Things only got stranger the next day.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00Fj2ZISQ9
"Please, lady, they're eating me! They'll kill me if you don't make them go away!" a female patient pleaded. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutVvysxxs2
"Shh. It's alright. We'll make them go away," Julia reassured her patient soothingly, despite the fact nothing was on her. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSPitUBDcB
"I'll get her a tranquilizer," one of the other interns said. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoJ9vP907a
"That would probably be best," Julia replied. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3FmOCGDaR
"Will it make these things get off me?!" the patient asked frantically. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTIRLruVVB
"Yes, it will," Julia reassured again. "They'll be gone soon. Now I want you to look at me, nothing else. I'm right here." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eJCiM3GSl
The patient quieted down eventually, but she kept looking frantically around her cell, from side to side, until finally the tranquilizer did what it was supposed to, and her eyes slowly closed. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBB1ATeaiH
"Something's wrong," Julia said, shaking her head. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRPFtGlDRI
"We all know that," a male doctor in the group, named Dave, said. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSmd8phQ6G
"I'm going to try again," Julia said. "Maybe I can get Crane to change their prescriptions." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDoP0tdR8X
"I think you should wait until break time to do that," he cautioned. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqzdtp8o2i
"Well, this is kind of important," she said. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeil7ADB8kQ
But when she hurried up to his office, he didn't answer her knocks on the door. Maybe he's finally off doing something about these recent events, Julia thought, but something prevented her from turning away and re-joining her co-workers. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bODk5mgsJ
She looked both ways, and when she saw the hallway was clear except for her, she silently opened the door and stepped into the empty and surprisingly cozy office, complete with a velvet rug, an organized desk and a shelf full of books. The books were mainly works by Edgar Allan Poe, plus a few by Shakespeare--not as many psychological non-fiction books as she'd expected to see, though there were some on the bottom shelf. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMm93Gh3E3K
Now I'M the one acting twelve. I should really be helping those people, Julia thought as she moved on to his desk. Harleen was wrong, though; she didn't "like" him, she just wanted to know more about him, things that she could never ask him herself but things she had to know, like why he was so into fear but yet had such a calm demeanor about him. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjL5Ux2yNa
Something suddenly caught her eye when she looked down at his briefcase under the desk. She bent down to touch the odd material sticking out of the closed briefcase, and saw it was what looked like worn burlap. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkt9ChMZ2U
No, Julia, no... But yet she still stubbornly unlatched the briefcase to find it was some kind of...854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSbAKelxNv
But she didn't have a chance to finish her thought about what it could possibly be. "Can I help you?" 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaVAAhREgc
Blood rushed to her face, and she made herself get up and turn around to face him. "I can explain this," she said, while trying to make her heart slow down to its normal pace. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeB1LyScae2
"Oh, well, please do then," Dr. Crane said, eyebrows raised. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyP6jZdatJx
"I'm...I'm..." Oh, real smooth, Madison. "I know I shouldn't be in here, but..." Suddenly, a good answer came to her, even if it was a lie. Right now her job could be on the line. "I thought one of your books might have some advice to help our patients," she said quickly. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZmZ4uFhvI
"And you thought my briefcase might have something as well?" 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7jMsPh7MW
"Oh...well, when I looked away from the bookshelf I couldn't help but notice some material sticking out of there and..." The back of her head and the palms of her hands tingled furiously. "Please don't fire me," she said in a near whisper. "I'm sorry." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOUq3OpaRe
"Curiosity is a normal thing," he replied, going around his desk and closing the briefcase back; she noticed how he was extra careful this time to make sure the rough cloth didn't stick out. "And you may have a slight neurotic problem yourself," he added with a small laugh. "I won't fire you." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xHTZwlsL0
She couldn't have been more relieved. "Thank you...I promise I'll never do it again." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqN9TfSXtr
Dr. Crane smiled. "I know you won't."854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGh54vDU7K
Even as she hopped from patient to patient after catching up with her peers (and Harleen asking her with a smirk why her visit to the office took so long), desperately trying to calm each of their patients down and assure them that the things they saw weren't real, she kept thinking to herself, Why did I have to be so stupid? I really got off lucky this time. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzopGEcIe7
Her stomach fluttered even more during break when she got to the table where she and the others usually sat, and she saw a note waiting for her. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTpic0EIS1
Ms. Madison, 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjv82ajvX1m
Meet me at the coffee shop when your shift ends, and I'll tell you everything you need to know. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoapsNU3npd
-Crane854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNe0vc4KWb
Julia knew there were tons of coffee shops in Gotham City, but knew which one he was talking about. Many times she'd driven past the one nearest to Arkham where employees often liked to go after work for one more burst of energy when they weren't quite ready to turn in for the night. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIKN68rifa
She quickly pocketed the note, thinking she was still alone, but Dave and Velonda, a friend of hers at Arkham, saw anyway. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWTswzJwXp
"What was that?" Velonda asked. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFplp3JBXj
"Please don't let Harleen see," Julia said with a half-hearted smile. "Just because I went to the library last night to ask Crane about the patients' behavior, she now thinks we're lovebirds." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMn3fXM3MQ
Velonda just laughed, but Dave shuddered. "Well I'm glad you're not, because sometimes I don't know about him." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4H9jVQFXoN
"I'm sure he's a good person," Julia said, waving away his worries. "I mean, I think they check people's backgrounds and records before letting them become chief administrator of a place like this." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xqKBg8M04
"But what did that note say? I mean, if you don't mind telling us," Velonda said carefully. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YJjpw6ivY
"Oh, he just wanted to meet me at the coffee shop tonight after work." She wouldn't bother telling them about her little adventure inside the office or what she saw in there. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiPi1QbjB2
Velonda and Dave shared glances. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkAHcgrHPx
Julia sighed. "Please, not you too. I assure you it's a business meeting, not a date." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZN3jeN4Uto
Harleen waltzed in not long after Julia had said that, and she put a quick finger to the lips to signal her friends to say no more on the matter. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTax74Scax0
But still, Dave whispered across the table, "I'd take a weapon of some sort just in case. Something about this just doesn't seem right." 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGVz9R8UV3
He sounded just like her father, but then again, Dave's words were none too comforting to think about. Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn't.
854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21T1o4CA81
