Rainy Night Mystery (Part 3)

When he returned to the interrogation room, Schiller was alone; he didn't let Gordon or Batman follow him.

By this time, Cobblepot had been dried off and his soaking wet coat had been removed. Mrs. Mona was closing the interrogation room door when she saw Schiller arrive. She said, "Are you the Doctor, sir? This child seems quite frightened. I was trying to change his clothes, but he struggled so much that he almost bit me."

"Thank you, madam. You've done enough. He's a bit agitated right now, and I'm about to take him to the hospital."

"Then you should go quickly. He's a bit tired now, so he shouldn't resist as much anymore."

Schiller went through the Iron Gate. Cobblepot was still sitting in the corner, wearing a new coat, without saying a word. Schiller called Brand and said, "Send an ambulance to pick up a patient."

"What kind of patient needs an ambulance to pick them up? Doesn't he own a luxury car?"

"They are real patients, not those gang leaders who were released on medical parole and then imprisoned again."

"What's wrong? I'll have the nursing room prepare something."

"Acute Stress Disorder, and perhaps something else. You should prepare your tranquilizers first, and I'll explain everything to you in detail when we arrive."

Soon, Cobblepot was strapped to a stretcher and carried into an ambulance, with Schiller paying no attention to his struggles.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Brand came out to greet them. He was wearing a white coat and had clearly been busy all day. He said, "Good heavens, we finally have a real patient! I almost thought I graduated with a degree in finance..."

"Don't be too happy yet. If I told you that he is a key witness in a case concerning the succession of the Falcone family, would you still feel relaxed?"

Brand's face immediately fell. He cursed under his breath and said, "I knew it. Nothing good could come of this godforsaken place."

"He is currently in a state of severe motor excitement and is almost unable to communicate. I will prescribe some tranquilizers for him and see how he is tomorrow morning."

Schiller returned to his office at Arkham Asylum, changed into his Doctor's attire, and when he entered Cobblepot's ward, Cobblepot's hands were tied to the railing of the nursing bed, his limbs were twitching incessantly, his face was flushed, his eyes were wide open, and he was constantly breathing heavily.

The nurse next to him came up and said, "Doctor, his state of arousal is too high. He has already released his muscle restraints. If this continues, it will cause serious damage to his joints."

"Give him tranquilizers first." Schiller's tone was very calm. He leaned down and examined Cobblepot's eyelids, finding that his vision was completely unfocused and his face was severely congested.

Schiller turned around and called two more nurses, asking them to hold Cobblepot down. Brand also came in and said, "I haven't seen a patient with such severe stress disorder symptoms in a long time. What's wrong with him?"

Brand looked closely at Cobblepot and noticed injuries on his neck and shoulders. He asked, "Was this abuse?"

"It should be, and it has probably been going on for a while, otherwise it wouldn't be this serious," Schiller speculated. "He must have been subjected to prolonged abuse and beatings, which led to Acute Stress Disorder."

After the tranquilizer was administered, Cobblepot's hyperactivity gradually subsided, but he continued to convulse and was unable to concentrate. Schiller observed his physiological response and said, "Increase the dosage."

With more medication administered, Cobblepot finally calmed down and gradually fell asleep. Brand sighed, arms crossed, and said, "This isn't a solution either. He seems more sensitive than the average person, and he's not even an adult yet. If the sedative wears off and his agitated state doesn't subside, we can't use such a large dose anymore."

"What do you plan to do?" Brand asked Schiller.

"This requires a full medical examination." Schiller stared at Cobblepot's face and said, "I suspect he has other mental disorders, otherwise he wouldn't be reacting so severely. A genetic disorder is also a possibility."

"What about his relatives? Don't they have any medical history that we can refer to?"

Brand had barely finished asking the question when he immediately dismissed it, saying, "Oh, this is Gotham. Trying to identify a real mental patient here is like finding a needle in a haystack."

Schiller said to Brand, "You should go back and rest. I'll be on duty tonight and work out a treatment plan."

After Brand left, Schiller returned to his office. He sat down, took a notebook from his desk drawer, and began to recall what he knew about the Penguin's life.

The comic doesn't describe Penguin's childhood in much detail. It only mentions that he always carries an umbrella because his increasingly deranged mother forced him to carry one after his father died of pneumonia caused by being caught in the rain.

In the TV series Gotham, the Penguin also entered Arkham Asylum, where he was tortured by the director, Hugo. However, it was not explained whether he was actually diagnosed with a real mental illness.

Based on Schiller's observations, at least the Penguin Cobblepot he encountered appears to suffer from a genuine mental illness.

The nights at Arkham Asylum are very quiet because there are almost no real mental patients there, so there are no sudden episodes or disturbances caused by patients having an episode.

In the entire Doctor's office, only Schiller's desk was lit; in the quiet room, only the rustling sound of writing echoed.

As dawn broke, Victor, wearing a trench coat, hurried up the steps of the Arkham Asylum. The rain had just stopped, and the cold wind of the gloomy weather made his hair fly wildly.

Schiller, wearing a white coat, came out to greet him. Victor said, "I just finished a class in that Living Hell. I heard from that chubby kid that Oswald was hospitalized."

"Then I learned that you had also taken leave, and I guessed that you must have gone to get treatment for him."

"Oh, how did you guess?"

"Didn't I tell you before? I've been to Oswald's house and met his mother. She seems to have tic disorders. You know, I'm not a professional, but I can tell that she's not quite mentally stable."

"It coincides with my deduction that Cobblepot should have a hereditary mental illness." Schiller and Victor walked quickly up the stairs together. Schiller said as they walked, "Acute Stress Disorder triggered his hyperactivity symptoms. I gave him an overdose of sedatives last night, but he is still not better this morning."

As they spoke, the two of them went to the ward where Cobblepot was. Cobblepot was lying in bed, talking incessantly, but the words that came out of his mouth had no logic and seemed to be just for venting.

Victor walked to his bedside, glanced down at Cobblepot, and said, "This is very similar to the symptoms of a student I taught before. He was extremely agitated, talked to himself, and had aggressive tendencies, even injuring his classmates."

"What do you plan to do?" Victor asked Schiller. "Actually, I think a lot about his talent. I know there are a lot of mentally ill people in Gotham, and you can't save them all, but he's already here, so we have to think of something."

"I will admit him to the hospital, which proves that I intend to treat him. However, the cause of this mixed symptoms may be very complicated, and I need to conduct some investigations."

As they were talking, Brand came in with a stack of reports and handed them to Schiller. He said, "Earlier today, we had a physical exam on him. The results weren't good. In addition to his mental health issues, he also has multiple injuries, which are likely the result of beatings. Moreover, the new injuries are layered with the old ones, and this situation has probably been going on for some time."

"As we expected," Brand concluded. "It was Acute Stress Disorder following severe abuse, which triggered other mental illnesses and led him into an uncontrollable state of extreme agitation."

"We'll discuss the specific treatment plan for his mental health later. Is his physical injury very serious?"

"His left ankle was severely injured, and his right arm was also fractured. It will probably take a while to treat these injuries alone."

"If his agitated state recurs later, we will not be able to treat his injury at all. Moreover, I do not recommend giving him an excessive amount of tranquilizers. He is too young and his brain may not be able to handle it."

Schiller touched his temple and said, "This is really troublesome. Can we get in touch with his mother? I'd like to investigate his medical history."

Victor shook his head and said, "It's difficult. His mother is also mentally unstable. Last time I went there, she almost chased me out with a broom. If we want to investigate, we'll probably have to go to his house."

"Alright then..." Schiller finally arranged, "Brand, you should take the time to treat his external injuries. Victor and I will go to his house to see what happened."

After leaving, Schiller and Victor sat in the car. As Victor drove, he said, "Actually, you surprised me a bit. I thought you were the kind of Doctor who... didn't like to meddle in other people's business."

"You don't need to be so tactful. I know you think I'm the kind of person who would stand by and watch someone die if the money isn't right."

Victor coughed awkwardly twice. Schiller, sitting in the passenger seat, placed his umbrella next to the seat, then tightened his trench coat and said, "Actually, you're right. Most of the time, that's how I am."

"However, in that vocational school class, only Cobblepot can write the characters I recognize. If he goes crazy, I reckon he'll be driven crazy by that scribbles too."

Victor gripped the steering wheel, smiled, and without turning his head, said, "I think you're all talk and no action. You pretend to be a quack doctor, but you actually have compassion."

"I'll repeat myself: I may be unscrupulous, but I am definitely not a quack."

The car wound its way into a narrow alley next to the Living Hell. When the two got out of the car, Schiller poked the gravel on the side of the road with the tip of his umbrella and said, "It seems that the area of Living Hell renovation is still too small. This place is still so dirty and messy."

"Actually, it's not bad." Victor looked up and around, saying, "Before, cars couldn't even get in here, but now it's much better."

The two entered a dark stairwell and went up two floors. Victor knocked on the door and asked, "Mrs. Cobblepot, are you there?"

"Are you sure he'll answer you? As far as I know, some patients with mental disorders are unable to take care of themselves."

"It should be fine. When Mrs. Cobblepot isn't having an episode, she just has some limb twitching," Victor explained as he continued knocking. But after a while, there was no answer. Victor frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

No one answered, Victor could only say, "Something might have happened. We'll go around to the roof of the building across the street and then go in from the balcony. That's the only way."

The two bypassed the passageway, exited through the door at the end of the corridor on the same floor, came to the terrace, walked around for a while, came to the balcony next door, and then climbed into the Cobblepot's balcony.

Then, they saw from the window that the interior of the Cobblepot mansion was in a mess, as if a fight had just taken place, and Mrs. Cobblepot was nowhere to be seen.

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