Willow

Duchess Found Alive

...Reports say that Duchess Verity Iyer has been found alive and is receiving treatment at a private medical facility for injuries sustained during her kidnapping...

Saturday

When they arrived back in the cave, Alfred and Karina were waiting in the med bay. Along with Karina's wife, Maritza Cortez. Also a doctor, but he had said for Alfred to be discreet. He didn't like too many people to be in the cave.

"Can she keep a secret?" Bruce asked, staring at Maritza as he settled Verity on a cot - still wrapped in his cape.

"She works in the trauma unit at Gotham General," Karina explained, "She's trained for this, I'm not. I can give Verity her visibility back, but I can't treat hypothermia."

That didn't answer his question.

"How are her vitals?" Maritza asked, unfazed by the invisible woman, "You did check her vitals, right?"

"She's breathing and she has a pulse." He snapped, "I need an answer, Dr. Cortez. Can you keep a secret?"

"Dios mio, yes, stupid, I can keep a secret! We need to warm her up slowly. Too much heat and she might get burned or go into shock."

Bruce pulled off his cowl, tucking it under his arm. Karina looked a little pale, but Maritza paid him no mind.

"Are you certain you -" Alfred started to ask if he knew what he was doing, but Bruce cut him off.

"My identity does not leave this room. The duchess' medical care will be discreetly handled by you both. No hospitals. No press. Dr. Cortez, you'll be reimbursed double for any shifts you miss. Karina, you'll be receiving time and a half as well. Are we clear?"

"Uh-huh." Maritza waved him off, fixing a pair of infrared goggles - provided by Alfred - over her eyes so she could check on her patient. Karina nodded.

Bruce turned to Alfred, "I trust you can supervise? I need to get Dick to bed."

"Of course, Master Bruce."

Bruce nodded his thanks, placed the cowl on his workstation, and stalked back to the batmobile. Dick was curled up in the front seat, having dozed off on the drive back. He lifted the boy out of the vehicle taking care not to knock his head on the door, kicking it shut behind him.

Karina met him by the elevator, twisting her hands in the sleeves of her sweater.

"Mr. Wayne, I -"

"Mind getting the call button?" He nodded towards the elevator control panel.

"Oh! Sure." She pressed the up arrow. "Listen, I wanted to apologize for dragging Mari into this. I'm just not that kind of doctor, I'm a research scientist! I haven't placed an IV since med school and that was fifteen years ago. I knew she would be able to help, and we both swore the Hippocratic Oath. Plus this is Gotham. We've all seen some shit. This," She gestured to his kevlar suit, "Isn't even close to the weirdest thing she's seen in the ER, okay? So just... don't worry."

"Karina," Bruce sighed. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Sure, it wasn't ideal to have an unexpected person in the cave. But Karina had a point. He should have expected to need a different kind of doctor. But Doc Thompkins had transferred out of Gotham after a run in with the Joker and he really couldn't blame her for that. He needed a new doctor on his team. "Do you think Maritza would consider a full time position as my personal physician?"

She made a face, "You wanna hire my wife?"

The elevator dinged before he could answer. He stepped inside, adjusting the sleeping boy in his arms so he could hit the library button.