I wake up in my bed, with shakes and cold sweats. The ache in my side is worse than ever before, the skin feeling burning hot to the touch.
No matter how I try to lay, I can't get comfortable at all.
I jump off my bed, my vision distorted and my wobbly legs barely holding me up as my temples pound ferociously.
No longer can I deny that my side needs medical attention. I was hoping for one night of peace ever since Gabriel's arrest earlier today.
I stumble to my mirror, lifting up my shirt to see the puckered red wound oozing a light orange-coloured liquid that looks disturbingly a lot like tree sap.
Grimacing, I flip my hatch door up and carefully try to climb down to get my parent's help. I don't want to freak Adrien out, who is currently in the guest bedroom. I didn't want him to stay in his mansion for the time being, such a big place must feel extra lonely. He doesn't need that right now.
They were so relieved to see me come home, that they were more than happy to house Adrien for as long as he wants. Thankfully, everything has been resolved to some degree.
Except for my side.
Tapping on my parent's bedroom door, I open it to find the two of them fast asleep.
"Mom? Dad?" I whisper, quietly walking over to the side of their bed to shake them awake.
"Marinette? What's wrong?" My mom sits up quickly, startling my dad awake.
"My side. I think I need to go to the hospital." I try not to cry, feeling terribly sick. There's something about being sick that makes you want to sob and be held.
"Let me see. Oh jeez, honey. You're covered in sweat." My mom brushes my hair out of my face, the strands sticking to my perspirant covered skin. Flicking on her bedside lamp, she places one palm on my forehead while the other lifts my shirt enough to expose my side.
My mom gasps at the view, looking at my side with both horror and anger. "Marinette! You promised you wouldn't let it get this bad!"
"No, I promised to go if it gets infected." I shrug, trying to laugh but none of us find this humours.
"How long has it been infected?" My dad leans in, taking a good look at my disgustingly oozing wound.
"Maybe a few days? It wasn't this bad though." I say quietly, ashamed of having to admit that.
"Marinette!" My mom practically yells, very uncharacteristically of her. She's such a quiet woman, that seeing her get so worked up makes me feel even worse about this.
I'm actually a little scared now.
"There's a reason it got worse, Marinette. Infections left untreated can become very serious." My dad says, quickly getting out of bed to get himself ready. My mom joins him, bustling about to gather proper clothing to wear.
"Tell me what you're feeling right now." My mom demands as I gently lower myself to sit on the edge of the bed.
"I feel so cold, but my body is so sweaty. My head hurts and everything is a little dizzy. I feel like I can't even take a full, deep breath." I look at my hands, feeling like I'm in the wrong body. It's such an uncomfortable experience.
"Whats going on?" Adrien pops into the doorway, eyes bewildered and hair messy. When I turn my head to look at him, the whole room spins. I blink rapidly, trying to settle my unstable vision, but my head hurts too much to keep trying. "Marinette? What's wrong."
I feel his warm hands on my face, and right as I lean into his touch he pulls back as though I've given him an electric shock.
"What's happening to her?" He asks my parents as my dad grabs his car keys and quickly rushes out of the room. My mom brings over a cold wet cloth, pressing it against my forehead.
"Cold!" I gasp, but my mom prevents me from jerking away.
"Marinette, we need to bring your fever down. Do not take this cloth off. Open your mouth." I reluctantly let my mom stick the thermometer under my tongue as she takes my temperature. "Her injury has gotten badly infected." My mom finally answers Adrien.
The thermometer beeps, making my mom shake her head disapprovingly. "104 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats bad. Adrien, please help me take Marinette out to the car."
Adrien goes to pick me up, but I stand on my own. I'm not dying, I'll be damned if I make them all worry about me any further. We'll go get my side treated, and then come home and go to sleep. We all deserve some peace and quiet. Especially Adrien and I.
I accept the arm that Adrien wraps around my waist, helping to guide me out of the bedroom. This would have been fine, had it not been for my legs that disagree with all of this.
My knees buckle, but before I can catch myself, my whole world goes black.
----------
The first thing I notice when I wake up is the stench of bleach, and the consistent beeping noise beside my head. The next thing I notice was the bright lights that penetrated through my eyelids, making me want to slap whoever created a lightbulb this bright.
When I begrudgingly pry my eyes open, I see the hospital room I'm in. My parents rush over immediately, and Adrien who was sitting beside my bed holding my hand straightens his spine in response.
Everyone starts speaking, the idea of order missing them completely. I can't help the laugh that ripples out of my sore throat.
My mom's wide eyes meet mine, and she runs her hands through her hair as though she's about to have a nervous breakdown. "Great! She's lost her mind. She's gone mad, Tom! Look at her!"
"What's so funny?" Adrien asks, making me squeeze his hands.
"All of you are acting so silly." I giggle, making my mom let out a long and exasperated sigh. My dad taps my hand, drawing my attention to the little IV poking into my vein.
"Nothing about this is funny, Marinette. Do you know how serious this is?" My dad reprimands, crossing his arms as he looks down at me. Though the tone doesn't match his eyes that are laced with concern.
"Not really." I admit, watching my dad back away and head to the door. He calls out for a nurse, who comes bustling in a few moments later.
"Marinette, how are you feeling?" She asks, bringing me a little styrofoam cup with a plastic spoon sticking out of it.
"I'm feeling better than before." I smile, taking the cup from the nurse. My excitment dies a sad, pitiful death when I notice the contents inside isn't some ice cream or jello. It's just crushed ice. Nevertheless, I spoon some into my mouth. It does wonders to ease my dry and scratchy throat.
"That's wonderful to hear. You're lucky you came here in time, you were experiencing sepsis." The nurse grabs a clipboard from beside my bed, taking note of all my vitals.
"What's sepsis?" I ask, watching the nurse frown as she completes jotting down my information.
"Sepsis is what happens when you have an infection that is left untreated. Usually occurring when someone has a severe infection in either their lungs, urinary or gastrointestinal tract, or in your case, your skin. Your infection spread into your bloodstream, which was why you were starting to feel very ill. Thankfully, you came before you went into septic shock. We were able to get some antibiotics into you through this IV." She points to the little needle with the thin tube poking into my skin that I noticed earlier.
"What would have happened if I went into septic shock?" I ask nervously, feeling really dumb for letting this happen in the first place.
"Well, septic shock is when you start experiencing organ failure caused by sepsis. It's the most severe case, and can result in death."
Well, that wouldn't have been good.
"I'm sorry." I admit to my parents and Adrien, who look at me with concern.
"She'll be okay, right?" Adrien asks, making the nurse smile softly at him. She pats my arm, looking back at me with a nod.
"You're going to be fine, so long as you follow the doctor's orders. She'll swoop by in a bit, and you should be good to go home come afternoon." The nurse ushers my parents out into the hallway, and I watch as they reluctantly leave my side.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Adrien asks, his hand never having let go of my own.
"Yeah, I'm feeling much better, I promise."
"Please, Marinette. Never jeopardize your health ever again. I don't want you prioritizing anything that isn't your health and safety. It kills me knowing that you were going through so much discomfort and pain in silence." He bends down, leaning his forehead against my hand.
How did I end up with someone so kind and caring? Someone who puts my needs above all else, protecting me even after his whole world just flipped upside down.
"I love you, Adrien."
"That's not a promise." He snorts, looking back up at me with glossy eyes. I can't tell if it's tears, or exhaustion.
"I promise." I giggle, squeezing his hand. "I love you."
"I love you too, so very much." After a few moments, he bites his lip like he's lost in thought. "Marinette?"
"Mhmm?"
"Will you be my girlfriend?" I resist the urge to burst out laughing, wondering why of all places would he ask me such a thing when I'm laying in a hospital bed? The feeling of laughter is quickly replaced with warmth spreading through my chest, my heart rate machine embarrassingly beeping a little faster.
"You have terrible timing." I giggle, making him smile sheepishly. His rosy cheeks melt my heart, making me want to hold him close and kiss him like I've never kissed him before.
"I can't lose you." He says quietly, so I give in and reach for his face, tugging him towards me. When he's hovering over me, chest inches from my own with his breath fanning my face, I smile at him.
"You won't, my boyfriend." I kiss him passionately, getting lost in the way his soft lips dance with my own, making my body tingle and burn.
A throat clears, making Adrien jump back with a very cute blush turning his face a bright red. It wasn't until this moment that I realize I haven't brushed my teeth since waking up. I hope my breath isn't as gross as I feel.
My parents and the doctor stand there, and oh my goodness if I could just go back to being on the verge of septic shock so I could avoid this awkward encounter, that would be great. My mom looks slightly impressed, whereas my dad looks angry as he glares at Adrien. The doctor just smiles with an amused expression, eyes darting between all of us.
"Marinette, I'm just going to keep monitoring you until noon, then you should be good to go. You have a prescription for an antibiotic to take twice a day for ten days. It's important that you take some probiotics while you're on these antibiotics."
"Whys that?" I question, feeling a little silly for asking, but taking a probiotic and antibiotic sounds rather redundant. Wouldn't they just cancel each other out?
"Because taking an antibiotic can kill the good bacteria in your gut that you want to keep. So by taking some probiotics, even something like probiotic yoghurt, you can help keep the good gut bacteria that you need to maintain normal healthy bodily functions." The doctor smiles at me, handing the prescription slip to my dad. "Any more questions?"
"Not really."
"Good, then get some rest and a nurse will come by to check on you before you're discharged. It's important that you come right back if your symptoms worsen, or your infection isn't gone by the time you finish taking these antibiotics. Okay?" I nod my head, watching the doctor approach me to help readjust my pillows. A sweet gesture she didn't need to do, but did anyways. You can tell she chose this field of work purely to help others.
"Oh, and Marinette?" She says softly, giving me an all-knowing smile. "Next time, don't wait so long to come to the hospital, okay? You've spent enough time looking after Paris, it's time you look after yourself, Ladybug."
Her smile never falters, but my stomach immediately drops. Even if she means well, she just exposed something I was very worried about.
Everyone knows my identity now.
"H-how-"
"An educated guess, don't sweat it." She winks at me, taking off to leave the room.
"Adrien, do people know?" I ask, horrified by the idea that my secret has spread throughout all of Paris by now.
"I checked, and it seems like it's circulating on social media. I'm not sure how it got out, but it's not being picked up by news stations. Felix made sure to call Nadja Chamack, and warned her that if anything gets on the news about you being Ladybug then we'll sue her and the station for everything they've got." Adrien grins, making my heart flutter. As kind as that is, it doesn't really solve the situation at hand.
Either way, I have to believe that everything will be okay. Here I am, surrounded by my loving parents and wonderful boyfriend. Hawkmoth has been defeated, and justice will be served. Adrien will soon be able to heal, and we can all move on to the best of our abilities.
It might not be perfect right now, but regardless of whats to come, I finally feel a little more ready to take it head on.