"How are you feeling, honey?" Carson asked Nancy who was now resting comfortably in a recovery room.

She took a sip of the water that Frank had handed her and smiled weakly at her father. "I'm just having some minor pain but it's nothing I can't handle. I'm just more confused than anything else."
"I know you are, sweetheart. But don't worry—I'm sure that everything will come back to you soon enough," Carson said.

"But I will worry. I feel so helpless and so stupid because I can't remember what happened to me. And I see on your faces how frustrated you are and that frustrates and worries me even more," Nancy said.

"We know how frustrated you are, Nan," Frank said, softly.

"Do you?" Nancy asked. "Have any of you ever lost your memory?"

All three men shook their heads.

"Then you have no idea how frustrated I am. It's like someone took control of me for a brief period and got to choose what I could and couldn't remember," Nancy said.

"Nancy, we don't mean to patronize you. We really want to be able to help you but we're afraid that any little thing we do may hinder you or upset you," Frank said.

Nancy let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't mean to get onto you but it's like I have all of this pent up anger and I'm just releasing it on the first person I see."

"Stop apologizing, Nancy. You have nothing to apologize for," Carson said sternly.

"It's the only thing I can think of to say," Nancy said.

"Your dad is right, Nan. You have nothing to apologize for. It was not your fault that you were kidnapped and nearly murdered. If you want anyone to blame then let's find the people that did this to you and bring them down," Frank said. "They are the ones that you need to be placing the blame on."

"But I don't know who did this to me," Nancy protested.

"Then we find out," Frank said.

"Frank's right, Nancy. We do what we do best—we investigate," Joe said.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. A nurse in pink scrubs came in holding a small tray containing a cup of pills and a glass of water. She smiled at them apologetically as she set the tray down.

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over. Miss Drew needs to get her rest," she said.

Carson, Frank, and Joe were reluctant, but they knew there was no arguing. They each gave her a kiss on the cheek as the nurse looked on.

"We'll see you tomorrow morning," Frank said.

"I may try to come by sometime tonight. I have a couple of cases I need to go over at the office first and I'm not sure how long it's going to take," Carson said.

"Okay," Nancy said.

The men walked into the hallway as the nurse handed Nancy the pills and glass of water.

"So, what are you boys going to do?" Carson asked.

"I'm not really sure. I think we may go talk to Chief Hawkins and see if they've found anything else," Frank said.

"Just let me know if you find out anything," he said.

"Sure thing," Frank said, nodding his head.

Joe waited until Carson had gotten into the elevator before turning back to Frank. "So when are you going to tell Nancy you have an idea about who attacked her?"

Frank looked back at Nancy's closed door and let out a frustrated sigh. "We don't know that Randy Wolfe attacked Nancy," he said.

"Who else could it be?" Joe asked. "The FBI pretty much guaranteed it for us."

"Maybe so," Frank said. "But I don't want the FBI involved in this anymore if I can help it."

"They're not going to stay away, Frank—no matter how much you bitch and moan," Joe said. "They have an annoying tendency to stick around even if you don't want them too."

"Look, I'll tell her after she gets out of here and not before," Frank said. "Now, let's get out of here."

Joe remained where he was standing and watched as Frank walked ahead of him towards the elevators. Why did Frank always have to be so stubborn when it came to Nancy? He always has to take things so personally when it concerns her.

"Are you coming?" Frank asked, impatiently holding the doors to the elevator open.

Joe rolled his eyes and smiled at his brother. "I'll be right there," he said in a sing-song voice.

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"Sir, can I help you with something?"

Randy looked at the cute, petite nurse behind the desk and smiled appreciatively. "I'm actually here to visit someone," he said, adjusting the enormous bouquet of gardenias he was holding.

The nurse smiled at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over for right now. They won't commence again until tomorrow morning."

Randy sighed. "I was afraid I was too late. I was in town for business and I was stuck in a meeting all day. This was the first chance I got to get away and I wanted to drop by and see her before I went back home to California. We sort of have a history together and I just wanted her to know I was thinking about her."

The nurse looked around and then lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'm not really supposed to, but I suppose I could let you visit her for five minutes."

Randy shook his head. "There is no way I could ask you to do that for me—" he paused, searching for her name.

"Amy," she supplied, eagerly.

He smiled. "Amy. I would really hate for you to get in trouble on my part. I could never ask you to break the rules for me."

Amy waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. My dad's on the hospital's board of directors," she said. "Besides, it's not like you're going in there to kill her, right?" she added, jokingly.

Randy chuckled and smiled back at her. "Right," he said.

"Do you happen to know the room number?" she asked.

Randy shook his head. "I'm afraid not."
"That's okay, I can help you with that—what's her name?" she asked.

"Nancy Drew," he answered.

"She seems to be a popular one around here," she muttered as she typed the name into the computer. "She's in Room 135. Remember—only five minutes."

"Thank you, Amy," he said, flashing her one last brilliant smile.

Amy blushed, giggled, and then returned to her work.

Randy walked only a short distance down the hall before he found Nancy's room number. He didn't bother knocking because, as the nurse had said, visiting hours were over and he was almost sure no one would be in the room.

As he pushed the door open, he placed the gardenias in front of his face just in case Nancy was awake. Luck must really be on my side, he thought to himself as he saw her sleeping peacefully in her hospital bed. Not that I need any luck…

He moved the daisies that were beside her bed so he could place the gardenias right beside her. He looked down at her and couldn't help the flutter in his stomach. After all, he was attracted to her at one point all those years ago. And he was finding it pretty impossible not to be attracted to her now.

"Well, I have to say, blue eyes, you still look good for someone who's had the crap beaten out of them," he said, chuckling softly.

He leaned down closer to whisper to her. "I heard you can't remember what happened to you. Pity, really, because I sure worked a number on you. But that's okay—it still gives me one more shot at you. And this time, you won't wake up because I'm going to make sure I'm there to hear your very last breath."

He froze slightly when she stirred, afraid that he may have woken her up. But he quickly relaxed when he realized that she remained asleep.

"I really hate to cut this visit short but I have to get going before that little nurse comes in here and runs me out," Randy said. "Be sure to enjoy the flowers, blue eyes. I remembered how much you loved gardenias."

With one last look at her he walked out of the room and Amy smiled at him as he passed her desk.

"Did you have a good visit?" she asked, cheerfully.

"You have no idea," he said winking at her. "I owe you one, Amy," he said as he walked away.

Amy shrugged innocently. "I'm just glad that I could help."

Randy turned around and smiled at her one last time. "Oh, you did—in more ways than you could possibly know."

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Author's Note: Okay, I know this is another "short" chapter, but if I kept it going it would quickly lose your interest. The one thing I'd hate to do is to lose you when I still have a lot more story to go!

As always, I value your opinion so let me know what you think!

Oh, and if you could help me get rid of my pesky cough, that would be greatly appreciated!