(Oh my gosh, you guys! Oh my gosh! 103 followers! 90 favs! 182 reviews! This is great! I never expected this fic to get that much attention! And as long as I keep getting this much attention and inspiration you can be sure that I'll keep dishing out chapters. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! Keep 'em comin'!
Serena nightingale was the one who suggested the mischievous idea that the gang pulls on Nurse Gilbert.
MoonRose91, I've finally added some of Amber's backstory. I realize I neglected to add that in the last chapter.
SerinSykes, and everyone else who wanted Fitz's and Amber's date to go wrong, here ya go!)
Chapter Nineteen
She's a Brick House
Day Two (continued)
Dr. Arkham was minding his own business (and by minding his own business I really mean minding everyone's business because he ran the asylum and the business of the people living and working in the asylum became his own business) when the sound of squeaky wheels reached his ears. He tried to ignore it, tried to carry on with paperwork and such of the like on his desk, but that darn squeaking was really taking his attention off his work. He got up, crossed the floor, opened the door to his office, and stuck his head out. There was no one outside. The squeaking had stopped just as he'd opened the door. Thinking that maybe he'd imagined it, Dr. Arkham closed the door and returned to his desk. About a minute later, the squeaking resumed.
He got up once again and repeated the earlier action with the same result. No one and no sound. He scratched his head as he sat down in his comfy, leather desk chair and had only glanced at the paperwork when the squeaks returned. He got up, walked to the door a bit more quickly, and threw open the door. Nothing. He took a little longer looking at the empty halls to make sure there was no one in sight before turning and walking back into his office; this time leaving the door open.
He'd only just sat in his chair when the squeaking came again, but louder and faster. He looked up in time to see someone sitting in a rolling chair roll into his office. Arkham gaped at what he saw. Nurse Gilbert tied to the chair and sporting some duct tape on her mouth, was glaring at him with narrowed, accusing eyes. He quickly stood up from his desk, banging his knee in the process and hurried to her side.
"Nurse Gilbert! What happened?"
His answer came in the form of muffled, angry mumbles. Arkham was just about to untie her when he noticed something else about Nurse Gilbert's unfortunate plight. Someone, along with others, had taken the liberty of writing on Nurse Gilbert in sharpie markers! He didn't have to think too hard on who the pranksters had been. Joker Rulez!, Riddle Me This…, Save the Rain Forest!, Master of Fear!, Mad as a Hatter!, Bunnies!, and I Am Batman! adorned her skin.
"I am extremely sorry about this, Nurse Gilbert," Arkham told her sincerely as he undid the bonds holding her to the chair. He was once again subjected to more angry mumbles and he was glad he couldn't understand what she was saying. He removed the tape in time to catch the last of her sentence.
"- I QUIT!"
…
In Joan Leland's Apartment
"Wait… come again?" Joan asked Amber as she watched the younger nurse continue to pace her living room.
Amber stopped pacing and flopped into the space next to Joan. She heaved a sigh and repeated herself. "I'm going to meet him at the restaurant."
"You're going?"
"I'm going."
"Why?"
"Because it would be rude not to go when I know he's expecting me."
Joan shifted around on the sofa so that her legs were tucked underneath her. "But if I recall, he was rude in the way that he cornered you into this shame of a date."
"Yeees, I know he was, the jerk, but I can't not show up."
"Why?" Joan's eyes widened. "You're not starting to fall for him, are you?"
Amber's voice came out high-pitched from surprise. "No!"
"Then why?"
"Because."
Joan wasn't taking that for an answer. She pointedly stared at Amber with a sarcastic look of expectancy. Amber sighed and let her head plop back against the sofa. "Because… I know what it feels like to wait for someone to show up and they never do. … It's awful."
Joan's face softened. "Oh, Amber, honey."
Amber shook her head. "No, I've never been stood up. I don't want you to get that impression. I've never really been on a date to be stood up at. What I'm talking about it…" She bit her lip and fiddled with her purity ring before shaking her head once more. "Nah, forget it. It's pathetic."
"Oh, nuh-uh! You're not going to leave me hanging like that; tell me!" Joan egged.
"Gnnaaaah," Amber sounded.
"Teeeell meeee!"
"I was never asked to go to a dance with a guy. But I'd end up going to the dances anyway with the hope that…" Amber screwed up her face, reluctant to go on because of how pathetic it would sound. "Maybe while I was there, some guy would see me and ask me to dance."
"Did it ever happen?"
Amber traced a picture in the sofa fabric, not looking up. "… That's what I meant about waiting for someone who never shows up."
Joan was quiet for a moment. She felt sorry for the young nurse. Joan had spent enough time with her to know that she was a funny, caring girl so for her to have never been on a date-wait!
Joan's head snapped up. "Whoaaa! Wait, wait, wait, wait! Hold up!" She looked Amber over and then tilted her head to the side with an expression of disbelief. "You've never been on a date before?"
"I never said that!" Amber said quickly. "I've been on a few."
"Oh. Well, how many?"
"Gaaaaah…" Amber hesitated.
"Amber, how many is a few?"
"Two and a half?"
"Two and a half? What?"
"The first two were with a guy I'd know for a little while. He'd just recently broken up with his girlfriend-."
"Oh my gosh. You were the replacement?" Joan asked with a shake of her head.
"He didn't even tell me when he got back together with her, just stopped contacting me."
Joan groaned and covered her face with one hand. "Oh, Amber, I'm almost scared to ask about the other date."
"Good, then we won't talk about it."
"But I have to know."
"Crud."
"Talk."
Amber heaved a frustrated sigh. "The third was, well….it…didn't really turn out well. We hadn't even ordered our food when I decided I didn't want to have a relationship with him. If I wasn't so… me, I would have walked out the door right then."
"What did he do?"
"He showed up hung over and slightly high."
Joan hissed like she'd been burned. "And how long has it been since you've been on a date?" Amber's green eyes lifted to the ceiling and squinted in thought. When she didn't answer within five seconds, Joan's eyebrows arched. "That long?"
"Uh… I think it's safe to say… about a year? The first time I went out on a date, I was eighteen."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
Joan blinked at that. Despite how silly Amber could be, she thought the young woman was older than that. At times, Amber showed a maturity that made Joan think her to be in her late twenties. Appearance wise, Amber had the kind of features that made her look a few years older or younger, making it difficult to guess her age.
"Well," Joan began. "Maybe this date will make it an even three, hm?"
Amber snorted with laughter and hit Joan over the head with a sofa pillow. "Hey, could you come by my place and help me pick an outfit to wear? I don't want to wear something that will give Fitz the wrong idea."
"Sure. Let me get my purse."
As she stood and walked to her bedroom, her thoughts strayed back to Amber's age. A twenty-two year old girl was in charge of taking care of the most dangerous patients in Arkham Asylum. Her mind kept turning over to the Joker, the most dangerous of them all, and how his medical records estimated him to be in his late twenties to early thirties. It was like a nine year old being given the responsibility of keeping an adult in line. Joan didn't like the uneasy feeling she was getting over this. Amber was so young and to be given such a big responsibility… And what if the Joker found out how old Amber was? No one likes being told what to do by someone significantly younger than themself.
And Joan had heard orderlies and other staff members talking about things they had witnessed between the Joker and Amber. Some whispered about the way he looked at her…
Joan didn't realize she had been standing in her room, holding her purse, and staring into space until Amber poked her head in the door way. "Helloooo? Joan?"
Joan snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh? Oh, sorry. Guess I kinda spaced out there."
"Well did you land back on Earth?"
"Shut up and march your skinny butt to the door so we can ruin your date with Fitz."
…
"It's simple. You call Amber back in," the Joker said.
Dr. Arkham blinked at the group of patients he had the guards gather in the rec room. All of them were staring at him as if they had done nothing wrong. After Nurse Gilbert had fled the asylum, Arkham called a meeting with the people responsible for her flight to discuss the recent issues that had occurred.
"I can't do that. She's suspended for at least another day."
The Joker leaned forward in his chair. "Buuut, uh, aren't you the head honcho that calls the shots around here? Can't you reel that pretty little thing back in here a day early?" He gave Arkham a cheesy grin.
"But-."
The Joker sighed loudly and slouched back in his seat, hands linking behind his head. "Ya know doc, I got a feeling that if Amber-."
"Nurse Amber," Dr. Arkham corrected.
"Not you too!" the Joker whined. "Fine! I have a feeling that if Nurse Amber isn't back here soon-and I mean really soon-then some more bad things might happen."
"Yes, I agree," Jonathan Crane chimed in. "Some people might find that they can't get a good night's sleep," he added darkly.
"I want Nurse Amber back! She sings with me," Katelynn 2 moped.
The Joker removed one hand from behind his head to motion at Katelynn 2. "There you go, doc. You can't take away the girl's singing buddy."
"If you think that I'm going to call Nurse Amber back just because you threatened me to-!" Dr. Arkham sputtered indignantly.
"What? Us? Threaten? Why, whatever do you mean, doc?" The Joker nudged the Riddler. "This guy thinks we're threatening him!"
The Riddler feigned a look of being aghast. "The nerve."
"I'll say," the Joker snorted.
Katherine stood up from her chair behind the Joker and put her hands on her hips. "We just want the waiting time to be drastically shortened, is all."
The Joker swung one arm behind him and felt around for Katherine. His hand clamped onto her orange uniform and pulled her back down onto her seat. "Ssh, Squirt; lemme take care of this. Sit down."
Katherine landed in her seat with an "Oomf!"
Dr. Arkham pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Alright, let's discuss this like reasonable adults."
There was silence for a brief moment as everyone blinked at the doctor. Then ….
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
…
The moment Amber arrived at the Blue Moon Restaurant, she nearly turned around to walk back to her car. It was a nice place. Like, mind your 'p's and 'q's kind of fancy. Amber was wearing a fitted red sundress that she'd worn to a beach wedding last summer. Her hair was straightened. That was Joan's doing. Amber wanted to leave her hair the way it always was; naturally wavy. But Joan was adamant.
"You gotta look at least a little made up. What if there's a cute guy at the restaurant who sees you? Hm? Don't you want him to think, 'Oh my! Who is that mysteriously, sexy woman sitting with that British douchebag?'"
Amber had promptly thrown a pillow at a giggling Joan and was satisfied when it met its target.
This was going to be awkward. Downright awkward. Groaning internally, Amber squared her shoulders and entered the building. She saw Bernard Fitz sitting at a table by the large windows. He hadn't noticed she was there yet. His attention was on the menu.
"Last chance, Amber; flee!" her mind said. She turned and took one step towards the doors…
"Excuse me? Can I help you?" the hostess asked. Amber looked over the woman's shoulder to see Fitz look up from the menu and spot her. She had no choice but to let the hostess take her to Dr. Sexy's - Dr. Fitz's table!
"Well, well, well…" Fitz said as Amber drew nearer to the table with the hostess. "Don't you look…" His eyes scanned her not-so-impressive dress with some confusion. "You look very nice."
Amber tried to send a wordless message to the hostess with her eyes; "Help me!" but either the woman had no telepathic abilities or she was ignoring Amber's plea on purpose. After all, why on Earth would any woman want to get out of a date with someone so handsome, right? Phfft!
"So?" Fitz said once the hostess was gone after telling them their waiter would be with them in a moment.
"So, I think we should decide what we want to order," Amber said, quickly and grabbed a menu to hide her face behind. Fitz frowned. He couldn't see her face. More importantly, she couldn't see his face.
"Ooh, chicken alfredo!" Amber squeed. It was one of her favorite dishes and she only got it when she went out to eat because she couldn't cook anything more complicated than grilled cheese sandwiches.
"Is that what you want, darling?" came Fitz's smooth voice from behind the menu. Amber wanted to throw a salt shaker at him and hope it would hit his perfect nose.
"No, doctor, I merely got excited over a dish that I have no intention of getting," Amber said with sarcastic sweetness. She needed to find a way to keep the menu in front of her at all times. She kept the menu open and set it on the table, providing a mini-wall between her and Fitz. She had to slightly slouch in her seat to remain hidden from his sight. That plan went out the window when the waiter took their order along with their menus. Amber gave a slight whine when she watched it disappear with the waiter. Now there was nothing to hide behind.
Fitz propped his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together, making a bridge for his chin to balance on. "Well," he said, smiling.
"If you keep saying that, I won't be one bit surprised if one eventually appears smack dab in the middle of the restaurant," Amber deadpanned.
"Heh heh heh," Fitz chuckled, the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled.
"Staaahp iiiiiit!" Amber told her brain. Hormones were the worst thing to happen.
"So, Amber, let's start with a clean slate, hm? My name is Bernard Fitz. And you are?"
"Charlie Brown, ask me again and I'll knock you down."
Fitz blinked at her reply but then grinned. "Oh, you're being funny."
No, I'm being serious! Ugh. "My name is Amber Johnson."
"Where are you from?"
Hell. And guess what? I've been sent to bring you back! Honestly, the answers she came up with in her mind were far more interesting. "I've lived here all my life."
"Well, obviously I'm not from around here." Fitz chuckled at his own joke.
"Naaaah!" Amber gasped with more sarcasm than humor.
And so it went. Fitz ended up talking more about himself and making those remarks that were actually insulting. Amber pretended to listen sometimes as she focused on eating her food. Chicken alfredo was the food of the gods! It was when she took a sip from her drink that the conversation finally turned away from Fitz and to something else.
Amber made a face once she tasted the liquid in her glass and she tried-and failed- to subtly spit it back into the glass. Fitz tilted his head to the side. "Something the matter darling?"
"What is that? That's not the drink I had earlier."
"Oh, yes; I ordered you some wine when you finished drinking your previous glass. I asked you if you wanted wine and you said 'yes'."
Amber raised an eyebrow at that. "How did I say it?"
Fitz blinked at her n confusion but complied with answering. "You nodded your head and said, 'Mm-hm.'"
Amber pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "That must have been one of the moments I wasn't actually listening to you," she mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Um, I actually don't drink alcohol, so…" she inched the glass away from her. "If I could get something else…?" Like a coke? Why don't these fancy smacy places serve Coca-Cola?
Fitz called for a waiter and asked for another glass of water to be brought to their table. "You don't drink?"
"Of course I drink! I drink water, coke, orange juice, milk, Gatorade-."
"I meant alcohol."
"Nope. Hate it. Nasty stuff. I've only had a couple of sips since my twenty-first birthday."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why don't you drink?"
"Why should I? I just don't like it and plus, it's against my faith to drink. Well, at least to the point of drunkenness. I mean Jesus drank wine, but it states in the Bible not to become drunk."
Fitz's face took on an all-knowing look that Amber wanted to slap for looking so smug. "Oh, so you're a Christian, huh?"
"Yeah. And I actually try to live it." She lowered her voice as she poked at her food. "Even when some people make me want to commit murder."
"Well, that explains it."
Amber's head snapped up. "Excuse me, explains what?"
"You. So what else do you not do?" His eyes fell on her purity ring. "Seriously?"
Amber's face felt hot with anger. "Yes. Seriously."
Fitz held out his hand to her, palm open. "May I see it?" Unbelievable, he was still trying to put the moves on her by getting her to hold his hand as he 'inspected' the ring. Amber could play this game too. She removed the ring from her finger and put it in his awaiting palm. She nearly snickered at the disappointment she saw on his face. He looked at the ring anyway, tracing the engraved words on the silver band; True Love Waits.
"And you really believe this?" he asked, looking at her with a condescending smile.
"And you wonder why I don't like you." Amber shook her head and glanced at her plate which still had a good portion of chicken alfredo on it. It'd be a shame to waste the food… "Does this restaurant do left-over boxes?"
"Um, I think so… Why?"
"Because I want to leave."
"Come now, darling-."
"No! I'm not going to sit here and listen to you make veiled insults and dis my faith like that! Normally, I'd try to explain my beliefs to somebody, but you just-ugh! You are infuriating!"
"Carry on, my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more!"
Amber went completely still when she heard Kansas' music blaring from her purse. Fitz and Amber's eyes both looked at the noisy bag and then glanced around them as people stared. She gave an apologetic smile and quickly plunged her hand into her purse to find/maim/murder/turn off/silence/smash/eviscerate/destroy her phone. She was pretty sure the correct word was somewhere in that group. Once she found it, she glanced at the caller ID and decided to answer it. A welcome distraction.
"Dr. Arkham?"
"Nurse Amber, please return to the asylum as soon as possible. I can't take much more of this."
Amber's brow wrinkled when she thought she heard a group of people cheering in the background.
…
(Okay, here's what's gonna happen, this 'date' isn't really over yet. More stuff is gonna happen when Dr. Fitz and Amber show up at the asylum together. The Joker's not going to like that sight. *evil smirk* But, anyway, what did you think of this chapter? I really wanna know because my creative juice was pretty low during these past few weeks cause of college staring back up.
I also have a question for you guys, although I know I've already posted it in my other story, Chaotic Lullaby, I know that some of you may not read those stories so I figured I should post it on here too.
I'd like your help in a little matter, dear Readers! I want to write another fan-fic! I've posted a Poll on my page for you to vote which fandom I should write a fan-fic on.
The Options:
1). The Hobbit; where I will be writing in Smaug's point of view, who can shape shift into human form -modeled after the handsomely adorkable Benedict Cumberbatch- and it will also take place several centuries after all events in LOTR. It's like how he deals with living in modern times and how he must hide his true form from mortals. Until someone sees him changing shape… Better than it sounds.
2). A Sherlock BBC fan-fic; I was disappointed in the fact that Wiggins, the leader of the Baker Street Irregulars, was not included in the show, so I decided to come up with a story of my own for the loveable character. Wiggins will be homeless and will be incorporated into the storyline starting from the ending of The Great Game. Except in this story Wiggins is older and … a woman. Hey, they made Irene Alder a Brit instead of an American, I think I can take some liberties too!
3). A Rise of the Guardians fic; where Pitch Black, now weak from his defeat, must find the child who's nightmares had provided him enough strength to rise up against the Guardians and were so potent that they could restore his powers almost to full strength. Problem is, he stopped using that child's nightmares once his strength was regained and went on his own to plot against the Guardians. It's been nearly ten years since he last saw her and she's changed from child to woman. And she does not want to have another one of his nightmares. It's better than it sounds, trust me, I just can't reveal too much.
4). Or should I work some more on my Once Upon A Time fan-fic, Out of These Waters?
OR, is there another fandom that you really want me to try my hand at? I'm open to other options. It's just that I've already got two or three chapters already written for the ones I just mentioned, but please vote or Private Message me if there's a different fandom you want to suggest. I await to hear from you in votes, suggestions, or reviews!
I love you all! *blows kiss*)