Chapter 10

Jokers POV

Two months. Every day I think of her. It takes more self control than possible to not hunt her down. I'm mad. She knows I've escaped but she hasn't come to find me. Maybe it all meant nothing to her. I try to logically reason with myself but clearly that never works.

When it gets too much I find a desperate woman at one of my clubs and let her preoccupy my night for a couple hours. A couple hours picturing it's Seph I'm with. Part of me is convinced she's a witch who had cast this spell on me. I hate her for it. Makes me want to hurt her.

I'm sitting in the office of one of my clubs and Johnny is going through our earnings when the TV shows a familiar face. I freeze as my heart feels like it jumped into my throat. Police chase. Car crash. One of penguin's men in custody. Victim in critical care. Psychiatrist. Persephone Sotiropoulos. Persephone. Seph. Not many things have shaken me before, but I feel my hands trembling as I process everything I'm seeing. Johnny calls my name and I hold my gun up pointed at him.

"Woah. I was just gonna say she was one of the doctors at Arkham. Considered trying to reach out and bribe her to aid in your escape but she quit. Also she seemed too nice. Clean record when I checked but was tossed around the foster care system as a kid. Real winner of a dad apparently." Johnny casually explains adding sarcasm to the last part. He's used to me holding a gun to him. He never knew of how close my association was to her. I didn't want anyone to know.

"Yeah she was my doctor for a bit. Hot but too nice." I tried to write it off. Johnny never questions me anyway. I'm trying to figure out a way to get more information on how she is doing.

"She is definitely attractive. Saw she was engaged to another doctor there." He adds. I feel jealousy flare up, but I simmer it down. I'm overwhelmed with an urgency to see her. She could be dying. My stomach gets sick at the idea of a world without her. I'm trying to form a plan to get into the hospital. Ideally I'd find a way to get her here but I don't know the state she is in.

"Johnny, call Ava. I'm gonna need a disguise." Johnny looks at me with curiosity in his eyes but doesn't question me, pulling out his phone and calling the cosmetologist. "Also I need you to dig up everything you can possibly find out about Persephone Sotiropoulos."

….

Three hours later and my stress is through the roof. I want to run and be at the hospital. I can't even pace, I have to sit still while Ava makes me look "Normal". She does a good job and is fast considering how much she has to do. I'm layered in makeup to cover that white skin and tattoos. I try to keep it to a minimum with a black long sleeved shirt, a dark gray hoodie, and dark blue jeans to cover most of me so she only has to do my hands, neck, and head. I look in the mirror as she is putting on the final touches on. It's not how I looked before the accident but I do look normal. My hair has been temporarily dyed black, easiest to cover the green. It used to be a dull brown. I have eyebrows to match glued on that feels strange but makes me look more like others. My lips are a normal light pink color and my skin is peachy. I had olive toned skin once upon a time with lips darker but more of a tan hue.

I can't help but wonder if Seph would find this attractive. I wonder if she would have found my old self attractive. I was scrawny, meek, and average so I doubt it. I'm shocked at my thoughts. Why would I care? Part of me says it's the same reason why I'm going through all this trouble just to see her. After paying Ava generously, Johnny and I get into the black Mercedes SUV. Not completely inconspicuous but it's night and he will drop me off a block away.

The hospital has that terrible florescent light to it that hurts my eyes after being outside in the dark. It's quiet though and I take the elevator to the ICU floor while unconsciously bouncing with anxiety. I press a button and the doors open. I walk with purpose so no one asks or suspects I haven't been here. Johnny was able to find out that her room is 2122 so I go straight there.

No one is in her room. A thought that makes me relieved but also sad. I won't have to explain my presence or give the false back story I prepared but she is alone. She looks awful. Cuts and bruises all over her, tubes and wires attached to various parts of her, and gauze wrapped around her torso and head. She is paler than usual and missing the rosiness her cheeks typically have. I'm afraid to touch her, hell to even breathe on her. I don't think I've ever seen something so fragile.

I sit in the chair that's by her bed. It hits me how much I have missed her. I wish I could see her smile or hear her laugh. An uncomfortable feeling rises in my chest thinking that it may never happen. She may die. I'm a man that is very familiar with the concept of death. I've caused it many times. Me and death walk hand in hand. But the idea that Persephone could die is just not something I could comprehend. The world is a dark place that needs her light.

After a while a nurse comes in. She looks surprised to see me and my heart speeds up for a second thinking she may somehow recognize me "Oh hello, are you her brother?" I calm down.

"No, I'm her boyfriend Jason." I explain ready to give more fake information I have prepared but that was good enough for her.

"Oh okay. The officer that had been sitting with her today said she had a brother that was supposed to be coming in town. I think he was waiting to leave till he could get here." She explained.

"There was an officer with her? Is she in trouble?" My mind is racing, did she do something? Is she being framed? Does she need protection?

"Not that I know of. From my understanding he was first on the scene because of the police chase and he's stuck with her since." at her words I feel a pang of jealousy and sadness. I should have been there for her. I think to when I was unconscious in my cell and she was there for me. Why did I let so much time pass without seeing her? If she was with me this wouldn't have happened.

"Let me know if you need anything." the nurse barely interrupts my thoughts as she do I mean by "with me" though? As in a relationship? No, I don't do relationships. So she would have never been with me. But maybe if we had the occasional tumble in the sheets….this may not have happened.

I gently find her hand and hold it while rubbing circles on it with my thumb. After a while. I turn the TV on for mindless background noise but I can't look away from her face. I sit there remembering when it lit up full of life. Imagining her shy blush I could cause. I kiss her hand a few times surprising even myself with my gentle demeanor. I wish I could blame it on the hair dye chemicals killing my brain cells but I haven't been myself since I have met this woman.

Time passes without me noticing and the doctors come in for their morning rounds. It's still dark out but I know the sun will be rising soon and I should go before it gets too crowded. The doctors ask my relationship to the patient before filling me in on her case. I don't even hesitate to say I'm her boyfriend. They tell me she had severe internal bleeding, her lung was punctured, she has a few broken ribs, her leg broken, but the main concern was her head and her heart. They explained that she had some serious head trauma but they were able to reduce the swelling. They just don't know the extent of damage till she wakes up. They asked if she had any previous heart issues and I reported not that I knew of. They said her heart gave out 3 times when they were operating. They couldn't find any previous medical records so attributed it to being weak from the accident. Overall, prognosis looked good if she woke up in the next couple days. Terrible if she didn't.

When they left, I ran to the adjoining bathroom and threw up. I didn't like feeling this way. I can't remember ever feeling so….humane. I was angry at myself for caring, angry this happened to her, just angry. That is, I'm leaving her and forgetting her. I told myself that until I walked out and saw her; eyes open wide, blinking at me, confused and scared. I rushed to her side. All thoughts of leaving gone out the window.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay." I touched her cheek softly but she flinched. Not out of pain but fear. Something she has never done, even when we first met.

"Who are you?" She asked timidly. I forgot I was disguised.

"It's me dollface, Mr. J" I say in a dramatic whisper. Keeping my voice low so no one can hear. She still looks confused and my heart drops. Did I imagine everything between us? She forgot me that easily. I start to feel the voices creep up angrily, wanting her to pay for the hell I have gone through since knowing her and she gets away with nothing even knowing me.

"Mr. J? I'm sorry I can't remember...what am I doing here? What's wrong with me?" I want to yell at her but then she starts crying and panicking. Her moodswing surprises me so much that I wonder if I yelled without realizing it, the voices taking over without me realizing it, which wouldn't have been the first time.

"You wer-" I start to explain but her monitor starts beeping a warning and her heart rate is up to 180. Nurses rush in as she is hyperventilating and I back up helpless.

"Miss it's okay. It's okay. You were in an accident and are at the hospital. We need you to calm down." one nurse talks to her while one is starts administering a medication to her IV I assume is to help her calm down.

"Is he in jail? What did he do to me? Is my brother alive? Is he okay?" She still panics despite it and I'm confused on what she is talking about. I thought it was a car crash.

"Miss you were in a car crash. You are at Gotham General Hospital. What is the last thing you remember?" one nurse asks and I notice one whisper to another to go get the doctor. Something isn't right.

"Gotham? How did I end up across the country? My dad attacked me and my brother. Where is my brother?" she's crying more and worried. I'm worried about her. Something isn't right. The doctor comes in finally.

"Hey there, I'm Dr. Rusik. You had some major injuries and we had to perform surgery. I'm going to ask you a couple questions,ok?" He remains calm. Persephone glances at me and I give her my best reassuring look. She nods at the doctor.

"What's your full name?"

"Persephone Marie Sotiropoulos"

"Where were you born?"

"Santorini, Greece but I've lived in Seattle, Washington my whole life."

"What is your birthday?"

"October 13th, 1992."

"What's today's date?"

"August 2nd, 2011."

My heart stops as the room goes quiet. That was over 7 years ago. The doctor recovers quickly and continues.

"Can you tell me what you think happened?" He asks.

"My father had a gun. My brother was recently home from the psych ward. I haven't been home much even though it's summer break. I've been working and staying with a friend. But I knew it wasn't going to be easy for my brother to transition back. My father isn't a very nice guy. We were in and out of the system as kids but forced to move back with him when we aged out of the system. I luckily have a full ride scholarship so I hardly have to be there. My brother isn't so lucky and he has borderline personality disorder. He's in and out of the psych ward a lot. Suicide attempts. I'm sorry, can I have some water?" Her voice is dry and hoarse.

She's always so private. Maybe it's the drugs they gave her revealing it or she was a different person 7 years ago. I know I don't like the direction this is going and I feel anger rise up, anger at her dad. Johnny had mention her father wasn't so great but I didn't understand the extent of it. It made me want to rip Johnny a new asshole for not elaborating.

The nurse come back with water quickly and she takes sips at first and then starts drinking more till they insist she slow down. She shoots them an uncharacteristic menacing look that takes me by surprise and forces me to contain a chuckle.

"Anyways, I get home and my brother is bloody and unconscious on the floor. Last thing I remember is having some words with my father as he had a gun in his hand threatening me. I assume he did this to me. Now where is my brother? And who is this guy?" She points to me with her thumb. She is pretty sassy this way.

Clearly she doesn't remember anything about us and instead of being sad, I decide to start anew. This could work to our advantage the voices say. I have to hide a smile. My backstory can become real. I can get her to fall for me, become loyal to me, and manipulator her to my heart's desire. The cards have fell perfectly into my lap.

"I'm your boyfriend." I say as I move closer.

"HA HA- Ow!" She starts to laugh but flinches in pain. "I don't have a boyfriend. Never have." She eyeballs me up and down.

The doctor decides to take over. "Ms. Sotiropoulos-"

"It's Dr. Sotiropoulos." I cut in. Persephone's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Dr. Sotiropoulos" He corrects himself. "You have had some severe injuries from a car accident. I believe you are suffering from memory loss." He goes into detail about the accident. There was a police chase and the suspect was speeding and ran a red light totaling her car. They caught him and brought her to the hospital. He goes over all her injuries and the surgeries performed. Finally, he tells her it's 2018 and she's 26 years old, not 2 months from being 19. That she lives in Gotham now. They have called her brother but haven't heard back. Finally he looks at me, "Do you have anything to add?"

"We have only been dating for about a month. We are still getting to know each other." I only have to half feign shock.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions. We will get a social worker in here and see what we can help you with from assistance to Psych-" He adds.

"No." Her eyes are cold as she cuts him off and she's looking past everyone, straight out the window. Almost a mix between pouting and fighting back tears.

"Well we will be here if you-" He starts to say.

"When can I go home?" she's looking at him.

"um well you have a bit of recovery, we have to set up the right support at your home, and we will have to kind of wait and see on how you progress." He says.

"Look, I know I'm some doctor now but I can tell you right now, I know I can't afford this shit. What's the minimum I have to be here in reality doc? I will sign an AMA. I don't want to have to deal with bullshit nurses and quack shrinks" The irony that she called shrinks quacks is not lost on me and I want to point it out but she gets this hard look in her eyes. I'm all for getting her out of here. The doctor can tell she means business but his mellow calm attitude is gone. Now he seems petulant.

"Two days to get IV antibiotics and monitor post op complications." He says begrudgingly.

"Fine. Two days it is." She states and they walk out. She looks at me. "Sorry I just really hate hospitals." which kind of amuses me because technically Arkham is a hospital, more a jail but still categorized as a hospital. She even worked at the children's hospital currently.

"It's okay. We will get you out of here. I can take care of you at home." The gears in my head already turning, plotting, scheming.

"I assume you know where I live? What do you do for a living? Won't you have to work?" She looks uncomfortable with me so I go to comfort her by holding her hand. I know it's a risk but I have to make it seem as if this was usual. She has looked unsure of me this whole time, at least until our hands finally meet. As soon as I touch her, she visibly relaxes. Her shoulders drop and it's like the anxiety leaves her body. She lightly moans with relief and closes her eyes.

I'm shocked. She's always had an unsettling effect on me but I have never seen her so affected by me. Yeah she's blushed and moaned before but I always attributed that to attraction...not whatever this is.

"Yeah I know your place but it might be easier to stay at my place. I am in finance and work from home so it will be easy to care for you and work at the same time at my place. Plus you love staying over at my place." I wink at her. It causes a full on blush from her and she looks away.

"Okay, your place it is. But can you get my things from my place? Shit. I don't even know if I have keys. Is it a house or apartment? I don't even know what my clothes look like!" I see tears welling up in her eyes.

"Look sweetie, I will get everything you need. If you decide you need something else, I'll get it. If you don't like what I get, I'll take you shopping when you're healed, ok? This is stuff you don't have to worry about right now. You need to focus on getting better so we can break you out of here, ok?" My thumb wipes away the tears on her cheeks.

"Okay. Thank you." She yawns.

"I'll stay with you till you fall asleep but then I'm going to go take care of everything and get my place set up for you. I have a guest bedroom for you so I'll put away your stuff there." I take it by her blush earlier she would be more comfortable with that.

"Thank you, I'm so embarrassed. I don't even know your name and yet you are doing all of this for me. Especially since we have only been dating a month. We hardly knew each other and now I don't know you at all but I also don't know myself at all. So thank you for helping me." She rambles and looks at me with big vulnerable brown eyes stirring something deep in me.

"Of course. Anything for my girl. My name is Jason Napier by the way." I smile her.

"Hmm...Jason...I like that name." She says with her eyes closed and in no time she is taken slow even breaths and fast asleep.