Frank literally felt the color drain from his face and he stood up in utter confusion, Vanessa standing next to him, clutching his arm tightly. "But…but… I mean, there must be some mistake," He said, desperately. "My brother—HE’S the one who’s in the hospital. Not Callie. Maybe she came to visit him?" He said this as more of a statement of fact than as an inquiry.

The doctor turned around patiently, and held his tongue. The two sets of eyes before him, one deep brown and the other a bluish-gray, were clouded over with such fear and confusion that he had to take a breath. Sometimes, it was easy in his profession to forget that all the patients he dealt with were living, breathing people, with families who loved them and cared for them. Seeing such apprehension made him realize that these two young people had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Deciding to take a moment and slow down, he waved Frank and Vanessa to follow him, and told them to have a seat on nearby chairs in a less populated, more private area of the waiting room. "Let’s start again," he began. "You’re Frank Hardy, and your brother is currently in the hospital recovering from a head injury. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Frank managed, swallowing hard. The world seemed to be swimming around him.

"And you’re the …girlfriend…is that right, of Joseph Hardy?" He nodded in Vanessa’s direction.

"That’s true," Vanessa replied, now holding onto Frank’s hand. "But what’s the matter with Callie? Is she really here? Is she okay?"

The doctor waited a moment for them to focus before continuing. Looking into their startled faces, he said, slowly, "A short time ago, an emergency phone call was placed to the local police department and, subsequently, an ambulance was sent right away. Apparently, a young woman, who has since been identified as Ms. Shaw, had collapsed near the beach. An elderly couple found her at the bottom of a staircase leading to the boardwalk. Apparently, she was either the victim of a robbery or simply a bad fall. She’s still unconscious, but she has been brought up to a room. I was planning to take you there after you filled out the paperwork. Despite having other numbers to call, we could not get in touch with her parents."

"They’re out of town," Vanessa choked out.

"Is she…" Frank began to ask, and the doctor reached over and placed a hand gently on his arm.

"She’s recovering…slowly. However…." He paused, unsure of how to say this.

Frank’s eyes grew wide as he subconsciously realized what the doctor was going to say. Jumping up, he clenched his hands together in closed fists and choked out, "The baby? Is the baby okay?!" His voice held a note of desperation that broke Vanessa’s heart, and she felt her own eyes fill with tears at the possibility.

"I’m sorry," the doctor replied, sincerely. "We couldn’t save the baby."

As Vanessa gasped in horror, Frank felt like he had been punched in the stomach. All at once a thousand images flew through his mind. Callie. Oh, God- Callie. The baby! No…not that!

He raised a shaking hand over his face and tried to breathe, realizing and not realizing at the same time that he was suffering the first real panic attack of his life. Somewhere in the back of his ears, he thought he heard ringing in the distance. His heart was hammering in his chest; his palms were cold and sweaty. He saw Vanessa talking to him, the doctor’s look of momentary shock. He thought he saw his parents… WERE those his parents?… down a long corridor. He was standing, he was sure of it. So why couldn’t he stay still?

And then…. As reality froze for him…. He turned and did the one thing he had never done before in his life. He ran….

*****

Fenton Hardy saw his son in the distance and watched his reaction at hearing some sort of news. They had just come back from visiting Joe in his room, where they were praying that he would recover. Throwing a glance at his wife, he saw her nod and took off after Frank, stopping only a moment to grab Vanessa by the arm. Laura, he noticed, somehow was able to keep pace with him, and was only a few steps behind.

"Vanessa!" he cried, when he reached her. "What happened?! Where’s Frank?!"

Vanessa stood stunned for a moment as the doctor tried to intervene. "He’s suffered a major shock," the doctor said. "He needs a few moments to recover. Please follow him—make sure he’s okay."

"Sh…shock?!" Laura repeated, feeling the onset of the emotion, herself. "Vanessa- what happened?" Laura implored, echoing her husband’s question and, at the same time, trying to keep an eye on the general direction Frank had run to.

Trying to hold herself together. Vanessa wiped back tears and managed to sob, "It’s...it’s Callie, Mrs. Hardy. She’s in the hospital, too."

"What?!" Fenton and Laura asked together.

"We’ll be right back," Fenton said to Vanessa, not even bothering to ask her why Callie was here, too. That was a question that somehow only Frank would be able to answer for them. Fenton grabbed Laura’s hand, knowing in his heart that she would keep up with him in their search to get to Frank as quickly as possible. When it came to protecting their children, she was every bit as fierce as he was. Both of their minds were whirling as they ran in the general direction of Frank. They finally saw him, right outside the hospital’s main entrance, sitting on the ground with his face buried in his hands.

Not caring about getting dirty, or the oncoming cold, Fenton and Laura sat next to him on the ground. They paused only a moment and met each other’s eyes with a look that clearly said, What now? What more do we have to go through?

Laura went to take Frank’s hand, but he pulled it away savagely, as though he could no longer stand to feel human touch. Laura was stunned. Frank was not one to give into his emotions. Maybe tonight it had all become too unbearable for him. Maybe he was still blaming himself for not protecting Joe. Maybe… with a shudder, Laura realized that perhaps maybe they had all been putting too much pressure on him to hold everyone together. Looking at Fenton, she knew that he was thinking the same thing.

Trying to remain calm, but losing the battle, Fenton and Laura each took one of Frank’s arms and helped him to stand up. Together, they struggled and guided him back into the lobby. Fenton bit his lip. Whatever was happening had Frank so disoriented he literally looked like he was losing his mind. It was a frightening sight.

However, it wasn’t long before Frank calmed down and stopped crying. Fenton, looking at him, almost wished he had crying, given the alternative to what now sat before him. Frank was staring straight-ahead, his face a ghastly shade of white, his eyes glazed over. He looked almost catatonic, and Fenton recognized the symptoms of shock right away.

"Dear God," he muttered under his breath, "What the hell happened to him?!"

Fenton and Laura tried unsuccessfully for several minutes to get Frank to speak, to no avail. Finally, Fenton kneeled down in front of Frank’s chair and reached for his son’s shoulders, shaking him. "Frank! Frank! Come on, son! Come back!"

Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Frank threw his arms up, shoving his father’s arms away from him. He stared directly at his parents’ stunned faces, SEEING them, it appeared, for the first time.

"Honey?" Laura began hesitantly. "What’s wrong? Let us help you. Come on, sweetheart. Talk to us. Please."

Then, to Fenton and Laura’s utter amazement, Frank cracked a smile that soon became a small chuckle, and soon after that became full out laughter to the point of hysteria. Frank couldn’t seem to catch his breath. Fenton and Laura looked at each other in panic as they watched their son begin to unravel in front of them and they stood, powerless to prevent it.

Frank stood up, turned around, and backed up, laughing all the way. Finally, he stopped moving and stood smiling at his parents.

"What’s wrong?!" Frank repeated, still laughing. "Well, you wouldn’t BELIEVE it if I told you."

Fenton reached out for Frank, but stopped himself. Okay, at least he’s talking.

"Try us," Laura said through a shaky voice, following Fenton’s lead.

"Okay—why not?!" Frank gesticulated his hands wildly in the air before holding up one hand. Holding up a finger, he said, crazily, "Well, first—see, Joe’s in the hospital. Yeah, he might die- but whose fault is that? Mine!"

"No, no it’s not…" Laura tried to interrupt, but Frank went on.

"Oh, but it IS, mom," he said, emphasizing the last word. "I pushed him—did you know that? Yup- right on the table."

Fenton and Laura stood frozen, trying to contemplate this news in shock and still hold onto Frank before they lost him completely.

"And you know WHY I pushed him, mom?"

"No—why?" Laura asked, weak and, for the first time in her life, afraid of her own son.

"Cause I thought he was sleeping with Callie." He said this statement so matter of factly that Fenton wasn’t sure he heard right.

Shaking his head to clear it, Fenton managed, "What are you talking about?!"

"Come on, Dad," Frank laughed, so out of his mind that Fenton had literally no idea what to do. Dealing with criminals who were desperate was one thing; dealing with his own son on the edge was quite another.

"You know what I mean." He laughed, a mad look in his eyes. "An AFFAIR. CHEATING. I thought that, Dad – for months now. Thought Joe was cheating on Vanessa and Callie was cheating on me. So—I had to make them pay, see? Had to make them—you know—understand what hell was all about."

Fenton swallowed hard. He couldn’t believe his own ears. That was okay. He barely had time to think as Frank went raving on.

"So now Joe’s in the hospital, because of me. And so is Callie- did you know that, Dad? That Callie’s here?" Frank voice finally started to shake, and his face slowly began to crumple.

"I heard," Fenton said, slowly and decisively, beginning to make his first real steps towards Frank. Ignoring the knowledge that he should take his time, he ran the last few feet to reach Frank and grabbed him as Frank slowly sank to the ground, shaking. Laura was right next to him.

"And… and do you know why Callie’s here, Dad?" Frank’s voice was thick with sobs, and Laura could hear just the faintest detection of a whimper in his voice, like he used to have when he was a child. Unlike Joe, who would cry and scream when he was in pain, Frank had only the softest whimper. Big boys don’t cry, she once heard Frank tell his younger brother.

Oh, yes they do, sweetheart, Laura’s heart said silently.

"Why?" Fenton asked, holding onto Frank like he hadn’t since Frank was a child. Laura squeezed his hand tightly.

"Because we had a fight. And she…she…" Frank could barely make out the words.

"Go on, son," Fenton said, trying to steel himself for what he somehow knew would be a very big blow.

"She lost the baby, Dad. Callie was pregnant, and she lost our child. And it’s my fault!"

Laura involuntarily pulled away for a moment, feeling the breath sucked out of her. "Oh my God," she whispered.

Frank pulled away from his father, still wiping back tears. He stood up, unable to meet his parents’ eyes, and headed back into the hospital. He had to see Callie.

At that moment, a clown came through the doors of the hospital, bringing in balloons for the children’s ward. Other clowns followed, bringing masks, crayons, and streamers.

"Hey, someone down here looks sad," one clown said, stopping by Fenton and Laura, who were staring in shock after Frank, unable to process everything at once. When they didn’t respond, the clown shrugged and left them a balloon and a mask, hoping to spread his happiness around.

Weakly, Fenton looked at the mask. "I guess we all wear disguises sometimes," he whispered weakly to his wife, wrapping an arm around her.