Child of the Dark Knite

Chapter 7 Roomer Has It

He was lying down. But where? He opened his eyes. "Oh, no," he groaned.

"Easy Mr. Wayne," said a woman's voice.

He looked and saw Terry's mother stepping up tp his bed. "Mrs. McGinnis. Where's Terry?"

"He's sleeping. It took a lot out of him," she said, fixing the covers over him.

"What took a lot...What happened?"

"Mom?" terry stepped up to his mother. He looked tired. "Can you go get the docs. I need to talk to my boss."

"Ok, just take it easy. Both of you."

The door closed and Terry sat down heavily in the chair next to the bed. "You scared the hell out of me."

"What happened?"

"Not sure. Docs are still going over your tests."

"Lissa?!"

"Don't get up. Look over there," Terry pointed to Bruce's left, across the room.

"Lissa," his daughter lay on the next bed, still with tubes and wires attached to her, but there were bandages around her head now, and her hair was brushed over the pillow, above her head.

"I do know it was touch and go through the surgery," said Terry.

"They found a donor?"

"Yeah, in the most unlikely of people," Terry rolled up his sleeve and displayed a tiny bandage. "I was one of the donors they couldn't reach."

"Terry, thank you."

"Forget it. I'm just glad I could help." Bruce turned back to Lissa, and stayed quiet until his physician arrived.

"Mr. Wayne."

"Doctor Awards," said Bruce, rather ticked that he was in the hospital himself. "What happened?"

"Stress, Mr. Wayne," said the woman, flipping through the papers in his file. "You've apparently not listened to me, as usual." She examined the monitors around him, then looked into the old man's eyes. "I told you to take it easy, rest, and take your medication. Now, of those three, what did you do?"

"I have a company to run," he said, trying to rise, only to have the 45-year-old woman push him back down.

"In other words, work hard, stay up late, and take your meds when you felt like it."

"Doctor."

"Mr. Wayne," she echoed his sarcastic tone. "Look, roomer has it that you're involved some how, with the young woman over there. Now I'm not one to pry, but don't you think she's a bit young for you?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" he snapped, Terry grabbing the old man by the shoulders and tried to pull him back to the bed. "Don't ever insinuate otherwise!!"

"Bruce calm down!" called the doctor, avoiding a pillow as he threw it at her. "I'll sedate you if I have to!"

"That won't be necessary," called another woman's voice. "Bruce act your age and settle down." It was Barbara Gordon, Bruce looked sternly to all of them, but he did relax, only after his gaze settled on Lissa. "Doctor, you can go. He'll behave himself."

The woman nodded. "Mr. Wayne. That spell you took was only a warning. Take it easy, and take your medication, because nexte ite it could be far worse."

"Get Fitzroy in here," Bruce ordered, as the doctor left. "I mean it!"

"Bruce. I know you hate hospitals," began Barbra, laying her coat across the foot of his bed. "But you could at least cooperate, when you're the one who is in need of help." She began to pull the privacy curtain across between the beds.

"Don't close that!" Bruce yelled, using his cane to strike the drape back to its original position.

"So the roomers are true," said Barbara. "You are involved with her. Bruce, you aren't the young stud you use to be." Terry had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"She's none of your business," he said.

"Come on now Bruce, we were young once. I know your likes."

"Stop it!!"

"Boy you are testy. All right. So enlighten me. Who is she?"

Bruce looked at Lissa, all the monitors were still beeping their steady rhythmus. She seemed so peaceful. If one just looked at her they would have thought she were just sleeping after an accident. But he knew better. Until she woke up, to him, she'd still be fighting for her life. "Do you remember Jennifer Westler?"

"Yeah, Sure I do. Thanks to you, her file is still active in Missing Persons. You keep updating the photo by aging it through the computer."

"You can put her file in the Found now," he said. "She died in LA, about three days ago. She married a guy named Albert Coster, and had a family."

"And this woman here is..."

"Lissa...My daughter," Bruce laid back and soon returned to sleep, the silence of his stunned former partner filling the room.

"Don't say anything," said Terry, as he pulled his blanket back over him. "He won't like it."

"Its not my place to say," she said, picking up her coat. "Just watch him. He has a pattern for pushing family away."

"Yeah, I will."

When Bruce woke again, it was nearing dawn, the digital clock reading 5:27 am. He was alone in the room with Lissa, Terry obviously had gone during the night. He pulled on the hospital robe, over the open backed gown he wore. He always hated these things. Way too drafty. He strode over and sat down on the bed next to Lissa, stroking the back of her hand, careful not to disturb the IV's and the pulse monitor on her hand and finger. 'Fight, Lissa,' he thought to her, 'Please. We only just found each other. Don't give up now. There is so much I want to know about you, and so much I want to say to you.' He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek, as any father would.

He continued to hold her hand as the morning went on. Watching monitors, her breathing, and the clock. Now reading 10:30 am. It was then he noticed Terry sitting on his bed. "Why didn't you say you were here?" he asked, surprised that someone could sneak up on him. He may have been old, but he still had his training as Batman to warn him that someone was there.

"I did," returned Terry, eyeing the breakfast tray with distain. "You were lost in thought or something. You seemed relaxed, so I didn't want to disturb you. Better for your ticker that way."

"I'm worried about Lissa."

"Yeah. I know. It's not every day that a man becomes a father at 70, or however old you are."

"She's got to make it, Terry."

"Well, yesterday, Fitzroy came in, while you were asleep. Said you'd want to know, so he told me what they were doing. They've been reducing the coma drug, little by little." Terry glanced at the clock. "It ought to be out of her system by now, and she should wake up on her own soon." Bruce nodded. Her hand twitched, and the old man shot his attention back to her.

Her hand twitched again, and then alarms on the ventilator went off. Terry ran out the door for the Nurses and doctors, who'd already been summoned by the alarms, but it did give him something to do. The doctors & Nurses arrived, ushered Bruce back to his own bed and set to work. Terry offered Bruce a reassuring hand on his shoulder, as they anxiously waited. The alarms were stopped and, to Bruce's dismay, the nurse pulled the curtain across between them. He wanted to argue it, but then part of him didn't want to see what was going on.

A few moments later, the nurse pulled back the curtain, and left, Doctor Fitzroy remained and looked over more of the monitors, then turned to Bruce. "She's fine," he said. "She no longer needs the ventilator. She's breathing fine on her own."

"When will she wake up?" asked Terry.

"When she's ready," answered Bruce, returning to her side and taking her hand. "And not before." The doctor nodded and left. "Terry, I need you to do something for me."

"Shoot."

"Go to the house, I assume you've been doing so to feed Ace, but the guest room she was in, get it ready for her, fresh linens and flowers. Air it out too; I noticed the air in the room was a little stale. Also make sure that the access," Bruce didn't need to say which access, "is secured. I don't want her just wandering in there. Have your mother go shopping for me. Take my credit card. Get some groceries, I don't have anything half decent to eat in the whole house."

"I've noticed." He pulled out a paper bag from under his jacket.

"Bagel and light cream cheese, just the way you like it, and orange juice. Gotta stick to doctor's advice some how."

"Thanks." Bruce took the bag and put it on the night table next to Lissa's bed. "Can you do that for me?"

"Sure. No problem." He jumped up to his feet, grateful that he wasn't going to be hanging around the hospital any more than he had too. He didn't say however that he and his mother had taken Ace from the manor, and kept him at his place while Bruce was in hospital. The dog loved it too; he had Terry's little brother to play with, or vice versa. Either way, the dog was happy. Though left alone too long and he howled. He rummaged through Bruce's clothes and found his wallet. "Which card?" he asked, as more than 30 cards unrolled from the wallet when opened.

"Just pick one, they haven't been used since I paid them off a while ago."

"Shway!" he smiled, "Listen Bruce, there is something I've been meaning to talk to you about. My mom's Birthday is coming up and..."

"You have your eye on that antique dresser she's been mooning over, right?"

"Yeah, but I only have half the money saved up. I was hoping..."

"You could get an ade one on your salary, or a loan?"

"Right."

"Put it on the card. I'll send you an adjusted bill"

"Thanks!"

"Terry?"

"Yeah?"

"You can leave the paper, I saw it in your jacket."

"Ah, I don't think you'll want to see it."

"Give it here." Reluctantly the young man gave Bruce the paper. The front page sported a picture of Bruce and Lissa, in her hospital room, before she went in for surgery, and the headlines read, 'Wayne Sits At Young Lover's Bed Side'. He shook his head. "What do they know?"

"They got the picture from the security camera in the hall," Terry gestured over his shoulder, where the coat rack now stood in the window of the room, blocking a clear shot from the camera. "There's now a mob of people outside the manor gates waiting for you to come home, and there's a few outside the hospital too. Security is keeping an eye on them, and this floor is now a sign in visit only."

"Good. I don't want anyone to upset Lissa."

"Well I'll get on to the shopping, and thanks, for the loan."

"Get going."

It was well after lunch before Lissa made any further indication that she'd wake. Then she turned her head and slowly opened her eyes to look at Bruce. He smoothed her hair over her pillow and smiled slightly. "You're going to be ok," he said softly.

"You.....you stayed?" she asked.

"Yes, do you remember me?"

"Yes, you're Bruce Wayne. You knew my mother. You were..."

"Yes, I was." He stopped her from saying any more, as one of the nurses came in to check on her as part of her routine. "Get Dr. Fitzroy," Bruce told the woman, and she left to do just that.

"My family...." Lissa cried. "They left me....."

"Ssssshhhhh, take it easy," he said, wiping a stray tear. "Not all your family has left you. I'm here."

"You are....Dad." She couldn't say anymore. The man she knew as her father, had abandoned her, all over a promise she'd made to her mother.

Her brothers and sisters refused to return her calls and avoided her altogether. All but Liam, but even he could not make that known to the family. She was a lone, but now she had this man, her father, her mother's dark knight. He didn't know her, hadn't known of her till recently, and yet still he looked at her with all the concern and worry of any parent. Unconditional, unquestioning, he was there. Her father. Her Dad.