I slowly came to, immediately greeted by an annoying beeping sound.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
And so on.
I forced my eyes open and squinted at the brightness of the room. It wasn't terribly bright, but still too bright for my taste.
I opened my eyes for a second time, being more careful now, and glanced around the room. I was a bit confused, as I didn't recognize my surroundings, but the events of yesterday eventually caught up to me. Now that I thought about it, was it even yesterday? How long had I been out?
I decided not to dwell on it too much. There was no use worrying over stuff I had no power over.
Instead, I questioned where I was. It was definitely the hospital, but it wasn't the same room as before. There were five other beds in the room, two of them occupied.
The annoying beeping was coming from a machine attached to me by a weird thing on my finger. It seemed to be measuring something.
There was a needle in my hand, the connected tube taped down as to not get ripped out. The tube was connected to a bag with some clear liquid, perhaps painkillers, as I wasn't really in too much pain.
I carefully pushed the cover aside and took a look at the wound where the bullet had hit me. It was covered in bandages.
Suddenly the door to the room opened, and a nurse stepped inside. He took a quick look around, before noticing me.
"Oh, you're awake! Great! How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Okay, I guess" I replied.
I then yawned, feeling a need to go back to sleep.
The nurse didn't let me. He instead started asking questions.
"Can you tell me what day it is?" he asked.
"Um, well, depends of how long I've been out. Last time I checked, it was Thursday" I answered.
"You were out for about twelve hours. It's currently Friday" the nurse informed.
"Do you know where you are?" was his next question.
"Gotham Hospital" I replied.
"And do you remember why you're here?" he then asked.
"Well, it couldn't be because of the gunshot wound, could it" I deadpanned.
The nurse nodded, deciding to ignore my obvious sarcasm.
"No memory loss at least" he mumbled.
"Think you can handle being moved to an actual room? You're still in the recovery room" he then asked.
"I guess," I said.
"Great! I'll get someone to move you in a few minutes" he then left.
Indeed, a few minutes later a woman came in and moved me to my own room.
~~~
I was really bored. The woman had left immediately, and there was nothing to do. I'd noticed my holo-bracelet was gone, probably removed by the staff, along with the rest of my belongings. I'd have to ask for them the next time someone came to check on me.
I waited only a few minutes longer before the door opened, and the same nurse from before stepped inside.
"Hi again! I'm Andy. I realized I didn't tell you before" Andy grinned.
I didn't say anything. I wasn't sure what to say. Was I supposed to introduce myself?
"What do I call you?" he then asked, just as the silence started to become awkward.
"Robin," I told him.
"Okay, Robin. So, we haven't managed to find any medical records of yours, do you know why?" Andy asked.
Time to lie.
"I'm not from the US. I moved here just recently. Maybe everything isn't settled yet" I lied. Well, half lied. It was true that I wasn't from the US.
"It that case, would you mind answering some questions, just so we can give you the best treatment possible?" Andy easily bought the lie.
I nodded.
Andy moved a chair next to my bed and sat down. This was apparently going to take a while.
"So, we need your full name and birthday, for starters," Andy said.
"Robin John Quinzel. My birthday is March 21st" I replied, using my actual middle name.
"And how old are you?"
"Fourteen"
Andy scribbled something on a paper.
"Do you have anyone we can call?" Andy asked.
I immediately shook my head. There was no way I could let mom and dad near a hospital. Who knew what they would do when they found out I got hurt.
"I see. Well, we'll have to contact someone professional to take care of you, alright?"
I tensed, memories of how I almost ended up in juvie a few years ago resurfacing.
"Oh no, you really don't have to. I might have someone to call. They're not currently in Gotham though. They're in Central" wow, I was really desperate.
Andy looked almost relieved. He probably wanted to avoid all the paperwork and effort.
"Do you know their number?"
"No, but it's in my watch, you know those fancy ones, if you can get it back for me" I lied a little. The 'watch' was just my holo-bracelet.
Andy nodded.
"Of course. I'll tell someone to bring it. Do you want the rest of your stuff now as well?"
I nodded.
Andy called someone on a phone.
"Hey, the kid Batman dropped off yesterday, can we get his stuff to room 305?...thanks"
Not long after, a woman opened the door and handed Andy a small TSA-looking box.
"Here you go!" Andy held out the box to me.
I reached in and grabbed the bracelet, putting it on.
"Dam, that looks fancy" Andy commented.
I brought up the screen and connected to my phone, which was at home, charging. I brought up my contacts and clicked on Wally's.
Not even ten seconds later Wally answered.
"Sup, Robin! I missed you, man. I tried calling yesterday, but you didn't answer"
"Um, hi, Wally.. Well, how do I say this... My friend Jason and I were kidnapped by Two-Face because Jason's dad messed up, and now I'm kinda in the hospital, and I didn't really have anyone else to call"
Wally was silent for a moment.
"WHAT? You got kidnapped?"
Wally was definitely freaking out.
"Um, yeah. So, how much does your uncle like me? Cause I kinda need an adult to take responsibility for me, or else they have to get child services or something" I explained the problem.
"What about your parents?" Wally asked.
Fuck. I never said anything about that. I had to come up with an excuse.
"They're on a business trip in Europe. They won't be able to get here" I lied.
"Well, you're in luck. We're actually in Gotham for a few days, so we can be there within the hour. As for Barry, he still hasn't stopped teasing me about you, so I would say he definitely likes you" Wally said.
I suspected he was lying. There was no way he just conveniently happened to be in Gotham. He and Barry were definitely going to run all the way here.
"Are you sure it's not going to be bothersome?" I asked, genuinely not wanting to cause him any trouble.
"Dude, it's fine! Don't worry!" Wally reassured. "Gotham hospital, right?" he then asked.
"Yeah" I confirmed.
"I'll see you then"
Wally hung up.