A/n: Yeah. Zen is still in the hospital. supposedly getting yet another surgery. she pops on rarely on FB. so again I dedicate a chapter to her, for reasons I am sure you will understand. when she gets back she can tell me how wrong I got it heheheh. in other news, I have a new magic mouse. no batteries, just a rechargeable USB cord. it is giving me fits, but sporadic ones. so it's safe to assume that I probably need a new mac altogether. that will take a few months. In fact I will probably declare it this years combo anniversary/Christmas/Birthday as they all fall within 4 months of each other.

Chapter Nine

The surgical ward was always hushed, with the staff seemingly tip toeing around as if to avoid doing anything that would cause a machine to start screeching. It was very different than her own usual haunt, the Pediatric Oncology ward (which tried a little too hard she sometimes thought) that was full of bright colors, cheerful faces and a frenetic gaiety as if to repress all reminders of the cancer ravaging small bodies.

Gloria had a nodding acquaintance with the nurses behind the desk, who let her proceed unhindered to Frank's room. With clinical detachment, she took his chart from it's rack and brought it with her as she entered. She took stock of his vital signs, the amount of blood he had already be given and the orders for further transfusions and pain meds. She made a mental note to discuss which antibiotics to use if it should become necessary.

The heart monitor chirped in a nice encouragingly steady beat and the numbers on the machine itself lifted a weight from her heart that she had not even realized was there. Frank was still asleep but he appeared to be resting comfortably. She resisted the urge to lift the blanket and examine the surgical site for herself. For the first time she understood why it was highly frowned upon to work on friends and family. Instead, she brought the single hard plastic chair closer to the bed and settled herself in to wait until either Frank woke up or Joe came in to swap places. She pulled out the little velvet covered box again and stared hard at it. There was no indication of where it came from, although the velvet was worn and shiny in a few spots. She fiddled with it, twisting it around and shaking it but no sound gave any indication of the contents. She came close to flipping it open several times but the tiniest change in background noise made her startle in guilt and she'd shamefacedly pull a hand away.

"I told you not to open that." She barely heard the whisper from the bed. She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead.

"I didn't. Promise." she assured him "How do you feel? Any pain, discomfort?"

"Lucky." Frank was groggy but mostly lucid.

"Lucky?!" Gloria responded, shocked. "You got shot!"

"You were there to save me. So I feel lucky." he smiled at her and stretched his hand out as far as the IV line would let him. She quickly grasped it and held on tight. Frank shifted a little, trying to find a more comfortable position. "So, what's the verdict?"

"You should wait for the doctor."

"Why? You are already here, and can explain it in layman's terms. So, how am I?" he demanded.

Gloria sighed before reaching for his chart. "More good news than bad. Looks like the bullet bounced around a little and you lost a foot or so of small intestine." she saw the frown on his face at that news and quickly patted his hand. "You have more than enough to spare, it will not be an issue at all in a few months once your body reorganizes. You may have to adjust your diet a little, but nothing major." he settled back, mollified. "As long as no infection sets in, you are looking at maybe 6 weeks recovery time."

"So not fair." came an amused voce at the door. Joe was leaning against the doorway with a big smile on his face at the sight of his awake brother. "I get shot, and it's a year in a wheelchair. You, on the other hand, will not only have 24/7 coddling in the form of your girlfriend, but for only a lousy 6 weeks?!" Joe stood straight and walked further into the room. "And maybe a few weeks of a liquid diet. You could stand to lose a couple of pounds anyway, Bro." he winked at Gloria, who was on the verge of protesting the way Joe made light of the situation. The smile became a little more reserved as he grasped his brother's hand and squeezed it tightly in silent concern. "Glad you are okay."

Gloria stood up, knowing that in another second or three a nurse would be in to shoo one of them out. As she moved away from beside, she laid a hand on Joe's arm. "He needs to rest so don't annoy him too much."

"Who, me?!" Joe batted his long eyelashes above twinkling blue eyes in a too casual to be entirely innocent gesture.

"Yes, You." she retorted pertly and left the room.

Joe chuckled and shook his head ruefully as he dropped down in the chair and regarded his brother. "Only you."

"Only me what?" Frank asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Only you could turn a nice innocent trip to the Youth Center into a full blown crisis."

"It's a gift. I probably got it from you." Frank retorted a bit waspishly.

Joe laughed out loud. "You probably did at that. I wondered if I had passed that particular torch on." he leaned back and crossed his arms. "So, Big Brother, Just how exactly did you manage to get shot in probably the safest spot in all of Bayport, anyway?"

Frank shrugged as much as he was able to with IV lines and other restrictive items in his way. "I heard a commotion, went to see, and next thing I knew, I was on the ground hurting like hell. Oh, that reminds me, I owe you an apology." Joe raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "Getting shot does hurt after all. Sorry I ever doubted you."

Joe harrumphed but the laugh lines around his eyes told a different story. "Vindicated, finally, after all these years." the smile left his face and he grew serious. "Know who did it?"

Frank shook his head. "Never got a look at him. He still out there?" his eyes widened at the implication.

"Oh this is too ironic for words. Your assailant is none other than Callie's Husband." despite his words there was no irony in the younger Hardy's voice.

Frank gaped, mouth open a good 15 seconds before closing it abruptly. " How can that be? I thought he was in jail?"

"Yeah. So did everybody, including Callie." Joe shrugged. "Far as Greg can gather from the info he has gotten so far, Edmonds managed to get himself smuggled out of Otisville 2 weeks ago and has been on the lam since. Apparently it took the penitentiary almost 36 hours to even notice he was gone." Joe shook his head in disgust. He shifted, the hard plastic chair not the most comfortable thing in the world. "Callie came to the hospital and practically begged on her knees to see you." he looked steadily at his brother, who calmly returned the gaze. " I chucked her out on her ass, but not before she swore up one side and down the other that she had no idea, and is positive Edmonds does not have a clue who you are and that this was all just a tragic mistake." he laughed sourly. "She even went so far as to say this wasn't our typical case and that it's not a revenge thing."

Frank's eyes narrowed and he scowled. "But you don't believe it."

"Actually, I think I do. Between her blubbering and all the eyewitness statements, this really does look like you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. No malicious intent on his part at all, your stomach just got in the way of his bullet." Frank tossed a plastic water pitcher at his brother's head for the comment. Joe easily dodged it and stood up. "That being said, this is not over. He got away, with one of his kids and I told Callie I'd help bring her son home safely." He leaned over and touched his forehead to his brother's. "Get some rest. I called the 'rents and told them it wasn't earth shattering and they can finish out their weekend. I'll take care of Edmonds."

"You don't need to do that, Joe!" Frank protested, but Joe stopped him short.

"Frank, the bastard walked into a room full of kids and started waving a gun around. He shot you. He kidnapped his son. Even without the personal connection to all of this, I still would have been on the case." Joe's stance was daring Frank to challenge the decision. Frank knew it was useless to debate the point, so he just sighed and nodded.

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Always." and he was out the door.

Frank saw very little of his brother for the next week. His parents came straight from the train station after their trip and scolded him gently for getting hurt. Gloria would sneak downstairs from her ward whenever she could and he had a steady stream of well wishers, including the kids from his tutoring session at the Youth Center. Greg and Paul stopped by a few times to both check up on him and ask him more questions as well as to inform him that heads were rolling at Otisville for the major Clusterf*ck. Seems that not only had Edmonds gotten out, but so did two others and when discovered the warden tried to cover it up, even going so far as to not inform family members, local authorities or prior victims.

He continued to progress, although the enforced bland diet was grating on his nerves. He already loathed oatmeal, and he was getting it every other day. Chet helped by smuggling in some french fries from Five Guys once, but he paid for it the next day. Then the biggest blizzard to hit Bayport in a hundred years kept him in the hospital for a few days after the Doctor had wanted to discharge him. Only a phone call from Joe saved his sanity as he was able to tease his brother mercilessly. Interestingly enough, Joe never offered any updates on his pursuit of Edmonds, and Frank never asked.

The little velvet box sat conspicuously on the little table that stood next to his bed the entire time. Laura had glanced at it, did a quick double take them smiled knowingly but said nothing. Joe had the annoying habit of idly picking it up and playing with it, tossing it around in his hand and even juggling it and a couple of cups once. Gloria would pointedly stare at it and clear her throat meaningfully. Frank ignored all of them. His plan to propose that night had thoroughly been destroyed and now he was at a loss as to how to fix it.

Finally, though, the day came when the doctor cleared him to be discharged, albeit with a very short list of items he was permitted to eat. He was dressed, and stuffing a few items into his backpack when a tentative knock came oat the door.

"C'mon in Biff. I'm just about ready." Frank called over his shoulder. Biff had offered to drive him home, so he was expecting his tall broad shouldered friend to come in. He was wrong. He turned around, hitching the backpack over one shoulder when he stopped short. "Callie." he said flatly, eyes narrowing.

A/n: As I am wrapping this up I realized that the secondary plot is being given short shrift. and I know some of you will want to see it, but as of right now I do not have any plans to do so. this was always a Frank Centric story. and the secondary plot would have Joe being the Prime Character. besides that actual story behind how Frank got hurt was never the point, except to bring in some familiar faces so that I didn't have to invent too many new ones I also KNOW that I had several reviews for Chapter 8 but for some reason they have yet to appear on the reviews page. you know how I like to try and respond to each one and I typically do that from the review page. but I will go via the email notification next time so in case anyone felt unloved or ignored, rest assured that is not the case.