The bright shining lights of the hospital were a comfort to her most nights. Keeping things clear and visible for Nadia Kim but tonight in particular she felt a headache come on. The hallways were pristine as they should but there was a vintage feel to the almost peeled paint on every corner of the walls. The hospital wasn't as stuffy as Nadia was used to and maybe that was why she chose Gotham General as her preferred environment of practice. There was history here that to anyone else felt eerie but to her, there was something grounded to it.
Now in one of the hundreds of rooms in the most notable hospital in Gotham, she was surrounded by the most advanced technology that science had to offer juxtaposed to the aging building. She was lucky to be able to be where she was and that she had a job like this one with a huge tech company funding the hospital. There were always days like these that make her go back on some of the optimism.
Nadia had a lot of colorful words she wanted to tell the man who had just tried to flirt with her using wildly outdated stereotypes. Though seeing as this is a professional environment and he was her patient, Nadia decided against it.
After a long pause consisting of Nadia quietly accepting what had just happened to her, she goes, "You should get some rest and drink up your water. One of the nurses will come in and check up on you in half an hour."
"Sure thing, sweetheart," The patient gives her a poor attempt at a wink. Nadia walked out of the room wondering where things went wrong with the man or maybe it was her life choices. That wasn't something that Nadia had a degree for so she took a deep breath and put it behind her. It never happened.
Tanya Fox, the nurse in charge of that patient, was waiting outside for Nadia's instructions.
She was one of the nurses that Nadia had been acquainted with when she entered the ER unit. Tanya was an older woman, who's been at this hospital for decades. At first glance, one couldn't guess. The woman aged gracefully and was as spunky as a young adult. However, when you look into her eyes you could see that stories lasting a lifetime were in there. It gave her years away.e3
Tanya showed incredible skill as a nurse. The woman has been doing it for her entire life. Her experience made her a hot topic when it comes to teams and shifts every year. Almost everyone wanted a chance to work with her because she was just that good at what she does. Not only that she was a lovely person to be around, anyone would vie for her. It made Nadia laugh thinking about how she was able to finally work with the infamous Tanya Fox.
Nadia handed over the patient's medical file to Tanya. "He's just as you said. Check up on him in thirty. He doesn't show any signs of an overdose. There's nothing we can do but check up on his progress. If his heart rate drops lower than his average then call me back in and we'll deal with him. For now, you can check up on him every ten minutes. If he improves after two hours, then he can be picked up by his guardian."
"Thanks, Nadia," Tanya said, looking over the file. "And sorry about all of that, too. I would've let you know if I knew he was like that."
Tanya was one of two people on Nadia's team that was allowed to just call her by her first name and not her title during work. She would find things like that stiff but Nadia was the type of person that had to demand respect rather than it being afforded to her. Tanya has always afforded her respect so it was a no-brainer. She's spent a lot of time with the woman during work and built up quite a friendship.
"Exotic," Nadia sighed a pained smile, reflecting on the man's words. "It's always exotic... But you don't have to apologize for a patient's actions. If you want, you can ask Harry to go in with you when you do check-ups. That is if Mr. Exotic's even awake by then."
Tanya nodded. "I'll look for Harry and ask if he's free when the time comes around."
"Sounds good. Keep up the good work, Tanya," Nadia told her and walked towards another room.
Nadia could practically feel her body getting weary, she stole a glance at the watch resting on her wrist. It read, eleven o'clock and thirty-two minutes. So close...
Nadia caught sight of Allison, the nurse of Nadia's next patient. Allison's appearance made people underestimate her, she had a small frame yet wide and expressive facial features. But by all means, Allison was a spitfire. Allison only started the unit a month ago. She was still getting the hang of things and Nadia had been looking over her a tad. Luckily, she was a quick learner which made things substantially easier for Nadia.
"Talk to me," Nadia told the nurse.
"Matthew Angelo. Matthew's right wrist is uncomfortable, painful to try to twist around, and is warm to the touch. Admitted thirty minutes ago. His condition hasn't changed since then. All of his conditions are normal albeit a little tired since it's so late. I think the problem is a sprain. Recommend a scan to be on the safe side."
Nadia nodded and walked in. "Hi!" Nadia greeted two adults and the child in question.
The notably young parents looked quite tired. Their eyebrows were creased with worry, Nadia could only imagine. The kid, on the other hand, looked like he was about ready to burst into tears. He must have been overwhelmed.
"My name is Dr. Kim. I'll be your doctor for tonight." Nadia shook hands after exchanging names with the parents, Eric and Monica Angelo.
"What's your name?" Nadia asked the child. She grabbed gloves from a compartment over to the side and put them on. She sat on the stool near the chair.
"Matthew," the child told her. Nadia rolled the stool in front of the bed where the child sat.
"Nice to meet you, Matthew. Nurse Allison, tells me that your hand hurts when you move it. What exactly happened?"
"I fell," Matthew mumbled, clearly embarrassed to be there.
Nadia nodded, "How did that happen?"
"Well," the mother, Monica, spoke up for him. "Matthew tells us that he was jumping around in his room and accidentally tripped and fell on his wrist."
"Ouch, that must've been worrisome. Thank you guys for being so patient through this whole thing."
Nadia turned to Matthew. "Okay, now I hope you don't mind but I want to be able to see how your arm is doing as well. Since you fell, I just want to be safe. Can you rotate your shoulder for me? Like this." Nadia demonstrated this by rotating her shoulder.
Matthew followed instructions.
"Any pains? Are you uncomfortable?"
He shook his head, no.
"Okay, you can stop. Can you move your elbow?" She asked and demonstrated it for him to see. He copied her movements. "Feel anything off."
He shook his head, no.
"Very good, Matthew. It seems like you're okay with your shoulders and elbow, if you feel anything weird there I want you to tell your mom and dad immediately, okay?"
Matthew nodded, "Okay."
"I want to be able to move your hand around, I'll be touching your wrist and hands. Will that be okay, Matthew?"
He nodded. She turned over to the parents, to double-check. "Is that okay?"
"Oh! Yes, of course." The mom responded.
"Cool," Nadia gently took his hand into her palm. "I want you to tell me immediately when it's uncomfortable. I don't want you to be in pain so let me know and I will stop moving and you can go back to a comfortable position for your hand. Do you understand?"
"Yeah."
"Can you open up your hand for me like you're giving my hand a high five?" He opened his palm. "Okay very good, Matthew. You're doing great."
His wrist was abnormally hot and the swelling was noticeable. His immune system was kicking in. "Can you bend your hand back away from my hand?"
Matthew made an attempt but he didn't go back at all and shook his head, "It hurts."
"Okay, you can stop and put your hand back. It's no problem. I want you to rotate as much as you can so that it won't hurt."
He did as instructed but he didn't get far until he stopped.
"Is there a constant dull pain that you're experiencing or is it noticeable?"
Matthew shrugged, "Sometimes it's dull and sometimes it hurts a lot."
"Well, this sure is a doozy. You can have either a sprain or a fracture. Since I can't tell for sure based on what you're showing me, I'm going to have Nurse Allison go send you to take an x-ray of our wrist and we'll figure it out afterward."
Matthew nodded, getting up when Allison beckoned him over. The two parents followed along. Nadia sighed. She prayed it was a sprain so that she didn't need to administer a cast.
Since it was nearing her time to leave, Matthew was Nadia's last patient. She needed to take a nap. Nadia had been doing night shifts for overtime and it was taking a toll on her body. She loved being so tired that she slept as soon as she hit the pillow but sometimes Nadia would be so tired, that she would skip dinner. That's when she knew she needed to stop.
Nadia leaned on the bed and watched as Nurse Harry came in. Harry was a strange case. The two of them entered the ER unit at the same time. He was extremely good at his job, young, and attractive. At first glance, he was very unapproachable. Nadia was regarded as a prodigy and so they both had a reputation on them. Once they got to working together more often, the two realized that they had way more in common than either could expect. Now, they're pretty good friends.
Harry took one look at Nadia's haggard appearance and frowned. "You should be more pumped, you're getting off soon," he told her.
Nadia glared at the way the light was making his bronze cheekbone more accentuated. It was nearing midnight and he still looked good. Unfair.
Nadia grumbled, "I am pumped just drained. Did you talk to Tanya?"
"Yeah, she pulled me aside. I don't think he'll be awake for that long, though."
Nadia covered her yawn with her hand, "That's good. Just check up on him in case."
"Who are you waiting for?"
"An x-ray," Nadia said.
"Well, you have time to kill. Get a snack."
"Nuh-uh," Nadia waved a finger in front of his face. Nadia notes how sluggish they were. She's been working a lot. Maybe it was due time for a vacation or a trip to Central City. "I am fasting for carbonara and cherry pie at Enzo's."
"I never understood why an Italian place would have cherry pie."
"We're in Gotham, Harry. They needed to Americanize everything."
Harry rolled his eyes but grinned, regardless. "Whatever, I think you're even weirder for liking cherry pie over all the others."
"Pray tell, what is better than cherry pie?"
"Apple, key lime, coconut cream?"
"Dude, I know we're in a debate right now but damn... I'm even hungrier than before, with you naming more pies."
"You started it," Harry retorted.
"I love cherries, though. They're so good. You can never go wrong."
"But apple pie is a classic," Harry shook his head as if her opinions were heinous. To a dramatic person like Harry, it was. "Obviously."
"Well, honestly, at this point I just want anything in my stomach. So, we need to stop talking about food before I start feeling myself shrivel from the inside."
"Gross."
"I know," Nadia said. "What time are you off?"
"Two."
Nadia grimaced at the thought. Any later, he'd be doing a graveyard shift. Nadia couldn't believe he was going to be working so late, he doesn't normally take late shifts.
"I know," Harry sighs at her expression. "I needed to be out of the house, though."
"Is she still upset?" Nadia asked. Harry would sometimes have relationship problems that cause him to work more and avoid his girlfriend. Nadia hasn't heard about this issue yet but she could only assume, it's not good.
"'When is she never?' is a more accurate question." Harry shook his head, looking out the window. Nadia knows he's over exaggerating. Frustrated over whatever the problem was, Harry just needed to get it out of her system.
"Harry, as your friend, I don't want to tell you what to do but it's not looking hot."
"I know, I've been debating other options than my current one."
Nadia's eyes widened, other options? She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Nadia didn't know if she was presumptuous for assuming he meant 'breaking up' as another option but it was alluding to it. She thinks that he doesn't want to talk more about what he was going through, so she didn't ask anything further. Nadia would wait until Harry brings it up next time.
"Good," Nadia lamented. "Good on you."
Allison came back with the family. Harry started to make his way out of the door, "I'll leave you to it, I probably won't see you when you leave so good night."
"Night, Harry."
Nadia greeted the family. Matthew was situated back on the chair and Nadia was handed the x-ray picture and a brief analysis by the technician. Nadia grinned, "Congrats, Matthew. You don't need a cast. Your wrist is just sprained. So I can only advise you on what to do next. I'm gonna tell Mom and Dad what they should do but you should listen in so that you can remember." Matthew nodded and Nadia turned towards the parents.
Allison had already left the room. Nadia loved the nurses she worked with because they just got what she was thinking.
"There's something called RICE in the athletic and medical world. Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. Make sure to remind Matthew to not use his wrist at all. If she has to use limited motions but only if she has to. But try not to use it. Then keep it iced until the pain stops. Nurse Allison just stepped out to bring an ice pack. You should've iced it immediately after he told you about the fall and pain but it's okay. You guys rushed here and that's all good too. I will compress it with bandages after talking to you and I'll send you some bandages as well. Keep it compressed until it heals, it'll help Matthew remember not to move his wrist. Then, you elevate. If he's standing and walking around, okay. But if Matthew's laying down and sitting, I want his wrist elevated on a table, pillow, chair, something. It should start to feel better after a few days but keep it up until the pain completely disappears. If the pain worsens, come back and tell the nurse about it."
Nadia moved back to Matthew with the bandage and wrapped it around his wrist. "Make sure that it's not too tight or loose," Nadia tells the parents as she wrapped their son's wrist.
Allison came back into the room with an ice pack. Nadia finished up and placed the ice pack on his wrist. "Can you hold it?" He did as was asked and she let go.
"Okay," Nadia said, getting up. "Lastly, if the pain becomes unbearable, over-the-counter kids' medication for pain relief should ease it quite a bit."
The parents nodded. Nadia looked between the couple and their kid. "Do you guys have any questions before I go?"
"I think we're good," The mom, Monica said. "Thank you so much."
"Oh, it's just my job, Ma'am. I'm glad it wasn't anything too serious, though. I hope you guys have a great rest of your night. Allison will help you with getting checked out. Hope you get better soon, Matthew," She waved at the group.
Matthew waved back and she grinned. What a cute kid.
Nadia checked her watch again. Twelve o'clock and seven minutes.
Nadia couldn't have been happier. She was a free woman who was going to eat and sleep herself into a coma.
—🝰—
After buying the pasta and pie take-out, she headed home.
Nadia drove down the cluttered and dim street that she lovingly called her neighborhood. Once in a while, the street lights were fixed on her street so she was able to see when she was driving. This was not one of those times. Almost every other streetlight was working, not like the people living there didn't file complaints to the city often. They just don't fund the area as much as they should because it's not the face of the city. It's dumb but Nadia has gotten used to using her car's flashlight for directions on her drive home.
She was just cruising along when something large and dark fell from the sky in front of her. Immediately, Nadia hit the breaks. The squeals of the car lasted for a moment until she was at an abrupt stop, heading slamming into the back of her headrest. She was lucky she didn't get a concussion from the force of it all. Nadia's eyes widened and she could hear her heart beating in her chest.
What was that?
Any ounce of tiredness that Nadia previously felt affecting her body was dispelled within five seconds.
Taking several deep breaths, Nadia was able to calm down a bit. She put the car in park and stepped out.
Walking to the front of her car to examine whatever the hell it was that fell, she saw that it was a person. Not just any person, from all of the sketches people, have posted on the internet and on TV, she had a good idea of who just fell from the sky.
Nadia believes that she had just stumbled upon Batman.
The infamous vigilante, Dark Knights, and media proclaimed Batman. What was crazier was that Nadia didn't think she was dreaming.
Why and how did he even fall to the ground? Nadia couldn't even begin to wrap her head around how bizarre this was.
Batman didn't so much as twitch. Nadia crouched down to the man.
"Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be- Ow!" Nadia touched his shoulder where his cape was but it was hot. Scorching hot. She didn't know why that was but being exposed to heat for a long period was not good for anyone. Making it fast, she turned his body so that he was facing her. She was able to avoid burning herself in the process.
Nadia looked around and, of course, no one was in sight. She touched the part of his face that was exposed.
Using her powers, she was now in tune with his body.
Nadia had powers that were capable of healing people's physical bodies. It made being a doctor less stressful but being a good samaritan far more. Clearly.
There was a heartbeat but it was much faster than it should be. Note: He was not dead. She couldn't deal with slowing down his heartbeat until she dealt with the more external issues. His temperature was extremely high. She manipulated his body temperature below the average temperature to keep up with his burning suit.
She felt around his head. He started to develop a concussion. Using her powers, she repressed the concussion, allowing the area to reach optimal health.
If Nadia had it her way, she'd take off the suit entirely. Public street and vigilante with a secret identity probably didn't mix well. Not only that, she didn't want to see anyone naked. Ultimately, she decided against it.
It would be easier to get a reading on his torso if she could touch that area, but there was only one part of his body that she could feel. Doing her best, Nadia tried to understand what was going on around his torso, specifically she was looking for any broken bones. He did fall from the sky, there's no way that he merely got a bruise. She felt around as best as she could but she couldn't get a clear understanding of the rest of his body. She felt that the organs were doing fine and there wasn't any internal bleeding so that should be enough for now.
If there was something wrong with his legs she could deal with it later. Should she call the ambulance?
It's Batman, though. He definitely would be under police custody before they thought about treating him. Don't do it, the rational side of Nadia told her. Don't help him. It's not going to end up well. It's not worth it. He's a vigilante, nothing good will come out of helping a vigilante. Nadia's gaze lingered on the figure clad in black.
Nadia sighed.
Despite mutely debating with herself, she already knew that she wasn't going to call the ambulance on the man.
His suit wasn't as hot anymore, she noted, attempting to haul him over to the car. When Nadia was finally able to secure him in the back seat, she took a moment to catch her breath. She really needed to work out more because this was kind of embarrassing. And for heaven's sake never try dragging a 200-pound man made of pure muscle and armor anywhere, ever again.
At a turn of a key, the engine roared back to life. Nadia was back on track through the route that took her home. She tried to ignore how much she thought this was a bad idea. The question of whether or not she should stop the car and leave him on the street did seem appealing to her during her internal debate with herself. It was only that though, a debate.
Before she could act any more irrationally than she already did, she pulled up to her apartment complex. It was a run-down apartment from the outside. It was garbage. The apartment's facade was not something that the landlord cared about but to be fair it wasn't something Nadia cared about either.
Nadia was able to find parking.
After staring mournfully at her takeout and deciding to go back down later, she dragged Batman into her apartment complex.
She's always been grateful for the fact that her apartment had an elevator, but she never truly appreciated it as much as she did at this moment.
Nadia hoped that no one would see her here in the hall as she was trying to drag a massively unconscious man in a costume into her apartment. God, she couldn't explain to her neighbors even if she wanted to.
Her keys clanged around as she tried to be fast about opening her door with 200 pounds of vigilante leaning on her. Finally, the door gave way and she lurched the man inside.
In her fit, she dropped him.
Batman's body fell with an aggressive thud.
Nadia winced. Did that do him in?
Nadia held her breath, letting silence consume her apartment once again until she heard a groan. Oh, thank God, not dead. A dead body would be even harder to explain than a living Batman in her apartment. Or maybe not. Nadia was too tired and winded to care too much at the moment.
Nadia grunted as she hauled up the man. She placed him on the sofa which didn't hold his height at all. He must've been more than six feet tall. His feet had dangled off the side. A unit of a human being, Nadia analyzed.
Nadia's head perked up. Right, they were here because she needed to treat him. She ran to her bathroom where she stored her first aid kit. It was a very advanced first aid kit with surgeon supplies that she "borrowed" from the hospital. Was it ethical? No. Did she eventually reimburse the hospital in a generous donation after grueling over the guilt of being a thief? Yes. So in her eyes, it was even.
She never knew when she would need it in an everyday scenario. She sure made a lot of scenarios in her head to rationalize creating them. In one of Nadia's stupor of irrational paranoia, she took supplies on a whim. She was just overthinking as usual but the kit now has a purpose.
Technically, Overthinking Nadia was correct.
Rushing back, she took a chair with her so she could sit next to his torso. Was there something wrong with his respiratory tract? His breath was coming out far shallower than it should have for Batman's stature.
Nadia needed a clearer look inside his torso, she took a scalpel and cut through the fabric on the side. The front was some sort of thick padding that was practically impenetrable. Nadia wasn't going to risk one of her tools at the expense of confirming.
Nadia slipped her hand through the fabric once she cut enough and touched his chest.
There was serious bruising, but it could've been worse. 'Lo and behold, the bruising came from a broken rib. Armor doesn't protect you from a fall of that caliber. Nadia felt around his ribcage, honing in on the bones and the muscles around it. There was a broken rib that was pushing against a lung. Definitely would've been bad if left for a long time especially if he wasn't going to get medical attention.
Nadia was able to manipulate the bone back into place. Then, she excited the stem cells into regeneration between them so that the bone would seal nicely with cartilage. He would be sore but the healing process of a broken bone has been cut into a few days.
She didn't do anything about the bruise, it would heal in due time. Nadia wasn't a fan of using her powers to heal minor injuries. Plus if he found out he had no injuries from falling, that would be way more suspicious and point fingers at other elements at play. Nadia wasn't going to deal with that.
His torso was fine for now. She didn't see any other underlying issues. If he wasn't injured from the fall, she would suspect that he was one of the healthiest people she's ever treated. His physique had no problems and internal problems were almost nonexistent.
His breathing returned to normal. She looked over at his legs. There's no way the legs came out of this unscathed. He fell from the sky.
Nadia took off his boots which were way too heavy to be regular boots. Batman was no joke. She touched the sole of his foot. Intune with his body, she could tell that there was tension on his bones, especially his joints. She identifies a sprain on this leg but the other one didn't have one.
Nadia decided that she would treat her sprain regularly so that it looked like she did something for him. Oh, right he had a concussion and a sprain, perfect for giving him some ibuprofen and letting him rest.
Nadia wrapped his ankle in bandages while looking up at his face. She was in a panic so she wasn't paying much attention, but now that she didn't have to worry about him, the realization that Batman was in her house was sinking in.
If Nadia wanted she could take off his mask and learn the true identity of the infamous Batman. She could get killed for doing that though. Nadia sighed getting up to get some ice.
Walking back with ice wrapped around the cloth, she placed it atop his ankle. Then, she used a throw pillow to elevate it.
Nadia sat back down looking at the giant in her apartment. This was too bizarre.
Nadia sighed, she looked through her kit and got an IV of ibuprofen. Don't judge, Nadia was the over-prepared type.
Nadia took his gloves off and rolled up his sleeve to his inner arm. It was a more forgiving fabric than she expected but the glove's sleeve was tough so it made sense that the fabric underneath could be more comfortable.
Nadia was busy cleaning his skin with alcohol. She quickly found a vein. Placing the IV hook on her chair so that it was elevated, she focused on puncturing the needle into the vein.
Nadia was about to plunge the needle when a hand shot out and grabbed her arm.
Nadia's breath hitched and she was face to face with a now very awake and very scary Batman.
Shit.