Chapter 7
The courtroom was filled with people whispering as they waited for the judge to enter the room. Alex could feel the stares on the back of her head. They were watching her like hawks. Waiting for her to make the slightest mistake. Waiting for a show. Alex felt someone's hand on her good shoulder and looked to Rachel, who gave her a supportive smile. Over the past 10 days, they'd prepared for this. Rachel had acted as the prosecution, and Alex had slowly mastered holding back her emotions. However, as the chattering in the hall petered out, Alex felt that maybe she hadn't quite practiced hard enough. The bailiff announced the judge's arrival, and she felt a knot in her throat.
The judge sat down, and Alex listened as the lawyers gave their opening remarks. Jeremy's lawyer was going with the old strategy of an ill and disturbed young girl causing a ruckus for her dear older brother, whom just wanted the best for her. It made Alex want to vomit. She could feel Jeremy's stare but ignored him. Carl Finch, the District Attorney, called Dr. Jonathan Crane to the stand.
"Could you state your name and occupation for the record?" Carl asked.
"My name is Dr. Jonathan Crane, and I am the Chief Administrator of Arkham Asylum. I am also Miss Arkham's psychiatrist."
"So you are very familiar with Miss Arkham's case?"
"Yes… at least for her current visitation. Prior visitations had been cut short."
"And who had cut them short?"
"Jeremy Arkham. Miss Arkham's brother and conservator was the only one who had the authority to do so."
"And what have your findings been on Miss Arkham so far?"
"Miss Arkham exhibits signs of retrograde amnesia and anxiety, but beyond that, she is a rather well-adjusted individual. In my professional opinion, I don't believe the conservatorship has any real benefit to her going forward."
"So you believe that she would do fine in society?"
"Of course. Miss Arkham has shown remarkable strides in her studies as well as her outlook. I have full confidence that she is prepared for the world around her."
"Thank you, Dr. Crane," Carl finished and took a seat while watching their opposition size up Dr. Crane.
"So… Dr. Crane," the opposing lawyer had a note of derision in his voice that Alex didn't like. "You said that Miss Arkham is displaying signs of amnesia. Here's a thought… what happens when she regains her memories? Perhaps the very thing causing the stability is her lack of memories. What would happen if she were to relapse suddenly and without warning?"
"Then should we confine people based on what their possible mental health could be? Or is their current status more important? I believe in the latter. Miss Arkham has shown no signs of mental instability since she has been in my facility. Even if she were to regain her memories, I would trust in her judgment to seek out professional help. Your unfounded accusations of my patient seem to be out of your area of expertise."
Mr. Chase paused for a moment and flashed Dr. Crane a smile that didn't meet his eyes. "You seem to be quite a compassionate doctor for the young miss."
Dr. Crane didn't answer. His icy eyes stared down at the lawyer, and he waited patiently for the lawyer to get to the point.
The lawyer cleared his throat and continued, "You've put quite a lot of special care into her rehabilitation… I doubt that the chief administrator of a large hospital like Arkham has the time to personally check on each patient. Miss Arkham must be quite… cherished at your facility. Quite a few of your staff had a lot to say about your favorite patient."
"Objection! Hearsay!" Carl said and stood up in anger.
"Sustained," the judge said with a tired look to the opposing lawyer. "Mr. Chase, keep to the topic at hand."
"I just felt that it was necessary to ask if perhaps Dr. Crane's testimony was being overruled by emotions."
Dr. Crane leaned forward toward the microphone and spoke with a calmness that sharply contrasted with the menace in his eyes, "Miss Arkham… is quite special to our facility. Without her family's contribution, there would be no Arkham Asylum. I will admit that those were the reasons that I first approached her. Respect for her family and admiration for her father's work in my field. However… what I found was a woman that did not belong in my facility. Do you have any credible questions for me, Mr. Chase, or am I done here?"
Mr. Chase seemed more thrilled at the challenge than ashamed of what he had just implied. He continued, "Yes, actually, I do. It says here that there is another expert testifying on Miss Arkham's behalf today. A Miss Harleen Quinzel. Is there any reason why she isn't present at this time?"
"That would be Doctor Harleen Quinzel," Dr. Crane corrected him with a cold glare.
Even Alex was confused. Why hadn't she met this doctor before? Was she a specialist? And why did that name sound so familiar?
"Ah, yes. My apologies," Mr. Chase replied nonchalantly.
"She had a prior engagement. Due to the trial being sped up… other engagements needed to be severed quicker than expected. We already notified the court that she would be late… as you well know. She will be here before the trial ends and more than willing to answer your questions."
Dr. Crane and Mr. Chase had a bit of a stare off before Dr. Crane was released from the stand. Alex took a deep breath. She knew that she was Mr. Chase's next target and didn't want to give him the smug satisfaction of rattling her. Dr. Crane gave her an encouraging look as she was called to the stand. Ignoring the looks of the crowd that waited to watch her breakdown, she walked to the stand with her head held high. After sitting, it was hard to keep that same energy. The hard wood of the seat made it hard for her to get comfortable. Perhaps that was the intention of the design.
"Miss Arkham…" Mr. Chase said and eyed her as though sizing up prey. "Is it true that you don't remember anything prior to your current hospitalization?"
"That is true."
"Which means that you don't remember your brother before the night of his visitation?"
Alex bristled at the term he used in place of assault but answered, "Yes, I didn't even know who he was when he barged into my room."
"Then how is it that you know that this… incident wasn't simply a misunderstanding?"
Rage boiled in her veins, but she kept as calm as she could when she answered, "A misunderstanding? Sir, I don't think you know what that word even means. Did I misunderstand his hands around my throat?! Did I misunderstand when he broke into my room late at night when he knew no one would be around? No, Mr. Chase. There were no misunderstandings. I feel that is very clear from the tape."
"Then why are we not viewing it in court? If it's vital evidence of Mr. Arkham's wrongdoing, then surely… should we not show it in court?"
The judge answered Mr. Chase with an irritated tone, "Because I have reviewed the tape prior to trial and have already made my conclusions on it. There is no need to put Miss Arkham through that night another time. This hearing is not about the assault. It is about her conservatorship and whether she is capable enough to regain her freedom."
Alex looked at Jeremy's smug face. That was what he'd been counting on. Jeremy's true goal of the trial wasn't the conservatorship as he'd known that no sane judge would see that footage and allow Jeremy to be in charge of his victim. At least not with as many eye witnesses as Alex had. No… he'd planned to make a spectacle today. The judge would be looked upon by the people in the courtroom as being preferential, and Jeremy would try to play it off to people that he was just misunderstood… a victim of happenstance. No, Alex would not allow that.
"Play the tape," Alex said looking straight at Jeremy. "I can handle it. Play the tape."
Jeremy's face went white then red. He glared at her as the lawyer seemed to want to backpedal. They clearly thought that she wouldn't do it.
"Are you sure, Miss Arkham?" the judge asked sympathetically.
"Yes. I want people to see."
The bailiff dragged out a television, and Alex watched Jeremy's face as the tape began to play. Rage danced in his eyes. When he turned his attention back to her, she knew. He'd never intended to win this trial… because he'd found a different solution. With her dead, he would get the money anyway.
The court room gasped as the video played. On the screen, Jeremy pinned her to the floor and began to try to choke the life out of her. Alex glanced away from the screen. After the tape ended, the room went completely silent. In one move, she'd managed to sway things to her side. These people would leave here today, and news would spread. The poor pitiful Elizabeth Arkham and her deranged brother. Not everyone would be on her side, but they would have to acknowledge Jeremy as the villain.
Mr. Chase tried to rebound from this setback, but by now Alex was calm. She answered his questions evenly and without hesitation. Mr. Chase finally ended his questioning with a defeated sigh, and it was Carl's turn. Alex answered his questions, but her eyes never left Jeremy's. Alex was not Elizabeth. She had no affection for this psychopath and would fight him tooth and nail for everything he'd had.
After answering questions, Alex returned to her seat, finally feeling relaxed. She'd done the best she could. Now she just needed the judge to decide his verdict. The doors opened behind her. Alex turned to see who it was and felt her own mouth drop. Franny walked into the courtroom, but this wasn't the Franny Alex knew. It wasn't just the suit Franny was wearing. Her once messy hair was styled neatly in a bun, and even the way she walked had changed. Gone was the chipper, fun mental patient, and now standing in her place was a straight-laced doctor. Franny… No, Dr. Quinzel gave Alex a nervous glance before taking a seat. Mr. Chase must have smelt blood in the water and immediately called her up to the stand.
"It is nice to finally meet you in person, Dr. Quinzel. Now… I heard that you were participating in quite the experiment. Could you explain it to me?"
"I was selected to become a patient in Arkham. Part of the experiment was to get a patient's perspective of how we run our programs and how we could improve them. I was also able to have an easier time talking to the patients as a fellow inmate and therefore… get a better understanding of where they were at in their healing journey."
Mr. Chase's eyes lingered on Alex's dumbstruck expression for a moment before he replied, "And how would the patients react to finding out that a fellow patient… someone they trusted… was secretly collecting information about them."
"If they have nothing to hide then they have nothing to fear. My interests are in what is best for my patients. They may not like it… and they may not like me afterwards. But I intend to use the knowledge that I've gained to help them. Not to hurt them," Dr. Quinzel paused, and her eyes briefly lingered on Alex. "And my role in the experiment is not at question today, Mr. Chase. If you have further concerns, feel free to contact my superiors."
Mr. Chase looked annoyed but startled. Clearly, talk of her 'superiors' scared him a little, but he continued, "Miss Arkham thought of you as her friend, did she not? How are you so sure that your outlook on her behavior isn't tainted by such feelings?"
"I am a professional. It is not that I am cut off from my own feelings but that I understand when I need to set them aside."
Mr. Chase continued to try to rattle her, but Dr. Quinzel stuck to her guns. After Mr. Chase gave up, Mr. Finch decided to ask her a few questions of his own.
"Dr. Quinzel, what is your professional opinion of Miss Arkham?"
"From what I've observed… Miss Arkham does not need the conservatorship. She is of sound mind and capable of making her own decisions."
"Mr. Chase said earlier that it was possible that if Miss Arkham regained her memories then she could relapse. How likely do you think Miss Arkham would be to seek help should that occur?"
"That would be unlikely. But I believe that Miss Arkham would seek out professional help should that scenario occur."
"And what kind of person is Miss Arkham?"
"Miss Arkham… is a very kind person. She puts the feelings of others before her own and cares very deeply for her friends," Dr. Quinzel paused and for a brief moment, Alex saw a glimpse of her friend. "It is for those very reasons why I am assured that if Miss Arkham will seek counseling should she need it. If not for herself then for the people she cares about… and who care about her."
Carl smiled and released her from the stand. The lawyers finished with their closing remarks, and Alex held her breath as she waited for the verdict. The judge sighed and said, "I see no reason for me to put this off any longer. I will be dissolving the conservatorship. There is no valid reason for it to continue, and I am unsure if there was ever a reason for it to have existed in the first place. Miss Arkham, you will need to keep up with your counseling. Seeing a therapist once a week for the next three months should be sufficient for now. After three months time, we will reconvene and see where you are."
"Thank you," Alex said, holding back tears. Rachel pulled Alex into a hug, and Carl held out his hand for her to shake. Alex shook his hand with vigor. The doors to the courtroom opened, and Alex turned to see Dr. Quinzel sneak out of the room. Dr. Crane blocked the door from view as he approached her with a smile.
"I suppose we're going to have to get your release in order," Dr. Crane said with an outstretched hand. Alex shook his hand but felt her gaze drawn to the door and the friend who'd disappeared behind it.