Adrien has free time, for the first time in a million years. Okay, that seems a bit over exaggerated. Adrien finally has free time for the first time this week.

An hour of free time is more than enough for him. He couldn't contain his excitement when he also found out that Doctor DC is performing a medical operation during his break, meaning he would get to watch her.

The operating rooms do not have those overhead viewing galleries for other people to watch one perform a surgery. Those are mainly found in medical shows.

Viewing screens or monitors are available at the operating rooms of Webford General Hospital. Adrien is not one to complain. He would even take the lowest definition of the viewing screens just to see his doctor in action.

Nath is assigned as the scrub nurse for today's operation. He and Adrien have not spoken since that time at the station and it was starting to bother the latter. Adrien does not like it when he bothers other people, but sometimes due to his clumsiness, it can't be helped.

Adrien did not get to watch the beginning of the operation, he actually arrived to watch it as the doctors are finishing the coronary artery bypass procedure.

"It's amazing, right?" Nurse Mylene whispers as she decided to accompany Adrien to watch the ongoing procedure. "Let's have a short quiz. What do they do during a procedure like that?"

Adrien hides a scowl since he had a feeling that this was going to happen. Though, he still has to answer, "The surgeon, Doctor DC in this context, has to reroute the blood flow around the blockage."

"And how does she reroute the blood flow?"

"She needs to use a piece of a vein or artery from another part of the patient's body."

Nurse Mylene looks at him, impressed. "A general answer, but you got it."

Adrien only smiles in reply as he watches Doctor DC ask Nath to put down the loupe, magnifying lenses, on her surgical glasses.

"I have a question, Adrien, and I hope you wouldn't mind my asking," Nurse Mylene continues, still watching the doctors inside the operating room finishing up last procedures, "Why become a nurse when you could have continued with your studies and be a doctor at your current age?"

Adrien purses his lips, conscious and wary on how he'll answer her question. He had a feeling that this was going to happen. He is not as young as the rest of the new nurses so, of course, it may have come off as a shock to others when they found out his age.

29 is not a bad age to start a new profession, some even consider it to still be young. Yet in the medical field, the age 29 would be for doctors who have had experience as residents and are now taking care of the patients on their own. Nurses don't always start at 29, the youngest would be at the age of 23.

Not a lot of people know that nursing is Adrien's second course.

"I first graduated with a degree in Fashion Design," he trails off and chooses not to say anything further. He awkwardly smiles at Nurse Mylene then continues to watch the procedure through the screen. "Then I decided to take a second course..."

"So, you have two majors?"

"...yeah," Adrien shyly admits, rubbing the nape of his neck as he gazes at the ground.

Nurse Mylene teasingly pushes him. "Why do you sound like you're ashamed? You have two majors! Not everyone has that."

"R-Really?" He stammers in disbelief, looking up.

She nods. "You should feel proud of yourself. Plus, Fashion Design is not an easy course. Actually, there are no easy courses...just prejudices."

Just as Adrien wanted to say something back to her, the operation finishes, seeing that the doctors have left the room and went to the side to take off their surgical gowns.

"Adrien, I think you should meet Doctor DC outside," Nurse Mylene tells him immediately and he nods before leaving the viewing room to meet the doctor.

Adrien sees her right as she leaves the operating room, still in her blue scrubs. He rushes over to her side to greet the doctor. "Congratulations, doctor, on a successful operation."

The doctor stops in shock with a hand flying to her chest to calm her heart. "Oh, Jesus," she mutters under her breath and when she sees that it's just the newbie, she exhales a deep breath. "I knew that you would be here...just like last time."

Adrien tilts his head in confusion and follows the doctor to wherever she's heading off to. "What do you mean by 'just like last time'?"

She chuckles ruefully, rubbing her tired eyes at the same time. "You forgot? You confessed that you like me right after I performed a surgery."

The nurse's cheeks flare red, remembering that embarrassing moment. From all days, he had to do it on the first day of working. Though, the doctor sounded like she's finding the fun in it instead of being annoyed about it.

"Well," Adrien starts off slowly, noticing that they are headed to the doctor's office, "has those words brought any change to you, now?" he asks, mustering the courage to even finish asking.

"You're still a rock that's blocking my path," she answers nonchalantly without hesitating.

Adrien's shoulders visibly fall in defeat. "Not even a small change, doctor?"

They stop by the doorway of the office and the doctor brings a finger to her lips, tapping them like as if she's thinking hard on her answer.

"Hmm," she hums. "Well, maybe not a rock anymore."

Adrien seems to brighten up with that statement.

"But a pebble, now. Still very annoying," she finishes. The nurse's mood falls again. Yet, the doctor kept on smirking at him, finding his clear expectations amusing. Though, she can't promise anything from her side. Feelings are complicated when it comes to her situation.

"Newbie, stay here for a moment. I have something to give you." The doctor leaves the nurse by the doorway to grab a brown paper bag sitting on her desk. She goes back to Adrien and hands the whole bag to him. "Here, for you."

The nurse takes it, puzzled with why she gave him something and what's in the bag. "Sorry, doc, but what's in this?"

"Open it," she utters and crosses her arms as she watches him take out a plastic container with leafy greens, assorted fruit slices, and strips of chicken in it. "I got you a salad for lunch."

"D-Doc, you didn't have to-"

"I've noticed an accumulation of chocolate bar wrappers in the bin of the break room. I want you to eat something good for once."

"Thank you, doctor..."

"Finish it in 20 minutes," she cuts him off in a stern manner, pointing at the plastic container. "Then we'll visit a new patient of mine, got it?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Hurry, newbie, because this new patient has a serious condition. And I've been told that I'm the only one who could treat it."

------------

"Good afternoon, Miss Bouchard," Doctor DC greets a woman, with wavy brown hair ending right at her shoulders that outline her face. She looks like she's around her late 20's.

The doctor enters the room of the woman and Adrien follows, pushing the nurse cart with him.

"Please don't call me that," the woman says, pushing herself to sit up on the bed. Adrien immediately goes to her bedside and fixes the position of the hospital bed so that she can feel comfortable. "Thank you," she quietly says to the nurse then faces the doctor again. "Céline is fine."

"Okay, Céline, I am doctor DC. With me is Nurse Adrien." She opens the patient's chart and skims through the information written on it. "It says here that you've been confined for the past two days."

"That's right, doctor."

"And you came here because you've been feeling chest pains for how long?"

"For around two weeks straight, doctor," Céline answers and the doctor nods, confirming the information written on the chart. "I...I have a congenital heart disease, pulmonary valve stenosis, but it has not really bothered me growing up. It's just now that the pain has become unbearable."

Doctor DC takes the stethoscope hanging around her neck and puts on the earpieces. "If you won't mind, I'd like to check on you."

"No problem." Céline allows the doctor to place the head of the stethoscope on her chest to hear the beating of her heart. Adrien keeps himself busy at the side, giving the patient her privacy.

Doctor DC hears both in the front and back, furrowing her eyebrows as she does spot abnormalities with just the rhythm of the heartbeats. This patient had an echocardiography done and she was referred to have a right heart catheterization done due to her congenital heart disease. Based on her charts alone and the symptoms she's been feeling, Doctor DC has an inkling of what she might be suffering from but she hopes it isn't so. Because if it really is what she thinks, there is no cure to such an illness.

She draws back and fixes the hospital gown of the patient. Taking off the earpieces and hanging the stethoscope around her neck she says, "I'll be back in a few hours to give my diagnosis. I would have to study your results of the catheterization for now."

"Sure, doctor. I'll be...here."

"Do you have any guardian or person closest to you that we can contact?"

"My family lives in the rural area, very far away. I live alone."

The doctor nods at her, hiding her growing skeptical feelings, then looks at Adrien. "Newbie, please take her vitals every hour starting now," she instructs him.

"Yes, doctor," Adrien replies and proceeds to grab the necessary equipment to check the vital signs of the patient.

"I'll go ahead now," the doctor says for the last time before leaving the room.

Adrien continues to quietly work, preparing the instruments and placing them at the top compartment of the cart. Céline suddenly starts to laugh softly. The nurse stops to see if something is wrong with the patient, but she just continues to laugh to herself.

"Is...Is something wrong?" he asks and Céline waves a hand in dismissal.

"It's nothing. I just...newbie? Did doctor really just call you that?"

Adrien's face flushes and he places an oximeter on the patient's index finger on her left hand. "I've been here for six months. I'm relatively new."

"Six months is long. I wouldn't consider you a newbie anymore."

The nurse shrugs and places the band of the sphygmomanometer around the patient's left arm. "Doctor DC rolls like that. I've gotten used to it."

"I heard that she's a good doctor, I think that's why I'm placed under her care now."

"She's a great doctor," he breathes out unknowingly.

Céline giggles. "Sounds like you're crushing on her," she quips.

"I-It's not like that-"

"You're cute, nurse Adrien," she comments, a small smile grazing her features. "Just not my type, though."

Adrien bashfully smiles at her. "Well, Miss Céline, what falls under your type then?" he muses, taking down the vitals of the patient. Just as he takes away the oximeter from her finger, he notices some kind of discoloration on the patient's fourth finger. One small part on her finger has a lighter skin tone compared to the rest of the finger. Adrien does not say anything but takes note of that detail in his head.

"You can stick with calling me, Céline. I wouldn't mind." She lets out a sigh and her eyes stay downcast. "Not that much fall under my type. Maybe a guy with darker hair than mine and brown or hazelnut eyes. He would have a nice smile and a bit of a deeper voice when he starts to sing..."

"I hope you wouldn't mind me asking, but is there a certain person you're describing?"

And Adrien catches it. For a second, he sees Céline dart her eyes toward her ring finger and immediately looks away. Now he's sure that there's something that she's hiding within herself.

"No one," she answers quietly, "I'm just specific like that."

Adrien nods in assent, though he still had his growing doubts. She did mention that she does not have any close family members with her here. Adrien still wanted to investigate. There must be someone that can be with her especially during a time where she needs someone close with her aside from the nurses and doctors.

"Well, if it helps you in feeling more comfortable in the hospital, I checked your chart and would like to add that we're of the same age."

"No way. I thought you were younger!" She exclaims in amazement.

Adrien does a mock bow. "I'll take that as a genuine compliment."

"Then I hope we'll become good friends, Nurse Adrien. I have a feeling that I'll be staying here for some time."

"It's my job to keep you comfortable."

"Thanks. I've lived by myself for some time now. I forgot what it feels like to have someone care for you."

------------

Marinette took three hours to go through the results of the echocardiography and the right heart catheterization. It's not because she's incompetent, no. She actually knew what the diagnosis was in an instant. She found an elevated pulmonary artery pressure with the estimation given by the echocardiography and it was confirmed through the catheterization, it's clear that Céline Bouchard is suffering from pulmonary hypertension.

It was the second opinion from her other doctors that took time.

Encountering this kind of rare occasion prompted her to ask from her colleagues if they see what she sees. And they all do, which is unfortunate for the patient.

She is on her way back to her room to deliver the news and ways to treat her condition which ultimately leads to surgery. Yet this illness still has no cure. The treatment is there to lessen the complications which may arise again in a few years.

When she arrives at the room of her new patient, immediately a tense aura wafts throughout the room as there is a new person sitting across the bed of the patient. It's a man with a mop of dark brown hair and a set of hazelnut eyes that continues to look tensely at Céline, who holds a tense gaze on him, as well.

Adrien notices the doctor first, and instantly calls her, "Doctor."

The man and the patient switch their gazes to the doctor at the door.

"Are you her doctor?" The man immediately asks, jutting his chin towards Céline on the bed.

"Yes," Marinette answers, "I'm doctor Dupain-Cheng, but you may call me DC."

"I'm Matthias Bouchard, doctor." He brings out a hand for the doctor to shake. "I'm her husband," he states, after the handshake.

"Céline told us that she's been living on her own..."

"We haven't been staying in the same place for the past months," he adds, throwing a pointed look at the patient. "I arrived around half an hour ago."

Céline rolls her eyes when she catches it.

Marinette knows what's going on and is starting to hate the feeling that she may have to act as a marriage counselor in this situation. "So how did you know that she was here? Did she call you?"

Matthias answers while pointing a thumb towards Adrien, "He called me."

"And you shouldn't have chosen to come here, Matthias," Céline spits out, crossing her arms defensively.

"I hear nothing from you for the past months and I suddenly get the news that you're in the hospital?" He sputters, clearly annoyed with his wife's comment, "Of course, I have to be here. What will happen if your mother finds out? She does not even know that you left our house and started living on your own."

Adrien takes a step forward to calm the husband down but Marinette moves faster by starting with the reason why she's in the room in the first place.

"May I say what my patient needs to know before we move on to other things?" She utters in a strict manner, gaining the attention of the hot-headed couple.

"Yes, doctor," Céline mutters, looking at her husband before looking down at the white sheet used as her blanket.

Matthias looks away in silence, not wanting to acknowledge his wife any further.

This acts as the signal for Marinette to continue with what she prepared to tell her patient. "Céline," she starts, "you are diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension."

The patient's eyes widen, looking at the doctor. "So what's specifically wrong with me?"

Marinette continues, "The pulmonary hypertension is due to the increased pressure of your pulmonary circulation, meaning that your vessels have become constricted." The doctor can see through the corner of her eye that the husband is listening attentively. "This explains your symptoms of occasional chest discomfort and fatigue for the past few days. It seems that there is insufficient cardiac output caused by the right chambers of your heart starting to fail."

"Doctor," Matthias breathes out, "would you know how this happened, then? I know that something like this wouldn't happen suddenly."

"Some common underlying causes of pulmonary hypertension include high blood pressure in the lungs' arteries due to congenital heart disease. For Céline, it would specifically be pulmonary valve stenosis-"

"Wait," Matthias interrupts the doctor, his eyes on his wife as he looks at her in disbelief and brewing betrayal. "Céline...you have a congenital heart disease?"

Céline forces herself to look at her husband and even gazes at Adrien, standing by the side, for a split-second. "Yes," she answers in a whisper.

"Why did you never tell me?"

"It is something I could handle on my own, Matthias."

"On your own?" He utters, finding her words to be unbelievable. "I'm your husband, for Pete's sake!" He articulates each word with conviction. "I should have known about this since the beginning."

"Why are you worrying about such trivial things?" Céline spits out, "The treatment is just going to be through constant medication."

Marinette immediately steps in. "Not in this case," she clarifies. The couple looks at her again, this time Céline looks more surprised. "Although treatment is with pulmonary vasodilators and diuretics, I have to perform surgery in your case, Céline."

The patient nervously swallows, starting to look pale. "What kind of surgery?" She asks, her voice quiet.

"Balloon atrial septostomy," the doctor answers, "it's to decrease the pressure in the right chambers of your heart which will eventually improve the output of your left heart and oxygenation of your blood."

Céline rests a hand on her chest as she starts to breathe heavily due to her growing nervousness. "That sounds serious."

"...in some way, yes, it is."

Matthias chimes in, "And it sounds expensive."

Marinette nods, admitting that it is a costly procedure. Well, aren't all medical operations or procedures costly?

Matthias then scoffs, looking back at Céline, "You said that you can handle things on your own, right? Then you pay for your own operation, Céline."

"I never even asked for your help, Matthias," she seethes out. "And even if I die, I won't invite you to my own funeral! I'll leave you all alone!"

"You left me alone for five months!"

"And I've been doing good for these five months!" She retaliates with the same instensity.

"Céline," Adrien starts, worrying over how her heart will be if she continues to fight. But Matthias beats Adrien in talking.

"Great, we finally made an agreement," he spits out sarcastically. "You don't need me and my money!"

"Look, it's clear that we don't see eye-to-eye because you still stick to your selfish desires."

"What is selfish about wanting children?" He spits out suddenly. "All our fights started because I want children and you don't!"

"It's selfish when you don't even think about my choice! I hate the thought of having children, I despise them!" Céline shouts, causing Matthias to take a step back in a repulsive manner, clearly taken aback with her words.

He clears his throat and blinks, fighting the tears starting to well up in his eyes. "Then you wouldn't have had that problem if you just said no when I asked you to marry me," he murmurs with a shaky voice and storms out of the room without another word.

Céline is panting heavily as her husband leaves. She bites the inside of her cheek and squeezes her eyes shut.

"Céline," Adrien goes to her and brings a glass of water near her. "We need you to calm down, please. It won't be good to stay mad in your condition."

Céline opens her eyes and takes the glass of water, though she only sips from it before placing it back on the table beside her bed. "I'd like to be alone and sleep now," she states and directly lies flat down on the bed, covering her whole body with the blanket.

Adrien could only sigh deeply as he and doctor DC leave the room to let their patient rest.

Doctor DC pinches the bridge of her nose, out of stress, before saying to Adrien, "In less than a minute, explain why you called her husband here."

The doctor is done with everything. She had a feeling that something was going to happen. Something crazy always happens when it comes to the newbie. The idiotic newbie.

"I noticed that she had a mark on her ring finger," Adrien starts, keeping his cool before he might break down in front of the doctor. "So I did some investigating and found out that our patient is actually married."

"But to call the husband here? Did you really have to go way beyond to even call him to come here?"

"Yes, doctor," the nurse answers, still keeping his ground.

Doctor DC clicks her tongue in disappointment and raises her hands in surrender. "I don't know what you're trying to pull off again. But what we both know is that our patient should not be in a stressful state at all."

"Our patient can't also just be alone during a hard time. Her husband has the right to know," Adrien argues, "they are not considered to be legally separated."

Doctor DC could only shake her head.

"Doctor, trust me. I will fix this," Adrien states.

"I doubt it-"

"No, don't," he cuts her off, "Have faith in me, Doctor DC. I will make this work."

She purses her lips and seeing how determined the nurse looks, she decides to give in. This is like all the other times the nurse decided to work and think on his own. "Fine. Since I still doubt that this will work, I'll place a reward on the line."

"...and what would the reward be?"

"A date," she simply answers. Adrien suddenly freezes, thinking about what she means by tha-

"A date with just you and I," she clarifies before walking away without uttering anything more, leaving the nurse to gape in shock at what the doctor just said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you liked this chapter :) It took time for me to write this because I did a lot of research HAHAHUHU

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