The Ties That Bind Us

CHAPTER 3: Intoxication

Selina got Bruce out of the water as soon as it got too cold for his still feverish body to stand without shivering. They hadn't realized how long they were in the tub for until his body started complaining. She found them comfortable warm bathrobes and then helped him into bed again. The bathroom cabinet was filled with meds and a first-aid kit, which she brought with her to the bedroom and lay it on the sheets.

Ideally he'd go to a hospital and have the wound properly sutured and taken care of, but his obstinacy had her try to single-handedly stitch him up without much but a topic anesthetic, which wasn't really doing anything. Bruce kept trying to stand still to make her job easier, but the pain was too sharp and he couldn't help but wiggle underneath her from time to time.

After she managed to disinfect and close the injury as well as one could expect from a non-professional, she put on some antibiotic ointment on it as he bit on the pillow to avoid screaming. As she proceeded to cover the wound with gauze, she put her cold hand on his forehead to alleviate the heat and stress, because it was already sweaty from all the tension he'd been put through.

She was seriously considering running to the hospital to steal some IV antibiotics and some morphine, because as soon as he opened his eyes to her she saw that he was again in the state she'd first found him in. He must have been hallucinating from the fever and she was getting anxious. She hoped the medicine he was taking would take care of that rapidly or else she'd have to break the promise of no hospital.

"Wayne, I swear to god if you die of sepsis because of your stubbornness you're going to have to come back from the dead again so I can kill you once more," she told him and he gave her a childlike smile, though it didn't seem like he'd completely understood her.

"Yes, Miss Kyle."

Selina covered him with blankets and told him she would hopefully be right back soon with some dinner. She didn't expect to have much in the kitchen given he must have been lying in bed in pain pretty much since he'd arrived, but there was actually plenty and she managed to find a tomato canned soup and put it on a plate to warm up in the microwave. She helped him eat in bed and gave him anti-inflammatory pills after to take with some water. Then she brushed his hair back with her hands and eased him in, trying to get him more relaxed.

Bruce stumbled into a heavy nightmare-filled sleep a short time later and Selina was left alone to dwell on her thoughts. The complete and utter silence held her in place, the only sounds in the house coming from Bruce's deep and steady breaths. She thought about heading out of the bedroom to find one for herself, but the idea wasn't appearing too appealing for her, which she rationalized must have had to do with the fact that she shouldn't leave Bruce unattended for the night. And so she decided to stay in his bed and pick up her bags in the car in the morning.

The silent night finally brought her the exhaustion and relief she hadn't let herself feel throughout her day. It had been an intense couple of days and she was in much need of a good night sleep, which never came due to Bruce's frequent moans of pain. Fear crept into her mind as easily as it'd left when she first saw him there. When he first "died" a few days before, Selina couldn't stop him from going straight into the lion's den as much as she'd wanted to.

She knew that made her a horrible person, but she couldn't care less about those people, not when their lives were going to be saved to the detriment of his. But she knew that as unfair as his death sounded to her, that was the death Batman had chosen for himself and it was an honorable one. Which only made worse the fact that she was now holding his life in her hands and that if she failed him this time, there would be no noble reason or meaning behind it.

She spent the whole night monitoring his respiratory sounds, his temperature, and putting damp towels on his warm forehead. She would wake up alarmed when she'd realize she'd overslept her twenty-minute sleeping shifts and immediately check his heartbeat. Batman's death would not be her fault, not this time.