Bruce left so quickly that Adriana didn't have a chance to stop him. As he opened the door, the nurse that Adriana had requested water from came back in with a small cup with a straw.

The woman came over and moved the straw by Adriana's mouth. Her husband was going to meet the Joker and she was helpless to stop it.

"Are you thirsty?" the nurse asked, seeing Adriana staring at the door and not drinking.

"I..." Adriana said, knowing it was too late. She tried to move her legs but it caused a mild shooting pain in her neck. She felt uncomfortable. "I feel like I'm wearing a diaper.."

"Oh, well.." the nurse said. "You were bleeding when you came in. The doctor gave you an exam and I gave you a quick sponge bath."

"I don't remember any of that," Adriana said, barely remembering anything before her CT scan.

"We guessed it was menstrual blood based on the source," the nurse said. "It looked like you had been detained without proper access to facilities based on your bruising and...there may have been dried urine as well based on the smell."

Adriana felt embarrassed and horrified.

"Nothing to feel bad about, it wasn't your fault," the nurse said. "But we cleaned you up a bit, enough to make sure there were no open wounds, and took you for your scan."

"I remember the scan," Adriana told her.

"I'm sorry about the loss..." the nurse said and touched Adriana's arm.

Adriana was trying no to think about it.

"I didn't know I was pregnant," Adriana said.

"Well we tried to ask you when you came in if there was any chance of pregnancy," the nurse said and sat the cup down. "You weren't answering many questions. After the first IV you were more alert, which means you were out of it because of some dehydration. There was an X-ray ordered for your neck, but all of your limbs were moving and fine and you kept trying to get up so we knew there was no substantial neck or spinal injury that would warrant emergency X-ray and surgery. Before you went in the doctor changed it to a CT scan. That was right before your husband came to your room. "

"How long have I been here?" Adriana asked, hearing this long story.

"You were admitted almost two hours ago," the nurse said.

"Is this Gotham General?" Adriana asked, trying not to think of where Bruce had gone off to.

"Oh no," the nurse laughed softly. "This is Mount Peran's Memorial Hospital."

Adriana closed her eyes again. "Oh.."

"I did my best but you'll probably want a proper bath soon," the nurse said. "The doctor will come in and let you know how everything's turned out, but I can tell you, you will be just fine."

She began to remember more details of her abduction. The car ride was long, if she had to guess, it was close to two and half hours. It would have taken Bruce at least an hour driving as fast as he could to get to this area. It would have taken even longer if the police insisted on transporting him.

"We're glad you're safe," the nurse told her.

Adriana looked at her. "Thanks..." she said. "And thanks for...your condolences."

The nurse smiled sweetly and picked the cup back up.

"How about a few sips?" she asked and Adriana began to drink.

.

.

.

"I'm looking for the man you were questioning," Bruce asked one of the officers he saw in the hall.

"I think I saw Mr. Hayden go into the bathroom there," the officer gestured with his hand holding a Styrofoam coffee cup before using his other hand to touch Bruce's arm. "We're all relieved for you Mr. Wayne."

"Thank you," Bruce said and saw a man in the hallway holding a camera take a picture of Bruce with the cop. The flash lit up the hallway for a moment.

"Vultures are already here," the officer said. "We will have the media escorted out immediately, Mr. Wayne."

"I would appreciate that," Bruce said as a second camera person came in, snapping several pictures in a row without flash.

The next second, hospital security were grabbing the two people with cameras and ushering them away.

"Excuse me," the cop said and walked off to assist in the efforts to search for and remove all media people form the hospital.

Bruce turned around and walked into the bathroom. As soon as he walked in he saw a man at the sink scrubbing his arms under the running water. Bruce took a step over to him and noticed he was scrubbing dried blood off of one of his forearms. There was no one else in the bathroom, all the stall doors were open. This had to be the man who had saved his wife.

Through the mirror, Bruce could see the man look up to see who was standing behind him. He looked at Bruce for a second and his arms stopped moving under the water. Slowly, the man moved from leaning forward slightly, to standing straight.

Bruce realized that Gordon was right, this man did not fit the descriptions Adriana had given for her kidnappers. This man was very tall. Bruce guessed the man was about 6' 1'', standing at about an inch above Bruce's own height. He had very broad shoulders and was not of small or medium build.

His hair was cut short and a messy wavy texture. Bruce's first thought when he saw the man's face was that he was young. A kid. Perhaps about ten years younger than he was. Something about him was familiar but Bruce couldn't place it. He wondered if the man was from Gotham or this area.

"Are you Mr. Hayden?" Bruce asked.

The man cleared his throat and looked down to turn off the water. Once it was shut off, he spoke.

"Yes," Bruce heard the man's deep voice reply while shaking water off of his hands.

Bruce expected the man to turn around to speak to him. That seemed to be the polite and normal thing to do, but the man kept facing the mirror. Bruce began to wonder if this guy had some sort of social anxiety.

"Bruce Wayne," Bruce introduced himself. "I'm told you are the one who found my wife."

The man looked away and reached to his left to pull paper towels out of the dispenser. He began to dry his arms and Bruce thought it curious that the man wasn't saying anything.

"Are you the one that found my wife?" Bruce asked, thinking that a question would be a better approach.

He heard the man clear his throat again before finally answering.

"Yes," he told Bruce and finally turned around slowly after tossing the paper towels into the bin.

"I uh..." Bruce said, feeling his emotions arise. "I cannot thank you enough. What you've done for my wife it beyond what I can express."

"It...ah..was nothing," the man said to Bruce. His voice made Bruce again feel like he knew him but he was having an impossible time remembering where.

"No," Bruce said firmly. "I mean it when I say, I owe you everything."

The man nodded once. "Anytime."

Bruce took a breath and exhaled. He wasn't sure what else to say to the man that had returned his wife to him.

"May I ask your first name?" Bruce asked him.

"Jack," the man replied after a momentary pause.

"Pleased to meet you, Jack," Bruce said and extended his hand.

The man looked down at Bruce's hand for a moment and then into Bruce's eyes, as if asking if he was sure he wanted to shake his hand. After another second of waiting, the man finally shook Bruce's hand.

"Likewise," Jack said to Bruce. After a brief handshake Jack took a step back. "Well..eh..I should be going."

The man turned away so quickly that Bruce felt a gust of wind come off of him.

"Wait," Bruce said to him, and the man froze with his back to Bruce.

He turned slowly, and hesitantly to face Bruce again. Bruce got the feeling this man didn't want to be around him for some reason. Again he assumed, social anxiety or just general social awkwardness. Bruce reached into his pocket and pulled out a card.

"My card," Bruce said and held it out. "That's my personal number. I meant what I said...we owe you everything. If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to contact me."

The man looked at Bruce in such an indiscernible way that Bruce was starting to want the interaction to be over. Bruce needed to thank this man but did not want to make him uncomfortable if he had some kind of social phobia disorder.

The way the man stepped forward to take the card and plucked it quickly from Bruce's fingers then made Bruce wonder if the man had anxiety at all. He was suddenly quick moving and confident before stepping back again. He was by far one of the strangest and most difficult to read people Bruce had ever met.

It threw Bruce for a loop because the man's appearance, by Bruce's assessment, meant his personality should likely be more simple. He wasn't a plain or ordinary looking man by any means, but in Bruce's experience, men with this type appearance didn't generally behave this way. They were bold, assertive, and made eye contact with ease, knowing that anyone would be grateful to behold it.

But this man seemed both confident and diffident at the same time. It was as though he was prepared for some negative reaction from Bruce, who he didn't know at all, but also seemed fully prepared to deal with it in a second. Bruce almost wanted to feel suspicious of this young man, but felt strange about it because it seemed that the man was suspicious of Bruce for reasons unknown. And that made Bruce want to, in some odd way, win this man over or make him feel at ease.

"I mean it," Bruce said as the man held the card. "Anything. Just ask."

The man pulled his lips in and gave Bruce a tight smile that lasted for barely a second. Even though the smile did not include his eyes, only his lips moved, Bruce felt even more confused. The hint of such a smile showed Bruce even more that his personality and looks were a sharp contrast to each other. Almost like they belonged to two different people. It was mind boggling.

"Thanks," the man said.

"You are welcome," Bruce said, seeing it very obviously that the man wanted to leave. "I'd uh...take a left on your way out. This hall leads to the parking lot through a side entrance. If you go the main way to the lobby, there's a slew of reporters probably waiting for you."

The man looked thankful for Bruce's suggestion. Bruce could see with this man's behavior that he would hate being bombarded with people from the news.

"Appreciate that," the man said to Bruce.

Bruce nodded. "Thanks again, Jack. Goodbye."