Dr. Winona Holland rushed from her taxi, throwing a 10 at the cabbie and trying to find her ID badge in her purse. She found it, flashing it to the security guard at the door, and entered her place of work: Arkham Asylum.
She threw her coat and purse into her locker in the break room and clipped on her badge in her rush to the conference room. The entire asylum was completely on edge that day. The Joker would be arriving for the second time at 8 AM sharp, and everyone had very little time to prepare. Dr. Arkham had set up a meeting for all of the doctors at 7:15, and Winona was almost late. She ran down the hallway, fixed her hair when she reached the door, and entered swiftly.
The conference room was almost full when Winona arrived. She took an empty seat next to Dr. Leeland. They exchanged brief, polite smiles before Dr. Arkham started speaking.
"Good morning, everyone. I assume you all realize why this meeting was called. I would like to discuss who will be treating the Jo-…patient 4479."
The conference room was completely silent. A few hot-shots were smirking, thinking they'd get the job easily, while others were white as a sheet. Dr. Leeland next to her shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Winona simply sat there, not wanting to express any opinion to this statement. She was secretly trying to calm the frantic beating of her heart, hating the uncertainty.
Dr. Arkham took a deep breath and continued. "I have given it a lot of thought and consideration, and I have made my choice. I must remind you that this was a completely thought-out decision, as I have been thinking of this since the patient was re-captured."
Everyone's hearts were racing. Winona dug her nails into her palm subconsciously; hanging on Dr. Arkham's every word. He made eye contact with everyone in the room, building up the suspense even further.
"I'd ask that no arguments start up because of this; we already have a long day ahead of us." He made it so everyone could see him. "Congratulations Dr. Holland, I've decided you will be treating patient 4479."
It was at that moment when all hell broke loose. Several other doctors were outraged, claiming she wasn't as experienced as they were. A few of the other doctors gave her sympathetic looks. Winona hadn't spoken; she just blinked a few times in disbelief.
"Excuse me! Everyone- calm down!" Dr. Arkham ordered.
"Dr. Arkham, are you sure we should allow a woman to treat the Joker? Don't you remember what happened with Ms. Quinzel?" Hugo Strange demanded, gaining many outraged looks and exclamations from the women in the room.
"Dr. Quinzel was inexperienced and weak-minded, Dr. Strange. I believe Dr. Holland here can do the job," Dr. Arkham said, with a smile in Winona's direction. "I'd also like to add, Dr. Strange, that the doctors' genders should not in any way have affected my decision."
"Doesn't she need to say yes to treating him in the first place?" Dr. Sinner asked. Several doctors shouted agreements.
"Excuse me… Everyone!" Winona shouted. The room grew quiet. "I accept your offer of treating patient 4479, Dr. Arkham. I'm going to need to prepare myself a little, if you'll excuse me."
Winona exited the conference room and made her way to her office. She felt a mix of nervousness, excitement, and disbelief. Her mouth twisted into a big smile, continuously growing bigger until she started laughing, suddenly thrilled that she was chosen.
She started to notice that a few people in the hallway were giving her strange looks, so she quieted her laughter. She entered the office with the file records, spending a few minutes to look for 4479's folder. Once she found it, she raced to her office to examine it.
The file started out like any other file would. It contained basic information (name, age, known illnesses, etc.), most of which were listed as unknown. Dr. Quinzel's first notes were actually very informative. They told of how the patient avoided answering questions directly, refused to share personal information, was easily distracted, and things similar to that nature. As the sessions went on, though, less helpful information was written down. There were even a few doodles, such as a heart with "Joker + Harley" written in it and Batman hanging from a noose. They were slightly disturbing. As she reached the files from the last few sessions, there was nothing written down besides scribbles of nonsense and a few more doodles.
Winona sighed and placed all the papers back in the folder. It was sad, what happened to Dr. Quinzel. She was a very promising intern in Dr. Holland's opinion. She wouldn't let the Joker get to her like he did Harleen.
That reminded her to look at the clock. It was already 7:50. She figured she could watch his arrival. After all, she was his doctor. She grinned at that thought and departed her office, heading towards the patients' entrance.
Everyone was crowded around the doors. Apparently, news had traveled quickly around the asylum because people were either giving Winona either dirty looks or pitiful ones. She pushed her way to the front, swiftly moving in between people.
They waited for probably about 5 minutes, but it seemed like hours. Several orderlies started pushing the crowd back, making room so the patient and guards could enter.
Two guards walked in first. They had their hands on their guns, looking very nervous. Dr. Holland peered behind them and froze completely. She caught a glimpse of green hair. The guards carrying the stretcher backed in cautiously. The Joker was strapped down by his torso, neck, arms, legs, and basically any place that could further restrict his movements.
The guards formed a perimeter around him, but there were still spaces in between them that allowed a view of the Joker. His head lolled to the side; he was definitely drugged out of his mind. His clouded eyes met Dr. Holland's for a few seconds. Things seemed to slow down as his mouth turned up at the corners. Dr. Holland was reminded of a lion, baring its teeth to scare its prey. Then she realized he was grinning. He started laughing hysterically, looking up to the ceiling. His laughter filled the room, causing a few people to shiver visibly. Dr. Holland let out a shaky breath, feeling dread overcome her for a few seconds.
More guards followed after the ones carrying the stretcher, along with Dr. Arkham and… Batman?
Batman was in Arkham. He was in the same building- no- the same room as Winona. She couldn't help but feel a bit starstruck. He passed her, looking straight ahead, and she thought she might burst into a fit of giggles. I suppose he's being admitted to Arkham as well, then? she joked to herself, half smiling.
Eventually the lobby started to clear out. There was still a bit of panic among the workers, trying to sort through paperwork and re-organize their schedules, but mostly everyone was glad that it was over with.
Winona was paged a moment later to go to the patient processing center. She rushed through the hallways, running a hand through her hair in a stressed manner.
She reached the PPC in record time, trying to enter while flashing her badge to security. They stopped her immediately, grabbing her shoulder.
"Ma'am, you aren't permitted to be in here right now," a beefy guard told her.
"I was just paged by Dr. Arkham to-"
"Save it lady, you can't see the freakshow right now," the second guard cut her off rudely.
"Cash, Boles, let her through. She's patient 4479's doctor," Dr. Arkham cut in, making a signal at Dr. Holland to come through. She gave a triumphant look at the two orderlies and passed them, walking to Dr. Arkham. He gave her a new card with her name, photo, and special barcode on it.
"I apologize for that, Dr. Holland. I forgot to give you this pass earlier. It allows you anywhere in the building. Well, the places you'll need to be." Winona accepted the card, placing it in the chest pocket of her lab coat.
"Thank you, Dr. Arkham," she said politely, glancing around the room while doing so. She spotted the Joker being wheeled back into the room they were currently in. He seemed less hazy than before; perhaps the drugs were wearing off. The Batman was following behind, keeping close watch.
They were heading to the medical center, probably to address the injuries that he'd received from Batman before he was caught. Dr. Arkham told Winona to follow him, and she did so, entering the medical center with the others.
A nurse approached the Joker, her fear obvious on her face. She had a syringe in one hand and the other was going towards the binds on the Joker's arm. She undid one of them on his wrist slowly, watching to make sure he wouldn't make a move. He just stared at her, a hint of a smile on his painted face. She continued to the strap on his forearm and did the same thing, watching him very carefully. As soon as she grew a bit more comfortable and undid the third strap, the Joker's arm went up and he gripped her neck.
The nurse's scream was cut off and immediately turned to choked noises. The syringe in her other hand smashed on the floor, and the orderlies around them shouted at each other to get another one. Batman pulled something out of his belt in seconds and injected it into the Joker's arm. His grip loosened a bit, but he desperately grasped onto consciousness. The orderlies gave him a smaller second dosage, and his grip finally slipped as his arm slammed back down. He was giggling uncontrollably, only subsiding when he became unconscious. The nurse was on the floor having a coughing fit and Batman pulled her up easily.
Dr. Holland had stood there watching the entire display in silent panic. She glanced at Dr. Arkham to find him looking at her calmly.
"Are you sure you're ready for this position, Dr. Holland?" he asked her slowly.
Winona glanced back at the unconscious patient, then straight into Dr. Arkham's eyes.
"Of course."