a song for her in the park.

He rounded a corner and was five minutes away from home when suddenly a cat ran in front of his bike.
'Woah!' Luka cried, swerving to miss the cat but steered into a grate instead, causing the wheel of his bicycle to get stuck sending him flying over the handlebars and headfirst into a pole, knocking him out cold. Luckily, he had his helmet on and an older lady who just came out of a florist saw the accident and hurried over.

'Are you okay young man?' she asked, panicked. But Luka is unconscious and doesn't respond.

She quickly gets out her phone, almost dropping it in her panicked state, and calls for an ambulance.

'Yes, I need an ambulance please on Haussmann St opposite the René Veyrat florist. A young man has gone over the handlebars on his bike and seems to be unconscious.....Yes, I can feel a pulse....Yes, he appears to be breathing, yes. Of course I will stay until the paramedics arrive....No, there doesn't appear to be any broken bones...yes, he is wearing a helmet...okay I will make sure he's kept still until the paramedics arrive...yes, I'll stay on the line...'

The paramedics arrive in a few minutes and put a collar around his neck in case of a spinal injury. They notice his phone and student ID in his pocket and get it out to contact his family to tell them of the accident. It had a thumbprint lock so they used his thumb to open it and went through his contacts and found 'Mom' and called the number from their own phone.

Marinette meanwhile had already found Andre and had texted Luka the location.

'What time did Luka say he'd meet you Marinette?' Tikki asked.

'2pm, he said he had one more delivery to do then he'd be right over. But that's okay, it's always hard to know where Andre will be. Maybe his last delivery was on the other side of town.'

Marinette waited and waited.

Arnaka and Juleka were at the Liberty when Arnaka got a call from an unknown number on her phone.

I swear if this is those darn telemarketers again I'm gonna lose it she thought to herself as she answered.

Arnaka: “Hello?”

Paramedic: “Hello ma'am, are you the mother of a Luka Couffaine?”

Arnaka gasped.

Arnaka: “Yes, I am.”

Paramedic: “I'm afraid he's had an accident on his bike ma'am. We're taking him to Lariboisière Hospital at 2 Rue Ambroise Parè. Please get there as soon as you can.”

Arnaka: “I'm on my way!”

She hangs up.

'Juleka! Luka's in hospital, he's had an accident! Call your father to meet us at Lariboisière Hospital ASAP!'

Juleka gasped. 'Of course, Mom! Let's go!'

They both hurried off to the hospital and Juleka called Jagged on the way.

When they arrived at the hospital Luka was having tests done. Jagged went in shortly after Arnaka and Juleka arrived.

'How is Luka? Is he okay?' Jagged asked them.

'He's having tests done, but he's stable' Arnaka replied.

'The doctor said if he wasn't wearing the helmet he most certainly wouldn't be here. The helmet saved his life' Juleka added.

'He'll be okay Jules, he's a strong boy. He'll pull through this' Jagged said softly to Juleka as he hugged her.

Arnaka smiled. She liked how well Luka and Juleka were getting along with their father and it warmed her heart slightly.

The doctor came out.
'Hello, I'm Doctor Stevens. You're Luka's family, right?'
'Yes doctor, how is he?' Arnaka asked.
'He's stable. No broken bones or spinal cord injuries. The most significant injury is to his head but we'll know more when he wakes up. It's just a waiting game for now.'

'Can we see him?' Jagged asked.
'Sure, just for a few minutes though. We'll be sure to let you know when he wakes up.'

'Thank you doctor' Arnaka replied.
A nurse came out. 'Please follow me' she said. 'Oh, here is a bag of the items we found on his person.'

She gave Juleka the bag. She looked inside and saw his clothes, wallet, phone, his wrist bands, knee and elbow guards, helmet, black ear studs, promise ring and his guitar pick necklace.

Juleka gasped. Mari! I have to let her know what happened! she thought to herself. Suddenly Luka's phone beeped. Juleka looked at the message on the screen and saw it was from Mari and took out her phone and called Mari right away.

Marinette meanwhile was waiting at Andre's.

'I'm worried Tikki. It's not like Luka to be this late without letting me know. And I'm sure he wouldn't forget.'

'Yeah. I have a bad feeling' Tikki replied.

She texted Luka:
"Hey, I'm still waiting at Andre's. Are you coming?"

Suddenly her phone rang.

'Juleka?' Mari gasped. She answered.
"Juleka, what's up? Do you know where Luka is? He was supposed to meet me for ice-cream at Andre's."

"Mari....Luka...had an accident on his bike and hit his head pretty badly. He's in the hospital."

Mari gasped. "No! Is....is he okay?"

Tikki looked up at her, shocked.

"He's stable, but he hasn't woken up yet" Juleka replied.

"Am I allowed to come see him?" Mari asked.

"I think it's family only for the moment. But I'll let you know when he wakes up. Then we can all go over together" Juleka replied.

"Okay...thanks for letting me know Juleka. Bye."

"Bye Mari."

Marinette sighed sadly.

'I knew I had a bad feeling' Tikki said sadly.

'At least Luka is alive. And he's stable. I'm sure he'll pull through this' Mari replied.

Mari looked at the time on her phone.

'Oh shoot, is that the time? I gotta do patrol with Cat Noir in half an hour. Oh well, duty calls. At least it will keep me distracted from worrying for a while.' She hurries off.