Ezra Collig, Con Riley, Fenton and Frank Hardy stared open mouthed at the scene before them. It appeared to be straight out of a horror movie.

After looking at his boss and getting an affirmative nod, Riley took a few tentative steps towards Vanessa. Crouching down, he reached out to check for a pulse. Instantly Joe was on his feet, yelling incoherently and lunging at Con with the knife. Collig and the two other officers raised their guns and took aim at Joe, prepared to shoot him if necessary, to protect their fellow officer.

"NO!" Frank screamed, jumping in front of them. In a rush of adrenaline, he grabbed Joe's arms, pushing upwards and forced him backwards against the counter, sidestepping Vanessa's body on the floor. Joe continued to yell at them, making no sense, now trying to bring the knife down on Frank.

'I had no idea he was this strong!' Frank thought, struggling desperately to keep his brother from plunging the knife into his chest.

Suddenly his father was at his side, also trying to subdue Joe. Frank could tell by the look on his fathers face he too was stunned at Joe's strength. Slowly, Joe seemed to be winning the battle.

‘I’m so sorry, Joe.’ Frank thought punching Joe in the stomach as hard as he could.

Just as he hoped, Joe released the knife, which clattered harmlessly to the floor, and doubled over gasping for air. Immediately Fenton grabbed Joe by the arm and spun him around. Pulling Joe's arm behind his back, he forced Joe against the counter, leaning hard against him so Joe could barely move. Frank grabbed Joe's other arm also pulling it behind his back. With lightning speed, Ezra Collig had Joe handcuffed and kneeling on the floor.

Even in this position, Joe was fighting back, trying to get loose. Just then, the EMT's that had been called came bustling through the door.

"I need one of you over here!" Collig called out.

One of them went immediately to check on Vanessa while the second rushed to Collig's side.

"We can’t transport him like this. Can you give him something?"

The EMT pulled open his kit and quickly filled a syringe. Struggling for a moment to hit the moving target Joe had become, he finally pulled back in frustration.

"Hold him still!" He ordered. "I can't get anywhere near him like this."

He waited as Collig, Frank and Fenton did their best to hold Joe down. Expertly, the EMT plunged the needle into Joe's arm. In less than a minute, his eyes closed as Joe slumped forward into his father’s arms.

Quickly, Collig unlocked the handcuffs and Fenton gently laid his son on the floor. He stood up as the EMT began to systematically check Joe for any sign of injury. For the first time he had a chance to really survey the scene.

The door had been locked and deadbolted when the police arrived. There was no sign of forced entry. There appeared to be no sign of a struggle anywhere other than the kitchen. His gaze swept the room and stopped on his two sons - Joe laying on the floor now unconscious, courtesy of whatever drug the EMT had injected him with and Frank kneeling anxiously over his younger brother.

Looking past his sons, he saw Vanessa and his heart caught in this throat. The second EMT was feverishly working on her, checking vital signs and hooking up an I.V. At least that meant she was alive. When he had first seen her, splayed on the floor so unnaturally still, he had immediately thought she was dead.

A hand on his shoulder caused Fenton to look up. Locking eyes with Ezra Collig he whispered, "What happened here?"

Collig shook his head sadly, looking at his friend. "We got a call to check out a domestic violence disturbance. Con recognized the address immediately. He had dispatch double check both the address and the type of call. I just can't believe it…" He let his voice trail off looking at the devastation in the kitchen.

Con came to stand beside his boss, looking shell shocked, and cleared his throat.

"Vanessa is in pretty bad shape. She's been stabbed in the back several times. She's having a lot of trouble breathing; they think the knife may have punctured a lung when he stabbed her."

"No!" Fenton shook his head looking once again at his unconscious son on the floor. "Joe did not do this! He would never, ever hurt her." He said vehemently.

"There's more…apparently she hit her head when she fell. Her pupils are dilated and unresponsive. They think she might have a skull fracture."

His examination complete, Joe was loaded on to a stretcher.

"How is he?" Fenton asked the EMT.

The man shrugged, puzzled. "There's not a scratch on him. They'll do a blood test at the hospital to check for drugs and alcohol."

"He doesn't drink and he would NEVER take drugs!" Frank said, angrily.

As they started to wheel Joe out of the apartment, Frank followed closely.

"Wait." Chief Collig called out. "You can't go with him, Frank."

"What? Why not?"

Collig signaled to one of his officers and then pointed at Joe. "Ride with him to the hospital."

"No!" Frank cried out, as they wheeled his brother from the apartment complete with a police escort.

"You can't be serious!" Fenton shouted, knowing what it meant for a police officer to accompany Joe in the ambulance. Once Joe awoke at the hospital, he would be charged with any number of criminal offenses.

Chief Collig looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Fenton. I have no choice."

"You've known Joe since he was a child! You can't possibly believe he did this! You know how he feels about Vanessa. He'd kill anyone who tried to hurt her. He didn't do this!"

"My opinion doesn't count here and you know that. I have to go strictly by the evidence."

As if on cue, an officer approached the small group. "Sir? We found this in the bedroom."

"That's Joe's gym bag." Frank said, trying to grab it. "What are you doing with it?"

The officer pulled the bag out of Frank's reach. "This was inside." He said to Collig.

Extending his other hand he presented a plastic baggie containing a syringe, a small rubber tube, a spoon, a cigarette lighter and a smaller bag with a rather large quantity of a white, powdery substance.

Franks eyes grew wide. "No," he said hoarsely. "He doesn't use drugs."