Richard reached the State Hospital as soon as he possibly could, he had driven faster than he had ever done before and slammed the brakes impatiently, parking his car in the lot. Not even bothering to lock it properly, he had dashed into the medical facility and stopped at the reception desk.

Finding out from there that Barbara had been ushered straight to the Operation Theater, he followed the directions and reached the corridor where just a week earlier, he had been there when Dianne was brought to the hospital.

"Neal," he called out recognizing the anxious figure standing in the empty corridor.

Neal turned to look at him, each feature of his evident of pain and exhaustion. Richard had come up to him immediately and not able to hold himself back any longer, Neal hugged him tightly.

"Richard, I... I am so sorry... I wasn't there with her when... When all this..."

Richard could feel him breaking with every passing second though he had held himself together before then as he was willing himself to stay steady for Barbara. He had seen him worried for Dianne before but right then it was twice worse.

It was like seeing him get physically hurt from all the pain he was going through.

Worried for him, Richard made him sit down on the chairs that were set up on the side of the corridor. Neal held his head in his hands, the helplessness of not being able to do anything other than wait was clawing at him.

"Take a deep breath, okay? Now tell me what happened? Where were you and where's Mister Gordon?"

"I had gone to Lydia's result ceremony. Before that I had made lunch for Barbara and her Dad... and when I came back, there was only Barbara and that too, she was shot... I don't know anything else."

Richard knew he had to take matters into his own hands for Neal was in no state to put up with anything else. "Everything will be fine, just don't lose hope. You have to be strong for her, okay? You have to be here for Barbara."

Neal nodded but his ocher eyes were so full of pain that it hurt to see him thus. However, he spoke up as if just recalling something, "Batman is here too. He reached soon after Barbara was taken into surgery."

Not long after, Richard spun around in alarm sensing a presence behind him and came face to face with the Dark Knight. Batman was standing with an unreadable expression on his face but it was clear that he was enraged by Joker's current stunt and would make him pay for it.

Richard tried to speak up, to tell him what had happened but his voice had stuck in his throat and no words came out.

Instead Batman spoke up himself, "Barbara has gone into a comatose state right now. However, I talked to her before that, she said the Joker is going to the extremes, he had said he wanted to prove a point and will not stop before that."

Neal too tried hard to process the words but the blank shock on his features was proof enough that he was going through too much. "Is she going to be okay?"

"The bullet was removed successfully but the doctors say she might never be able to walk again, they are shifting her to the Intensive Care Unit by now. I have to find Jim and put an end to all of this," his cape swept majestically after him as he left the room, determined to track Joker down and finally stop the performance he had initiated for him.

With Batman leaving, the doctor stepped out of the OT as well and Neal stood up, "doctor, is Barbara alright?"

The question in itself sent a sickening sense of déjà vu to him because just a week earlier, he had asked the same question but the answer had shaken him badly.

He did not want it to repeat.

"The surgery was successful," the doctor told them and slight relief washed over both of them, "she is not in a critical condition anymore."

"And can we meet her?"

"She had gone into a comatose state because she was traumatized," the doctor explained in a cautious tone, examining the reports thoroughly, "but she will recover with time. Right now, she has been shifted to the ICU. A few tests are due and we are trying to stabilize her first. When it will be safe to meet her, we will let you know."

Richard nodded, "thank you."

The doctor left and Neal collapsed back on the chair he had been sitting on earlier. He was fatigued to the end of his endurance as anyone could very easily tell by a single glance at him.

Richard supported him, getting worried for his declining health, "hey, are you okay?"

"I can't... I need to go out in the open. I feel as if I will suffocate if I stay here any longer."

It was evident that his state was getting worse, so putting his arm over his own shoulder, Richard supported him and led him out to the open courtyard space of the hospital. The fresh air struck Neal and he took in deep gulps of it, just like one takes in deep gulps of water after staying parched for long.

A coughing fit had taken hold of Neal and it worried him as he stood by him, "Neal, what's happening to you?"

Neal's knuckles had tightened as he gripped on the rails for support though Richard was right beside him, holding his arm. He did not answer just then, knowing that if he tried to speak, it would get worse.

Richard, on the other hand, was alarmed to see him as such and could not fathom what was the matter with him. He did not know that he was battling cancer, Barbara had told no one about it except her father.

"You don't look well to me," he spoke up, blue eyes full of concern, "I think we should get you checked as well."

"No... I'll be fine in a while..." He declined and Richard knew it was probably because of his fear of hospitals. The fact that for Barbara's sake, he was still at a place that he considered not to come to even if he was dying. He knew it was terribly difficult for him.

But he was there for Barbara. Barbara Gordon, who had become both his love and his life, the sole reason that still kept him on his feet.

He had to be there for her just like she had promised that she would stay by him till the very end and vice versa. 

***