Arkham Buddies

CHAPTER 14: Talking Plants

Barbara and I enter the apartment carefully, a sleeping Ivy in our arms. We both carry her to the couch where we depose her gently. I take out my cell phone to check the time and see that it's already been 5 hours since we left for Crane's place.
I turn to Barbara, trying so hard not to cry.
"I'm sorry about this." I say softly. "I just couldn't do anything... It happened so fast..."
Barbara looks at me with concern and strokes my back kindly.
"It's not your fault, Harley." She says.
I sniffle.
Barbara moves away from me and bends over Ivy's inert body to check if the sleeping girl is still breathing. After a few seconds, she looks back at me with a comforting smile.
"She'll be all right."
I stare at her with tears in my eyes.
"She took a lot of that... poison. Her body needs to heal from it. She's probably gonna sleep until tomorrow morning. "
"There is nothing we can do ?" I say with a shaky voice.
Barbara shrugs her shoulders.
"You can try to wake her up, though I wouldn't recommend it. She's not in a good state right now."
I nod slowly.
Barbara checks her cell phone and frowns.
"There's an emergency on Park's Avenue. I have to go."
"What? Now? You're leaving me alone with her?"
Barbara looks at me with a worried expression.
"Harley, people's lives could be in danger. Joker is spreading chaos all over Gotham. I have my cell phone if you need anything."
I let her go with a worried nod, calling out "good luck".
I seat on the couch next to Ivy as I watch Barbara walking past the front door. The apartment is suddenly filled with an oppressive silence.
I sigh and lean my head back, feeling suddenly exhausted, and run my hands over my face.
I turn my gaze towards Ivy when I hear her mumbling something in her sleep. It makes me smile. "She'll be ok. She's ok.." I whisper to myself.
It doesn't take long before I fall asleep next to her.
* * *
Someone is shaking my shoulder.
I wake up with a groan, not sure how long it was since I fell asleep.
I look around the room, which is now plunged into the sweet morning light.
I rub my eyes and notice Ivy is awake and standing up next to me.
"Where the fuck am I??" She asks with a shaky, scared voice.
I groan and sit up.
"What?"
"How did I get here?"
I stare at her curiously.
"Ivy... This is your place. We're living here. Remember?" I say with the softer tone.
She opens wide eyes and shakes her head.
"No, that's not true. I live... with my dad... He's... I don't..."
I stand up and try to approach her gently. She steps back.
"Ivy listen to me. Last night... Something happened to you... You got... poisoned..." I explain with a sigh.
She's staring at me in disbelief.
She takes another step away from me.
"I don"t understand. Who are you anyway??" She asks angrily.
"Ivy, it's me. Harley. I'm your girlfriend."
"What?"
"I'm your girlfriend. We're dating, remember?"
"No."
"Yes!"
"SHUT UP!"
I have tears in my eyes now.
She doesn't remember me. She doesn't remember anything about us. I'm living my worst nightmare.
"Please, just... listen to me. We're together. You know we are. I.. I love you."
She doesn't seem to be listening to me though.
"Ivy?"
"I'm not your girlfriend. I want to go home..."
She starts to cry, holding her head between her hands.
I don't know what to do. It takes me a few seconds before anything manages to come out of my mouth.
"You want to go home?" I ask, confused.
She raises her head and looks at me with watery eyes.
I feel hot tears on my cheeks at the sight of her. She seems so lost, so fragile. Like a little girl.
"Of course I want to go home! I don't know who you are! Why are you trying to force me to stay here?! I want my parents!"
I sigh, rubbing my forehead.
"Ivy... Your parents... They're dead. Years ago."
"Is... Is that why you took me away?! Because you killed my parents?!?"
"I didn't kill your parents! I swear!" I explode.
I begin to be scared. Really scared.
"Well, who did?!?" She cries.
"Well... you did."
Ivy looks at me with burning, furious eyes.
"What?"
"You killed your parents. Well, only your Dad. 'Cause he killed your mom. Remember?"
She begins to sob again and falls on the floor, hands against her ears. I kneel beside her. She's starting to remember. I know she knows what she did, and it's coming back to her all at once. I feel terrible.
"Shut up. Please just shut up..." She says with a broken little voice.
After a few seconds, she stops crying and looks up at me.
"Why would you say such things?"
I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Ivy... You drank amnesia toxin. It made you forget things. "
I take her hand in mine. It's so cold.
She shakes her head, mumbling inaudible things, eyes closed, her hands still on her ears.
I want to take her into my arms, but I'm worried it might scare her off even more.
"I'm sorry. Ivy, I'm so sorry. It's gonna be okay..."
I don't find anything better to say. After a minute or so, she breaks the silence.
"I'm hearing them..." She whispers.
"What?"
I can't hear anything, only the wind blowing clouds of dust against the window.
"What do you mean? "
"The vines... I can... hear them..." She says.
I sigh, a bit relieved.
She stands up and brings her finger to her mouth, before pointing outside.
"Do you hear that?" She asks with sudden excitement.
I shake my head in response.
"I can't hear them as you do. It's kinda... your thing."
"They're talking to me..." She says softly, looking around her like a crazy person.
I smile tenderly at her, but she doesn't notice.
She turns around and walks towards the nearest wall.
"What are they saying?"
She walks alongside the vines covered wall and stops in front of a particularly large patch.
"They're whispering my name... Poison... Ivy... They say I can... trust you. And they also say..."
She pauses briefly as if trying to transmit the message through the plants themselves.
"They say this is my home now, and that I can't go back to my old life."
"Well, I guess you believe me now?"
She looks up at me and smiles.
"Do... do you think they like me?" She asks.
I escape a light laugh.
"Of course they do! You're like a mother to them."
She frowns with a cute smirk.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you do all kinds of motherly things, making sure they have all they need, that they flower into trees and shit."
She smiles and strokes the patch of whispering vines.
"It's weird... I feel... strangely relax..." She says.
"Relaxed?"
"Yeah..." She says and laughs a little. "I can't remember the last time I felt this calm."
I smile and take a step towards her.
She turns around and looks at me, still a bit on guard.
"You're ready to listen to me now? I can explain to you everything."
She looks at me and nods.