Bruce went into Arsenio's room. He saw his son asleep in the middle of his new and very large bed. Adriana insisted on stacking pillows around the perimeter of the bed every night, worried that he would fall off. Arsenio assured her that he would not move from the middle of the new king-sized bed, and he never did. But Adriana still created the pillow wall anyway. Bruce quietly removed a few of the pillows on one side of the bed.
He then sat in a chair beside the bed and waited for Arsenio to wake up. Regretfully, he thought of the things he would have to tell his son. Bruce was leaving again for a long time. It was dreadful news and Bruce did not know how Arsenio would react.
The rehab facility did allow for family visitation. There were days dedicated to it. Rooms dedicated to the visits of children. But Bruce knew that this would confuse his son.
Bruce thought of Adriana's parents and wondered how difficult it must have been for them to raise a child who was not like other children. If Arsenio was a normal two and half year old, they would have been able to bring him to the rehab facility with no problem. Of course, he would have been upset when visitation was over, but Arsenio was intelligent. Too intelligent.
He would want to know why Bruce was so close to home, but was not at home. If he overheard someone referencing doctors or treatment, he would know that something was going on with Bruce's health. Arsenio could also read quite well. If he saw the word 'rehab', which Bruce was almost entirely sure Arsenio could read the word very easily, he would not stop asking questions about it. So, Bruce decided he would need to resort to lying about another business trip.
Bruce leaned forward to put his forehead into one of his hands. He needed to be strong right now and wait for his son to wake, but he felt weakness coming over him.
He had let his wife slip away. The things that he had done could not be undone.
He remembered how quickly he had decided to marry Adriana. And without a prenuptial agreement. Nothing had ever felt more right.
He was not a man to make quick decisions. Yet, he had proposed to a woman pregnant with another man's child without any precaution or thought of protecting himself and his assets. Bruce had always preferred to plan, examine, and be sure about his decisions. But things had changed.
As he sat in the quiet room, he realized for the first time how much of a gamble he had taken. With Adriana he had thrown himself in head first. And she had never done anything to make him regret it.
He remembered how angry he had become when he realized the Joker was Arsenio's father and that Adriana had taken his son to see the Joker regularly. He had overreacted. Bruce remembered his anger and how silly it seemed now. Adriana would not harm anyone, especially not her son.
She had been an incredible wife and was an amazing mother. Bruce had experienced countless casual lovers and had been in a few semi-serious relationships. He was realizing that Adriana was the first woman he had been intimately involved with that actually gave a damn about him.
With every other woman, he had been free to do whatever he wished without answering to anyone. If he did anything wrong, women forgave him very easily. Their forgiveness, he knew from the start, was contingent on material reimbursement. It was the gifts, the money and the power that made him above consequence with women. Because that was what the women loved, rather than him as a person. The money, the power, the status, the parties, the exclusivity, the diamonds, the luxury goods, even the fame. These were the things that women loved about him and the things they expected from being with him.
Perhaps this was what had initially intrigued Bruce about Adriana. She was so very different. She had never asked him about being his plus one at high profile events. She never used being out with him as an opportunity to network and build her list of contacts. She never casually mentioned how much she loved Chanel, Hermes, Tiffany's or Cartier in hopes that he would buy her a gift.
Her personality was lovely, genuine and sweet. And on top of that, he was incredibly attracted to her. Bruce remembered the first time he saw her. He was the Batman and she was an independent contractor working for Gotham's police department. He was amazed at her abilities but was also stunned at her beauty.
When he first saw her, she was much thinner. He had a darkness around her eyes and a somewhat withdrawn and apologetic demeanor. She looked very tired but her eyes were wide and somewhat fearful. Like someone on a bad trip. Bruce had initially just assumed, before learning how her mind reading gifts had tormented her, that she had substance abuse problems. And despite that, on first sight, Bruce was sure that several prestigious modeling agencies would sign her on sight. If she were taller, he would find it hard to believe that any of them would not be interested.
He became drawn to her uniqueness, both in appearance and personality. She had not pursued him, he went after her, which was rare. Women would usually throw themselves at him. Bruce had to win her trust and her heart. He had to prove himself to her, whereas with other women he had already been proven simply because he was Bruce Wayne in the flesh.
Adriana had truly loved him and Bruce was sure that he would never find what he had with her again. Was it better to have loved and lost? He tried to remember himself before Adriana. He focused on his work, vigilantism, and reputation. The person he was before her seemed shallower, and much simpler. She had given him a complexity and depth that he did not know he could have. The newfound depth made the void she would leave feel even deeper. He did not know he could feel such pain. And as he began to realize how she had changed him, he found himself yearning for physical pain to distract himself. He would never touch a painkiller again. The pain is his body could never come close to what he was feeling. But it could distract him. He could not stop himself from weeping.
"Daddy?" Bruce looked up and saw Arsenio looking at him. "Daddy?"
Arsenio sat up, immediately concerned, seeing his father cry. It was the most unusual and unexpected thing Arsenio had ever seen. Quickly, Arsenio made it to the edge of the bed and Bruce took him into his arms and sat again in the chair near his bed.
"Daddy you sad?" Arsenio asked him and touched Bruce's tears. "Daddy?"
Bruce had hoped to spare Arsenio the bad news for some time. He wanted his son to enjoy his breakfast first, at least. He did not want to bombard him as soon as he woke up.
Bruce nodded once.
"Arsenio, I need to talk to you about something," Bruce said.
