"So...Arkham is a...hospital?" Jack muttered as he sat at the kitchen table eating his bowl of Cap'n Crunch Berries. He was red-faced from lack of sleep due to a cough that he had acquired from running around in the cold the previous night. This morning, as he sat eating breakfast with his father, Jack was slowly learning just who his parents were.
"Yes, Jack," The Joker answered him, poking his oatmeal with his spoon as Harley sat next to their son. She kept patting the top of his head as he continued to cough.
"Well...why were you in the hospital so much?" Jack continued.
The Joker sighed, unsure of what to say until Harley chimed in, "Arkham...is a different kind of hospital, honey. It's a place where people are taken to...to..."
"Be kept behind closed doors," The Joker said. "It's a place where your dear old Dad had to spend...every time he was caught..."
"Caught?" Jack said, confusedly.
His father smirked. "Caught doing...my job..."
Jack thought for a quiet moment and, after another deep cough, asked, "You rob banks, don't you, Dad?"
The question made The Joker's neck jerk and he popped it and said, "I do."
"And...do you do...what you did to that man last night?"
Harley bit her lip and sighed, "Baby..."
"No, no, Harl," The Joker interrupted her. "We promised..." He sniffed and looked at his son. "I...yeah, kiddo...I do..."
Jack's brow suddenly creased as he looked at Harley. "What about you, Mom?"
Her lips parted in slight surprise as she looked at The Joker, who softly nodded for her to answer. She took a deep breath and caressed her son's hair, saying, "Yes, baby."
He put down his spoon and looked down at his lap and played with his fingers. He heard his father shift quietly in his seat next to him, and his mother's hand was still caressing his hair and back. Jack blinked as he looked up at his father, "Did they...deserve it, Dad? Did they do something to you to..."
"They all deserve it, Jack," he answered as he suddenly got out of his chair and went to put his half-eaten oatmeal on the kitchen counter.
"Puddin'..." Harley called as he remained standing away from them.
Jack heard his father throw his bowl onto the counter and sigh heavily once more.
He couldn't understand why he was getting uncomfortable. He had learned quickly from watching the news every night with The Joker that they deemed robbing banks and killing people as deplorable acts toward society. But if they all deserved it, then what harm was there? Especially when his father was only trying to do his job.
He suddenly hopped out of his seat as he was reminded of something else on the news, something he knew always made his father scoff. "Dad? What about that guy that dresses like a bat?"
The Joker quickly whirled around, a hard glare toward his son as he stepped closer. "What about him?" he asked darkly.
Jack creased his brow inquisitively again, asking, "I mean, doesn't he go all over the city just like you? He beats up people who do...exactly what you do..."
Harley leaned forward in her chair, intrigued. "What are you saying, baby?"
"Well...why doesn't he get put in Arkham?"
His parents stared blankly at him until an abrupt laugh erupted from The Joker's throat that was soon reverberating off the walls of the theater. Harley also joined in with soft giggles as Jack looked on, smiling. "What?" he said, giggling to himself. "What'd I say?"
The Joker finally ceased his laughter, wiping his hair behind his ear as he approached his son, who covered his coughing as his father picked him up and rested him on his hip. He brushed Jack's cheek with his thumb and noticed the sudden rise in temperature in his skin.
"Hmm..." he smirked. "I think you need to go back to bed, Jacky. You have a small fever."
Harley suddenly got up from her chair and trotted over to them, placing the palm of her hand over her son's forehead. "Oh my God," she gasped. "Go lie down, honey. I'll get you a cold compress."
"Relax, Harl," The Joker told her, putting Jack back onto the floor. "It's probably just a little cold."
However, as soon as Jack's feet touched the floor, a coughing fit overcame him, making him double over as the rasping in his throat grew deeper.
"Jack?" The Joker asked, kneeling beside him with his hand on his back. "Come on, kiddo. Upstairs..."
"I'll call Dr. Stein," Harley panted frantically as she ran to their bedroom to retrieve her phone.
An hour later, The Joker secured his son in his bed and brought the blanket up to Jack's neck and tucked it around the rest of his body. He covered his feet with a quilt that Harley had brought from the sofa downstairs and Jack moaned as a tiny cough escaped his throat. "Dad?" he whispered.
"Shhh. Don't talk right now, son," he told Jack as he patted his leg. "You need to rest. The doctor will be coming soon."
Jack moaned again. "Dad, I don't want to see Dr. Stein. He's gonna give me a shot."
The Joker stroked his son's face to soothe him. "Well, Jacky, he may have to, depending on how sick you are. But it'll make you feel better. I promise."
The Joker watched him as he breathed deeply. Jack curled into a tight ball, whimpering, "Dad. I'm cold."
His father wrapped his arm around his body and squeezed him. "Just close your eyes and stay in the blanket. You'll warm up soon."
Harley approached the bed with a bottle of Children's Tylenol and sat beside her son. "Jack," she said. "I want you to take something to help with your fever." She paused as she set the medicine on his bedside table. "Shoot...I'll go get some water for you, Sweetie." With that, she quickly exited the bedroom and trotted down the stairs.
The Joker looked at Jack and caressed his hair. "I'll be right back, son. You take a little nap, okay?" Jack slowly nodded and let out another hoarse cough.
He found Harley in the kitchen where she had stopped under the cabinet to get a glass. "Harl..." he called out to her.
Harley suddenly put her hands up to her face and started to cry, to which he approached her and put his arms around her. She sobbed quietly into his vest while he rubbed her back.
Harley looked at him, her eyes swollen from all of the crying she had done ever since she felt Jack's face. His fever was high and he couldn't stand up on his own, he was so weak.
She took a deep breath and said through choking sobs, "I'm a horrible mother...just like you said..."
The Joker sighed and rolled his eyes. "Babe, I was angry...you know that..."
"No, you were right..." she said as she looked into his dark eyes. "I was supposed to make sure that he was in bed...I should have checked on him...oh, God...he could have been hurt...and now...he...he..."
She broke down again and The Joker held her tighter and put his face in her hair. He feared the worst as well, but he wouldn't tell her that.
"Harley," he whispered. "He's gonna be okay. Pretty soon he'll be back out of bed and bringing frogs in the house again. We know how much you love that." She giggled as he wiped her cheeks.
The front door opened and Dr. Stein greeted her. "Hello, mamele, I came as fast as I could. You wouldn't believe the crazy shmoks that are on the road tonight."
She pulled away from The Joker and ran up to Dr. Stein, throwing her arms around him and catching him off guard. He chuckled as he patted her back, "Vot's all this, gelibte?"
Harley sniffed and looked into his eyes. "I just wanna thank you for still being here for Jack and for us even though you still work for The Mob-I mean..."
Dr. Stein threw his hands up and laughed. "Oh, my dear! I'm a doctor. I work for any one who wants to stay my patient, God willing." Harley laughed and hugged him again. "Easy now, my dear. Ve don't want Papa to get all fardekhtik."
The Joker really didn't know what that meant, but he shook his head and grinned. "Hey, Doc," he said as he walked over to them. "I appreciate it, too." He held out his hand and the good doctor gladly took it. "A sheynam dank," The Joker said as he shook Dr. Stein's hand.
The doctor laughed with joy at his host's gratitude and turned and walked up to Jack's bedroom. Harley looked at The Joker with an impressed expression on her face. He gave her a smug look and put his hands in his pockets. "I looked it up online."
"Hello, little one," Dr. Stein said to Jack as he entered the bedroom and all he could do was wave at him wearily. "Did we get stuck out in the cold? Chasing those girls again, huh?" Jack struggled to laugh, but his chest was hurting badly and his muscles ached.
Dr. Stein shook his finger at him as he put on his stethoscope. "You know, I warned your poor mother a long time ago that you would be a heartbreaker. You watch out; girls are not worth getting sick...well, some of the time."
The Joker chuckled as the doctor continued to talk to Jack. "Ok, let's have a listen." The stethoscope was cold on Jack's chest, but it soothed him as his body's temperature was steadily rising. Dr. Stein stood up and took out his thermometer from his bag, shaking it and saying, "Put this under your tongue and keep it still."
After about a minute, he took it out of Jack's mouth and read it and nodded his head while clucking his tongue. "Yes, just as I thought. Miss Quinn, I'm afraid Little Jack here has a case of pneumonia."
Harley sighed miserably and looked pitifully at her son. The Joker put his arm around her, asking "What can we do to help him get better, Doc?"
Dr. Stein rummaged through his bag and brought out a bottle of reddish liquid. "I had a feeling it was something like this when you called me. Lots of kids get sick with it around this time and Little Jack is no exception." He pointed at the instructions on the label of the bottle. "He needs to take a spoonful of this twice a day, before breakfast and before bedtime. He needs to take it until it is empty, and yes, even if he appears to be better." He handed the bottle to The Joker and he looked at the label.
Dr. Stein looked at Harley and continued, "Children's Tylenol at least once a day will help bring down his fever. Also, no cough suppressants. All of the coughing Jack will be doing will help clear his lungs, and trust me, he will be doing lots of it. However, if coughing too much is giving him a sore throat, then use the lowest dose of suppressant possible to help him rest."
The Joker had gone over to Jack's bed and knelt beside him. He stroked his hair and Jack shifted onto his side and let out another raspy cough. "Thank you, Doc," he heard Harley say. "Is there anything else?"
Dr. Stein held her hand in his. "Yes, dahling. Let him rest, for the love of God. He doesn't need his mother to break out the old baby monitors and attach one to her hip. He's going to be okay."
As Harley escorted the doctor down the stairs and to the door, The Joker heard Jack's frail voice. "Dad?"
"Yeah, son?"
Jack slowly opened his eyes. "He didn't give me a shot."
"He didn't?" The Joker asked, feigning shock. "Hang on, I'll go get him."
"Daaaad..." Jack said, giggling.
The Joker smiled and stroked his son's face as he closed his eyes again. He picked up Humphrey from the end of the bed and put him on the pillow by Jack's head. Dr. Stein's advice was reassuring, but it didn't stop him from blaming himself.
If he had decided to tell him everything, had let him know about what he actually did while on the streets of Gotham, then he wouldn't have to be chased down and trapped by his father who had an itchy trigger finger. And now, he had congested lungs and was trying to maintain his breathing.
He bent down and kissed Jack's cheek as he softly snored, and Harley was back with a small glass of ice water and Jack's new medicine. "Jacky, baby," she softly said to him. He opened his eyes and smirked at her. "I need you to sit up for just a second, honey. Dr. Stein wants you to take this medicine twice a day, okay?"
He nodded and slowly raised himself up. The Joker kept his hand on his back to secure him while Harley made him take a spoonful and Jack swallowed it as he made a disgusted face.
The Joker chuckled and rubbed Jack's back while he took a drink of water. "You'll get used to it, kiddo." He carefully laid him back onto the bed and Jack drifted off to sleep. Harley kissed him on the cheek and she quietly crept to the door. "Pud?"
The Joker had stood up from his place on the bed and was now staring at his son's fragile body. He slowly turned his head and looked at her, his eyes holding a preoccupied expression.
Harley held out her hand and he took it and let her lead him to their bedroom where they both slept lightly, listening for the smallest cough to emerge from Jack's bedroom.
The Joker, however, was still awake hours later and he looked over at Harley as she slumbered. He shifted uncomfortably, startling her awake. "Mm," she grumbled. "What is it?"
"Nothing...I can't sleep..." he whispered.
She was quiet as she looked at him as he stared at the ceiling fan as it whirled slowly. "What is it, Mistah J?"
He closed his eyes and licked his lips. "I know I haven't been home a lot lately," he said. "And I just don't want you...or him...to think that I don't give a shit..."
Harley propped herself on her elbows and placed her hand on his stomach. "What? He doesn't think that, Daddy."
"Do you think that?" he asked, opening his eyes and looking at her.
Her lips parted slightly and she looked back at him. "No...I don't...I do wish you would spend more time with him though..."
The Joker threw up his free hand and said, "You don't think I don't hate that I can't spend all my time with him." He sighed. "And then this happens. We should have told him everything when he learned to talk."
She kissed him on the cheek and he rested his face in the crook of her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair, saying, "You're his world, ya know. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't see a twinkle in his eye when you walk in that front door at night."
He smiled as she continued, "He's going to be fine," she continued. "We just both need to be truthful about...everything...from now on."