Blamed for Murder | finished

Ch.10: What have I done?

I woke up in the hospital, with my parents, Adrien and Alya at my side. Adrien immediately jumped up to get a doctor. Everyone was relieved that I woke up and started to ask questions. "Are you alright? What happened? Why did you do this?"

The doctor came in: "Hello Miss Dupain-Cheng, I am Julien Duval and serve as a surgeon in this hospital. How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?"

I looked at everyone because I wasn't sure what to answer. I just got stabbed and somehow survived. "I...uhm...I'm not sure, it still hurts a bit but I'm feeling better...I guess. I just know that Adrien was attacked with a knife and I somehow ended up between him and the attacker. The knife hit me and everything turned black shortly after."

The doctor continued: "That's a normal reaction. You were hit in your lower abdomen and thankfully you were wearing a pullover and a thick coat. You were extremely lucky. This probably prevented the knife from going in too deep. One centimetre deeper or a few centimetres upwards and something vital would have been hit. You also lost a considerable amout of blood but you got here in time. You turned unconscious because you suffered from acute stress disorder, something people usually confuse with shock. That's not unusual after getting attacked like this. You're out of imminent danger, but we'd like to keep you here for a few more days so we make sure the wound isn't opening again. I think you will make a full recovery."

I was shocked. This could have been the end of my life. I knew being Ladybug was dangerous, but I had superpowers, a magical suit and my yo-yo when I was transformed. A thought hit me as I was thinking about being Ladybug: Where are my earring and where is Tikki? I touched my earlobes to find my miraculous still attached. My purse was hanging on a coat hook, right next to everyone's jackets.

The room was silent. Everyone probably expected me to say something. Everyone was looking worried but relieved at thesame time. Except for Adrien whose eyes were filled with sorrow and guilt. I broke the silence: "I'm glad nothing worse happened. I think I'm fine for now. Can I walk?"

Monsieur Duval gave me a thoughtful look: "Probably yes, I used a few stitches and the bleeding stopped. But I recommend you to move as little as possible during the next days. I ask everyone to leave Miss Dupain-Cheng alone for the night. You can see her again tomorrow, but now she needs her rest and visiting hours were over 2 hours ago. Please call me if you need something."

Everybody said their goodbyes, but I could tell that Adrien was holding back some tears. I had to do something. But not with everyone around. I let them leave and pretended to be tired, so nobody would come to check on me for the next hours.

A few minutes later and Tikki flew out of my purse and gave me a hug. "I'm glad you are still alive. Are you really sure you're okay? What were you even thinking?" Tikki sounded concerned and depressed. She always cared a lot for me.

"I don't know Tikki, I really don't know. I think I just reacted to protect him. Maybe out of instinct, a knife would never be able to penetrate my Ladybug suit." My voice was calm, but I was still fighting the thought that I could be dead right now.

Tikki gave me a little smile. "Cheer up, you are still here. I think you also had another reason to step in. I know you want to see him and there is no chance that I could talk you out of this. Just say the words."

My eyes lit up from her nice and comforting words. "Are you sure? You are the best, but what do we do about my injury?"

"I just know how you roll. Remember how tough you are as Ladybug and how much beating you and Chat Noir can endure without any problem? The powers and the tight-fitting magic suit should prevent the wound from opening again as long as you're not doing crazy stunts. So no fighting! Promise me to get out of trouble, if you are getting detected by the police."