Dick asked himself and felt that he was an open-minded person.
Thanks to Bruce's teaching, Dick was used to making preparations before taking action and understanding everything related to the enemy. Rania was not an enemy, but he had investigated her in detail before coming into contact with her. Naturally, he knew how she lived.
There were no clues about Rania's life before she settled in New York, but it was easy to investigate after that.
It was almost impossible for a twelve-year-old girl to live alone, but Rania seemed to be very lucky. After her guardian abandoned her and ran away, a girl of unknown origin soon appeared by her side. Her skills were as beautiful as her face, and she was even more protective of Rania. She was so obedient that it was not as simple as a friend.
It was difficult for minors to find a formal job, so she could only find some shady jobs. Every day, she moved around the city and could hardly find any time to rest.
In the past three years, most of the money she earned was used to pay off Rania's gambling debts, and the rest was given to Rania. It could be said that she was the one who raised the little girl to this age and raised her soft and well-behaved appearance.
She was actually not much older than Rania. In Dick's eyes, she was just a child. In his eyes, the scene in front of him was more like a soft little bird rubbing its fur with a wolf cub who was guarding it.
For such a long time, they had been relying on each other in this city, and their importance to each other was self-evident.
Before meeting Mister, Dick was a little curious about her identity and the reason why she had never left Rania. Now it seemed that the reason was very clear.
Rania was still looking at him silently. Compared to her peers, she was indeed not tall. Lying on the hospital bed, she looked even smaller. Not knowing if it was because of the pain, she was frowning slightly. Her cheeks and lips were pale, and her blue eyes were moist and wet. Even if her lips were straight, she looked pitiful.
Dick shifted his gaze and saw Rania's hand on the quilt. The little girl's slender fingers were curled up, and her fingertips were white. It was obvious that she was nervous.
But even so, she did not explain or deny it. She just stubbornly pursed her lips and waited for his reaction.
This stubborn and undeniable attitude … made Dick feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Coupled with Rania's face, he even felt a little sour and funny.
His tone became gentler. "I understand."
If Rania knew what he was thinking, she would definitely tell Dick that she was just suffocating.
Glancing at Rania's leg, Dick said helplessly, "I saw your photo on the news, so I came to see you."
The tables had turned too quickly. Not long ago, they had thought that it was best not to let Rania get close to Gotham. Not long after, the little girl was admitted to the hospital in the "safe" New York … It had not even been a day since the flag was raised.
Rania had once considered how she should introduce Mister to Peter one day. But among the various identities that she had imagined, the option of "girlfriend" was definitely not one of them.
But the lie had already begun, so she could only continue.
Rania's heart was desolate, and her expression was stiff. She thanked him dryly and whispered, "This is Mister …"
From Dick's point of view, the little girl was trying her best to hide her shyness, but she did not know that the faint blush on her face had already exposed her feelings. Not to mention, her voice was soft and timid, like the chirping of a fledgling, and it could soften anyone's heart.
At that moment, he saw Mister's eyelashes move, and she slowly opened her eyes.
She still looked a little tired. Her eyes floated in the air, and she glanced at Dick. Her eyes were particularly calm, so calm that it was as if no one else existed except for Rania.
They looked at each other. Before Dick could see anything from Mister's eyes, she retracted her gaze and lowered her head. "I'm going out for a walk. You guys talk first." Then she got up and left.
Dick felt pity for this girl who had been taking care of Rania for a long time, and he felt that compared to him, Rania would definitely want to see Mister more, so he smiled and said, "It's okay. I think I have to admit that I came at the wrong time this time, so I'm sorry. I won't take up too much of your time."
Rania was speechless.
She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she heard a strange sense of relief in Dick's tone …
In order to maintain the lie, Rania had used all her acting skills. She was waiting for Mister to be sent out as soon as possible, but when she heard this, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She forced herself to maintain her expression. Mister shook his head, walked out of the ward, and gently closed the door.
After Mister left, Dick sat down and began to care about Rania's injury.
Because they weren't very familiar with each other, and Rania wanted to maintain her image as a lady, she tried to be as quiet as possible. Dick didn't stay for long, but he said that he would come to see her tomorrow.
Rania thought about how he had already left yesterday, but he had rushed from Gotham to see her today. She suddenly felt guilty.
"Thank you, but I'm really fine. It's okay." She tried to reject Dick's kindness.
"Who will take care of you during this time?" Dick asked.
Rania answered matter-of-factly, "Mister will."
Dick looked at Rania, who had a calm expression on her face.
He felt like a light bulb that was stuck between the two young lovers, emitting a discordant light.
…
Rania was lucky. When the bookshelf fell, the table first blocked it, giving her some time to climb out. In the end, she only suffered a fracture in her left leg and some flesh injuries. She didn't suffer any more serious injuries, such as a spinal injury.
But even so, she had now become a Lesser Shrike with a broken leg. She couldn't fly for a short period of time, and could only jump with the help of crutches. Yes.
The worst thing was that because she rushed out too quickly, her glasses flew out …
When the glasses flew out, Rania felt that her heart had gone with it, leaving only a lifeless body …
So today, her world was blank again with red floating in the air. The little girl's eyes were empty, and no matter who she talked to, she would suspect that she wasn't looking at the other person's eyes. She could only shut her mouth and remain aloof, feeling depressed that her image was a little worse.
But fortunately, the person who came to visit her today had some red on him.
In order to recognize her little friend, Rania had given Peter a metal Iron Man badge as a birthday present. The shiny red was very eye-catching, so she could quickly recognize Peter in the crowd every time.
"This is today's notebook," Peter took out the notebook from his bag and looked at Rania sympathetically. "You can also wait until you are discharged from the hospital to make up for it. The next quiz is in two weeks. There's no need to be so anxious."
Rania was very grateful, but this kind of worry was completely unnecessary. "Thank you, but it's not my hand that I broke."
Staying in the hospital for observation was actually quite boring. Rania had no books to read, so she could only copy notes to pass the time. Her recent dream was to save money to buy a Kindle and live a happy life in the sea of books. After all, physical books were too expensive, and there was no place at home to put a bookshelf.
Compared to the first visitor, the second visitor was a little more considerate. Not only did Dick bring fruit, but he also brought them two cups of Starbucks.
The two children immediately showed their highest respect for this generous gentleman.
Rania was so poor that she had never even drunk this kind of garbage coffee before. She took the paper cup from Dick and realized what it was. She held the paper cup in one hand and a straw in the other. She looked down in surprise, then inserted the straw into the cup and carefully took a sip.
She blinked.
So sweet.
"I don't know what you like, so I ordered it according to my taste," Dick said.
Different from the day before, the smile on his face was fainter. He looked at Rania, who was focused on the drink, and seemed to be thinking about something.
When Dick's eyes fell on Rania's leg that was in a cast, the thought that had been lingering in his mind finally settled down.
Seriously, what were they thinking? Gotham was not safe, but was New York any better? Thinking about the war in New York a few years ago, thinking about the endless number of criminals in strange clothes, thinking about the high crime rate, at least Gotham was still under the watch of Batman and his team, but New York?
"Rania, I know you may not be willing to accept this proposal," he said very slowly. "We saw the news, Bruce — your father is very worried about you. This is not the first time that New York's schools have been affected by criminal activities on the news. Since the alien invasion of New York, there has been more and more news of innocent people being hospitalized. I think you have personally experienced that New York is not safe. "
"It's just a proposal — will you consider going back to Gotham with me?" he said.
Before he finished speaking, Dick saw the youth that he had seen in the restaurant the other day raise his head with a "whoosh". The smile on his face gradually disappeared, and it was replaced with a shocked … and somewhat incredulous look. He stared straight at Dick's face.
He was just short of writing disappointment on his face.
Dick was speechless.
Nightwing could not help but ask himself, ask …
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