Big Mistake - Page 4

The days passed, Harley felt like today was her last in this hospital. Then she would go to Arkham. She was slightly glad; staring at these same walls was getting boring. But once she got to Arkham, the only thing she would see would be her bare empty cell and the room where her therapy sessions would be.

She always hated how the cells were so empty. Nothing at all was in them, rarely a flimsy bed and the tightly locked door. She had counted every tile on the floor, wall, and ceiling. 87 tiles on the floor, 142 on all four walls, and 75 on the ceiling. Every cell was built the same, every cell and those numbers.

She had played checkers in her mind when she stared at the ceiling, and won herself so many times. All day, they left you bored to death in those damn cells. Most of the patients went insane just being in there!

Twice a week you went to your therapy sessions. Well, that depended on the patient. Harley went there twice a week. Joker usually went only once now. Harley groaned as she remembered the worst part. The daily injections!

Once a day, they stuck you with needles, again depending on the patient. There were different medications for different mental disorders. Those who had multiple disorders received multiple medications.

And if they didn't know what the hell was wrong with you, they just drugged you with anything. When she was working there, she never really knew how horrible the damn medications were. She always believed what her boss told her. "They may look like they're in pain, but they're getting cured. Don't worry Harleen, a few more days of this and they'll be normal, like us."

But later on she realized the truth. They just did it to torture you. To get revenge on the pain we'd caused them. That's all it really was.


The day was almost over. The morphine had stopped and Harley could tell she was healing well. She kept working at the restraints. They didn't budge. Well it was something to do. She moved her arms around, getting a good rhythm going. Maybe eventually they'd grow loose.

The door opened. Harley didn't stop, she ignored the doctor who walked in.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Quinzel." He checked his chart, not looking at her either. He was wearing a blue doctor's outfit and a stethoscope around his neck. His mouth was covered by a blue paper mask that medical people wore all the time. The mask didn't muffle his voice, but it hid whatever emotion his voice might have.

Harley glanced at him and growled, "If you haven't heard, I prefer Quinn, thank you very much."

"Nope. On here it says Quinzel." He tapped the clipboard and gave her a look.

She sheepishly noticed he was kinda cute. Blonde hair, dark brown eyes. She turned her head away. She missed Joker.

The doctor kept his distance and examined his charts again. After a little silence he set it down on a table and sat down in the chair next to her bed. "Well! It seems…you have healed… pretty well."

Harley ignored him. She kept her head turned away and stared at her heart monitor that beeped softly.

"How are ya feeling… Ms. Quinn?" He asked, staring at her.

"Horrible." She whispered under her breath so he wouldn't hear. But he did hear.

"Oh really? Why is that?" He asked as he leaned back and fiddled with his
stethoscope.

Harley glanced back at him, annoyed. "Hey, buster! You're not my damn therapist alright!? Why don't you leave me alone?"

"My sister works as a therapist at Arkham. I have some experience. And I'm easier to talk to than her." He told her, his blue mouth mask hiding any emotion in his voice. "Why are you feeling horrible?"

Harley rolled her eyes and turned her head away again. Stupid doctor. Why the hell is everyone trying to help me? I'm not worth helping! And why the hell does he have a mask on, is he going into surgery later or what!?

She shook her head, and sighed. He asked again. "Why are you feeling horrible?"

She closed her eyes. "Because I'm worth less than trash."

The doctor waited for her to go on. When she didn't, he prompted her. "Who says?"

Harley waited a while before she reluctantly answered. "Me."

"Is that the truth?" He leaned forward and raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. I hate myself…" She felt the damn tears rising up again.

They disappeared as she opened her eyes wide in shock. The doctor had burst out laughing.