AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is placed 6 months after my other fanfic, where Adrien and Mari are almost 18 and have learned their secret identities. Thanks again for reading! Let me know what you guys think!

"Whatever you need to tell me, you need to do it now and as precisely as you can. "

Gabriel Agrests's voice echoed in the room. Despite the heart monitor beeping faithfully in the background, you could have heard a pin drop. The white fluorescent lights shone down on the fashion designer, his gray eyes dark under his eyebrows. The doctor looked Gabriel in the eyes and saw a man so angry and broken that he knew there was little hope left. No matter what words came out, life as the Agrestes knew it was about to be shattered.

"The accident could have done much more damage than it did," said the doctor wisely. Gabriel's clenched hands relaxed slightly, but his eyes narrowed. The doctor held up his clipboard and showed an X-Ray of a young man's skull. "Nothing broken, no brain injury sustained."

"And yet," growled Gabriel, "here we are. SAY. IT."

The doctor straightened his shoulders. "Despite our best efforts, Adrien's vision could not be saved. He will be blind for the rest of his life."

Gabriel spun around and covered his face with his hands. The doctor laid the clipboard on the counter and said gently, "Adrien is a fighter. He will not be helpless. We will help equip him any way we can so he can —"

"CAN WHAT!?" Gabriel's roar shook the room. "He's BLIND! He's a MODEL for god's sake, a fencer, a PIANO PLAYER!"

The doctor stared at Gabriel, startled by the outburst. "What am I supposed to DO?!" Gabriel continued, pacing. "NOW what is Adrien going to be?! He has NOTHING!"

Gabriel turned and walked briskly out of the room. The doctor sighed and then turned to his patient.

"We will help you, Adrien."

Adrien heard the door close as the doctor walked out of the room, allowing his patient to rest in silence. Unshed tears rested in his eyes. He felt nothing. He was nothing. Sitting in a hospital gown, apparently lucky to be alive, and as always, horribly alone.

"Plagg," he whispered, voice hoarse. It seemed difficult to talk through all the emotions he wasn't feeling.

"Oh Adrien," came Plagg's sob. The Kwami gently touched his shoulder and nestled into his holder's neck. "Oh Adrien, I'm so sorry!"

"I need you to text someone," whispered Adrien. "I…I can't be alone right now."

Plagg seemed to still, understanding. "Who do you want me to text?"

"Text Marinette. Tell her to please hurry."

"I…I can't, Adrien," said Plagg softly. "She's….she's in the bed next to you."

Adrien couldn't breathe. A full-on anxiety attack hit him, and he flailed his arms trying to grab onto something to steady him. He knocked over what sounded like a tray or table of some kind next to his elbow, and with a gasp he cried out in fear of the loud noise. Footsteps came running and the door was opened as nurses came to his rescue.

"There there honey," said one, and he felt hands gently but firmly take his. "Everything's ok, everything is going to be ok."

"Why is Marinette here?!" He gasped out, crying. He hadn't noticed but the tears were now pouring down his cheeks. "Why is she here!?"

"She was hurt too," said the nurse gently, tucking the blankets around him and guiding his hands to clutch a pillow. "You are in the same room because you were both victims of an accident that is under investigation. She has a broken leg, and she woke up while you were under operation, but was very distressed and so we gave her a sedative to sleep. Do you want one too? It's late and you've been through a lot. You need some good rest."

"Can…can you put me closer to her?" Asked Adrien, lip quivering miserably.

The nurses seemed to pause. The one who had been speaking said gently, "Is she your friend?"

"No," said Adrien with a sob, "She's my girlfriend! Please," he begged desperately, "please!"

"Okay, okay," said the kind nurse, placing grounding hands on his shoulders. "Calm down, Adrien. Let us ask her parents if that's okay with them."

A nurse walked away, and Adrien cried into the pillow he was hugging. More footsteps told him that Mari's parents had come as well, and a gentle hand touched his shoulder.

"Oh, Adrien!" Sabine. "Oh, my dear poor boy!"

Adrien flung open his arms towards her voice and was scooped up into the arms of motherly Sabine. He sobbed into her shoulder, and the nurses all silently wiped their eyes. This was his new mother, and it was obvious.

Tom's big embrace was next. "There there, my boy," he said, using his endearing nickname for Adrien. "We're here now, everything will be ok."

"Bring them closer together," ordered Sabine, and the nurses gently scooted the beds together. Adrien's hand was guided to Marinette's, and his hand knew her. Instantly he calmed and rested his head on the pillow in his arms. He closed his eyes, though it made no difference. He was quiet and calm, now that he was with his Lady. He didn't protest when they gave him the sedative. He could sleep peacefully now, his hand holding Marinette's tightly.

Sabine and Tom smiled for a moment, then let the smiles slowly fall. Tom reached out and pulled Sabine closer. Sabine cried silent tears.

Adrien couldn't see the scratches and bruises on his skin, the angry scar across his eyes that had blinded him, or the buzzed, salvaged hair the nurses had been forced to cut because the rest had been burned. He also couldn't see Marinette, whose eyes were puffy from tears and exhaustion, her face and arms battered and equally bruised, and her leg in a giant cast with large needles holding her leg together.

The nurses left, their work done. Tikki and Plagg swooped out and hovered by Tom and Sabine.

Sabine looked at them, eyes serious. "Tell. Us. Everything."