‘How could I have miscalculated so badly? How am I going to tell him? He’ll never get over it.’ Frank thought despairingly.

Seeing the look of devastation on his father’s face, Frank wished the ground would open up and swallow him. He’d been the one who insisted that Vanessa be questioned immediately, absolutely certain she would clear Joe.

"Dad, I’m sorry." He whispered. "I was so sure…" his voice trailed off helplessly.

"We were all sure." Fenton said despondent.

"Don’t worry, that I.D. will never make it to court." Andrew said forcefully, holding up a hand and ticking off the points on his fingers one by one. "She has a skull fracture, concussion, swelling of the brain, not to mention being shot full of pain medication. There’s no way to know if she was responding to your question and identifying Joe as her assailant or simply calling out his name."

Frank felt a glimmer of hope inside.

‘That’s gotta be it! She was just asking for Joe. Wondering where he was, why he wasn’t there. He couldn’t have done it. He doesn’t have it in him. I know he couldn’t hurt her no matter what.’ Frank thought, allowing himself a small measure of relief.

The relief quickly vanished when Frank felt his cell phone start to vibrate, as it had done three times while they were in Vanessa’s room. Reaching into his pocket, Frank pulled it out slowly, letting the voice mail pick it up. Waiting a moment, Frank finally checked the messages, his heart sinking. All four were from Joe, the anxiety in his voice unmistakable, demanding to know what Vanessa had said.

"It’s Joe." Frank said to Fenton, anguished. "Dad, what am I going to tell him? I finally had him believing he didn’t do it. No matter how hard I try to convince him otherwise, he’ll be absolutely certain he was the one who stabbed her. You know him – he’ll never believe she was just asking for him."

For the first time in his life, Fenton had no words of advice to offer his son. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, Frank turned and slowly made his way out of the hospital.

*****

Pacing back and forth in front of the large picture window of his parent’s house, Joe kept his eyes glued to the street, impatiently waiting for his brother’s arrival. He’d left four messages for Frank. The simple fact that Frank hadn’t returned any of them yet was not a good sign. Joe grew more restless with each passing minute.

‘Why hasn’t he called? Didn’t she wake up? Did something go wrong?’ Just as he was about to reach for the phone and call Frank for the fifth time, Joe saw his brother’s car pull slowly into the driveway. Not bothering to wait, Joe flew out of the house and was pulling Frank’s door open in seconds.

"What happened? Why didn’t you return my calls? What did she say?" Joe asked the questions at lightning speed.

Looking up, Frank saw the apprehension in his brother’s eyes and his heart tied itself in knots. ‘I can’t do this! It’ll kill him!’

"What?! What is it?!" Joe cried out. When Frank didn’t respond, Joe grabbed his arm yanking him out of the car. "Tell me what she said!" Joe bellowed, now shaking, his face only inches from Frank’s.

"Inside." Frank said quietly, removing his arm from Joe’s grasp and leading him back into the house.

Once inside, Joe faced his brother. Wrapping both arms around himself he stood, pale and trembling. "I did it, didn’t I?" He whispered.

"Joe…"

"Just tell me what she said." Joe begged.

Seeing his brother so close to unraveling completely, Frank was incensed with himself. ‘Why?! Why did I insist she be questioned immediately?! Why couldn’t I wait – just one more day?’

"Joe, listen. She was really disoriented. I’m sure she didn’t even know what she was saying." Frank reached out in an attempt to comfort his younger brother.

Refusing consolation, Joe took a step back and pleaded with Frank for the truth. "Did she see you? Acknowledge that you were there?"

"Yes." Frank replied.

"Did she recognize you?"

"She seemed to." Frank answered honestly.

Joe took a deep breath appearing as if he were in actual physical pain. "Did you ask her who stabbed her?"

Frank nodded, his mouth suddenly too dry to speak.

"And what did she say? Who stabbed her, Frank?" Joe asked one last time.