HDA - December Magic by RM Chapter 1

As the days passed, the doctors discharged Fenton and Joe, as well as taking Frank off the ventilator. Although the ventilator had been removed, Frank had still not regained consciousness. The doctors had said that there was nothing wrong with Frank besides his injuries and that the tests they had run to determine why he had not woken had come up negative.

During the days following their arrival at the hospital, they all spent time by Frank’s side, waiting and hoping he would wake. They quietly talked as they looked for some movement from him, but there was none.

It had been five days since Joe had first seen his brother in the hospital and he was beginning to lose hope. He wasn’t sure there was much more that he or the rest of the family could do. They had been talking non-stop when they were with Frank, even saying something to rile Frank, but nothing seemed to work.

Joe leaned back in the chair he had occupied since arriving and closed his eyes. He was exhausted after spending all of the visiting hours at the hospital and fighting nightmares when he tried to sleep at night. The nightmares revolved around him coming close to rescuing Frank, only to have him killed right in front of him. Each time he had the nightmare, he woke in a cold sweat. He had ended up dozing for a little while each night until sunrise. The cycle had continued and he was drained.

Hearing the door open, Joe lifted his eyelids slightly to see Caren moving into the room. She gave him a small smile before moving over to the other side of Frank’s bed.

With his eyes closed once again, Joe thought how easily Caren seemed to fit with Frank. Since they had come to Frank’s room, she had been there whenever they were. She would talk softly to him and try to get some kind of response.

Caren is someone special, Joe thought. I saw that specialness when I first met her. The two of them are already joking around with one another as if they have known each other for years. Now that Caren has entered his life, I don’t think Frank will think twice about Callie. She’s the one who decided they shouldn’t be exclusive and she shouldn’t be surprised when she finds out about Caren.

One thing I have to admit is that I think I like Caren a whole lot more than I liked Callie. Sure, I could stand Callie when she was around, but I think I only did that because of Frank. If I had given him a hard time with Callie, it would have only made things worse between her and I. But that's all in the past now. A new person has entered Frank’s life and she is making him happy.

But I can see in Caren’s face that she is unhappy that Frank hasn’t regained consciousness yet. I think she’s afraid that he won’t ever wake up. But he will wake up. I know my brother and I know he will open his eyes when he’s ready.

Joe sighed. I just hope it’s soon.

* * * * *

He slowly became aware of the silence around him. He didn’t have any idea where he was and he didn’t care. He was tired and wanted so much to go to sleep again. But sleep didn’t come.

Attempting to move his body, he stopped when his leg started throbbing. He waited a moment and tried again. But when the pain hit, he knew he should stay still.

He then felt two fingers light brushing the hair back from his forehead. Feeling the need to know who was there, he opened his eyes. It took a couple minutes to focus, but when he could, he saw a beautiful angel standing by his side.

The angel smiled at him, with a smile that seemed to light up her face. She leaned close to him and whispered, “I’m glad you’re awake, Frank.”

He tried to speak to Caren, but his mouth was really dry.

“Shh,” she said. “Don’t worry about talking right now. Just focus on getting your strength back.”

Frank nodded slightly as he took in his surroundings. He knew he was in the hospital when he saw the IV stand beside his bed. As his gaze shifted to the other side of the room, he saw his brother, asleep in the chair. For some reason, it felt really good to see his brother. He could just make out the healing bruises and cuts on Joe’s face and arms.

Using what little strength he had, Frank motioned for Caren to wake his brother. He had an urgent need to know what had happened since he couldn’t remember.

He watched Caren move to Joe’s side and gently shake his shoulder. His brother’s eyes flew open quickly and looked to where Caren was pointing.

Joe was by his side in an instant, a smile appearing on his face. “It’s about time you woke up.”

Frank shrugged his shoulders, wincing in pain.

“Quit moving about,” Joe scolded. He looked at Caren. “We should let the doctor know he’s awake.”

“I’ll go,” Caren offered. She smiled at Frank and left the room.

“So, how are you feeling?” Joe asked, once they were alone.

Frank lifted his hand slightly off the bed and rolled it back and fort as if he was saying “so-so.”

“Well, you just need some time to feel better,” Joe said.

Frank mouthed, “What happened?”

Before Joe could answer, the door to the room opened and a man in a white coat entered. The man moved to the bed and smiled at him.

“I’m Dr. Masters. How are you feeling?”

Frank lifted his hand and did the “so-so” motion again.

“You’re probably thirsty,” the doctor said.

Frank nodded. He felt it would be nice to get rid of the mouth full of cotton feeling he had. He watched as the doctor poured some water into a cup and then handed it to him.

“Just sip it,” Dr. Masters said.

Frank held the cup as steady as he could and took a couple sips. He swallowed, grimacing in pain.

“How is that?” Dr. Masters asked.

“Better,” Frank whispered.

“In time it won’t be as painful. Your throat is sore because we had you on a ventilator for a few days.” Frank raised his eyebrows as the doctor continued. “You had a tear in one of your lungs from a broken wing. Your injuries are healing nice and I don’t think you will have any permanent problems.”

“Okay,” Frank whispered.

“Also, your broken leg was re-injured and we need to set it with pins. The cast can probably come off in about eight to ten weeks and they you’ll have to do some physical therapy. But you should be right as rain afterward.”

“Are those my only injuries?” Frank asked slowly.

“Those are your injuries except for a mild concussion,” Dr. Masters said.

“Okay,” Frank said.

“Do you have any questions for me?” Dr. Master asked.

“How long will I be here?”

“Probably a week,” he answered. “I want to make sure those ribs are healing nicely before you get out of here. But once you are discharged, you’re going to be a wheelchair for a couple weeks. The crutches will only aggravate your ribs an I don’t want to see that happening.”

“I understand,” Frank said.

“Well, I’m going to check on my other patients if you don’t have any other questions.”

“Not right now,” Frank said.

“Make sure you get some rest. That’s the only way your injuries will heal.”

“I will.”

Dr. Masters left the room as Joe and Caren moved closer to the bed. Joe said, “I should probably let Mom and Dad know that you are awake.”

“Go ahead,” Frank said.

“I’ll stay here until you get back,” Caren said.

Joe squeezed Frank’s arm. “I’ll be right back.”

Frank nodded and Joe left the room. Frank turned his gaze to Caren once they were alone. She smiled at him again.

“I should probably go when Joe gets back,” Caren said. “You need your rest and I’d only be a distraction.”

“You don’t have to,” Frank said, wincing again as he swallowed. “Your presence makes me forget how sore I really am.”

Caren moved closer to the bed and took Frank’s hand that wasn’t holding the cup in hers. She said, “I’m really glad you’re going to be all right. I was so worried about you.”

“I’ll be fine,” Frank said. He squeezed her hand. “But what about you? Were you hurt at all?”

“I am fine,” Caren said quickly, trying to reassure him. “They didn’t do anything to hurt me. They took me to the mall and left me there. Once I was dropped off, I found a phone and called Joe. He came to the mall right away.”

“That’s good that you weren’t hurt,” Frank said softly, his eyes slowly closing.

“Go ahead and rest,” Care said. “Everything will be all right.”

Frank wanted to ask many more questions, but the small amount of energy he had was now gone.

Frank was vaguely aware of the cup being taken from his hand. He felt the gentle touch of Caren’s fingers brushing his hair back from his forehead. The continuous motion lulled him back to sleep.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.