Note: Thanks to all those reading and following and those kind enough to leave reviews: Tin Dog, Paulina Ann, Max 2013, and Evergreen Dreamweaver. We hope you all continue to enjoy the story.
Consequences
Chapter 9
Joe sat on the bed in his dorm room, one arm lazily wrapped around Vanessa, the other holding a textbook. Glancing at his girlfriend, he smiled in amusement. She, too, was studying, apparently more intently than he was, judging by the way she was chewing on her lower lip and the frown that creased her forehead. Gently closing his book, Joe gazed at her, feeling more content than he had since…before Cape May. Apparently, Frank had worked out whatever was bothering him. Last night at his birthday party, he was finally acting like himself again for the first time since…before Cape May.
Several minutes passed before Vanessa realized she was being watched. Slowly, she turned her head and gazed up at Joe through her long lashes. Wordlessly, he leaned down and kissed her deeply at the same time taking the book out of her hands and tossing it on the floor. Several minutes later Vanessa pulled back, her heart pounding.
"What was that for?" she asked, breathlessly.
"Are you complaining?" Joe asked, leaning in for another kiss.
"No." She gently nudged him back. "But we're supposed to be studying."
"I am studying. I'm studying you," Joe replied, attempting to kiss her again.
"Uh-uh," Vanessa giggled, wriggling out from under him. "This is why I don't like coming over here to study. We never get any…studying…done!"
"Oh, come on, Baby…" Joe whined.
"Nope. You stay over there and I'll stay…over here," Vanessa announced, taking a seat at Joe's desk, knowing if she remained on the bed snuggling close to him, he would win her over in short order.
Bending down, she retrieved the book Joe had thrown on the floor, accidentally knocking a piece of paper off the desk.
"Oh, honey, I forgot to tell you. Callie called earlier. Something about cake?" She held up the paper looking at him sheepishly.
"Cake? Oh, she probably just wants to rub it in again, about how I forgot to buy Frank a birthday cake. Might as well let her have some fun at my expense," Joe laughed reaching for the phone.
Pressing the speed dial, the phone rang only once before Frank pounced on it.
"What?!" Frank said irritably, foregoing any kind of greeting.
"Well, hello to you too, big brother," Joe said, wondering what had Frank in such an uncharacteristically bad mood. "Is my future sister-in-law there?"
Joe was met with silence.
"Frank? Hello?"
"No," came the curt reply.
"Uh, Frank, are you okay? You sound…upset," Joe asked, concerned.
"Yeah, you could say I'm upset," Frank replied evenly.
"Okay…. Anything you want to talk about?"
"No!" Frank replied quickly.
"Come on Frank, what's wrong? Did you and Callie have a fight or something?" Joe asked, his concern starting to grow. Frank's tone of voice told him something was very wrong.
Once again Joe was greeted with silence.
"Frank, I'm coming over. Now," Joe said with determination.
"No!" Frank cried out. Joe was the last person on earth he wanted to see right now.
"Uh-uh. Sorry big brother. I'm on my way," Joe said, hanging up the phone.
Standing up he reached for his keys. "Sorry, Babe. I have to go see Frank. Something is wrong and he's not talking. At least not on the phone. I think he and Callie may have had a fight, if you can believe that."
"What's so hard to believe about that?" Vanessa rolled her eyes. "The way he's been treating her lately…" She stopped when Joe looked at her sharply. "Ok, ok. I'll back off. But he has been treating you and Callie pretty crappy lately. With no apparent reason."
"He must have his reasons. They're just not apparent to us. But I intend to find out once and for all what they are. Don't worry, I'll get everything straightened out tonight," Joe said kissing her forehead. "Why don't you stay here and finish studying?" he suggested with a sly grin. "I'll be back soon…and then we can study my way."
Vanessa blushed, as she watched him walk out the door, already anticipating his return.
Less than an hour later Joe was standing at the door of his brother's apartment, knocking. He heard Frank moving around inside, but it seemed to take forever before he finally opened the door. Standing there, he stared at Joe.
"Well…are you going to let me in?" Joe asked, slightly unnerved at the way Frank was looking at him.
Wordlessly, Frank stepped aside and let Joe enter, quietly shutting the door behind him. Sensing something was drastically wrong, Joe sat on the couch waiting for his brother to turn around and acknowledge him.
"Frank?"
Frank continued to stare at the closed door. Joe peered at him closely. 'He's shaking! No…must be my imagination.'
"So are you going to talk to me or do I get to stare at your back all night?" Joe asked.
Slowly, Frank turned around to face his younger brother and Joe shuddered. If he didn't know better he would swear Frank was looking at him with…hatred?
"You and Callie have a fight?" Joe prodded, feeling very uncomfortable with the way Frank's gaze never wavered.
"You could say that," Frank replied evenly.
"Wanna talk about it?" Joe offered.
Frank continued staring at his brother. 'Why not…might as well get everything out in the open tonight. Then they can run off together. Live happily ever after,' Frank thought, his anger quickly rising once again.
"Frank? Man, could you stop looking at me like that? You're scaring me!" Joe said only half-jokingly. "So what happened? What did you guys fight about?"
"You," Frank said without emotion, waiting for Joe's reaction.
"Huh? What do you mean ME?!" Joe asked, stunned.
"What's the matter? Still having after effects of that concussion? Can't you understand English? You. We fought about you. YOU and your relationship with my fiancée!" Frank replied sarcastically, his voice rising a notch.
"Whoa, back up there. What relationship? I mean you know I love Callie like…" Joe began.
"A-HA! You admit it! You're in love with her!" Frank pounced.
"What?!" Joe cried out. "What are you talking about? Are you sick? Do you have a fever or something?"
"No, I'm not sick. I don't have a fever. In fact for the first time in months…since before Cape May…I'm thinking very clearly," Frank said, stabbing his finger in the air after each word for emphasis.
Joe gasped out loud. '…since before Cape May…'
The words struck fear in his heart. Everything that had been going on lately - Frank's distance, Callie's melancholy and her secrets, Vanessa's intense mistrust of Frank – they all started after Cape May. Taking a deep breath, Joe tried to calm his racing heart. If only he could remember what really happened.
"Are you, or are you not, in love with Callie?" Frank demanded, as if he were interrogating a criminal.
Joe stared at his brother, unable to speak. 'Where the hell did that come from?!'
"Answer me! Are you?!" Frank yelled.
"NO! How could you even think that?!" Joe cried out, thinking the stress of the past few months had finally gotten to his brother and he had lost his mind.
"Because she's in love with you!"
"What?" Joe's face was white as a sheet. "She said that?"
"She didn't have to say it, Joe. It's been pretty obvious. Any idiot can see it. And the way you've been treating her this summer, it's obviously a mutual feeling."
"Then you're the only idiot here, Frank!" Joe yelled back. Frank's accusation had lit his fuse and it was burning quickly. "Nobody else sees it - because there is nothing to see! I am in love with Vanessa. And Callie is in love with you!"
"And that's why she kissed you? Because she's in love with me?" Frank cried out in anguish.
"She…told you?" Joe said, taken aback. Callie had promised him she wouldn't tell Frank! At least not until Joe could remember what happened. They were going to tell Frank about the kiss together, as soon as Joe remembered it. They had agreed on that.
"No, Joe," Frank replied, his voice suddenly calm. Deadly calm. "You did."
Joe stared at his brother, scared and confused. The doctor had assured Joe that his memory would return in a month or two. The fact that over three months later he still couldn't remember what had happened when he and Callie had been held hostage had Joe terrified. He was deathly afraid there had been some permanent damage and he would never remember.
Joe was also afraid that the memory loss was not only permanent, but also continued to plague him even now. He constantly felt like there were things that had happened since the concussion - things that happened every day - which he was forgetting. Still unable to decide if he wanted to face such a truth, he never shared these fears with anyone. His family and friends assumed Joe had gotten his memory back, just as the doctor predicted, and simply didn't want to discuss the horror he had been through.
'Oh, God! Did I tell Frank about the kiss? I can't remember!' Joe thought, panicked. Was his worst fear now a reality?
Frank saw the fear and confusion on Joe's face and realized Joe was racking his brain trying to remember if he had indeed told Frank about the kiss and simply didn't recall doing so. Automatically, the over-protective instincts he always had for Joe kicked in and took control.
"No, you didn't actually tell me about it," Frank reassured him. "I overheard you ask her about it that day in the hospital. When you first woke up."
Frank could see Joe desperately trying to dig up the memories from that day, knowing it might be impossible. Joe had been so drugged up on painkillers, Frank was surprised he could remember anything at all from those first few days in the hospital.
"You asked her if she kissed you. Obviously you remembered something about it or you wouldn't have asked," Frank deduced incorrectly. "And when you didn't remember everything, she was…" Frank stopped, emotions threatening to overwhelm him again. "…heartbroken. Devastated. If she didn't love you, Joe, why would she even care whether or not you remembered?"
"Why would she care? Gee, I don't know, Frank. Maybe she was concerned about me! Concerned because I couldn't remember! Concerned because there might be permanent damage! Concerned that I might have this problem for the rest of my life! Did you even bother to consider that possibility?!" Joe cried out, finally voicing his biggest fear, albeit transferring it to Callie rather than admitting to it himself.
Frank was stopped cold. 'Permanent damage?' While he had never thought about it consciously, he realized it made a certain amount of sense. Callie had been distraught, consumed with guilt, feeling she was solely responsible for Joe being hurt. So of course she would be upset, heartbroken - devastated even - if she thought Joe had been permanently injured in any way while trying to protect her.
'No!' Frank pushed the thought to the back of his mind. 'No, Joe has recovered. Completely. Just like the doctors said he would. She was upset because she really is in love with him.'
Somewhere deep in his soul Frank knew the problems Joe was having with his memory were worse than he was letting on and could be permanent. The thought terrified him, so he refused to even acknowledge the possibility. That left him with only one alternative - Callie was devastated because she really was in love with Joe and he either couldn't remember his feelings for her or he had never returned the love to begin with. Either way, Frank had to know for sure.
"No. I never considered that possibility," Frank finally replied coldly. It hurt much less to believe that Joe and Callie had betrayed him than it did to think his brother had some kind of permanent brain damage. "You want to know why?" Frank continued, ignoring the stricken look on Joe's face. "Because it wasn't just the kiss, Joe. It was everything else. When Callie woke up that morning, you were holding her in your arms. Her shirt had been torn. Hell, you weren't even wearing your shirt! You took it off! Why? It was cold out in the woods, Joe. Why would you have taken your shirt off if you and Callie didn't…."
"We were drugged!" Joe yelled, repeating what Callie had told him about that night. "Nash and Jenkins set us up!" 'God, why can't I remember anything?!'
"Drugged. How convenient," Frank snorted. "However, that doesn't explain why she was holding your hand. Stroking your face. Comforting you." Frank's voice shook as the image he so badly wanted to forget, the image that haunted him constantly, resurfaced to taunt him once more. Callie gently taking Joe's hand, tenderly stroking his face and hair, speaking to him in that low, soothing voice that used to be for Frank alone. "How do you explain that, Joe?" he whispered.
Suddenly Joe felt tears burning his eyes as those first few days after he had regained consciousness came rushing back to him. The pain had been excruciating and unbearable. The painkillers he'd been given didn't even scratch the surface. Yet he never told anyone. Not Vanessa. Not Callie. Not even Frank. Joe had been so grateful when they visited him; grateful for the distraction. Still, he couldn't believe Frank hadn't seen it, hadn't at least suspected how badly he was hurting.
"I was in pain, Frank. Constant pain. Horrible pain. Unlike you, Callie saw that! She was just trying to help. Help me forget it, just for a few seconds," Joe said, hurt and betrayed. He couldn't believe how remembering still shook him up so much.
Frank swallowed hard. Yes, he remembered. He remembered vividly. Frank had prayed that Joe would wake up so he could see for himself that his little brother was going to be ok. But when it happened, when Joe finally regained consciousness it was devastating. Never in his life had Frank seen Joe in so much pain. Pain so bad Joe couldn't possibly hide it no matter how hard he tried. Yes, Frank had seen it…and he had seen Callie hovering over Joe, not wanting to leave his side.
"It's my fault, Frank! I need to be there for him!" Callie had said. At the time Frank had been grateful, but knowing what he did now he couldn't believe he didn't see it. The real reason she 'needed' to spend every waking moment with Joe.
"But eventually the pain got better, didn't it, Joe? Yet she never stopped comforting you, did she?" The visions of those first few days after they had returned to Bayport assaulted him. Callie snuggled in Joe's arms on the couch; "I love ya, Cal." Joe's voice tormented him. "Don't tell Frank and Vanessa."; Joe lying in the hammock in the backyard while Callie gently removed his sunglasses and tenderly held his hand; Joe blowing her a kiss. "How could you, Joe? How could you betray me? How could you betray Vanessa?"
Joe's eyes were huge. "I didn't! I would never betray Vanessa - or you! How can you even think that?!"
"Yeah, right." Frank said, derisively. "You cheated on Iola every chance you got. Old habits die hard, huh, little brother?" Frank lashed out at him. "Stop denying it, Joe. I watched the video, okay? I saw it for myself. I know you and Callie slept together!"
"What?! Callie and I NEVER… We wouldn't!" Joe was reeling. He couldn't believe the brother he had worshipped all his life had suddenly turned on him and was deliberately trying to hurt him. Hurt him so badly they'd never be able to repair the damage. "You said you wouldn't watch the video, Frank! You gave us your word!"
"And you gave me your word that you told me everything!" Frank raged. "You lied, Joe! You didn't tell me about the kiss! You never planned to tell me! God knows what else you've been lying to me about! How many times did you and Callie sleep together that I'll never know about?!" Suddenly Frank was out of control. Grabbing Joe's shirt, Frank pulled his brother towards him until their faces were just inches apart. "At least have the guts to tell me the truth now, Joe! That was you and Callie on the video, wasn't it?" Joe stared at his brother, completely shocked. "Wasn't it?!"
"NO!" Joe finally cried out. "No, it wasn't us, Frank!"
"How would you know?" Frank spat out in disgust. "You're lucky you can even remember your own name, these days."
Frank released Joe with a shove and watched his brother stumble backwards. Seeing the anguish, the pain, the utter betrayal on Joe's face, Frank suddenly realized what he had said - about Iola and about Joe's memory. He'd never felt such overwhelming shame in his life. Joe's face was a stark white and his lower lip started to quiver. Quickly Joe turned to flee the room - his heart shattered and his soul ripped to pieces.
"Joe…wait!" Frank choked out. He grabbed for Joe's arm and held it in a death grip.
"Let go!" Joe said, pulling away. "Just leave me alone!" Frank could hear the tears in his voice.
"No." Frank pulled harder. "Please Joe…"
Suddenly Joe turned to face Frank, his eyes reflecting such grief and heartache, Frank would give everything had to be able to take those words back.
"Let…me…go!" Joe said in a very low voice, through gritted teeth. Just as he gave one final pull to escape the grip Frank had on his arm, Frank released him and watched, horrified. He felt like everything was happening in slow motion as he saw Joe stumble, lose his balance and fall to the floor. He heard a sickening crack as Joe's head hit the corner of the table and then bounced off the floor once before Joe lay motionless at his feet.
"No. Oh, no," Frank stared wide-eyed. Dropping to his knees, Frank gently shook Joe's shoulder. "Joe, can you hear me? Come on, talk to me, Joe. Please…"
Joe's head moved slightly when Frank shook him and that's when Frank saw it. The tell tale pool of blood on the floor beneath Joe's head. Frank watched as it grew larger, tears streaming down his face. Joe had originally come here to try to comfort Frank, offer emotional support. Joe couldn't stand to see his brother hurting like that and wanted to do anything he could to help. And that was how it had started out, but then Frank had turned on him, viciously. Overcome with guilt and shame, Frank stared at Joe, unconscious on the floor.
"Oh, God, what have I done?"
