The next day began. Gotham's atmosphere was still as gloomy as ever. Meredith was on her way to the state hospital once again. She observed her surroundings as she walked. Piles of garbage bags lined the sidewalks, and filthy rats scurried through the alleys. She saw many citizens busily traveling about. A few people in Joker masks were scattered among the crowd.

It was 8:00 AM when Meredith entered the building and checked herself in. She went up to Arthur's room and stepped inside.

"Good morning," she greeted.

"Hey."

"What's that you've got there?" She was referring to a brown notebook that Arthur currently clutched in his hands. It looked like the same one he was reading from on the talk show.

"My joke diary."

"I'm surprised the staff let you keep it," she remarked.

"They tried to take it from me but I wouldn't let them. They couldn't rip it out of my hands."

"Hmm. Could I maybe hear a joke?" She knew that the book contained valuable information since he had just referred to it as a diary.

"I don't think you would get it."

"Oh. Maybe some other time, then."

Although Meredith expected that kind of response from Arthur, she was still slightly disappointed. He tucked the book into his pillowcase.

Meredith took a pen and a folded newspaper out of her bag.

"I brought a crossword for us today," she said as she pulled her chair beside him. "I can start solving some of these, but you're welcome to join in."

"Okay."

They sat and studied the page in relative silence. Meredith quietly read the clues and hovered her pen over the grid in concentration.

They filled in a few words: 'Sunflower', 'Highway', and 'Winter'.

"I wish it didn't get so cold here," Meredith commented. "Maybe I'd enjoy winter more if I didn't have to walk to work through the snow. Do you like winter weather?"

"I don't care about the weather."

They continued to find more words. 'Steel'. 'Mountain'. 'Butterfly'.

"I think I found another—" Meredith was cut off. A man's loud, agonized scream suddenly echoed from the hallway.

"Ahhhh!" the voice cried.

Meredith jolted from the sound, visibly disturbed. It came from a struggling inpatient who was being dragged through the halls by some guards. Arthur let out a crazed laugh at the sound of the screams.

"He sounds like Randall! Hahaha!"

'Who's Randall?' she thought.

"Get used to that. It happens a lot," he told her. She nodded.

They resumed filling out their puzzle. 'Keyboard'. 'Library'. 'Shooting Star'.

Meredith smiled at this one. "One of my favorite things to do is lie on the grass at night and look up at the stars. Have you ever done that before?"

"No. You can't see stars from the city."

"From the outside of the city, you can. They're always there; you just have to change places to get a new perspective."

Change places… Arthur pondered over this idea. There was no opportunity to pursue his dreams as long as he was stuck in the madhouse. He wanted to get out of there so that he could truly thrive.

Twenty minutes later, they finished the crossword. Meredith refolded the paper and slipped the pen back into her purse.

"Good job," she told Arthur. "See you next time."

"See you."

She left the room.