Divination (Joker x Batman x OC)

Chapter 168

Adriana reheated the Joker's dinner quietly. She said nothing as she placed the cheese slices on top of the burgers in the pan to melt. Once she had assembled the burgers she handed his tray to him.

"Do you want fries?" she asked. 

"No," he said, seeing that she didn't seem to want to talk about what had just happened. Both the doctor and the Joker said nothing to her about it. "You know..."

He began to speak again before leaving the kitchen while she was scrubbing the pan she had been cooking in. He couldn't help himself.

"Yes?" she said and half turned towards him.

"Ah...nothing.." he said, seeing the annoyed look on her face.

"Look," Adriana said, raising her hand that was holding a dripping sponge. "My husband is hiding something from me...and apparently also from his doctor who knows everything about his health. He's obviously unwell. It doesn't get any worse than that, so go ahead. What were you going to say?"

"I was going to offer some words of encouragement," he said honestly. "But I'm not sure I know how to do that."

Adriana started shaking her head and felt herself beginning to smile.

"Well, it just takes some compassion," she said. "It's easy..you just say nice things..and lie a little to make things feel better for the person in distress."

"Ahh...I see," the Joker said and tilted his head. "So I should say...I'm sure your husband is fine. I'm sure he's not sick. Why would he hide it from the best doc there is? Must be something else...probably nothing."

"Yeah..that's it," Adriana shrugged and turned back to the greasy pan. "It's just..."

She began to scrub the pan again. 

"If he has cancer...why wouldn't he tell Dr. Kapoor?  Dr. Kapoor is the best doctor I've ever met...if he had an illness he would tell him right?" Adriana said, mostly thinking out loud to herself.

"Well," the Joker said. "Unless it's something Dr. Kapoor couldn't fix. Or if it's something he's ashamed of?"

Adriana turned to the Joker quickly. "What? What are you saying?"

"I'm just throwing out ideas," the Joker said. 

"Yeah well.." Adriana said and went back to cleaning. "Your ideas suck. Even if he was diagnosed with something terminal from another doctor, he would still tell Dr. Kapoor. And what the fuck would he have to be ashamed about?"

"You don't have to stay and clean that," the Joker said, thinking it was probably best to just end the conversation before it could turn into a full blown argument. "I'll do it."

"No!" Adriana said loudly and spun so fast that she sent suds from the sponge across the floor. "My husband doesn't have some shameful illness. What the hell does that even mean? You're saying he has an eating disorder or something?"

"Adriana," the Joker said, his voice trying to calm her. "I said nothing of the sort. I didn't even see him. How would I know if he looks like he has an eating disorder?"

"I told you he was loosing weight-" Adriana said bitterly.

"He could very well look like someone who uses heroin," the Joker said. "That's likely a different look than someone with an eating disorder. Again, how should I know?"

"My husband doesn't look like a heroin addict," Adriana said unconvincingly. She felt like she was about to cry again but held it back. 

The Joker gave up, realizing that no matter what he said she was going to take it the wrong way. He was not good with words or encouragement, he realized.