10 minutes. 10 minutes had passed since Dick had started crying. His body shivering from the cold air that surrounded his naked figure, goose bumps covering his arms and legs as Dick sat there in the shower with the water still running. Even if said water continued to get colder. The energy and life seemingly drained from his body, he couldn't even look up to acknowledge the guard that now stood looking over him, the guard that came in to sweep through the washroom searching for any stragglers.
"Come on kid, everyone else is already out for breakfast, get a move one"
Peeking through a gap in his hands, Dick looked up at the guard with pleading eyes. In response, the guard sneered at him before roughly taking hold of his arms and forcefully lifting him off the shower's floor, dragging Dick to his locker.
"Put your clothes on and get out! That or you go out with no clothes on"
Flinching slightly at the harsh voice and cringing at the thought of being stark naked at breakfast, Dick silently slipped on his clothes. The guard who was pleased that an inmate was following directions once again roughly grabbed Dick's arm, enjoying his position of power, and dragging him outside of the bathrooms began heading towards the cafeteria. Dick hung his head low, eyes focused on the floor and bangs covering his face as he allowed himself to be pulled along, his self-confidence having hit a record low.
As they entered the room immediately all eyes focused on Dick who kept his gaze on the floor effectively ignoring all the sudden attention. The seconds ticked by as everyone watched the odd behaviour as though expecting something to happen, however the eyes slowly began looking away as they lost interest.
Dick stood there at the edge of the room, unmoving, as he thought about how he wanted nothing but to disappear, to hide underneath the crappy blanket on is crappy bed. Jason, the only person to have not lost interest in Dick's odd behaviour, slowly began weaving his way through the crowd as he made his way to the unmoving boy.
Grabbing his shoulder and shaking them lightly, Jason spoke, "Dick, what's up? Why are you not getting breakfast? Why are you staring at the ground? Come on man you're not even blinking! At least look at me while I'm talking, it's rude not to you know"
At that, Dick moved the most he had in the last few minutes as he lifted his head just enough to make eye contact with Jason through his hair that fell over his eyes. Jason frowned, pushing Dick's hair away from his eyes as he stated, "You need a haircut"
Dick cracked the smallest smile, finding enough energy to swipe Jason's hand away. Jason laughed lightly at this, glad to finally see some sort of response from the older male. Shaking his head, Jason took hold of Dick's wrist and dragged him to a free table. Sitting down, he observed the other who was usually full of energy and witty-comebacks but who now seemed lost in their own mind. "So, what happened to you? You look like crap"
Groaning, Dick replied as he laid his head on the table, "You don't have to be that straightforward about my looks you know"
Jason grinned. "Wow I got an entire sentence out of you! I'm amazed, wasn't sure I'd be able to do it"
Dick opened his mouth to reply, a witty-comment on the tip of his tongue, but was cut off by the bell that signalled everyone was about to move outside. Jumping up as soon as he heard the bell, Jason quickly ran towards the doors leading outside, yelling back a quick "We'll talk later Dick!"
As soon as Jason was out of sight, Dick's mood immediately dropped and his energy suddenly felt drained. With no Jason to distract him, Dick's problems came crashing back down, a huge weight suddenly pinning him down. Standing slowly, Dick followed the crowd out into the yard.
When Dick exited the heated building and entered the prison's yard, the last thing he was expecting was a mist that engulfed the area, making it difficult to see more than a few meters in front of you. Not wanting to lose his way in the fog, Dick decided to just follow the fence that surrounded the yard. (Besides, sticking to the edges means he might be able to avoid bumping into anyone)
Walking along the perimeter of the outdoor area, Dick stopped when he found a corner with a bench. Smiling to himself he laid across it, stretching out his body and closing his eyes. 'Might just thank today's cloud cover as this means I can get some privacy and be hidden from the others for a while.'
Breathing deeply and enjoying this moment of peace, how he was in a way invisible and hidden from the world for a moment, Dick allowed the smallest smile creep across his face.
That smile lasted until he heard a voice speak, a voice that was much closer to him than he liked.
"The little brat is all by himself hidden away in a corner, how convenient"
Then another voice spoke up somewhere close-by as well
"I heard some people refer to you as 'Robin', so we decided to call you something similar, how does that sound bird boy?"
Dick could feel the cool sweat appearing on the back of his neck now. He thought he was safe in the fog, he let down his guard. Just like he let his guard down in the shower.
"What? No smart-ass comment? It's a shame, would have given us a reason to beat you up"
"But in truth, we don't need a reason. Your existence is a reason enough"
Dick gave up at that point. He had no strength or will to fight back.
He felt the first blow as knuckles buried themselves in his stomach, which made him fall off the bench and left him doubled-over in pain on the grass. Attempting to take deep breathes and spitting out the blood accumulating in his mouth, Dick regretted his choice of giving up.
He felt the second hit as someone's shoe stomped on his chest full force, hearing a crack. Pain radiated from his chest causing him to scream out, even if it was against his will.
He definitely felt the third blow as someone rolled him over and twisted him arm backwards with all their strength, surely breaking it. He couldn't really feel that arm now, numb with pain in a way. Only tears escaped this time.
After that he didn't feel too much since the pain from the first 3 blows covered the rest, however he knew he would feel it later.
From the haze their attacks left Dick in, he does remember someone rolled him back over whilst sitting on top of him and repeatedly punching him in the face. He remembers being picked up and shoved against the fence before being thrown into the bench. He thinks he broke it. He remembers how guards suddenly came running to his aid, apparently having heard the ruckus. He remembers the angry faces of the boys as they were pushed away from him, and how he was picked up and moved to the nurses section of the prison. That's all he remembers, as after all that he finally blacked out.
Not before he decided that today just wasn't his day.
Waking up was not a pleasant ordeal for Dick.
First gaining consciousness, he realised he could still (Thankfully) feel all his limbs, but this was only because they burned with pain that left him wanting to squirm around on the bed. Opening his eyes wasn't much better he found out the hard way when bright white lights greeted him, shooting pain through his eyes and amplifying his already-present headache. His body then attempted to sit up, going into autopilot, with Dick regretting this choice as the already unbearable pain somehow became more unbearable. This action did however gain the attention of a nurse.
"Lay down sweetie, you could have just gotten my attention by calling out you know"
Dick risked opening his eyes again in order to see the face of the woman who spoke so sweetly with such kind words. A smile was what he witnessed, a genuine smile, which had Dick smiling as well.
"You must be very confused right now! I'm Amanda, I'm also the one looking after you while you recover Mr. Grayson" greeted Amanda, as she smiled at the bruise-covered boy. The boy that looked too young, too innocent to be in a place like this.
"Please, just call me Dick" he croaked out at an attempt to speak, only just realising now how thirsty he was.
The nurse who noticed his predicament quickly held out a glass of water, which Dick took gratefully, slowing sipping at its contents.
"How bad is it?" questioned Dick who spoke in a barely audible voice. He watched as Amanda grabbed her clipboard and began reading.
"You had a dislocated arm and jaw but we already fixed that up for you, and you have a broken rib and a bruised stomach, along with many other bruises covering your body. Not too bad sweetie, but enough to keep you here for a day or two however."
Dick nodded slowly to show he heard her as the feeling of sleep suddenly overcame his body.
The next time Dick woke up was a day and a half later, the day he was to be moved back to his cell and return to prison life. He was greeted once again by Nurse Amanda, who had him sit up and walk around the room. Yes, he was still pretty out-of-it and the pain was still present, just not as bad as it had been when he first woke-up.
It was later into the night when all the inmates had already been placed in their cells that the escort guards came to take Dick back to his. Walking along the familiar corridors, Dick could only think about the sleep that was calling him. He was so unfocused that when the guards stopped, he bumped straight into their backs.
Stepping back as quickly as he could, Dick smiled sheepishly to the guards who now looked down at him with intimidating stares. That's when Dick noticed something.
"This…This isn't my cell…"
One of the guards stepped forward, opening the door to the cell. "No its not, you have been moved to have your own private cell due to your current injuries."
Dick raised his eyebrows, not too sure if this was a joke or not. His question was answered when the other guard got impatient and decided to push Dick into the cell, locking it as they turned and left.
The push sent pain rushing through Dick's body, and biting his lips hard enough to drawn blood, Dick fought back the tears that attempted to escape. Breathing heavily, he walked over to the hard bed and laid down, attempting to get comfortable.
"If only Babs could see me now" he whispered quietly to no one in particular with a small smile appearing on his face, before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.