Fenton Hardy drove as fast he dared, alternately cursing the foul weather that was slowing him down and the person who had screwed up and failed to notify the proper people that Stefan Gregov had entered the country. If I ever get my hands on you… He refused to allow himself the luxury of finishing the thought.  

The brief conversation with Sam played in his mind again.  

"Fenton, Frank’s been shot. "

“What!?”  

“Frank’s been shot. Stefan slipped in somehow and found him. He’s in surgery right now and the doctor expects him to be just fine.”  

“I’m on my way. And tell Collig that I want to know exactly what happened and who screwed up.”  

“Will do. Be careful. The roads around here are getting really slick.”  

Fenton consciously relaxed his grip on the steering wheel and ordered himself to pay attention to the road. He’d been by one accident already. Rush hour traffic in Bayport was worse than usual because of the sleet, delaying further his arrival at Bayport General Hospital . Parking was relatively easy though and he raced inside to the waiting room where his family sat.  

Joe and Laura were not alone. Vanessa sat next to Joe, holding his hand and scratching his back. Callie was by Laura. Chet Morton, Biff Hooper, Tony Prito, Phil Cohen, Andrea Bender, Sasha and Anton Belov and few more college friends all filled the waiting room, offering their silent support. Fenton’s heart swelled with gratitude towards his sons’ friends.  

Callie moved down a chair to let Fenton sit next to Laura. He smiled and squeezed the girl’s hand, then turned his full attention to his wife. “Tell me what happened, love,” he said softly.  

“He came in through the kitchen door and took me down to the basement. Then he brought Frank down an hour later.” She paused and took a shaky breath to steady herself, the image of Frank on the floor, completely still, burned into her memory. “He was so angry, Fent. He blames Frank for everything that’s happened to him. It’s almost as if something made him completely snap and lose all rationality.”  

Fenton wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him as she stopped again. He just held her for a long time, knowing she would continue when she could do so without breaking down into tears.  

“It was as if he’d been in the house already,” she said softly.  

Fenton paled. “The bear.”  

“What?” Laura looked up.  

“Frank’s bear. It wasn’t in the chair Sunday night.”  

Laura covered her mouth. Stefan had been in the house! Frank was very particular about his teddy bear, his first gift from Joe. It always sat either in the chair by the window or on his bed. She thought hard, trying to remember the last time she’d seen the bear. She remembered it being on Frank’s bed Thursday and Friday morning, but she hadn’t seen him on Saturday when she’d woken Frank up.  

“It had to be on Friday night when we were all gone.”  

Fenton nodded in agreement.  

***  

Two hours passed, and then three. Joe, now settled between his father and Vanessa, had barely moved. Vanessa was getting worried. She’d never seen her active boyfriend sitting so still for so long; according to Frank he wasn’t even still in his sleep!  

“It’s not your fault, baby,” she whispered.  

“I promised him that Stefan would never hurt him. Frank’s never let me down and that’s all I’ve ever done.”  

“And he’d be the first to tell you that’s not true. Some things are beyond your control and this is one of them.”  

Joe sighed heavily and rested his face in his hands. Vanessa was right, as usual, but he couldn’t truly believe it unless Frank said it too.

 

Thirty minutes later Dr. Graham, the surgeon, entered the waiting room. He was a tall man with Nordic features and the deep tan of an outdoorsman. Joe knew he was an avid sailor as he and Frank had seen the doctor out on his sailboat many times.  

“He’s going to be just fine,” Graham said as he took a seat across from the Hardys. The apprehension and worry instantly melted away and he saw them visibly relaxing.  

“The lung was mostly collapsed and he has a chest tube in to drain the fluid. His left arm is broken and in an air cast. We’ll have a real one put on in a couple of days when the swelling goes down. It is a spiral break so it will take some time to heal. He’s going to be very sore when he wakes up and may or not remember what happened because of the concussion.”  

“When can we see him?” Fenton asked.  

“He’s being settled in recovery right now, a nurse will come and get you in about twenty minutes.”  

***  

True to his word, twenty minutes later Fenton and Laura were standing by their son. Fenton felt a stirring of anger in him as he saw what Stefan had done. Frank had a nasty cut on his forehead over his left eyebrow, that same side of his face bore bruises and a split lip. More bruising covered his torso. But he was breathing on his own and for that Fenton was grateful.  

Laura gently touched her son’s face, then leaned over and pressed a light kiss to his forehead. “It’s alright now, baby,” she whispered. She adjusted the light blanket that covered him, then they left the room so Joe could see him.  

Joe stopped by the bed and took Frank’s hand in his. Seeing the damage that Stefan had done brought a new wave of anger over the young man. Sam’s shot had lodged in Stefan’s heart and he wasn’t expected to make it through the night. Frank would be very sore when he woke up, but he had definitely gotten the better end of the deal because with time, he would be just fine.  

“I’m sorry, Frank,” Joe whispered, unable to look at his brother’s face.  

A slight squeeze put pressure on his hand and he looked up. Frank’s eyes were open and he gave Joe a slight smile as he squeezed again. That meant everything was okay and that Frank was just glad Joe was there. Joe returned the smile and the squeeze and then Frank went back to sleep.

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.