Ned quickly turned and caught a nurse walking by the room. "Excuse me, nurse. Where’s the patient who was in this room? Where’s Frank Hardy?"

"He’s been moved," the nurse said walking away.

"What?" Joe asked coming out of the room.

The nurse stopped. She turned to face them. "He woke last night. He’s been moved to a room on the third floor."

"All right," Joe said letting out a breath as the nurse walked away. "He’s awake."

"That’s wonderful," Nancy said smiling.

"Let’s go," Joe said.

Joe led the way to the third floor. They stopped at the nurse’s station to find out which room Frank was in. The nurse directed them down the hall to the last room on the left side. Joe knocked softly and pushed open the door. They were surprised to see it was a private room. Frank was lying on the left side of the door and he had on a blue hospital gown with yellow dots. The room was painted green which matched the sheets and blankets.

Frank had a bandage around his head and was still hooked up with an oxygen tube on his nose. They could also see tubes running down to Frank’s left wrist attached to an IV bag.

The three of them moved closer to the bed. Joe got on Frank’s right side while Nancy and Ned stayed on his left.

Joe said, "Frank. Wake up. It’s Joe."

They watched as Frank’s eyelids fluttered. A minute later, Frank’s eyes popped open. He blinked a few times before slowly focusing on Joe. Frank mumbled, "Joe."

Joe smiled and looked at Nancy and Ned. "He’s going to be all right."

"How are you feeling?" Nancy asked.

"Tired," Frank said. He looked at Joe. "Where am I?"

"In a hospital," Ned said.

"Don’t you remember what happened?" Nancy asked.

"No," Frank said. "All I remember was a cruise."

"Don’t worry about remembering," Nancy said. She glanced at Joe and saw him looking at her.

Frank must have noticed their look because he asked, "What’s going on? What are you hiding from me?"

"Frank," Joe began. "I don’t know how to tell you this."

Frank pulled himself up a little bit and looked at each of them beginning with Nancy. Then Ned. And finally Joe. "Just tell me."

Joe took a breath. "Three days ago there was an explosion on the cruise ship."

"An explosion?" Frank asked, confused.

"Everyone on the cruise ship headed for the lifeboats," Nancy said. "Once the boats were filled, they were lowered to the water."

"Are you guys all right?"

"We’re fine," Ned said.

"We were more concerned about you," Joe said. "A piece of metal came loose and hit you in the head."

"That’s why I can’t remember anything."

"Probably," Joe said. "But I’m sure you’ll remember in time."

Frank was watching them closely and realized they were still keeping something from him. Something that was bad news. "Joe, what are you keeping from me?"

"I think it should wait," Joe said quickly. "Until you’re stronger."

"Is it Callie?"

"Callie’s fine," Nancy said.

"She’s with your Aunt Gertrude," Ned said.

Frank glanced at Joe and saw him giving Ned a dirty look. "What is Aunt Gertrude doing here?" All of a sudden it hit him. Could his aunt be here because his parents were dead? Frank looked slowly at Joe. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

Frank watched as Joe looked away, as did Nancy and Ned. Frank said. "Joe, tell me the truth. Are Mom and Dad dead?"

Joe looked quickly at Frank. He said, "They are missing. They aren’t dead. When we leave here, we’re going to help search. We’ll keep searching until they are found alive."

"I need to help," Frank said struggling as he tried to get off the bed.

The three of them tried to keep Frank on the bed. Nancy said, "Frank, you’re in no condition to help us."

"The young lady is right," a voice said from the doorway.

They stopped struggling and saw the doctor who had come into the waiting room two days earlier standing by the door. The doctor came over to the bed and looked at Frank. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired and confused," Frank admitted. "I need to get out of here. I need to find our parents."

"You’re not going anywhere," the doctor said. "You’ve been unconscious for three days. Your body needs a chance to get its strength back."

"I need to do something," Frank said. "I can’t sit by and do nothing."

"We’ll call Callie and Aunt Gertrude," Joe said. "We’ll have them stay here with you while we go out and search.

"Will you really try to find them?"

"I’ll keep looking until they’re found," Joe said putting his hand on Frank’s shoulder. "But I need to know you will stay put. I can’t be worrying about you, too."

"I’ll stay put, but you need to come back later and let me know what happened."

"I promise," Joe said.

"Ned and I will go call Callie," Nancy said.

"All right," Joe said and watched as Nancy and Ned left the room.

As the doctor checked the monitors, Frank said, "I’m glad Nancy is helping with the search. Her father must be proud because she’s willing to help search for Mom and Dad."

"Frank," Joe said quietly, "Mr. Drew is also missing."

"He’s missing?"

"Yeah," Joe said. "We’re searching for all three of them and won’t stop until they are all found."

"Good luck," Frank said. He looked at Joe. "How are you holding up?"

"I’m okay," Joe said. "I know we’ll find them soon. They have to be all right. We made it off the ship, so they had to."

"How’s Nancy?" Frank asked. "She seems really quiet."

"She’s worried," Joe said. "But she’s hanging on, like we all are."

"Things have to turn out all right."

"They will," Joe said. "Get some rest. We’ll be back later."

"I’ll be here," Frank said and Joe left the room.

Joe closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall. He wondered if he had just made an empty promise to his brother. There had been no sign of their parents and Joe wondered if they would be found alive.

"Joe," a voice said breaking into his thoughts.

He turned his head to the left and saw Nancy and Ned coming toward him. Once they stopped beside him, Nancy said, "Your aunt and Callie are on their way."

"Good. Let’s get over to the Coast Guard headquarters and find out where we’re searching."

"All right," Nancy and Ned said together.