The Daughter (Re-writing)

4

August 31

Bruce walked through the hospital halls. One of the doctors had called him, talking about Rachel Roman. Bruce hadn't heard that name since he was 23, the last he had seen his old flame. The last time he did before she died seven years later, along with her husband. Doctor Eve Levi called him concerning one of her patients, which was confusing. HIPPA should prevent doctors from talking about patient information. A ring of a text came in; looking down, he saw a message from Dick as he got to the doctor's office.

"Thank you for coming, Mr.Wayne."

"Thank you for having me, Doctor Levi."

After shaking hands, a silence had settled as Bruce sat down and looked at the older women.

"Rachel Roman, you knew her, correct?" Bruce nodded, remembering the red-haired girl.

"Hey Bruce," The 23-year-old Bruce Wayne looked up; the bar wasn't as complete as a typical night but enough that the background noise was like white noise. Rachel Roman sat beside him, a teasing smile on her face as she looked at him. Bruce hadn't seen her in a while, and she looked as beautiful as the last time he had seen her. "Hey, Rachel," Bruce smiled before leaning to kiss her. "Oh, nice to know I've been missed, especially from Gotham's playboy." Bruce rolled his eyes, drinking from his whiskey glass. "You made such a reputation since I left," Rachel said as she ordered her drink. "Well, I love women, Rach, you should know," Rachel chuckled before looking at him with a half-lidded look.

"Well, how about you show me how well you've gotten since you love women so much."

Bruce looked at the doctor, brushing the memory away.

"Yes"

Eve nodded before looking at Angel's chart. "Late Mrs.Roman left a daughter behind, a 15-year-old. A patient of mine," Bruce tensed up. Rachel had a daughter; of course, she would; she was married when she died.

"You see, she doesn't know her biological father, and CPS was called after an incident a few days ago. You were one of the few men I know could be a potential father to her," Bruce froze as the words settled in his mind. Rachel's daughter could be his? But how- Bruce leaned back, remembering the last visit Rachel had paid him. It only needed to happen one time, he guessed.

"My patient is willing to get a DNA test done to verify; all we need is your approval, Mr.Wayne."

Angel sat in the hospital bed; her arm was pulled out as they threw her blood. Her nurse smiled as the teen stared intensely at the T.V. Angel was surprised by such a high-class man agreeing to do a DNA test, and Angel wondered how many times people had claimed to be his kids. Angel shrugged, looking down innocently at the nurse who was helping her. The nurse sighed before finishing up and checking up on her arm. She had accidentally strained it after arguing with Bumble and then proceeded to have a literal panic attack that Julian and Martha had to calm her down. Well, that's what she was told cause she was panicking about the lack of breathing.

"Mr. Wayne wants to speak to you, Miss Roman."

"Angel is fine; it makes me feel weird when people call me by my last name."

"Well, Angel," the teen nodded happily, wincing as the moment made her shoulder hurt. "Mr. Wayne wants to talk do. If that's okay with you, I'll get him." Angel nodded, already knowing that Bumble had given the nurse permission. Martha could no longer do that since she was once again a ward of the state.

Bruce Wayne was much taller than Angel had thought; why she didn't know, but that was the first thing she noticed. Along with his eyes. Her mom had always loved Angel's blue eyes, and Angel knew that she would have loved Bruce's blue eyes, also.

"Hi, I'm Angel Roman. A pleasure, Mr.Wayne," Angel said, extending her hand towards the man. Bruce softly grabbed her hand and shook it.

It was weird. He could see Rachel in her. She had her nose and her smile. The girl had long black hair and bright blue eyes, but everything else was Rachel. Angel smiled, and it reminded him so much of Rachel.

"Hello, Angel. I'm Bruce Wayne"

"I know; everyone in Gotham knows who you are."

Bruce nodded before sitting beside her.

"So, you knew my mom?"

Bruce looked up at her, Angel holding her lower arm.

"Yes, she used to be a" he paused, not knowing how to tell her. "An old friend of mine"

"I'm assuming more than a friend of yours here."

"Yeah, we dated in our teens."

Angel hummed, and then a silence fell between them. Both did not know what else to say.

"I never knew who my Dad was. My mom married my stepdad, who was closest to my Dad. Even though I know nothing about you, I hope you're my Dad. I don't want to go back to foster care" Bruce smiled, wiping it away when Angel turned to look at him.

"What happened to your arm?"

"Got shot"

"Wow"

"What?"

"Nothing"

"It hurt"

"I know"

Angel giggled as she moved her arm to show him.

"He shot my shoulder; Doc said he barely grazed my bone though my muscle is pretty fucked up. He shot me twice though the other one is right underneath the first one. I can barely move my arm, so I'm using my right arm to move it. I'm going to need a lot of physical therapy." Bruce looked at the arm, seeing her holding it with her other arm. Angel lets out low hisses whenever she moves it. "When did this happen?" Bruce asked as Angel moved it to a better position. " Almost a week ago."

"Doctor Levi said they were going to discharge you soon. I think you should stay longer."

Angel looked at him, tilting her head. "Miss Bumble wants me discharged as soon as possible."

He had an unfortunate meeting with Miss Bumble before he was allowed to talk with Angel. The older woman was bitter and didn't believe Angel could be his. But now that Bruce was looking at her, he knew. It was the same with Damien before the paternity test had proven their biological connection.

"If she wants to keep her job, she won't be saying much about you staying here. Don't worry; I'll deal with her. You rest" Angel was con; if it wasn't Margo's or Azreal, no one defended her, especially not Miss Bumble.

"Okay, thank you."