No room to swing a Cat?

16 - One for all and all for one

It was almost eight o'clock in the evening and Marinette sat up in her bed uneasy. She was wondering if Cat Noir would come, as usual. Especially, when he had promised to visit her this evening. Of course, she hadn't been preparing for the meeting, because she was too busy with recovering, however after all the efforts made by her friends to help her she felt almost cured.

Everything had started before noon, when Alya came in Marinette's bedroom and informed her that she'd been discussing some treatment solutions with her mom.

"Oh, come on! Don't you have anything more interesting to talk about with your mom but my cold?" Marinette winced.

"Oh, it was a coincidence! My parents were concerned with your unexpected building problems, then they were asking me if you've already married Luka..." Alya blurted out and hearing Marinette's hiss she restrained herself. "Sorry... Anyway... I told my mom that you'd caught a cold, and she immediately went to bathroom and gave me that..." saying that Alya put a little jar with bath salt in her friend's hand.

"We have plenty of sea salt in the bathroom..." Marinette muttered in surprise.

"It's not sea salt, girl!" Alya laughed. "Can you imagine that you can find it in mines as well?"

"In mines? Are you sure you don't have a fever?"

"I didn't believe either! But it's a whole story! Listen... You remember that my mom works in the Grand Paris hotel, right? It turned out that a famous model stays there right now. Some Polish famous model. I forgot her name... Anyway... She was so impressed by one of my mom's dishes that she made the manager introduce her to my mom. And to thank her she gave her a lot of gifts."

"I don't see the point."

"One of those gifts were this jar of salt. That model told my mom that every time she travels around the world she takes it with her, because a bath is wonderful. So, she gave my mom some."

"I don't get it..."

"It is salt from a famous mine. And there's a health resort there. In the mines! Can you believe it?! That salt has some extra features that helps you in treatment. Like you know... You take a bath and make inhalation to cure your respiratory system."

"It sounds like nonsense..." Marinette was sceptical.

"Do you better options? I've heard Adrien's magical tea already helped you, so why don't you try another exotic solution?"

"Fine! Let it be... Otherwise you'll badger me to death..."

Yet, before the bath was ready, Marinette had to listen to Nino who had found some interesting facts about aromatherapy, and to Adrien who mentioned something about a risk of fainting in warm water, and to Alya who asked so many questions about how her friend was feeling, that it was impossible to answer them all.

For a moment Marinette thought that they all would accompany her in the bathroom, so just in case she strongly suggested them staying outside. Before she managed to convince them to leave her alone, it was one o'clock in the afternoon. That made Nino order pizza, Adrien left to prepare some oriental tea and Alya sat down on the floor in the corridor and informed Marinette that she'd be talking with her through the door.

"If you don't answer, I promise we all will come in there!" she warned her friend.

"Fine!" Marinette hissed. "I'll be talking! Just let me finally check this miraculous salt!"

Although she was sceptical when it came to the non-sea salt – especially when it had been a gift from a Polish supermodel – she had to admit that taking a saline bath was an exceptional experience. She felt her body warmed up and her respiratory system cleaned that made breathing much easier. All that helped her to relax, yet every time when she wanted to fall into her dreams, Alya reminded her wryly that sleeping in bath is forbidden.