Miao Mu lay facedown on the hospital bed while Mrs. Thompkins used a curved needle to stitch the wound on his back.
The sharp hook pierced his skin, pulling black thread through it like she was sewing clothes and drawing the torn flesh back together.
Each piercing stab of pain made Miao Mu clutch the sheets and grimace. The wound was too large, nearly running across his entire back.
"Ma'am, could you give me some anesthetic?" Miao Mu pleaded, gripping the bedsheets.
"Ma'am" was the respectful form of address for Leslie Thompkins. Even the homeless men on the streets knew to call her that.
But Miao Mu also knew something else. Mrs. Thompkins had been Thomas Wayne's classmate—the father of Batman, Bruce Wayne.
They had both been exceptionally skilled doctors. Unfortunately, Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha Wayne had died in Crime Alley.
Mrs. Thompkins had handled Bruce Wayne's therapy afterward. She was also one of the few people who knew Batman's true identity.
This was also a place Batman often came for treatment. Some injuries were beyond even Alfred's abilities, considering how recklessly his young master pushed himself.
"Using anesthetic on a thick-skinned little punk like you would be a waste. Bear with it. Thirty stitches left. If it hurts too much, there's a magazine under the bed to distract you."
Mrs. Thompkins refused Miao Mu's request. She picked up the hemostatic forceps, tugged the damaged skin together for a cleaner fit, then drove the needle in to stitch it up.
The agonizing sensation made Miao Mu's ass clench, his face twisting grotesquely. Damn... intense!
Miao Mu reached beneath the bed and pulled out the "painkiller" magazine. One look, and damn it—it was Playboy, America's biggest porn magazine. What a... distraction.
He flipped through two pages. Who knew how