Fenton took off down the hall after the running man.  Didn’t I just do this yesterday?  What is going on here?  I can’t believe this is happening – over, and over, and over….  Realizing that his quarry had caught an elevator, Fenton headed for the stairs.  He had no way of knowing which floor might be the man’s destination, but now determination had set in; he was going to find this guy and nail him!

Fenton surmised that the escaping man probably wouldn’t have gone up, so he headed down the flights of stairs, stopping at each floor just long enough to glance out and see if he could spot the elusive prey running down the long hospital corridors.  He reached the first floor without gaining sight of him, however, and was forced to admit defeat.  Fenton leaned against the wall, and gritted his teeth in frustration, shaking his head.  What in the world was that man doing in the hospital…?  And how had he even known they were here?

Glumly, Fenton took the elevator back to the fifth floor, and returned to the boys’ room, where he found his family and the two girls, all waiting for an explanation of his bizarre behavior.

“I know this sounds nuts, but I swear, I just saw the guy who knocked Megan down yesterday; the one who keeps trying to get Frank’s camera!”  Fenton explained.

Megan’s azure eyes went wide as she took in this fact; somehow she had felt much safer here in Reno , but evidently that was a false sense of security.

“What?”  Joe demanded, struggling to sit up.  “What’s this about somebody hurting Megan again?”  A grim scowl creased his face.  Frank wasn’t able to protect her right now, therefore the job fell to him! 

Fenton quickly filled Joe in on the previous day’s events in Stateline.  Joe listened with perturbation; they seemed to be set upon no matter where they were! 

“Now, son…if you’re feeling up to it, and can remember, how about telling us what happened to you and Frank?”  Fenton requested, when he finished.

Slowly dredging the facts from his memory, Joe told of the motorcycle ride, the rockslide, the injuries he and Frank had sustained, and his efforts to get Frank to help.  His parents and the girls listened intently, expresssions of shock and dismay and horror – and occasional laughter – flitting across their faces. 

“Frank’s too stubborn – way too stubborn,”  Joe stated with finality.  “I didn’t want him to try to walk, but he kept saying he could do it, and trying, even when I tried to stop him.  I was scared he’d hurt himself worse…I know that the last time, there wasn’t any other way, but….I’m so sorry….”  Joe’s voice faded into a murmur, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to look at his family.  He was afraid to face his mother’s eyes, the possibly accusing stare of his father, or see the shock which had drained Megan’s face of all color.  Guilt suffused his whole being.  Why couldn’t I have gotten him out faster?  Found an easier way?  What if they’re angry with me…?

“Joe – son,”  Fenton’s voice was gentle in the extreme.  “You did wonderfully well.  You have nothing at all to be sorry about.  You and Frank made it out of there alive, and that’s what counts.”  He chuckled quietly.  “You did good, Joe – real good.”

Joe opened his eyes and glanced around – and met nothing but love and understanding smiles in return.  He managed a crooked grin of his own.  “Thanks, Dad….Oh—”  he suddenly remembered something.  “I told the guy who found us – I told him about the man in the woods with the rifle, and he said he’d call the police in Tahoe and see if he was still there.  Did he?”

“What?  What man with a rifle?”  Fenton nearly barked the question.  Joe hadn’t recalled this part of the story before. 

“The one who dumped the rocks on us,”  Joe said simply.  “He tried to kill Frank, later – was going to shoot him, but Frank threw a rock at him…I don’t know how he did it!  I guess I forgot to mention him before, huh?  He followed us, though, after I knocked him out, and tried again.  That time I tied him up and left him.  I couldn’t let him try to attack us again, could I?  Anyway, did they capture him?”

Fenton shook his head in bewilderment.  Was there no end to this crazy situation?  “I don’t know, son.” he admitted.  “I’ll try to find out, when I talk to Lieutenant Hunt again.”

“Do you think you’ll talk to him today?”  Laura asked.  “Actually…what are we going to do today?”

As they were about to start discussing this vital subject, Dr. Ashton arrived, intending to re-examine Joe.  He read through Joe’s chart, noting the vitals taken by the night nurse, and then shooed everyone from the room, ignoring the pleading looks from Megan as she reluctantly released Frank’s hand. 

Laura, Fenton, and the girls trailed into the waiting room, and continued the discussion.

“I’m staying here today,”  Laura stated.  “Even if they are grown up, Frank and Joe shouldn’t have to stay here all alone.  Frank may sleep most of the time, but Joe’s going to be awake, and might want some company.”  She smiled at Vanessa and Megan.  “Why don’t you girls go back to Stateline with Fenton, and pick up some clothes for the boys?”

“I want to stay until Frank wakes up – please, can’t I?”  Megan beseeched.  “I – please….”  She broke off, and pressed her lips tightly together, resolving to stop begging for favors.

“You most certainly can,”  Fenton answered, before Laura could frame a reply.  “If I know Frank, he’ll be as anxious to see you as you are to talk to him.” 

At that moment, Dr. Ashton popped his head into the waiting room.  “All finished!” he announced with a smile.  “Joe’s doing better, but I’d still like to keep him one more day, until I’m sure the concussion symptoms have subsided.  I’m fairly sure he can be released tomorrow.”

“That’s good news!”  Fenton answered. 

“Dr.  Singh will be dropping in to check Frank later today,” the physician continued.  “and I expect Frank to be waking up in an hour or so.”  He grinned.  “So go cheer Joe up – he didn’t like hearing he had to stay another day!” he said, and disappeared.

Back to the boys’ room they trooped.  Vanessa nudged Megan as they walked down the hospital corridor.  “I’m beginning to feel like a kindergarten class, following the grownups back and forth,” she hissed in her friend’s ear.  Megan choked, and began to giggle…the first time Megan’s bubbling, contagious giggle had sounded in many long hours.  Vanessa laughed too, and Fenton and Laura glanced over their shoulders, wondering what had set the girls off!

Joe was looking a little more alert now, and he smiled happily at Vanessa as she leaned against his bed and took his hand.  Laura explained to him that they were considering splitting the party up for the day, with Vanessa and Fenton returning to Stateline, and she and Megan remaining in Reno .

“That sounds like a good idea,”  Joe nodded.  “It’s okay, Van – why don’t you go with Dad?  Pick me out something good to wear.  It’s not like you’ll be gone forever, is it?”

“All right, all right,”  Vanessa laughed.  “I’ll bring you a surprise.”  Like that new t-shirt I bought you – just yesterday?  It seems like weeks ago!  She leaned over and kissed him lightly.  “Try not to drive the doctors and nurses – and your mother – crazy, huh?”  

Fenton made the rounds: kissing Laura goodbye, gently smoothing the blanket over the slumbering Frank, giving Megan a quick, affectionate hug, and squeezing and patting Joe’s shoulder.  “We’ll be back this afternoon,” he told his wife.  “Keep an eye out for that man I saw!  I could have been wrong; it might be someone who just resembles him, but just in case, it might be better not to leave Frank alone.  Or if you do leave, make sure there’s a nurse or doctor in here with him.”

Both Laura and Megan nodded soberly, and Joe spoke up.  “Dad, I’ll be here with him!”

“You might not be – maybe they’ll let you get out of bed.”  Vanessa reminded him, and he nodded, conceding the point.

“And you’re not in any great shape yourself,” his father commented dryly.  Joe looked disgusted, but couldn’t argue the point.

“We’ll be careful,” Laura promised, and Fenton and Vanessa took their leave.

Megan made herself comfortable in a chair beside Frank, and took a magazine from her tote bag.  It unsettled her to look at his battered face too much, and she knew if he had any notion she had sat and gazed at him while he was asleep, Frank would be horribly abashed.  So sitting there and reading seemed like a good compromise.  She’d know immediately if he stirred.

“What would you like to do?”  Laura was asking Joe, who had lain back again, looking both bored and uncomfortable.

“I don’t know…”  Joe groused.  “I hate hospitals…."

Laura looked at him patiently.  “You’ve always made an absolutely horrible patient, too,” she commented.  “Even when you were younger.”

He gave her a shamefaced glance.  “Sorry.  It’s just that – it makes me stir-crazy, having to sit around and wait to heal.”

It was true.  There was too much energy and impatience bottled up inside Joe for him to be willing to lie quietly, or sit still.  He always wanted to be on the move, doing something.  It was the quality that made him so good at sports, and drove him to the winner’s circle so often…but it made for considerable anguish of spirit, when he was confined to a hospital – or sick-bed!

“Be that as it may,” Laura reminded him.  “You have to stay quiet, or your doctor is going to make you stay two days, instead of one.  So try to think of something you could tolerate doing.” 

Joe thought about it.  “If there’s a Sports Illustrated around anywhere, I wouldn’t mind being read to,” he hinted, finally.  “I can’t read it myself, it makes my head ache too much.”

Laura smiled, and went to see whether she could find the required item in the waiting room.

“Red…”  Joe spoke to Megan, when Laura was gone, and she glanced up from her magazine inquiringly.  “Frank’s going to be awfully glad you’re here, when he wakes up.  He was asking for you, out there in the woods – right after he was hurt, he kept calling for you.”

The girl’s long-lashed eyes filled with tears.  “I wish I could have been there for him,” she whispered. 

“You’re here now,” Joe replied.  “And that’s what’s important.”

 

Forty-five minutes later, when Laura’s voice was beginning to give out from reading magazine articles to a restless Joe, Frank made a sudden sound, halfway between a moan and articulated speech, and turned his head on the pillow.  Laura stopped reading, and Megan dropped her magazine and leaned closer to the bed.

“Frank?” she breathed, just above a whisper.

A moment…two…and then Frank sighed softly, and opened his eyes.  He stared hazily up at the ceiling for a few seconds, then blinked, and started looking around the room.

“Frank…”  Megan repeated his name softly.

Slowly, he focused on her, and a smile quirked the corners of his mouth.  “Hey, Baby…” he murmured, and moved the fingers of his hand, inviting her clasp." 

Laura stood up and moved to Frank’s bedside.  “Sweetie-pie, it’s good to see you awake,” she said, and leaned over him to gently brush a kiss on his forehead.

“Hi, Mom.”  The smile was there for Laura too, even though the eyes were bleary with sleep and pain medication.  Frank swallowed gingerly; evidently his throat was sore.  “I’m sorry…if you were worried,” he said.  “Have I been…asleep long?”

“Oh, on and off since yesterday!”  Joe commented, from the other bed.  “And it’s about time you woke up and started pulling your weight!”

Frank turned his head on the pillow, looking for the source of the teasing comments.  “You sound…way too…chipper,” he murmured resentfully, and swiveled his gaze back to his mother and then to Megan.  “I can’t remember anything much, after we got out of the woods,” he said then, sounding just a little panicked.  “Why can’t I remember?”

“Honey, it’s okay!”  Laura hastened to reassure him.  “It’s because of the anesthetic – anesthesia normally wipes out a person’s short-term memory.  And Joe says you were unconscious part of the time before that.  Don’t worry about it!”

“Oh…yeah.”  Frank moved his head in a fractional nod, and relaxed.  “I knew that…guess I forgot – that – too.”  He was gripping Megan’s hand now, and she found she liked that much better than when she was clasping his limp fingers.  Now there was reassuring warmth and pressure returned.  “Baby…”  he tugged slightly on her hand, and she bent close.  “…I’m so sorry…this scared you – didn’t it?  I’m sorry…didn’t mean to worry you.”

She raised her free hand and stroked his face, her touch feather-light.  “It’s okay…just as long as you’re all right, that’s what’s important.”  She kissed the tips of her fingers and touched them to his lips.  “You should rest now.”

“Honey, are you hurting much?”  Laura asked him gently, noting the frown puckering his brow.

“Mmmm…not too much.”  Frank gave her a hazy smile.  “Whatever they’re giving me…it’s good stuff, Mom – the drugs are real…nice….”  

There was a snort from the adjoining bed.  “They didn’t give me anything half as good!”  Joe commented.

“You didn’t need it.”  Megan informed him crisply.  Again she stroked Frank’s cheek.  “You need to rest.” she repeated.

Before Frank could summon the energy to either agree or protest, the door was opened and Dr. Singh, the surgeon, walked in.  He smiled when he saw his patient was awake.

“Very good, if you’re awake that means you’re recovering from last night’s anesthesia!” he exclaimed.  He checked Frank over, nodding in satisfaction as he jotted notes on the chart, and then turned to Laura.  “I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that Frank is doing very well,” he began.  “All his vitals are strong, and his blood work looks good.  He lost almost three pints yesterday, one during surgery last night, and we’re infusing the last transfusion even now.”  He indicated one of the IV’s.  “It’s going to be at least two more days – more likely three – before we can think about releasing him from the hospital, though.  We want to be absolutely sure there are no adverse effects from either the transfusions or the surgery…and no aftereffects from the concussion.”

“Three days sounds reasonable,”  Laura replied, smiling at her eldest.  Inside, she cringed at the thought of him being released that soon, but she tried to hide the reaction. 

“I’ll be back this evening to see you, Frank!”  Dr. Singh announced, and departed as quickly as he had come.

They sat and talked quietly for a time after the doctor had left, mostly Joe telling Frank about the things which had occurred in the woods, which the elder boy had forgotten.  Eventually, though, Joe started feeling restless again.

“I’ve got to get out of this bed!” he complained.  “I want to be up on my feet!”

Megan sighed.  “Joe, you’re something else, you really are!” she said, her tone a mixture of patient exasperation and teasing laughter.  “How’s this – I’ll go ask the nurses if Dr. Ashton is around, and if he is, would they have him stop in and give you permission to run around the hospital corridors, okay?”  She squeezed Frank’s hand, got to her feet, and left the room. 

Joe looked over at Frank.  “Keep her.” he advised.

After a bit, Megan returned, followed shortly by Dr. Ashton.  The physician looked Joe over, and granted permission for him to try walking around a little, even to go down to the hospital cafeteria, if he desired, so long as he took it slowly, and didn’t disconnect from his IV cart.

“You’re still getting antibiotics to ward off infection from those cuts and scratches, Joe, plus saline for the dehydration – you need those IV’s.  So don’t get cute and try to go anywhere without them!” the doctor cautioned.

“I won’t,” Joe promised.  “I’ll be careful, Dr. Ashton.”

“I’ll make sure he is.”  Laura said dryly, giving her younger son a significant look.  “You weren’t thinking of trotting off to the cafeteria alone, were you?” she added, as Dr. Ashton departed.

“No, Mom.”  Joe grinned sheepishly.  He eased himself to a sitting position, and carefully pushed back the covers – and then paused.  “I can’t go wandering around in this!”  he cried, indicating the printed-fabric hospital gown he wore.

His mother choked back a laugh.  “I think there may be a robe in the closet,” she said, and produced one for Joe, who managed to drape it around himself.  There were also thin slippers, and Joe put them on, wrinkling his nose to express his opinion of this footwear.  Then he cautiously got to his feet, leaning against the bed for a moment to accustom himself to being upright again.  Megan took his unencumbered arm to steady him, while Laura transferred the IV’s to the rolling stand.

“Megan, honey – why don’t you go along with them?”  Frank drowsily suggested to his girlfriend.  “You look like you could use a break from sitting here with me.”

“I’m not leaving you here alone,” she replied firmly.  “Remember what your dad said!”

“Huh?”  Frank looked confused.  “Did I forget something else?”

“Oh…no, I guess you were still asleep when he said you shouldn’t be left by yourself.” Megan corrected herself.

The door was opened at that moment, and one of the nurses entered the room.  “Hi, Frank,” she said, smiling at him cheerily.  “I’m here to change the bandage on your shoulder, and do a little more blood work.”

“Definitely a good time for you to take a walk!”  Frank told Megan firmly.  “Go on, Baby, please?”

“If the nurse is here with him, it should be all right,”  Laura allowed.  “We’ll be back in probably 10 minutes.” she said to the nurse, who nodded agreement.  Laura, Megan and Joe slowly walked out of the room, and headed down the hall at a deliberate pace.

 

Fifteen minutes later, the elevator doors slid open on their return trip, and they stepped onto the fifth floor once again.  Joe looked satisfied, but tired, and Laura was privately certain he was going to be happy to stay in bed for awhile after this little experiment. 

They were nearing the boys’ room when suddenly there resounded a hullabaloo of noise and shouting, coming directly from the room.  Laura gasped with alarm and ran to the door, followed by Megan, leaving Joe standing in the hallway.  To Laura’s horror, she saw Frank, lying flat in his bed, his face a ghastly shade of white.  Beside the bed, struggling wildly with a hospital orderly, was Randall Claremont!

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without expressed permission of the authors.