Trouble

"Her boyfriend?" the doctor sceptically eyed the well-built man in front of him. Everyone in the neighbourhood knew who Frank was. However, no one dared do anything, nor make any comment. Especially if they feared it might anger him. 

"Yes." He confirmed, his face remained emotionless as he did. 

Gulping, the doctor averted his gaze from the mafia leader. Maintaining eye contact with him was hard when it felt like Frank was staring right into the doctor's soul. 

"Okay." He finally sighed. He would rather believe what he was told than get himself into a mess. 

"Your girlfriend seems extremely weak and stressed. I can tell that she is going through a hard time, even though I haven't talked to her. She seems pale. I think you should take good care of her. Maybe, shower her with love and attention. I know life is busy, but right now, you must give what she needs and that is your love." The doctor explained, frowning as he checked Jennifer's pulse, while he secretly checked for any signs of abuse. Signs of resistance, perhaps bruises on the visible part of her skin, because he couldn't check the parts covered with her clothes with Frank right beside him. He found it hard to trust Frank. Frank was a cold-blooded Mafia Don, how could he show affection to anyone? However, he gave up when he didn't notice anything absurd. There were faint marks that looked like hickeys on the exposed part of her neck, but that wasn't enough to say that she was being abused or held captive against her will. 

"I will inject some vitamin B12. This will replenish energy and help boost her metabolism. But the real cure is good food, rest and no stress." He explained as he took an injection from his suitcase.

After administering it, the doctor packed his belongings hoping that this girl truly wasn't in trouble. Perhaps Frank was telling the truth. Why else would he call a doctor? He could have simply left her to die. Maybe his girlfriend was simply stressed out and hopefully, his advice would help in her recovery. He nodded, as he reassured himself that he was on the right track and slowly straightened up before facing the feared Don of the mafia world. 

"Make sure she rests and eats good food. She needs to be nourished. In addition to that, make sure that she is loved. Any kind of stress wouldn't be good for her right now." He told Frank who simply nodded.

"Of course. I'll make sure." He replied, smirking to himself.

"I'll leave then. Call me if you need any assistance." He started professionally and made his way out.

 Frank glanced one last time at the unconscious girl, snickering internally before he walked out of the door after the doctor. He kept thinking about his next move as he walked the visiting doctor to the door. Oh, he will make sure she is nourished alright. There would no longer be any attempts to make her eat. He would simply make the family doctor inject necessary nutrients in her. This woman was now getting on his nerves. The reason for him to hold her captive was to lure her father in, hoping that they would try to save her, but there is no news from them, even after more than three days. 

"Females need a lot of attention from their significant other." The doctor stated, interrupting Frank's thoughts. "I'm sure she will be all better if you show her how much you love her." He added as they descended the stairs, without looking at Frank. He was being extremely careful while picking his words. He didn't want to have the dreaded mafia come after him, just because of something he had said.

Frank on the other hand raised an eyebrow and scoffed internally. Love? What is that? He thought albeit he remained silent. He didn't want to blow everything up now. His pretence was a success. To the outside world, Jennifer was his girlfriend. No one outside his mafia family has to know the truth. 

Meanwhile, Jennifer slowly opened her eyes, looked around and realized that she was alone in a vast bedroom. Her focus wasn't on the exquisite interior of the place. Her gaze lingered on the closed-door which she knew would lead her to her freedom. She wasn't tied up. This was what she had been looking for the entire time and there was no way she was going to let this opportunity go. 

She cautiously climbed down the bed and waited for some time. She felt giddy, however, she was determined to use this chance to escape this hell hole. 

Staggering towards the exit, she looked around. The staircase was right in front of her and surprisingly, no one was around. Grinning from ear to ear, she rushed towards the stairs, wanting to run into freedom. However, fate was not on her side. As soon as she started to descend the stairs, she lost balance due to her fatigue and started to stumble down the stairs.

She screamed. However, she couldn't prevent herself from falling down the splendid spiral staircase, stumbling and hitting her head as she did. Every inch of her body was paining, yet she was too weak to do anything. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she embraced the unexpected fall. As she slid down, one blow to her head was brutal enough for her head to break and she lost consciousness. When she landed at the base of the stairs, blood started to pool beneath her, staining the costly parquet flooring with the crimson coloured liquid. 

Frank and the doctor, who were at the front door, heard the commotion and rushed inside to find Jennifer lying motionless in a pool of blood at the base of the staircase. 

"Good gracious!" The doctor exclaimed and rushed to assist her as Frank remained frozen on his spot.

"How ....what? I thought she was resting in the room!" The doctor added, visibly worried about Jennifer's condition. He quickly checked her pulse and started to inspect her wound.

"Sir! Your girlfriend needs to be urgently taken to the hospital. If she continues to bleed like this, she might bleed to death!" He cried out, frantically trying to stop the wound from bleeding profusely. 

"Uhh…" Frank wasn't able to respond properly when a familiar voice cut him in.

"What is going on?" 

A deep, baritone voice made Frank's heart leap. Without a doubt, that was his father's voice. Frank thought about a reason for him to pay an unexpected visit out of the blue when he realised that today was the fifteenth of July. Of course, it was his mother's death anniversary, hence his father must have come back after staying in another city for almost a year and destiny had made him arrive at this crucial moment.

He remained void of emotions nonetheless and turned towards the door. Oh….daaaamn

Frank cursed internally when his eyes landed on the young man standing beside his father. There, standing beside the old mafia lord Gotham, was his annoying cousin, who had always pretended to care for Frank, when in reality he had always tried to make him look bad. And his presence only added to Frank's headache.

"Hey, dad, Todd." Frank greeted monotonously.

"So...what happened to your girlfriend?" Todd smirked and Frank felt like hitting him on the head. 

"She obviously has fallen down the stairs! We must hurry! We don't have time! We need to go to the hospital right now!" The doctor was hysterical. Frank's eyes darted from his father to the unconscious girl who was bleeding profusely. He couldn't tell the truth right now, the doctor was still here and his annoying cousin surely would try to use it against him.

"Uhh ...yes," Frank mumbled and hurried to take her to the hospital.

Frank's father narrowed his eyes on them as Frank picked her up in his arms.

"I'll follow you there." He stated solemnly, his face void of emotions.