DEAD GIRL WALKING ⋮ T.G.

━ 𝟎𝟏.

𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡

▃▃▃▃

HE BRIEFLY REMEMBERED BLOOD. A lot of it. It was painful and cold as he felt the wet leaves while his father held him tightly. He shuddered as his open wounds received the cold air. When he opened his mouth, he felt the words "I'm sorry" almost reach towards the tip of his tongue before he closed his eyes.

Then he remembered the sounds of ambulance sirens and yelling as he was locked inside the van. There were people discussing something about danger and the Willowhill psychiatric hospital. He remembered his Hyde taking over for a brief moment before everything went back to black. 

But when he woke, the loud voices were replaced by whispers and the tapping of shoes on tile floors, much different than the shuffling he heard inside the vehicle. There was no breeze where he was, instead the temperature nearly felt artificial to him. When he inhaled, he could smell faintly the Clorox wipes used to wipe down whatever was around them.

He finally opened his eyes and looked down to see his arms were no longer across his chest, but strapped to the chair he was sitting on. Above him were a few people in lab coats carrying clipboards and talking amongst themselves. They stood behind a thick wall of glass and were too engrossed in conversation to notice him. 

Below were medical instruments, a few more people similar dressed to the others, and posters along the wall that he could barely interpret. In front of him seemed to be a podium and a panel of buttons, with gauges he couldn't read. Red and black lines. Flashing buttons. A lever. Was this some sort of operating room? Maybe they were going to turn him into Captain America, though it wasn't the strength and power he needed from that kind of transformation.

Someone changed his clothes for him. It would seem he was in a medical office, yet they did not dress him in a patient gown. His clothes rather normal, a simple T-shirt in jeans, but definitely not the outfit he came in with the last time he was conscious.

"Hi, Mr. White?" someone called out, walking toward him while reading over her notes. When she was a few feet away from him, she said, "Glad to see you're awake. Welcome to Arkham Asylum."

The girl, too, had a lab coat on, but looked oversized on her as the bottom of the coat reached her ankles. Her dark, wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders while her eyes continued to bore into his. She seemed composed and professional, yet he could sense that she didn't quite belong, considering how young she looked. Was she even supposed to talk to him?

God, did she look so familiar. Perhaps at one point he saw her in Jericho. Or maybe she just had one of those familiar faces. Either way, he felt less than comfortable in his seat as she continued to stare expectantly.

When he raised an eyebrow and said nothing, she shook her head. "I'm kidding, I'm sorry. Bad joke. Didn't you read the pamphlet before coming here?" She broke into a grin.