Frank had been lightly dozing when something woke him.  What the?  His thoughts were broken off as he saw his brother, out of bed and before he could say anything he saw Joe falling.

It was like watching someone in slow motion.

Frank reacted.

He couldn’t let him fall.

And then many things happened at once.

Joe’s IV trolley lunged forward across the bed as the IV lines were ripped out of his hand when the trolley brought up solid…

The heart monitor leads ripped away from Joe’s chest and the machine emitted a horrible loud whine…

Frank’s own hand burned in pain as he pulled on the IV….

The door banged open and a police officer was framed in the doorway only to be pushed away by a nurse and doctor…

But Frank was oblivious to it all.  All he cared about was the blurry pain glazed blue eyes that stared up at him from his arms.

He had caught him.

“Y-you…’kay?”  he heard his brother rasp as around him the doctor and nurse tried to take Joe from him but Frank wanted to hold onto him for a few more moments.  Although he was sure that it was causing Joe some pain, Frank just really needed to.

And he knew his little brother would never begrudge him that.

“Please”, Frank begged Dr. Greenland, “can I just…for a moment?”

The doctor started to protest, wanting to get his patient settled as soon as possible but then he saw the same request in the blue eyes that took a little longer to focus on him.  There was something more between them and the doctor sensed how important it was for them to have this…this precious two or three minutes sitting together on the floor with the younger cradled by the older.

And he relented, “Fine.  I need to reset these machines anyway.  You have a minute.”

Frank took it.

“Hey kiddo just what do you think you’re doing?”  he admonished gently as he leaned over so that the top of Joe’s head was resting against the side of his cheek, “I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

Joe closed his eyes comforted by his brother’s breath against his face and he said slowly, “I’m…sorry,” his voice was weak and Frank had to strain to hear it.

Frank was confused but before he could ask any further, he saw that blood on Joe’s hands from where the IV’s had been ripped out and gasped, “Joe you’re bleeding!”

He felt his brother move feebly in an attempt to see what Frank was talking about but even the slight movement cost him greatly and his tentative hold on consciousness slipped away.

“Doctor!” Frank felt his brother go limp in his arms and he shouted out in alarm.

Instantly the doctor was kneeling by Frank’s side and lifting Joe up smoothly and effortlessly.  The teen was impressed by the hidden power in this man.  There was more to Dr. Greenland then he had given him credit for.

He gently settled Joe back down on the bed and then quickly assessed his hands where the IV’s had been ripped out.  Frank watched as the doctor carefully cleaned it before putting a pressure bandage on.

Dr. Greenland smiled that very white smile at Frank when he sees him watching him so intently, “Its small but I don’t want it bleeding again”

As he worked, the nurse reconnected the IV’s and reset the rate.

As the doctor reaffixed the heart monitor leads, he managed Frank a wink, “He’s okay.  Just very tired.  A stroll right now was not really in his best interests. Speaking of which”, the doctor raised his eyebrow teasingly, “do you need some help getting back in bed or is the floor uncommonly comfortable this evening.”

Grinning sheepishly, Frank carefully pulled himself up, his body groaning in protest as he did. As he moved to his bed, he rubbed his sore backside.  He had hit the floor…hard when he caught Joe and knew he’d have a bruise for sure.

Dr. Greenland didn’t miss the action, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah”, Frank said settling back down in the bed and then turning to watch as the doctor gently pulled the thin sheet up over Joe’s back to keep him from getting too cold, “but I think there’s going to be a mark.”

The black man smiled and shook his head, “I have to admit, I can’t recall the last time I saw anyone move like that.  You’ve got great reflexes kid.  If he’d hit the floor…” the doctor sighed and glanced back down at his unconscious patient, “well let’s just say, it would have hurt.”

Frank bit his lip nervously.  He wanted to ask the doctor something else but found it no easier to start then he did the last time.

The nurse who had been assisting Dr. Greenland left and Frank decided now was the best chance he would get to talk to him alone.

“Doctor”, he said quietly and Dr. Greenland hid the sad smile that played across his features before he turned back to the other youth. The amount of anguish in that one word hit him hard.  And he knew what Frank was going to ask him before he even opened his mouth so he decided to spare him.

“Frank”, Dr. Greenland said kindly, “Your brother is fine.  He wasn’t molested.”

The dark haired boy let out a relieved sigh and the doctor was sure he saw a suspicious brightness in his eyes. 

Frank closed his eyes briefly and then reopened them and looked into the chocolate brown ones watching him.  He cleared his throat, “You’re…you’re sure?’

Dr. Greenland smiled kindly as he lifted Frank’s hand to inspect his IV line, just to make sure it was fine.  His voice was gentle but held an authority that left no doubt in Frank’s mind, “He is fine.”

“Thank you doctor…thank you,” Frank said suddenly feeling as if he had just gotten back something he thought he’d lost. 

And then he was hit by intense guilt…he had heard…he had listened to them….

But it never happened.

And he had locked his brother out of his room…

But it never happened.

He left him there….

But it never happened.

He had got into their mother’s car… and he had left him there.

Alone in the house…

Unprotected in the house…

With William in that house.

Shaking, Frank buried his face in his hands and broke down.

He had let William do this to his brother.

* * *

Biff Hooper stood outside the hospital for a long time.  He had spent the last couple of hours wandering around trying to get rid of the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.  His mind was a cruel place and it assaulted him by thoughts and images that left him retching and horrified.

No…not Joe.

And he thought about Iola.

Damn William…damn him to hell.

When he had finally gotten himself under control, the muscular youth called his parents, then the Morton’s, the Prito’s, the Cohen’s, and even the Shaw’s. 

They needed to know.

So when he did finally get back to the hospital, he wasn’t overly surprised to see some familiar vehicles in the parking lot.

“Biff!” the anguished voice of Iola Morton made him stop.  She was standing outside the hospital and from the looks of how cold she was, she had been there for a while.

“Iola” he says and then engulfs the petite girl in a big hug.  He feels her shaking in his arms as she just sobs, “Please tell me it isn’t true…please!”

The blond teen swallows hard.  He can’t tell her that…he can’t.  Especially as the words he heard uttered at the nurses’ station hang over him.

He just shakes his head, “I’m sorry Iola…so sorry“, and it’s the best he can offer.  And then he feels others around him, holding him, hugging him and he breaks down. 

Big shuddering sobs racking his huge frame.

Everyone is there.  They are all outside.

Chet, Phil, Tony, and they hold onto each other drawing strength from their collectiveness.

Callie stands a little off to herself and Biff opens his arm and she comes to him.

A few minutes later, Biff is able to realize that their parents are all there as well.  Standing just out of his peripheral vision but they are there.

Like pillars standing together.

His folks, the Morton’s, the Cohen’s, the Shaw’s and even the Prito’s…all of them. 

Angelo is standing the doorway watching them.  And when he catches Biff’s attention he smiles and indicates towards the other side of the parking lot.

Biff gives a little disbelieving snort… but he sees what he sees.

There is Mateo’s old beater… and there are Tony’s cousins…

Everyone is here.

“Wh-what?”  Biff stammers as his friends break away and his father places a supportive hand on his son’s shoulder.

“We can’t see Frank or Joe yet”, his father explained, “and it was just too suffocating sitting in that damn white room… and waiting.”

“How are they?”  his mother pressed and Biff can feel all their eyes on him.  He hadn’t told them much when he called so bracing himself, he told them what happened from the time he had left home that morning until he saw Frank in the case room.

He stopped there.  He couldn’t say anything else.

Around him sheets stared back, all color drained from the faces of his friends and their families.  It was too much.

Biff started to walk away when he caught a little flash of color that did not fit in with the starkness of the hospital.

Frowning he turned around and was mildly surprised to see a couple of kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes.  They were going trick or treating.

A small thought buzzed in his brain and as he chewed it around for a few moments, a creeping grin slowly spread over his face.

He had a wonderful idea!

* * *

Frank opened his eyes.  He immediately glanced over and saw Joe was still resting.  The steady rhythm of the heart monitor gave him some relief. 

Rubbing a hand across his tired eyes he wondered exactly what Dr. Greenland had given him.  He remembered becoming hysterical, to his great chagrin… and the doctor putting something in his IV…and then…

Wow, thought Frank, whatever it was, it knocked me out.

And then his stomach grumbled and he wondered what time it was.  He didn’t have his watch and there was no clock in the room.  But he figured it had to be near suppertime.
But then he recanted…it could be anytime.  He hadn’t had anything to eat since that piece of pizza last night.  And that pizza had not sat very well at all.

As if on cue, the door opened and a nurse came in with a tray.  She double checked to make sure which bed the food was for and Frank couldn’t help but stare at her. He would have assumed that him being conscious would have been a dead giveaway.
But he didn’t say anything until he lifted the tray.  Then he groaned.

“What’s wrong?”  A voice in the doorway made him jump and then he grinned as he saw it was Biff.

“Have you seen what they’re calling food these days?  And they call themselves a hospital!” Frank quipped as he poked at something on the tray but had no idea what it was.

Biff smiled but it was a pained one and Frank caught the look.  Putting his fork down, he turned his attention on his friend, “Okay Biff, spill.  What’s wrong?”

When the bigger boy glanced at the other bed, Frank amended, “I mean besides the obvious.”

Biff hesitated. He wanted to ask Frank about it but he wasn’t sure how to start.

“Okay now you’re scaring me”, Frank started to get anxious wondering what Biff was having trouble saying and then he got a horrible thought, “is it William?  Has he escaped?”

“No.. No!’  Biff said quickly as he could see that Frank was getting agitated, “its nothing to do with William…” and then he amended, “okay that’s not quite true.”

“Hooper I am too tired to play 20 questions with you.  Now what’s going on?”  Frank watched his friend carefully and finally Biff sighed.

“I heard one of the nurses on the phone after you asked me to leave the assessment room”, Biff admitted.

“Okay”, Frank still wasn’t sure were Biff was going with this.

“I heard…I…” Biff was having trouble as he felt his stomach roll again, “I heard them ask for a… “Closing his eyes, he just blurted it out, “Did William molest Joe?”

Immediately Frank’s eyes darted towards his sleeping brother.  He pulled back the sheet and swung his legs off the bed. 

“Frank what are you doing?”  Biff tried to stop him but Frank pushed his hands away as he said quietly, “It’s okay Biff. I just don’t want to talk about it in front of Joe.  Come on we can go in the hall.”

Biff eyed the IV trolley and Frank grabbed the pole as he stood up, “Yeah my girl Stella comes with us.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”  Biff was still concerned that Frank shouldn’t be out of bed.

“It’s fine”, Frank asserted as he slowly made his way to the door pulling the trolley with him, “Besides I really need something to eat and whatever is on that tray just ain’t going to do it for me.”

Chuckling Biff followed his friend out of the room and to his credit, he only poked fun at him once about the open part of his hospital gown.

* * *

As the door closed, the person on the other bed opened his eyes.

Ohmygod, Joe thought, no…

But Biff’s words burned his mind…they were the first thing he heard when he woke up…

Did William molest Joe?

Ohmygod…he thought again…NO!