CHOICES
by
RM
Chapter 22
THE CHAPTERS
Three days later, Frank
was at home. He had been released the previous afternoon with instructions
from the doctor to rest in bed for at least a week. And that’s exactly
what he had done.
Upon returning home, Frank
was glad to get out of his father’s car. The ride home had been long and
his ribs hurt more than before. And he had been uncomfortable leaning back
against the seat. He had gone up to his room and immediately went to sleep.
He was now sitting on his
bed, propped up with pillows as he worked on his class assignments. When he
had contacted his instructors the previous day, they had e-mailed him the
assignments he had missed and once they were completed, he sent them back.
He knew he needed to keep up on his assignments so he could graduate.
As he tried to work, his
mind wandered to other things.
I was lucky Joe and Dad
arrived when they did, he thought. If
they had been any longer, I probably would’ve died in that refrigerator.
Now I know that was to be my final resting place. Frank shivered at the
thought and tugged the sleeves of his sweatshirt down on his arms.
He was still chilled after
all he had been through and knew it would be a while until he wasn’t as
susceptible to the temperature changes.
I know I owe Joe and Dad
more than just a ‘thank you’. I know they will just say they did what
they had to do. But I am very appreciative of their efforts. They really
got the job done.
And with thanking them,
there’s also some apologizing that needs to be done to others. One person
in particular. Caren. I need her to know how really sorry I am and that
while it may have seemed that I had lied, I was only trying to protect her.
After all that has happened, and while I know what I did was right, I also
know that I hurt Caren and that shouldn’t have happened. Her feelings
count too and I need to apologize for doing that.
“Hey,”
a voice said.
Frank
looked up and saw Joe standing in the doorway. “Hey yourself.”
“Trying
to get caught up on your assignments?” Joe asked, moving into the room
and sitting down at the foot of the bed.
“Trying,”
Frank admitted. He moved slightly on the bed and felt a twinge in his ribs.
He put his hand against his ribs and waited until the pain eased.
“You
know, if you’re hurting, you should probably rest.”
“I’m
all right. I just moved the wrong way.”
“So,
how are things going?”
“All
right. There’s a lot to go over, but I’m getting it done. I have to if
I want to graduate.”
“You’ll
get it done. I have faith in you.”
Frank
chuckled. “Thanks.”
“No
problem.” Joe got to his feet. “I need to tackle my own work.”
“You
better get to it so you don’t have to repeat your classes from this
semester.”
“I
definitely don’t want that to happen,” Joe said.
“Then
get to work.”
Joe
smiled and left Frank’s room.
Alone
again, Frank contemplated what he should do next. He knew he should get his
assignments done, but he felt the need to do something more important. He
reached for the phone on the bedside table and quickly dialed the number
before he changed his mind.
“Hello?”
a female voice answered.
“Hi,
Caren. It’s Frank.”
There
was silence. “Hi.”
“How
are you doing?” Frank asked.
“I’m
all right. You?”
“I’m
doing okay.” Frank took a breath. “Caren, I was wondering if you could
come by. I’d like to talk to you and it’s important to do it face to
face.”
“I
guess so,” Caren said slowly.
“I
appreciate it,” Frank said.
“I’ll
be there in a little while.”
“I’ll
see you then.”
Frank
put the phone down and let out a breath. He knew the time had come.
*
* * * *
An
hour later, Frank was standing by the door, waiting for Caren to arrive.
For the first time in his life that he could remember, he was nervous. He
didn’t know how Caren was going to react to his news.
A
few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Frank pulled the door
open and smiled. “Hi, Caren. Thanks for coming over.”
“No
problem.”
Frank
ushered Caren inside and closed the door behind her. They made their way
into the living room and sat down on the couch. An awkward silence filled
the room.
Caren
broke the silence. “What did you want to talk about?”
Frank
took a breath as he looked Caren in the eye. “I wanted to talk to you
about what’s been going on.”
“I
heard that you had been kidnapped and then found by your brother and
father,” Caren said.
“I
was lucky they had found me,” Frank admitted. “If it hadn’t been for
them, I wouldn’t be here now.”
“It
was good that they found you,” Caren said quietly. “But that doesn’t
have much to do with me.”
“This
actually goes back to when you claimed I wasn’t being honest.” Frank
looked at Caren and realized she knew exactly what he was talking about.
“When you said that to me, I was being as honest as I could be. At that
time, we really didn’t know what was going on. We had just starting
throwing about theories. We didn’t have any concrete proof. And while we
thought it was possible I was a target, we didn’t know for sure. I also
didn’t want you worrying when we didn’t know what was going on.”
“So,
you figured that if I didn’t know, I wouldn’t be worried,” Caren
stated.
“Yeah,
but…”
“There
are no ‘buts’, Frank. You make it sound as if my feelings don’t
count. That I shouldn’t have to worry about anyone I care about.”
“That’s
not what I’m saying,” Frank said loudly and felt his ribs twinge. He
put his hand to his ribs as he closed his eyes and waited until the pain
passed.
When
the pain eased, he opened his eyes and looked at Caren. He spoke softly.
“Caren, your feelings are important and you should never stop showing
them to the people you care about.” He reached over and took her hand in
his. “Caren, I didn’t want you to worry about what was happening. But I
also didn’t want to see you get hurt. A lot of our friends have been used
as leverage to get us to do things that are improper and I didn’t want to
risk that happening to you.”
“I
can understand that,” Caren said. “But wouldn’t it have been better
to let me know what was going on? I may have been helpful.”
“I
know that. You do have a great eye. But I still get very protective of you.
I wouldn’t want you to be bait that one of the criminals we’ve put in
jail uses to get even with us. I know I would move heaven and earth to get
you safely back. And I didn’t want you to end up in that position.”
“So,
you’re saying you didn’t say anything to me about this because you
wanted to protect me.”
Caren
was quiet for a moment and Frank figured they were now on the same page.
“You
arrogant pig,” Caren snapped, getting to her feet. “How dare you come
off so high and might? I don’t need anyone protecting me. Not now. Not
ever. I have taken enough courses to protect myself and don’t need one
half of the Hardy Brothers looking out for me. And if that is the only
reason we’ve been dating for almost four years, then there’s something
wrong with this relationship. How dare you think I am so weak and helpless
that I need protecting?”
“Caren,”
Frank said.
“Don’t
interrupt me!” Caren snapped. “I thought you loved me for who I am, but
I guess your ulterior motive was to have somebody to protect. I’ve never
met anyone so twisted. Goodbye.”
As
Caren walked past, Frank quickly stood up and grabbed her arm. “Caren,
wait.”
Caren
spun around and pulled her arm from Frank. She placed her hand on Frank and
shoved him. Caught off guard, Frank was unable to protect himself and hit
the arm of the couch with his cracked ribs. He gasped in pain as he sank to
the floor, cradling his ribs as he closed his eyes.
“Oh,
Frank, I’m so sorry,” Caren said, crouching down beside him. “I
forgot about your ribs. Are you all right?”
Frank
nodded slightly. He tried to breathe through the pain. After a couple
minutes, he opened his eyes. Looking up at Caren, he saw genuine concern in
her face.
“I
am so sorry,” Caren said. “Can you forgive me?”
“I’m
sorry, too.” He looked her in the eye. “I never meant for all this.”
“I
know,” Caren said softly. She reached up and brushed his brown hair off
his forehead. “And I didn’t mean what I said.”
“I
know.” Frank wrapped his arm around Caren and pulled her to his chest. He
kissed the top of her heard. “I guess we need to work on communicating
better.”
“I
think you’re right.” Caren leaned back and looked up at Frank. “Are
you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m
sure.” Frank decided he was going to be honest. “Caren, I do love
you.”
Caren
smiled. “I love you too.”
Frank
leaned forward and their lips met.
Let the author know what you think of this story!
Home Library Authors Rogue's Gallery Vehicles Chums Message Board Rap Sheet Links Contact
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.