Compassion for a Crane (A Jonathan Crane/ Scarecrow story)

Chapter 6 - Mayhem at Arkham Asylum

"What happened?"

"It was one of the lower security patients" Peter explained as he and Carmen trooped down the hallway with urgency. "They think he stole some cutlery from the dining hall and waited for a guard to make their rounds and complained about stomach pains to get the door open." Peter explained "From there on out things got out of control, doors started opening up and down the asylum"

"What do you want me to do first?" Carmen questioned, readying herself by tying her hair back. "Well, I'm heading down to level 3 to treat Mr Roman Sionis he seemed to have taken the opportunity to go toe to toe with one with Mr Harvey Dent" he mumbled to himself as he scanned his clipboard "As for yourself...You remember our friend Jonathan Crane?" Carmen stared up at her boss, hoping he was joking...he had to be joking. "I haven't done a full evaluation on him yet but I know he took quite the beating during the chaos" Peter relayed as he passed Carmen a bag similar to a paramedic's that contained everything she might need to treat Crane's injuries. Beating? How was that possible? Weren't there security guards to prevent things like this from happening? "Apparently Crane snuck some of his fear toxin in with him during his last ride into Arkahm in the Batmobile and was waiting for the best time to use it". 

"Who did he attack?"

"One of the guards"

 Carmen paused for a minute before she grasped the situation she was dealing with "So he was beaten up by..."

"Some of the guards here aren't as convinced that therapy is the best rehabilitation for these people Carmen. Some of them would rather-"

"Beat the illness out of them?" she finished and tried to curb the anger out of her voice. These were still people after all, and whilst many of them had committed acts of pure malice, they had not chosen to be in the condition they were in. They had not chosen madness.

"Our job is to treat their physical injuries Carmen. To do our jobs to the best of our abilities we must disconnect our feelings for how they acquired those injuries. We can discuss this at a later, less urgent date" Carmen supposed this way Peter's way of telling her he felt the same was on the subject but there was nothing that could be done.

"Hey Doc!" One of the guards kitted out in riot gear jogged to approach them. "hurry it up we ain't got men to waste"

"I know, thank you for your speedy response Officer Boles" Peter greeted the guard. "Carmen Officer Boles will be accompanying you to Jonathan Crane's cell where you can treat him safely. Officer Boles this is Miss Carmen Hayes, she is the newest addition to the medical team. I'll be done to accompany you shortly, unfortunately I've got some paperwork to fill out before that can happen"

"Shouldn't Dr Crane be treated in a first aid room? Or the infirmary" Carmen asked, the medic bag slung onto her shoulder.

"We can't keep moving patients back and forth under these conditions, you'll be quite safe with officer Boles, I assure you" Peter comforted, patting Carmen's shoulder.

"If it was up to me, this psycho wouldn't be getting any treatment, I'd let him rot in his cell" Boles announced, shifting the gun in his grip and Carmen swore she could smell alcohol on his breath.

"shall we be off officer?" she asked, already moving swiftly down the hall and removing her ID badge to gain access to the elevator that would take them down to the maximum-security cells. Down to The Master Of Fear.

The level of noise created from the unsettled inmates bounced off the walls, crafted the illusion that there were many more people down here than there actually was. Carmen squeezed her eyes shut for a second, wincing at the level of noise she was not yet used to. Whilst she was used to beeping of machines, crying and some amounts of screaming, she was not used to shrieks and howls of the asylum inmates. It sounded heartbreaking.

"Shut your traps!" Boles bellowed, slamming his baton against some of the cell windows as he passed. Carmen doubted this helped in anyway and tried to hold her nerve as she followed behind Boles, but jumped when one inmate launched himself against the thick window, bouncing off of it before attempting the same thing again. "well here we are doc"

"Oh I'm not a doctor" Carmen explained as Boles unlocked the door of Crane's cell. "I was an emergency nurse at Gotham Hospital"

"Whatever doc" he shrugged before turning to address Crane. "Hey Crane, You try any of that sick shit you pulled with Jiles and I will not hesitate to shoot you" Boles warned and motioned with his head for Carmen to step inside. She stepped in and carefully made her way over to Crane who had been restrained against his bed by the wrist and ankles. Once beside his bed, she slipped the bag off of her shoulder and examined his face. The slightly glazed look in his eye indicated that he had been anesthetised some-time earlier but still managed to recognise the young nurse from their earlier encounter. Most of his face was covered underneath blood that had leaked for his nose, mouth and a cut on his forehead. With years of seeing the worst possible state a human body could be in on a daily basis, Carmen was not surprised by what she saw, in fact in comparison to what she had seen, these injuries were very minor. Crane turned his head to face Carmen as she placed the bag on the floor, watching her every movement...