My Sons' Eyes Are Blue, Too

By

AJ

Part 3: Diagnosing The Problem

Bruce allowed the emergency room attendants and doctors to work on Dick. They examined his broken collarbone and reset his dislocated shoulder. The doctors placed his left arm in a special brace to hold the two pieces in place, despite the fact that there was evidence that showed within the past few minutes the bones were already starting to knit together. They also found several cracked ribs that were also starting to heal. Bruce speculated that the electrum in his system was helping Dick to heal faster than a normal person. They also discovered a lump on the back of Dick's head. That must have happened when he reached the bottom of the stairs. The doctors did whatever they could, but it would have to wait for Dick to regain consciousness before they could tell them what happened.

"We'll be moving him to a room. He'll be ready for you to see in an hour. We'll keep him over night for observation."

Bruce was informed of the visiting hours.

'I wish they would let me stay. They don't know about the nightmares.' Bruce thought.

Within the hour Dick was taken to a room and an IV was hooked up. Fluids were given to him to keep Dick from becoming dehydrated. Another needle was placed in Dick's arm and the attending nurse drew three vials of blood. She marked his name and room number, as well as the number on Dick's wristband that they applied when he was admitted.

Bruce approached the nurse drawing the blood.

"What tests will be done?" Bruce asked. "And when will you get the lab report back?"

"There will be a toxicology screen as well as screening for any other abnormalities. And the test results should be ready tomorrow morning."

As she was finishing with the third vial, Bruce palmed two of the empty vials. Once the nurse technician left, Bruce took the time to draw his own samples then pocketed the two vials. It's not that he didn't trust the doctor it was because he own equipment might catch something they might have missed.

Another nurse technician came in and unhooked the IV and any machines.

"Where are you taking him?"

"I'm taking him down for more X-Rays and an MRI to see if the doctor will need to perform surgery. He wants to check for swelling and muscle damage that might have occurred. We need to also check for any head injuries."

"How long will you be?" Bruce asked

"We should be back within an hour."

The nurse technician was true to his word. He returned with Dick within the hour. Dick, however, had not regained consciousness. Bruce was getting worried. Dick always came out of being unconscious faster than this. Could he have slipped into a coma?

Another 30 minutes the attending physician entered the private room carrying a disk. He placed it into the computer and brought up Dick's MRI results.

"Good news Mr. Wayne, your son does not appear to have any damage to his skull or brain, however there is a lot of brain activity in the occipital and temporal cortical lobes of his brain."

Bruce knew what it meant, but chose to let the doctor explain. "What does that mean?"

"He is dreaming, but he shouldn't be. When a person is unconscious usually those areas of the brain that sustains certain bodily functions like breathing are working and usually at a minimum. There should be very little brain activity."

"Do you know why he would have this much brain activity even unconscious?"

"Unfortunately, we don't know why," the doctor replied. "We'd like to keep him here over night for observation, maybe run more tests."

Bruce didn't know what to do. He really didn't want to leave his son here. If he came to during a nightmare, there would be no one to comfort him, but the last time, Dick had pushed him away and that hurt more than he let on. Then something occurred to him that he had not thought of before. What if the fear toxin had affected his mind more than he thought? Had the fear toxin been changed in some way where it was affecting those areas of the brain? Once again Bruce was faced with a dilemma. He would have to face Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow, but could he? He had to get answers. It had been a week since Dick Grayson had suffered at the hands of Matthew Malone and Jasper Cage. Dick's nightmares should not have gotten this bad. The fear toxin should have been cleared from his system. Fear toxin, however, should only produce hallucinations, not the nightmares that Dick as been suffering, at least in part. Some of his nightmares obviously would have been about the rape and torture that had been done to him, but the fear toxin . . . Somehow this toxin is and continues to affect Dick's dreams, even while unconscious.

"I don't know if you can help, Doctor. This may require help from outside," Bruce said.

"There are specialists," the Doctor stated.

"Something has affected his mind," Bruce said sadly. "I don't know how much more he can take. The last few days . . . " Bruce didn't know if he should go into details, how Dick stopped eating. He barely took in any nourishment whether liquid or solid. He started to lose weight. 'He's always had trouble with that.' Dick didn't want to sleep, but his body needed rest. The ironic thing was that what rest he tried to get was negated from the nightmares.

'Malone, you've done this to him,' Bruce seethed inside. 'Perhaps I should see you first. I should have collected the evidence that night, such as the fear toxin itself. Maybe Gordon and the GPD have some in the evidence room. If they do have some, I might be able to break it down, synthesize an antidote.'

'Now you're starting to use your head,' Batman said at the back of Bruce's mind.

Bruce though did not dare voice what he was thinking, even to himself. If he could not find the antidote, he feared that whatever sanity his son has would quickly vanish. Can a man be driven insane from his nightmares? Bruce feared that's exactly what was happening to his son. What he feared the most was even if he did find the antidote, it may already be too late.

Continues with Part 4