Forging A Bond

A Journey

Sacred Saints Hospital: Dinah Madan's room: June 2018

The beeping of the machine by her head woke her up. She was getting tired of that machine going off anytime her breathing got shallow even for a few minutes.

Looking around she noticed a site that surprised her. A woman sitting in the chair next to her bed, asleep. "She must have been there for awhile to have gone to sleep" Dinah thought to herself.

She suddenly recognized the young woman. It was Karen Page, that friend of Frank Castle's. Dinah laughed internally. She must be there to spy on her for Frank.

Last she heard of Frank Castle was that he had gotten a full pardon and had disappeared into Hell's Kitchen. Rumors were he was getting close to Daredevil.

"Damn now I'm even replaying gossip in my head" Dinah grumbled and then regretted it because of the pain it caused in her head.

The lady in the chair stirred. "Hey Dinah, your awake" Karen said softly, stretching a little and smiling. "She was beautiful. She had bright blue eyes and gold hair that shined like the sun and sparkled brightly when the sun's rays danced between the strands" Dinah thought to herself.

"Hi Ms. Page, what brings you here? Looking for a big story?" Dinah asked with a twang of anger in her voice and then felt ashamed for going on the attack, "I'm sorry Karen, I hate hospitals, they stress me out. Thank you for visiting" Dinah said seeing the look of shock and hurt on Karen's face.

Karen's face softened and she smiled. "I don't blame you Dinah. I just wanted to make sure you were alright" Karen said gently rubbing Dinah's arm. Dinah couldn't help but smile and yawn.

"Get some sleep Dinah, I will be here when you get up" Karen said continuing to rub her arm. Dinah was going to argue but sleep was taking over. She closed her eyes and knew inside that Karen was true to her word.

Sacred Saints Hospital: June 2019: Frank Castle's room

Dinah looked at the broken man in the bed. She knew something was wrong but she couldn't pinpoint it. Frank Castle never shot innocents so she knew in her gut he didn't kill those girls.

She looked at the man to Frank's right, Matt Murdock, lawyer by day and Daredevil by night. Yes, Dinah had learned his secret from Karen. The thought of Karen made her heart skip. She hadn't seen her in months and it was killing her. They had become close friends.

Matt had been at Frank's bedside since he was admitted two days ago. Sergeant Mahoney wasn't too pleased with that but since Dinah outranked him and gave it the ok, he had to deal with it. She even had the handcuffs removed.

Dinah leaned back in her chair and that's when she felt two soft hands on her shoulders. Looking up she found herself staring into the face of an angel. Her beautiful blue eyes dancing between crying and staying strong and her golden hair tied back into a ponytail.

"How is he?" Karen asked, her voice cracking from what could only be from crying. Having already been through that first stage, Dinah placed a hand over Karen's.

"He isn't fighting much. He thinks he's broken his code" Dinah said trying not to cry again. She heard the small gasp from Karen. Her heart breaking, Dinah stood up and pulled Karen close to her. "He will be alright" Dinah said softly, knowing she was having trouble believing her own words but had to say them for Karen.

As they gently pulled apart Karen placed a soft kiss on Dinah's cheek. This caught Dinah off guard but she didn't say anything instead she returned the kiss, but not on Karen's cheek but on her lips and was ecstatic when Karen didn't pull away.

"Ooh their kissing" came a little voice from the doorway. Dinah and Karen both looked at the door and smiled. There stood Zach Lieberman and his mom and dad. Behind them stood Leo. She held a bouquet of fresh flowers.

"Leo wanted to know if she could give Frank some flowers?" David asked pulling Leo close to him. Dinah looked back at Frank, not knowing if a child should see him like that. But before she could answer Matt said "of course you can Leo".

Nodding, Leo slowly headed to Frank's bed. Curtis and his boyfriend, Senator David Shultz decided to join the group at the same time, thought they stayed quiet and watched the unfolding scene without interruption.

Leo stopped in front of Frank's bed and just stared at him. Her young eyes filling with tears and an understanding of what was going on with him.

Placing the flowers on his bed side table she climbed up on the chair and took his free hand, she cleared her throat and said quietly "Uncle Frank please don't give up on life. We would all miss you. Everyone here would be really sad. I would be really sad. Everyone here knows you didn't hurt anyone. Everyone here knows your code. Even the mean old detective who keeps saying you don't have one. I love you Uncle Frank".

The room stayed silent. No one wanted to test the waters, everyone was trying to keep from crying and the thought of moving or making any sound would break that, Leo's parents wanted to run to her and hold her but choose to let her do what she's going to do. Leo just looking into Frank's face for any sign that the man in the bed heard her. Even Mahoney was stricken with sadness from the young girls tearful plea. The room was at a standstill and it wasn't until Frank himself squeezed the hand in his that any one even dared to breath.

"Thank you sweetheart" Frank said, his voice crackling from a dry throat. He opened his mouth to talk but Mahoney jumped in. "Before you go on Castle, I wanted to let you know that it wasn't you who killed those girls, it was Russo. One of his men gave him up for immunity. Your free to go as it seems you were one of the victims this time" Mahoney said sounding surprisingly happy.

Frank looked at Mahoney and then back at Leo who had started to cry hard. "Don't cry sweetheart, thanks to your words I found my way back and thanks to the mean detectives words so has The Punisher as well. When I'm better, I'm taking you out for ice cream as a thank you for saving me" Frank said hugging the young girl close. Leo clung to him like if she let go he would vanish. The tears in Frank's eyes showing just how thankful he was to Leo for being there.

Dinah felt Karen's shaking hand slide into hers. They stood together watching Frank hold onto Leo and tightly as she was holding onto him. Amy has stayed back at Curtis's place for her own safety but Dinah told her she would bring her to see Frank the next day. Dinah was glad when Amy did get there Frank would be in a better place because Amy needed to see that after everything she had witnessed.

As soon as David was able to claw Leo out of Frank's grasp and her own, they said their goodbyes and promised to be back tomorrow as well.

The room cleared out until it was Dinah, Karen and Frank. "We will be back tomorrow Frank, you keep fighting" Karen said kissing his forehead. He gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Hey Castle, get better you hear, your jobs not done" Dinah said from the foot of the bed. Frank once again gave that smile and two small thumbs up. Dinah felt like she could cry but fought back the tears.

The two ladies said their good nights to Frank and Matt and headed to the parking garage. Without even knowing it, they had parked right next to each other.

"Want to meet for coffee in the morning?" Karen asked shyly twisting a strand of her hair in her fingers. Dinah held back a laugh and said "sure sounds nice".

The two ladies stared at each other for a few minutes until Karen took a deep breath and went in for a kiss. Dinah wrapped her arms around Karen and the two women shared a deep, passionate kiss.

And then there was nothing. Both women laid on the ground unconscious, and bleeding. The screams dying out in both their ears as the world went from color to darkness. Their fingers gently lacing the others as they fell into the abyss.