My Boss is Felix: Alternative Miraculous Ladybug Tale

Ch66: For Worse

Felix's POV

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The hospital was a place for those close to death.

That's what I once believed when I was little, and perhaps there was a subconscious part of myself still clinging to that belief.

How could I not? As a boy, I didn't understand what a hospital was ...all I knew was that mother was sicker after each visit, slowly growing weaker like a wilting flower.

Also, with every one of my visits, I was diagnosed with a new disorder. Perhaps, Father was angry at me and he sent me to this terrible place as a punishment. If that was true, then why would he send Mother? Was he angry at her too? What had we done wrong? All these things I wondered at the age of six.

My body tensed as Natalie and I entered the automatic doors of the Emergency Care section. The sickening smell of cleaning solution and hand sanitizer swelled in my naval cavity. I hated this place. Everything about it. It didn't matter which hospital it was, they were all the same. Full of dying people.

"It's okay," Natalie whispered in my ear. Her arm was looped around my shoulder for support and she gave me a tender squeeze.

I ignored Natalie's concerned look. I was a man now, and I didn't want her to see that this was in any way painful for me. I survived a hospital with Marinette, so I could do it again.

We gave our information to the lady behind a front desk, and she told us there was a wait. I guided Natalie to the air unit where there was a downstream of heat. We took our seats in the blue cushioned chairs with wood arm rests. People had to sit hours in these chairs, so why were they so uncomfortable and small?

"The EMTs said I was probably fine," Natalie said in a weak voice, "Let's just go home."

"No," I said, my fingers curling into a fist, "I want to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are good."

She slouched in her chair, her body losing energy. I didn't know how long she was out in the snow, but it couldn't have been healthy for her organs. What if she caught a severe fever or sickness? I couldn't live with myself knowing I deprived her of medical care when she needed it. So, we would wait for as long as it took. I wanted the doctors to run every test possible.

"Hey," I whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You can rest."

She maneuvered herself in the stiff chair until her head was draped on my shoulder, her arms winding around mine like vines entangling a tree. I was surprised by this gesture - it felt like the way a little sister would use her big brother for a pillow. I must have made a good pillow because she fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

Marinette's lap pillow. My mind thought back to that time I broke into her room at Chat Noir for a 'movie night.' At that point, I had known she was Ladybug, and the purpose of my mission was to discover where she was keeping the Miraculous Box. I insisted we watch a documentary - I was hoping she would get bored and fall asleep, but she remained wide awake.

So, I had to get creative. I highly suspected the box was under her bed, due to the strange whispers from the Eel. But I needed to be sure. What I said or did was a blur to me. All I remembered was that I laid down on her lap and almost completely forgot about looking for the box.

The most noticeable feature from that angle were her lips and her nose. Oh, how I wanted to draw her to myself and kiss every inch of that face. I wanted to run my hands along her soft skin. I pulled myself from my thoughts, noticing that my heart was pounding like a wild bird. That was enough. Long story short, I needed to marry that girl soon.