The next day dawned grey and dreary. Marie woke late at around seven thirty, dashed through her morning routine and then sped, as fast as the elevator would go, down to the med lab to check on Logan. He was still down for the count, and still not healing much faster than you would expect from a normal person.
Jean had added an IV nutrient formula to the list of treatments currently being utilised for Logan, in an effort to speed up his recovery, and because he now hadn't eaten in just over three days. Marie was annoyed that, though she agreed it was the correct course of action, Jean hadn't even advised her she was doing it, let alone got her permission. Though she hadn't exactly been open about their relationship status, so Jean would have had no reason to consider her as Logan's next of kin. She sat with him for about fifteen minutes, chatting to him about what she was going to be doing that day, before she kissed him goodbye and went to find some breakfast.
The cafeteria was crowded, so Marie quickly sidled her way in and grabbed a coffee and some fruit, before slipping back out of the room to find somewhere quieter to eat. She had just finished the small bowl of strawberries she had feasted on, when Jubilee and Kitty stumbled down the stairs.
"Coffee!" Jubilee exclaimed, as she proceeded to ignore Rogue and zombie-walk into the cafeteria.
Kitty just giggled and ignored her friend, turning instead to Rogue. "Come on, I'll show you to Ms Munroe's office, we can catch up with the coffee monster later," she said, waving for Rogue to follow her.
Half an hour later, with a small stash of necessary stationery and a drawstring bag to carry it in, Rogue and Kitty made their way back towards the classrooms, picking up a more human looking Jubilee on their way.
The day passed in a blur of one class after another. Several of the students passed notes or whispered to her during classes, trying to introduce themselves and ask her questions. She may, or may not, have intentionally drawn attention from teachers a couple of times to get them to stop, and she slipped away each recess; to check on Logan more than to avoid the other students.
By mid-afternoon, on one of her checks, Marie noticed that the bruises and smaller wounds Logan had, were gone.
Unfortunately, by the time classes were done for the day, the other students had caught on to her diversionary tactics and disappearing trick, and she was cornered by a mob of students who dragged her off to the rec room for a game of Foosball; a convenient excuse for a game of twenty questions with the new girl. She managed to get some of the students to back off by telling them about her mutation but a few of the more 'adventurous' teenage boys didn't want to take the hint; she made sure her mutation was on so if anyone touched her, they would get a zap to hit her point home.
After dinner, which she was dragged into the crowded cafeteria and seated on prime position at the noisiest table for, she managed to feign a headache and was finally permitted to retire to her room. As soon as she was out of sight, she snuck back down to the med lab again.
She was exhausted, and she didn't plan on staying for long, but she needed to check on Logan before she went back to bed. She was elated to notice on entering that his colour was starting to come back, and he was no longer as cold as he had been. His remaining wounds were looking a lot better, and his body had begun to expel some of the sutures Jean had installed only a couple of days prior. Because of this Marie stayed a little longer than she had intended, talking to Logan, hoping he would wake up while she was there. It wasn't until her head nodded, for the third time, that she finally gave up.
"I've got to go to bed or I'm going to pass out right here," she told Logan softly, "If you're up before morning come and let me know you're alright." She kissed his hand again, and tugged the blanket up a little higher over his bare chest before she dimmed the lights and left.
Dragging herself into bed a few minutes later, clad in his t-shirt, her panties, and fluffy socks, she sighed wearily. She couldn't help but worry about Logan, he had been unconscious for more than forty eight hours, and though the him in her head assured her he would be fine, she couldn't help the niggling feeling that even he wasn't so certain about that.
--
The first sense to return was hearing, the soft peeping of a heart monitor off to his left, and the hum of refrigerators in the next room, were the only sounds to be heard. He cracked his eyes open slowly, thankful that this time around the overhead lights were turned off, the room illuminated dully by dim night lights near the floor. He assumed it was night time, no one had been in the room with him for hours by the scents he could detect. He looked around for a clock to confirm his theory, spying one on a nearby desk that read one nineteen am.
Slowly he sat up, careful not to dislodge any of the surrounding machinery this time. He turned off the heart monitor before disconnecting the probes, and systematically stripped off all the wires, monitors, and needles that were attached to him, before testing out his legs to make sure they would hold him up.
Logan walked the room for a minute, until his muscles were loosened up enough to function properly, before he looked around to search out the pile of clothes he was sure Marie must have left for him, somewhere. Sure enough, he found them on the chair that had been pushed into a corner near the gurney he had been laid out on. The flannel shirt, that was slung over the back of the chair, smelled like she had been wearing it for a while before leaving it for him.
He dressed quickly, intent on going straight to find her but as he was about to hit the elevator control, to take him to the second floor, his stomach protested loudly, causing him to change tack, to hit the ground floor kitchen first. There was no point going to find Marie, and then having to send her off to hunt him down some food when his body rebelled at the idea of moving again. He was only up and about now because the thought of needing to find her, was motivating him past the dizzy nausea that was trying to stop him.
He pulled open the refrigerator, scanning the contents quickly before grabbing a plate of cold roast beef and hurriedly shovelling food directly from the plate into his mouth, until he had sated his hunger enough to make a grab for the next food of choice.
He ended up taking the plate of meat, some cheese, a loaf of bread, butter, mayo, and a fatty looking, and smelling, pate to the nearby table with him. Piling as much high fat, and high protein filling, between two thick slices of bread, as he could hold. He devoured several such 'sandwiches' before he began to feel full, and the dizziness had begun to dissipate. He quickly put away the leftover food, tidying up after himself as much as he could, before he continued on his way to find Marie.
He could hear her heartbeat from several meters away from her room, releasing a breath he didn't realise he had been holding as he let relief flood him. She was alive, it had worked. He quietly popped her bedroom door open, slipping into the moonlit room, sitting on the edge of the bed to just watch her sleep. He hadn't meant to wake her but she seemed to sense him, her eyelids fluttered open as she croakily called out for him.
"Logan? Is that you?" she whispered into the room, blinking her sleepy eyes open.
"It's me darlin," he replied, not at all prepared for the sudden flurry of movement, as she flung herself out of bed, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She began mumbling and sobbing incoherently against his shoulder, while he held her and rubbed her back soothingly.
"It's okay darlin, I'm fine now, we're both okay now, right? You're okay?" he asked concerned, trying to calm her down.
She nodded briskly as she pulled away and wiped her tears away. "I'm okay, now that I know you're alright, god Logan, I thought you were going to die, there were cuts everywhere, and so much blood, and you weren't healing..." she cut herself off with another hiccupping sob.
"I'm just glad it worked darlin, I was so scared I'd lost you, when I finally got up there and your... you were so quiet, too quiet, no heartbeat... you have no idea how good it feels to be able to hear your heart beating right now." It was Logan's turn to be cut off by the emotion running through him, squeezing his throat closed. "The doc checked you out right, you are all okay?" he asked again, after a few minutes of them just holding each other.
"I'm fine Logan, one hundred percent a-okay, only difference is this new funky hairdo," she commented, gesturing toward the white streaks in her hair. He had seen them but thought they were just a trick of the light.
"What's up with that?" Logan asked, twining a streak around his index finger.
"Jean said it was from the stress or something, she said it might grow out, it might not, I'm not bothered by it, it's kind of cool, might even dye it a weird colour, just for fun," Marie replied with a grin.
Logan chuckled. "Well, so long as you like it, I guess... I'm sorry it took me so long to get to you," he added.
"I could see you Logan, from where I was, I saw you fighting Sabretooth... I saw you almost go over the edge-" she shuddered as she remembered the momentary panic she had felt when she thought he was going to fall - "I saw the stab wounds, Ororo said you stabbed yourself through the chest, to cut yourself off the ceiling when Magneto tied you up there... I couldn't have asked for more Logan, you went above and beyond what anyone else would have even considered, and then on top of it all you were willing... willing to give your life for mine, for me, I... I don't deserve that."
"Marie, baby," Logan pulled her face up to look at him, gently wiping her tears away. "Darlin you deserve all that and more, and I'm here for you any time you need it, I hope I never need to give my life for yours again but only because I never want to see you in a situation like that again, but if it comes down to it, I will do everything, absolutely everything in my power, to protect you," he told her, honesty and emotion so deep she could feel it down deep in her heart, shining from his eyes.
"You promise?" she asked, with a tearful smile.
"I promise," he replied, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. "Now come on, it's late, let's get you back to bed," Logan announced a moment later, pulling back the covers on the bed for her to scoot back under them.
Marie was going to speak up, and request that he stay with her, but quickly realised it wasn't necessary for her to ask, he hadn't released his hold on her hand, and he was climbing into bed with her. Once they were both settled Marie draped herself over his chest, her head resting right next to his heart as she quickly drifted back to a much more contented sleep.
Logan lay awake for an hour longer just listening to her heart beat, and feeling the gentle movement of each breath she drew. She was alive, the nightmares that had been plaguing him while he had been unconscious in the med lab, broken only by snippets of her soft voice drifting through his head, were finally banished. Tomorrow they would need to get everything squared away with their hosts but for now he needed rest. Drifting off to sleep, he thanked whoever had been watching out for the two of them that they were both still alive and well.
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