Dr. Birch came home late that night. She'd stayed at the Asylum till nearly 10 PM analyzing files on her patient, and those she associated with; Hazel found herself more closely analyzing Pamela's relationship with Harleen Quinzel. In her reviews she came to realize a challenge she had not yet anticipated; the two women were both up for rehabilitation review in the spring, they would be released at the same time, and Dr. Birch wasn't sure how they two would react to simultaneous freedom. Might one of them prove to be a negative influence on the other?
These thoughts continued to run through her mind as she approached her apartment down, as she reached it she paused, staring at the ground in front of her door; where a vase of roses sat waiting for her with a card taped to the vase.
Forgive Me. I love you.
~Eric
She sighed softly and crouched down to pick up the vase of roses, then she was struck with a sudden unpleasant thought. These roses would have been beautiful if they still had a chance to flourish, instead they were simply getting a few days preservation, at best, and would wilt and die before her eyes. Perhaps her patients love of plants was rubbing off on her, the realization that he had sent her a set of dying flowers to live their final fleeting moments in her apartment actually left her feeling even angrier than when she had first argued with him.
Fuming, she entered the house and took the flowers to her kitchen. She gently caressed the side of one of the rose bulbs with soft hand and sighed remorsefully.
"I'm sorry, babies... I wish I could help you." she whispered to them.
She left the flowers there and was on her way back to her bedroom when the phone rang. When she answered she recognized the slightly accented voice almost instantly.
"Dr. Birch, this is Dr. Hayes. Have you seen a therapist as I advised?"
Hazel's face contorted in irritation, but then relaxed again. As much as she found Hayes's extreme observation of her irritating, she realized that in this regard Belladonna actually did have a point, she needed to see someone just to certify that she was operating at full mental capacity and was of sound mind to make the judgment to clear Pamela for rehabilitation.
"I have not, Doctor."
"Very well. We will meet tomorrow, there is a Bistro on 4th and Executive near Wayne Tower, can you meet me there at 11:30?"
"Yes, yes I can do that. I'll see you then."
"Very good, good evening, Hazel."
She heard the click of the phone, and found herself surprisingly calmed. For once she didn't feel a contempt toward Hayes. She sat down on her couch then and considered why she had lost this antagonism towards the other doctor, why? She found herself drawn back to Eric, and her conversation with Pamela.. He had opposed her work with her patient before Dr. Hayes had, and had continued to oppose it afterward along with Dr. Hayes even once Belladonna had acknowledged that Hazel's theories were sound.
Could it be that her animosity towards Dr. Hayes was brought on purely by her already being defensive by Eric's opposing her? Was it possible that all of her difficulty and frustration was brought on purely by her recent confrontations with her boyfriend? It wasn't a pleasant thought, she still cared deeply for Eric, but the more she thought about it the more she felt that he was the antagonizing factor that started her down this road of self-doubt and frustration. The realization filled her with a sudden sense of glee. It was as if a barrier in her mind had been lifted, the seeds of doubt she'd had in herself, and her patients ability to complete her rehabilitation.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The next day she met Dr. Hayes for lunch, and as she had on the first day she met the older woman, she found herself quite enjoying the elder psychiatrists company. The cold shouldered, judgmental matriarch persona Hazel felt coming off of Hayes seemed to have dropped and she once more sounded like an intelligent, compassionate Doctor who cared about people. She now once more appreciated Belladonna's concern for her as one Psychiatrist fearing that her own downfall could reoccur with this young woman that replaced her.
"So tell me," Dr. Hayes began in a gentle voice, "tell me, do you still feel that you can reach a turning point with Miss Isley?"
"Without a doubt."
"Really? You did not seem so positive when we last spoke. What has changed?"
"She's changed."
"Oh?"
"She helps people, even me. She helps the staff when one of the other rogues starts planning something, she informs the guards when a patient plans an attempted escape, tells the doctors when some one is avoiding taking their medications, and helps her fellow inmates. She has, especially, been helpful with Harleen Quinzel's own upcoming rehabilitation hearing. As you well know, Harleen is a... Rambunctious patient."
"She can be a handful..." Dr. Hayes replied with a nod.
"Well, we've recently started granting Pamela a few hours every other day, when she and Harley are allowed to associate. She keeps Harley stable, almost like a mother in a way, she keeps her in line where as Patient J constantly goaded her to throw all logic and sanity to the wind."
"Interesting. And where do you see yourself in all this, Dr. Birch?"
"How do you mean...?"
"Well, for example... Do you feel you have made a human connection with your patient?"
"Well, of course; how else could I treat her if I couldn't reach the human beneath the green." Hazel replied with a mild smile. Dr. Hayes regarded her critically for a moment and Hazel's smile began to slip, but then the older woman nodded in acceptance of the response and took another spoonful of her soup.
Hazel relaxed once more, and then decided to elaborate further. "For an example, for once she actually helped me with something, instead of vice-versa."
"Oh?"
"Well, I've been having problems at home with my boyfriend... and Pamela is- Well..."
"Experienced, when it comes to men." Belladonna replied in the politest term she could think of.
"Precisely. Anyway, he.. Well, he's been very judgmental lately. On the one hand I can understand it, you have been too, for good reason. I'm dealing with a homicidal psychotic repeat offender, there's good reason to be wary; but, Eric has been beyond protective or cautious. He's been border-line aggressive in his disapproval, to the point that we had begun arguing about it almost every time we saw each other."
"And Miss Isley offered a solution?" Dr. Hayes asked with a curious look.
"Well, more of simply an observation. She noted that a great deal of his anxiety could be coming from a feeling of inferiority." Hazel said, leaning back in her chair thoughtfully as she once more began to consider the circumstance. "It hadn't occurred to me until she brought it to my attention, but it would make sense. He's a-"
"Forensic examiner for the city." Dr. Hayes replied with a nod, chuckling softly at Hazel's surprised expression. "He was still a learning student when I was working at Arkham, I remember Eric Walsh quite well. I made it a point to go down to the morgue and look at the bodies of the victims of my patients. A victim's body can tell you a great deal about the killer, physically as well as socially."
Hazel couldn't hide a certain discomfort with the idea of routinely examining bodies, even with her knowledge of psychiatry and psychology, she'd never understood how Eric could go in day after day, routine examining the evidence from crime scenes and the bodies of victims.
"It sounds gruesome, I know, but it is true. For instance, Pamela Isley exudes a scent of cedar when she is feeling particularly violent... I learned this after noting that every victim she left behind carried the scent upon their body." Belladonna explained. "I also learned to identify when she was accompanied by Harleen Quinzel."
"How?" Dr. Birch asked curiously.
"Mistletoe. The scent of it mingles with cedar whenever Harley has been her accomplice in violent altercations."
Once more Hazel leaned back in her chair and considered the information. She knew that scents were an important thing with Pamela, but the ventilation systems in the meeting room she met Pamela in and the cell she stayed in had prevented her from often noticing such things when working with her patient. Now that it had been brought to her attention she began to realize that, at certain key times, there had been scents she'd subconsciously recognized but hadn't consciously acknowledged.
"Will she make good use of her abilities?"
The sudden question jarred Hazel, she did a double take, blinking rapidly at the other psychiatrist. "I'm sorry?"
"Isley. Do you think she'll make good use of her meta-human power after she recovers?"
"I believe she will. She wants to help the world."
"Does she...? How do you know this?"
"It's all she's even done, the difference is that before she was doing it regardless of what the law said."
"Interesting... So, what is it you think she will do first?"
"Well, the obvious thing she can help with is starvation.. She could help turn wastelands into paradises."
Belladonna nodded slowly, a wry smile curling at the left corner of her lips. "Why on earth would she do that, Hazel...? Has she shown interest in doing so?"
"Well no, but she's shown remorse for her previous actions and wishes to redeem herself."
"So? Think about her personality, Dr. Birch. Even if she is no longer a killer why would she start helping people when she considers them the problem for the planet she cares about?"
"I don't see what this has to do with my work in her rehabilitation." Hazel replied, feeling her temper flare as she spoke.
Belladonna smiled with a quality that seemed almost smug. "Because, Dr. Birch, I want you to be keenly aware of why you're doing what you're doing, and why she's doing what she's doing. What you want to see her do is help humanity, because that is what you want to do, isn't it, Doctor? You're a psychiatrist because you wished to help the mentally ill. You're naturally inclined to help others, aren't you?"
"Of course!"
"But she isn't. And my bringing that point to the foreground of this discussion seems to bother you, doesn't it?"
Hazel shifted uncomfortably in her chair, subconsciously picking at the napkin in her lap, clenching and relaxing her jaw. She didn't want to acknowledge it, she didn't want to admit it, but Belladonna had a point, Hazel wanted to see Pamela do something good for humanity with her powers and it did seem that Pamela was unlikely to do so.
"The truth is that Pamela Isley is most likely to go about seeking rebuilding rainforests, rejuvenating crumbling ecosystems and healing woodlands devastated by fire... These things will, by their very nature, help humanity because humanity lives on this planet, and if the planet is healed then humanity benefits; however, she is unlikely to feel any need to do anything to directly aid humanity. Sane or insane, she has never shown a drive to help humanity at any point in her life." Dr. Hayes explained calmly. "I want to ensure that you are aware of just who this woman is, doctor, because I do not believe you have kept a health psychiatric perspective of this patient. You're caught up in what she has done and what she could do, rather than what you are hired and paid to do, to analyze, examine, and hopefully cure the mental illness that affects her personality. Her powers have no direct impact upon her personality, her personality has an affect on how she uses her powers. I believe, doctor, that you are to focused on what she can do once she's released, rather than what she will do."