"What?" Frank asked almost running into Joe, unprepared for his sudden stop.

"What about the restraining order? Is it still in effect until Ryan is officially charged and processed?" Joe asked a little nervously.

Frank wasn’t absolutely certain, but after all they’d been through, he wasn’t about to let that stop Joe from seeing Vanessa when he was so close to her. "Don’t worry about that." Frank replied, knowing it would be lifted shortly if it weren’t already. "If anyone wants to haul you off to prison for violating it now, they’ll have to get past me first."

Smiling, Joe pushed the door open and was at Vanessa’s bedside in an instant.

"About time you showed up." Vanessa said softly.

"I was here before – once." Joe murmured taking her hand, oblivious to the raised eyebrows of Andrea and Laura. "But you were asleep." Leaning down he gave her a gentle but lengthy kiss.

Standing by the door, Frank, Callie, Andrea and Laura watched the touching reunion. Several moments later, Vanessa glanced at Frank and the others, motioning them closer.

Joe stood by the bed clutching Vanessa’s hand, wanting to be as close to her as possible, knowing soon she’d be out of his life for good. Seeing her now, injured and in obvious pain, had only strengthened his resolve to end their relationship. Despite the agreement he’d made with Frank to discuss it with her first, Joe knew he had to break up with her for her own protection.

"They told me a little bit about what happened." Vanessa said, glancing at her mother and Laura. "I can’t believe my own cousin tried to kill me. – just for the inheritance. If he needed the money that badly I would have given it to him." She said shaking her head.

"What did you say?!" Frank immediately pounced on her words.

"I said I would have given him the money if he needed it that badly. I’ve got everything I need right here." She repeated, staring at Joe with a smile.

"No, before that." Frank pressed.

"What? About Ryan trying to kill me?" Vanessa asked confused.

"Yes. You mean Ryan is the one who stabbed you?" Frank asked excitedly, ignoring the throat clearing from Laura at his less than tactful choice of words.

"Yes, Ryan is the one who stabbed me." Vanessa replied with a slight shudder.

"Then why did you tell us Joe did it?" Frank said rather insistently.

"WHAT?!" Vanessa cried out, immediately wincing in pain.

"Back off, Frank! You’re upsetting her!" Joe ordered glaring at his older brother, before turning back to Vanessa. "Easy, Baby. That’s not important right now. You shouldn’t be getting upset." He said soothingly.

"I never said that!" Vanessa maintained, ignoring Joe’s pleas to remain calm.

"Yes, Van, you did." Frank replied much softer.

Vanessa looked at Joe horrified and close to tears. "When? When did I say that?!" She asked her voice trembling.

"When you first woke up." Frank responded, acutely aware of Joe glowering at him in silence. "We were all here. Remember? I asked if you saw the person who stabbed you. When I asked if you could tell us who it was you said Joe."

"No!" Vanessa cried out again. "No, that’s not what I meant! I did see the person who stabbed me, but I didn’t know who he was at the time. I was so out of it I don’t remember you asking me anything after that!" She insisted as a few tears slid down her cheeks.

"Frank…" Joe said warningly, his anger apparent to everyone.

"Then why did you implicate Joe?" Frank asked, avoiding Joe’s lethal gaze like the plague.

"I didn’t mean to! I just wanted to know where he was. When he wasn’t there, I thought he’d been hurt too." Vanessa looked at her boyfriend tearfully. "Joe, I’m so sorry. I know it wasn’t you."

"It’s okay, Baby. Forget about it. It’s not important." Joe said comfortingly.

"It is important if people think I’m saying you’re the one who tried to kill me." Vanessa replied, regaining a bit of poise.

Knowing he was risking a major blowout with Joe, Frank nonetheless posed a question. "Can you tell us exactly what happened that night, Van?"

She nodded. Giving Joe a smile that said ‘I’m okay. I can do this.’, they finally learned exactly what had transpired that night.

"After the pizza arrived, Joe yelled down the hall to let me know it was there. I told him I’d be right out. A minute later, I heard a knock on the door. I assumed it was the delivery guy again. But the second the door opened, Joe started yelling and I could hear what sounded like a fight. I came running down the hall just as Joe yelled at me to get out of the apartment. When I got to the living room Joe and some guy were fighting. I know now it was Ryan, but at the time I had no idea who it was." Vanessa stopped and shook her head, looking almost guilty.

"Honey, if this is too difficult for you now…" Andrea began, knowing Vanessa would simply have to repeat everything for the police in the very near future.

"No, I’m fine, Mom." Vanessa replied. "I was just thinking if I had only stayed in the bedroom, or gotten out of the apartment like Joe told me to none of this would have happened."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked, now caught up in the story, but still having nothing more than flashing pieces of memory from that night.

"You were easily overpowering Ryan. Another few seconds and he would have been out cold. But when I ran into the room you turned to look at me. I distracted you for just a second but it was long enough for Ryan to get in one lucky punch. You went down, hard.

"By then Ryan was blocking the way to the door so I started to run back to the bedroom. My cell phone was in there so I knew I could call 911. But he came after me and I realized I’d never make it to the bedroom so I ran in the bathroom and locked the door." Vanessa stopped and rubbed her temple. "I had screamed pretty loud when I first ran into the living room and saw you fighting with him. I thought for sure someone must have heard it and called the police. I thought I’d be safe in there until they arrived. Especially when he didn’t come after me right away." Vanessa frowned in puzzlement and looked at Frank. "Why didn’t he? I mean if he wanted me dead, and Joe was pretty much out of it, why did he wait so long to come after me?"

"We never got to that part of the story." Laura said, explaining why Vanessa didn’t know about Joe’s terrifying episode of forced drug use.

"He needed me out of the way too. While you were in the bathroom, he shot me full of LSD." Joe explained, trying to control his anger at Ryan when Vanessa gasped and her eyes filled with tears again. "I can’t remember anything that happened that night." He shrugged.

"You named Joe as the primary beneficiary in your will." Frank explained. "Simply killing you wasn’t enough, because then Joe would have gotten your inheritance. But if it appeared that Joe killed you in a drug induced rage – and he couldn’t remember otherwise – then your share of the inheritance would automatically go to Ryan."

"He planted drugs in my gym bag too." Joe said.

"Are…are you all right?" Vanessa asked looking at Joe with concern.

"I’m fine now." Joe said softly, smiling at her.

Nodding, Vanessa continued with the story. "Eventually he came back and picked the lock on the bathroom door. I tried to run past him but he grabbed me and dragged me to the kitchen. I hit him a few times. Even broke a glass and tried to cut him with it. Anything to get away from him."

"He said you put up a hell of a fight." Joe said, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Apparently not good enough though. He managed to grab the knife off the counter and…and…" Vanessa’s eyes clouded over as she relived the awful attack.

"We pretty much know what happened from there, Van." Frank assured her. "Our biggest concern was who it was who actually stabbed you. Since Joe can’t remember…"

"Well, it wasn’t you!" Vanessa said forcefully, looking at Joe, before her voice softened. "Are you sure you’re okay?" She asked glancing at his arm, the puncture wound made even more visible after his ordeal earlier in the afternoon.

"Positive." Joe leaned down and kissed her.

Just as they broke apart, the phone rang. Being closest to it, Laura answered. She listened, responded with a few monosyllables and hung up smiling.

"That was your father," Laura beamed at Joe. "The restraining order has been officially lifted."

"Guess that means I can’t turn you in for a reward." Frank joked, looking at his brother hopefully.

Joe stared back, the last of his anger at Frank’s interrogation of Vanessa quickly draining away. "Nope. I can do this legally now." He replied with a grin as he bent down again and kissed Vanessa with a little more enthusiasm.

"One question." She requested when Joe pulled back. "What restraining order?"

Before Joe had a chance to reply, the door burst open as Phil, Tony, Chet and Biff all tramped into the room carrying balloons, flowers and several pizza boxes from Prito’s.

"Mmmm." Vanessa sniffed appreciatively. "Smells a whole lot better than that stuff they try and pass off as food here. I’ll take two slices with everything."

"Uh, are you sure you’re allowed to have that?" Joe asked.

"Just try and stop me." She winked.

Once the pizza had been devoured and Fenton Hardy had joined the group, Frank asked something that had been bothering him all afternoon.

"Ryan’s never been to Bayport before." Frank pointed out to his father. "How did he know about that old barn?"

"During his confession at the station he said when realized he’d have to get rid of Joe, he wanted to do it somewhere isolated, where there would be virtually no chance of anyone stumbling on to what he as doing.

"He was having lunch at the diner downtown and happened to be sitting next to a couple of realtors from the company that is handling the sale of the Beeson property. They were discussing razing the old barn because it was a safety hazard. With the warm weather, they were afraid some kids might decide it would make a good playhouse and get hurt. And they’d be liable.

"Later that afternoon, Ryan went to the realty office and asked about the property. He got directions and told them he’d drive by it and get back to them if he was interested in it."

As Frank nodded in satisfaction, Chet turned to Vanessa with a question.

"So, Van, what are you going to do with all that cash? How about buying a few trinkets for your best friends?" He suggested, waggling his eyebrows.

Taking Joe’s hand, Vanessa looked at him lovingly before turning to Chet. "As a matter of fact, I AM going to spend some of it on my best friend." She replied.

"Best friend?" Chet repeated, feigning disappointment "Singular? As in one person?"

"Uh-huh." Vanessa grinned at him. "As soon as I’m all better, the first thing I’m going to do is take my hero on a nice long, well-deserved vacation." She replied returning her gaze to Joe. "The rest of it goes into savings."

Amid the laughter and teasing, Joe looked away uncomfortably, unnoticed by everyone but Frank.

‘He’s going to go through with it.’ Frank thought in disbelief. ‘He’s still going to break up with her.’

"Good idea, Van. You’ll get married one day and want to buy a house. That money will come in handy then." Frank said, looking pointedly at Joe hoping he’d come to his senses and change his mind.

Several hours later, after their friends had departed, Andrea gladly gave up the uncomfortable cot in Vanessa’s room to Joe, knowing her daughter was in good hands. Giving Vanessa a gentle hug and a kiss, Andrea left for home and her first good night’s sleep in days. Promising to return the next day, Fenton and Laura also departed, leaving Frank and Callie alone with Joe and Vanessa.

While Callie and Vanessa talked quietly, Frank tapped his brother on the shoulder and jerked his head towards the door, indicating he wanted Joe to join him outside the room. Once out in the hall, Frank speared his younger brother with a look of disappointment.

"I can’t believe you’re going through with this." He shook his head in frustration.

"I don’t have a choice, Frank. I can’t take the risk she’ll get hurt again because of me." Joe replied obviously depressed about the whole thing.

Frank stared at Joe a moment before slamming his fist against the wall. "Damn it, Joe! If you go through with this it’ll be the biggest mistake of your life!"

He was met with complete silence.

"Don’t you think I worry about the same thing? But I didn’t break up with Callie – I married her!"

"Yeah, well, you don’t seem to attract trouble the way I do." Joe looked away not wanting to see how disappointed his brother was with him.

"You know if you just used the common sense God gave you, you’d be asking Vanessa to marry you, not breaking up with her!" Frank remarked, staring down the hall into space.

Joe’s head whirled around and his eyes grew wide as his jaw dropped. ‘Does he know? How could he? I’ve been so careful. Nobody knows!’ Watching his brother a moment longer, Joe decided it was just an offhanded comment that hit too close to home.

The door opened and Callie walked out, breaking the strained silence between Frank and Joe. She slipped an arm around Frank’s waist and smiled up at him. "You ready to go?"

"To an evening home alone with my beautiful wife?" Frank leaned down and kissed her, hoping Joe would see what he’d be missing out on if he broke up with Vanessa. "I’m always ready for that."

"Night, Joe." Callie waved as she and Frank headed for the elevators.

Wordlessly, Frank looked back over his shoulder, giving his brother a final look that made his feelings about Joe’s decision crystal clear. Sighing heavily, Joe pasted a smile on his face and walked back into Vanessa’s room.

Vanessa turned at the sound, smiling as she held her hand out to Joe. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself." Joe replied, sitting in the chair next to the bed. He took her outstretched hand in his and held it, gazing into her eyes, trying to soak up everything about her.

"You okay?" Vanessa asked. "You’ve been awfully quiet."

"Fine." Joe said, as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Just grateful you’re still with me."

"Well, I intend to be with you forever." She squeezed his hand.