Gotham Untold #1 Dawn of an Age

Chapter 9: Prison of the Mind

It has been years since Joker was arrested on the day he worked so hard to make perfect for Sarah. He had only stayed in Arkham for so long based upon Piper's request. She had begged him to stay put because she needed to know that he was safe and she didn't tell him this but she liked the idea of not having him around as much so he couldn't see how bad things were getting with Sarah's condition.
She was only 7 years old and already had to be taking 6 different pills a day. On a good day Sarah could masquerade as a normal kid and hide most of her symptoms, on a bad day she would be hospitalized for anywhere from three days to two weeks. It broke Piper's heart to know there was very little the doctors could do for Sarah and it seemed like the doctors were getting closer to giving up rather then simply finding out a diagnosis. They had run all kinds of tests and scans but they found nothing wrong with her so they were starting to wonder if perhaps her symptoms were all psychological. Sarah's doctor wrote her a referral to see a psychiatrist at Arkham for both figuring out what was physically wrong with her and mentally as the doctors and nurses giving her treatment based on the factor that she had her behavioral problems when she would switch over to Iris.

Piper sat in the car in the parking lot of Arkham Asylum trying not to panic that her daughter had been told to seek help here. "Mama? Are you ok?" Asked Sarah softly as Piper lifted her head off the stirring wheel.
"I'm fine sweetheart, come on let's go in." Said Piper as she got out of the car then got Sarah out of the car. They walked inside and noticed a patient being checked in at the lobby. The man was in hand cuffs and surrounded by police. The man was dressed in rags of burlap and looked like a scarecrow.
"Hello little one, what are you afraid of?" Asked the man as he looked at Sarah.
"Not you." Said Sarah as the man bent down to her.
"Oh you will be." Said the man as the police grabbed him by his arm.
"Shut up Crane!" Barked the officer as he grabbed the man's arms and shoved him down the hall.
"Sarah, don't talk to strangers here." Said Piper as she held Sarah's hand and walked her over to the secretary desk to check in.
"Your child was referred here?" Asked the secretary as Piper nodded. "Alright well I'll have one of our guards show you to the children's center so she can be evaluated." Said the secretary as a man came over and looked at Sarah with this stern disgusted look.
"This way." Said the guard in a gruff voice.

He showed the two down a long hallway that was lined with closed cell doors on each side. The screams of the insane could be heard inside. Piper kept a tight hold on Sarah's hand as they walked both in fear of losing her and in fear she would switch over to Iris and start fighting against her. Piper looked down at her and noticed she wasn't scared but had a different look on her face. "Are you ok, honey?" Asked Piper softly as Sarah looked up at her.
"Mama, why are these people sad? Are they hurt?" Asked Sarah as Piper sighed and nodded.
"They're hurt in their minds." Said Piper as Sarah sighed and looked forward as they walked together. Piper saw Sarah's expression and body language, it showed she understood what Piper said far too well for a 7 year old girl.

They went out a large door and out into a large court yard where they walked through the court yard and through a path surrounded by trees then they were met by a large building that was currently under construction. They got to a large door labeled in bright block letters Child Care Center. They went through the door and were greeted by walls covered in children's drawings and bright colors. They wandered down the hall and saw a large window that had a big empty room with plastic hung up on the ceiling and placed on the floors, they were still painting. They walked through the long hallway until they met another door. They went through and found a waiting room. There were some chairs but most of the room was still under construction. Piper told Sarah to wait in a chair and went up to the desk in the corner of the room. "Hello?" Asked Piper as a nurse came over and carefully stepped around some things on the floor.
"Yes, hello, sorry!" Said the nurse as she sat down in the chair and spun around. "Sorry we're still working out the kinks of this place." Said the nurse as she started typing on the computer.  She smacked the side of the monitor and growled. "Stupid machine! Sorry since my boss is the cheapest man they could find to run Arkham, instead of buying new computers for this place he just took some of the old ones." Said the nurse as she huffed.
"That's alright, I'm here for my daughter's appointment with Dr. Houser?" Asked Piper as the nurse nodded but then sighed.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Houser went on emergency medical leave after he got hurt in the last riot so we're gonna have to reschedule until we find someone who can sub in for him." Said the nurse as a man stepped around the mess behind.
"It's no worries, Gloria, I can cover for him." Said a tall man with short sandy blonde hair, a push broom moustache, and pale blue eyes. He wore a white lab coat over a dark green dress shirt and a grey-green tie with a silver diamond shape on it.
"Malcolm, you're in hardcore psychotics not child psychology." Said the nurse who he called Gloria.
"Doesn't mean I didn't get a degree in it, that was my original plan before I heard being an Arkham psychiatrist paid better than being a elementary psychologist." Said Malcolm with a laugh as Gloria looked nervous.
"I don't know, what will Sharp think about this?" Asked Gloria as Malcolm leaned close to her and Piper heard him.
"If Sharp asks, there was no one else to do the job." Said Malcolm as she nodded. "I'll be with you in a moment Miss Ivory." Said Malcolm as he walked away then came back through a different door. "Right this way." Said Malcolm as Piper went over to Sarah.
"Come on Sarah." Said Piper as Sarah ran over and took her mother's hand.