To Heart's Content

LIFEline

"You're under hot water, Dr. Agreste."

Those lethargic words dripped through Adrien's mind continuously. Any ol' regular Joe could have misjudged the entire situation. Only, his error landed him a first class ticket to hell town, population monstrous paper work. And there was no escape or back door to be found.

To add to the pile of increasing utter happiness he was experiencing, it was raining. Heavy sheets of unrelenting cloud tears were drenching Adrien down to his marrowed bone. He tugged his coat collar, poping the tabs up to prevent the undesired result of a potentially soaked neck. The man was walking from the hospital to his sleek, albeit lonely, apartment.

Recently, he had made a massive faux pau in his line of work. It gravely caused a loss of life. Adrien was to soon be facing charges, possibly needing to appear in court if the family demanded. How could his life spiraled downward so rapidly without his consent? Before a patient can receive a surgery, they must sign documents giving legal approval. Why wasn't he given the same standards? Sure, the blonde was not about to endure a physical altercation that warranted drugs to be put asleep, but this situation was pretty dang close.

If he were to lose his job, worst case scenario, he would have nothing to live for. Adrien was a total work fiend and isolated himself from all other means of life, unless they were necessary to bettering his streamlined skill set. That was the way it had been for his entire twenty-five years of his life. And he saw no valid reason to change, despite the damaging music he surely faced.

"Help! She's not breathing, is anyone a doctor?"

A shrill cry for assistance snapped the surgeon from his wallowing pity party. He had half a mind to help the girl out, but he could not stand to find himself in another legal altercation. Adrien continued to walk by, quickly observing the young lady who could potentially die. "Hey you! You're wearing scrubs and a lab coat! Help this girl, please!"

Where he stood was a heavily populated sidewalk. Everyone nearby was awaiting his response. Grunting and wincing, he bent down over the girl. He first placed his ear to her sternum to see if he could hear any hope of potential respiration. There was none to speak of. Glancing upward at the crowd of annoying cellular devices that had begun to record the scary situation, he shouted, "Back up! And turn off your phones!" Almost everyone obeyed his second command.

Focusing back on the girl, he sighed, ripping his white coat and scrub shirt off, rendering him shirtless as he strategically placed the material underneath her head, opening her airway up. Next, he unbuttoned her jacket, much to the protests of everyone around, most thinking he was committing a sexual crime. "I need to have her chest naked so I can perform accurate compressions, you foolish people!"

Collecting his makeshift pillow and the girl up, he carried his unexpected patient to a neighboring alleyway. Adrien situated her again, stripping her down to her purple laced bra. Not even hesitating, he removed the last article of clothing from her chest, positioning himself to administer CPR. Fisting his hands, he massaged the girl's heart through her skin and muscle, hoping she would just hurry up and breathe already.

New policies insinuated that mouth-to-mouth was pointless unless you really knew the person, or had extreme trouble gaining a response from the victim. Throwing caution to the wind, Adrien bent down, popping her lips open before blowing a steadfast stream of oxygen into her stagnant lung cavities. Switching back to more rounds of CPR, the blonde's arms were starting to strain from pressure, affecting the level of care he could give this woman. However, he was grateful they were out of the rain and underneath an awning.

With a skewed cough, the woman sat up, gathering her equilibrium. When she was completely cognizant, she looked like she might scream. Adrien lunged, covering her mouth. "You collapsed and I administered CPR. I have no shirt on so I could support your head and open your trachea. You have no clothing on so there was less risk of a rib breaking from the underwire in your bra. I am a doctor in a hospital and you are safe now," he calmly explained, snatching his lab coat and covering her pale skin. The girl looked fearful, and he hated that. To back his claims up with physical evidence, he yanked his ID tag from his coat, the shiny plastic also sporting a photo of him.

"My name is Doctor Agreste, but you can call me Adrien."

She swallowed, tensing the veins around her neck. "I-I'm Marinette Dupain-Chang."

"Do you know why it was you passed out in the first place?" he spoke coldly. The man had no interest in idle banter. She shook her head no, her dark hair spilling into the air as she did so. "Really? Okay then, do you eat fatty foods on the regular?"

"I have a well balanced diet."

"Did you overdose on drugs?"

"I've only taken one supplement of Vitamin C several hours ago, so... no." her eyebrows furrowed, trying to answer his rapid fire questions swiftly and in a no-nonsense fashion.

"You clearly weren't drowning, although that wouldn't be unheard of considering this weather."

She laughed. Marinette actually laughed at him. And he enjoyed the melodic ringing in his ears and wasn't irritated with it at all. "No, I didn't drown." As she snuggled into his doctors coat, he fully took the time to notice just how baby blue her innocent eyes were. The color sent shivers down the middle of his back. "Did you get an infection of some kind?"

Marinette took the time to think before saying, "I did get a nasty scratch a few days ago, maybe that's it?" Adrien nodded and asked if he could look at it. She popped her arm from underneath her lightly clothed barrier, revealing a puss-filled wound. Adrien composed himself instead of gaging. He had seen worse than this, but it was so throughly shocking from the otherwise well put together girl before him. "I need to clean that up, Marinette. It's been tainted with bacteria that made its way into your bloodstream, hence why you quit lung respiration."

"Do you have bedside manner? If not, I think it could prove useful to pessimistic folk unlike me." she informed while smiling directly into his eyes. The otherwise curt comment struck a chord within his belly. "W-Well I-I try to-"

"I'm sorry! I totally overstepped my bounds again. I tend to do that in uncomfortable situations. It's like this dumb, unconscious go-to of mine."

"You feel as though this is awkward?"

"You saw my naked breasts. I still haven't even held a guy's hand yet, let alone have one see me undressed, even partially. I'd consider this awkward."

"I've practiced on many unclothed cadavers and see many naked bodies daily, why would your virgin one be any different?" Adrien posed, genuinely confused at to why such a matter could be so important. Much to his shock, she giggled, wrinkling her freckled nose. "To you, it's just another job done. To me, your the guy who got to me before my husband ever could." She wore a soft smile, glancing at the wet cement below their figures. He felt unwarranted words bubbling up in his throat. "I'm sorry."

With a youthful, twinkled gleam in her bluebells, she said, "All is well. Unless, of course, you don't treat my infection. Then I'll tattle on you to your parents."

"Wait, why would you-"

"It's a joke, Adrien," Marinette breathed quietly to him. Nodding, he assisted her frail body with properly covering her nakedness. Afterward, he put on his own clothing and scooped the recovering girl up, carrying her to the hospital in which he worked daily. All of the other doctors would have a field day with the sight presenting itself before them. There was Doctor Agreste holding a young woman tenderly, caring to her every need personally as she endured her stay at the hospital. Even the dumb runs for green jello and requests for foot rubs.

________________

Hey sweet readers! How are you feeling after this chapter? Hopefully good! Leave a vote or comment to show your support. Much love.

Bubbles <3