Chapter 10: Recovery
There was a steady beeping in Andi's ear and her entire body felt abnormally heavy. Soft, somehow distant from her mind. Painkillers, she realized, then drifted again. For a moment, year, millennium, she floated, drifting between consciousness and unawareness until memory abruptly surfaced and anchored her back to the world. Leena. Rooftop. Wayne. Joker.
Andi's eyes flew open and she twisted upright a gasp. Or at least she tried to. Her back only moved a few inches before pain burned its way through whatever she'd been given and made her slump back on her stomach, staring at a blank stretch of pastel green wall. Carefully, trying to ignore the way her head spun, she tilted her body until it rolled to its side, then let her eyes wander around what she quickly realized was a hospital room. It was interesting to see it from the point of view of a patient rather than a med student, but otherwise looked just like any other ward. One in Gotham General she thought—the bland paint and furniture looked pretty new and, thanks to a generous donation from Wayne Enterprises, that hospital had been restored in record time after the Joker blew most of it up.
Gordon was sitting in the visitor's chair, dozing despite the ever-present cup of coffee in one hand. He seemed to notice Andi's eyes on him though, and jerked up after a minute, pushing his glasses back up in front of his eyes.
"How long was I out?" Andi croaked. She had an IV running into the crook of her elbow to keep her hydrated, but her throat was still very dry.
"A day and a half," Gordon said, "I, uh, had them put you on a less strong painkiller. I thought you'd want to know what was happening."
Andi nodded, then stopped at the heady mixture of dizziness and pain that engulfed her skull despite the medicine. It couldn't have just been gasoline on the Joker's knife, not with the raw and burned feeling that ran along her wounds and seeped about an inch beyond and beneath them. Whatever it had been, it had been strong and affected her badly.
"Leena?" she asked.
"Dr. Quinzel disappeared with the Joker. There's no word on where either of them are. By the time SWAT figured out that he'd moved to another building, he had already disappeared. Her cellphone tracker went dead when the roof exploded; it must have been left behind at Wayne Tower."
Andi's eyes slid closed. Leena. Gone. "I tried—I tried to get to her. To protect her," she heard herself say. It seemed very important to explain for some reason, to justify herself. A horrible feeling was beginning to rise up in her, guilt and loss and pain in a mix that was more toxic than the gasoline had been. The corners of her eyes prickled. Leena. Why Leena? What did he want with Leena? Could she have done more?
She heard Gordon shift uncomfortably. Typical male, he seemed to have a phobia of tears and strong emotion. "Are you alright?" he asked, "Too tired to keep going?"
"No." Andi swallowed against the lump in her throat and made herself open her eyes again. She couldn't fall apart, not here in front of her boss. Besides, every time her eyes closed she saw Leena's battered, panicked face again. She couldn't go to sleep, not with that image burned into her skull. "How—how many in SWAT were killed?"
"Twelve. And sixteen civilians." Gordon said, "Several more are in the burn unit, but it doesn't look like we'll lose anyone else. We're lucky the Tower didn't collapse or anything; the top floors were already evacuated by the time it blew up, or it would have been a whole lot worse."
Andi forced herself to smile. "I really bungled things didn't I?" she asked bitterly.
"Hey. Taylor." Gordon came over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Listen. You did more than anyone could have expected. Without you, nobody at Wayne Tower would have had any warning and many more civilians would have died. SWAT managed to save most of them thanks to you. Nobody blames you."
Andi bit her lip to keep from arguing. Another memory was also there, one of half-flying half-falling off Wayne Tower as it burst into flame behind her like a sick torch… "The Batman saved me didn't he?"
"Yes." Gordon refused to look her in the eyes, the way he always did when he approached a touchy subject. "Look. I don't know if you confronted him yesterday or not, but right now, he's our best shot against the Joker and saving your friend. If you do know who he is… could you at least wait to unmask him?"
Andi shut her eyes. Could have done more. He had saved her. Bungled everything. Nobody blames you. "I need to think," she told Gordon, "You should check on your other men."
"Alright." Andi heard his heavy footsteps go to the door, but he paused there. "Your friend, Dr. Isley, only left an hour ago when I convinced her to go home and sleep. Would you like me to call her?"
Pam. Something triggered in her memory. 'I was, um, expecting Dr. Quin-zel's other friend. The red one. Uh, Pam.'
"The Joker!" Andi's eyes shot open. "He knows who Pam is. He might—he might be after her. I should—"
"You should stay still," Gordon said sternly. "We already thought about the Joker trying to go after Dr. Quinzel's friends. Dr. Isley has 24 hour police protection, although she insists on continuing her work and staying in her home. Says she's too close to some sort of breakthrough to leave. Now, would you like to see her?"
Yes. Andi would. Pam was probably the one person in the world right now who could snap her out of this horrible guilt. But, somehow, Andi also thought she could face her friend's understanding least of all right now if she wanted to stay strong.
"Just wait until she calls. I need to think." Andi repeated. Gordon made a sound in his throat that might have been affirmative but didn't leave.
"When I said that Dr. Quinzel's friends were under police surveillance, I meant you too Taylor. I've stationed Sergeant Bailey out here. If you need anything, just call; someone will be here around the clock."
She didn't answer and after a minute Gordon's footsteps echoed down the hall.
Andi's eyebrows clenched together as she tried to make her thoughts focus. Wayne had saved her. Just like with Reese, she had threatened to expose him, tried to bring him down, and he had still risked himself to make sure she made it away from the Joker alive. Why? If she'd died it would have been clear enough what had happened. Gordon would never have blamed him for Andi's death, not after the Joker so clearly did her in. Wayne's identity would have been safe. He probably would have even caught the Joker. The odds of it would have improved at least.
So why had he rescued her?
Andi tried to think of an answer, but the only one that she could come up with was one she didn't like, a solution that she instinctively tried to avoid even acknowledging. No. There had to have been another motive of some kind. But, as the painkillers started to pull her under again, the question bubbled up to the front of her mind despite all her efforts.
Could I have been wrong about him this whole time?
The feeling of someone taking her hand woke her again. Andi vaguely remembered the hourly visits of nurses and doctors, checking her temperature, IV bag, and all the other medical paraphernalia, but this waking felt different. The person wasn't poking and prodding her body, just sitting on the edge of her bed, waiting.
"Pam?" she whispered. Her friend looked odd, almost a different person without her usual heavy make up, her vibrant hair flattened.
"Andi? Oh, Andi, I was so afraid I'd lose you too." Pam's voice was as haggard as her appearance.
Andi struggled and managed to lift herself onto one elbow. "What did the doctors say? How close was it for me?" she asked.
"You were in ICU for awhile there," Pam said, "They actually used one of my antidotes to get the gasoline and other toxins out." Andi expected her voice to swell with pride at that, but it was still deadpan, almost stunned.
It reminded Andi of why she was there. She had managed to distract herself earlier, with Gordon and the Batman, but now that Pam was here, her cool analyses didn't shield her any longer. She couldn't run from the images in her mind of Leena's screams, the Joker's parting threat to her, the blood all over her friend's face…
"What is it? Are you in pain?" Pam asked as her heart rate sped up on the monitor.
"She's gone." Andi choked out, and before she quite realized what had happened or how she had sat up she was sobbing relentlessly on Pam's shoulder. "I tried—I tried to save her," she gasped out, "I tried to fight him. I should have—should have held on tighter. Gotten there faster. Something. I couldn't see it, I was too obsessed with other things so I let her do that, and I knew—I knew she'd get hurt from it. He took Leena and it's my fault, it was all my fault Pam…"
Pam held her tightly, let her cry herself out. The wounds on Andi's back protested against the pressure of her friends arms, but something much deeper and more needy started to heal as Pam murmured to her soothingly, the same way she would a sobbing child or a hurt animal.
Andi didn't know how long it was until the guilt had finally drained away with her tears, her sobs subsided from sheer exhaustion, but they eventually did. And then, when Pam and she finally separated and Andi laid back down, she found that there was nothing else to say.
"Has anyone figured out what the Joker's doing?" she asked, more to get a conversation going than anything else. She knew that if there had been news on that front, Pam would have already told her.
"No. The police are convinced he might come for me."
"They might be right. The Joker knows who we are. Leena must have mentioned us," Andi said wearily, "You really should let them move you out of Gotham."
"I can't. You wouldn't believe what I've found out!" A small spark of Pam's usual light rekindled in her eyes. "You remember that mushroom I found when we were hiking in the woods right?"
"Vaguely."
"I've been running tests on it. There's this one enzyme inside it that can actually break down several of the major contaminants in Gotham's water mains along with certain rarer toxins. The mushroom itself is highly toxic, but from what I can tell, if I can isolate the protein, that wouldn't have any effect on the human body if it was absorbed."
"Wait." Andi cursed her slow thinking with these painkillers, "Are you telling me that you think lacing Gotham's water supply with this mushroom can keep our water from getting poisoned?"
"That's it exactly! It's already kept clean in the nicer parts of the city, but in the Narrows… this would be a cheap, effective way to prevent people who live there dying from poisoned water. If I can just run some more tests and find enough of those mushrooms—they're incredibly endangered, that park's probably one of its last habitats—just think of what we could do. Nobody else will have to die like Ivy did, and that poison that got into the Narrows three years ago would never have gotten off the ground if we'd had that!" Pam's eyes were shining now, glowing almost.
"That's—that's incredible."
"It really is." Pam seemed to recognize how enthusiasm in her voice contrasted with the painful situation, and slowly her expression changed. The hope was still there but it… hardened almost. Turned solemn and resolute. "I'm not going to let anyone else die like my sister did." she said softly, "Not now that I have a way to stop it."
The silence stretched on until Andi made herself speak. "Then you really should get back to it."
"What? No—no, that wasn't what I meant Andi. I'm not going to leave you like this, while you're still in the—"
"Pam." Andi was proud of how strong her voice was. She didn't want Pam to go, but there was really no reason for her to stay either. Better to let at least one of them escape from the painful memories by keeping busy and doing some good. "Don't be ridiculous. You can't do anything for me here, and you can in your labs. Go on and figure things out."
Pam hesitated and Andi could see how badly her loyalty was warring with the desire to finish her work.
"Go on," she said firmly, "Just call me once in awhile alright? And bring me some decent food; I've seen what the cafeteria workers do to it, and trust me I think it's half the reason people always want to leave the hospital."
"Andi, are you sure you want me to leave?"
"Absolutely," Andi said, "Just be sure to watch yourself out there. No matter what you think, I think the Joker might come after you. Don't take any stupid risks, alright?"
Pam's face darkened.
"If the Joker thinks he can come after me, it's him who's taking risks," she promised. "Believe me, Andi, after what he did to you and Leena, it would be his grave being dug if he came anywhere in range."
That didn't exactly comfort Andi, but she took it as the best promise Pam could give and didn't protest when her friend stood and left. She knew that the painkillers ought to have her exhausted physically and mentally, but as her thoughts turned to the Joker again she felt wide awake. He had Leena. He was hiding of all things. Andi had considered several scenarios, but never this. One of the few things she could positively identify about the Joker was the way he acted: a showman, almost a 'leader' of Gotham into darkness. Why had he gone almost two days without taking action? And what would his next move be?
Author's Note: Hey y'all, it's me. Sorry posts have been slowing down lately but, as the school year becomes more intense, I really can't say that it will change any time in the near future. Still, I will at least try to keep them coming consistently, even if it is consistently late.
On the note of lateness, I'm running a bit behind with review responses; I think I caught up to most last night, but there are one or two people I haven't gotten to, and I figured you'd prefer the post. They're coming though, I promise!
As always, there are lots of amazing people I'd like to think for reading, favoriting, etc. Thanks so much this go-round to Jousting Elf with a Saber, CrossmoonChic7459, and Kent Rigel for putting Unmasked on Story Alert, and to Kno555, chloe94, and x-gemarrr for favoriting! And all you amazing reviewers, I'm so glad you're enjoying so far; nothing perks you up from a hard day of work and studying like finding a review alert in your inbox.