The Doctor Will See You Now

Chapter 28


Lucy: Poor Max indeed :/ I had a hard time writing that scene because I am such a dog person myself.

Alex: Haha, thank you for the compliment but I apologize for making you sad! But omgosh! That sounds really cool, seeing a potato drop. My friend worked an internship in Idaho and I have always wanted to visit!

Charlie: I lose it too, whenever an animal dies. That is why I can't watch movies that feature dogs as a "main character" because I know that they are going to die in the end of it. Hehe, I am glad that you caught on to that, that he said our room.

Love. Fiction.2016: :/


After Frank put down Max, He had picked up Max's body from the living room and went to the park to bury him. He ignored Matt the whole time, never knowing if Matt actually spoke, or went with him to the park or not. Frank had eventually returned to the apartment and he found himself wondering out onto the roof. He didn't know how long he was up there when his thoughts calmed down, but he knew that it was long enough for the cold to penetrate through his jacket and seep into his bones.

Frank figured that Matt was trying to give Frank his space at the moment, but he knew that everything around him was collapsing. First, the apartment that he shared with his lover was broken into and trashed. Then, the love of his life was taken from him, right under his nose. Last, but not least, he had to put down his own dog because the assholes who had shot him in the first place, didn't finish the job and put his dog out of its misery. They had just left Max to suffer.

Exhaling, Frank ran a hand through his hair and ended up popping up the collar of his leather jacket. He knew that he wasn't going to stop until he found the men who did this—and he was going to make them pay. Frank looked out past the horizon and heard light footsteps approaching him, indicating that it was Matt.

"I'm sor—"

"Don't fucking say a word," Frank hoarsely responded, cutting Matt off.

Matt cleared his throat and Frank turned around and faced the man waiting for him to challenge him on what he just said. Matt took a deep breath and proceeded.

"I am though… no one should have to go through this shit and—"

Without warning, Frank charged at Matt, tackling him to the ground. Frank pushed himself up and started to throw punch after punch to Matt's face. Matt was able to block majority of the violence that was thrown his way, but a few of the punches slipped through his defense. This pissed off Matt and so he pressed his hips up and used the momentum to get out from under Frank's brutal onslaught.

Matt quickly scrambled to his feet and saw Frank do the same. Frank put up his hands in a boxing position ready to go at it again with Matt. Matt mimicked the stance, but then dropped his hands in substitution for his words; hoping that his words would diffuse the situation.

"Frank, I know you are in pain right now… I know okay…"

Frank took a few steps forward as Matt matched him and took a few backwards.

"I am not the bad guy here. I'll help you get her back; I promise… You're not the only one here that loves Emily. I will help you get her back, no questions asked."

Matt had apparently said the right words as Frank dropped his fists and tried to take control of his irregular breathing patterned again. Matt took this opportunity to inform Frank that he listened in to the police scanner and the police seemed to have an unusual amount of Russian activity down by one of their shipping warehouses.

Matt proposed that they started there and when he didn't get a response from Frank he decided that Frank would be down in his own time. Matt walked over to the fire escape and started to climb down the stairs until he caught Frank's glance.

"… We need to save her, Red…"

Matt turned his head to the sound of Frank's voice and looked him in the eye.

"I know Frank..." Matt said with all the sincerity that he possessed.

Matt watched Frank turn his head away, as he saw Frank look down at his shoes and scratch his lip.

"We need to save her… Because she is the only family I got left…"


Emily woke up gasping for air. She tried to sit up, but she performed this action a little too quickly, as she immediately fell back down with blurred vision. All of a sudden, pain started to overwhelm her senses, causing her to just do nothing but lay on her back and pant. The bruises to her head and shoulder were amplified now, since her adrenaline had worn off while she was knocked out.

Taking her time, she propped herself up on her forearms and took it slow. Eventually, she was able to take a sitting position without almost blacking out from the movement. Trying to take deep breaths, not only to calm herself, but because her body felt taxed, she looked around. It seemed like she was in the basement of some building. Upon further notice, she noticed that her ankle had a shackle on it—like she was a prisoner. Granted, that was probably what she was now.

Upon noticing this, it put her in a shock like mode, as she retreated backwards, ignoring the throbbing pains emanating from her body. She shuffled backwards until her back hit a cool cement wall. She curled up in a ball and laid her head onto her forearms, as she felt cold sweat trickle down her back.

Her memories came flooding back, especially the one of seeing Max's limp, bloody, whimpering body on the ground trying to save her. It was her fault and she knew that, but to her better judgment, she knew that Frank was out looking for her. If the Russian's were smart enough to send Dmitrii and Evgeni to come retrieve her, she couldn't imagine what they had in store for Frank and probably Matt. Actually, she could guess, they probably had their best guys going after the two of them—and it was all her fault if either of them got hurt because of her.

Emily unfolded herself from her fetal position, and leaned her head back on the cool cement once again. The cold feeling was a nice comfort given to her heighten anxiety and injuries. She ran a shaky hand through her hair and tried to keep it together. With her luck, they may not notice that she was awake and she could formulate a way to get out of this cell.

Once again, Emily glanced around the dark cell, and realized that escape was futile. She would have to pick the lock on her ankle, then somehow get out of the cell, and then run through the Russian's corridor and get home—if she even had a home to return home to.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep wavering breath. There were only a few things that would happen now. First, the Russians could be using her as bait and kill Frank. Second, they want to use her for her abilities again and use Frank to their advantage. Third, they wanted to kill her because she lied to Dmitrii and Evgeni when they came around asking her questions. Lastly, they were going to kill her and use Frank to aid in their war. There was no solution to where they wouldn't use Frank against her.

"I thought with that man protecting you, that you would be safe…"

An old, croaky voice sounded from one of the dark corners beyond the cell. Emily looked through the metal bars and watched as the figure emerged from the shadows. At first, only his black cane emerged, but slowly and surly the rest of the man appeared.

"Ms. Crawford, I don't think we have seen each other for quite some time…"

Emily sat there in shock, not believing her eyes as to who was standing in front of her.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you…"

Emily batted her eyes and opened and closed her mouth enough times that she could finally speak. She also got to her feet and walked to the bars barricading her in the tiny space, ignoring the pain it caused her body. She placed a hand on the metal and looked at the man.

"I… Yes, I know Mr. Ivanov. It has been a while…"

Emily watched as Sal's father looked even older and sicklier than when his son Joshua passed away. She gulped not knowing what was happening and why she was coming face to face with the leader of the Russians.

"I know this is probably a surprise, and I wish we could have rekindled this relationship at a different time."

Emily watched as the old man titled his head away from her to look at the door, as if he was waiting for someone to barge through it at any moment. That was when Emily put two and two together. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Mr. Ivanov, you wouldn't happen to be able to get me out of here, now… would you?"

Sal's father twisted his head back to look at Emily again, only this time his eyes were filled with tears.

"Emily, I am so so sorry about what happened to my son… I have always liked you and I have wanted you to be a part of this family. However, I am sorry that things have to end the way that they are…"

"Mr. Ivanov, I have no clue what you are saying… I don't understand…"

"But you have to get out of here alive… You have a life with that man… I know that he won't stop until your safe. Just make sure that you have a good and happy life after this. Take that man with you and get as far away as you can from this shit. You are the daughter I have always wanted and I love you like I love my own."

"I am so confused. You know Frank? More importantly, how do you know about my relationship with him? Mr. Ivanov, if you're in trouble I can help you. I can—"

At one moment Emily was talking to the elderly man and then the door flew open. Before Emily could get a good look at the man who tossed open the door, Sal's father looked at Emily and smiled. Right before he was gunned down causing Emily to scream.


Once the dust cleared, Emily took a few steps back into her cell, as if that would keep her from meeting her maker. Watching the body wade into the dim light from the smoke, she saw no other than Sal. Emily knitted her eyebrows together until everything poured into her mind.

Sal was running everything. He was the Russian's leader—not his father. That was why she got into the club, and how he knew where both Frank and her were when those men attacked her during the night at that club. He also knew about her PSTD and he wanted her to work through it and that was why he sent her to the free clinic, to test to see if her abilities were still present. Emily put a hand over her mouth and hunched over as if she was about to vomit.

"I see that you finally put two and two together, sweetheart," Sal said feigning innocence as he walked up to the metal bars.

Emily couldn't talk. All of this was a set up. All of it—and she fell for it.

"Now, I assume you have some questions for me…"

Emily tried to straighten herself as she just looked at Sal with shock and fear in her eyes.

"I'm gonna take the silence as a yes. So, I'll even be polite and let you ask me any type of question first."

Sal waved his gun around, inspecting it like he was a crazy person. Emily was trying not to hyperventilate from all of the information overload. She never suspected Sal to be someone who could have done this.

"Emily, my patience is running thin. Are you going to ask me a question or not?"

Emily looked at Sal like he had lost his mind, but she already knew that he had.

"Are you fucking crazy?"

"Heh, not the question I was going for, but I mean since I am such a nice guy, I'm going to let you try that one again… This time don't disappoint me. You see what happens to those who do…" Sal said, pointing at the body of his deceased father which now had a pool of blood surrounding it.

"What the hell, Sal? How could you do this? Why in the world would you kill your own father?" Emily looked at Sal frantically, with an increased sense of hatred towards the young man.

"Well, I said only one question but I guess I'll answer them all... I mean, why else would you think I would have done this? I did this because I fucking hated that prick of a man. He only loved my brother, and when you came into the picture, well he loved you more than both his own sons, combined. So, I knew that he would betray me in the end, by trying to help you, so I figured, why not let him say goodbye and kill two birds with one stone?"

"So, let me get this straight, you are doing this because you are jealous that your father never loved you and only loved Joshua?"

Sal raised his eyebrows and then proceeded to laugh at Emily's comment. The hollow sound of Sal's laughter made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"You really think… hahaha… That's amazing. You really think I am that petty that I would care about that kind of shit? That really is a good one… Even from you," Sal continued on laughing at Emily's words making her retreat a little further back in her cell.

Sal eventually wiped the excess water from his eyes after he was done laughing as hard as he did. He looked at the women in his makeshift prison cell and smirked.

"No, the real reason is due to you. You're the one who murdered my brother. The only one in my family who actually meant anything to me. You killed him…"

Emily knew that she would kick herself for this next comment, but her stubborn side always shown through when she never needed it to.

"So what now? You're going to kill me? Is that it?"

Again Sal looked at the women again, as if she had made the funniest joke he had ever heard in his life and doubled over laughing. This made Emily march up to bars and grab Sal by the collar, making him face her.

"Answer me, you bastard."

Sal blinked away the tears of laughter once again and returned Emily's look with a wicked one of his own.

"Of course not, what would be the fun of that?"

"Then why the fuck am I here, Sal?"

"Well that's simple."

"Yeah? How so?"

"Well, I plan to kill your beloved Frank Castle. Right here," Sal gestured to the dirty floor just outside her jail cell, "and I am going to paint the walls with his blood, making you watch. And even after I kill him and you're withering in agony, I'm not going to listen to you plead for death. I'm going to thrust you in to our little turf war with the Chinese and make you do your job that you failed to do all those years ago. You're going to help us win this war and take over Hell's Kitchen and through all of this, you'll be wishing you were dead. Every. Single. Day. Because all of your loved ones will blame you for killing them because that is what you are. A fucking murderer."

Emily let go of Sal's collar and fell to the ground. Sal knew it all. He was anticipating Frank showing up and saving her and that was how he was going to get his revenge. He was going to tell Frank he would kill me and then shoot Frank for her life, never knowing that it was her fault in the first place.

A steady flow of tears fell down Emily's face as she felt defeated. Sal watched her while a malicious smile was painted on his face. He pulled down his shirt from where it rode up when Emily was handling it. Emily knew that Sal was going to kill Frank and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Sir, I hate to interrupt…"

"What is so fucking important that it can't wait? I'm fucking busy here can't you see that?"

Emily turned her face and saw Evgeni's body enter the room. She noticed that he had bruises lining his jaw and cuts on his neck, probably spanning down his arm from where Max bit him. She would have smirked knowing how much damage he took, but given what she was just told, and the fact that her dog probably died trying to save her, it just didn't seem like the time to do so.

"Well?" Sal gestured at Evgeni, while inadvertently pointing the semi-automatic gun at him.

"He is here. They just got here…"

Sal squinted his eyes and then pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch and then smirked.

"They?"

Evgeni simply bobbed his head at the comment implying that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen was with the Punisher.

Sal clicked his tongue and then spoke, "Well, he is a little 'head of schedule, but we can make due."

Evgeni nodded and stole a look at Emily who was still crying on the ground. He cracked a small smile knowing that the girl was finally getting what she deserved. So, he decided to torture her a little more himself, by voicing what was unspoken before.

"I also want to bring to your attention that he brought daredevil with him…"

"Heh, well this just keeps getting more interesting now, doesn't it?" Sal said, catching onto what Evgeni was doing.

Sal broke out into a creepy smile that lined his whole face. He looked like the definition of someone who was clinically insane; for being a psychopath. He turned from Evgeni and looked down at Emily.

"Don't you love these games? I think they are so fun. I mean I get to do half the work now by taking out both of them. Between you and me, I was kinda hoping you would have ended up with the masked vigilante, but to each their own. I mean, could this day get any better?"

With that, Sal walked over to Evgeni, as the two of them shared in some mild laughter as if an inside joke between old friends was just made. Emily watched as the door shut behind them and for the first time in her life, she hoped that Frank wouldn't find or rescue her.


So What did you guys think? Did you see Sal being the bad guy after all this time or no?