As soon as Frank discovered that Karen had been injured and hospitalized, he flew to her side. When he first laid eyes upon her, he clenched his fists to try to quell the fury rising within him. "Do you know who did this to you?" he asked roughly, taking note of her black eye and swollen wrist. He was sure numerous bruises covered her body too but the gown draping her hid them.
Karen would have rolled her eyes if she knew it wouldn't hurt. "Frank, I'm okay," she tried to tell him.
His whole body shook with anger. "I'm going to kill the fucking asshole who beat the shit out of you," she vowed.
She held up her hand. "Frank! Stop. I know you mean well and are worried but the police already have him in custody."
He paced around the room. "I don't give a shit! He has to pay for this."
She chuckled - although his protectiveness was annoying, it was also endearing (she'd never tell him that, though). "And he will. If he hadn't surprised me, I would have shot him. I'll press charges and he'll go to jail, Frank. Take your worry and anger down a notch for me, okay?
"You don't have to worry about comforting me, Karen. And why'd this asshole come after you anyway?" Frank questioned as he sat down in one of the uncomfortable chairs and grabbed her uninjured hand.
She squeezed his hand, hoping the action would calm him down a bit. "I've been writing about this con man in Queens targeting the elderly, and pissed him off." And now Karen realized she was shaking, likely because the adrenaline had worn off and she was with someone who cared about her.
"I'd warn you to be more careful about your safety but something tells me you won't listen to my advice," Frank teased.
"And you'd be right," she answered, a grin on her face.
"Has Foggy stopped by to see you?" He knew they hadn't been the same since Matt's death but this situation warranted a visit.
She nodded and then yawned, trying to calm herself down to no avail. And now she was freezing. "Yeah, he left about half an hour before you got here."
Frank pressed her call button and sighed in relief when a nurse showed up within a few minutes. "Can we have some extra blankets, please? Karen's cold," he explained to her.
"Of course," the nurse answered. She returned within five minutes and drooped the extra blankets on Karen's body.
Although she was still cold, the extra blankets did help. "Thank you," she murmured to Frank.
"No problem."
He always anticipated her needs and understood her so well that it threw Karen but this understanding went both ways so it wasn't a problem. A little weird, though, but she could live with that. Exhaustion, her numerous injuries, and pain medication finally caught up to her and she drifted off to sleep, still holding Frank's hand.
Frank showed up to take her home upon her discharge the next morning. "You don't have to do this," Karen protested.
"Shut up and deal with it," he responded.
"Fine," she pouted.
As much as he wanted to give in to her pouting, he didn't. And when they entered her apartment, he locked the door behind him. "Before you start kicking up a storm about this, I know you can take care of yourself you're still injured. I'm just staying for a few days until you recover."
Karen blinked. "You spent three days in a row here last week. You just could have said nothing and I wouldn't have thought anything about it," she told him with a pained grunt as she sat down on the couch.
He nearly facepalmed but stopped himself just in time. "Wish I would have thought of that," he deadpanned.
She giggled and patted the couch. "Sit, Frank."
He did just that and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "How are you doing? And don't bullshit me," he warned.
She shrugged. "In a lot of pain but I'll be okay."
"And emotionally?" Damn, therapy was doing wonders for him if Frank was willingly talking emotions with someone (but this was Karen, a whole different ball game from anyone else).
"Frank Castle is willingly talking about emotions? I must have stepped into an alternate universe," she deflected.
"Karen! Be serious, please," he begged.
"A lot fucked up but when am I not?" Karen figured she couldn't stall anymore and might as well tell him the truth.
"You'll tell me if something's really wrong?" He wanted to make sure she didn't retreat into herself.
"Yeah," she murmured.
"Good."
"Thanks for everything, Frank." She appreciated his worry and overprotectiveness so much right now. And when she went to bed, he quickly followed. Mindful of her numerous injuries, he gently spooned her.
"Love you, Karen. You're not alone," Frank reminded her.
And that's when the attack finally caught up to Karen after numerous attempts to avoid it. She burst into tears and hugged him tighter. "Love you too," she told him, her breath hitching.
He listened as she spilled everything she had been holding inside for the past few days and comforted and soothed her when needed. Karen would be jumpy for weeks afterwards but a patient Frank (and Foggy) helped her as much as they could. It'd take her a long time to deal with the trauma of her attack but Karen was strong and could get through the other side eventually.