Chapter 3: Silent Thanks

By: Galadeidre

"So you risked your neck to save her?" Bruce asked over the phone.

Terry sat down on his bed, wiping his hair with a towel. He had finally finished changing out of his wet clothes and had just explained what had happened to Bruce over the phone.

"Yeah. But that's not the weird thing." Terry placed the towel down. "She was only a kid, but she seemed really…heavy. For her age, at least. And I don't think that it was the water that was pulling her down."

"Did you get a name?"

"Couldn't find one. Dana stopped by at the hospital to check up on her. She's gonna pick me up to see how she's doing, soon." The bell rang. "That's probably her, right now. Tell you more later."

"Get some rest."

"Sure." He ended the call and ran to the door, putting his shoes on. He opened the door.

Dana nodded at him. "Ready?"

"Yeah. Hey, Dana. Sorry about the date being messed up and all. I really appreciate what you're doing right now for me."

Dana smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "You don't need to be sorry. You helped save a little girl." They walked down the front steps. "Speaking of. She's doing all right from what the doctor says. She doesn't talk much and they can't seem to find her name at all in the records. Weird, huh? It's as if she doesn't even exist."

"Not even one ID or anything on her?"

Dana shook her head. "Her fingerprints don't match anybody's description and she won't answer the doctor's questions. Maybe you'll have better luck with her, considering you're the one who saved her."

Terry shrugged. "We'll just have to see about that one."

Dana drove down to the hospital and they entered into the front lobby.

The nurse looked up and smiled. "Hello again. Come back, I see. And with a visitor. Is he your brother?"

Dana smiled. "No. Boyfriend, actually. He's the one that saved that little girl."

"Oh, well am I ever impressed." She gave another big smile. "The little girl's still in the same room as before. You can visit her."

"Thanks." Dana walked down a hallway and into an elevator. Terry followed. Once they reached the third floor, Dana stepped out and went into the fifth door to her right.

She stopped at the foot of the bed and gave a sigh. "She's asleep. Sorry, Ter. I don't think it would be great if she woke up right now. Maybe we can come and visit tomorrow or something. Terry?"

Terry slowly and quietly pulled up a chair to the head of the bed and took a good look at her.

Her face was as snow-pale as the sheets that she slept on. She was small and slight in figure, but that came with her age. Her golden-brown hair was slightly curly and wrapped around her face and neck here and there. She slept on, her breathing soft and even.

Terry sighed. "I wish I could talk to her."

"Feeling bad for her, huh?" Dana walked over to him and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "I'm guessing you're gonna have to work tomorrow?"

Terry nodded.

"Tell you what, I'll come stop by here for you and tell her you stopped by. Then maybe after you work we can visit her. At least she'll know that her savior was here."

"I don't know if she's gonna want to thank me or kill me for saving her." Terry sighed. "I mean. She did try drowning herself and almost succeeded."

Dana gave him a hug. "I'm positive that she's grateful. I mean, she's just a little girl. She's got her whole life ahead of her. She probably didn't even want to drown."

Terry wasn't so sure, but knew there was no point in arguing. He remembered how still she was in the water and how she didn't even try struggling against the chain of the anchor. He smiled and said, "You're right." He stood up and came to stand by her bedside. He stroked her small, fragile-looking fingers as if to soothe her.

The little girl slightly moved and, feeling Terry's fingers on the top of her hand, took hold of his fingers and squeezed them. Terry noticed how strong her fingers were for being so fragile-looking and also noticed how ice-cold they were. It made a shiver go down his spine.

"See?" Dana whispered, obviously not noticing Terry shiver. "She squeezed your hand in thanks. A silent thanks."

"Yeah…" Terry muttered. He smiled. "I guess you're right. Why don't we go. It's late. I'll try stopping by tomorrow night."

"'Kay."

Terry slowly pried his hand out of the little girl's fingers and they quietly walked out of the room.

"Censors…identify…Terry McGinnis…"

Terry…McGinnis…

Are you my brother? Who was that with you? She was here before…

"Life forms…two…no more…"

Where did you go? Why did you leave?

"Identifying…searching…Life form Terry McGinnis…also known as Batman…searching…"

You are Batman…who is Batman? No…Batman is old…you, I sense, are young…who are you?

"Searching…analyzing data…filing and saving into memory bank…procedures and objectives downloading… … … … Download complete."

A pair of ice-blue eyes opened, little binary numbers running through her pupil and through her head.