Frank glanced over at Nancy. He was dying to question her. Heaven knows he had plenty to ask about. His eyes kept drifting to the playthings in the back seat. Questions about that, for instance. The problem was, there were so many questions that he had no clue where to start. For the first time in his life, he felt at an absolute loss for words. Thankfully, she'd kept the radio on the entire time and he hadn't had to talk, much, anyway.

They slowed down as they entered the exit ramp and Nancy paused at the turnoff to King City. Frank cleared his throat and spoke. "How do we get to the hospital from here?"

"I don't know," Nancy said softly.

"You don't know?"

"I'm not positive on how to get there," she amended.

"Great, just great," Frank muttered.

"Hey," she said. "I know you're angry with me, but that has nothing to do with me not knowing my way around a strange town. I've spent the last 4 years living in Los Angeles, not King City, ok? Kevin found it earlier and he gave me directions over the phone. Give me a break here and let me see if I can follow them. If I can't, I'll pull over and let you give it a try!"

"Whatever," Frank replied and turned to look out the passenger window. Nancy sighed and turned in what she hoped was the right direction.

A few right turns later, preceded by a couple of wrong ones, Nancy found herself pulling into the nearly empty hospital parking lot. "See, I found it, didn't I?" she asked.

"Um hmm," Frank replied. "Looks deserted, doesn't it?"

"It is almost one o'clock in the morning," Nancy pointed out, stifling a yawn. "I'm sure we're among the few visitors here."

The pair exited the car and made their way into the hospital. Their first stop was at the front desk in the main lobby. A uniformed security guard quizzed them for a moment, then directed Frank toward the ICU unit. As they neared the entrance to Intensive Care, Frank stopped.

"Hang on," he said, as he reached into his jacket pocket.

"For what?" Nancy inquired.

"For this." Without warning, Frank pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket and slipped one end onto Nancy's right wrist. Quickly locking the other side onto his left one, he nodded. "That's better. Somehow I knew those would come in handy."

"Hey!" she cried, startled beyond belief. "What's this for?"

"You'll see," he answered. Moving forward suddenly, he yanked Nancy along with him into the ICU unit. His gaze swept the waiting area across from the ICU's front desk and stopped on a tall, slender man about his age. The young man jumped to his feet and approached them.

"Hey, Rebecca!" His eyes took in Frank's and he swore softly to himself. "I mean, Nancy. Sorry, that's going to take some getting used to. This must be Joe's brother, Frank." He held out his hand.

Frank reached out to shake it. "And you must be Kevin," he said. "You know Joe from work, right?"

"Yeah," Kevin said, gripping Frank's hand. His eyes traveled downward and spotted the handcuffs. "Whoa! I can see you're taking this well." He looked over at Nancy and grinned. "Which earned you the handcuffs? The fact that you're still alive or the news about Laurie?"

A look of panic flitted across Nancy's face. "Not now, Kevin," she said, clenching her teeth as she spoke. "We haven't discussed that yet. We haven't discussed ANYTHING yet," she stressed.

Frank caught the look that passed between the two. "Laurie's your little girl?"

Nancy nodded.

"Am I missing something here?"

"Yes," Nancy said, shooting Kevin a dirty look. "And I'll fill you in on it after we check on Joe."

"Oh, yeah, Joe," Kevin said. "The reason I've been sitting here reading dull magazines and watching old TV reruns all night. He regained consciousness a few hours ago."

"Really?" Frank said, perking up. "Did they say how he is?"

Kevin shrugged. "All the doctor would tell me is that his injuries don't seem to be as bad as they first thought down in the ER. I'd go see him myself, but Attila the Hun over there won't let me in." The nurse at the desk glanced in their direction and Kevin blew her a kiss. "But I know you love me, don't you sweet thing?" He grinned as she narrowed her eyes at him and went back to her paperwork.

"Well, let's get you in there, then," Nancy said, trying to propel Frank away from Kevin.

Frank was not to be budged just yet. "I understand how you know Joe. Through work, right? How do you know Nancy?"

"She lives with me."

"What?" Frank glared at Nancy. "She lives with you? For how long?"

"I don't know, I've lost track. What's it been now, Hon? Four years. Nearly four years anyway," Kevin smiled at Nancy, watching her squirm with discomfort. "Yeah, she lives with me and Greg. We've been helping take care of Laurie ever since she was a baby." He clapped one hand on her shoulder. "We've got quite the little family, don't we?"

"I'll bet," Frank said. He turned abruptly toward the front desk, once more jerking Nancy with him.

He gave the nurse what he hoped was his most charming smile. "Hello. My name is Frank Hardy and I understand that my brother Joe was brought here earlier today. Car accident?"

The nurse looked Frank over, allowed her eyes to travel to Nancy, then glanced at Kevin, who had returned to his seat and the late night TV shows. "Yes, we have a Joe Hardy here." She rolled her eyes. "Although I'm not sure why he's in ICU. For the past hour, he's been alert enough to flirt with every nurse who's entered his room. I'm about ready to call up to pedes and send for Rick, the male nurse on duty tonight. Let him deal with Mr. Hardy."

Frank smiled. That sounded like Joe. He couldn't be hurt too badly if he was able to flirt. "I need to talk to someone who can tell me what happened and exactly what his injuries are. I also need to see Joe."

"It's not exactly visiting hours," she began.

"This is the ICU," Frank pointed out. "Visiting hours here are flexible, are they not?"

She met Frank's eyes and he smiled again. "Well," she began. "I don't suppose you have ID on you, do you?"

"Of course," Frank pulled out his wallet, and displayed it on the counter. "See, this is my driver's license. As you can see, I'm not from here. I'm from New York. I've spent 7 and a half hours today on an airplane, and another hour on the highway and would love nothing more than to fall into bed and sleep for the next 24 hours. But I can't do that until I know my little brother's all right."

"In that case," she said. "Let me check with the doctor on duty tonight. Go ahead and sign the visitor's log. If he says it's ok, I'll let you and your wife go in."

"We're not married," Nancy and Frank said simultaneously.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Sister then?"

Nancy shook her head.

"Well, dear, you'll have to take a seat. I can only let family members into the ICU."

"She has to go with me," Frank replied as he signed the log.

"I'm afraid that's..." her eyes widened as Frank held up their hands, still handcuffed together. He pulled out his shield and laid it on the desk. "I'm a NYPD officer and she's the primary witness in a missing person's case. I can't let her out of my sight."

"Oh!" she replied. "Well, then, let me just..." she turned and dialed out on the phone. While she was busy, Nancy whispered to Frank.

"Primary witness in a missing person's case? Good cover, Frank. Thanks."

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for me. I want answers and if Joe is able to give them, I want you both there at the same time. And it's not exactly a cover. You are the primary witness in a missing person's case."

"I am? Who's the missing person?"

"Are you that dense? It's you. You're obviously not dead so that means that you've just been missing all this time. Since you know why you've been missing, that makes you the primary witness." He smiled at the nurse as she returned. "Well?"

"This way," she said. "He's probably not asleep, since he's been driving us crazy wanting to leave for the past hour. But you still only have 15 minutes. And keep it quiet. Contrary to what Mr. Hardy believes, he needs his rest. And so do the other patients."

Frank nodded. He entered the room and slipped over by Joe's bed. Joe's eyes popped open and met Frank's.

"Surprise!" Frank said.

"Hey," Joe said. He groaned slightly and tried to raise himself up on the bed. "You're here." He spotted Nancy standing next to Frank. His eyes widened. "You're both here. Well, how about that. I should have wrecked my car earlier this week."

"Don't joke about things like that," Nancy said.

"Right. No jokes." His eyes flitted between Frank and Nancy. He missed that little reunion. He wondered briefly how it went. Obviously not as well as he had hoped since the tension between the two was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Then he caught sight of the handcuffs.

"Ok, got to make one more. See, Nan, I knew he'd be happy to see you. He wanted you back so bad that he had to handcuff you to him to keep from losing you again."

"Hardly," Frank said dryly. "It got her in here with me. Feel up to telling me what happened?"

"There's not much to tell." He grimaced as he tried to shift his position in the bed. Frank helped prop him up on the pillows. "I had my meeting with Clarissa Carter. She didn't tell me much that I didn't know already. But she did give me a description of the guy that bought her baby. I headed back toward LA. About halfway home, this nondescript blue van came out of nowhere and ran me off the road. I can still hear the metal crunching from when it hit me. Next thing I knew, I was waking up here in this place."

"How badly are you hurt?" Nancy asked.

Joe attempted to shrug. "Apparently I have a concussion, two broken ribs, and an assortment of bruises and cuts. The concussion seems to be what landed me in ICU in the first place. I'm feeling fine now. Don't see why they can't just send me home. I sure don't belong in ICU."

He started to sit up, uttered a short groan, and slid back against the pillow.

"A concussion and two broken ribs and yet you're feeling fine?" Frank shook his head.

"Yeah, one of the nurses fixed my up with this great painkiller. I don't know what she gave me, but I'm not feeling those ribs right now!" Frank reached out to pull a pillow out from under him. Joe fell back slightly against the one remaining pillow and groaned. "Ok," he said. "You made your point. I'm almost not feeling those ribs right now."

"Since you're obviously going to live, I've got to change the subject here," Nancy said. "I need to know where Laurie is, Joe. Someone attacked you. I can't just leave my daughter in the hands of some stranger now. I need her with me." She glanced at Frank. "With us."

"She's not with a stranger," Joe said. "She's with Bess. I left her there with Bess on the set of her TV show as she was going in to work this morning. No one knows she's there, Nan. Leave her there. She'll be fine. There's lots of people around to help Bess keep an eye on her and the security there is wicked!" He glanced at Frank. "Oh, wait. I almost forgot. You're going to want to meet her, aren't you. She's such a great kid. Quite the charmer. It'll be love at first sight, Frank. I guarantee it. I kind of envy you. Not in the missing the first four years of her life kind of way. But in the way that she's all yours. She almost makes me want one of my own..." his voice trailed off as he watched the stunned look appear on Frank's face and the color drain from Nancy's. "And you didn't tell him yet, did you?"
She shook her head. "Not yet," she said, almost inaudibly.

"You had at least an hour's drive to get here and YOU DIDN'T TELL HIM!"

"We didn't talk about much of anything. In fact we didn't really talk at all." She glanced at Frank's face, trying to gauge his reaction to this bombshell.

Joe groaned and flopped back against the pillow. "Nancy, I can't believe you. Sometimes I think your brain is made of cotton. What were you thinking? Or were you even thinking? How else did you explain a five year absence?"

"I didn't explain..." she began as Frank cut her off. "How old is your little girl?"

She sighed. This was not how she wanted to break this to him. "She's almost four and a half, Frank."

"Four," he said. "Four and a half." She could see him doing the calculation in his head. "She's mine, isn't she?"

Nancy nodded her head, feeling miserable.

"You were pregnant, weren't you?"

She nodded again.

"You were pregnant with my baby. Somehow you faked your own death, and ran off, to have my child somewhere other than Bayport or River Heights. And then you spend the next four years of her life letting not one, but two men that are no relation at all help raise her while I sit, oblivious in New York, grieving over you!" His voice rose with every syllable and the man in the next bed began to mutter in his sleep.

"Frank," Joe chided softly. "This is a hospital. Keep your voice down."

He turned to Joe. "How long have you known?"

"About her living in California? Or about her being pregnant?" Joe regretted the last question as soon as it slipped out.

"You knew she was pregnant? You knew but I didn't?"

"Uh, yeah, sort of." he said. He slid slowly back down in the bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. "Remember, Frank. I'm a sick man. Go easy on me here."

Frank closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Joe and Nancy could hear him slowly counting to ten.

"How long have you known where she was?" Frank tried again.

"About a week."

"A week. You've talked about her on the phone all week and never bothered to mention who she really was." His voice was beginning to waver. Frank took a deep breath and turned to Nancy. "Give my the keys to your car."

"What?"

"Your keys!" He snapped his fingers. Quickly, she pulled the keys out of her pocket. Frank took them and transferred them to his pocket. He fished out the keys to the handcuffs. "Let's go." Removing the cuffs, he then gripped her by the upper arm. Turning to Joe, he said, in as even a tone as he could muster, "I'm relieved you're going to be ok. Really I am. More than you'll ever know. I'll be back in the morning to check on you." Before Joe could utter a sound, he pushed Nancy out of the room and into the waiting area.

Kevin stood up. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Do you have a car?" Frank asked.

"Well, yeah, I do. That's how I got down here."

"Good. Can I ask a huge favor? Will you take her home? Please?"

"Yeah, sure. Are you going to stay here with Joe tonight?'

"I don't know what I'm going to do just yet. But right now I don't want to look or talk to either her or Joe. I need some time to myself. If you could just take her home, I'd appreciate it."

"Sure," Kevin said. "I can do that."

"What about Laurie?" Nancy asked.

Frank stared past her at the TV screen. "We'll leave her with Bess for now. Joe seems to think she's safe there, so we'll trust him on that one. Just, go home Nancy. And stay there. I'll find you there tomorrow."

"I have to go to work tomorrow."

"Then I'll find you there. Just go home. Now."

Nancy fought to keep back the tears. "Okay," she said softly. She tugged on Kevin's sleeve. "C'mon, Kev. Let's go."

Frank watched as they disappeared down the hall. The nurse frowned at him. "Quite the little soap opera," she observed. "What happened to her being a primary witness and you not letting her out of your sight?"

"He can watch her," Frank answered. "I don't suppose you know somewhere a guy can get a decent cup of coffee and a few hours to think in peace and quiet at this time of night, do you?"

"The Quick Stop Cafe is open all night. It's about two blocks south of here, over on Henderson Ave." She eyed him critically. "You look like you need sleep more than you need coffee, though."

Frank shook his head. "No, I have too many thoughts running around my brain for sleep right now."

"Okay, then. Go down to the Quick Stop. Get yourself something to eat with that coffee. Then, if you change your mind about sleep, the Sunset Motel is right next door. It's fairly clean and they'll let you check in pretty much any hour of the day or night." She paused. "Consider getting that motel room. You wouldn't want to fall asleep behind the wheel and end up here with your brother."

Frank nodded. "Thanks for your concern," he said. "I'll do that. 'Cause I sure don't want to even consider dealing with the aftermath of yet another car crash. I seem to have more than enough of those to sort through now."