Chapter 2
Checking into Arkham
After checking in to my works station I moved to do my work and froze when the voice came back.
FREE HIM!
I felt as light as air and with a strange feel to it. Like an out-of-body feeling as I floated down the hallways to my boss' door. Without knocking I opened the door.
"May I have a word with you Bert?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure, come have a seat." He said, stopping what he was doing and turning to give me his utmost attention. "What is it Lizzy?" he asked gently before rolling his pen nervously in his hands, knowing he had used the name I hated most. I shrugged it off.
"I need to be assigned to Arkham to see a patient." I said.
"Uh, Elizabeth, we already talked about this. You can't go to Arkham yet, you don't have anywhere near enough experience." He said.
"Not to stay. Just to speak with a patient. Just one and it'll only be for a week." I begged knowing this would put a huge damper on all the other workers since they had to fill in for my shifts.
"Will this one week kill your curiosity for that place?" He asked.
"Yes." I nodded.
"Very well. Which patient is it you want to see?" He asked.
"Patient?" I said, knowing if I gave him the name he would change his mind.
"The name, Elizabeth if you can't give me the name, I can't let you go." He said.
"The Joker." I said. The man had never given another name, not to me, not to anyone. I idly wondered if they called him the Joker in court, or whether he was a John Doe or some other pseudonym he'd hate.
He stiffened. "No, Elizabeth, absolutely not." He said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Please I'll do whatever you want, double shifts day and night if I have to. I need to speak with this patient."
"Why are you so interested in criminals? You've been talking nonstop about how you want to go there and how you need to work over there and now, you want to speak with the worst psychopath there is in the world. I won't put you in danger. It's my job to keep my employees safe." he said.
"I'll sign a waiver saying that if I get injured it will be my own fault and then I can't sue you or the hospital and the patient will be safe." I pleaded.
"Elizabeth, I can't let you over there to see Gotham's most wanted just for you to speak with him." He said shifting in his chair.
"Why not? It's only for a little while and I think I can help him." She said raising her hands in the air in frustration.
"He stole money, he blew up a hospital, he killed people and he threatened to kill more.Is that not enough for you to understand what this man is? He's sick in the head and safe where he's at." Bert said slowly.
"Please Bert. My job means so much to me and I can change him. I know it. If anything happens to me then it will be my own fault. Please." I begged one last time.
Feeling sympathy for me he nodded.
"Fine. Grab your stuff. You start tomorrow." He said. It was obvious he wanted me at Arkham about as much as he wanted inoperable cancer or some other terminal disease.
"Thank you so much Bert." I yelled and ran out of the room. My heart was pounding so loudly I thought everyone around me could hear it. I was finally going to see the Joker, to talk to him as a human being and not as some patient to be shipped off like luggage.
And somehow the small but persistent voice in the back of my head got a little quieter. I suppose I must have started to satisfy it. Maybe tomorrow, when I finally met the Joker, I would be able to concentrate on something other than the constant cry inside my head: Free him! I'd be one step closer.