2.
~ "Correct me if I'm wrong, Master Bruce." Alfred started to say. "Miss Kyle is very lovely, that's always been true, but I thought the pair of you were not on the best of terms."
"That's putting it mildly." Bruce muttered.
Alfred had insisted on driving in the storm. It always made Bruce feel more like a child than a grown man when he did this. Bruce had entrained an idea that he would pull up to the hospital in his fancy car, rescue Selina and drive her back to his home. Nothing about Alfred being there was romantic.
It was like your dad driving you and a date to prom.
Bruce had to laugh at the irony of the idea just now. Alfred had driven him to the prom. Selina had been his date and they ditched to dance as soon as the old man dropped them off. Bruce felt himself blush at the memory of if. Now, here he was. He felt like no time had passed at all.
Gotham General loomed up like a great haunted castle. It was not the best hospital, but decent enough for the poorer neighborhoods.
It was Gothic in design and in dire need of being torn down and a more modern facility put in its place.
It was almost as old as Arkham Asylum and just as fearsome looking. Bruce glared at the rows of windows and the flashing ambulance lights.
"Master Bruce!" Alfred shouted when Bruce left the backseat and was darted through the rain slicked parking lot.
The storm made everything chaotic in the emergency intake room.
People were shouting and screaming at nurses, paramedics were wrestling a man to the ground. It was a depository for drug addicts, gang violence and the last hope for the desperate of Gotham's poor.
Bruce, feeling like he had stepped into one of the circles of hell, wandered around till he found the front desk.
"I'm here to see Selina Kyle." he told lady behind the bullet proof glass marked 'Intake'.
"Have a seat." the receptionist told him.
Bruce looked back at the waiting room.
"I'm sorry, that won't do." he said after taking in the side show of freaks that were there.
"There are other people here, sir. Take a seat." the receptionist said irritably.
Bruce reached into his jacket pocket, paying no attention to the number of bills he pulled out, and quickly slid them to the receptionist under the glass window.
The woman, a middle aged lady with almost comic like glasses and frizzy hair to match, looked in shock at the bills. Bruce must have guessed it was a good deal of money because she slapped her hand over the cash and slid it out of sight.
The receptionist looked around to make sure no one noticed her greed.
"Selina Kyle." Bruce siad more firmly.
~ Selina didn't think these doctors knew what they were doing. The meds were taking too long and the pain in her hip was hurting too much.
"Nurse." she said weakly. She needed to see that doctor again. She needed to get out of here.
How she had managed to make it to get out of that basement, away from the ally and make it to Gotham General was a miracle. She had hobbled to the the emergency room and had to wait for over an hour to be seen. All the while in horrible pain, and just to hear the news she had a fractured hip.
"What now?" the nurse growled.
"I need something stronger." Selina said pitifully. "It hurts."
"You have to give the drugs a chance to work." the nurse said. "Now, here are your discharge papers."
Selina let out a sigh. She hoped Bruce would get here soon. She had no one else to call. Ivy was MIA and the apartment she had been staying at would not exactly be available much longer. It's rightful owners coming back from Europe in any day now.
'Please come, Bruce.' she prayed silently.
Then, just like a wish being granted, he was there. He parted the curtain of the little exam room as though he owned the entire building and looked down on her disapprovingly.
"Selina." he said sadly.
She had to stop for a moment and take in how good he looked. Even in normal clothes, he cut in impressive figure. He must have been working out, because his shoulders were defiantly wider. He looked almost nothing like the boy she had first met, but his face, his face was still thoughtful and sad looking. His eyes still softened when he saw her.
"You came." she breathed in relief.
Bruce leaned over her. His hands, oddly calloused for a rich man's son, were touching her face.
"What happened?" he whispered.
She had a story ready for him. She was very good at lying to Bruce.
"I was at work, waitressing, and as soon as I got off shift, I stepped out into the rain. I slipped and feel really hard." she told him quickly.
Another pain shot through her and she shut her eyes tightly.
"I slipped." she panted now. "The doctor said it's a hip fracture."
"Didn't they give you anything for pain?" Bruce demanded angrily.
"They said they did." she told him weakly.
Before she should explain that she had nowhere to go and was hurt and needed help, Bruce leaned away from her. His face cold with anger.
"Nurse." he said with authority. "I need to speak with her doctor right now."
"She's being discharged, sir." the nurse said. "There is nothing more we can do."
"Call for a private ambulance from Gotham Medical and Rehab." Bruce ordered.
The nurse stood frozen. Maybe she recognized him, maybe she just wasn't used to being ordered around like this.
"Now, would be best. I'm having this patient sent to a real hospital." Bruce said. His voice was cool and confidant. Anyone would guess he had done this everyday.
~ Gotham Medical and Rehab was the best int he city. It looked less like a hospital, and more like an exclusive spa. There wasn't even that horrid hospital smell and all the nurses wore crisp, uniform like scrubs.
Paramedics came within minutes and lifted her gently onto a gurney, taking her vital signs while Bruce rode with her.
"They only gave her Vicodin?" the doctor asked. He looked like an old fashioned movie star. Like he should be treating celebrities and have his own wellness show. Not looking after someone like her. "Vicodin for a fractured hip? That place needs to be torn down and the earth salted."
Selina smiled as Bruce held her hand.
"Don't worry, Miss Kyle." the movie star doctor said kindly. "We're giving you a shot of real pain medication and then doing a comprehensive X Ray. It's very likely your hip wasn't the only injury you sustained in you fall."
Selina watched the nurse inject her IV with something as the movie star doctor felt her hip and worked his way upwards.
Selina winced slightly when he reached her ribs.
"Broken rib." the doctor said and scribbled a note. "You did all this from a single fall?"
"I was running." Selina said. She wasn't exactly lying about that part. "I was running, trying to get out of the rain."
"What are these?" the doctor asked and looked over the rat bites on her hands. It had been a hard job fighting off an army of rats in that basement. She hadn't exactly won, merely retreated.
"I guess I cut my hands in the parking lot." Selina explained.
"The good news is, none of it is too serious. You're young and you'll heal fast." the movie star doctor told her. "Bad news is, you won't be able to go back to work for some time. You'll need lots of rest. After the X Rays, we'll get you a room and you can begin your recovery and therapy."
"Stay here?" Selina chocked.
Her fences would find her right away if she was here. She owed them the diamonds from the jewelry store. They would come after her if she didn't deliver as promised. Also, the freak from the dark might come. He might be looking in area hospitals for recent patients with injuries such as hers.
"Don't worry about the expense." Bruce was saying. "I'm going to take care of this."
Selina felt her heart flutter at the sight of him. He still cared for her, she knew that. But she couldn't stay here like a sitting duck. She needed a better hiding place for her recovery.
"I… I can't stay here." she told him. Her pain meds were kicking in and she was starting to feel… wonderful.
"Why not?" Bruce was asking. His face looked like it was glowing and she felt herself float off the bed.
"He's going to come after me." Selina said unwillingly. She had planned to say she hated hospitals but Bruce's angry face was all she saw before sweet release took her.
