It was a new morning. The time was 8:00 AM, which was an hour after all the other inmates had eaten breakfast.

Meredith entered the hospital. She began crossing through the empty cafeteria as a shortcut to reach Arthur. After spotting a bowl of fruit near the salad bar, she stopped to grab an apple for a quick snack.

Meredith heard a faint dialogue coming from a TV in the corner. She noticed that the daily news channel was playing. She focused her attention on the newswoman who was currently speaking.

"...Government officials acknowledge the strong financial support that Thomas Wayne provided in order to fund their political campaigns. He was also known for helping them fund the construction of multiple corporate buildings. The officials have now granted permission to Wayne Enterprises' executives to build a large statue of Mr. Wayne in his honor.

"The statue will be placed at the center of Gotham City's main park. This alleged plan has sparked an outcry among the lower-class citizens of Gotham. Many individuals have gathered in front of City Hall yet again to protest. Over here, they can be seen shouting while holding signs up," the reporter stated.

"Wayne was a fraud!" one bystander shouted.

"He had me evicted! I'm homeless because of him!" said another.

"He cost me my job! How are we gonna feed our family?!"

"What a mess," Meredith grumbled. She shook her head and let out a weary sigh. She finished her snack and made her way up to Arthur's room. Repeating yesterday's process, the intern showed the guard her badge and then let herself inside.

"Good morning, Arth—um… Joker," she stumbled. Meredith felt strange for addressing him like that. Using his nickname degraded his self-worth in a way, especially with how he was mockingly given the title in the first place.

He glanced at her, but he did not respond.

"How are you today?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Did you get a chance to practice your breathing?"

"No. I just went to sleep." At least he was honest.

"That's alright. Resting is good too."

Arthur was sitting up on his bed, looking down at the floor. His facial expression was withdrawn, like he wasn't all the way there.

"Anytime you feel a laugh coming up, find something in the moment to distract yourself," Meredith said. "Try focusing on a random object, or counting to ten in your head. Those should help suppress the laughter. Speaking of distractions..." she paused to turn and reach into her crossover bag. "I brought a jigsaw puzzle we can solve together."

She sat on the floor and poured the pieces out of the box. "I'd love it if you could help me out," she suggested. "It's two-hundred pieces, you see."

"Fine," he muttered with a shrug. He joined her.

* * *

While assembling the pieces together, they alternated between momentary periods of chatting and silence. Assuming he wasn't ready to talk about anything deep yet, Meredith kept the topics mild and superficial.

She learned about Arthur's daily schedule, such as what times he woke up and went to bed. What time he got his morning meds and night meds. What he ate for lunch every day and how bland it tasted. How horrible the showers in the bathroom smelled. How time seemed to drag on for an eternity when he was alone all day with nothing to do.

It was not exactly the information she was looking for, but she was glad they were holding a consistent conversation nonetheless.

Much to Meredith's relief, Arthur seemed to be relatively focused on the puzzle and his discussion with her. The image was halfway finished.

"You're making good progress so far," she pointed out. "If we continue being productive like this, I think we'll be just fine for the next twelve days."

"How do you know that?" he asked skeptically.

"Well you haven't killed me yet, so I guess that's a start," she boldly quipped. She gave him a quick smile to show that she was only kidding.

He let out a chuckle while crossing his arms. "Don't give me a reason," he warned nonchalantly.

She gulped quietly.

They resumed working on the puzzle for several more minutes. Meredith moved her hand to put another piece down. Arthur simultaneously moved to put a piece in the same place, and this caused their hands to accidentally touch.

His skin was freezing cold. Before she could pull her hand back, he quickly grabbed and took hold of her wrist.

'Shit!' she thought in panic.

His calloused hand felt like dry ice, almost as if he could transfer a burn to her wrist if he held it any longer.

'Is he angry? Did I do something wrong?'

"Joker?" she asked him.

He inspected her smooth skin. It was pleasantly warm with a rich caramel color. Almost like Sophie's…

His grip on her got tighter.

"You're hurting me," she spoke worriedly.

He snapped out of his trance and let go.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"No problem."

At the end of the hour, they finished their activity. The final image of the puzzle showed a bunch of cheerful people riding a carousel in the middle of an amusement park.

"It looks nice," Meredith commented.

"Yeah."

All in all, today's session was a success. Meredith decided to continue bringing in activities for the next few days. This would ultimately be the best approach to get Arthur to open up.

She stood up to leave. "See you tomorrow," she told him as she left.