“I’m fine,” Frank said careful not to say her name out loud in case Joe was awake. Though it really did look like Joe was sound asleep, and a faint snore confirmed Frank’s suspicion. “We’re okay, really.”

“How is Joe? Can I talk to him?” Vanessa asked.

“No! You can’t talk to him,” Frank said a little too abruptly and mentally kicked himself. He added, “Joe’s sleeping right now.”

“Are you sure he is okay?” she as suspiciously. “Frank Hardy you had better tell me the truth!”

“He is okay. He’s banged up though – broken wrist and dislocated shoulder. And he hit his head again…”

Vanessa gasped, “Oh no, not again! What aren’t you telling me?”

Frank tried to come up with the best way to break the news, but he wasn’t coming up with anything. The pain in his shoulder wasn’t helping any either. Vanessa took the silence as Frank trying to avoid her questions.

“I’m coming over there now to see him for myself. You don’t sound too wonderful either. I’ll feel much better when I make sure you and Joe are okay,” Vanessa said quickly.

“NO! Don’t come!”

“I knew you were hiding something from me. Spill it. Now!” Vanessa was getting more and more worried and rapidly losing her patience.

“Okay, but I have to make this quick. He’s sleeping now, but I’m not sure how long that will last. Like I said, he hit his head in the accident and has a concussion. He is awake and talking, and while his long term memory is intact, he’s lost his short term memory. The best I can tell is that he can’t remember what happened in the last year. He doesn’t remember you right now. I’m sorry…” his voice trailed off.

“Oh.” She sounded lost. “Oh no! I guess that also means that he doesn’t remember what happened to Iola this past summer either does he?”

“No. He got really upset earlier when he realized he was missing a large chunk of time. The doctor doesn’t want him to get upset and unfortunately there is no easy way to tell him. I think he will just have to remember when he is ready. I know this is hard, but you need to stay away for a little while. I don’t want to set him back.”

“I understand,” she said. “Let me know as soon as he makes some progress. I can get my updates through Callie. I’ll let the rest of the gang know as well.”

After thanking her and saying goodbye, Frank checked on Joe again to make sure that he was still asleep. Relieved that he slept through that phone call, Frank laid back to sleep some himself.

A short time later, Frank was knocked out of his dream by a shout, “Noooooo! Help me! Let me go!”

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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency 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 original characters without express permission of the authors.