When he had left her, he hadn’t said a word to anyone about their break-up. In fact, he had just held Callie, told her he loved her, and … let her go. To say he was "sorry" seemed too inconsequential and so incapable of expressing his true sorrow that it wasn’t even worth uttering. He had walked out of the hospital, away from his parents, Vanessa, Callie, and Joe, and went home. Again, he thought with shame and regret, he had walked away from a problem instead of trying to handle it. He knew that he would literally break down on the spot if he had to tell anyone about what had happened with Callie, or to admit to his parents or Vanessa, again, what he had to with Joe. The worst thing of all was that he knew that the sorrow and pain that Callie and Joe were going through were caused by him... and what kind of person was he if could do that to the people who he loved more than anything? It was a devastating thought.

Joe was being released from the hospital today. Glancing at his watch, Frank realized that Joe had probably already left and would be resting at home, recovering. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he thought of his baby brother, whose goodness and honesty he had dared to question. Would Joe be in pain? Would he be all right? Will he ever speak to me again? Frank pushed aside the last thought, knowing that he didn’t deserve Joe’s forgiveness.

Then there was Callie. She was still in the hospital, and he was scared to death. Fenton kept calling him and updating him about Callie, although he was totally clueless as to why Frank wasn’t there. With a pang, Frank recalled how he had told his father that he was getting very sick, and that he had to go home and rest. Another lie… But Callie seemed to be getting worse, instead of better. A miscarriage was difficult and painful enough, but the doctors were puzzled and very concerned that she was continuing to suffer blood loss, and her fever had not gone down. She was getting weaker instead of stronger.

He knew he would go back to the hospital tonight, in spite of everything, because he couldn’t leave her. Why was she so sick? God, let her be all right, he prayed. And, despite his horrible guilt, Frank also knew that eventually, he’d have to, and would, talk to his brother. Somehow, through all this turmoil and misunderstanding, through all his rage and guilt and sorrow, he had lost himself. But Frank knew he had always been a strong person, and he had always tried to do the right thing, although somehow everything had gone wrong. And he prayed for the strength to find himself again. Not that I deserve anything from God right now, he concluded, miserably.

A knock on the door ended his reverie.

"Who’s that?" Frank muttered to himself, trying to get in control again. Callie was in the hospital, and his parents and Vanessa were with Joe. He had no idea who could possibly be visiting him, and he wasn’t in the mood for visitors, anyway.

Opening the door, Frank stood, shocked. Although he was pale and squinting slightly, it was Joe.

After a full minute of silence went by, Joe finally asked, "Can I come in?"

Snapping back to reality, Frank took a shaky breath and moved out of the way, permitting Joe to enter. In characteristic fashion, Joe headed straight for the kitchen and pulled out a chair, grabbing a can of soda off the counter. He looked at his brother.

Slowly, Frank followed him into the kitchen, his mind whirling. Finally, he managed, "You’re… you’re not supposed to be here," he choked out.

"What…are you kicking me out?" Joe asked with a small smile before grimacing in pain.

"What’s the matter?" Frank asked immediately, concerned. "Can I help you? Get you something? Where’s Vanessa? How did you get here?"

Joe held up his hand and smiled hesitantly again. He had planned to come here because he knew he had to straighten this whole mess out with Frank right away. He had been hurt so deeply by his brother’s accusations that, at first, he felt as if their relationship would be permanently shattered. Never had he felt such pain, knowing that Frank didn’t trust him and would honestly believe that Joe would betray him. However, after talking with Vanessa about everything, and having a little time to think, Joe needed to know WHY. Letting his rational thoughts take control of his emotions was hard, but he KNEW that Frank had lashed out at him for some reason, and getting angry and hurt, although justified, wouldn’t do either of them any good.

"Hold on a second," he said slowly. "YOU’RE giving me a headache now," he continued, trying to joke.

"I’ll get you some aspirin," Frank responded immediately, and came back right away with a bottle of extra strength Tylenol.

Taking the bottle, Joe took three pills and swallowed them down with the soda. "Thanks," he said, meeting his brother’s eyes. Okay, now I have to be the responsible one, Joe thought to himself. As much as he wanted to strangle his brother, first he would have to find out what had caused Frank to snap.

"Vanessa dropped me off. She’ll be back in two hours. Mom and Dad went home." Joe spoke evenly and rationally, holding back his own emotions.

Frank nodded, and looked away. What could he say to his brother? He felt his eyes begin to fill with tears, and blinked them back quickly. Joe had come here for some reason. If nothing else, that was a start.

"Frank?" Joe spoke at last, ready to begin this conversation. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but his heart was beating rapidly, and he was afraid. If Frank didn’t have a good explanation, could he handle it? Would they ever have the relationship that they had always maintained again? IS there any explanation- really- that would be good enough?

Frank looked at his brother, and whispered, "I don’t know what to say. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t seem enough."

Joe was surprised to see that Frank’s hands were trembling, and then he looked up and saw that Frank looked pale, tired, and absolutely miserable. Keeping of Vanessa’s advice in the back of his mind, he took a deep breath. "It’s something," Joe said.

"I…I..." Frank stumbled over his own words as, suddenly, everything came rushing out, overcoming him. "I’m sorry, Joe," he began, trying hard to blink back tears. "I’m so miserable! I know I’m the worst brother ever. I’ll never, ever, forgive myself for what I said to you—for what I did." His voice was shaky, and he still couldn’t meet Joe’s eyes.

Finally, Joe needed to respond. "But WHY, Frank?!" he exclaimed, standing up. Joe really didn’t care if Frank saw him cry, but he was trying to control it, only halfway successful. "Last summer…. I HELPED Callie! I did everything in my power to protect her. You want the truth?" he asked, realizing he was yelling, and not caring.

Frank looked up from the table.

"I asked you if you wanted the truth!" Joe shouted, slamming his hand on the table, and fighting back the headache that was pounding as he got more upset.

Frank nodded, wanting to comfort Joe, and knowing he couldn’t.

"The truth is, big brother, that I couldn’t remember what happened, okay?!" Joe began pacing the room, wiping back the few tears that had fallen onto his cheeks. "I didn’t tell anyone that- not Mom or Dad, not you, not Callie, not Vanessa, and not the doctors. I was embarrassed, and I was afraid. Wouldn’t you be? If you KNEW something had happened but you couldn’t remember what?"

"I know," Frank replied. "I…I wish you would have told me."

"TOLD YOU?!" Joe asked, outraged. "You couldn’t SEE it? Then, you started acting all weird, to me and to Callie. I didn’t tell her about my memory problems until a few days ago." Finally, Joe took a deep breath and sat down again, trying to make his point, and forgetting about trying to mask his own pain and hurt.

"Frank," he began, again, "All my life, I’ve looked up to you. I’d do anything for you, you know? You were not only my big brother, but my best friend."

"Stop," Frank said, through tear-filled eyes, as he turned red.

"No, I won’t stop," Joe went on. "And when you and Callie started dating, I was bummed out for a while because I was a little jealous of the time you spent together. BUT- we were kids then. I got to know Callie, and she got to know me. I was THRILLED when you two decided to get married."

"Stop, please," Frank begged again, in ragged breaths.

"No!" Joe retorted. "Stop running- this isn’t like you!"

"Nothing’s like me anymore!" Frank shot back, rubbing his forehead.

"How could you do it, Frank? How could you think, even for a minute, that Callie and I, that we … would do…." Joe choked back the words.

"I don’t know!" Frank responded, turning away.

"That’s not good enough!" Joe yelled back. And it wasn’t. If Frank didn’t explain himself, Joe knew he might never be able to repair their relationship. He was desperate for an answer.

"Okay," Frank answered, turning around. His face had gone very pale again, and he looked on the verge of breaking down. "You didn’t tell me that you kissed her." Even saying those words killed him.

"I DIDN’T kiss her!" Joe shot back, exasperated. The memories of last summer had slowly begun to return, although there was quite a lot of information that was still missing. However, his pieces of memory, along with Callie’s recollections, had allowed him to put together what had happened. "And shame on you for even EVER thinking I would!"

"But…" Frank began.

"No, "but’s"," Joe cut in. "Nash and Jenkins were going to hurt her- badly. They wanted us to do a lot more than kiss when they found out she was going out with YOU, not me." Joe took a deep breath before continuing. "I told her to do it. She was FORCED into me, Frank, as I was into her. That was all that happened, and it was simply to humiliate her."

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Frank asked, in a shaky voice.

"I couldn’t tell you something I couldn’t remember! Besides, what good would it do?" Joe sighed. "Frank, she WANTED to tell you- I told her not to. Not until I could remember. We didn’t plan to keep it from you forever. We were going to tell you…together…as soon as I could remember. I didn’t think it was fair for Callie to try and explain it to you alone. It wasn’t like we wanted it to happen, Frank. Or that we didn’t do anything in our power to stop it."

"But you told her you loved her! You were holding her... at Mom and Dad’s house!"

"Huh?" Joe asked, completely oblivious.

"In the living room when we all went home. You said you loved her."

Suddenly, Joe remembered what Frank was talking about. "You were listening in?!" he asked, incredulous.

"Does it matter?!" Frank shot back.

"You can be such an idiot sometimes!" Joe answered, still unable to believe he was having this conversation. "Callie was worried about me, Frank. She blamed herself for what happened. I gave her a hug and told her I loved her, which I DO! Frank, for God’s sake, I’ve known her for years! She was going to be my sister in law!"

"But…but… I mean, the hammock…" Frank stuttered.

Joe’s face turned red. "Now I’m getting angry!" he began. "I don’t know what you saw, or what you think you saw, but NOTHING HAPPENED! What… are you talking about me blowing her a kiss? Yeah, you are! That kiss was for VANESSA!" Joe exploded, remembering his fight with Frank. "Yeah, and how she held my hand and all that! You know," Joe went on, disgusted, "You fell in love with her because she was so kind and caring. Yet the minute she was there for me, you misinterpret everything. She should smack you!"

Frank turned away, his heart breaking.

"AND," Joe went on, "I can’t believe you watched the video! We TOLD you it wasn’t us! You fell right into the trap!"

"She… she had this notepad…it had "the affair" written on it. And your name. She had drawn hearts around your name…" Frank whispered. "What does that mean?"

"I don’t know what it means, Frank. Why didn’t you just ask her instead of assuming the worst?" Joe yelled disgustedly.

"But... I mean, I saw you two...on my birthday…you were holding each other, and…I…" Words failed Frank.

"Yeah, you know why?" Joe asked, stunned that Frank had even seen that. "Because she was heartbroken about your stupid behavior, and I was upset about it, too. And since I couldn’t remember anything, I began to doubt what had happened, and she felt all alone. Plus, she was under all that stress from you, and the pregnancy…" Suddenly, Joe stopped, realizing what he had just said. He saw the look of anguish on Frank’s face.

Momentarily forgetting that he was in the middle of a big argument with his brother, Joe reached out and put a hand on his Frank’s shoulder. "I’m really sorry about that," he said, sincerely. Over that past few days, Vanessa had told him what she knew, although it hadn’t been much.

"Can I ask you something?" Joe went on, more quietly than before.

"Yeah," Frank whispered.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" and then as soon as he asked the question, he knew the answer. He thought the baby was mine! Oh, God!

Frank couldn’t take it anymore; he buried his face in his arms and started sobbing, unable to answer Joe’s questions anymore.

For the first time since their horrible fight, Joe began to see things from his brother’s perspective. Although he would never understand why Frank hadn’t trusted him completely, he began to go on the premise that Frank believed something had happened between he and Callie, and, if that was true, then it seemed like a whole lot of circumstantial evidence would have proven him correct. He saw that Frank loved him, and Callie, and, if the situation were reversed, he couldn’t imagine how betrayed he would have felt. He still wanted to kill his brother, but at least now he began to understand him. And now, as always, he couldn’t stand to see him in pain.

Joe was shocked to see Frank crying, and he reached over and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him. He didn’t know what to say.

When Frank finally calmed down, he weakly lifted his head up, reached for the Tylenol, and took a drink of soda from Joe’s can. Slowly, he turned to his brother, eyes red. "Joe," he said, voice hoarse, "I cannot ask you to forgive me. I am so unbelievably sorry. I can only promise to do better in the future…not to let you down. I’ll never forgive myself…and I am so sorry I hurt you."

Joe sighed. "I know," he responded, and gave his brother a small smile. "I forgive you for being a real...pain," he finished, deciding against using some of the expletives on the tip of his tongue. "Just don’t ever doubt me again, Frank. I’m serious."

"I won’t."

"I couldn’t handle that."

"I know."

"And, I forgive you, okay? Quit being so hard on yourself. Let’s try to get our lives together again. After all, I’m still the best man at the wedding, right?" He tried to joke and ease the tension.

"No." Frank looked so miserable that the smile quickly fell from Joe’s face.

"What?"

Frank closed his eyes for a second, and then looked into Joe’s face, full of concern. "The reason I saw you that night…like you know… was that Callie and I got in a big fight. I never got to tell you about it."

"Uh oh," Joe said, not realizing he had spoken aloud.

"If you think I was horrible to you, you should have heard what I said to her," Frank answered, his voice thick with emotion. He had to look away, out the window. He wished he could escape outside, too. But…he was through running.

"It was just a fight," Joe said gently, trying to console Frank, while at the same time reeling from what he imagined had happened with his brother and Callie in that fight.

"No, it wasn’t," Frank went on, still staring out the window. "She was upset, and she ran out. She fell. She…lost the baby. It was my fault."

"Oh, no, Frank!" Joe replied, startled. "That was an accident."

Finally, Frank turned around, and Joe was struck silent by the despair in his eyes. "Sure it was my fault. Not only was she running from me, but all the stress I caused her must have made her sick. I’m not stupid." His voice was quiet, accepting.

"Frank," Joe began, but was cut off.

"And she’s still sick, Joe. Did you know that? She’s really sick, with bleeding and a fever and pain." Joe didn’t respond. No- he hadn’t known that. No one had told him.

"And she told me it’s over," Frank concluded. "I guess our choices always have consequences."

Joe listened for a few minutes, upset by Frank’s words. Then, as if by instinct, he reached out and held his brother’s hand. "Things will be okay."

Frank looked down at his hand for a second. He thought Joe would never speak to him again, but he was here. Deserving or not, Joe had forgiven him. If a miracle had happened with Joe, maybe…maybe it could happen with Callie.

Frank let go of Joe’s hand, reached over, and hugged him tightly. "Thank you," he said. "I really don’t deserve this…but I’m grateful."

Joe heard the tremor in his brother’s voice, and hugged him tightly in return. "I love you, too," he joked.

Frank rubbed his eyes when he pulled apart from his brother. "Whew…." He said, under his breath.

For the first time in months, Joe watched his brother give a small, but sincere, smile.

"I guess I should head back to the hospital soon, " Frank said at last. "I need to be there for Callie. I know Van will pick you up soon."

Joe replied, "Well, I’m going with you, and I’m sure Vanessa will, too. In the meantime- got anything to eat?"

Frank burst out laughing. He couldn’t remember the last time he had done that. "I guess some things never change," he said, and Joe smiled.

Opening the refrigerator, the first thing that caught his eye were the cakes from his birthday. Turning to Joe, he said, "Well, I know you won’t believe this, but I saw that you had sent both Callie and me cakes for my birthday, and that was just another "clue" for me to suspect you. Again, I’m sorry," Frank finished. Then, he added, "Well, I guess we should at least have some good come out of them! You always liked the carrot cake more, right? Then again, you like chocolate, too. Take your pick! I haven’t touched them. I think Callie had a couple of pieces of the cake you sent to her, though."

Joe was puzzled. "What?"

"The cake," Frank went on. "Carrot or chocolate? You choose."

"No, that’s not what I mean," Joe said, stopping Frank before he could cut either one.

"What are you talking about?"