We'll Be Ok, You And I

The Week After

The hospital was cold.

Adrien sat by his mother's hospital bed, listening to the steady beep of the heart monitors. The chair he sat in was itchy, although it was a private hospital with the best furniture money could buy. So perhaps he was the one feeling itchy?

He hoped her bed was comfier.

Looking at his mother, lying in bed this way, felt like he was looking at someone else entirely, like he'd entered a strange alternate reality. Her skin was pale and waxy, though he refused to think 'deathlike.' She wasn't dead, she was here and alive. The doctors would find a way for her to wake up... right?

Words couldn't describe how much he wanted that to be true, for her to wake up and embrace him as she once had. He wanted her to say it had all been a terrible dream. He wanted to reach out, to hold her hand.

He chickened out at the last minute, tugging his mother's bed sheet up instead, telling himself that it was because he didn't want her to be cold.

Now that he was here, finally able to see her, Adrien didn't know what to think. What to feel. There was a comfort in knowing everything, even as that understanding had left devastation in its wake. In her years of absence, there had been a hole in Adrien's heart desperate to be filled with knowledge. Where had she gone? Who had taken her? Was she ok?

Would she ever come back?

And now he knew the answers, the hole in his heart had closed considerably. But there was a new pain now. He'd gained one parent and lost another.

He had the urge to ask her if they'd ever be a whole family again, but he knew that wasn't possible. The happier days of his young childhood were gone. They weren't coming back, and Adrien couldn't help but grieve for them. A shudder ran through him and he tore his gaze away from his mother. It was all too much.

But then there was the guilt. He should be happy, right? His mother was here! There was hope still. And he had Marinette, all his friends too. What was family, anyway? He didn't need to be a family with a villain! Gabriel could stay in his prison cell forever for all he cared.

His hands clenched into fists.

"I can hear your angst from here."

"Plagg!" Adrien gasped, trying to swipe the kwami back into his pocket.

Plagg batted his hand away with softer scowl than usual. "It's alright to be confused, you know. So your dad ended up being a jerk. Lots of people have horrible parents. They turn out ok in the end. So why don't you tell your mum about all the good stuff instead? It's less boring than hearing about the Hawkmoth trial for the millionth time."

It was a while before Adrien could muster up the courage to speak. Plagg landed on his shoulder, able to duck out of sight if someone came in through the door opposite them. It was a comforting weight.

"You know I'm getting kinda freaked out at how nice you're being," Adrien replied eventually, scratching his kwami under his chin.

"I'm always nice, whatcha talking about?" Plagg huffed, leaning into Adrien's touch. "And I don't believe in kicking a cat when they're down."

Adrien's tiny smile faltered. He glanced back towards his mother.

Sucking in a breath, he sat up taller and leaned towards her.

"It's ok, Adrien," Plagg whispered and, for some strange reason, hearing Plagg call him by his actual name made him want to cry.

Instead, he swallowed the lump in his throat and took his mother's hand. It was warm. A tidal wave of relief washed over him and he was unable to stop the tears, even as he smiled around them. He'd never known before, how tears could be such a strange mix of emotions. Happiness, betrayal, grief, comfort, love.