No sleep for the wicked

chapter 4- Good night

Nigma’s case was rather severe but he brought it on himself. He was now clean and stitched, and knocked out. I was happy that egoistic mouth of his was finally closed, yet his snoring wasn’t much to be desired. Oakley was finally able to move Nigma, out of the examination room. I took off my blood spattered white coat, and placed it over the back of my chair, I didn’t feel like sitting down.

There was increase of tension in the room, then David spoke, “Ashleigh what are you doing this weekend?” David didn’t look up at me, but I could see he was blushing. He had asked this many times before, and it had always been the same answer and there won’t be a change to that answer. “David, you know what the answer is going to be.” He nodded and looked up at me, “Ashleigh, you know I like you more than a friend, all I want is one date.” I shook my head, then there was a knock on the door, I answered it to see Oakley, “you’re making a habit of this you know. Who is it this time?” and in stepped Jonathan, he had a black eye and a broken nose I could see that the scar I had stitched so neatly over three years ago had ripped open and left and ugly tear which ended through his lip.

I gasped a little, blood was smeared everywhere. The blood from the ugly tear in his lip had dripped of his chin and onto his white shirt, his eyes looked deadly. I turned towards Oakley, “What happened?” Oakley shook his head, “Once again Ashleigh it wasn’t his fault, a lunatic decided to over step his boundaries and attack him while he was in the outside gardens.” As soon as Oakley had finished talking I walked over to Jonathan, and look at his injuries in detail. The tear was deep; I could see teeth behind his torn lip, and slight bone behind the rest of the tear leading up to his nose. Then I thought of the first time I ever had to treat him.

Three years earlier-

There was a knock on the door, I walked over to open it only to see Jonathan Crane being pushed through it, and he was then followed by Oakley. Oakley sat Jonathan Crane on the examination table. I grabbed my clip board with the injury statement attached to it and began to list down what injuries he was sustaining. “Mr Crane what happened to you?” he looked up at me with dark eyes filled with pain, he opened his mouth and all I was greeted with was blood.

He was so badly beaten, that he was able to bite open his own cheek and tongue, and his lip was split open as well. I gave a gasp. I bent down and pulled out a small dish so he could spit out any blood that was pooling in his mouth. By the time I got back up half of the dish was already filled with blood, “Oakley what happened?” he sighed, “well some of jokers ex-Hench men, decided to teach him a lesson.” And I knew all too well why, his fear toxin. It had affected many people except people without fear, and Joker’s men had much to fear. It had made them venerable, so they decided to make Jonathan crane venerable too.

“Mr Crane I need to you to point to places on your person where you have been injured.” He nodded and spat more blood into the dish, he pointed with a skinny finger to his mouth, I nodded and listed down his bitten tongue and cheek, he then pointed to his nose. It had been punched at such an angle that surgery was the only option, again I listed this. The last thing Jonathan Crane pointed to was three twisted fingers on his right hand. I listed this, and then I put down the clip board, “Oakley, you should wait outside the door this is going to take a while.” Oakley nodded and stepped outside.

First I needed to stitch up his mouth which was still bleeding heavily; I sighed and walked over to the fridge and pulled out an IV drip. I hooked it on the pole stand next to Jonathan Crane, and inserted a needle which caused the drip to run into his arm, “Would you like to be awake while I reline and stitch everything Mr Crane?” he spat blood into the dish again and looked at as if I was his prey, “I’d rather be awake, pain doesn’t bother me much, what about you Doctor Clark does anything bother you?” I didn’t know whether to answer that truthfully or lie, but he would know if I lied.

“Plenty of things bother my Mr Crane, like myself." I said this while grabbing a scalpel, “I’m going to make an incision next to your nose so I can reline it. Feel free to talk during.” he nodded quickly, and began to speak as I made the thin cut, “it’s odd being here, I never thought I would become a criminal, or get caught for being one,” I nodded to myself, the thin incision was finally finished. I grabbed a small thin blunt rod, to twist his nose upwards which will reline it. “This is going to hurt most likely.” Jonathan Crane nodded, and then I inserted the rod inwards, I twisted it violently upwards until the sickening crack rang throughout the room, suddenly Jonathan Crane launched off the examination table, and pulled the rod from the incision and looked at me with a glare which could make anyone crumble in fear.

Then he started to walk towards me, “I know everyone’s fear Ashleigh, and yours is yourself. You’re afraid of what you could do to someone if they pushed you to it.” This was the scarecrow greatest weakness though, his fear is finding someone who could cope with the fear they hold inside themselves. I smirk crawled on to my face, “ your ever so right Mr Crane, but I cope with my fear every day, the demon I have to face every day is what I see in the mirror every morning, the voice I hear all the time. Do not give me a lecture on what I fear because I know all too well what it is, and it isn’t you and it isn’t anyone else. It’s just me myself and I.”

Suddenly Jonathan collapsed onto the rough concrete floor, he began to shake, he was going into shock. I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him up onto the examination table, suddenly the shaking stopped, “you were right, that was going to hurt.” His dark eyes were level with mine. “That’s one of the worst bits over now.”  Then I pulled out a needle and dipped it into some alcohol.

Present-

David grabbed the injury statement, and passed it to me. I quickly listed the extent of the injury, it was deep and very aggressive looking will need extensive treatment, possible antibiotics in case of infection. I passed the injury statement back to David without breaking eye contact with Jonathan Crane, I brought a hand up to Jonathan’s face, and he looked at me intensely wondering what my next move would be.

I turned his head to the side so I could see another angle to the injury, it was even more horrific, and the width of the scar was great as well as deep. I looked at both David and Oakley, “this injury needs all the attention it can get, I need as much concentration as I can get. Could you please remove yourselves from the room.” Oakley nodded and left, “I meant you too David.” He looked disappointed, “but I could help Ashleigh.” I sighed, “No you couldn’t David.” His head sunk as he walked out of the room.  I Moved away from Jonathan, to grab tweezers and a needle as well as a length of thread. “Ashleigh, you do know that David likes you don’t you?” I turned round to look at Jonathan, I sighed and walked back over to him with my equipment, “yes I know every week he asks me what I’m doing on the weekend and tells me how he likes me more than a friend. I know already Jonathan.”

He nodded to himself, and didn’t say another word. Cleaning the wound was rather hard as small fragments of rock and dirt were caught in it, yet even when I was removing the small fragments and applying alcohol to the wound, Jonathan didn’t even flinch. I felt I had said something to offend him, stepped back to look in his eyes and saw he was pondering. Then his eyes flickered up to mine, “why won’t you go on that date with him Ashleigh?” I looked down at the floor, and back up at Jonathan, “mainly because I’m dedicated to my job, I’m always here every day of the week, from half three, to nine o’clock. I don’t know what else to do” Jonathan, looked at me up and down, and shrugged, “is it not that you like someone else?” I opened my mouth to say something but decided to just shrug instead, and prepare the needle for stitching.

Then Jonathan started to laugh, I don’t know why but he didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, then I saw blood trickling down onto his shirt. His face became redder and redder by the second as he rocked himself back and forth as he laughed, then his eyes flickered to mine a large grin cracked his dry bloody lips, he then stood up and pushed the examination table up against the office door. I was trapped, “Ashleigh, let us in! What’s going on Ashleigh?!” Oakley and David were both trying to force themselves into the office by brute strength.

I looked at Jonathan crane, who was coming ever closer to me. The rip was even wider as Jonathan smiled savagely. Suddenly my vision began to blur, what was happening, my vision was red and everything around me was dark yet. I could see shapes, bodies with were contorted into horrific shapes. Fear toxin, if had flooded my senses. I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t then I was consumed and blackness as the Scarecrow’s savagely grinning face came closer, “Good night Ashleigh.”