I knew Batman

Chapter 1 - On the rooftop

I was sitting alone on the rooftop of the hospital and I was smoking. Yes, as a doctor I should know better. But it was around 3 am and I lost a patient an hour ago. I needed something to calm my mind and the rooftop is usually my place to go after a lost someone.

I am not a bad doctor. Or at least I used to think so. I was in the top of my class. I was in many tough situations as a member of the Doctors Without Borders team. But not today. This is Gotham City. Gang wars, organised crime, and petty theft going badly are every day for our clinic. And the victims usually end up here beaten, stabbed, or shot. We try to help but in many cases, we are too late. We cannot do anything. I cannot do anything. We have so many cases of violence that we don't even bother to tell the police. Or the patients specifically ask that we should not call them because they fear the corrupt police force. And we respect their privacy.

When I got back into Gotham City, my hometown and I accepted the chief position in the emergency department I thought that I can make a change. I can help people. But all I do is patch up criminals and watch innocent people suffer from poverty, crime and violence. To tell the truth, I was not officially qualified for the chief position. I have just become an attending physician. But nobody else wanted the job. Why would anybody want it? It is an underfinanced free clinic living up from charity and with ridiculously low wages. But I wanted to do something so badly. At least we have a good team. It was hard to gain their respect as a woman. But they are dedicated people, who want to help. Sometimes I think I quit. But I owe my team that I continue this.

I was just finishing my cigarette and decided to go back and do the paperwork when I heard the quiet groaning from behind the boiler house on the roof.

"Hey, who is there?"

No answer, just the groaning. I went around the boiler house with caution. It was unlikely that someone is here. Only the hospital staff has access to the rooftop. I was expecting an animal, a cat maybe. But there he was, a man lying on the floor in a black protective suit and a bat-shaped mask. As a result of years of medical practice, I rushed over there without thinking and checked his breath and pulse. He was alive but passed out. He did not suffer any open wounds or at least so it seemed from the strong protective suit he wore. He must be the mysterious guy my brother John talked to me about, the one who calls himself Batman. He was a vigilante who works during the night and puts criminals behind bars. Definitely has a higher success rate than the whole Gotham City Police Department. Some say that he is a criminal himself. Some respected him as some kind of hero. I didn't know what to think but I knew that he was a man in need of medical help. I tried to move him, but he was heavy. I called Malik on my mobile. He was the most reliable nurse, and a good friend and luckily it was his shift.

"Malik, do not ask any questions, do not tell anybody, just bring a gurney to the roof!"

He trusted me and obeyed without any hesitation. After a few minutes, he was there.

"Oh man, this is Batman!" He almost shouted.

"Shh! Just help me to get him on the gurney and bring him to one of the unused exam-room!"

Batman was heavy with all the stuff and a protective suit on him. We hardly managed to put him on the bed. Malik covered him with a sheet and we pushed the gurney to the lift.

"The morgue, no one is there." Malik pushed the basement button.

On the fifth floor the elevator stopped and Doctor Greese, our paediatrician wanted to join us down, he was heading to the ground floor. I froze for a moment, I didn't know what to say but Malik saved the situation.

"I wouldn't in your place. This one really smells."

Dr Greese waved goodbye.

"I wait for the next one then."

We rolled Batman into one of the exam rooms. No one is in the morgue at this time of day. He was still unconscious. Malik wanted to take off his mask but I stopped him.

"Stop! We respect our patients' privacy, we respect criminals' privacy so we respect Batman's privacy as well."

"Come on! This is Batman! Are you not at all curious about who he is?"

"Not really. Right now I'm curious about his vitals." I tried to take off his chest suit or at least open it to listen to his lungs and heart. I was looking for some kind of buckle or zip to open it but I didn't find anything. Meanwhile, Malik was grabbing some strange widget from Batman's utility belt.

"I would be careful with that." I said. Malik pushed a button and the widget shot some kind of small arrow which end up in the wall.

"Put that down!" I told Malik. "You will hurt someone."

"Look, this thing is bat-shaped. It's kinda funny. He really is a fanatic."

Malik hardly said that, and all of a sudden, Batman woke. He sat up at high speed and jumped from the gurney while knocking over a bunch of medical equipment around him making a loud noise. He pulled over to the wall and looked around for an escape route like a cornered wild animal.

-"Easy, calm down! You are in a hospital. I am Judy Newman, I am a doctor. This is Malik Greene. We want to help you. You are safe here, no one has seen you just us." I tried to talk to him with a calm voice like I talk to wounded, agitated patients.

Batman took a deep breath, calmed down and finally looked at me. I felt that I am examined from my toe to the head.

I continued talking.

"I found you on the rooftop, you were unconscious. We brought you here to help. We did not remove your mask. I couldn't remove your suit either to check your vitals but I think you must have a concussion. You would need a CT scan. And you are probably dehydrated too."

For a long moment, he was just staring at me. I grabbed a bottle of water from one of the shelves and gave it to him. After a short hesitation, he accepted and drank it.

"Thank you." He spoke finally.

"I don't know what happened to you, but you really would need some tests, you could have some serious issues." I tried to convince him to stay but it seemed that my worries only put a short smile on his face.

"No. But I appreciate your help."

"Okay then." I pointed to the small basement window. "This leads to the back street of the hospital."

He nodded, took back the mysterious arrow-shooting device to his belt and with an unlikely high speed and agile movement he climbed out of the window and disappeared on the dark street.