"The only medicine I need is you."

IV.

"David!" I shout as I hop out of my car, he ushers me over to where Frank is laying across the table in the kitchen as a man checks his heartbeat with a stethoscope. Frank has an arrow sticking out of his chest and I have to stop myself from freaking out.

"Who are you?" I ask, he seems to be helping Frank so I try my best not to sound hostile. I grab Frank's hand in mine and push some of his hair back from his forehead. I've never seen Frank like this, the closest was at the hospital when he got arrested but this was different. We're not in a hospital and his eyes are closed.

"I'm guessing you're Emma." The man says as he puts the stethoscope back around his neck.

"How-"

"I'm Frank's best friend. Curtis." He puts his hand out and I shake it.

"Thought Frank didn't have friends." I sigh and look down at him. Curtis laughs and then he looks at Frank and gets serious again.

"Look, his temperature at 104, he's septic. We need to get this arrow out of him." He explains to me and David.

"Okay, what do you need us to do?" I ask him, ready to do whatever necessary to help Frank.

"You two are going to have to hold him. If I pull the arrow out it will cause more damage." He hands me a pair of gloves seeing as I was closer to the wound, I slip them on right away.

"So how are you going to get it out?" David asks but I look down at the wound and take note that Curtis wants us to hold him.

"He's going to pull it through." I state. Curtis nods at me and I nod back. Me and David help Frank get situated on his side and then we help steady him, he's a lot heavier than he looks which is saying something especially considering David is helping me hold him up. Curtis already had gloves on as he goes to grab a scalpel, I see a few other medical tools as well and I take note that this man could be a doctor. David starts to moan as he sees what Curtis is about to do.

"David, keep your shit together." I tell him and he clears his throat and nods but still cringes at the sight. Curtis slides the scalpel in slowly and drags it down, blood starting to ooze out. David looks away and starts to pant. I make sure to hold Frank tighter in case David faints because he's starting to look green. Curtis finishes with the incision and grabs some type of tweezers and starts to dig around. It is displeasing to look at but blood and gore never turned me away. Although, David looked even worse.

"I got it." Curtis says as he starts to pull back the tweezers and the arrow comes out along with it. He tosses it in a tin and then hands me gauze.

"Hold this on the wound." I take it from him and press it against the front side where the arrow was just lodged. Curtis then pours alcohol on the incision and then grabs a medical staple gun and starts to close it up.

"Are we done?" David looks nauseas and steps back as we help Frank lay on his back again.

"Yeah. Now all we have to do his cauterize the wound." Curtis starts to run a surgical tool over the flame of a lighter.

"Oh god." David puts his hands on his head. I turn to face him.

"David, walk away." He wasn't helping anyway, especially Curtis by getting anxious because a bit of blood. He swallows hard and walks over to his computers and sits down in his chair. I take Frank's hand after I take my gloves off as Curtis presses the tool to the hole in Frank's chest and I hear it sizzle. He then pours alcohol on the wound again and then presses a bandage to it.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Curtis directs his question to David. He takes off his gloves and throws some things away as he cleans up the area. I drag a chair over to the table and take his hand back in mine. David comes back over.

"We had to check out a source." David says as he drink from a bottle of tequila.

"No, man. I mean what the hell were you thinking getting him involved in this. What did you think was going to happen?" Curtis starts to use hand gestures to get his point across as he raises his voice a bit.

"I needed answers. We needed answers." David says.

"Do you see him right now? This is your fault." He points to him. I bite my lip and look at Frank's sleeping form. I bring his hand up to kiss and then put it back down and rub my thumb against his knuckles.

"Well maybe it will be worth something." David says as he walks out back to his computers, not caring about Curtis being angry.

Curtis sighs and continues to clean up.

"Thank you." I say to him. He stops what he's doing to look at me.

"You know, Frank told me you were tough, I get it now." He smiles at me and I can't help but smile back.

He looks down at my hand in Frank's.

"You really care for him, huh?" He asks, I let out a little laugh.

"It's hard not to, he puts up this facade just so no one will get close, so people can look at him and want to turn the other way...But it was the opposite for me. I got close despite him wanting to push me away and when he finally stopped...I got in deep." I sigh and run my thumb over his prickly jaw. He shaved his beard off the other day and I couldn't help but get excited when I saw him without it, he looked more like Frank Castle than Pete Castiglione.

"Let's just say he can try to push me away again, try to protect me by trying to leave, but I'm not going to let him. Not again." Frank made me feel things I've never felt with anyone before, he came barging into my life and I don't want him to leave. I knew the risks coming in and I still don't care, even after the situation with the Irish kitchen, I would still go back to Frank each time. He had a pull over me and I don't mind it one bit.

"Frank deserves happiness, he deserves you. He deserves a normal life but if he keeps getting into this shit-" Curtis shakes his head as he can't finish his sentence.

"I know," I sigh.

"But it's Frank, he's going to do whatever the hell he wants to. You probably know more than me that Frank is the most stubborn person on this planet and when he wants something he gets it. There's no telling Frank Castle what to do." I say and he laughs which in turn makes me laugh.

"Don't I know it. He's hard headed, always has been. But I think he's begin to grow soft."

I let out a deep laugh with that one.

"Soft may be right. He'd kill me if I told you this but Frank is quite the romantic. Can be a bit cheesy too." Curtis laughs again and I smile.

"Oh, I will be using that against him." We calm down from our laughing fit.

"You're changing him, you know. Every time he'd come visit me he would still be the closed off Frank I learned to adapt to, but ever since you came along, I see the old Frank again." I bite my lip to keep my emotions in check. From first meeting Frank he's definitely changed, he's more open and more lively. He isn't afraid to kiss me anymore and although he gets shy when he tells me how he feels or says something cute or cheesy, the fact that he even says it at all is the important part.

"He did the same for me. Before I met him life was...well...life. It wasn't anything special, I never met anyone good enough to open my heart to but Frank Castle comes walking along and offers to help me move my stuff into my apartment and suddenly I saw color again. Grey's turned to blues and then reds, greens, and purples. He changed everything, he changed me."

"You know, I pray that one day Frank will stop this and eventually settle down again. Have a life again, have a family, be normal, and I know he can...with you."

Me and Curtis had exchanged numbers before he left and told me to call or text anytime I needed him and I told him to do the same. Curtis was one of those people you can't help but love right away, he was gentle, caring, and understanding. He was a really good person and from what I could tell an even better friend. I'm glad Frank has him to talk to because I know as much as Frank has opened up to me there still are things that are hard for him and I can only imagine Curtis helps with that.

Currently I'm sitting by Frank, we moved him to a cot so he could be more comfortable. Curtis had explained he would wake up soon and then he gave me some pills that would help Frank with the pain. So I had been waiting for awhile. David was watching his family on the cameras as he drank some tea, he seemed to calm down from earlier. I look back over to Frank to see him twitch and then suddenly his eyes flutter open and he jolts up and starts panting.

"Hey, hey. Frank it's me. You're okay, calm down." I grab his face with one hand and place another on his shoulder.

"Emma?" He grabs my arm almost as if to steady himself.

"I'm here. You're okay. Curtis patched you up." I push his shoulder a bit and he gets the message as he lays back.

"Curtis? How-"

"David went to get him and then he called me. The arrow is out, you're fine." He blinks a couple times trying to process it all.

"Here. This will help with the pain." I grab the bottle from the table by me and take two out and then grab my water bottle.

"I'm fine." He sighs.

"Too fucking bad. Take them, now." I put the pills in front of his mouth and he looks at me. I glare at him almost testing him to deny them again, lucky for him he does what he's told and leans forward as I place them in his mouth. I tilt the bottle so he could drink and then he knocks them back.

"You need to get more rest. You still have a fever." I place the back of my hand to his forehead double checking and sure enough he's hot.

"I'm okay." He tries to sit up again but I push him back down.

"Baby, please." I lean down and touch his forehead to mine and place my hand on his cheek. He brings his hand up to cup my face and I lean in and kiss him.

"Do you have to do that here?" David says making us break apart, I can't help but let out a little laugh into Frank's cheek and I feel him smile.

"Come here." Frank whispers. He pulls me down on the cot and into his good side, it's so crammed that I'm half way on to of him but he doesn't seem to mind and he pulls me even tighter against him.

"The only medicine I need is you." He whispers in my hair as he starts to doze off again.

Frank Castle has officially gone soft.

I had fallen asleep with Frank into the early morning without realizing it. I had a five hour shift at the diner today and I needed to feed Max breakfast so I left. Not before telling David to watch Frank and call me if something happened. By the time my shift ended it was 6pm so I went home to feed Max again and then left to go see how Frank was doing. Before that though I stopped at Jeff's work having called him to place in an order.

"Reservation name?" The lady behind the counter asked me as I walked in. This place was actually way more fancy than Jeff would lead on. I've only tried it once or twice but never actually came her, Jeff would usually bring the food to me. Besides, we were both fine with pizza and beer every time we hung out. Thee hostess was dressed in a formal black dress and all the other waiters had button ups and slacks.

"Actually-"

"Emma!" Jeff comes into view, wearing a typical white button up chefs suit. He brings me into a hug.

"Hey! Thanks so much for doing this, I know you guys don't do pick up orders." I tell him as he lets go of me. He tells the hostess something and then leads me over to the bar.

"Em, it's no problem at all." He motions to someone behind the bar and tells them about my order and the guy nods and walks through the double doors.

"How much do I owe you? This place looks like it's owned by Gordan freaking Ramsay, so what's the damage?" I ask as I pull out my wallet from my purse.

"Fuck off, I'm not letting you pay." He pushes my wallet away. I'm in shock as I shake my head.

"Hell no, I asked for three meals. There's no way-"

"Emma, seriously. It's nothing, you never eat here anyways."

"Jeff-"

"No. Besides, you always give me free food at Donna's."

"That's your argument? Jeff, that's ten dollar breakfast meals not fifty dollar gourmet meals." He shrugs.

"It adds up." Before I can speak again the guy comes back out with two big brown paper bags and Jeff takes them from him with a thanks and I get the memo that he's going to walk me to my car when he leads the way back to the front door.

"Jeff, please."

"Emma, shut up." I roll my eyes as we walk out the door and over to my car. I unlock the car and he places them in the front seat gently. I hear glass clanging and I look to him with curiosity.

"What the hell was that?" I ask as he shuts the passenger door and faces me.

"Bottle of Cabernet." My eyes widen at his words.

"What? Jeff that shit's expensive, take it back!" I go to open the door to get it out but he blocks me.

"Someone gave it to me as a gift today and you know I hate wine with a passion. At least with you it will be enjoyed. It also pairs nice with the chocolate cake for dessert." I punch him on the shoulder and he actually takes a step back and rubs his arm.

"Ow, what the fuck."

"Cake? Jefferson, I asked for three simple meals. You didn't have to..." I groan as I began to get frustrated. This place was a five star restaurant and he wouldn't even let me pay and now he's giving me wine and chocolate cake.

"I'm pretty sure the proper thing to do is say thank you not punch me." He rubs his arm still.

"Let me pay you."

"No."

"You're infuriating. But I love you." I huff and yank him into me for a hug. He laughs and wraps his arms around me.

"Yeah, I know you do. But seriously, Em, don't sweat it. Now I have to get back to work and you have to get going before your food gets cold." He pulls away and squeezes my shoulder.

"See you in the a.m." He says and walks back inside the restaurant.

It felt like Jeff was slowly filling the brotherly void Colin left and I was so grateful to him and for the friendship I had with him. Even when he annoys me, but I guess that's just what brothers do.

When I pulled into the building I saw Frank and David in the kitchen, it looked to me that David was warming something up in the crappy microwave he had. I step out of the car and grab both bags.

"What do you want, turkey and gravy or salisbury steak?" David asks Frank as I step into the kitchen to see David handing Frank a TV dinner. I set both bags on the table and quickly snatch the disgusting looking dinners they were about to eat from them. I toss them in the trash.

"Hey!" David yells and Frank looks annoyed.

"Would you rather eat frozen TV dinners or," I pull the boxes from the bag and open one of them up showing the steak, potatoes, and then I open another box to reveal pasta. "Would you rather eat from a five star restaurant?" I smirk as they practically drool from the food. I shove one box towards David and one towards Frank and give them plates for the pasta. I pull out the others boxes to see more pasta and then a meal for me as well. I see three other smaller boxes in the bag and I can assume that it's the cake.

"You got cups, David?" I ask him as I pass both of them utensils.

"For what?" He asks, I laugh and pull out the bottle of Cabernet.

"Holy fuck. Yes, I have some around here somewhere." He leaves the kitchen as I set the bottle down and put the bag with the dessert in the fridge.

"Come here." Frank puts out his hand and I take it. He pulls me into him and his arms wrap around my waist as mine go around his neck.

"You...you..." he shakes his head as he has a hard time articulating his words.

"What?" I play with the hair on the nape of his neck.

"You're always taking care of me. Going that extra mile." He places a kiss on my cheek and I hum. Any contact I have with Frank ignites a fire in me, only he has this power over me.

"For you, always." After the words leave my mouth he presses a hard kiss to my lips and I can't help but fall even more into him.

"I found - really? Again?" I pull away laughing and Frank even lets out a laugh himself. It's good to see him sitting up right and looking better. David hands us some cheap plastic cups and I open the bottle and pour the wine into them. Then they both start to dig into their food and the hums and expressions are enough to know it's good. I have to agree when I start to eat as well, Jeff knows his way around the kitchen that's for sure.

"How much was all of this?" David asks as we're all just about finishing up.

"Lieberman..." Frank glares at him but I just laugh.

"It's okay. Actually it didn't cost a thing." I smirk as they both look at me with wide eyes as I take another sip of my wine.

"What?" Frank asks.

"Jeff is the chef at Duke's. He was very persistent in not letting me pay." I shrug.

"Who's Jeff?" David asks as he shoves more pasta in his mouth.

"My best friend."

"I love him." David says and I can't help but let out a deep bellied laugh, Frank then joins in, and David does too.

"Well, you're going to love him even more." I stand up and go to the fridge and dig out the boxes from the bag. I place each one in front of them and sit back down next to Frank. They open them and David looks like he's about to cry.

"Oh god, I love him, I love you. I love this damn cake." He says as he's already shoving a forkful in his mouth and moans. I let out a giggle realizing that David is most definitely borderline drunk. He's had more wine than me and Frank put together.

"If you don't mind I'm going to finish this in bed and then pass out." He grabs the box and his cup of wine and walks away. I can't help but laugh again and lean into Frank's shoulder. He kisses my head and I sit back up. I grab a fork and take a piece from his cake but before he can say something I bring it up to his lips.

"You gonna feed me?" He smirks a bit.

"Oh, yeah." I smile and he takes the fork in his mouth. He pulls my stool closer to his and brings my legs up to lay over his thighs. He grabs a fork and feeds me the cake too.

"You have a little," he motions to my lip but he leans forward in doing so.

"Oh, yeah, wanna get it for me?" I smirk as he grabs my face and brings me in for a kiss. His tongue meets mine right away and I moan. He tastes like chocolate, wine, and something purely Frank, It's intoxicating. I run my hands through his hair as he tugs me closer. When I pull away for air his lips are slightly swollen and I can imagine mine are too.

"You're mine." He says it almost as if he can't believe it and I smile and place a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Always."

a/n:
gdm it they're so damn cute! I loved writing this chapter so much! We've been introduced to curtis now!! I seriously love Curtis with my whole heart, that man is so pure and loving and ugh he's just great. we also got to see Jeff again, i love him so much honestly. like emma said, he's filling the brother role for her and it's so sweet to see them together.

note regarding the punisher: so the punisher got cancelled. i mean we were all expecting it but it was so different for it to be confirmed. even though i knew it was going to happen it still made me so upset. the punisher is such a well developed and well written show and to see it go really really sucks. jon bernthal plays frank castle like i've never seen anyone play a character. he's so magnetic on screen and so very honest and true and believable. he put his blood and sweat into that character and it showed in each and every episode. i'm so sad to see it go, it honestly breaks my heart to know that we won't be seeing frank castle and we won't be seeing jon play him again. he will be missed.

anyways, sorry for the sap and sorry for taking awhile with this update, it's always because of classes and i'm struggling with a class right now so i've just been trying my best to make sure i put in a lot of time in making sure i do well. anyways, thanks so much for reading!! i love seeing your comments too!! they make me so freaking happy you have no idea! so let me know what you think about this chapter!!

Much love, xoxo