The moment Matt came inside the office, stumbling against the doorway, nearly hitting his head against the wood, both Foggy and Karen knew their blind friend was not having his best day.

"Wow, Matt? You okay?" Karen asked. Just after both heard a small curse.

Matt held up his chin and nodded while supporting a lopsided smirk.

"There is a door," he tried to lighten up the mood. Or rather masking his annoyance. It was okay, though. Being blind wasn't a joke. Small accidents do happen from time to time. But the fact that they almost never saw Matthew Murdock struggle made it sort of… typical.

"Looking good, Matty. Nicely pale, supporting the good old bed-hair… Gray suit pants and dark suit jacket. What happened? Label problems in the closet?"

Matthew just stood there for a second swaying a bit. Visibly considering to fix his appearance but needed both hands to find his chair today. Is breathing was vocal. Little crystals of sweat forming on the sides of his head. He looked rough.

Karen shared a look with Foggy before getting of her chair to lead their friend to the table. Much to Matt's dislike. But gratefully accepted her assistance. Karen was tempting to say how he was shivering a bit but chose to let it go.

The stick smacked against the trashcan with a little more force, showing the mood the usual charismatic calm friend was in.

Karen tapped on the chair to let him know where to sit and with some difficulty Matt finally got of his feet. His expression immediately softened.

"Morning."

All of this was noticed and it created a pause of silent.

"Morning to you too, buddy," Foggy said, trying to hide his concern. "Rough morning?"

Karen gave him a squeeze in the shoulder before stepping away to the coffee machine.

"Rough night" was Matt's reply, while putting away his shoulder bag and stick. Foggy noticed a big fat bruise forming on his right knuckles and wrist.

"Buddy! You fell from the stairs, again?" he grabbed his arm with a slight tug, careful not to harm him any further, to roll up his sleeves.

"You are bruised, for sure. Noticed that?"

It took the poor man by surprise and quickly covered his wrist up in time until Karen came back with a damping mug of coffee for him.

"Just a little accident in the shower, nothing to worry about," Matt softly replied and greatly accepted the mug. Only one sip of coffee was enough to let him cringe, though.

"What's going on?" Karen asked putting her hands on her hips. Matt wanted to wave it away with a soft murmur but Foggy shared a concerned look.

"He got hurt in the shower and tries to wave it off like it's a shameful thing. And trust me, buddy, it's not. You don't have to hide anything from us. We are your friends, remember."

Matt heaved a sigh. Probably rolling his eyes from behind his sunglasses. It was quiet for a minute, then Matt decided to get up to his desk.

"Work to do. I'll be in my office." He walked away, slightly more balanced as before, leaving behind his coffee.

"Just let the man be, Foggy. We all have our moments."

Foggy knew this. It was just not fun to see it happen with his best friend. But chose to let him be alone for the rest of the morning. Because that is what he wanted right now.

…

His right hand trembled when pulling away his jacket. Matt felt it. It was wet and sore. The smell of copper caught his alarming attention. It opened up again. He just had taken care of it and it opened up again. Claire was right. It could end up infected. And now it was. The swelling, the throbbing. Fever. He could feel it but he didn't want to go through this again. Claire had warned him not to go out at night, just for a week. Give it some time to heal. And he made her mad by doing so. Now he was too proud to call her back, or perhaps too ashamed.

Matt quietly suffered. Sensory overloaded his system by doing so. He just wanted to sleep now. Get away from all the noises. The pain. The booming voices. And hazy smells. Too much to process.

His head sunk into his desk and he greatly accepted the feeling of floating away. Just for a moment…

It would be fine for just a moment…

…

After that morning Foggy and Karen had focused on their work together until lunchtime. Karen offered to get something and popped her head into Murdock's office to ask what he would like her to bring, only startled by the fact that the poor man was sleeping.

Standing there for a moment, Karen took in the rare image. Matthew resting his head against his makeshift pillow, facing the right, arms folded affront of him blocking most of his features. Sunglasses still hanging on by one ear, showing his eyelids half closed, making him appear awake. Unintentionally she had asked herself if Matt was still able to dream or use his eye muscles completely. By this she figured he was. But slept with eyes not completely shut.

It was almost an adorable sight, if her friend wasn't breathing so superficial. Now that she came closer she noticed the glistering sweat on the man's forehead. His arm covering most of his face almost didn't show her the pained lines between his eyes. His forehead was knitted together in a frown that did certainly not look like Matt was resting peacefully. He was in pain.

This occurred to her in an instant and it made her heart froze.

"Foggy?" Karen placed a hand on Matt's shoulder. Not sure if she should shake him awake or give him some sort of comfort. Either way, he didn't react to her touch.

Foggy came behind her, instantly knew something was wrong with his best friend.

He sighed. Shaking his head in concern. Not sure what to say about this.

"He does not look good, Karen. Is he hurt? Check his pulse."

"Matthew?" Karen tried while squeezing the man's shoulder. After no response she placed two fingers on his neck.

"Beating fast. He has a fever, I can tell."

Foggy kneeled down in an instant besides his friend to pat his face a bit.

"Hey buddy? Exactly how hard did you fall in the shower this morning?" No response. "This is bad. He never gets sick. It has to be something else."

Quickly, Foggy started unwrapping his bruised hand, looking for blood or something… not that he could see if something was broken. He needed to get him looked over by a doctor. At the hospital.

"Should we call an ambulance?" Karen asked.

Foggy nodded but could not let go of Matt's arm.

"He is cold. His hands, I mean." He shot her an frantic look.

Karen chewed on her lip while feeling his warm forehead. Heat was radiating from his neck and shoulders too.

"No he has a fever. He must be in sort of shock. But that means he must be hurt a lot more than just his hand. What should we do?"

Panic was rising.

Meanwhile Matt didn't move at all. Just until Karen started patting around his chest. A small groan escaped from the poor man's lips as she slightly came in contact with his left side. Both looked up at each other in terror.

"Oh nonononono," Foggy whispered. Karen pulled away Matt's suit jacket and gasped.

"Oh my God." He was bleeding! How did this happen? Why didn't Matt say anything? Did he even know?

"Matt!" Foggy did not take any longer and shook his friend In order to wake him. It scared him so much. The idea that someone attacked his blind friend. Stabbed him or shot him. "Matty, come on buddy."

"He isn't sleeping." Karen now realized. "He must have passed out. And we didn't even bother to check on him after he went back to his desk. That was hours ago! How long is he out?"

When their eyes shortly met Karen felt a pang of guilt inside her heart.

"I said it was better if we left him alone for a bit, because he was having a rough morning. It's my fault." She run towards the small kitchen sink to grab a clean towel. Her first instinct was to stop the bleeding.

"Open his shirt! And call the fucking ambulance!"

Foggy gulped when eyeing the crimson stain blooming on Matt's white shirt. It looked bad. Too bad!

How did he even come in here? On his own? Sure he staggered a bit, looking like crap. But this! This was insane! Blind or not, this he should of felt before bothering to say something about it. What the Hell was wrong with him!

He finally took the phone out and started pressing the numbers, for a moment his eyes went to the screen. And out of complete surprise a hand swiftly grabbed him. Nearly pissing his pants Foggy yelped, uncontrollably dropping the phone out of his grasp. It was so fast he barely missed the soft grunt.

It was Matt.

"No…. p-please.. hnggh.." He let go of him during the sharp inhale, clearly in a lot of pain.

"Matty?" Foggy stuttered. His eyes almost to the point of popping out of his skull. Matt shifted in his chair but not able to pull himself up from the desk. "G-get Claire…. Works... Hospital… nightnurse…."

Karen chose that moment to walk in with a clean towel.

"What…?" her voice trailed off looking into Matt's pained eyes before he went limb again.

"Where is his phone?" Foggy was starting to rummage around in the suit jacket. "He must have reasons. Right now I don't care. He asked me to get a night nurse named Claire. Maybe she is in his contacts." Karen quickly assisted by going through his pants pockets. His phone wasn't secured with a password but by thumbprint so she got his thumb and pressed, not dare to look at the mess on his white shirt. Foggy started to rip the shirt open and pressed the towel against, what looked like a nasty deep cut. Swallowing hard, he tried not to think about what kind of wound it would be. Those question could be asked later. For now, they need to keep him alive.

It took a few seconds that felt like an hour. Foggy just focused on his friends shallow breathing, while pressing the towel against the wound, already making his hand turn red. Then two words shot out.

"Got it," Karen said.

A short moment of relieve was shared.

Moments later a woman's voice on the other line, unknown to Foggy and Karen, told them she was coming.

After the call Foggy and Karen followed the simple instructions. Lock the door. Close the windows, get him on to the ground and elevate his legs. Keep pressure on the wound until she is there. No matter how hard he screams. And it would be the best to not call 911. Mike would have reasons.

Mike? He was playing her? All questions could wait.

"Keep breathing, buddy," was all Foggy could get out when Matt stirred under his pressure. It must've hurt like a ton. And the worst wasn't even over yet. After all of this he had to tell the truth behind this.

The knock on the door sounded like angel music. Claire was here to fix him up.

Foggy didn't leave his friend's side. Pressing the soaking wet towel against his broken skin. Not until he felt a warm steady hand on his tense shoulder.

"It's okay, I'll have to take a good look at his wound now. You can let go." Karen took her place by the office chair were they elevated Matthew's legs. Firmly holding on to his ankle for some sort of support. She was there for him although he wasn't aware.

"His wound is infected. Running a fever. Shallow breathing. Strong pulse, good, that is a good sign." Foggy nodded. The nurse was working fast and started to rummage through her stuff.

"Can you make sure the cotton is ready?" she ordered, Foggy nodded and started taking apart the cotton balls. Meanwhile the nurse opened a bottle of pure alcohol and sighed.

"He is not gonna like this, though. Please make sure he can't hurt himself. Hold his feet. You, Mister Nelson? Pin him down. Press down to his shoulders." Her instructions were clear and swift.

"On three, get ready, okay?" Foggy nodded and made sure his friend wasn't going to move when the liquid came in touch with his flesh.

And the nurse knew it. She must have seen it a lot with her patients then. As soon as she started cleaning, Matt's eyes shot open completely, filled with pain and tears. Gasping away from the burning pain. Karen had to almost sit on his feet to stop him from kicking them off the chair. Foggy lay un top of his arms just to stop him from moving. When it was done, the poor guy was paralyzed with pain and only blinked his eyes that more or less looked like tiny twitches. When the nurse was done torturing she finally stood back and took it all in.

Neither of them could talk. Not while Matt was barely hanging on to consciousness.

His eyes rolled around his sockets trying hard to get grasp of the surroundings but failed at everything. He took a few deep breaths before the eyelids fluttered shut. His shivering frame went limb in the process.

"He is still bleeding. Shouldn't we stitch him up," Karen finally dared to ask while letting go of the man's legs.

"I am afraid not. His wound is infected. I managed to clean it out mostly, but stitching it up now would only repeat the pattern. I can patch him up. An give him anti biotics at most. Just until the swelling is down. It will be the best if I took him to the ER but…" Claire held up her hands.

After checking his heart for the second time Claire shook her head.

"Still too weak to be moved."

Karen chewed on her lip. A silly thing she always did when she was afraid or worried. She never noticed this herself. But Foggy did. He shot her a warm look.

"It's going to be fine, Karen."

Claire watched them and nodded. Slowly packing up her things.

"We need to get him home, I can stay with him in case the fever gets worse, clean his bandages." Karen nodded.

"That would be nice, Claire, thank you… for helping us… helping Matt." Claire smiled.

"He works here?" Foggy blinked up at that, finally able to look away from his friend.

"Yes. Eh.. we own this office space. It's not much. We're lawyers. My name is Franklin Nelson, Karen our…"

"Office manager," Karen helped.

"Office manager. And that is my long run friend, Matthew Murdock." Then he gulped. Almost forgetting she had known him as Mike. Did he just messed up his friends secret?

"So, he isn't always this mysterious at night. He has a name. A job with friends. Nice friends I can tell." She looked so relieved. "Good for him."

"Sorry… you two met before, right? A date he didn't tell me about?" Foggy asked. Finally starting to calm down a bit, now that Matt was resting. Claire shrugged.

"We sort of came across each other. But that was all. He must have remembered I was a nurse." She was obviously careful not to say something Matt didn't want her to say. And same was for his friends. So they stopped asking questions and focused on the task of getting the poor man home.

Karen started gathering all Matt's things and a few files he was working on. Making sure he had all the things he needed before coming back here again. Almost forgetting his stick in the corner.

…

The couch was the closest to the bathroom and the kitchen, so they placed him there It would be easier to watch over him. After the short drive to Matt's apartment Claire decided to gather more medical stuff from the ER just in case she needed it. So Foggy and Karen promised to watch over him.

Karen stood by the couch looking the poor man over. Somehow it made her smile.

"He looks a bit better."

Foggy was sitting across the couch, elbows resting on his knees, hands folded in a combined fist, supporting his chin.

"He could use some more color on his cheeks." Still not fully convinced he was going to survive this… this… hell… whatever it was that was happening without him telling anything.

"Yeah, he could. We must get him into something more comfortable, don't you think?" Karen suggested. His suit wasn't very comfy to sleep in.

Matt was breathing deeper now, although he still looked like he was in pain. His teeth chattered occasionally from his fever. But he was at least stable.

"I'll get something, no problem." Foggy knew this place better than Karen did. Keeping himself busy was the best thing he could do right now. The more Foggy thought about it, the more he grew angry. He just couldn't believe his best friend. Blind friend had something going on and didn't tell anything to him. He was always there for him. This could have been his end. Whatever it was, this had to stop!

Karen figured to make herself useful and replaced the damp washing cloth on Matt's warm forehead. The cold water must feel a bit better. She noticed him unconsciously leaning into her touch and it was kind of relieving.

It was short lived because suddenly his eyes opened wide and his face froze in a grimace of fear. "Wh… What…. W-where am i… I c-can't see…" the poor man stuttered. Followed with a sharp grunt, clutching his wound.

"Wow, easy, Matt! You are safe. You're home. We took you here. Relax."

"H-home?" Matt tried to look around but obviously didn't work for him.

"Easy, now. Let me explain. You are in your living room on the couch, okay? I was helping you with the fever. You are hurt and still bleeding a bit. Claire was here and cleaned the wound and will be back soon. Relax."

The man tried to get up but the pain and the recent bloodloss made him weak and in no state to tell what was up or down. Instead he fell down on his pillow again, just following Karen's movements on his forehead.

"The fever must be making you a little overwhelmed. No worries. Just stay here. Foggy and I will get you into something more comfortable," Karen went on, convinced Matt liked her talking because he was calming down now.

"Was he talking?" Foggy hurried to the couch looking at his friend in worry.

"Hey, buddy," Foggy smiled. Matt only blinked while trying to get as much focus on the situation as possible.

"D-did s-she… say?" came out as a whisper. Matthew looked so scared. Betrayed even. Assuming it was the fever talking Foggy just places a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"No, she didn't say anything. Because we didn't ask. And for now we don't even care. Just focus on getting better." It was true. Now that he talked a bit, Foggy felt much better already.

"Doesn't matter, trust me. We got your back." He pat his shoulder once more and the eased look on his friends face was pleasing. Fever addled eyes rolled around for no damn reason and Karen knew the cold cloth would help him some more. After refreshing the cloth she just held it in place while watching the poor man settle down.

"C-Claire i-is a nurse…" Matt suddenly whispered, breaking the silence. Both Karen and Foggy looked up, not knowing he was still awake.

Foggy nodded while pulling him an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we know, Buddy. A hot one." Matt grinned while shifting in a bit more comfortable position.

"S-she is nice… hates that cat, though…" his voice trailing off.

"I'll bet I s-smelled….pretty bad after.. y-you know.. the dumpsterdive…" The eye-crossing said it all for Karen. She shook her head at Foggy.

"Okay, Matty. Just… stop taking now. Before we get to many details of you little date with the hot nurse," Foggy exclaimed, making Karen grin. Not long after Matt's whispers became unrecognizable to the point that they both gave up and just focused on getting this damn fever down until the nurse came back.

…

Hours had passed since then. Claire stayed till the night keeping the wound as clean as possible and injected him once with medicine to get the infection out of his system. Pain killers needed to be giving orally so when he was up to it Foggy and Karen could try and feed him some water and soup to down the pills with, because they couldn't be given on an empty stomach.

The fever got down to an more acceptable level and Claire felt positive about finally stitching the wound back up without letting it get infected again.

"Remember, bedrest. No pressure on the wound, the stitches are not going to hold it if you are running around. Understand?" Claire had asked the poor man with a stern tone. Matt nodded.

"I'll do my best. Thank you, Claire."

This was going to be a long week.

Not only for the man currently too weak to get to the bathroom by himself, but for Foggy and Karen as well.

…

End… I think.