Disclaimer: I don't own Dr. Crane and/or any of the characters/places associated with Batman Begins.

Dr. Crane had ordered the straightjacket removed two days later. Another three days passed without a visit from the Scarecrow or her doctor. Vanessa was in a state of limbo. She wasn't being treated or released. Finally that afternoon one of the nurses entered her room abruptly.

"Dr. Crane would like a word with you."

Vanessa rose and slowly followed the nurse down the hall to his office. Even though she'd been demanding to meet with him all this time she had to admit she was a bit nervous to hear what he had to say to her.

He looked different today. His ever present glasses were gone. Instead of the usual suit and tie he wore a dark blue sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. The man was even wearing sneakers for heaven's sake.

"Thank you nurse-that will be all." he said as he waved the young woman away like one would a servant. Vanessa added that to the growing list of things she really didn't like about the doctor.

"You're dressed very casual today Jonathan. What's the occasion?"

"It's Saturday."

Was it really? Days of the week had become insignificant to her. In this place each and every day was the same. She walked over to his window and looked out at the city below. His view was not that great either. There wasn't much worth looking at in this city anyway, but it was still better than her view of the parking lot. It was starting to snow again. Strange weather she thought, snowing one minute, thunderstorms the next. It seemed that everything was volatile in Gotham.

"I came in here on my day off because I simply didn't want this to go the weekend." he said.

"And what does the good doctor do on his days off I wonder? Dan and I used to go uptown to North City Park; sometimes we'd go to the Opera House." Her voice began to trail off as she let those memories come back to her. Dan had proposed to her in that park. They'd married less than a year later. She had lost track of the days while she was here but she thought that their third wedding anniversary was less than a month away. In that moment she felt grief tighten around her heart like a fist.

"I wanted to say I was sorry."

Vanessa turned away from the window and looked at him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing-Dr. Crane apologizing? The world must be coming to an end.

He continued, "I'm sorry for the way I acted. I was rude, dismissive and I lost my temper. There is no excuse for my actions. I can only offer you my most heartfelt apologies."

She'd wanted to tell him that he was a pompous, controlling jackass but his apology was so sincere that it took the wind right out of her sails and he wasn't even finished yet.

"I promise to always be a good listener, even when I don't like what I'm hearing. I can hardly expect you to open up to me when I'm not willing to be open myself."

"Do you believe I wasn't seeing things and that there may have been someone in my room that night?" she asked.

"I believe you were medicated and locked in a darkened room with only your thoughts. I believe in the minds power over the body. You should have been monitored more carefully that night especially with the storm as intense as it was and that was my error. But tell me, the men that attacked you in your home, did either of them wear a Scarecrow mask like the one you described?"

"No, just plain black ski masks."

He was about to speak when his beeper went off. He took the small device from his pocket and sighed.

Obviously irritated by the poor timing he looked at Vanessa and said, "I'm sorry again Vanessa, but I'm afraid I do have an appointment to run off to. We'll talk about this more on Monday. In the interim, I'm going to have a guard placed outside your door and from now on there will be two people at the nurses station at all times. Better to be safe then sorry."

"Till Monday then." She replied.

"Friends?" he asked giving her a sheepish grin.

"Friends." she responded with a genuine smile. Who could resist a man who groveled so well?

Author's note: Sorry for all these short chapters. Next one will be much longer I promise. Hope you all are enjoying it thus far. Thought I'd take the time to let you know that this is not another one of those Dr. Crane is really a nice guy, just misunderstood kind of stories. He's going to show his true colors very soon.