Fic: "Depth of Field" | Bruce Wayne, OC, (Janet and Tim Drake) | pg-13
Title: Depth of Field
Fandom: me_ya_ri's Snapshot-verse (DCU)
Rating: pg - talk of pregnancy and infant neglect
Word Count: 1,250
AN: Written for me_ya_ri and her beautifully heart-wrenching Snapshots universe. I was inspired by something she wrote in regards to the nurse who took care of Janet Drake and Tim when he was an infant. No disrespect intended at all and I'm posting this with her permission. I love her ‘verse so much. Also, This is also proof I watch way to much Grey’s Anatomy. *face-palm* I would be sure to read through chapter called "Haley's Circus", as this sort of fits in between that chapter and "Waking".
Originally posted here on my Dreamwidth account: http://the-protagonist.dreamwidth.org/56847.html
Lucille Rowe, Doctor of Nursing Science with a specialty in obstetrician, was sitting out on the roof of the hospital, her smart-phone in one hand and a thermos of cooling tea in the other. Batman almost felt bad for the EM pulse he sent through the air, cutting the woman off from her short, but peaceful break before she had to pull a twenty hour shift.
But Bruce needed answers that couldn’t wait. Tim couldn’t wait.
“Nurse Rowe. I need to talk with you.” He stepped out from the shadow he had been observing her from. She was a pretty woman, in her mid-thirties, with died blond hair that looked soft and wavy. She had a pale, but olive colored complexion with light eyes to match. Her darker eyebrows gave away her natural hair color, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
Lucy stood, stepped back from the bench and held her phone tight in her fist, “Who the hell-” She paused when she saw him, “Oh. It’s you.”
“I need you to tell me about a boy you helped deliver approximately twelve years ago.” Bruce saw the recognition in her eyes almost immediately. He saw the hesitance in there as well.
“I have a double shift in twenty minutes Mr. Uh... Batman.” She noted, dully.
“It’s very important. I know you know who I’m talking about. I know that you know that this is important.”
“I can’t tell you anything, as much as I want too, you know there is patient privacy clause- I can’t lose my job because of this-” She hesitantly said.
“Don’t use any names.”
Lucy sighed, sat back onto the cool bench and hugged her arms to her chest, “You have to understand, that first, my patient is the mother. I love mothers. I love my job.”
Batman didn’t move, but hit the record button on his belt.
She let out a little laugh, “That’s the best part of my job, really. Being there for the mothers through one of the best parts of their lives. Sure, they’re hormonal and their moods are a revolving door, but in the end? I get to hand them a *baby*. *Their* baby.”
The nurse smiled and it was... infectious.
“I had only been in OB for six months when... the patient came in. She was wealthy, requested that the doctor give her the first ultrasound. So I just sat back and took notes, held the chart. I love to see the mothers see their baby for the first time.
“I mean, new mothers... they *cry* when they first hear their baby’s heartbeat. Father’s count fingers and toes and they compare the shape of the nose to their great uncle Rufus or whatever. It’s fun to watch. Mothers are relieved and enthralled when they hear that strong, quick heartbeat. It changes them.
“The patient... she didn’t even want a picture. She said, ‘email it to my husband, please.’ And that was it.
“The next ultrasound, she requested that the sex be known. Her husband was with her this time and he wanted to wait, but she said that she wanted to know now. The only time throughout the eight months that she looked *satisfied* was when I told her that they were going to have a baby boy. I honestly think that if I had said that the baby growing in her was a girl, she’d have asked about other options.”
Bruce knew exactly what ‘other options’ meant.
“She was so... cold, but I thought for *sure* that she’d grow warmer. Pregnancy hormones *do* that. I tried to ask her about the nursery, what color the walls would be. If she had bought a crib yet. She came to every appointment, took the vitamins, she did everything she had to. But she wouldn’t talk about her baby. She wasn’t necessarily cruel to any of us, any of the staff, any of the doctors. She just... She didn’t care.
“When she was eight months pregnant, I asked her if she had decided on a name. She said that, there were family names to consider, but they had to make sure what the health of the baby was first.
“Who says that? Mothers are allowed to worry about the health of the baby, yes. But... the way she *said* it.”
Lucy shook her head, Bruce clenched his fists, listened to the leather gauntlet creak.
“She didn’t want the baby. She made it obvious. Sometimes though, sometimes mothers just need to hold them. It’s not real until they physically have that perfect baby in their arms.
“Women *hurt* themselves when they are in labor - when they are in child-birth. They rip their bodies up and they do it to themselves. And we tell them, ‘you can do it! You can do it! After this you get a *baby*. You get a perfect, tiny human that’s all yours. That you made! So you can do this!’ That’s what we tell them, Batman. That’s what makes that pain, the destruction worth it. What do you do when the mother doesn’t want her baby?”
Her face melted a little bit, her eyes shiny with unshed tears.
“Oh god. And he was really perfect. Eight pounds two ounces. Perfect, fuzzy black hair, pink skin. Big 'ole blue eyes. He really was a perfect baby.
“But my patient is the mother, so I sat with her and the lactation specialist when Janet had trouble breast feeding. I tried to get her to hold her perfect baby and she wouldn’t.
“My patients, they don’t stop talking about their babies, Batman. They are *incapable* of it. I’ve seen multiple births every week for ten years now. I’ve seen babies that have been born with deformities. With their *lungs* on the outside of their little chests. And those mothers... you couldn’t *convince* them that their baby wasn’t the best, most *beautiful* baby in the whole wide world.
“My patient... we wheeled her to the neo-natal unit, to see her child. She didn’t say anything like that, even when we placed him into her arms. She said he would do, told us his name, and that she she was ready to go home as soon as possible. She held her son for two minutes and then handed him to me. I don’t think she picked him up for any longer than a few minutes after that first week of nursing.”
“I love mothers, you know? They are beautiful humans. She was not- is not a mother.”
Bruce sighed, closed his eyes behind his cowl, behind the lenses. “No. She’s not.”
“I... I wasn’t a peds’ nurse, but I recommended a friend of mine, so I could... stay in contact with him, so I could get pieces of information about him... I couldn’t let that family kill a perfect, baby boy.
“My friend... she did tell me things. Horrible things. Neglect, indifference. He was such a... a strange kid. So *mild-mannered*. I knew his day-nurse, she’s... the sweetest person alive, but. Kids need their parents. Babies need their parents. When my friend was let go, she worried about him. Had to go to *therapy*, because there wasn’t much she could do. They gave him everything he asked for except for love.”
Bruce’s throat was tight with emotion, but he managed to bark out, “You’re... both to be commended.”
Lucy schooled her features and absently scrubbed at the corner of her left eye, “He’s okay?”
Bruce turned back into the shadow he had melted out of, thinking ‘I hope so’, but saying, “He will be.”
-Fin
Fandom: me_ya_ri's Snapshot-verse (DCU)
Rating: pg - talk of pregnancy and infant neglect
Word Count: 1,250
AN: Written for me_ya_ri and her beautifully heart-wrenching Snapshots universe. I was inspired by something she wrote in regards to the nurse who took care of Janet Drake and Tim when he was an infant. No disrespect intended at all and I'm posting this with her permission. I love her ‘verse so much. Also, This is also proof I watch way to much Grey’s Anatomy. *face-palm* I would be sure to read through chapter called "Haley's Circus", as this sort of fits in between that chapter and "Waking".
Originally posted here on my Dreamwidth account: http://the-protagonist.dreamwidth.org/56847.html
Lucille Rowe, Doctor of Nursing Science with a specialty in obstetrician, was sitting out on the roof of the hospital, her smart-phone in one hand and a thermos of cooling tea in the other. Batman almost felt bad for the EM pulse he sent through the air, cutting the woman off from her short, but peaceful break before she had to pull a twenty hour shift.
But Bruce needed answers that couldn’t wait. Tim couldn’t wait.
“Nurse Rowe. I need to talk with you.” He stepped out from the shadow he had been observing her from. She was a pretty woman, in her mid-thirties, with died blond hair that looked soft and wavy. She had a pale, but olive colored complexion with light eyes to match. Her darker eyebrows gave away her natural hair color, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
Lucy stood, stepped back from the bench and held her phone tight in her fist, “Who the hell-” She paused when she saw him, “Oh. It’s you.”
“I need you to tell me about a boy you helped deliver approximately twelve years ago.” Bruce saw the recognition in her eyes almost immediately. He saw the hesitance in there as well.
“I have a double shift in twenty minutes Mr. Uh... Batman.” She noted, dully.
“It’s very important. I know you know who I’m talking about. I know that you know that this is important.”
“I can’t tell you anything, as much as I want too, you know there is patient privacy clause- I can’t lose my job because of this-” She hesitantly said.
“Don’t use any names.”
Lucy sighed, sat back onto the cool bench and hugged her arms to her chest, “You have to understand, that first, my patient is the mother. I love mothers. I love my job.”
Batman didn’t move, but hit the record button on his belt.
She let out a little laugh, “That’s the best part of my job, really. Being there for the mothers through one of the best parts of their lives. Sure, they’re hormonal and their moods are a revolving door, but in the end? I get to hand them a *baby*. *Their* baby.”
The nurse smiled and it was... infectious.
“I had only been in OB for six months when... the patient came in. She was wealthy, requested that the doctor give her the first ultrasound. So I just sat back and took notes, held the chart. I love to see the mothers see their baby for the first time.
“I mean, new mothers... they *cry* when they first hear their baby’s heartbeat. Father’s count fingers and toes and they compare the shape of the nose to their great uncle Rufus or whatever. It’s fun to watch. Mothers are relieved and enthralled when they hear that strong, quick heartbeat. It changes them.
“The patient... she didn’t even want a picture. She said, ‘email it to my husband, please.’ And that was it.
“The next ultrasound, she requested that the sex be known. Her husband was with her this time and he wanted to wait, but she said that she wanted to know now. The only time throughout the eight months that she looked *satisfied* was when I told her that they were going to have a baby boy. I honestly think that if I had said that the baby growing in her was a girl, she’d have asked about other options.”
Bruce knew exactly what ‘other options’ meant.
“She was so... cold, but I thought for *sure* that she’d grow warmer. Pregnancy hormones *do* that. I tried to ask her about the nursery, what color the walls would be. If she had bought a crib yet. She came to every appointment, took the vitamins, she did everything she had to. But she wouldn’t talk about her baby. She wasn’t necessarily cruel to any of us, any of the staff, any of the doctors. She just... She didn’t care.
“When she was eight months pregnant, I asked her if she had decided on a name. She said that, there were family names to consider, but they had to make sure what the health of the baby was first.
“Who says that? Mothers are allowed to worry about the health of the baby, yes. But... the way she *said* it.”
Lucy shook her head, Bruce clenched his fists, listened to the leather gauntlet creak.
“She didn’t want the baby. She made it obvious. Sometimes though, sometimes mothers just need to hold them. It’s not real until they physically have that perfect baby in their arms.
“Women *hurt* themselves when they are in labor - when they are in child-birth. They rip their bodies up and they do it to themselves. And we tell them, ‘you can do it! You can do it! After this you get a *baby*. You get a perfect, tiny human that’s all yours. That you made! So you can do this!’ That’s what we tell them, Batman. That’s what makes that pain, the destruction worth it. What do you do when the mother doesn’t want her baby?”
Her face melted a little bit, her eyes shiny with unshed tears.
“Oh god. And he was really perfect. Eight pounds two ounces. Perfect, fuzzy black hair, pink skin. Big 'ole blue eyes. He really was a perfect baby.
“But my patient is the mother, so I sat with her and the lactation specialist when Janet had trouble breast feeding. I tried to get her to hold her perfect baby and she wouldn’t.
“My patients, they don’t stop talking about their babies, Batman. They are *incapable* of it. I’ve seen multiple births every week for ten years now. I’ve seen babies that have been born with deformities. With their *lungs* on the outside of their little chests. And those mothers... you couldn’t *convince* them that their baby wasn’t the best, most *beautiful* baby in the whole wide world.
“My patient... we wheeled her to the neo-natal unit, to see her child. She didn’t say anything like that, even when we placed him into her arms. She said he would do, told us his name, and that she she was ready to go home as soon as possible. She held her son for two minutes and then handed him to me. I don’t think she picked him up for any longer than a few minutes after that first week of nursing.”
“I love mothers, you know? They are beautiful humans. She was not- is not a mother.”
Bruce sighed, closed his eyes behind his cowl, behind the lenses. “No. She’s not.”
“I... I wasn’t a peds’ nurse, but I recommended a friend of mine, so I could... stay in contact with him, so I could get pieces of information about him... I couldn’t let that family kill a perfect, baby boy.
“My friend... she did tell me things. Horrible things. Neglect, indifference. He was such a... a strange kid. So *mild-mannered*. I knew his day-nurse, she’s... the sweetest person alive, but. Kids need their parents. Babies need their parents. When my friend was let go, she worried about him. Had to go to *therapy*, because there wasn’t much she could do. They gave him everything he asked for except for love.”
Bruce’s throat was tight with emotion, but he managed to bark out, “You’re... both to be commended.”
Lucy schooled her features and absently scrubbed at the corner of her left eye, “He’s okay?”
Bruce turned back into the shadow he had melted out of, thinking ‘I hope so’, but saying, “He will be.”
-Fin