A Braid of Three Strands
tag team tournament from @maribatserver
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It was bad. She could tell before she even moved. She heard screaming and realized it was her. She had moved and it was definitely bad. She bit her lip and braced herself before trying with her other arm. She screeched before squelching the sound down by biting back on her lip. It was worse than bad. She was crying onto her beautiful fabric. But she could hear someone rushing to help her. At least she wasn’t alone and unable to call for help. That would have been really, really bad.
“AAhcheeeechfffttt!” she said as someone reached her and tried to help her up. “No!” she got out, “my arms. Both of them.”
She could hear them talking but she could do nothing but keep sobbing onto the floor until Nino grabbed her around the stomach and lifted her. Alya was already on the phone but she was standing behind a chair, bracing it so Marinette could be plunked into it.
She couldn’t wonder what they were doing there or what else was hurt. She could only think of the pain. She was likely flailing around and making noises, but she had no ability to contain any display. When the paramedics arrived, she didn’t even know what she told them. She was on a gurney, hopefully heading for relief. She could see Alya, holding onto Nino as the doors on the back of the rig closed.
“I’ll call your boyfriend,” she shouted right as the doors slammed.
—
There was a frenzy of activity that she couldn’t even begin to assess what was happening, but after a while she could feel some relief so whatever they had given her to help with the pain was taking effect. It was still very noticeable, but the rest of the world wasn’t a loud blur. She tried to focus as a nurse directed attention at her.
“We are getting your room ready, but your boyfriend is here to see you. Is it okay to let him in?” she asked.
Marinette nodded and tried to smile when she saw Jason, unfortunately she moved at the same time and it was mostly a wince as pain shot through her again. He rushed over to her and kissed her head.
“Try not to move,” the nurse said, “we are heading for xrays next but we are fairly certain at least one arm is broken.”
“No,” Marinette said. “That's not going to work for me.”
“We will work it out, Darling. It might be a struggle, but we will struggle together,” he said. “I’m gonna go get you a few things while they finish what they need. I’m leaving my number so they can tell me any updates or call if you need me back sooner.”
Marinette just nodded and he watched while they wheeled her away before he turned to leave.
—
They wheeled her back to the room with casts on both arms. One was only on the forearm but the other one encased her entire arm. She was groggy from the anesthesia they had given her for the process, but she smiled when she saw who was waiting for her.
Roy waited until they helped move her from the travel bed to the one in the room and adjusted it to her preferences before he leaned over and kissed her on the head.
“You scared me, Sweetie. I don’t ever want Alya to call me like that again.”
“I’m so sorry. I should have waited, but it didn’t seem that high,” she said, pouting.
He leaned down and kissed the pout off her face, “I want to tell you how foolish and wrong it was, but you probably feel bad enough. Instead, I’ll just build you more shelves lower for all your fabrics.”
“We will run out of space if we do that though,” she said, she twitched her arm and grimaced as she yawned, unable to cover it.
“Then, I’ll just have to hold you closer,” he said. “I’m gonna go so you can get some rest. Have them call me if you need anything.”
She watched him leave past the nurse hovering in the doorway. She came in and checked vitals but she watched the door a lot during the process.
—
Jason was there when she woke up. She smiled up at him. He pushed her hair back from her face and she tried to lift herself to assist, but she failed. He stood and lifted her from under her legs so she was sitting up and then he pushed the button to have the bed move up behind her back.
“How is that?” he asked.
“Better, except I feel so helpless. I can’t even push my hair out of my face,” she whined.
“I’ll fix it; don’t worry.”
He leaned down and kissed her before digging a brush out the bag of her things he had brought. She closed her eyes after he started. He was very gentle as he brushed her hair back. Then, his hands moved through it, smoothing it out and scratching her scalp with the pads of his fingers. He did that for several minutes before he moved to divide her hair and began weaving it together. He finished very quickly with the simple braid and tied it off. She found herself wishing her hair were much longer to keep him at it.
The timing worked out though because a tray of food arrived and they got to go through the process of him feeding her. He was very patient and surprisingly adept at getting it in her mouth, but she still felt like a baby bird screaming with her mouth open.
The nurse popped in to see if she needed help, but Jason assured her they were fine.
“Let me know if that changes, I will come back later to help you freshen up,” she said before heading out.
—
The nurse got the hair into a towel on her head when she finished helping her shower. Marinette was waiting in a chair as she finished what she needed with the bedding before she moved back to the bed. Roy was sitting there waiting for her when she came out. The towel fell over and she made a noise, but was unable to fix it without the use of her arms.
Roy rushed over to help her. Instead of rewrapping it, he used the towel to scrunch the hair dry and then gently combed through it. Just like Jason, he spent several minutes massaging her scalp with the rough pads of his fingers. He knew that it was one of her favorite things. After a few minutes, he began dividing her hair into sections. Unlike Jason, he didn’t gather it all together to do a simple braid.
He started at the crown of her head and wove it in piece by piece so it was all together and even the shorter pieces were tucked around so they wouldn’t fall around her face. She closed her eyes as he continued. Now, that she was clean and her pain managed, it was the most relaxed she had felt in days.
Once her hair was finished, the nurse guided her back into bed, helping her along as it was difficult to manage without arms.
“This is ridiculous,” Marinette said. “I don’t know how we will manage like for the rest of the week, let alone nearly two months.”
The nurse laughed as she brought in her dinner tray, “This could be your villain origin story.”
“I’m sure it will be. I’ve seen it happen for less,” she turned as Roy was helping her stuff the pillow in the right spot behind her while the nurse was clearing space for the tray.
“Villains need very little reason in Gotham or Paris,” Jason said from the door.
The nurse gasped and dropped the tray.
They all looked at her suddenly stricken expression. Jason and Roy both bent down to help clean it up as she stood there guiltily looking back and forth. She looked at the men and then at Marinette before they realized what she was waiting for. Jason leaned over and kissed Roy before he moved to throw away the remains of the dinner he had picked up. Roy kissed Marinette before he grabbed a towel nearby to wipe up the wet. With his hands now free, Jason walked over to the other side of Marinette’s bed and leaned down to kiss her.
The nurse took a moment to process, looking back and forth at them for a moment before she said “Oh,” with understanding and then went to go get a mop and reorder dinner for Marinette.
