The Curious Case of Dick Grayson

II

As Dick regained consciousness his body was throbbing, especially his right arm and his head. He thought of how he came to be in such pain, the pounding in his head didn't help with his thought process.

He remembered being at the chemical plant and talking to Jason and Tim, the trap door.. His brothers screaming.

And then not much else.

Dick hoped his brothers were okay.

His need to know if the others were hurt forced Dick to open his eyes. He immediately regretted his discussion, his eyes were overwhelmed with a fully white room, Dick signed to himself, he hated hospitals.

He looked around his white room, he noticed a few things, there were no windows or machines, but more importantly no family. Where were they?

Dick started to sit up in his bed, wanting to get a better view of his room, the soreness of his body made this difficult. There was nothing else in the room, aside from the bed he was in, and small toilet in the corner. There was no evidence of his family of ever being in the room, did they even care that he was in there?

Just then a click came from the door and a woman in white, Dick assumed a nurse, walked into his room. She was short and had her  hair pulled back, the brown roots coming from the top of her head suggested that the blond colour was from a box.

"Ah Richard you are awake, how are you feeling?" she pulled out a small flashlight and started to inspect Dick's eyes.

"Um… I feel alight. My head and right arm hurt the most" Her voice sounded familiar..

"Well that does make sense, you fractured your arm and have a concussion" she put away the light and pulled the clipboard from under her arm. "Do you remember what happened Richard?"

"Dick"

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Dick"

"Sorry Richard, rules are rules I have to call you by your given name. Again, can you tell me how this happened?" The woman's voice was cold and detached as she spoke.

What kind of hospital is this? He couldn't tell her about his mission. He thought for a minute.

"Okay then… I was in a car accident"

"Good and do you remember the days events? Please be specific," The nurse wrote down notes on the clipboard.

Oh shit, Dick was panicking he hadn't thought that far ahead yet.

"Yea, I was driving back to Bludhaven from Bruce Wayne's house after visiting him, but I didn't drink anything, I promise," Dick was talking faster by the second, fearing that she wouldn't believe his story.

The nurse looked up from her notes, her eyes were filled with pity. She sighed loudly. "I'll go get your doctor Richard, just a moment," she walked out closing the door with a click.

Dick's hands started to sweat, something horrible must have happened if his family hadn't come to his side.

Dick knew standing would not be easy, but he couldn't wait around in bed waiting for someone to come in and tell him he ended a life. He shifted his legs over the edge of the bed, his head already became dizzy, his body protesting every movement.

Just as he was about to stand he heard a click and the door opened.

A man in a white lab coat walked in. The man looked like he cared very little about personal hygiene.

His greasy green hair hung limply around his eyes. His face was covered in streaky white paint and his lips were dark red.

"Good morning Richard," the man's voice was raspy

Like he had been laughing a little too hard..

'Ah fuck.'

The Joker sat down next to Dick on the bed.

He looked Dick up and down, pulling out a note pad. "Let's start from the beginning Richard. Nurse Quinn said you had trouble remembering last nights events"

"What? No, I remember fine, listen Doc, was anyone else hurt in the crash?" Dick couldn't break character now, or he could out his entire family.

"No Richard, you know there wasn't a crash."

Dick let out the breath he was holding. Now to ask the next pressing issue, where was his family?

Before he could open his mouth, the Joker spoke first.

"Richard please tell me the events of last night. Please be specific."

Dick raised an eyebrow in confusion; he thought he cleared the woods.

"Uh, sure. Like I said to the nurse, I was driving back from Gotham city to Bludhaven"

"Why were you in Gotham?"

"I went to Bruce Wayne's Manor."

"What is your relationship with Mr. Wayne?"

God, this was too dangerous why did he even bring Bruce into this?

Most people knew about Bruce Wayne and his various adoptions throughout the years, the tabloids loved his family.

"Bruce is my adoptive father." Dick was getting tired of these ridiculous questions; he just wanted to go home.

The Joker rubbed the brim of his nose. "I thought we were making progress Richard."

"Progress? What are you talking about?" Dick's heart rate sped up.

"Richard, you had a breakdown last night and escaped –"

"Hold up! Breakdown? Escaped? What the hell are you talking about?"

Dick's heart was beating at an alarming rate. The clown placed a hand on Dick's leg, as if to bring comfort to the younger man. His smile stretched and his eyes grew wide.

"Oh Richard, you're in  The Happy Hospital for the Criminally Insane."