I'd barely managed to climb out of my bed in time to reach the phone, almost having missed the insistent ringing it had been making for an unknown period of time. Lifting the receiver to my ear, I muffled my yawn with my hand before giving a tired greeting.

"Hello, this is Hope. Can I help you?" I turned my head slightly as another yawn escaped my mouth, sitting on the bed as the phone's cord stretched to accommodate how far I had moved from the base of the unit.

"Hope, this is Doctor Cadwell. I'm calling to let you know that your medical expenses will no longer be covered by your... provider. It seems there was an incident a few nights ago and... well, I'm sure you can find out about it in the news. It's being covered in all of the papers, after all. If you want, we can meet and discuss payment options, otherwise, I'm afraid that your next visit will be our final one to discuss the test results," the static-laced voice came through the phone, the quality of the lines in the area causing a low hum of background noise as Dr. Cadwell spoke.

"Oh... Um, I should go then. I'll... I'll see you next time. Bye," I said as I hung up the phone, my mind racing at a mile a minute.

What could have happened to cause that man to stop covering my medical expenses? Had he changed his mind? But Dr. Cadwell had commented about an incident of some kind? And the news. Yes, I should go and see what the newspaper had to say, since my TV had given out finally and I hadn't had the money to replace it yet. But a paper, that was much easier to afford than a TV set was!

--------

I sat in the chair at the cafe, my eyes wide as I stared at the paper in my hands. I could barely believe what I had read, the news so unbelievable, even with how bad Gotham had gotten over the passing years. Of course, I knew that there had to be something more to the story than what the news reported since I doubt that there had been a witness to the events beyond the person who had committed the acts, but even so... Even so, it was just... shocking.

Reaching out a trembling hand, I grabbed the coffee I had ordered and took a careful sip, remembering how it had nearly burned my tongue when I had taken the first sit after it had been set down on the table earlier. With a clumsy clatter, it was sat back down as my eyes roamed to the profile drawing they'd included on the front page.

Bringing the fingers of one hand up from where it held the page, I ran my fingertips over the drawing of the "mask" they said the murderer had worn, my mind wandering back to the previous day and the look on Arthur's face as he'd made one single comment. Could it? Would he? Had he actually...

More importantly, knowing what I knew about that man, did it really matter to me if my friend had been the one to put the bullet in his back?

Standing up, I thrust the paper into the trash before walking out the door, leaving behind a wad of bills and change on the table next to the barely touched coffee. Walking back toward my apartment, I felt my lips curl up into a trembling smile as I saw people running past wearing masks, looking almost like demented versions of...

"Carnival, I'm seeing you everywhere I look. You're finally being noticed," I whispered, releasing a laugh that quickly turned into a sob as I pushed past a cluster of people shouting in anger.