Chapter 4

Frank could not believe the name that had come up on the screen. He wanted to look up to see if anyone had spotted him, but he just couldn't managed to tear his eyes away from the name he'd found. He could feel his heart beating in his chest so bad he thought it might explode. His breath caught in his throat and all of a sudden, he felt light headed and little bits of light danced in front of him. "Get a grip, Hardy.," he told himself. "What do I do next?". Then his eyes fell on the room number. He dashed out from behind the desk and made his way outside. He ran around to the side of the building and stopped, resting on it with his left hand, wiping at his eyes with his right. He felt a presence come up behind him and turned to see Tony walking around to his right side and laying a hand on his shoulder. His face was etched in concern and worry.

"What did you find?"

"You're not going to believe this. I have a hard time believing it." Frank answered, his voice sounding hoarse.

Tony lifted his eyebrows curiously.

"Tony." Frank whispered so low that if he said the words any louder that it might not be true. "It says that Joe is in there."

Frank searched his friend's face for confirmation that he was not going crazy. But then again, Tony had not seen the information on the monitor.

"But it doesn't make sense. We had a funeral for Joe and everything." Tony reasoned. "Are you sure? What if…"

"It was a closed casket, remember?" Frank reminded him.

"Oh yeah, because of the bullet wound…" Tony trailed off and softly cleared his throat.

"I need to get in there and see what's really going on." Frank said, determinedly. "And maybe I'll run into Aunt Gertrude, too. I need some answers." He then looked at Tony. "Can you put your Italian charms to work again?"

"No way!" Tony laughed. "Natalie saw you behind the desk. You were so busted. But before she could say anything, you took off as if you were shot out of a cannon. That's when I ran out here. I needed to see if you were okay."

Just then, the wind picked up and blew a few strands of Tony's black hair over his eyes. He thought he saw a familiar figure heading to the front of the clinic. As he brushed the hair back, his eyes widened.

"Guess you won't have to sneak in after all."

Frank followed Tony's gaze and turned around to see his aunt making her way up the few steps to the front doors. He rolled his eyes and lightly rapped Tony's upper arm.

"Come on, let's catch up."

By the time they saw Gertrude, she was writing something in a book on the desk. 'Probably their check-in book.' Frank thought, as he walked up behind her and tapped her on her shoulder. She quickly turned around and took in a sharp breath at the two standing in front of her.

"Frank! What are you two doing here?!" she exclaimed, clearly frazzled.

"You'd gotten a phone call a little after you left yesterday morning. Thought we'd bring it to you personally." Frank said, a little sarcastically.

"Who…what…when did you get here?" she asked, a little flustered at being caught off guard.

"We left yesterday morning, right after the phone call. The one you got from this place saying you needn't bother to come this weekend. Why was that, Aunty? I'm sure they told you by now. Who's here?"

"An old friend." his aunt lied, avoiding his eyes, fidgeting with her purse.

"I want the truth."

All of a sudden, his aunt straightened up and looked him in the eyes.

"The truth is, you need to go back to school and get on with your life. Stop moping around and feeling sorry for yourself." his aunt replied, turning to walk to the elevators.

"I saw his name on the register." Frank called to her.

Gertrude stopped dead in her tracks. The air was thick with tension. She stayed that way for a few moments till she saw out of the corner of her eye, Frank stepping up to her left and facing her. She couldn't tell if he was mad or not but she could tell that he was deeply hurt.

"Why?" he asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because, he's not Joe anymore. Moreover, you needed to get on with your life. What you didn't know…"

"You figured wouldn't hurt me." Frank's voice interrupting her and changing from curiosity to icy cold. "Who do you think you are? You cannot tell me to live my life the way you choose it to be. I had every right to know Joe was still alive. Two months you made me suffer…"

"You would have suffered more seeing Joe the way he is." she defended herself.

"How would you know?" Frank looked at his aunt with hatred and started to back up, shaking his head, tears escaping to his cheeks. "I'd rather see Joe than you anytime. You kept me from Joe. I do not ever want to see you again. I want to see Joe."

He turned around to go to the elevators, but security caught up to him.

"You're not allowed without permission."

"Screw your permission. I'm going to see my brother."

"Frank." Tony called to his friend, to get him to calm down, and then turned to Miss Hardy.

"Can we go up to see him? They said we have to have permission."

Gertrude looked at Frank and their eyes locked. She then shook her head. "No. No one can see him. I won't allow it." and dropped her gaze to the floor.

"You can't keep me from him!" Frank yelled.

"Sir, you're going to have to calm down or we'll have to ask you to leave." one of the security guards said.

Frank could not believe what was happening. All he wanted to do was see his baby brother and they wouldn't let him. He stared at his aunt pleadingly.

"Please aunty!" he cried. "I have to!"

She closed her eyes, shook her head one more time, and took off for the elevators. Tony ran over to Frank and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him away.

"Come on Frank. We can try later. Let's just go so we don't get into trouble or we're never going to see Joe."

"I don't care." Frank cried, as he let himself be led away. People were watching, pointing, and whispering. Natalie looked around at the crowd and told them to go back to what they were doing. Show was over. As everyone dispersed, Natalie quickly made her way over to the boys.

"Tony you and your friend…"

"It's Frank." Tony interrupted.

"Okay, you and Frank will have to leave! You're making a scene! People are still hanging around." She quietly urged.

"My brother is here. I haven't seen him in two months because they told me he died." Frank said, desperately wanting someone to believe him. "I have to see him."

She looked at him for a moment seeing the pain clearly evident on his face, then turned to Tony and said, "You two meet me at the Coffee House in town at ten tonight across the street from the Regional Hotel. That's where you'll be staying, right."

Surprised by this gesture, Tony only nodded.

"Are you helping us?" Frank asked.

"I shouldn't because I could get into a lot of trouble. Although, I am a sucker for needy causes. Now, go, and I will see you at ten. My shift ends at eight."

"Why aren't we meeting you earlier?" Tony asked.

"Because visiting hours don't get over with till eleven and I thought it would be nice to sit a little bit before coming back. By then your aunt will be gone."

Frank smiled gratefully.

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

"Go." she smiled.

By the time the boys made it out to their car, Frank was seething.

"I don't understand how she thinks it's any of her business in how I live my life, with or without Joe!" Frank griped as they settled in the car. Tony was at the wheel this time, knowing Frank was too distraught to drive.

"Maybe you guys can talk things out later." Tony suggested.

Frank shot him a look and Tony shrugged, and then said, "Wow. Who would have thought Joe was still alive?!"

"That's what I want to find out." said Frank, angrily. "There are others involved that helped my aunt keep this a secret."

"Like who?" asked Tony, as he started the car.

"Hospital staff. Although I don't know how she managed that one. Probably because it wasn't Dr. Bates."

"Oh yeah, your family physician." Tony looked over at Frank. "He wouldn't do that would he?"

"No way! That is how I know it has to be some of the other staff. His conscience wouldn't let him."

Tony nodded and pulled out into traffic.

"It's only 2:20, let's go get something to eat. I'm starved." Frank suggested. "Then we can go check in at that Regional Hotel for the night."

"Just for the night?"

"I want to know what's going on first, before I pay for extra days."

"Yeah, maybe he'll be able to go home with us." Tony said, enthusiastically.

"I wish, but I doubt it."

"Because of…" Tony trailed off, not knowing how to put it. "Ya know, I don't know what's wrong with Joe?"

"Well, no one ever said." Frank replied, worriedly. "I hope it's nothing too serious. As long as I can talk to him, we can get through anything."