All Roads Lead to Hell *Matt Murdock* (book three of Damned-3a)

10) The beginning of an end

Vera might have been scared shitless, but she was only human. When she was not talking to Terri or anyone else, she was... dozing off. Enough to force herself to put away her contacts and wear her glasses instead, because her eyes burned. She was losing track of time; she might have her watch, but that wasn't the point. She wasn't even sure if it was a.m. or p.m. Christ. She hoped Matt was more aware of his surroundings, though she doubted he caught even an hour of sleep between all the shit.

Vera was just returning from the bathroom, teeth brushed and contacts on again, because she needed to feel like a human being at least, when they stumbled in.

And by 'them', she meant the officers. And by 'stumbled', she meant dragging three unconscious people in. Vera stared in horror at the limp body of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and- and Matt as well. Her heart stopped. He wasn't-- he wasn't-

Vera didn't even realize she followed the cops on autopilot as they carried Matt's bo- Matt to some office. He was just unconscious, right? There was some blood on his shirt, but-

"And take his shirt for blood samples," Detective Knight ordered to the couple of cops, who dropped him on a couch with a huff.

The 'thud' snapped Vera from her trance. Matt was just unconscious. And they were about to strip him.

"I'll do it," Vera offered, surprised how quickly she thought of what could it mean if someone else would do it. One point for her. Sadly, she had lots of 'minus' points.

One of the cops looked at her, sceptical. "Yeah, you won't. He's heavy as fuck."

"It might be difficult," the other explained, before she could protest. Unlike his colleague, he was almost unnaturally polite. It stopped her from snapping. These two needed two different strategies to be convinced, dammit. "He's unconscious, these people feel even heavier."

The first cop, cop A, just smiled at her victoriously.

Vera cleared her throat. "Uhm. Just..." She showed them her left her shamelessly. "He had fallen asleep with his arm over me before, so I know exactly how heavy it is. I'm pretty sure I can imagine the rest." She turned to the cop A. "Actually I don't have to. He had... uhm, his body went limp over me before if you know what I mean."

Cop A aka the smug smile guy scoffed, measuring her with his gaze from head to toe. She supressed a shiver.

Cop B aka the polite guy cleared his throat. "Right."

"Doesn't change a thing. You won't handle him. Not alone."

I'll show you what I can or cannot handle, you arrogant prick.

She sighed, mentally counting to ten. That guy was impossible.

"I won't have to." She turned rather to the cop B. "Could you please send Foggy Nelson here? It's okay, he was his roommate in college and is his best friend..." She couldn't resist squinting at cop A as he sighed dramatically. "...So he'll hardly see something he hasn't before."

"Of course. We need to bring you a bag and some clothes for him anyway."

Vera smiled at cop B - Drake, she needed to remember that - with relief.

"Could you bring a first aid kit as well, please? Just in case. I have some training, I'll check him up. Thank you."

Another annoyed sigh from the cop A as they were leaving. Vera would swear she heard him mumble "crazy bitch" on his way, but she wasn't sure.

"Love you too..."

The moment they were gone, she was at Matt's side. She wouldn't start examining him just yet, but she needed to make sure he was still breathing at least. She attentively watched his chest and abdomen, her palm hovering above his nose and mouth.