The local police seemed to arrive in seconds and spoke to doctors. And moments later they had directed the Joker into a private room in the hospital.
One of the two officers asked his name.
The Joker felt almost like it was a trick question. Any interactions he had with the police never started with them asking his name. He knew this situation was entirely different.
"Jack," he told the officer.
"And your last name, sir?" the other officer asked.
Jack had to think for a second to remember the last name Lucius had picked for him. He knew it wasn't his true last name, but he needed one. Adriana knew his true last name. The Joker never wanted to know it.
"Ah...Hayden," the Joker remembered.
"Jack Hayden?" the first officer asked and wrote down his name.
"Yep," the Joker told them.
The Joker began to realize that perhaps the jig was up. He was going to be arrested after being found out. He would spend the rest of his life in prison or worse. He didn't mind at all. He knew he had done what he needed to. He did not have a single regret.
"We would like to ask you a few questions," one of the officers said.
"Am I under arrest?" the Joker asked.
"No, sir," the officer answered. "We would like to know what happened. You brought Mrs. Adriana Wayne to this hospital, correct?"
"Yes," the Joker said.
"We have reason to believe criminal events..."
The Joker zoned out at the officer spoke. He was thinking of Adriana and was wondering if she was okay.
"Is she alright?" the Joker interrupted the officer's intro speech.
"Sir, we can't discuss that," the officer told him.
"Would you tell us your count of what happened?" the other asked.
The Joker took a deep breath and decided it was best to say as little as possible.
"I was driving," the Joker began to say, and realized he needed to lie. "Nature called so I pulled over. I heard a scream or cry. Realized it was coming from a cabin up the road..so I went there. Found the woman tied to the bed and brought her here."
The office began to scribble down notes. The Joker wasn't sure if he was a suspect yet. But of the officer's were to give him a pat down they would find that he was carrying two guns. Neither of which belonged to him. It would be over.
"Where did you pull over?" the officer asked and the Joker told him the location of the cabin.
They asked him more questions about the time, what he saw when he arrived and more. Damien was there but the Joker knew that telling them that he shot a man there would do nothing bus hasten his arrest. He told him that there was no one there.
If they got there and Damien was found dead, he would be arrested. There was no need to accelerate his return to jail. The Joker knew it was over, but he wanted to keep his name clear for a long as possible in hopes that he could see Adriana again before he was carted off.
So far it seemed they had no reason to suspect him and no statement yet from Adriana.
"Sir," one of the officers said. "You ae not under arrest or being detained at this point. This was simply an interview. However we would like to request for you to stay on the premises until we can investigate the situation further and receive statement from Mrs. Wayne."
The Joker realized that he was free to go. But there was nowhere he wanted to go. Adriana was here and he felt he needed to stay.
"Okay then," the Joker said. "I'll wait."
"We appreciate that," the officer said. "If you wouldn't mind staying in this room, it would be greatly appreciated."
The Joker nodded.
"There's a restroom right across the hall if you need to use it," the other officer told him. "We should have this resolved shortly and then you can be on your way."
.
.
.
When Bruce Wayne arrived at the hospital he was immediately led into a room with a doctor.
"Where is my wife?" Bruce asked straight away.
"Mr. Wayne, I am Dr. Couri. She is here and she will be fine, she was dehydrated and will require a few scans," the doctor said. "We will be performing a necessary X-ray of her neck. We will also X-ray her side where there is some bruising. She appears to have suffered an injury-"
"My wife is pregnant," Bruce told him before he could give her a number of X-rays.
The doctor raised his eyebrows.
"She is unable to move her neck at all," the doctor said. "Which makes the scan of the neck urgent. We can give her a CT scan however.."
"However?" Bruce asked.
"We have just ordered blood work which will be back shortly, so I was not aware that she was pregnant," the doctor told him. "You wife was bleeding heavily when she came in, which means it's very likely she has suffered a miscarriage."
Bruce felt his heart drop.
"You..you said she had injuries," Bruce said. "Has she been in an accident? When can I see her?"
"I'm just alerting the staff to switch to a CT scan," the doctor said as he touched the screen on his very small tablet. "No, she doesn't appear to have been in an accident, but she has not been extensively questioned yet."
"She's been in an accident if she's bruised," Bruce told the doctor.
The doctor took a deep breath.
"Your wife has substantial bruising abound her wrists and ankles, suggesting she was bound or tied up," the doctor said, and Bruce felt his heart drop further than he ever though it could. "There is bruising on the back of her neck. There was also, what appeared to be marks made by fingernails on her buttocks and right hip..open bite mark on her right shoulder..all of which suggest possible sexual assault."
Bruce felt his body sway and he almost tripped over his own foot as he turned away.
"Nurse Abbington questioned her about it, and she denied being raped however the nurse did encourage her to have a rape kit completed as soon as possible," the doctor said. "Sometimes these things are denied if the victim is afraid."
"I..." Bruce stammered, knowing that his wife was the strongest woman that he knew. The fact that this had happened to her was beyond what he could conceive. "I need to see her...I need to see my wife."
"The CT scan should not take long," the doctor said. "I will take you to her room. It shouldn't be more than 15 minutes."
.
.
.
"Bruce.." Adriana said as she was brought back into her hospital room in on a rolling bed.
"Adriana," Bruce said and ran to her side.
Her head was held still by a neck brace. They moved her to the middle of the room and Bruce followed along with the bed's movement. Carefully a few members of staff lifter her and moved her to the bed in the room.
The doctor came in immediately afterwards and began to interpret the scan results.
"It appears to be just a soft tissue injury," the doctor said. "Surgery wont be necessary, but a neck brace will be required for some time. Fortunately there is no serious damage. Your spine and limbs are perfectly fine."
Bruce felt Adriana squeeze his hand as the nurse hooked her up to an IV through opposite her arm.
"Adriana.." Bruce began to ask and placed his hand gently onto her arm. "Please...what happened?"
Adriana closed her eyes, and as she thought of her ordeal, she felt her eyes fill with tears.
"It..." she said, her voice croaking and dry. "It was Damien. He abducted me."
"You were abducted, Mrs. Wayne?" the doctor asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"Mrs. Wayne," the doctor said. "The police are here if you feel able to answer their questions."
"I am.." Adriana said, sure of herself. She wanted Damien to pay for this.
"I will let them know," the doctor said and left.
The nurse gave Adriana an encouraging smile. "Do you need anything?"
"Some water..please.." Adriana said, her throat still feeling dry,
Once they were all gone, Bruce and Adriana knew it would be moments before the police came in.
"Damien did this to you?" Bruce asked, fury and sadness creating a strange blend in his voice.
"He..." Adriana said. "Yes. Him and another guy.. They took me to a cabin and tied me up. One of them hurt my neck and climbed on my back.."
"The doctor said you refused to have the rape kit done," Bruce said.
"I wasn't raped," Adriana said.
"Okay," Bruce said with relief believing her. He knew the doctor hadn't told her yet. Dr. Couri knew that Bruce would be the best one to share what had happened with her. "Adriana, you had a miscarriage."
As soon as he said it there was a knock at the door, which they both ignored for a moment.
"I'm pregnant?" she asked. "I mean..I was pregnant?"
Bruce nodded as the knock came again.
"Come in," Bruce said and Commissioner Gordon entered the room.
Both Adriana and Bruce were glad that he would be the one doing the questioning.
"How are you, Adriana?" the Commissioner asked, looking at Adriana's neck brace.
"I'm okay," she said, feeling a moment of strength. "It was Damien. He and another guy abducted me. I was in a cabin out in the woods somewhere...they tied me up."
Gordon had to move his writing utensil to his hand.
"Adriana," the Commissioner said. "We found Damien."
"Really?" Adriana asked. "How did you know it was him?"
"Officers found his body at a cabin by Diamond Creek," Gordon said.
"He's dead?" Adriana asked and them remembered the rest.
He had been shot. She saw the blood coming down his shirt. No one else was there but the Joker. He shot him.
"He had been shot twice," Gordon said. "Once in the shoulder and once in the head. I'm told there was a letter left behind and it appears to have been a suicide."
Adriana felt her eyes closing.
"You said that it was Damien Ricard and another man," Gordon said. "Can you describe him and what took place."
Adriana thought of Damien's death as her mind went into autopilot, and it seemed her brain spoke for her as her true thoughts were elsewhere.
"I was in my car and three guys pulled me over...they were pretending to be cops," Adriana said and Bruce listened attentively. "The one who took my car...I couldn't see his face. he had a ski mask on. He was short...maybe 5' 6''and slim. The other masked on in the car was Damien...the one pretending to be a cop..He was about 5' 10''..medium build. He wore sunglasses and hat."
"Got it," the Commissioner said. "How did you acquire these injuries?"
Adriana felt her strength vanish as she recalled what happened.
"They knocked me down a few times, and tied me really tightly to the bed with roped and chains on my feet. The guy...the one with the hat and sunglasses," Adriana said. "He grabbed my neck and bit me and-"
Adriana heard her voice break.
"He," she collected herself quickly. "Was threatening to rape me but then the other guy..which was Damien came in..and then they left and...I don't know. Neither of them came back into the room that night or the next day. I heard shooting early in the morning, it woke me up...that's...that's what happened..that's what they did."
"Okay," Gordon said. "The man we've been questioning doesn't fit either of those descriptions."
"What man?" Bruce asked.
"The one that brought Adriana in," Gordon said. "Do you remember being brought in Adriana?"
"Oh..." Adriana said, all the nerves in her body on edge. "Yes...there was a man..he came in and took me out of there. I can't remember much...but he told me I was safe and he was taking me to the hospital."
Gordon nodded and made a few more notes.
"He's..." Adriana asked nervously. "Being questioned? Is he under arrest or?"
"No," Gordon said. "We asked him to stay until we could question you and he complied. He happened to be stopping on the road near the cabin you were in, heard some concerning sounds, and brought you in, according to him. He's not under arrest. We will let him know he is free to go. Thank you for your time, Adriana, and I wish you a speedy recovery."
"Thanks," Adriana said and Gordon nodded to both Adriana and Bruce before leaving.
Bruce looked at Adriana after Gordon left. After telling the tale of what happened she had become incredibly sullen and quiet. She almost looked ashamed.
"I'm so sorry.." Bruce said. "I should have-"
"No," Adriana stopped him. "This was...no one's fault but Damien's."
Bruce nodded, even though he disagreed.
"Would it be alright if I stepped out for a moment?" Bruce asked. "Only a moment, I will be right back."
"Where are you going?" she asked him.
"I just need to thank the man that saved my wife's life," Bruce told her.