"Joe, listen to me." Frank sat on the couch next to Joe. "She has a concussion. She’s disoriented. They’ve got her on all kinds of painkillers. She probably doesn’t even know it was me let alone what I said. For all we know, she was just calling out your name. We don’t know for sure what she was trying to say."

Listening to his brother sob inconsolably, Frank wasn’t even sure Joe realized he was in the room, let alone heard what he’d said.

‘Damn you!’ Frank cursed himself. ‘You just had to ask her! You couldn’t leave well enough alone!’

"Joe?" Frank nudged him. "We don’t know that it was you. There’s no real proof…"

"Proof?!" Joe yelled, sitting up so quickly Frank jumped. "She told you I was the one who stabbed her! In front of a room full of people! How much more proof do you need?!"

Something tugged at Frank’s heart as he stared at Joe’s tearstained face. Seeing that Joe was visibly shaking, Frank feared he was on the verge of completely losing control. Trying to soothe his distraught brother, Frank didn’t realize his well-intentioned efforts would have the opposite effect.

"Joe, please try and calm down…"

"CALM DOWN?!" Joe screamed at him. "How would you feel if Callie suddenly announced to your family and the police that you tried to kill her? And you had no memory of it? How calm would you be?!"

‘God, why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut?!’ Frank thought as Joe sprang up from the couch and began a frenzied pacing back and forth in front of the window.

"I did it, Frank. I stabbed her. And you proved it. And you want to know the worst part?" Joe demanded as he stopped and stared at Frank, a mixture of grief and anger reflected in his eyes. "She’s still in danger! Ryan wants her dead and there’s nothing I can do to stop him! I can’t even get near her! Not that I should since I’m as much of a threat to her as he is!"

In the midst of Joe’s increasingly incoherent rambling, something clicked for Frank. "You’re right." Frank agreed.

"Wh-what?" Joe stopped and stared, wondering if he’d heard correctly. Did Frank really think he was a threat to Vanessa?

"Vanessa is still in danger. Ryan is still a threat to her. And if you love her, you’ll stop feeling sorry for yourself and do whatever you can to protect her." Frank mentally crossed his fingers hoping his primitive attempt at reverse psychology would work.

"What do you mean IF I love her?" Joe responded angrily. "Of course I love her!"

"I know that." Frank smiled gently, getting up and walking over to stand in front of Joe. "We need to get Ryan behind bars so Vanessa is safe. And to do that, we need to work together. Right, partner?" Frank tentatively extended his hand to Joe.

Joe drew in a shuddering breath and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Looking at Frank’s outstretched hand, he allowed himself the tiniest of smiles. "Right, partner." He took Frank’s hand in his and gripped it hard. "Sorry. I didn’t mean to go off the deep end. It’s just…"

"Joe, it was stupid of me to insist Vanessa be questioned the second she regained consciousness. I’m sorry. Just promise me you won’t take what she said to heart. At this point, there’s really no telling what she meant when she said your name. Don’t you think it’s reasonable that she would have expected to see you there in the room when she woke up? And when you weren’t there she asked for you?"

Joe looked at him warily, considering his words.

"Don’t you think it’s the least bit possible?" Frank prompted.

"I guess." Joe finally agreed with a heavy sigh.

"No matter what Vanessa said, I still don’t believe for one second you could ever hurt her." Frank told Joe, trying to shore up his confidence.

"I hope not." Joe mumbled, before returning to Frank’s original subject. "So do you have any ideas on how to catch Ryan? So far all we know is that he’s somewhere in Bayport."

"Well, I’ve been thinking about that. His name doesn’t come up at any of the hotels in town so we can assume wherever he is, he’s using an alias. Since he flew here, he must have-" Frank stopped and grinned, as Joe rolled his eyes at Frank’s ringing cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Frank, it’s Con."

"Hi, Con. What’s up?"

"Can you come down to the station? I have some information for you."

"Sure. I’ll be right there." Frank quickly disconnected the call, looking at Joe excitedly. "Con said he’s got something for me."

"Great! Let’s go!" Joe replied heading for the door.

"Whoa, little brother. You’re not supposed to be anywhere near this investigation, remember?" Frank reminded him.

"Oh, come on, Frank! I’m always down at the station. No one would think twice about seeing me there." Joe whined.

"Humor me." Frank requested. "Stay here and see what you can come up with to trap Ryan. I promise I’ll go to the station and come right back."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Joe stared at his older brother, pouting.

Reminding himself it was for Joe’s own good, Frank vowed not to let Joe get the best of him this time. Mimicking Joe’s body language Frank stared steadily back at him until Joe threw up his hands in surrender.

"Fine! I’ll wait here! But I don’t have to be happy about it!" Joe complained.

"No, you don’t." Frank patted him on the shoulder as he walked past on his way out the door. "See you in a little while."

Taking a seat on the couch, Joe tried to focus on Ryan, but found his thoughts continually wandered back to Vanessa and her response to Frank. Had he really been the one wielding the knife? Or had Vanessa simply been questioning his absence as Frank so firmly believed.

‘What does it matter?’ Joe thought dejectedly. ‘Even if Ryan stabbed her, it just means I couldn’t protect her. Couldn’t keep her safe. In our own home!’

"I’m sorry, Van." Joe whispered into the empty room. "I’m sorry for all the times you were in danger – all the times you got hurt – because of me."

Unable to keep the thoughts at bay, Joe recalled the times Vanessa had been put in harm’s way by criminals, including the Assassins, simply to get back at him or "encourage" him to do what they wanted. Sure, Joe had always been able to rescue her in time and bring her home safely. But wouldn’t his luck run out one day? Wouldn’t there come a day when he couldn’t get to her in time? When she’d be seriously injured? Or killed?

Leaning forward, Joe dropped his head in his hands as he came to a painful realization. One day the odds would catch up with him. One day, his best efforts would be in vain. With a clarity he wished he didn’t have, Joe admitted to himself that no matter how hard he tried, Vanessa would never be truly safe with him.

The tightness in his chest grew as he realized the engagement ring in his safe deposit box, the hotel reservations he had for Vanessa’s birthday, and the elaborate plans he’d made to propose and recreate her biggest fantasy in the process would have to be abandoned. Thinking of the painful recovery Vanessa had ahead of her, Joe vowed she would never have to go through that again. She would never be hurt again, because of him.

‘I promised to protect her. To keep her safe. Always.’ Sitting back, Joe stared at the ceiling as tears blurred his vision, knowing there was only one way he could keep that promise.