No, she should have called the police. At 15, Joe was still young enough that they didn’t have to wait 24 hours for him to be considered a missing person. But the boys were so close she just automatically thought Frank could find him without the police.

And she was right…unfortunately enough.

"I’m Laura Hardy…my sons were brought in. A car accident", she blurted out as soon as the nurse looked up at her. From behind her she heard Georgia Hooper’s voice, "And I’m Georgia Hooper, my son Alan was also in the accident!"

The nurse smiled gently, "If you want to take a seat over there. I’ll have Dr. O’Neal come out to talk to you. He’s treating your sons…all of them."

Reluctantly the women sat down to wait praying that the boys were all right. The details they had been given by the police when they called were sketchy at best basically just telling them that Frank, Joe and Biff had been in a car accident and where they were being treated at.

Georgia had just gotten home to a ringing phone while Laura had been a bit harder to reach as she was at work. Luckily enough for her, her husband was well known at the police station and they had her work numbers on file.

"I’m sure they’ll be all right", Laura tried to console although deep down she wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince…herself or Georgia.

"Did you get hold of Fenton?" Georgia asked knowing that he was often times difficult to reach at times like this, "I called Ross at work and he should be here any minute."

As if on cue a taller, broader (if possible) version of Biff strode briskly into the emergency room, his face taunt with concern.

"No", Laura confided, "I figured I’d wait until I had something to tell him first. There’s nothing he can do from the city."

The plump blond woman nodded sympathetically knowing how hard this life was on her friend at times. Ross went upstairs to get them coffees as they waited and had only just gotten back downstairs when a small, wiry man wearing glasses and a white coat came out from the behind the triage desk and introduced himself as Dr. O’Neal.

"First let me put your mind at ease. The boys will be all right", Laura let out a sigh of relief as the doctor smiled briefly before continuing, "However, there were some injuries. Both Frank and Alan suffered bruises from the seatbelt and the airbag and while they will be sore for a couple of days, they will be fine. However, Joseph was not so lucky. When the car struck him…"

"What?" Laura cried out in shock, "What do you mean when the car struck him?" She had only been told there had been a car accident, not any of the details.

The doctor winced in sympathy thinking she had known, "I’m sorry I thought you knew. The car that Frank and Biff were in struck Joe."

Laura’s knees went weak and she would have fallen if Ross didn’t manage to catch her in time. Gently he lowered into one of the waiting room chairs as he asked, concerned, "Laura are you all right?"

Laura’s mind was reeling. One of her sons had almost killed the other one…Frank had hit Joe with the car…

"Ohmygod", was all she could say for a moment before she asked, her voice shaking,

"H-how is J-Joe?"

Dr. O’Neal smiled gently at her as he tried to reassure the distraught mother. He had no idea how he would have reacted in the similar situation and hoped he wouldn’t have to find out, "He’s going to be okay…honestly. Joe is one lucky kid. The car only clipped him."

Laura was relived but she still needed to know what the damage was, "Did he sustain any injuries?’

"His most concerning injury is a concussion he got, most likely from hitting the pavement", Georgia glared at the doctor as Laura gasped by his lack of tact and he immediately apologized leaving out his speculation of how the other injuries were caused as he continued, "He had 4 cracked ribs that we’ve taped and wrapped to keep his discomfort to a minimum. It will take a few weeks for them to heal so until then he’s going to be sore and have some restrictions on his physical activities. And his left knee is badly damaged. It is not broken but it is swollen and will also need rest. We’ve put a brace on it and we’ll give you crutches to take home with you if you don’t have any. Other then that, he’s got a nasty case of road rash and some internal bruising. Overall he is one lucky kid. Mind you he might not think that once he wakes up and the pain medication wears off."

"What about his concussion?" Ross asked for Laura as he could see her trying to digest the information. At the reminder of the head injury, Laura’s eyes grew wide with alarm but the doctor shook his head before she could say anything.

"He is still unconscious however we are expecting him to come around in the next little while. Of course we’ll want to keep him in overnight and possibly even tomorrow night but I’m confident he’ll be fine. We’ve done xrays and there are no fractures of any kind."

Relived the families asked when they could see their patients and the doctor told them he’d take them to the boys. He just cautioned the parents to make sure the boys rested and took it easy for the next couple of days and then he headed to the admitting department to make sure a bed was ready for Joe.

* * *

Frank opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was that his chest was really sore. And then he bolted up as he remembered the last few seconds of the events before he woke up.

He had run his brother down.

"Frank, please sit still", a nurse was asking as she checked his blood pressure but Frank didn’t listen and struggled to get off the bed. He needed to know about Joe. He needed to know if he killed his baby brother.

"I see our patient is up and raring to go", Dr. O’Neal said as he brushed aside a curtain and almost ran into the boy who was now standing up with one arm held protectively over his bruised chest.

"H-How’s my br-brother", Frank stammered trying to keep from breaking down as he kept hearing that horrible noise over and over again…The sound of the car hitting Joe’s body.

"Your brother will be fine. He’s a bit worst for wear but he’ll recover just nicely. As will you if you’d just sit down and let us finish checking you out. Your mother is here to see you", he finished smiling at the relief that was evident on the teen’s face. Although he did not know the brothers, he could already tell that they were close.

Sighing Frank gave in to the pain and let the nurse guide him back onto the small bed as Laura Hardy pushed the curtain aside and brushed past the doctor relieved to see Frank sitting up. Although he looked a bit too pale for her liking and she gasped at the bruises that dotted his chest from the seatbelt and airbag.

"Frank!" she cried and then gently hugged her son as the doctor finished making some notations on the chart and reviewed his most recent vital stats.

"Well young man, provided you promise to take it easy over the next few days, you can go home with your mom."

"What about my friend Biff? Alan Hooper", Frank corrected when he saw that the doctor didn’t recognize the nickname, "is he going to be okay."

It wasn’t bad enough that he might have killed his brother, but if he hurt Biff also…Frank shuddered at the thought but the doctor set his fears aside with a grin, "He’s one step behind you. I just have to check his stats to make sure nothing was missed and then he can go home too. He’s in pretty much the same shape as you so I’d suggest you both consider sleeping in tomorrow."

With that the doctor left leaving Frank to put back on his dirty shirt and pants and question his mother about Joe, "What about Joe, Mom? Is he really okay?" he shivered as he envisioned his brother’s cold, still body lying on that wet pavement.

Laura struggled to put a reassuring smile on her face as she gently helped him button up his shirt. She hadn’t seen Joe and wouldn’t stop worrying until she saw him for herself, "Well he’s in a bit rougher shape then you but the doctor said he should be okay."

Frank gave her a look that came straight from his father and she gave him. He wanted the details, "he has a concussion, some cracked ribs and wrenched his knee. It’s in a brace." And then she finished softly, "And he hasn’t woken up yet."

Closing his eyes, Frank was helpless to stop the tears, "I’m so sorry Mom…I didn’t see him…the rain…"

Laura grabbed her oldest in her arms and hugged him tight as he broke down and cried. The relief he felt that Joe was still alive was consumed by the guilt that he had put him here. He should have seen him…he shouldn’t have slammed on the brakes.

"I slammed on the brakes but the car didn’t stop", he admitted quietly after he finally got his emotions under control.

His mother sighed as she stroked his damp hair, "This storm is the first rain that we’ve had in a while", his mother said in way of explanation, "the road was slippery, held the water and you hydroplaned. Oh Frank…it’s not your fault."

She tried to console her son all the while wishing Fenton was here to help her and that she could see Joe. Glancing down at her watch, she saw how late it was and decided that she would call him in the morning. There was nothing he could about this now anyway.

Settling back on the bed and rocking her oldest son she couldn’t help but wonder…

* * *

Joe was in a warm, comfortable place. He could feel the people around him but it all felt very far away. He knew his body was aching but he felt indifferent to it. Like it was happening to someone else.

He could hear people calling his name, telling him to open his eyes but Joe didn’t want to.

In this dark place William could never find him. So on the brink of consciousness, Joe turned away and let himself fall back into obliteration.

* * *

"Damn" muttered the doctor.

"What?" asked the nurse.

"I thought he was coming out of it…he seemed so close", the doctor was vexed. There was no reason why Joe was still unconscious. Yes he had a concussion but it was fairly mild.

The teen should have regained consciousness by now.

Worried that he missed something, the doctor gave him another check over and ordered some more tests when he noticed the small burn mark on Joe’s arm.

Concerned, he called a colleague over for a second opinion before hurrying out to find the Hardy’s. He hoped they hadn’t left yet although he suspected that until Joe woke up, they might stick around and haunt the halls. At least he would have if he it was his son.

* * *

Laura wanted to take Frank home so he could rest but he refused to go. He wanted to make sure Joe was alright. So they sat together in the waiting room and waited.

Dr. O’Neal almost missed them in his haste to catch them before they left.

"Mrs. Hardy?" he said seeing her familiar face and immediately both she and Frank stood up although the doctor fixed him with a stern look and the boy sat back down. In truth it hurt to stand so quickly anyway.

"Dr. O’Neal? Is something wrong with Joe?" that set them both panicking and he held up his hands to stop them.

"No…well nothing new but I have a question. More a curiosity then anything but these days we have to ask these questions whenever we see something out of the ordinary, " he was scaring them and Laura hurriedly asked after sharing a worried look with Frank, "What’s wrong?"

"Well when I was giving Joe a follow up examination I noticed a small burn mark on the inside of his arm, " Dr. O’Neal started and the family indicated for him to continue wondering what he was getting at, "It’s a cigarette burn. Look I am not insinuating anything but I do need to ask…where did he get that burn?"

Frank and Laura shared horrified looks and Frank wanted to slap himself in the forehead for not noticing it before. Of course. It was small and circular. A cigarette burn.

Dr. O’Neal pressed, not liking their silence, "Mrs. Hardy who burned your son?"

* * *

Fenton Hardy couldn’t sleep. He kept feeling like something was wrong. Looking at the clock he decided it was too late to call home and see how everything was.

Tossing again in the hotel bed, he wondered if maybe he was just feeling the butterflies about bringing William home with him tomorrow. Yes, he was excited about that but mostly because he wanted to see the look on Joe’s face when he had his twin around. Then they would be complete. A set.

He mulled his youngest son’s behavior around in his mind for a while and then thought about what Joe said when they asked him why he hadn’t mentioned William before. The boy had answered that people didn’t want package deals. Of course that was probably true as most people contacting adoption agencies were only looking for one child. And he thought how awful it must have been for Joe to have to keep this secret living in the forever fear that some day they might find out about William and send him back.

Fenton sighed wearily. Poor Joe. And then he thought about William. Poor William.

What was worst, he wondered. To leave or to be left behind?

I guess we’re going to find out, Fenton thought as sleep finally lulled him away from reality.

* * *

The doctor rubbed his eyes tiredly as he made his way down the familiar hallways and into the boys’ dorm. It was very late and he would rather be home in bed but John Casing had said it was an emergency.