HDA - December Magic by RM Chapter 1

As the door closed behind Caren and her parents, Frank sighed and closed his eyes. He was exhausted. He knew he would be feeling that way for a couple days. But he also know it was a small price to pay for being alive. He and Caren had been very fortunate.

“Frank,” Laura said softly, forcing him to open his eyes to look at her. “We’re going to go see what your brother is up to. Do you need anything before we go?”

“I’m fine,” Frank said tiredly. “I’m just going to sleep.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Laura brushed the hair off his forehead and gently kissed his brow. “We’ll be back later.”

“Okay.”

As Laura and Vanessa left he room, Frank closed his eyes once again. He let his body relax and succumbed to exhaustion. As he drifted to sleep, he felt a little lost at missing the chance to see Caren in her wedding dress. But he knew they would reschedule and have the wedding they had planned.

* * * * *

Meanwhile in the waiting room, Fenton had caught up with Joe before he had left the hospital. Joe stood in front of his father with a big grin on his face. He had the most wonderful idea, but he just needed to act on it.

“Joe, tell me what you are thinking. Or actually, what you are planning.”

“It’s pretty simple,” Joe said. “Frank and Caren want to get married.”

“We know that.”

“But because of the smoke inhalation, the doctors probably won’t release them today.”

“You’re probably right.”

“So, I was thinking that instead of them going to the wedding, we bring the wedding to them.”

Joe began to worry as his father stared at him. He wondered if his idea wasn’t right. He was about to change his mind when Fenton finally spoke.

“I think that’s a grand idea.”

“What’s a grand idea?” a voice asked coming toward them.

Fenton and Joe turned to see Laura and Vanessa approaching them.

“Well?” Vanessa prompted as she reached Joe’s side.

“How would you like to attend a wedding?” Joe asked.

Vanessa looked at him confused. “Who is getting married?”

“Frank and Caren.”

“Joe, maybe you should see a doctor,” Laura said. “Frank and Caren won’t be making it to the church for the ceremony.”

“Who said the wedding is going to be at the church?” Joe asked.

He saw the perplexed looks on Laura and Vanessa’s faces and quickly explained what he was thinking. When he finished, he saw a smile on both of theirs and knew they wholeheartedly agreed.

“We’ll need to check with Melissa and Richard,” Laura said. “We don’t want to step on any toes.”

“So, while you do that, I’ll check with the hospital administrator and see what can be arranged,” Fenton said.

“And Vanessa and I’ll be going to the church and getting things set for the change in location,” Joe said.

“Well, if we’re going to do this, we better get moving,” Laura said.

They all headed off in their respective directions to get the festivities in order.

* * * * *

Frank kept his eyes closed as the nurse applied the cool cream on his arms and legs. He had been sleeping peacefully until he felt the cool substance touch him. After that, he had been unable to sleep.

The cream was soothing. He no longer felt the heat radiating from his skin. He knew it was only a temporary fix, and in a while, it would be bothersome once again.

When the nurse finished, she offered him a smile and left him alone.

The silence in the room was unsettling. Even as exhausted as he was, Frank had a feeling that something wasn’t right. He wished he knew what it was.

Closing his eyes, he decided to try and not let it bother him. He thought about all he and Caren had been through the previous day and night. He began replaying the events through his head so that when he did give a statement to the police, all the information would be there.

Frank wasn’t too sure how much time has passed when he heard the door to his room open. He opened his eyes and looked in that direction. He smiled as he saw Caren wheeling herself into his room with a huge smile on her face.

“Hey,” Frank said as Caren wheeled herself closer to the bed.

“Hey yourself. How are you feeling?” Caren asked.

“Better.”

“That’s good.” Caren stopped the chair by the bed and locked the wheels in place before standing up. She leaned over and gave him a kiss. “I missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Frank took her hand and held it tight.

“How are your burns? Are they hurting?”

“Not much right now. The nurse just finished applying more cream to them.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“How about you? Are your burns hurting much?” Frank asked.

“Not really. Just a minor irritation every now and then.”

“That’s good.”

Caren settled on the bed beside Frank and held onto his hand.

Frank sighed. “This is not how I wanted this day to turn out.”

“Me either. But we didn’t plan for what happened yesterday.”

“I know. I was just really looking forward to starting our life together.”

“We’ve just got a slight delay,” Caren said.

“I know.”

“And we could still make it happen.”

Frank looked at her quizzically. “What are you talking about?”

Caren moved closer to Frank and stretched out on the bed beside him. She placed her head on his chest, being careful of his burns. Frank wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her close.

“When we get released, why don’t we just go down to city hall and get married?”

“Are you sure? I mean, we can reschedule the wedding.”

“Frank, I don’t need a big ceremony. I would be just as happy if we had eloped.”

“Really?”

“Really. Because we would be getting married and that’s all that matters.”

Frank kissed the top of Caren’s head. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

They both closed their eyes and listed to the silence. Neither of them were aware of the door to the room opening.

They opened their eyes when a voice said, “This is where you are.”

Frank and Caren looked toward the door and saw Joe and Vanessa standing there, with big grins on their faces.

“Can we help you?” Frank asked, not moving from his comfortable position.

“We need to get moving,” Joe said, moving further into the room.

“For what?” Caren asked, turning her head slightly.

“Your mom is looking for you,” Vanessa said. “Come on. I told her I would find you and bring you back to your room.”

“But I’m fine right here,” Caren said.

“Come on,” Vanessa said.

“Go ahead,” Frank said, kissing the top of her head again. “I’ll come see you later.”

“All right,” Caren said. She sat up and gave Frank a kiss. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Frank watched her slide off the bed and leave the room with Vanessa. Frank’s gaze then shifted to Joe. He eyed his brother critically and knew his brother was up to something. He knew whatever it was, he wasn’t going to like it.

“Okay, Joe, spill it. Whatever you are up to, it won’t happen. So you might as well get it out of your system now.”

“I’m not up to anything,” Joe protested.

“Right, and I’m the president,” Frank said. He found the bed controls and maneuvered himself so he was sitting more upright. “Come on, Joe. Just spit it out. I’m too tired to be playing games.”

“We’re not playing a game,” Joe said. “We’re having a wedding.”

Frank stared at his brother as if he had two heads. He had no idea what his brother was talking about.

“What did you say?”

“We’re having a wedding,” Joe repeated.

“Who is getting married?”

“You and Caren, of course.”

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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.