* J *

Part Fourteen: Chapter 87: Opening

Dr. Harleen Quinzel got to work extra early the next day. In her bag she carried a six pack of pudding snacks. She had wanted to see if she could find any useful facts about the Joker from the internet. She stuck her key in the lock on her office door and unlocked it. She reached in and flicked on the light switch. Then something sitting on her desk caught her eye. It was a single red rose. She walked over to her desk and looked down at it. The stem was stuck through a piece of paper. The paper simply read:
Good morning doctor. Smile.
-Your Friend,
J

Dr. Quinzel's mouth fell open. How has he done this? Did he somehow get out of his cell? Or had he arranged for someone else to put it in her office? How did they get in? Her door was locked. How had they broken in without the key? She picks up the rose and brings it to her nose for a smell. A smile comes to her face. She pulls out her chair and sits down. She opens her top drawer and lays the rose inside it.

She sighs and slides the drawer shut. She turns on her computer and waits for it to start up. When she searches for the Joker she finds news headline after news headline. She read for hours. Before she knew it, it was time for her therapy session with him. She grabbed his file and opened it up. She knew that the guards would bringing him in soon. She stared at the blank where his name should go. She picks up a pen and writes in the name John.

Soon there's a knock on her door. She gets up and opens it with a smile. It's two guards with the Joker. The Joker's eyes meet with hers and a big smile comes to his face. Dr. Quinzel can't help but notice that the Joker's bottom lip was split. It hadn't been that way yesterday. The guards push him past Dr. Quinzel. She can't help but notice that the Joker's eyes looked down at her breasts. She slightly tugs her white coat together a bit more. The guards push the Joker down in his seat and chain him to the floor. They leave and shut the door behind them.

Dr. Quinzel quickly loses her smile. She stares at the Joker. "I take it that you received the rose?" He asks, his smile growing unbelievably large.

"You know, Dr. Arkham might like to know that you broke out of your cell last night and broke into my office," she says adjusting her glasses.

"Doc-tor, why would you want to do that? Nothing is missing. No one got hurt. Besides, the security cameras would have caught me," he shrugs carelessly. "Is it wrong for me to want to brighten the day of my new friend? We're still friends, right doc?"

Dr. Quinzel clears her throat and looks down, "You're my patient and I'm your doctor. How did you do it?" She asks.

"How did I what? Get out of my cell? In your office? Where oh where did an inmate/patient get such a lovely red rose?" He quirks an invisible brow, "Well I'm a resourceful guy. Yesterday during our therapy session you got up from the table to retrieve a delicious pudding cup from your shelf. My file lay open on this very table. At the top my picture lay paperclipped to the admission sheet. I had just enough room to lean in and use my mouth to take it. Then, much later in the night, as the guard on duty slept, I picked the lock on my cell. I then had to sneak down three flights of stairs, past the nursing rotunda and outside to the courtyard garden, which is cared for by the inmates/patients. I managed to find one perfect rose, which I plucked for you. Then I had to sneak back inside and here to your office. I took one of your post it notes. I put careful consideration into the words and stuck the stem through it. Then I locked myself back in my cell. The guard never knew a thing."

"And where is the paperclip now?" She asks and looks back up at his unblinking eyes.

The smile on his face somehow manages to get even broader.