Chapter 4

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"Ouch- Brothers blind best friend? Thought we where on a first name basis."

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The next few days went by, and Holly heard nothing from Matt. 

Sure the prospect of hearing nothing was upsetting, but what did she expect? She knew it was unlikely that she would hear anything from him after all that had happened, but still it stung. 

She ignored Foggy's calls after Christmas night, the idea of spending time with him only making it harder to keep Matt's secret at bay and out of sight and mind. She knew the two friends paid a pivotal role in the others life, and she wasn't willing to break that apart by sharing information that wasn't hers to share. 

Although Matt hadn't made an effort to reach out, it would be a lie to say that guilt wasn't seeping through his skin when he wakes up every morning. He thought about Holly a lot, which only made the idea of keeping her out of his life much worse. His guilt for what he had done was murky and grimy, adding toxins into his body and weight to his chest. Still, he had to keep Holly out of the mess he had gotten himself into-even if that meant avoiding her at all costs.

Holly just continued with her day to day activities. She would eat, sleep, and breath efficiency at the hospital which was a nice distraction from everything. After Christmas was always the ER's busiest times-fathers desperate attempts to unhook Christmas lights from the roof of their houses leading them straight into the ER with a broken arm. 

Still, there was only so long she could go without thinking about Matt.

"Morning Mr. James." Holly says with a chip in her voice as she walks over to the old man who is lying in his bed with his head facing down at the journal in front of him. He places the pen inside the page where he left off, closing the book before he turns his head at Holly with a smile. 

"Good morning, Holly." Mr. James voice echoed throughout the room as she made her way towards him. "I haven't seen you in a few days." He exclaimed.  "Claire told me someone broke into your apartment through your window, are you okay?"

Holly felt the bile building in the back of her throat again, why the fuck couldn't she lie without having that gut wrenching feeling build up in her body? "Yeah someone broke in. I wasn't home though, it was before I got off my shift." 

Mr. James lifted his sleeve as Holly took his arm in her hand. He shook his head with disappointment. "This city keeps getting worse and worse. Your lucky you weren't involved with that vigilante guy in the black mask. Authorities said he had beaten up a whole group of guys just a mile from your place!"

Holly gave Mr. James a small look, shaking her head before she proceeded to draw his blood. Something about keeping this whole ordeal a secret was beating her up from the inside out. She wanted to tell him everything, about how Matt was the man in the mask, how someone didn't break into her apartment while she was gone, and how she saved the mask man from dying on her ground-yet she couldn't. Instead, all she could do was nod along and pretend she wasn't involved. 

"Yeah I'm real glad I wasn't involved." She said, taking the needle from his skin as she patted down the spot on his arm with a cotton pad before bandaging it up. She stood up, finding it an urgent need to change the subject. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Mr. James noticed the slight change in subject, and the clench in Holly's hands. He furrowed his brows slightly before knocking his suspicions out the window. "I'm feeling okay," He pointed to his shoulder. "My shoulder kind of hurts though." 

Holly nodded before walking over and taking a look at his arm. There was no bruising, or signs of injury. She reached over, grabbing her blood pressure cuff as she placed it around Arthurs arm. "Would I be wrong to assume Dorthey snuck food in for you on Christmas?" Holly questioned as Arthurs face became flushed. 

He hesitated before speaking. "She had too, I couldn't eat Jello on Christmas-I needed her sugar cookies." 

Holly shook her head with a small smile as she looked at the number on the cuff. "Well that explains why your blood pressure is so high." She took the cuff from his arm. "I'm patting Dorthey down before she comes in on New Years." Holly joked. 

Arthur shrugged. "It was worth it." Holly chuckled as she took the cuff off in her hands and stood, walking over to the table to write down his information. "By the way, how was your Christmas date?" He referred to Matt, wiggling his eyebrows.

Despite her nervous energy, Holly laughed at his expression. "He uh-" She scratched the back of his head. "He didn't come." She spoke quickly. "Because of the break-in. I told him not to come." She shrugged, speaking bullshit like it was her native language. "It's fine, either way I was busy that night." 

Arthur nodded along, "Are you sure nothing else happened that night?" He questioned. "You just seem...out of focus today." 

"No, no I'm fine." Holly smiled. "I'm just tired, the glazier was over at my place late last night putting a new window up so I didn't get much sleep." 

Although Arthur didn't fully believe Holly's statement, he went along with it, not wanting to poke at something he was supposed to stay out of. "Hmm...Well you should probably go get yourself some coffee." His voice lowered to a whisper. "And maybe sneak me some too."

Holly smiled, taking her clipboard in her hand. "Your pure trouble, Mr. James." She turned on her heel as she headed towards the door of the room. "Can I interest you in some tea instead?"

"Peppermint, please." His dimples on his cheeks became more wrinkled as he gave a thankful smile. 

"Got it." Holly nodded before heading out of the room and down the hallway of the hospital. 

Nurses crowded the hallway as they made their way from one room to another. Holly gave a small wave to Claire as she walked by, most likely heading towards Darcy's room. Doors slid open and shut as the smell of a metallic tang filled Holly's senses right before she was stopped by a pair of hands grabbing onto her. 

"What the hell-" She spoke quickly as she was pushed into a door leading to a stairwell. She fought hard as the figure repeated her name, his voice sounding familiar as he took his hoodie down. Matt gave a small smile, making Holly's heartbeat slow down with every harsh breath she took.

"It's just me." He repeated as Holly shut her eyes and her head fell against the wall. "It's just me, Holly."

His glasses where gone and his face looked softer then before. His deep brown eyes where buttered with chocolate with darker rays framing around his iris. Holly never had seen his eyes before, but in this moment, she couldn't focus on anything but his eyes.

"Jesus Matt, you scared the shit out of me." She breathed heavily, her nerves still all over the place. "What are you doing here? Your gonna get in trouble walking around here." 

"I needed to see you." He gave a loose shrug. "Er- more like get help from you." He took one of his hands from Holly's arm, zipping down his hoodie to reveal a large cut on his left rib. His collarbone and stomach was bruised as black and blue hues covered his sculpted figure. It would be a lie if Holly said she wasn't checking him out. 

"You could have called me." Holly complained, looking up at him. His hand was still wrapped around her bicep as he pinned her to the wall. 

"Didn't think you would pick up." He gave a faint smile, his dimples forming on his face. "I didn't really know how you would react after the whole I broke into your window and bled on your floor situation." 

"So you thought scaring the shit out of me and pulling me into a stairwell was better?" Holly questioned, making Matt furrow his brows. Holly's pager went off as she looked down-it was a call for a nurse in the ER. "Listen, I am at work right now. You want help, go to the ER."

"I can't. They'll ask what happened and I can't really come up with an excuse for this." He nodded down to his ribs. "Holly, please. Your the only person I trust for this." 

Holly gave Matt a stern look, despite the fact her heart was beating at a million miles an hour. "Fine." She gave him her keytag. "Take this, go to room 301 and I'll meet you in there in a minute." Matt let out a breath of relief as he took his hand from Holly's arm. "If you get caught with this, I was never here." 

Matt gave a weak nod as his lips formed into a small smile. "Thank you, Holly." 

"Don't thank me," She moved out of his way as she walked towards the door leading into the hallway. "Pay for my window." 

Matt smiled to himself as Holly left the stairwell, listening to her mumble curse words to herself while she walked to the ER.

Despite the fact that Holly had acted like Matt showing up to the hospital was the worst thing that had ever happened-she couldn't help but ponder over the fact she was actually excited about him being there. 

She bites her lip as she walks down the hallway of the hospital, trying to avoid making eye contact with as many people as possible in case her concern is showing on her face as much as it is in the way her heart beats. 

She pushes through the door to room 301, quickly shutting it behind her and locking it. She turns back and faces Matt as she leans against the door, staring at the shirtless man who is lying in the hospital bed. 

Matt's smile is back, "You had me thinking you ditched me." 

Holly walked over to the sink in the opposite corner of the room as she began to wash her hands, "You forget I'm on duty." She reached up, drying her hands with a paper towel as she turned around to face Matt. "Taking care of my brothers blind friend isn't my full time job." 

"Ouch-" Matt's winces. "Brothers blind friend? I thought we where on a first name basis." 

Holly had a smile line her lips-and through Matt's blurred fiery vision he saw it, making his liking for the girl in front of him that much more apparent in his mind. 

"We'll be on a first name basis when you explain to me how you do...all this." Holly crouched down as she began to clean down the wound on Matt's ribs. He winced slightly as his body tightened up. 

"You know I can't do that." 

"No, you don't want too." Holly pointed the stitching scissors at him. "Whether you can or you want too are two different stories." 

Matt barked a small scoff. "You and Foggy sound exactly alike." 

Holly had a minute smile grow on her face, "Yeah well when you live with my mother for 18 years, sayings like that get engraved in your mind." She began to stitch his wound as she spoke to him. "Can you at least tell me what your able to do? You don't have to say how you can do it, but a list of things you can do would definitely be a help to me." 

Matt thought for a moment before he spoke. "I can hear things. other people can't"

Holly stopped her movements as she looked up at Matt with a skeptical look on her face. "Like....Ghosts?" 

"No not Ghosts." Matt shook his head. "I can hear things like heartbeats, the sound of a pen dropping from a mile away, breathing patterns, stuff like that." He referred to their conversation the night before. "And I can taste things through the air. Things people eat, copper from blood, etcetera." 

Holly nodded along, trying to process everything Matt had said. She was baffled by the fact she wasn't flipping her shit. Maybe it was because stuff like this had become more apparent in recent years with people like The Avengers, or Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. Hell, even Spider-Man's abilities where out of the ordinary. 

"Give me an example." She prodded, making Matt take note of her curious attitude. Sure she could be meek, but she had a part of her that was rather outgoing. One that wouldn't step down when she was committed to something. 

"Before you came to work today, you had a cherry tart from the bakery down the road." He said, making Holly's heartbeat speed up. "Me telling you that made you uncomfortable-" his head cocked. "And a bit hungry." 

Holly took a breath of disbelief. In all her years in the medical field, never in her life had she ever had something like this grace her presence. "Okay, that's really weird. And kind of cool." She went back to work. "So how do you do it?"

Matt felt like a middle school boy when she spoke. Despite telling her about something that he had never told anyone before, his only thought was that she thought he was cool. "If I told you I would have to kill you." He joked. 

Holly rolled her eyes before speaking. "Understood James Bond. So if Foggy doesn't know about this, I assume nobody does besides me?" Holly questioned as she finished up his stitches. The more she asked questions, the easier it was for her to concentrate on the fact she was stitching up an illegal vigilante. It calmed her, and Matt knew it-so he ran with it.

"You would be right." Matt answered. "I want to tell him, I just don't really know how he would react." He got serious as his body slightly tensed up. "Plus it's easier this way. I keep people I care about out of the mess." He loosely shrugged. "Well, besides you of course." 

Holly reached over and grabbed a bandage from the cart. "You care about me?" 

"I'd like to consider you a friend." He admitted. "And I care for my friends like anyone would." 

Holly finished bandaging up the spot before she looked up at Matt. "I consider you a friend." She took her gloves off. "Not in a traditional sense of course considering our friendship is based off me keeping you from bleeding out. But still, friends." 

Matt smiles faintly at Holly's words. Her voice is sweet like honey, but tired- tone pitchy and cracked- laced like a throat full of cherry syrup with fatigue. He blamed himself for the lack of sleep she had, despite the fact he didn't even really know if that was the reason. 

"Okay, I think your all stitched up." Holly stepped back from Matt, taking a glimpse at the rest of his body. Her heartrate sped up slightly, making her instantly get even more panicked by the fact he could hear it. "I take my checks in window bills by the way." 

"I'll get you your money." Matt chuckled as he reached over, grabbing his sweatshirt as he threw it over his body before standing up fully. Holly turned back to face him as she stepped a bit closer, her hands planted on her hips as she looked to him. 

"Do yourself a favor and get a better get-up. You look like someone who got a cheep ass costume from the discount section at Party City." Holly said with a stupid grin. 

"You know, that's the second time you've said that to me. It's really starting to hurt my feelings." He says, cracking his knuckles in a way that would be very intimidating if it wasn't for the smile on his lips. "I'm starting to think your not as nice as I thought you where when we first met."

"If I wasn't nice you wouldn't be here." She joked. 

Holly's stupid smile wouldn't leave her face, and she hated it. She didn't hate it in a literal sense, but in a sense that she knew he would be leaving soon and there was a chance she wouldn't hear from him again. 

In the short time Holly had known Matt, she learned that he cared for his friends more then anything. Now that she was considered to be his friend, he would do anything to keep her safe-even if that meant leaving her and not talking to her for months on end-or until he felt it was safe. 

Holly goes quiet. It throws her back into reality that they really aren't friends-they're merely acquaintances. He's someone who can get her hurt by even being in the same room as her-much less showing his face-and Holly is someone who has too much in her life to loose. 

In another world they could have become friends under different circumstances. But this was her reality. And in this reality, they became friends because he was a vigilante who had swung through her window. 

"I should get back to work-" Holly starts as she points in the direction of the door. 

Hearing the fear rise in her voice like an ocean current, Matt understands. "Right." He breaths, it hurts his lungs to even have to talk about leaving. 

Having someone who knew this side to him made him at peace in a way. He was able to go to this person and talk about both parts of his life, without worry of judgment or saying the wrong thing. He liked having Holly in his life. 

"You leave first and I'll go out after." He says. 

Holly gives a thumbs up. "Got it." She heads for the door as she presses down on the handle and looks back at Matt. "Hey uh, next time just call me. I promise I'll answer." 

Matt just about feels his entire body fill with relief, and even a bit of joy. He gives her back the same thumbs up she gave him, making her smile just as she left the room with Matt's smiling heart in it. 

Hours passed as Holly finally made her way back to her apartment. She felt sluggish, her body dragging her towards her place as if a magnet was attached to it. She rubs her eyes with the back of her hand before she makes it to her floor and sees her apartment door. 

With a small bit of surprise, she sees a box lying outside her door-waiting to be opened. She quickens her pace slightly as she crouches down, opening the envelope that had her name written on top of it. Inside, a large wad of cash and a note rest. 

I hope this covers everything. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Ps. Got you something extra for stitching me up. Figured you would want cherry again. 

- Your brothers blind friend

Holly laughs to herself as she reads the name that signed off on the note. She looks down at the box, seeing 'Q's cup O' Joe + Treats' labeled across it. Instantly she lets out a bigger smile, unable to contain it as she opens it up.

 Three cherry tarts piled evenly in the box.