At Gotham City's Mercy Hospital Dick Grayson sat waiting. This waiting room had been as far as he was allowed with Artemis. She had been rushed off for x-rays and cat scans and a bunch of other tests. There were a few local uniforms waiting for Bruce and Police Commissioner Gordon. They had been in a meeting about Artemis when the school had called.
Dick wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there in this almost empty room when the doors to the waiting room opened. Bruce and Alfred entered. They were followed closely by Dinah Lance (a.k.a Black Canary), Selina Kyle (a.k.a. Catwoman), Police Commissioner Jim Gordon and a woman whom Dick knew worked at Social Services. Her name was Jones, he thought.
"Are you okay Dick? How's Artemis?" Bruce came over and knelt in front of him, Alfred stood beside him.
"I'm okay. I don't know about Artemis they won't tell me anything."
"That's alright. Do you know what happened?" Jim Gordon walked over and asked.
"Well not really. She was in the library doing homework. She didn't know that I knew but some seniors have been assaulting her ever since her parents names were plastered all over the school. I don't know who they are but I was going to talk to her today about it. They must have beaten me to her."
He said all this rather sadly. At the end he lowered his eyes to his lap. Dick felt Bruce put his hand on his shoulder before he spoke.
"This is not your fault."
Dick appreciated Bruce's words but it didn't change how he felt.
"It seems that this is more serious than we first thought." Jim Gordon said.
Bruce stood up but kept his hand on Dick's shoulder. The group gathered around them to talk about Artemis and the present situation.
"Okay so I take it you will be taking joint responsibility in taking care of her and managing her recovery." Miss Jones said.
"Of course." Bruce and Dinah replied.
"Alright where will she be staying?"
"Well I'll be moving in with her in her mother's apartment, seeing as Artemis now owns it and several other properties." Dinah answered.
"Very well. When she gets out I will be paying you a home visit. I expect you to be there as well Mr Wayne." Miss Jones announced before leaving. Bruce payed good money to keep them to the essentials only and to see that those who needed more help got it.
"So Miss Kyle you were saying that her mother passed away in February and that the case hasn't been moved forward and that social weren't alerted?"
"That's correct Commissioner. I have been doing my best to take care of her but I am not currently set up to do that. I was so grateful to hear from Bruce and Dinah. She really needs someone."
"Alright. Were any of you aware of the events at school?"
"Only that her parents names were plastered all over school." Bruce responded.
"Artemis hasn't exactly been talking." Dinah added.
"Okay and you all claim that her Father is not an option to take care of her."
"Seeing as he is a wanted criminal, he isn't." Bruce stated.
"Alright." Jim Gordon responded before sighing. He had to talk to Barbara when he got home.
"Is anyone here for Artemis Crock?" A man wearing scrubs and a Doctor's coat asked.
"That would be us. How is she?" Selina called over to him.
The doctor walked over. He looked slightly distressed. As soon as he had joined the group he went to speak. He cut himself off before uttering even a single word when he caught sight of Dick sitting there. He looked quickly around the group before kneeling in front of him.
"Hey you're the one who came in with Artemis right?"
"Yes. Is she okay?"
"She's going to be. Could you do me a favour though? Artemis is just through those doors behind me. Hers is the second room on the left. At the moment there's no one in there with her. Would you mind going in and keeping her company while she rests?"
Dick studied the doctor's face. There was tension and worry there.
"What are you trying to hide? Why can't I know?" Dick was fast and the doctor blinked for a moment. Luckily Bruce stepped in, the doctor looked very flummoxed.
"He isn't trying to hide anything. This is just one of those adult only things. Alfred would you go with him and keep them both company. I promise if there is anything you should know I will tell you later."
Dick looked up at Bruce's face. He was lying. It was written across his and the others faces. Dick only hoped that he would tell him what was going on. So he grudgingly stood and let Alfred lead him out of the room towards Artemis. He didn't look back and as soon as he was through the doors he took off towards her room.
She was lying on a bed, wearing a hospital gown and covered in blankets. Dick didn't think that she needed that many blankets. Gotham was approaching summer and even though there was an air conditioner in the room, she shouldn't have needed that many blankets.
As he approached the bed he heard Alfred slip in behind him. The only sound that indicated Alfred's worry for the girl on the bed was a sharp intake of breath. Alfred then proceeded to look at her chart, trying to glean some sort of understanding about the situation.
Dick took the seat next to the bed. It was only then that he took in Artemis properly since he first walked into the room. In the time that he had been separated from her the bruising had gotten worse. Her face was swollen. Black and blue was rampant across her body. He could only see her neck, head and right arm but if that was any indication the rest of her would have looked just as bad or worse. There was a small bandage on her forehead to cover the cut and her blonde hair hung loose over her shoulders some of it was still stained with her blood. It didn't look as if her eyes would be able to open for a while but that might be a blessing in disguise for the nurses here. The only thing Artemis hated more than any form of hospital was her hair getting in the way. He got the feeling that she would be struggling to tie her own hair back for a while and knew that no one was going to want to do it for her. Everyone always thought that it looked better down.
At that thought he lapsed back into a memory from a few months ago. They had been on a mission, he couldn't quite remember what had happened but somehow Artemis's hair band had broken and her hair had come loose. It was the first time that any of them had seen her with her hair down. He smiled remembering that on the flight home Wally had been unable to speak, he had been too enthralled by what he called "the heavenly sight of Artemis with her hair down". Of course she had gone straight back to tying it up and re-fused to discuss the idea of leaving it down. This had led to several fights between the pair of them as Wally had decided that stealing her hair band was the solution. He only stopped when Artemis had stormed off one day looking close to tears. Nobody spoke about it after that.
As Dick came out of the memory he took in some of the machines that were in the room for the first time. Artemis had one of those little tubes across her face that was used to supply oxygen. There were little sticky tabs with wires attached to her chest under the gown that ran to a machine monitoring her heart rate. There was one of those strange things clipped over her index finger to measure her oxygen levels. It was then he noticed the drip, there were three different things running into her arm. One appeared to contain fluids, one had to be painkillers and the last was blood. There were two entry points to her arm. Dick was left perplexed. Why was Artemis getting a blood transfusion? He didn't think that she had any major blood loss. He was worried and confused. The last thing he noticed was another monitor that showed a wavy line similar to a heartbeat. It wasn't for that but he couldn't think of what it might be for. He didn't really know what most of the machines were called or what they were for. Normally he would be interested but right now he didn't care. He just wanted Artemis to wake up and make some comment about him being distraught. Heavy on the dis.
Dick reached out and carefully and very gently took Artemis's right hand in to his own hands. Resting his head on the side of the bed he whispered to her quietly.
"I'm sorry Artemis. Please be ok."
He heard Alfred slowly move to stand beside him. Alfred rested his hand on Dicks own.
"She will be just fine Master Richard. From what you and Master Bruce have said she is a fighter."
Dick lifted his head to look at Alfred's reassuring smile.
"I hope so Alfred. I hope so."
As soon as Dick left the room with Alfred all eyes had flicked back to the doctor.
"First my name is John Smith. Please call me John."
"Alright what is going on?" Dinah was straight into it, she was on edge. They all were something was up. Something big.
"Easy Dinah." Bruce spoke trying to calm everyone down. It seemed to work as everyone slowly took more relaxed positions.
"Now how bad is it John?" Jim Gordon asked, as Police Commissioner he needed to know. The press were already all over this and if he didn't have answers they would crucify him.
John Smith sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was tired and worried about the young woman now under his care. Not only that but the people who had attended the hospital for her included two of Gotham's most important people and two women who looked like they might hurt him if they didn't like what they heard. He straightened the notes on his clipboard and looked up at the group, each of them was concerned for the young woman in his care and that was a good thing. If what he had discovered was correct then she would need all the support she could get.
"It's bad Commissioner. It's very bad."