Another You

Part 16

Part 16

Marinette POV

The smell of a hospital. It's undeniably steric air feels kind of unworldly. Time gets lost as your body is numb and you drift in and out of many sleeps thinking about everything that's wrong with your physical body. My eyes were closed, but if I opened them I knew I would awake to that dull white ceiling with the rectangle light in my face. I faintly heard the stagnant beeping of a monitor. The beeps were spaced out pretty far so I must be presumably calm.

My senses started to slowly awake. I could feel a presence to my right, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. My forearm felt tight and I felt the metal rod of a thick IV embedded at an awkward angle. My lower right side started to ache. The numbness I had felt all over started to fade and I could move my fingertips the slightest bit. But as the numbness faded, the pain came back too. I wonder what happened to me?

"Marinette?"

A voice softly called out. I felt the warmth of a hand round my right hand. It was my mother's warm voice.

"Marinette! You're awake..." my mom said. I felt her lips gently kiss my head. My eyes began to slowly open. The light seeped through my eyes and caused me to squint really hard.

"Why am I here?" I managed to ask my mom. My father was right behind her sitting in a chair.

"Honey... look down at your abdoman," she started and I looked down to see bloody bandages wrapped around me. "You were shot, and a young man brought you in here. You've been here for about 27 hours."

"Are they trying to find who shot me?"

"Yes, but it's hard. It is technically an attempted murder, but we don't knwo who his target was or the motives."

"Oh..." I wonder where he is right now?

I had a sudden urge to feel my ear. With my left hand I slowly reached it to my ear lobe and felt that it was bare... Where did they go? This is bad.

Adrien's POV

{22 hours ago as he brought Marinette in at about 10pm}

It was hard to see her this way; a girl filled with so much life being held together by a beeping machine and equipment. I am happy that the surgery went well. Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't it have hit me?

I looked at her resting face and then to her ears. All of this because of the stupid miraculous... some fulfillment my father wants to claim to fix his mistakes. If I took them... would her pain be over? If I got rid of the lady bug earrings forever, there would be no more seeking for power and Marinette would be safe...

I slowly walked up to Marinette and took each of the earrings off individually. I kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear.

"I know you probably can't hear me... but I am doing this to protect you. It may be wrong, but Iwant you to be safe because...." I paused realizing how stupid I sounded. I finished my sentence regardless. "Because I don't want to lose you and I love you- so please forgive me."

I turned away quite flustered. I can't say those things to her in person, she would surely make fun of me. Slowly, I stood up and made my way towards the door. I looked back and sighed as I closed it behind me.

...

Adrien POV

I closed the door behind me and peeked back through the hospital window to look at her. I hope she doesn't hate me after this... it's very likely that she will.

As I walked out of the hospital, I felt the cold air fill my lungs with small pellets of frozen water that came with. The feeling of a cough came but I never let it out. I exhaled and saw my breath in the air rise until it disappeared. A blanket of clouds covered the sky, but it was awfully bright for being 12 AM. The reflection of the snowfall always makes the sky bright. Snow usually represents two things... it can mean new beautiful, beginnings, or death and loneliness.

I pulled my hand from my pocket and looked down at Marinette's earrings. It has to be done.

"Plagg," I whispered. "You can come out now, there's no one around."

Oh wait... he's not here. I can't believe I am about to do this.

I stopped into a nearly empty drug store where I bought sewing needles, cotton balls, some cheap black studs, and sterilizing wipes. The back of the store had a bathroom sign so I made my way back there and prepped near the mirror. Here goes nothing.

Slowly, I pierced my ears with the needles and stuck her earring into the newly made holes. I held cotton swabs and cleaned them to try to get them to stop bleeding. How does almost every girl willingly go through this pain?

"Hello, you must be Adrien," a little voice said to me.

"Hey, you would be correct," I started. "What is your name?"

"I'm Tikki... may I ask why you took the miraculous from Marinette? I know she wouldn't have wanted them taken without her consent..."

"I've wanted to meet you. Marinette is constantly being targeted by my father because he wants to have the power of the cat and the ladybug. I want to eliminate her from the target list because she got hurt most likely from his selfish actions. Who should I give this to? I don't want it to get into the wrong hands"

"I understand Adrien. I think you should give it to master Fu if you truly want to take it from her. He is the leader of the Fu Agency - which Marinette works for - and they have been trying to take down you and your father for a while now... they wanted to return your miraculous to the hands of the Guardian. I am very proud that you realize that now, it must have been hard to escape your father's grasp..."

"Yes, it was very hard I-" the bathroom door suddenly opened. I quickly pretended to fix my earring and Tikki flew into the opening of my coat.

"Oh, uh, sorry young man," a man said after looking at me strangely and turning around. Phew.

Tikki explained that there was one more opportunity for me to meet this infamous Master Fu and find out what the hell is going on. I would have to go undercover to meet him at a gala for the elite that is being held tomorrow. It would be a dangerous mission. I would need to be in disguise and look different from my usual self to protect me from my father and to make contact with Master Fu... they suggested getting me a black wig... but I'm not too sure how fond of the idea I am. My earrings couldn't remain in my ear because my father would instantly recognize them, so I placed my studs in. Adrien Agreste with black hair and black earring studs. I should definitely be unrecognizable.

When I got home, I was very suspicious of my father. He must have been the one who set up the shooter for Marinette. The story of the girl who was shot was all over the news and I turned off the TV. He will pay for what he has done. Mark my words.

I needed protection with me for tomorrow night... luckily my father let me in on the password for his gun cabinet a while back when he trusted me. I took a Glock 26 4th gen and stuck it in my pocket. Now all I need is a tuxedo.

To be Continued...

A/N: YALL when I wrote all this I was struggling to even get into colleges and now I'm accepted and ready to go. I've come so far :')