Never Fear

52

 Walking as quickly as possible, avoiding people who wanted nothing more than to do him harm, was hard. It was hard, also, to sympathise with the people he'd locked away in this asylum. Yet with Willow, Bruce could sympathise, somewhat. It was more than clear about her feelings towards Jonathan. Bruce knew what it was like to have someone you love, taken away from you in a blink of an eye. One minute they're there, then they're gone.

Looking down at the unconscious woman in his arms, he sighed. Willow hadn't regained consciousness since she collapsed when they were leaving the intensive treatment building. He didn't know if she had banged her head when Jonathan had pushed her away. Or if she was just in shock and had fainted. Either way, she needed to get seen by a doctor. He already had it in mind to request her to get transferred back to Blackgate, once it was structurally safe. Willow didn't belong here, that much was obvious. He'd briefly heard some of her patient interviews, unlike others, hers were as normal as a conversation he could have with anyone else. Simple things were spoken about. Her opinions on certain situations, her favoured things.

The last boat off of the island was leaving soon, as unorthodox as it was. He wanted her on that boat leaving this island. When Jim noticed him walking down the dock towards him and a few number of guards, he raised an eyebrow. His confused expression was more directed at Willow, than himself.

"Take her to the hospital. She lost consciousness about ten minutes ago and hasn't regained it. I don't know if she has a head injury, or if she's just exhausted and fainted."

"This is Crane's friend, is it not?"

"Yes."

"Will he not be a little more than annoyed to notice her gone and in our company?"

"That does not matter anymore." He said bluntly. Jim looked at him expecting him to further his words. He didn't. "I'll explain later, but you all have to leave."

"Where are you going?"

"I have Joker to stop." He reasoned while aiming his grapple gun upwards and zipping into the air.

Jim turned and watched as two guards positioned Willow onto some of the seats. She laid there, unmoving. It was a little disturbing. If Batman hadn't told him that she was unconscious, he would have thought she was dead. She, as much as he hated to admit it, did look deceased. Unmoving, pale in complexion. It wasn't a very nice sight for someone so young to look like that. Jim eyed the island as they left, he guessed this place just got to her. It got to everyone, eventually.

----

In the early hours of the morning the last thing Sue or Kevin expected was a phone call informing them that their daughter was in Gotham Central Hospital. The last thing the two of them knew was that she had to be transferred to the nearest prison complex because of a fire which burned its way through Blackgate. It just so happened said prison complex was Arkham, it was the only other prison complex in Gotham.

They had rushed as quickly as possible, luckily they didn't get pulled over by the police for speeding. It took them little under two hours to get into the city. It took them another hour to get to the hospital and another half an hour to get a parking space. By this time Kevin was raving and cursing at the slow awkward drivers which were still about at this time in the morning. Sue tried to reason with him, but it wasn't working, he was worried. Equally so was she, but she trusted the hospital staff here would do the best they could for their daughter.

Rushing through the doors of A&E the two went straight to the desk where a polite woman who looked a little half asleep, directed them to sit while she called the doctor who was looking after Willow right now. "Hi, hello," the young doctor said while shaking both Sue and Kevin's hands quickly. "Please, come with me." He walked off quickly and walked into an office.

"What's wrong with her?" Kevin asked getting straight to the point, Sue reached out and put a calming hand on his arm.

"She was involved with a certain incident which happened on Arkham Island." The doctor explained while placing his hands on the desk in front of him.

"What sort of incident?" Sue questioned quietly.

"From the bruising and blisters and small cuts she has, I'd say she got into a few fights." The doctor said as calmly and reassuringly as possible. "Now there's not any traumatic injuries. But she did lose consciousness on the island. She's not woken up since."

"But you said there was no traumatic injuries." Kevin said annoyed.

"Which is true. There's no head injuries, which means she's simply exhausted. There's nothing to worry about. Her injuries are minor, she should wake up as soon as she's caught up with her rest." The doctor smiled lightly. "We're keeping observations on her every three hours. If anything happens while an observation isn't happening, we'll know. Now," the doctor stood up swiftly, Kevin and Sue did the same. "Would you like to see her?"

----

The surrounding world seemed so surreal. Quiet noises could be heard but until her sense of hearing focussed, Willow didn't know what those sounds were. Slowly becoming aware of things being stuck into her skin, she frowned lightly. Her eyes didn't want to open, yet they begrudgingly did so only to be blinded by white.

Groaning and fidgeting on the bed she was laying on she whimpered. "Shh, Willow. It's all right," a familiar voice said.

Opening her eyes Willow tilted her head to the side. Blurred shapes slowly aligned and the lightly smiling face came into view. "Mum?"

"Hi, sweetie." Sue said quietly while holding onto her hand lightly and giving it a light squeeze. "Kev was here too, but he's gone to get some coffee." Sue laughed quietly. "How're you feeling?"

"Eh."

"Bit like that, hm?" Sue smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed. Willow swallowed and frowned at the dry feeling which seemed to be clinging to her throat. Sue seemed to have sensed this, after all she did spend her whole working life as a nurse. Letting go of Willow's hand she carefully poured some water into a cup and stuck a straw in it. "Drink it slowly, remember?"

"Yes, Nurse Butler." Willow croaked out and drunk the water slowly.

"Stem that sarcasm please." Sue smiled and put the cup down just as Kevin walked through the door carrying a steaming take away cup of coffee.

Upon seeing Willow awake, he walked over and put the coffee to one side. "Hello, kiddo."

"Kiddo?"

"You'll always be a kid to me."

"Thanks." Willow shut her eyes and let out a quiet yawn.

"You tired, honey?" Sue asked while pushing some of Willow's hair off of her face. Willow merely nodded. "All right, we'll be staying in a hotel nearby. The doctors and nurses have us down on your contact list in case anything happens." Sue kissed Willow on the forehead. "Get some sleep." Kev ran a hand through her hair and said a quiet good bye too before leaving with his wife.

----

(Edited: 18/Oct/2019)