Frank Hardy walked back to his car across the hot sand, a towel wrapped around his waist. He and his younger brother Joe were taking a well- deserved vacation in California for a couple of weeks and they had decided to spend the day checking out some of the local beaches.

Frank turned to Joe and gave him a grin. "I'm glad we decided to come here today, it's nice just to unwind and take some time off for once."

Joe nodded, as he pushed his sunglasses up onto his head. "I know, we've been here for three days already and we haven't stumbled across a case yet!" he joked.

"What do you want to do now?" Frank inquired. "It's only 2:00pm, we've got the whole afternoon left."

"I guess we could get something to eat, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I am actually. Why don't we try that place that I pointed out on the way over?" Frank replied, referring to the small café just down from where they were parked.

"Sure, do you want to walk, or should we drive?" Joe asked.

"Lets walk, the weather is great at the moment, and besides, it's not that far." Frank said. Joe shook his head in agreement.

The two Hardy's were almost there when a woman's scream filled the air, and a man burst out from a nearby shop and began running in Frank and Joe's direction.

"Help!" The woman screamed again. "He's snatched my bag!"

Almost everyone that had been in the vicinity had stopped what they were doing, and were just looking on in shock. Joe started to run towards the man, with Frank following right behind him.

"Come on, we can get this guy!" Joe yelled over his shoulder as he neared the man. Joe was pulling away from Frank and he poured on the speed, narrowing the gap further. The man looked up, and noticed Frank and Joe chasing him, and he ducked to the side, weaving through the crowds.

"He's going left Joe!" Frank cried out, still in hot pursuit of the man.

Joe could see that the man hadn't been expecting anyone to give chase, and he was clearly tiring. Joe drew closer and he grabbed the assailant by the collar of his shirt, while Frank pulled the handbag from his grasp. The crowd of people that had gathered cheered, and the man used this distraction to his advantage, twisting away from Joe and shoving him violently towards the gutter. Joe let go, surprised by the sudden attack, and stumbled awkwardly over the curb and fell heavily to the ground.

As soon as he saw his brother fall, Frank knew it wasn't good. Frank forgot about the assailant, and ran over to his brother, sighing as the man sprinted down the street and into a nearby car.

"Joe, are you ok?" he asked with concern. The same crown now had all their attention focused on Joe.

Joe shook his head as he tried to sit up. "I don't think so," he answered truthfully. "I think I've broken my ankle, I heard it snap when I fell."

Frank crouched next to his brother, and took a close look at his ankle. He could see that it was starting to swell, but he tried to remain calm for Joe's sake. "Don't move," he ordered. "I'm calling the ambulance." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began dialing.

"No, don't!" Joe protested. "I think it would be better if you just drove me to the hospital, it's faster that way."

Frank thought about that, and finally agreed. It wasn't really an emergency, so an ambulance probably wasn't necessary.

"Are you going to be ok while I bring the car over to get you?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I'll be ok," Joe replied, as he managed to pull himself up on the edge of the curb and sit up.

"Ok, I'll only be five minutes." Frank started walking back towards the car, glancing over his shoulder at Joe to make sure he was in fact ok.

While Joe was waiting for Frank, a woman came over to Joe and sat next to him. "I'm so sorry!" she said. "You got hurt because of me, trying to get my bag back."

"Hey, it's ok," Joe said to her. "I don't regret it, I'm just glad we managed to get it back for you. Here you go," he said, as he handed it back to her. The woman accepted it gratefully.

"I don't know what I would have done with out this, it has my monthly rent in it. Thank you so much!" She paused. "I'm Cassandra by the way."

"Joe," he said, as he shook her hand. "The other guy that was here is my brother Frank." "It's nice to meet you, unfortunately it wasn't under better circumstances," Cassandra replied, as she glanced at his ankle. "Is it broken?"

"I think so," Joe replied. "I'm going to get it checked out now."

Frank pulled up beside Joe at that moment, and jumped out of the car. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

"It's not too bad," Joe answered. "Oh, this is Cassandra by the way, she is the owner of the handbag."

Frank shook her hand, and introduced himself. "I'm sorry to be so rude, but we really have to go now, I want to get this ankle checked out as soon as possible."

Cassandra nodded. "I completely understand, and I just want to thank you both again."

"No problem," Frank and Joe replied together.

Frank helped Joe to the car, and closed the passenger door behind him. Cassandra waved, as the two Hardy's drove off.

Frank turned to Joe in the car. "The nearest hospital is about ten minutes from here, I asked a guy on the way back to the car."

Joe acknowledged this, his teeth clenched. "Are you ok?" Frank asked, alarmed.

"I think the shock is starting to wear off, and I can feel it starting to throb now." Frank noticed that his brother was slightly pale in the face.

Not long after, Frank pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, and helped Joe inside. He filled out some forms and gave the requested information while his brother sat in the waiting room; his ankle propped up on one of the chairs.

After about an hour and a half, a nurse walked over to Frank and Joe with a wheelchair. "Sorry for the delay, we've had a few problems today." She pushed the chair over to Joe. "Slide into this for me, and I'll take you down so the doctor can examine that for you."

Joe obliged, and Frank followed behind. Joe was taken down a long corridor, painted in the same generic colour that most hospitals seem to have an abundance of. The nurse pushed Joe into a room, and an hour later, Joe emerged with a doctor, his left ankle in a cast.

The doctor turned to Frank. "I'm Doctor Joel Phillips, I'm the head of the accident and emergency department here at California Central. You're brother has sustained a fairly bad broken ankle, and I've decided that it would be best to keep him in here for a few days, just so we can observe things and get a handle on the pain he is experiencing. We're putting Joe in room 451 on the fourth floor, so you can wheel him up there now, and a nurse will be in shortly to prescribe something to relieve the pain you are experiencing."

"Thanks for your help," Joe said to Dr. Phillips, who smiled and walked back towards the operating room.

Frank pushed Joe down the corridor and headed to the elevator. "How's the pain now?" he asked.

"Pretty bad," Joe admitted. "I've only ever broken a few ribs before, so this is a whole new experience."

Frank located room 451 and entered with Joe. Joe was pleased to note that it was a single room. Frank helped his brother up onto the bed, and got him comfortable. "I'll go and see if I can find a nurse to get you some pain killers," he said, as he left the room. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Just after Frank had left, a nurse walked into the room. Joe noticed that she was young, and admired the way that her long brown hair trailed down her back. "Hey, my brother just went to get a nurse, that was good timing!" The nurse glanced over at him, and she smiled.

"It sure was_" she began, and then her blue eyes opened widely. "Joe Hardy?!" She exclaimed.

Joe's mouth fell open. Nancy Drew was standing in front of him, equally as surprised.