After the party, Alice began seeing more of Damian. The boy adopted a habit of coming over to her office to take naps in one of the beds after having lunch. At first, she thought it was strange why he didn't spend the time with his friends playing outside and was even more surprised when he said he didn't have any. All children have friends, at least one. It's a necessity. Humans are social creatures by nature, many studies prove that socializing can benefice one's physical and mental health. It was normal for kids to want to spend time with each other. Yet, she couldn't say Damian fit into the image of standard kids. From the first time she saw him, she noticed his advanced speech and his mature behavior, so untypical of a ten years old, especially a boy. Everyone knew girls matured earlier than boys did, she could say it first hand, since growing up with her big brother, sometimes it was difficult to guess which one was the older sibling.
Nevertheless, Alice didn't dwell on it for long, after all, there were always kids who grow up faster than normal, Lea was one of them too. From what she had observed and picked up over time, her niece didn't have any friends either. The girl never mentioned names when they chatted about school or classes, she never asked permission to have kids come over to the house or was invited to someone else home. However, there was nothing she could do, Lea didn't want to talk to her about it and it wasn't like she could obligate her niece to befriend someone or vice versa. She had thought about the possibility of Lea and Damian eventually becoming friends, after all, children needed the company of others their age, and they seemed to share the idea of being too old to deal with other kids.
One day, Damian was sleeping in the adjacent room when someone knocked at the infirmary door.
It was lunch break and she was busy copying the information of the students' files to the computer, something she found out was one of her duties since the Principal wanted all the data to be also on the school system instead of only on paper. It made sense, nowadays most information was digital, it was easy to organize and didn't take physical space and it was good for the environment. But what pissed her off was the fact that nothing was in the system yet. Apparently, the previous nurse wasn't good with computers and didn't do anything, so now Alice had hundreds of students' files to organize and copy into the system. It was simple work, nothing difficult, but it was time-consuming. First, she needed to create a file for each student and then fill it with all the personal and medical information that was on paper.
When she applied for this job, she didn't expect to spend more time with the computer than helping kids. Aside from this time-consuming task, she didn't do much. Kids these days, didn't leave outside their virtual world and didn't hurt themselves as much.
"Come in." She said excitedly.
All I ask is a small scratch on the knee or a little bruise on the hand, nothing serious, but something to distract me from this tedious task.
"Excuse me, Miss…" The teenager glanced at the name on the door. "... Silver, I'm looking for Damian Wayne, is he here?"
Not a patient… She sighed a little disappointed.
"Yes, he is resting in the other room."
The boy frowned. "His he okay?"
"Yes, he was just tired and wanted to have some rest. Are you his friend?" Alice asked curiously. He had looked preoccupied when she confirmed the presence of the younger kid.
Before he could respond, Damian did it for him. "Tt of course not. He is one of the strays my father picked up." He was leaning on the door of the adjacent room with his arms crossed, hair messy, and his typical scowl in place.
The older boy took a deep sigh, rolling his eyes at the offensive remark.
Alice recalled during the party, that Bruce told her he had four sons, three of them adopted. "So... he's your brother." She translated his cruel response to a normal one just to rail him a little, after all, she was bored. That gained her a glare that she shrug off with a smile.
"Yes, I'm Tim Drake." The older boy introduced himself, with a small nod of his head.
"Alice Silver, the new nurse. It's nice to meet you."
"What do you want, Drake?" Damian hissed his eyes mere slits.
"You forgot your phone at home, Alfred asked me to bring it to you." The younger boy yanked his phone from Tim's hand, grabbed his blazer and backpack, and was out of the infirmary in seconds, without even a goodbye.
Tim exhaled deeply. A large amount of patience was needed to deal with Damian and right now he didn't have it, too tired to even retort to his insults. He only had seven hours of sleep in the last three days. "I'm sorry for his attitude."
"Don't worry about it." Alice grinned, not at all offended by the youngest Wayne's rudeness. She turned to Tim, her eyes suddenly darkening and smile falling. "More important, are you alright?"
The question took Tim by surprise.
"Yeah." His answer didn't sound as assertive as he wanted.
Alice stared at him intensely. She noted the sickly pale hue of his skin and the deep dark circles surrounding his pretty blue eyes.
"You look like a zombie. Have you been up all night studying for an exam?"
"Yeah, something like that." His hand came to scratch the back of his neck and he looked away from her observing eyes.
"Get some rest I don't want you passing out somewhere." Alice said pointing towards the adjacent room.
Tim's almond eyes enlarged at the offer, he raised his hands in front of his chest and waved them in a gesture of refusal. "I'm fine. I have lessons now, there's no need for-"
"I will pass you a note, so don't worry about class. And it's better than getting a reprimand or punishment for falling asleep during lectures."
The boy blushed lightly. She was right, it had happened to him before and it had been an embarrassing moment.
Tim gazed towards the beds in the other room. In his state of exhaustion, they looked extremely comfortable, and there was nothing he wished more than snug inside the warm and smooth blankets and rest his tired head in the fluffy white pillows.
Seduced by the promise of a little sleep, Tim accepted the offer.
Since that day, not one, but two Wayne boys visited the infirmary regularly. They never stayed there at the same time, maybe that was for the best, Alice was sure blood would flow if they remained in the same room for too long. She was probably exaggerating but they seemed to be constantly at each other necks, well at least Damian was.
It was one of those days that Damian arrived at her office, informing her that he needed to rest, and at first, Alice didn't notice anything unusual, he sounded the same and was acting the same. When the bell rang announcing the end of the lunch break, Alice entered the adjacent room to wake him up, as she always did, only to find him perspiring. Frowning, the brunet touched his forehead, his skin too hot under her palm.
He has a fever.
Grabbing a temporal thermometer, she placed it on his temple, and after a few seconds, it beeped, the numbers on the small screen confirming her assumptions. Taking his medical file out from one of the cabinets, Alice called the emergency number written on it. It rang twice before a baritone voice answered.
"Bruce Wayne speaking."
"Hi Bruce, this is Alice Silver. I'm calling from Gotham Academy, it's about Damian."
"His he alright?" Bruce's voice sounded a little alarmed.
"He has a high fever. I want to give him ibuprofen to help bring the fever down, but I need the parent's permission."
"You have my permission to give him anything you see necessary, I will be there as soon as possible." With Bruce's consent, the brunet proceeded to wake up the boy to give him the pill.
It took a minute for Damian to finally wake up, the ten years old was feeling sluggish and cold. His eyes were sensitive to the light and he blinked several times before he was able to gaze at Alice.
"Damian, you have a fever. I already contacted your father. He is on his way, but you need to take this." A little confused he regarded the white tablet warily.
"It's only ibuprofen, it will help lower your fever." She explained sensing his distrust. Grabbing the little pill, the boy turned it around between his fingers, emerald orbs peering apprehensively before he swallow it with a cup of water.
"You shouldn't have called my father. I'm fine." He muttered, frown in place.
Not wanting to have the same discussion they had the first time they meet, Alice ignored him. Taking a blanket from another bed, she covered him with it. "There, warmer?" Damian nodded. "Get some rest."
His head hurt and it was getting harder to keep his eyes open.
Doing what she normally did when Lea was sick, Alice laid a hand on Damian's forehead trying to relieve some of his discomfort with her cooler temperature. Her fingers combed back the damp locks glued to his skin due to the layer of perspiration, the motion easing the crease in the middle of his eyebrows, and after a few minutes, the boy took a relaxed and almost angelic expression, as his consciousness drifted away.
When Alice was sure Damian was sleeping, she got up and informed the secretary, Mrs. Ballard, about the situation. The woman didn't give her much attention, as she just hummed and hung up as soon as Alice stopped talking, without showing any kind of preoccupation for the student.
It was difficult for the brunet to understand how people could work in a school if they didn't even like children. Returning to the chair beside the sick boy, Alice kept an eye on him as she waited.
Almost half an hour later, she heard a knock on the door. She got up and peeked from the adjacent room.
Bruce was at the entrance of the infirmary, hair disheveled and tie loosened around his neck.
"He's sleeping." She whispered pointing to the open door behind her. The billionaire's lips curled up in a strained smile, a poor attempt of greeting on his part, but in his concerned state, he didn't feel like making an effort. Alice tilted her head, gesturing for him to follow her inside.
Bruce inspected his son, his chest aching at the sight of the small body curled up under the blankets. Damian's cheeks were tinted a faint pink, contrasting with the pale hue of his skin. Despite the fever, his son had a serene expression on his face.
A hand softly touched his arm, and Bruce turned to look at Alice.
"He's going to be fine, it's just a cold." She reassured him with a gentle smile. "Just make sure he eats something when he wakes up, it's important to eat even if he says he isn't hungry. He needs to drink a lot of water, it's easy to get dehydrated. I gave him a pill twenty minutes ago." She said, turning her wrist up and inspecting her watch. "Give him another in eight hours."
"Thank you." Bruce sigh. This time a small but genuine smile graced his lips.
His smile took her by surprise and her heart drummed strongly against her ribcage. "Just doing my job." She blurted out.
Bruce walked towards his son and tenderly shook his shoulder. "Damian." The boy grumble something incoherent and turned to the other side, giving his back to them. Bruce chuckled softly, it was rare to see his son acting so childlike. "Let's go home." Uncovering him, Bruce picked Damian up making the boy quiver and curl against his chest.
The brunet picked the ten-year-old shoes, blazer, and backpack and accompanied them to the car, so Bruce didn't have to carry everything. Laying the boy in the back seat, the billionaire took his jacket and covered his son with it. He then placed Damian's belongings in the trunk and thanked Alice once again, before going home.
Later that night, Bruce visited Damian's room one more time before going on patrol, he knew his son would be mad for not going as well. Knocking on the door, he entered after a low 'come in'.
"How are you feeling?" Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, Bruce looked down at the curled form of the ten years old under the sheets. "Alfred said your fever has gone down a little."
"I'm fine, it isn't a big deal. Silver should have never said anything." Damian muttered.
"Alice did the right thing calling me."
A head full of dark messy hair emerged from under the sheets, green orbs shining like jewels in the dim room. "What happened to all the mistrust you had before?"
Bruce arched a dark eyebrow at his comment. "What are you implying?" There was something his son wasn't telling him, Bruce was sure.
"Did you do a background check on Silver?" Damian asked even if he already knew the answer.
"No. I was going to but I just haven't had the time, and after the party, I just didn't see the need to." A moment of silence before he concluded. "But I'm guessing you did."
Damian averted his gaze from his father's piercing icy blue pools. Of course he had, his skepticism wouldn't allow him to let those small doubts pass. There was something strange about Alice and Lea Silver, something that poke a part of his mind nonstop in an irritable way. When his instinct flared out, Damian usually followed it, and it was rarely wrong.
"So, I'm guessing you found something suspicious." Bruce pressed.
Damian nodded. "I couldn't find anything apart from some fake documents. Alice and Lea Silver don't seem to exist before Gotham."
Hope you liked it!
Until next time,
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