Sick Bird.

27. Interruptions.

How long were you intending to lie to me?"

Robin lifted his head to meet his mentor's gaze when he didn't get an answer. The Dark Knight's face was as emotionless as ever.

"What's really happening to me...?"

Batman stayed quiet for a minute or two before voicing a response. "How long have you known?"

"I knew the minute BC told me I was going to be okay...I mean, it was obvious she was lying. She hesitated, she wouldn't look me in the eye and her smile was clearly fake. Those are all signs of someone who is lying. You taught me that. So if she was lying, it means...I'm in some serious trouble, aren't I?" Robin asked, a slight sign of anxiousness on his face.

Batman reached a gloved hand forward and gently placed it on his ward's shoulder. "You're going to be fine, Ro-"

"Don't say that!" Robin snapped, roughly shaking his father-figure's hand off his shoulder. "Don't try to sugarcoat anything...I want to know what's happening to me."

He looked back up to stare straight into the whites of the vigilante's mask, mumbling softly. "Please Bruce..."

His voice was pleading, and if you listened well enough, there was a thin layer of fear laced into those two simple words. Fear of the unknown.

The Caped Crusader parted his lips to answer. To get this over with. To tell his son that he's dying and...that, for the first time in a long time, he didn't know what to do or how to fix it.

Though, he didn't get a chance to do so when Robin hunched down and suddenly erupted into a coughing fit.

He furrowed his brows in concern and reached over to lightly hit the boy's back in an attempt to help, but the effort proved to be futile when the young acrobat's coughs turned to breathless wheezes.

"Robin!" Batman reached to the side to grab hold of the oxygen mask on the stand before hooking an arm around his protege's waist to support him as he brought the mask up to his face.

Robin weakly reached up to press the oxygen mask to his face, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to breathe into it. It looked like it helped for a moment, but only a minute flew by before the thirteen year old stopped coughing and went limp in his mentor's arms, his eyes sliding shut and his hand dropping back to his side, his fingers letting go of the oxygen mask.

Batman felt himself starting to panic and removed the mask from Robin's face before kneeling down and carefully laying his partner on the cold, hard floor of the hallway.

He quickly removed his right glove and lightly pressed his fingers to the boy's wrist. He didn't feel anything.

The Dark Knight's heart started beating erratically inside his chest as he moved his fingers up to Robin's neck.

'C'mon, Dick...'

Then he felt it. It was slow and faint, but it was there. His heart was still beating, if somewhat barely, he was still alive.

He then pulled back and held the palm of his hand inches above of Robin's parted lips, feeling a wave of relief washing over him when he felt soft puffs of air rushing up against his skin. He was breathing.

Batman replaced his glove and swiftly scooped the young hero up into his arms before turning and walking into the infirmary, intending to find out what the hell just happened.