After the door closed, Shiller sat down beside Bruce. Bruce glanced at him and said, "Professor, are you going to treat ?"
"No, I just wanted to say, if you feel that you are not okay right now, go back and rest. I'll handle this case," he replied.
Bruce hesitated. He turned his head and focused his gaze on Shiller, who was busy writing up the dical record. He pursed his lips and said, "That night... I must've said sothing when I was drunk, whatever it was... "
While continuing to write, Shiller replied, "I don't rember what you said."
After saying this, he put down the pen and looked at Bruce, "Your face looks really bad. You should go back and rest."
Shiller examined Bruce from head to toe, "I know, sothing must be pushing you to act this way, but if you're really upset, you can take a few days off. Everything will get better."
Having said that, Shiller stood up and left the room, leaving Bruce sitting there, slightly incredulous.
Bruce knew that Shiller was a person who disliked noise, and he was very strict with his students. If any student ca to school drunk, drove recklessly in the middle of the night, and got caught by Shiller, the consequences would be terrible.
But now, Shiller only suggested that he rest and even take a few days off; this was almost unimaginable.
Why though? Bruce didn't understand.
Batman's reputation had already been ruined, and Bruce hadn't done any better - neither had he made any progress, nor had he beco any more perfect. Regardless, Shiller, who was well known for his stern principles, didn't give him a hard ti.
Shiller didn't behave as he had before, pestering him with a bunch of insolvable Batman-related questions and putting him on the spot. He didn't demand results from him and he didn't even express his dissatisfaction about him unilaterally bringing Aisha without prior consent.
Moreover, even though it was evident he was the first witness of that particular case, Shiller eliminated him as a suspect which left Bruce who had prepared his statent, punching into thin air.
Bruce was lost in his thoughts while sitting in the chair when Gordon walked in and ntioned, "There was a call from Wayne Manor, soone nad Selina is looking for you."
Looking up at Gordon, Bruce was t with Gordon's shrugging reply of, "I'm not worried about you running away, so you could head back before they decide to summon you."
"Did she... ntion her purpose?" Bruce asked.
Gordon shook his head, and Bruce left the room. He was escorted back to Wayne Manor by a police officer.
Just as he entered Wayne Manor, he saw Selina standing there with Dick.
The mont Selina saw Bruce, she hurried over and blurted out, "Bruce, what were you thinking? Why did you leave Dick alone at school? Can't you even rember to pick him up?"
Before Bruce could respond, Selina continued to scold him. "Today at noon, around 3 o'clock, I got a call from Dick's school."
"His teacher said, he called ho but no one answered. Thank God you still rember to leave my contact details. Otherwise, Dick would have had to wait at school all night."
Bruce rembered that Alfred had been hospitalized and he spent the afternoon at the hospital entrance. It was probably during that ti that Dick tried calling Wayne Manor but found no one at ho.
Then, Dick stepped forward, looked up at Bruce and asked, "Mr. Wayne, what's wrong? And where's Alfred?"
Bruce looked down at him and asked, "Why did you want to co ho so abruptly?"
"Because it's Wednesday and I can co ho." Dick answered. "Well... Is it bad that I ca ho?"
"You..." Bruce hesitated and asked, "Aren't you angry anymore?"
"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Dick looked at Bruce a bit confused. Suddenly, sothing seed to click and he said, "Oh. It's who should ask you, Mr. Wayne. Aren't you angry anymore? I didn't an to ask you that way initially. I know you were upset at that ti. I shouldn't have... um..."
Bruce bent down, hands on Dick's shoulders, and asked him, "Why did you hide out in school and refuse to co back?"
"I didn't hide in school because I was scared of making you angry, I originally planned to just stay one night, but then the teacher said if I didn't leave by Monday, I wouldn't be allowed back until Tuesday and would have to stay at least two days," Dick shrugged.
So, I stayed for two days, and then I ca back," he explained.
Selina stepped forward, patted Bruce on the shoulder, and said, "I know you're worrying about the things in the newspapers and it's causing you a lot of stress, but really, it's not a big deal. You shouldn't care what others think."
"What about Aisha? Maybe she's still..."
"Waaaaaa!!!"
A scream rang out from outside the gate of Wayne Manor, and a small silhouette dashed in, colliding into Bruce's arms.
rkel followed in, panting as he said, "Oh, sorry! Mr. Wayne, I couldn't hold onto Aisha, she ran here from Rodriguez Manor!!!"
"Waaaa!!!" Aisha kept screaming. Bruce looked at Dick who translated, "She says she missed you and ... broccoli tastes awful?"
Bruce shifted his gaze back to Aisha and asked, "...aren't you angry anymore?"
Aisha paused and then displayed a puzzled expression. Dick spread his hands towards Bruce and said, "Sir, no matter what you're referring to, I think Aisha might have already forgotten. She really has a bad mory."
Bruce gently set Aisha down, standing in the middle of the manor as if he was caught in a whirlpool.
All this felt like a dream, yet his pre-set alarms had not gone off, making him certain this was reality.
He'd ssed everything up but no one was rebuking him.
Gordon hadn't doubted him and even allowed him to go ho first; Shiller had softened from his usual sternness, ushering him to rest; Selina wasn't mad, even helping him retrieve Dick; it seed that Dick didn't exactly avoid him and Aisha completely forgot about the incident.
What seed like a big deal to Batman, in their eyes, was rely trivial everyday friction – no one bothered or rembered.
And when he reverted back to the useless Bruce Wayne, who couldn't prevent a murder, provide useful clues, solve the case with an intricate technical explanation nor bring the criminal to justice nor save anyone,
Yet, everyone seed to have forgiven him.
As rkel lit the fireplace, standing in the center of the hall illuminated by the fire, Bruce realized for the first ti,
No one else cared whether he was perfect or not, except him.
Instead of saying the world does not love God, it would be more accurate to say that the ordinary people, whom Batman regards as frivolous and ludicrous, do not care about God.
Bruce realized that when he returned to the life of Bruce Wayne, a life he despised, no one was disappointed.
No one was disappointed about the loss of the perfect Batman.
So what exactly was he disappointed in?
Bruce could feel, as the lights of the great hall turned on anew and the flas of the fireplace roared back to life, he was once again enveloped in warmth.
A string that had been pulled tight, incessantly plucked like a death knell, suddenly loosened.
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