The Broken City

Chapter Five

"Oh shit!" Carla said before running to Frank's side. She pulled his jacket aside to have a look at the wound that was bleeding. "He's got the cut on his side and took shots to the arm and leg." Daredevil spoke quickly. "Dammit! They got him deep but still hadn't gotten a vein or artery. I don't know if I can fix this." Carla's panic rose as she examined him. The shot to his arm had just grazed him but the one to the leg was deeper. It oozed blood like the cut on his side. Carla took a moment to think. "What do you need?" Daredevil asked. "Uh, I need you to keep pressure on his side." She said pulling Frank's belt off and tying it around his leg. She removed his vest and coat as well. Daredevil placed his hands on the wound on Frank's side while Carla ran and got her supplies. Carla's hands were shaking as she poured the alcohol into the bowl again. Her mind raced, wondering how she'd handle it if she couldn't save him. She returned to Frank's side and prepare the needle. Daredevil removed his hands so she could begin stitching Frank up. She ripped his shirt up so it wasn't in her way. She pushed the needle through one side and Frank groaned. "Frank? Frank, it's me. I'm going to fix you up but you need to hold still." Carla spoke softly. Frank made a grunting noise before relaxing. Carla checked his pulse before continuing. She could feel Daredevil watching her as she worked. It made her uncomfortable. Once she had finished stitching his side she turned her attention to the wound on his leg. She removed the belt from his leg and blood poured out. "Shit!" Carla yelled louder than she intended. "Can you grab the small pen light from my bedroom? It should be on the nightstand." She asked Daredevil. He left and quickly returned with the light. Carla clicked it on and peered into the wound. She could see the bullet but wasn't sure if it had torn the vein it had hit. Carla dropped the light and dumped her purse on the table. She grabbed the multi-tool and opened it. "What are you doing?" Daredevil asked. "I can't tell if the bullet hit the vein or pushed it to the side." "Woah! You can't remove it without causing him to bleed out." Daredevil replied with a panic. "I don't have a choice if it hit a vein he's gotta go to a hospital and get arrested again. But if it didn't I can fix him up. I hope." She couldn't see Daredevil's face but his lips told her that he wasn't thrilled with her. She pushed him out of her thoughts and returned to the bullet in Frank's leg. She turned the light back on and held it with her mouth. She pushed gently on the skin just outside the wound and the bullet rose closer to the entrance wound. She pushed again hoping the bullet would pop out on it's own but it wouldn't. She used the pliers from the multi-tool to extract the bullet. She shined the light back into the wound. The vein was intact. She breathed a sigh of relief and stitched him up. She took care of his arm and then bandaged up all the wounds. Carla realized soon after that his shirt was soaked with blood. With a sigh she grabbed the scissors out of a drawer and finished cutting off Frank's shirt. She then grabbed a towel and cleaned the blood that was all over his torso. "Grab his legs." She said as she picked up his upper body. They carried him over to the couch where, once again, she pulled the blanket down over him. She checked his pulse again. It was weaker than normal but still steady. After she took a moment to catch her breath she turned to the mess in her kitchen. She put all the clothing that she pulled off Frank into a trash bag. There was a puddle of blood half again the size from the first night she had stitched him up. "I could use a little help here." Carla said getting out the cleaning supplies. Daredevil stopped looming over Frank and came to help Carla. About half way through cleaning the floor she began laughing. "What?" Daredevil asked bewildered. "It's just, ha, I have Daredevil cleaning my floor. It's slightly amusing." Daredevil let out a small laugh and smiled at Carla. She stared for a moment at his smile. It seemed somehow familiar, but she didn't know from where. She shook the thought from her mind and returned to scrubbing the floor.

By the time they had finished cleaning the floor Carla was exhausted. She washed her hands and then checked on Frank. His pulse was still a little weak but steady. She studied his face. It was beginning to turn purple and blue from being hit. There were a few small skin splits around his mouth and his left eyebrow. His nose was split open again. His eyes were swollen likely from the broken nose. She sighed. This man will die bloody someday, she thought. She went to the wall and slowly sat down so she could keep an eye on him. Daredevil sat down beside her. There were a few minutes of silence before either one spoke. "What happened tonight?" Carla was genuinely interested. Daredevil took a breath before answering, "I was tracking a man down but he left his apartment so I followed him. I ran into Frank at the warehouse where the man went. I told Frank what he had done and we went into the warehouse together. A fire fight happened and he got hurt." "Who were you tracking?" Carla pressed. "A man who raped and killed a young woman." "Oh. When did he do it?" "About a year ago." Carla paused. She thought about Aurora, how she'd been killed a year ago. "Are you," Carla was visibly confused, "are you talking about the Aurora Löfgren?" Daredevil nodded. "What's the man's name?" Carla's heart raced. "David Taylor." She jumped to her knees, "Wait, how did you know about David? Who told you that? The police don't think he's a suspect only myself and Karen Page think that-" She stopped speaking. "Humor me here." She said to Daredevil. He cocked his head. "Say Karen." "Why?" "Please just say it for me." Carla pushed. "Karen." His voice was familiar, painfully so. She studied his lips again. They were just as familiar to her. She leaned into him and smelled him. He pulled away from her. She ignored him and smelled him again. "Oh shi- that's not possible. Or is it?" She said to no one in particular. "I know who you are." She stared into his eyes, knowing that he couldn't see her. "You're Matt Murdock." She whispered. Daredevil shook his head, "No, I'm not." Carla gave him a chastising look, "Yes, you are. Your voice is the same as his." "You're hearing things." "No I'm not. But even if I was you have the same lips as he does." Daredevil kept shaking his head. "You have unique lips Matt and you smell the same." "You don't know what you're talking about." He turned back to face Frank. "The hell I don't. Did you know that scent is the most powerful memory trigger? I may have been blitzed off my ass last night but I remember what you smell like. You are Matt Murdock." He refused to look at Carla. She waited for him to admit it but he didn't. "Who would I tell Matt? I'm not exactly swimming in friends here. If you haven't told Foggy or Karen then you should. Frank doesn't seem like he'd give a shit. Just admit it." She waited again. With a sigh Daredevil pulled his headpiece off and revealed that Carla was absolutely right. She fell back onto the floor. "Holy- wow. So are you actually blind then?" She blurted without thinking. "Yes I'm actually blind." Matt answered. "Then how, how do you do what you do?" Carla asked. Matt then took to explaining how he was the way he was. Carla was quite intrigued by his story. After Matt had finished speaking Frank made a strange noise. Carla's head snapped to look at him. She began to get up when Matt spoke, "He's fine. Nothing's changed." "How? You know that's creepy right?" Carla said sitting back down beside him. Matt chuckled, "I know." They sat in silence for a time. Carla watched Frank's chest rise in fall in that time. Then she turned to Matt and asked, "How did you know where to go?" "What?" He replied. "How did you know where to bring him?" "I was here when you two first met." Carla was taken aback, "What?" Matt sighed, "I was following Frank the night you two met." "Ah, so, you know how we met then?" She asked. Matt nodded. The shame Carla felt in that moment was palpable. "Were you the one that told Karen about me then?" Again Matt nodded. "May I ask why?" "To make sure you hadn't-" "Yeah, okay." Carla cut him off. "Wait, then you let those guys get on the roof with us!" Carla's angry began to rise. "I stopped the six other men at the bottom of the building and by the time I'd taken care of them Frank had already killed the three on the roof." "Oh." Carla felt a little guilty for being angry with him. They were silent for a while. "You should go home and get some sleep, Matt." Carla said shaking him awake. Matt nodded, "You should too." Carla let out a small laugh before he left. She remained on the floor, just watching the rise and fall of Frank's chest. Eventually her exhaustion took over and she fell asleep.