A/n: Finally the doctor cooperated. You'd think an HMO was involved, I swear. Not as pleased with this one. I think it's missing something. just not sure what.

Hippocrates Never Met Joe Hardy

If he had, Dr. Lawrence Taylor mused as he maneuvered the stool in front of the impatient Frank Hardy, there would surely be an extra few lines in the Hippocratic Oath; a warning against becoming too involved with your patients. Good doctors, of course, cared deeply for the entire person, not considering them a mere patient or focusing only on the illness/injury/disease( yes I am talking to you, Gregory House! Whatever happened to tv characters like Hawkeye or Mark Greene, hmm?) Great doctors were able to mourn failures without becoming crippled. Larry considered himself a good doctor. He wanted to be a great one, but feared that Joe Hardy would be his Achilles Heel.

He had left the big city, Chicago in his case, because he had grown tired of losing more patients than he saved. The joys of being an ER/trauma specialist. No mere colds or sprains for him. Nooooo he had to go for gang beatings and drug overdoses. But after several years of having to tell bewildered parents their little Jimmy was dead because he was a gang banger he threw in the towel and said "No More!"

So, on the advice of a friend he moved to the seaside town known as Bayport. Close to the other big city, New York, he could indulge his love of fine dining while getting away from the vagaries that large metropolitan areas seem to attract. He figured a sleepy bedroom community couldn't get anything worse than a few broken legs, maybe the occasional drunk idiot who wrapped his car around a telephone pole. Funny how Sam Radley never mentioned THEM when he extolled Bayport's virtues.

The Hardy Boys. NOT your average teenagers. Not by a long shot. Great kids, really, but cripes they got into trouble. ( Joe's taking the whole 'like father like son' thing a bit overboard again hey Frank?) he thought to himself as he took a deep breath and tried to voice his concerns without freaking the elder brother out too much. Luckily Frank was less wont to get freaked out as compared to his brother. Joe, on the other hand... sheesh. Worse than Chicken Little, always going straight for the Worse Case Scenario.

"You know , Frank, I had hoped I'd be seeing Joe again after his return. I just wish it wasn't as a patient. Again." Dr. Taylor smiled at this, which seemed to put Frank at ease. A fraction.

"Not even the Navy could fix his impulsiveness, Doc. He pushed me outta the way and took those bullets for me. Stupid kid brother." Frank was half exasperated, half grateful and all worry. As usual.

"The good news is he had an excellent night. His blood pressure is back up to what I would consider civilized, his respiration seems to have stabilized and we were able to get much better images on this morning's scans. We now know exactly where the two remaining bullets are and I have the utmost confidence in Dr Yang, the heart surgeon. I have no doubt she will be able to remove the bullet with no damage to the heart muscle or surrounding tissue."

Frank gave a sigh of relief that was immediately replaced by a frown. "The...paralysis?" he asked hesitantly.

Dr. Taylor leaned toward Frank and spoke earnestly. "Nothing has changed on that front yet, my boy. But I must caution you to not dwell on this. He will need you to be in the best possible frame of mind. Let's get him through surgery first, then we will worry about recovery and therapy."

Frank visibly struggled with this advice and Larry gave him a few minutes to compose himself before continuing.

"I have scheduled the surgery for 2 this afternoon. There is nothing you can do until then so I strongly suggest you go home, get some rest, have a decent meal. What time will your mother be here?"

"Not until late this evening."

"Then I insist you go home and get the place ready for her." With that he shooed Frank out of the room and did not take no for an answer. He gave one last look over to the unnaturally still young man in the bed before shaking his head and going about his morning before meeting with Dr Yang at 1:30.

Dr. Taylor was no surgeon but he insisted on being in the OR anyway. He knew it would be appreciated by the family and he did have a soft spot for the rapscallion blond. As he had assured Frank, Dr Yang was extremely competent, if a bit arrogant. The surgery went off without a hitch and he was quite pleased with the Post Op vitals and he moved Joe out of recovery and back into his room in a matter of hours.

Frank of course was in the room and anxiously hovered in the corner while Joe was situated and given the once over by Dr. Taylor. The exam was brief and well pleased by the progress Joe was making, Dr Taylor amended the meds to bring Joe out of the medically induced coma he had been in since shortly after arriving the day before.

He gave one last admonishment to Frank before leaving for the night, saying "I know Mandy is going to let one of you stay the night again, but I must insist you let him wake up on his own. No bugging him, no crying over his bed, no pacing the room. Deal?"

Frank smiled, the first real one since Joe had been brought in. "That's his style, not mine" jerking his head towards his younger sibling.

At this, Dr Taylor laughed and agreed, remembering other nights when the situation was reversed and it was Frank lying in bed hooked up to various machines. Instead of Chicken Little Mama Bear made an appearance."He is a bit of a Drama Queen, isn't he? Worse than my 15 year old daughter."

With a final pat on Frank's arm, Dr. Taylor went out of the room, leaving the brothers alone to their own thoughts.

Tbc...

A/n: Up next, Mom!