Chapter 31: Sticky Daily Life? A young couple snuggling together.
As dusk settled into the ward, Dick was rubbing the needle marks on the back of Allen's hand with his fingertips.
After half a month of recuperation, Allen was able to sit up in bed and finally escaped the predicament of being at the mercy of others while lying in a hospital bed.
He was engrossed in reading a medical magazine, and the non-prescription glasses that had always hung on his nose were nowhere to be seen, revealing the face that could make the male and female nurses in the emergency department voluntarily work overtime.
The green numbers representing the heart rate were jumping regularly on the monitor. Dick looked at them for a while, then suddenly leaned forward and kissed Allen's still somewhat pale lips.
Warm breath brushed against Allen's skin. Allen tried to ignore the sudden skip in his heartbeat, and without changing his expression, he ran his hand through the stray hairs at the back of Dick's head and bit Dick's lips fiercely.
Dick touched the teeth marks on his mouth and smiled sweetly.
For a moment, he was a little confused. He had already established a relationship with Allen, so why had Allen only started to act so intimately towards him in the last two weeks?
But it's okay, Nightwing said he likes this intimacy.
And now he finally understands the danger of the ASPD personality type. Between the two of them, he would be more proactive, but Allen always acted exceptionally domineering in front of him and always tried to take the initiative.
What's most terrifying is that Allen has an exceptional learning ability... in whatever area he studies.
"Don't disturb me while I'm reading." Allen hooked Dick's chin and kissed him on the cheek.
Then, without hesitation, she pushed away Dick's furry head that was leaning in again.
The doctor lowered his head to hide the slight upturn of his lips and explained, “I haven’t finished reading Dr. David Peterson’s recent article yet. Ms. Goodman wants me to learn from him, and he’s also watched videos of me performing surgery before…”
Allen's eyes lit up when he talked about the cardiothoracic surgeon whom Ms. Goodman had hired at great expense.
Dick found it somewhat amusing; Allen's expression was like that of someone meeting Batman for the first time. It seemed a surgical genius indeed held a great attraction for doctors.
He idly fiddled with the doctor's long, slender, pale fingers with prominent knuckles, then touched the calluses on his thumb, index finger, and palm from holding a scalpel, and suddenly said out of the blue, "I love you, Allen."
He almost lost Allen this time.
To be honest, for a moment he suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness towards the world.
Having witnessed too many people driven to desperation, he knew that human endurance had its limits, and therefore he knew that some people would inevitably resort to extremes. Moreover, being a doctor meant being closest to life and death; he couldn't guarantee that he would be there in time the next time Allen was in trouble.
Fortunately, Allen came back.
He leaned in and gently kissed Allen, looking at him with deep affection in his blue eyes: "I love you."
Allen coughed awkwardly, his feigned indifference instantly crumbling.
His mouth opened and closed for a long time, and even his fingers curled up anxiously.
He looked into Dick's eyes and finally whispered, "Oh...me too."
Dick knew that this was the limit for Alan, who almost never expressed his emotions.
Suddenly, a heavy thud came from next door, and Harry's furious curses pierced through the thin wall.
Dick sighed, looking worried. "Is Harry really alright?"
Harry always reminded him of Dodamian and Jason, and then he couldn't help but feel a sense of empathy.
In Ms. Goodman's office next door sat Bruce, Harry, Matthew, and Bernard. The main reason these four bigwigs were gathered together was due to the change in shareholders of Brudhaven Hospital; Ms. Goodman wanted to discuss the hospital's future direction with her major investors.
Due to the increasing crime rate in Brodhaven and the growing number of criminals migrating from neighboring Gotham, the Brodhaven government and Brodhaven Hospital discussed opening a branch of Arkham Asylum, modeled after Gotham.
Ms. Goodman is now considering whether to name the mental hospital Osborn Asylum or Wayne Asylum—but the two wealthy men from New York and Gotham are very deferential, insisting that the hospital should bear the other's name despite having invested a lot of money in the project.
Allen grabbed Dick's restless hand and pinched it hard, making Dick look aggrieved, and then tried to kiss him.
“Aren’t you going to see Harry?” Dick asked. “Good heavens, I can’t imagine what’s going on next door.”
The doctor shoved the clingy policeman away: "Why worry so much? They'll learn to get along eventually." If Bruce Wayne dared to bully his brother, he'd put a sack over Bruce's head—and he'd remember to keep it a secret from Dick.
Dick chimed in, “You’re right, they’re all grown-up adults!” If Bruce targeted Harry and Allen, he’d sneak off to put Batman’s sack on him—he’d remember to call Allen along.
The two couldn't help but stare at each other again, and the atmosphere became sticky once more. Allen felt that even the medical journal in his hand didn't taste so good anymore.
That damn Dick Grayson!
Alan thought awkwardly, he had no idea that being in love would turn him into an idiot! Why did he find Dick's face, which was no different from anyone else's, more interesting than a thrilling surgery?!
Besides, they'd been together for half a month. Knowing himself as he did, his curiosity about new things like love should have worn off long ago! He didn't understand why he was still so keen to study every moment he spent with Dick!
That's not right.
The doctor's expression was serious.
He began to consider when to talk to Hannibal. He suspected that his hereditary disease had caused his morbid attachment to Dick, and perhaps Hannibal's electroconvulsive therapy could help him get rid of it—
Dick stared at Allen with a serious expression: "Doctor, I think I'm sick."
All the jumbled thoughts in Allen's mind vanished, leaving only worry.
Dick winked at Allen and said, "Honey, I've got this disease where I can't have any energy without kissing you! And I feel like I didn't do a good enough job two weeks ago, would you like me to show you again?"
A look of confusion first appeared on Allen's face, then he remembered the sticky, steaming human oral bacteria exchange activity from before.
He felt his heart pounding again, almost as fast as when he first drugged Norman Osborn.
So, the calm and composed Alan? Dr. Osborn nodded with a stern face. Apart from Dick, no one could see the red flush rising to his ears.
The aloof doctor said, "I'll give you one more chance. If you still don't perform well this time, I'll have Bernard throw you out."
So, Dick, who thought he'd been in a relationship for a long time, and Alan, who thought he'd only been in love for half a month, just like every day for the past two weeks, snuggled together, kissing and talking about topics Alan would never have discussed before. The poor medical magazine fell to the floor and was then casually tossed into the bedside table by Dick.
Fortunately, this is a VIP private room.
The young couple, deeply in love, completely forgot that a tense standoff was taking place next door.
Ms. Goodman watched the childish standoff between the two wealthy men with a headache.
Surprisingly, Matthew and Bernard were also investors in Brudhaven Hospital, the only difference being the amount of their investment.
Under Harry's astonished gaze, the old butler Bernard calmly took a sip of coffee and said with a smile, "Don't look at me like that, young master Harry. I've worked for the Osborn family my whole life, and I have some savings."
That's true.
Then everyone turned their attention to the seemingly impoverished blind lawyer.
Everyone thought he was a poor man, but no one expected that he was actually a hidden tycoon.
The lawyer gave a harmless smile and said, "Law firms in New York are actually quite profitable. Occasionally, I also handle estate and tax-related matters for wealthy people. You all know how complicated it is to fill out tax forms; I'm just doing this for a living."
Yeah, right.
Bruce looked at the lawyer from Hell's Kitchen, a growing look of suspicion creeping into his eyes.
So he stood up, shook hands with Matthew in a friendly manner, and hinted, "You sound like you have a lot of experience in dividing property... Oh, I'm thinking about how to distribute my inheritance among my children. Making a will is such a troublesome thing!"
Such a large investment couldn't possibly be obtained by a lawyer simply by handling the estates and taxes of the wealthy. He suspected that this New York lawyer had some hidden income, the kind that couldn't be made public.
Matthew returned Bruce's handshake with a professional smile, "That's true, so for convenience, I generally advise runaway children not to inherit anything."
Harry immediately protested, "No way! Does he expect to eat and drink Alan's food for free?!"
Matthew: "...?"
Harry was speechless at Matthew's look of disdain. On one hand, he really didn't want to see Dick clinging to Alan every day, but on the other hand, he thought his brother looked genuinely happy when he was with the stupid Grayson.
Harry stammered for a long time without uttering a single word, and finally had to change the subject: "Alright, everyone, are we sitting here today just to discuss this? I thought we were all here to talk about Alan's attack and the hospital's future security measures."
Ms. Goodman thought to herself, "That can't be it."
Today's discussion is about the establishment of mental hospitals.
Harry glanced sideways at Bruce. Wayne, with a smirk, forced a formal smile befitting a business partner and said, "I just don't understand why Mr. Wayne is getting involved in the Osborne family's affairs. Shouldn't you take your son back to Wayne Manor and give him a good talking to? I suggest breaking his legs."
Bruce flashed a sweet, innocent smile that could make Ms. Goodman swoon, and said, "Huh? What did you say?"
Harry turned to Ms. Goodman: "I wonder if I, as a shareholder, have the right to blacklist Richard Grayson? He's a freak, and if he keeps swaggering in and out of the hospital, I'm worried about the safety and mental health of the patients."
The main concerns are his brother's personal safety and his mental health.
Batman remained silent.
Ms. Goodman was sweating profusely, thinking, "Please don't drag me into this fight between you two, one a brother-obsessed guy and the other a suspected child-obsessed guy! After all, I'm just a hospital supervisor, not a host of a family dispute program!"
Harry continued, "For this, I'm willing to make another investment in Broodhaven Hospital. I'm sure you won't refuse, will you?"
Young Master Osborne was fantasizing about kicking that bastard Dick Grayson out of his brother's sight, and then making him get out of Broodhaven, preferably even off the planet.
Bruce suddenly smiled and said, "You're right, investing in a hospital is a really worthwhile business! I'm willing to invest another sum in Brud Haven Hospital, as a protection fee for my son Dick, so he can receive free medical treatment here for life, how about that?"
Harry: ...
The result of the two women's competitive rivalry was that the Brudhaven Emergency Department received a significant increase in revenue, much to Ms. Goodman's delight.
Just as the cordial talks between the parties were about to continue, a sudden, urgent ringing came from next door.
"Blue alert! Blue alert!"
Someone outside was shouting Allen's name loudly. Dick, his face pale, pushed the door open.
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