I awoke in a room that had a mainly white color scheme. I could hear some beeping, which were consistent of a heart monitor. I turned my head, and recognized my surroundings of that of a hospital room.
'….why am I in a hospi-oh yeah...the gunshot...' I thought to myself. I tried to sit up, but I felt something heavy on my legs. I looked to see Harleen, sleeping on my thighs, whilst her Hyenas were right behind her head, curled up and fast asleep. I then looked around to see The Batman, however, upon seeing no eyes, I deducted that he was asleep.
"...ngh..." I heard Harleen say, just as she opened her eyes, and saw me awake. "J..John?" She asked me.
"...yeah..." I said, noticing that she now was wearing a hospital set of clothes, obviously wanting to get out of her soiled and cum-caked outfit. She had her hair down, her makeup off, and her eyes were looking into mine.
"...John!" She shouted, hugging me tightly, which caused me to wince in pain, to which she backed off. "Sorry!" She apologized. I lifted the hospital gown, which had a blanket covering my genital region, and saw the stitch pattern over a lot of my side.
"...what happened?..." I asked her.
"You took a bullet for her. In hindsight, you should have tried to dodge." Said Batman, who must have woken from Harleen's excitement.
"...how long have I been out?..." I asked him.
"Two weeks...we thought that we would have lost you..." Harleen said. By this time, both of the Hyenas were awake, and looking at Harleen and I. One of them licked her face, trying to cheer her up, and the other trotted over to me, and sat down on my lap, and tried to get his head under my hand. I lifted it, then started to pet him, causing him to growl in happiness. "They like you..." Harleen said, watching me pet them. About that time, Batman put something beside my Hospital bed. I looked and saw it was my jumpsuit.
"For when you fully recover. You'll be in here for about another week." He explained to me. At that time, the door opened, and a uniformed officer walked in.
"Ms. Quinzel? It's time for your part of the deal." He said, pulling out some handcuffs.
"Harleen? What is he talking about?" I asked her.
"...because I was still in my crime garb when the cops came, they decided to try to take me in, because of the bank job...I managed to get them to hold off until you woke up...but now, I have to go..." She said, starting to pull away before I pulled her back to me, grabbed my spear from the jumpsuit, and extended it, it just barely tapping the cop's nose, keeping it on him.
"She. Is not. Going. To jail. She's going to be reformed. She promised me that. Right, Harleen?" I asked her, to which she nodded. I then looked at Batman, who studied us, then turned to the cop.
"Get her on Parole. I'll be her P.O." He said to the cop.
"I'll talk to our A.D.A." The cop said, exiting the room.
"Thanks, sir." I said to him.
"Don't mention it. Now, just sit back and get better." He said to me, exiting the room. I then looked at Harleen, and smiled at her.
I stayed in the hospital for six days, Harleen never leaving my side during any of that time. I mainly spent this time playing board games with her, since she and I didn't have much affinity for TV. We fought each other bravely in chess, to which I allowed her to win. After the sixth day, I started to get into my jumpsuit, slowly, so that I didn't pull out my stitches. I zipped up the front zipper, then folded the cloth over it to make this suit appear seamless. I then put on the mask, one that every single one of Batman's apprentices wore. I smoothed it out around my eyes, enabling no irritation. I looked at myself in the mirror, and smirked.
"As if it were the first time..." I said. I turned to the door, where Harleen was waiting outside. I walked out there, spear tucked into this sash I wore around my waist, and held out my hand to her. She took it lightly, and we walked a few feet before a Doctor came to us, a wheelchair in front of him.
"Hospital rules dictate that you must leave on one of these." He told us. I groaned a bit, then got in. Harleen smiled, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and started to push me to the exit. I stayed still until we left the building, upon which I got out of the chair, and held hands with Harleen yet again. She looked more beautiful now, her hair was no longer in the jester's cap, the makeup long gone from her face, and she was wearing regular clothes. She also showed me while I was still lying in the bed that her bruises were almost gone.
"So...where to now?" Harleen asked just as the Batmobile drove up to us, and the hatch opened, the back seat currently unoccupied, while Batman was in the front.
"Batcave." Batman said, somehow knowing of our conversation like he always did whenever I was talking to Alfred. I got in first, then helped Harleen in. She leaned against my uninjured side, just as the hatch closed again.
"I hope that my babies weren't too much of a hassle..." She asked Batman.
"They've been quiet. Mainly sticking to the room that you've been assigned to, except for when either Alfred or I take them outside." He said, which shocked me.
"You mean...you took them out?" I asked him.
"Yes. They're Hyenas that were trained like dogs, and they needed to go outside. Like any person watching someone else's dogs, I took them out when I could. When I couldn't, Alfred did it." He said, turning a sharp corner.
"Oh." I had said. 'Ow...' is what I thought, since I hit my side on accident.
"John, are you okay?" Harleen asked me.
"Yeah, nothing bad. Can't wait to get out of the car, though." I said, emphasizing the last part.
"Sorry about that. Had to take the back route to the Batcave." Batman said, going into the tunnel for the hideout. As soon as we got into the cave, Batman let the thing run on Autopilot, enabling us to get out once it stopped. Once I stepped onto the metal floor, I saw Alfred nearby, waiting for me.
"Good Morning, Master Mascheif. Your room awaits you." He said to me, leading both Harleen and I to it. We fell onto my bed as soon as we were in, and I crawled under the covers, needing a rest, as deemed by the doctors who had seen me.
"You need anything?" Harleen asked me as she tucked me in.
"Nah, I'm good..." I told her, tired, my eyes drooping. She smiled, helped them shut, then kissed my eyelids. I then fell asleep after that.
I awoke a few hours later, to the feel of two wet muscle masses on my face. I opened my eyes and saw that the Hyenas were licking me.
"Alright guys...enough..." I said, shooing them away a bit. I sat up, and saw Harleen coming in with two dinners on a tray.
"Hey. Looks like you woke up again." She said, putting the tray down on my lap, to reveal three covered plates. She uncovered one to reveal two raw steaks, which she gave to the Hyenas. While they ate, I could hear their trademark laugh. Harleen uncovered the other two, to reveal steaks, seasoned well and cooked rare. "I cooked these while you were asleep. Hope you like them." She said. I cut off a small chunk, and took a bite.
"mmmm...This is good." I said after I swallowed the bite.
"Really?" She said, eager that she had gotten the steak to taste well.
"Yeah. Dig in, you did awesome." I said, continuing to eat my dinner. As soon as we were both done, I yawned again. "Man, getting shot sure does wipe you out over the next few days..." I said, lying back down. Harleen then tucked me back in, took away the tray, kissed my forehead, and rubbed my head until I fell asleep again.
About in the middle of the night, I awoke to some strange noise. I looked at the window to see rain pelting it, but this happened often and I had grown accustomed to it. I got out of bed and looked around, going slow as to not pull my stitches, and followed the noise to Harleen's room. I creaked open the door and saw her in her pajamas, curled up into a little ball and whimpering.
"...Harleen?..." I asked her, to get no response. I walked in, and found that she was fast asleep. However, by the expression on her face, I could tell that she was having a nightmare. I gently picked her up, ignoring the pain in my side, and took her to my room, setting her in the bed beside me, and lying beside her, breathing hard. She reached for me, pulled me close, and we both swept off into the realm where happy dreams were.