As Rose Petals Fall

Chapter 1:

Two Frail Flowers

...Over a year later...

Zatanna, now 16-years-old, sat in her wheelchair in Dr. Leslie Thompson's radiotherapy clinic in Gotham City. Since being diagnosed, her father, Giovanni Zatara, had decided moving to America was best for her treatments. That didn't stop Zatanna from being bored as she waited for her monthly radiotherapy treatment. She was also having chemotherapy that was being administered to her by an IV drip in her arm. She looked to the pile of magazines on the table beside her and weakly searched through them. Then a painful reminder appeared. One of the magazines was a sports tabloid with a cover image of Zatanna in her tennis prime.

"Zatanna," Giovanni whispered to her, his Italian accent still thick "Don't. You know they only make you upset,"

Zatanna sighed and sat back in her chair. She looked around at the other waiting patients. She wished she wasn't so superficial about her hair or lack of it. Zatanna constantly either wore a wig or a beanie to cover her bald head. Right now, out in public, she wore both. The doors opened and a boy her age came out with a man in his thirties. The boy wore a black t-shirt under a unbuttoned red checkered shirt, black jeans and a black beanie. He pushed alongside himself an IV drip that was probably administering chemo to him. The man with him wore a suit and tie with slicked back hair. He looked like a business man.

"Well, that was a waste of time," the boy complained "The radiotherapy ain't working, the chemo ain't working and surgery's too dangerous. Can we please go to the movies now?"

The man with him looked at him with concern.

"Dick, you know that's dangerous for you," he said "What if you have a seizure or worse?"

The boy, Dick, grumbled to himself when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"I gotta use the john, can I do that on my own, Bruce?" he asked, sarcastically.

The man, Bruce, nodded at him and Dick began heading to the bathroom. That's when Zatanna was called in for treatment. As she wheeled herself towards the double doors, her IV and Dick's IV collided. There was a clang as the IV's hit the floor and Dick tripped over the mess.

"Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?" Zatanna exclaimed and leaned out of her wheelchair to look at him.

Bruce was by his side in a second and gave him a hand up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Dick, picking up the two IV's "I'm a klutz so it was probably my fault,"

Bruce untangled the IV bags and got them separated. Dick pulled his long sleeve up his arm and checked the multiple tubes in his arm to make sure they hadn't come lose. Seeing his IV in perfect working condition, he moved his sleeve back down his arm and he looked at Zatanna in concern.

"Are you okay? Is your IV okay?" Dick asked, worry on his face "I know how tedious travelling with an IV can be,"

Zatanna looked down at the sleeve of her fleece and pulled it up to see the IV tubes still perfectly in place.

"I'm fine," she said, quietly.

"Good. Well, that incident didn't stop me from needing to go to the bathroom so..." Dick said "See ya. Tell Leslie you know Dick Grayson and she'll play music during your treatment,"

Zatanna nodded, bewildered, as her father pushed her towards the double doors. She looked behind her as Dick headed to the bathroom while Bruce seemed to be flirting with the secretary (whose nametag read "Selina Kyle-Wayne"). Zatanna turned back around to face forwards as she and Giovanni passed through the duel doors.

Zatanna felt drained after the radiotherapy treatment was over and a wave of fatigue passed over her. What Dick had said about telling Dr. Thompson about knowing him was true. She had played music during the treatment and that brought Zatanna some joy. For the time being, she was staying at the Gotham City Cancer Center. Giovanni was staying in a cheap motel nearby and was working as much as possible to pay for Zatanna's treatments. They were on a waiting list for a bed in the higher quality St. Agnes Memorial Hospital but the likelihood wasn't in their favour.

"You want to go to the cinema and see what's on?" Giovanni asked his daughter but she didn't respond.

Zatanna scratched under her beanie and straightened her wig by tugging the ends of the fake hair. She looked down at the ground before her as her father pushed her along the busy sidewalk. She sat back and dropped her head in front of her. Giovanni patted her head like he used to and his daughter looked up at him. Zatanna gave him a smile before turning back around and slumping down. She shivered and pulled a blanket out of her satchel to wrap around herself. Her satchel was very precious to her. It was initially plain brown from a craft shop her mother had taken her when she was 4. Over the past 12 years since acquiring the bag, Zatanna had decorated it with fabric paint, beads and more.

"Dad... can I... uh... never mind..." she stammered.

"What, darling?" Giovanni asked, looking down at her.

"I was... hoping to see the Gotham City Botanical Gardens," Zatanna said "I read online that they're the best place in Gotham,"

Giovanni looked down at her and thought about it. It was a beautiful July day and the Sun was out rather than Gotham's usual rain. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea and he didn't have to get Zatanna back to the Center until 4 p.m. while it was currently 11 in the morning.

"Alright, Zatanna, let's go!" Giovanni declared.

Zatanna couldn't help but let out a huge smile as her father stopped outside a bus stop to take a bus across town.