Ribs

Changes (Slight NSFW)

The next time Trina saw Arthur was in the hospital, he had called her around ten pm at night. When she heard what had happened to his mother, she imminently got dressed and got a taxi to the hospital. When she got there Arthur was sitting outside on one of the benches, smoking while staring off into space. She rushed over to him and hugged him, the affection was difficult to receive due to him sitting and her standing.

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry about what happened, are you alright?" she questioned as she cupped his cheeks and stared into his green eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright Trina," Arthur nodded before clearing his throat.

Trina kissed his forehead before taking a seat next to him, "Have the doctors said anything."

"They said she suffered from a stroke," he was silent for a moment, eyes glazed over with guilt, "I should've been there," he whispered before taking a drag of his cigarette.

Trina looked over at him and frowned, she placed her hand on his shoulder in a fetal attempt to comfort him, "It's not your fault Arthur, these things happen."

He remained silent, stroking his lower lip with the back of his thump, "I think Thomas Wayne is my father."

"What?" her brows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

Arthur reached into his back pocket before pulling out the letter his mother wrote and handing it to Trina. She studied the letter, reading it over and over, making sure she had read everything correctly.

"I went to see him, my father."

"What did he have to say?"

Arthur merely shrugged, "His butler refused to let me see him, telling me my mother is crazy," he sneered.

Trina gave a nod before handing him back his letter, "It may be for the best Arthur, I mean if they believe your mother is insane and don't even try to support you then maybe-"

"I need to know, Trina," he turned to her, physically making eye contact for the first time since they met up.

"And who's to say he'll tell you the truth?"

"Excuse me."

Arthur and Trina turned to see two men in trench coats.

"Arthur Fleck?" the one man questioned.

"Yeah," Arthur mumbled before taking another drag of his cigarette.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, I'm detective Garrette and this is detective Burk," the man introduced, "We have some questions we need to ask you."

One of the detectives turned to Trina, "Excuse me, ma'am could you-"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Trina nodded before standing to her feet, she looked down at Arthur before leaning down to kiss him on the forehead, "I'll be inside if you need me."

He nodded and whispered a 'thank you' before she turned and left.

It didn't take long for Arthur to return, a look of annoyance plastered on his face. He took a seat in between Trina and his mother, he sighed as he slouched forward.

"What did they want?" Trina asked with a whisper.

"They think I had something to do with the subway murders just because of the hospital innocent," he growled, refusing to make eye contact with her.

Trina shrugged, "You can't blame them, Arthur, the crime was committed by a clown and you also happened to be a clown with a gun. You were also fired the same night as the shooting, so you can't really blame them for asking questions."