4 months later

“I think I might burst into an endless amount of tears!”

“Nurse Rose, don’t get too ahead of yourself!” Nurse Mylene happily chided her colleague who is doing her best to keep her emotions in check.

Adrien smiles widely at his colleagues who have gathered in his room. Today is his final day in the hospital as a patient. Currently, he’s packing up his personal belongings and he doesn't want any help. Adrien wants this as a chance to move around and exercise his muscles…and to also show that he is capable of moving on his own already. Even if he has improved a lot, he’ll still have to continue his physical therapy sessions.

Marinette is unable to make time to see him today because of her jam-packed schedule but she asked him out on a dinner date at Ping’s later. Adrien’s really looking forward to it.

His two past co-workers in the cardiology department, Nurses Rose and Mylene, wanted to be with him before he left the hospital. It is sad for Adrien that he’ll never be allowed to work in this hospital again after the secret operation incident, but he is taking it as some kind of silver lining – this is his chance to try something new related to being a nurse. He’s had some thoughts in mind for the past months. Becoming a private duty nurse is his top priority.

“Are you sure you don’t need any of our help, Adrien?” Nurse Mylene asks, leaning close to him with a look of concern on her face.

Beads of sweat collect on Adrien’s forehead and he swipes the back of his hand on it to wipe them away. Even the simple job of placing his belongings in a suitcase is a tiring feat for him. “Yes, don’t worry,” he assures her. “This is all part of the healing process.”

Standing beside Nurse Mylene is Nurse Rose who is still trying to keep the tears from falling. “Watching you pack your things is making me so sad,” she whimpers. “We’ll never see you again.”

Adrien looks in their direction. “You’ll still be seeing me. Of course, when I want to visit the hospital, I’ll make sure to see you.”

“But it will be different now that you’re not in our department. It was always fun spending time with you.”

A small smile spreads across his face. “I understand. But…this is all part of change, isn’t it? Nothing is constant.”

Nurse Mylene adds softly, “Except change.”

“Exactly.”

“Knock, knock!” A new voice comes from the door and two heads peek through the small opening left at the doorway.

“Nurse Nino and Nurse Nath!” Nurse Mylene exclaims and the two male nurses enter the room, with Nino carrying a small bouquet of fresh and colorful flowers. They are also here to send Adrien luck as he is discharged.

Nurse Nath says with a grin, “We wanted to make sure that we wouldn’t miss Adrien’s last day here in the hospital.”

“Wait,” Nurse Rose murmurs, somewhat back to her senses, “If you’re here, then who’s manning the station?”

Nurse Nath’s grin drops. “Oops.”

“Nath, we can’t leave the newbies alone!” Nurse Mylene utters as she loops her arm around Nurse Rose’s arm to bring her outside the room. “Bye Adrien! We gotta do our job first!”

They both leave and Adrien throws Nath an incredulous look. “You seriously left the newbies all by themselves?”

“I’m only going to be here for a short while,” Nath defends himself. “Plus, they keep on saying that they can handle things on their own.”

“We were like that more than a year ago. Look how that turned out to be.”

“Touché."

"Enough with work, today's all about Adrien." Nino steps forward and shoves the bouquet of flowers right at Adrien's face. "Alya made me bring these flowers for you."

Adrien, although shocked by the sudden action, laughs it off and gently takes the bouquet from Nino's hold. "How sweet of her. I'll make sure to send my thanks."

"No pressure, though. She knows that you have a lot of things to handle now–oh!" He suddenly exclaims and Adrien jumps a bit in shock. “Before I forget, there is a surprise waiting for you a few doors from here!”

“Yeah,” Nath chimes in and watches Adrien close his suitcase. Nath takes it from him, offering to carry it. “We’re sure that you’ll love the surprise.”

“Oh no, don’t tell me this is another one of your pranks, guys,” Adrien groans.

“No, no,” Nath waves a hand at Adrien. “It really isn’t.”

“Yeah, dude,” Nino says, “Just trust us. You’re going to love it. Come on, we’ll take you there.”

Finally, Adrien relents and follows after Nino and Nath. The three of them walk slowly, to make sure that Adrien won’t lose every bit of his strength fast.

“Seriously though,” Adrien starts, feeling skeptical over how the two are acting, “the least you could do is tell me if the surprise is going to give me a jumpscare or something like that.”

“Relax, Adrien,” Nath murmurs and stops before another closed room. “What you’ll see here will make you happy, Nino and I are sure of that.”

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to see it for myself. Adrien shrugs. “Okay, do the honors of opening the door.”

Nath wraps his hand around the doorknob and twists it open as Nino announces in a raised voice, “We’re opening the door now!”

When the door was fully pushed open, Adrien was expecting something to scare his soul out of him or nothing at all (something that would really be a prank Nino and Nath would plan).

But on the other side of the door is something that made Adrien almost burst into tears. The happy kind.

Manon is standing near the entryway, holding a wide handmade sign that says “I’m getting a new heart in 3 months!” She jumps excitedly when she sees Adrien in front of her. “Nurse Adrien! Look!” She waves the sign at him.

Adrien couldn’t help it. He heads straight to Manon and wraps his arms around her – of course, making sure that he won’t damage the sign she made. “Manon, I am so happy for you! This is such great news!” He pulls away to make sure the girl won’t feel overwhelmed. “When did you find out that you’re getting a new heart?”

“Around…seven days ago. Right, Nurse Nino?”

“That’s right, Manon,” Nino answers from behind Adrien.

“I wanted to surprise you with the news,” Manon continues, “but Nurse Nino said that today would be perfect for the surprise.”

“It really is,” Adrien replies. “It is such great news. Thank you so much for telling me.”

“Of course, I had to tell you, Nurse! You helped take care of me and I want to make you happy before you leave.”

“Manon, you have made me happy.” He hugs her again. “Really, really happy.”

“Let’s get a picture of you two!” Nino says happily and Adrien moves his arms away to go to Manon’s side.

Nath has his phone out, ready to take the picture. Adrien bends down a bit to match Manon’s height and Nath says, “Okay, smile!”

Adrien and Manon flash their biggest smiles and Nath made sure to take more than one picture of the two of them.

“I’ll make sure your mom has a copy of these pictures, Manon,” Nino assures the girl and she nods vehemently.

“Thank you!” She turns to Nurse Adrien. “I will miss seeing you here, Nurse. Make sure to visit me, okay?” She holds out her pinky. "Will you promise me?"

Adrien doesn't hesitate to wrap his around hers. "Yes, I promise you."

"Okay, I don't want to keep you here. I know you can't wait to finally go out of the hospital."

"You got that right, Manon!" Nino says. "We want to make sure that Nurse Adrien gets to continue resting at home."

Manon continues, "You're not going to use a wheelchair, Nurse Adrien?"

"I worked hard to stand on my own again, Manon. I want to prove to myself that I can do this."

"Wow, that's why you're so amazing, Nurse Adrien!" Manon gushes. "Okay, I'll help you along with Nurses Nino and Nath."

Adrien was glad to have Manon with them. She didn't have to hold his suitcase or make sure that he won't fall or trip all of a sudden. Her presence was enough to make his day brighter and to lift his mood.

As the four pass by the nurses' station (with no nurses in sight), there are two doctors from the cardiology department eagerly waiting for them.

Adrien stops in his step, beaming in excitement to see the doctors. "Doctor Chloé, Doctor Couffaine! It's great to see you here.

"Doctor DC specifically stated that you'll have an honorable discharge even if she is unable to make it," Luka explains. He crosses his arms before him and smiles at Adrien. "Chloé and I are here to make sure that it happens."

“Yes,” Chloé adds sassily. “That means that these nurses here should escort Manon back to her room and go about the rest of their shift. Doctor Couffaine and I can take care of Nurse Adrien from here on out.”

“Darn,” Nino mutters. “Alright, doctor.”

“Okay, Doctor Chloé!” The ever-so-innocent Manon complies.

Nath weirdly stays quiet.

Luka reaches out a hand to Nino. “Let me take care of Nurse Adrien’s suitcase.”

“Alright, doctor.” Nino gives it to him then turns to rest a hand on Manon’s back and ushers her gently to the opposite end of the corridor. “Come on, Manon. Let’s bring you back to your room.”

“Okay. Bye, Nurse Adrien!” Manon waves at Adrien for one last time before following Nurse Nino back to the pediatrics department. Nath, on the other hand, stays rooted in place.

Adrien notices that Chloé eyes the other nurse with a certain glint in her eye. He couldn’t tell if it was a suspicious one or one out of wary. “Nurse Nath,” she utters.

“Doctor,” Nath replies. Both regarded each other in stern and monotonous tones.

Chloé clears her throat. “Wait for me by the office. We’ll begin our rounds together in a few minutes.”

“Copy that, doctor.” Nath pats Adrien’s shoulder and flashes him a small smile before leaving in the same direction Nino and Manon went.

Once Nath is out of earshot, Luka chuckles to himself and Chloé visibly breathes out a sigh of relief. Adrien felt conscious during that whole exchange. It was as if he intruded on something that was supposed to be private.

Thankfully, Luka speaks up, “That felt weird for you, didn’t it, Nurse Adrien?”

“A-A bit.”

“Luka shut up–”

Luka interjects, “Did anyone tell you that we had a department party around a week ago, Nurse Adrien?”

“Marinette mentioned it to me but she was unable to join it.”

“Well, that’s enough for you to know that Chloé and Nath may have–”

“It was just a kiss, okay?” Chloé bursts out. “Because of Spin the damn freaking Bottle! Plus, what kind of department party would play Spin the Bottle?! What are we? High schoolers?”

“You did not complain when it happened,” Luka says matter-of-factly in a singsong voice. Adrien’s mouth drops with this new and juicy information. No wonder why the air was tense between the two a while ago.

Chloé waves her hands frantically in frustration and exclaims, “Whatever! Let’s just take Adrien to the exit now, shall we?” Her voice was still pointed.

“Okay,” Luka replies, still in a singsong voice.

The three begin to walk together in silence for a few seconds before Luka breaks it, “Like can you believe that after a few days from my honeymoon, love would still be in the air, especially at that department party?”

“It was just a kiss, Luka!”

Luka couldn’t hide his wide grin. “I love that your cheeks say otherwise.”

Chloé instantly covers her cheeks with a scowl.

“Anyway, enough about Chloé,” Luka continues and faces Adrien, “Don’t you have a date with Marinette, later?”

“Yeah, she wouldn’t stop talking about it with us,” Chloé murmurs. She moves an empty wheelchair from the center of the corridor to the side so that Adrien would have more space to walk.

“...She told both of you that we’re going out tonight?” Adrien voiced out his confusion. “That’s weird. I thought she would keep it to herself.”

“Not this one,” the blonde doctor breathes out.

Luka joins in again, “Oh, by the way, Adrien, thank you for your wedding gift. You didn’t have to, but my wife truly appreciates it. She said food can never go wrong with an air fryer.”

“Don’t mention it, Doctor Couffaine. Marinette helped me choose the gift.”

“Hmm, it pressured me to make sure I get something nicer for the both of you soon.”

The crease between Adrien’s eyebrows deepens. “Soon?”

Chloé suddenly jabs her elbow at Luka’s stomach. “Luka!” She hisses through gritted teeth. “I swear, you have been running your mouth since a while ago!”

“What did I say wrong? I just wanna get a gift for them.”

“You don’t have to give us a gift,” Adrien explains. “There is no occasion for receiving a gift–”

“Trust me, there will be,” Luka interrupts with a growing smile on his face. His facial expression made Adrien more befuddled than before.

“Luka, I am going to kill you!” Chloé twists his ear but Luka continues to laugh. “Nurse Adrien, whatever you do, don’t listen to this man at all!”

—---------

She’s nervous. She doesn’t know why.

Oh, wait. She does. She absolutely does.

Marinette wants to ask him tonight. Like, at this exact moment.

And they’re not in a considerably romantic place. No, this place is far from romantic.

They’re having their date at Ping’s restaurant. It’s close to home, meaning Adrien won’t tire out easily. And the food has been some kind of comfort to them.

This is not a fancy three-star Michelin restaurant nor a special resort or hotel for couples. But this place is what they would consider special for them.

After tonight, everything will be different and it frightens and excites Marinette. She can’t keep her emotions in check.

Hence…why she brought some of the documents she needs to check and sign to the restaurant tonight.

She knows that it’s so unprofessional and unromantic of her to still bring work to their date, but Adrien said that he understands.

“After all, you are a very busy doctor, Marinette,” he told her a few minutes ago.

Even if her eyes are on the documents in front of her, she could feel the soft yet piercing gaze of the man sitting across from her.

Throughout being with Adrien, Marinette has caught him blatantly admiring her several times. At first, she thought of it as a nuisance, but slowly she became attracted to it. She likes it when Adrien wouldn’t hide how much he admires her.

When people say to get yourself a person who would look at you as if you’re their whole universe – they are absolutely right. Marinette can attest to that.

Both of them are waiting for their food to arrive so they have a teapot filled with jasmine tea and one teacup each at their table. Oh, plus the pieces of paper on Marinette’s side.

Marinette could still feel his gaze on her. She hasn’t teased him for today. She’ll take the chance now. With her eyes still on the piece of paper in front of her, she says, “Stop looking at me and go back to drinking your tea.”

“I can't...I can look at you for hours.”

Oh. His words almost made Marinette blush. Almost. She breathes out an exaggerated sigh and places her pen on the table before tilting her head up to look Adrien in the eyes.

“W-What are you doing, doc?”

“Idiot. You said that you could look at me for hours. So look at me now.”

“I…I can’t do that while you’re aware and everything…” He murmurs.

Marinette smirks and pours herself some jasmine tea. “Me too,” she suddenly utters.

“Huh?”

“I too can find myself staring at you for hours,” she confesses, giving him a side glance.

Adrien pushes Marinette’s documents away and slides his hand over hers to hold it. She looks at his hand on hers and slowly her eyes trail from his hand to his arm, and finally his face. God, the smile he currently has on his face is one that Marinette could fall for over and over again. “Did you catch one of the words you said to me?”

“Which word?”

Adrien laughs softly. “You called me Idiot. Not gonna lie, that brought back flashbacks of last year.”

“Damn, I didn’t even notice. I’m so sorry! It’s a habit I should stop…and knowing that there are other idiots now, I shouldn’t call you one.”

“Do you mean the new nurses?”

“Of course, I mean the newbies, Adrien.”

“Don’t tell me you’re back to your usual scolding.”

“They’re newbies!” Marinette immediately defends herself. “They need some pushing here and there.”

“Still,” Adrien says gently, “Be kind to them, doctor. You’re not their boss in the first place.”

Marinette frowns at him. “You always know what to say to make me feel guilty.”

Adrien shrugs. “It took practice,” he admits in a nonchalant tone.

She sticks out her tongue at him. “Yeah, right,” she scoffs.

“I’m serious though. If this was more than a year ago, I wouldn’t have the guts to say any of that stuff.”

“So what changed?”

“Simple.” He gives a delicate squeeze on her hand. “I’ve grown used to you, Marinette.”

Marinette doesn’t know if it was because of the weird lighting inside this restaurant or if her eyes decided to play tricks on her, but Adrien’s eyes definitely twinkled when he said that last sentence. It made her heart skip a beat. Oh no, is this some kind of symptom she’s experiencing?

Perhaps not. She’s just simply and deeply in love.

She gulps down a lump forming in her throat. She could feel her hands begin to turn clammy. “And…” she starts out slowly, “and you think that would last a long time?”

Adrien tilts his head sharply. “What do you mean?”

Marinette rests her other hand on top of Adrien’s and flashes him a nervous smile. “Adrien…I’ve been thinking…for a few months now…”

“Marinette,” Adrien leans closer to her out of concern, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, you bet I am,” she answers almost immediately. “I just…okay, here it is,” she mutters. She heaves out a single heavy breath and then finally lands her unwavering gaze on him. “Adrien. When the time is right…let’s get married.”

For a whole minute, Adrien falls into silence and he just stared right at her. Their table goes into complete silence even if the other occupied tables in the restaurant are busy with their own conversations.

He then breathes out, “Are…are you asking me to marry you?”

“I know that this isn’t a romantic place for a proposal–”

“But that’s the most sincere thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“I, uh, I asked permission from your parents months ago.”

A radiant smile spreads across his face. “Wow, you really do want to marry me,” he whispers in awe.

“Of course, I do!” She holds his hand tighter. “You’re a wonderful person and I want to do great things with you, Adrien. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you.”

Adrien chokes a bit on his words, “I-I want that too. I’ve always wanted that with you.”

“So…is that a yes?”

Adrien’s smile grows wider. “It’s an infinite percent yes.”

His answer made Marinette’s heart swell with emotion. A tear escapes her eyes and she chuckles to herself while wiping it away. “Let’s cry together when we’re out of this place.”

“I am on the verge of crying my eyes out but I’m too shy to do it in front of Ping’s customers.”

They both share a genuine and blissful laugh – one that is completely fitting for this particular couple who is about to embark on a new chapter in their lives together.

“I can’t believe it! Today was the day I got discharged from the hospital, Manon will finally have her heart transplant, and I’m engaged to you!”

Marinette was amused to see and hear Adrien being so enthusiastic about this day. “A lot of surprises for you today, Adrien. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

He quirks an eyebrow at her. “Did you have a feeling that I was going to say yes to your proposal?”

“I don’t know,” Marinette drawls. “After all, I’m your angel, aren’t I?”

“Argh! Don’t say that word again! Cringe memories are in my head now!”

Marinette snickers to herself and even if Adrien wanted to pull his hand away from her hold, she refuses – holding him tighter than ever before. “Don’t think that you can get away from me!” She teases him.

“Just let me cup my ears please before you say anything else that would make me want to dig up a hole for myself!”

“Everyone in the department is going to have a field day when they find out that we’re at long last engaged.”

Adrien’s eyes widen. “Wait, everyone knew that you were going to propose to me tonight?”

“It was a secret I couldn’t keep to myself,” Marinette admits.

“No wonder why they all acted strange in some way.”

“Other people care for you, Adrien. Not just me. You have a heart of gold and it has affected people in so many ways.”

“...Has it affected you too?”

Marinette knows the answer to his question. “Absolutely,” she whispers wholeheartedly.

Her case may be incurable, but she’s sure that she’s healed. For it is in healing that she learned to cope with what damaged her and use it to gain courage from it. She found herself. Not her old self, but a new one – a self that can love and acknowledge it again.

Adrien undoubtedly healed her.

Now it’s her goal in life to stay as someone he can run to when he needs healing, as well.

And as he meets her gaze on him, he shows her that smile of his which makes her feel unconditionally loved by this man.

She knows deep in her heart that whatever happens, she would stick with him forever.

She, too, will eventually have a heart of gold like his.

THE END