The hospital room was silent save for the monitor's steady beeping. Jim sat at the kid's- Jerome's bedside. He should start calling him by his name now. Harvey already left. They caught Dwight. He's probably questioning him now as Jim sits here. Jim would have liked to speak to the crazy lunatic who did this, but someone had to stay with the k- Jerome.

He was starting to wake up, slowly. He saw Jerome's hand twitch and pressed the help button on the wall for the doctor. The doctor examined the boy and said he was gradually waking up. Jim should expect to see more little movements like that again.

It took quite a few minutes, but the doctor was right. Jerome's foot moved. Then his eyes fluttered open. Jim unconsciously leaned in closer. He watched as Jerome looked around the room. When he saw Jim, Jerome struggled to sit up. He looked terrified. It was an automatic reaction for Jim to reach out and try to calm the kid down, but when Jim touched Jerome's arm he flinched. Jerome moved as far away on the bed as he could from Jim.

He held his hands up for Jerome to see, but he must have held them up a little too high because Jerome's eyes got bigger. He looked like he was about to bolt off the bed. Jim lowered his hands. "I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay."

Jerome didn't look like he believed him. "Who- who are you? Where am I? Why am I wearing a gown?"

"You're in the hospital. My name's Jim."

Jerome frantically looked around. "What happened? Why am I here?"

Jim hadn't thought about Jerome's reaction when he woke up, which was stupid of him. Anyone who wakes up in an unknown place beside a stranger is going to panic, especially a little kid. Jim has no idea what to say. You're a resurrected serial killer that also happened to turn back into a child? For some reason he doesn't think Jerome would take that well. The doctor walks in with two nurses following. What was his name? Washer? Watkins? Walks maybe. Jim can't remember. It's been a long day, long week actually.

Jerome is as far back as possible on the bed now. He kept looking from Jim to the doctor to the nurses. There was a look on Jerome's face. He was scared of course, but Jim could tell he was trying not to show it. The doctor knelt beside the bed slowly. Jerome stared at him. " My name is John Walker. I am a doctor here at the hospital. Can you tell me your name?"

Jerome shook his head. "No. Not until you tell me why I'm here."

Walker gestured to Jim. "Mr. Gordon had found you alone in a building and brought you here."

Jerome's small face etched into confusion. His hands are gripping the sheet over him. He is still pale and there are dark circles under the kid's eyes. He looked sick and exhausted and it broke Jim's heart to see a child like this.

"But I wasn't in a building. I was at the trailer and- oh." He looked like he just realized something. Glancing down to his hands, he sniffed. "Uncle Zach must have taken me away too. They really do think I'm crazy."

Took him away? Too? Whose Uncle Zach? Crazy? Jerome couldn't have been crazy all his life. Jim's pretty sure that this Uncle Zach isn't a nice guy. Who else did he take? Jim was confused, but all thoughts disappeared when Jerome looked at Jim. The scared look on the kid's battered face made Jim sick again. His words were worse.

"What's going to happen to me now?" Jim didn't know what to say. Thankfully, he didn't have to. The doctor answered. "You're going to stay here for awhile to make sure you're healthy." Walker smiled kindly at him, but Jerome looked more confused than comforted by it.

The doctor went on. Jim noticed the nurses have left. "I'm sure you're feeling very overwhelmed and scared. So I won't come near you." He pulled a chair to him and took out a notepad and pen from his jacket. "I would like to ask you a few questions and any questions you have I will do my best to answer. Sound good?"

Jerome relaxed a little. "I guess…"

The doctor's pen clicked as he opened it. "Great. First can you tell me your name?"

"Jerome."

Hearing him say that made Jim realize that this was real. He had been sort of going through the motions before like this was all a dream, but now Jim suddenly realized that this was real. The seventeen- eighteen year old Jim sent to Arkham and then watched die is sitting here in front of him.

The doctor wrote something down. "Okay, what's the last thing you remember."

"I just got done cleaning the elephant cages. I was walking back to my trailer." Jerome eyed the two of them suspiciously. "What are you going to do?"

"We aren't going to harm you in any way, Jerome, I promise. No one will do anything without telling you first. I just want to make sure that you are okay. I'm sure Mr. Gordon here will tell you the same thing."

"Yes," Jim cleared his throat. "I just want to make sure that nothing is wrong."

Jerome looked angrily at them and a little bit defensive. "Nothing is wrong with me. I'm not crazy."

Jim was quick to reassure him. He needs to say his words carefully. "I don't think you are crazy. I meant that-"

Jerome stared at Jim like he was in awe. "You don't?"

Jim could see in the corner of his eye the doctor writing something down. He searched for words to say. "No, I think you're a normal kid. We just want to make sure that nothing is seriously wrong with your health."

"But… why?"

"Because it's important." Does Jim really have to tell him this?

"Jerome, I'd like to ask you another question?" Jim was slightly relieved when Jerome's attention fell back on the doctor.

"Okay?"

"Are you in any pain? Hurting anywhere?"

"No."

The doctor kept asking Jerome questions. It wasn't any of the questions Jim has like what Jerome meant by taking him away, but he'll just have to wait. The doctor mentioned to Jim before the kid woke up that he was going check Jerome's health and examine his injuries before asking about how he got them.

The doctor didn't waste any time after he was done with the questions. He asked Jerome if he could check his heart beat and Jerome agreed. This went on throughout the whole check up. The doctor would ask before he came close to Jerome who would tense up after agreeing. Jim couldn't help but think how cute Jerome looked when he rubbed his eyes after the doctor flashed a light at his face.

The doctor started asking about how Jerome got the bruises on his arms, and it was hard for Jim to hear. Uncle Zach was Lisa Valeska's brother. As Jim predicted, Jerome's uncle was not a nice man. According to Jerome, "uncle Zach hits harder than my mom does." It made Jim want to find Zach and throw him in jail, punch him a few times too. It was the only time in his law abiding life that Jim ever had the brief thought about hiring Zsaz.

The doctor left with his notepad soon after. Jim was alone with Jerome again except now Jerome's awake and he's staring at Jim. He never considered himself to be good with kids. Sure he knows Bruce, but he's only ever talked to him in a formal setting or a tragedy. He wonders how Bruce would react to this younger Jerome now.

"Are you a cop?"

Jim's eyebrows raised in surprise at the question. "Yes, I am."

Jerome tilted his head to the side. "I think I've seen you before, but I don't know where…" Jerome crossed his arms, continuing to stare at Jim.

The statement sent Jim into a quiet panic. How could a kid Jerome have seen him before. The first time they met was when he had found Jerome's mother dead. He'll have to ask the doctor about it. Jim still can't remember his name. He feels a little guilty about it, but there are more important things to worry about now like how can Jerome know him if he hasn't really met him yet. Maybe some of the older Jerome's memories are coming back. What if whatever happened to Jerome is wearing off? It's going to be a whole other headache if Jerome grows back to his actual age.

"Are you one of my mom's lovers?"

Jim's eyes felt like they were going to pop out. "What? No… I'm…" Jim didn't know what to say. What happened to the scared little kid? He was still sickly pale, but apparently not scared anymore. The mood swings Jim encountered when he dealt with the older Jerome must not be new.

Jerome shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know then." He started to seem worried now. "Are you going to take me back to the circus?"

"No. You aren't going back there." It's not even possible.