Chapter Text
Barbara stormed after Bruce, following him into the hospital parking lot.
“You can't just leave him in there forever!” She said not bothering to contain her anger.
Bruce whirled around, his expression unreadable. “This is the safest option,” he said. “For everyone.”
“He's your son, Bruce.” It was close to pleading. She couldn't understand how, after everything that had just happened, he could possibly want Tim to be anywhere but home. “He needs you right now; you need to take him home.”
“He's not my son anymore. Joker made sure of that.”
Barbara froze. “How can you say that? Bruce, it's still him, and if you would actually go and talk to him you would see that!”
“Were you even listening to what the doctors said? We can't save everyone; the sooner you learn that, the easier this will be.” He walked to his car after that, leaving Barbara in the parking lot, the wind whipping her hair. She stayed there for a moment, pondering her next move. She had been trying to convince Bruce to pull Tim out of the hospital for weeks now, but he wouldn't listen. She knew Tim needed help, but he also needed his family. She sighed. She had already tried the logical approach, reminding Bruce that inpatient facilities rarely did any good, that their goal was more focused toward achieving stability and docility rather than recovery. But Bruce didn't seem to think it was even possible for Tim to recover. And the emotional approach clearly wasn't working. Bruce was doing that thing again where he pushed all his emotions aside rather than facing them, whatever they may be. He had made up his mind, and he wasn’t going to change it, but Barbara was determined to make him.