Chapter 10
Frank had intended to give Joe some time to cool down but the sound of breaking glass had him running down the hall only moments later. Throwing open the door he just barely managed to duck as an unknown object came towards his head. "Whoa little brother I'm not the enemy," Frank said holding his hands up in a non-threatening gesture.
"Sorry," Joe mumbled. "Ow, shouldn't have done that," he groaned as his body protested the vigorous movements of a second earlier. He hadn't planned to throw anything but then he'd knocked his water glass from the table, clipping the corner, the glass breaking. The sound of it had ignited his anger and suddenly he was throwing anything he could manage to grab. It wasn't much, considering his hands, but there were a few small items that lent themselves to his purpose if he used both hands.
Ignoring the items littering the floor Frank stepped into the room. "What is it?" he asked as he stepped around the broken glass to kneel in front of Joe's chair.
"I don't think my body liked that," Joe ruefully admitted.
"How bad?"
Joe shot his brother a sheepish look. "Not bad and it's my own fault. I can't believe I threw a tantrum like that."
"I'd say you had good reason to be mad," Frank easily absolved his brother. Glancing at the broken glass on the floor he smirked playfully, "But you get to explain to Aunt Gertrude why you're breaking glasses."
Joe chuckled. "Thanks Frank. Actually that was an accident but it kind of started everything else."
"Oh?"
"It, I don't know, the sound ignited my anger or something and next thing I know I'm throwing stuff." He glanced from the door to his brother, "You know I wasn't actually aiming at you?"
"I know Joe," Frank assured his brother. "It was just bad timing." Silently he began to clean up the mess Joe had made, starting with the broken glass. "Probably need to vacuum in here, make sure I got all the glass. At least the glass broke in big pieces so there shouldn't be much in the carpet, if there's any at all." Tossing the glass into the waste basket he matter-of-factly set about putting the room to rights.
"Sorry to make you clean up my mess," Joe apologized.
"That's what big brothers are for," Frank grinned.
"I don't know why I got so mad. It's not Dad's fault that the State Department is willing to let them go."
"No," Frank agreed. "But I don't blame you for wanting to see them pay for what they did to you. Dad shouldn't have asked what he did." Finished with the room he sat on the bed. "You want to talk about it?"
"I don't think so," Joe quickly rejected the offer.
"You sure?" Frank didn't particularly want to hear the gruesome details but if Joe needed to talk, he'd listen. That was something big brothers were good for too.
"Thanks but I don't see how giving you nightmares is going to help." Damn, he probably shouldn't have said that.
Frank snapped to attention, fixing his brother with a penetrating stare. "Why didn't you tell anybody?"
"I don't know." Joe looked away only to gasp his brother's name as in the next instant his vision greyed. In only a split second his sight grew black until only a pinpoint of light showed directly in front of him. He felt as if he were swaying and though it only lasted a few seconds Joe was sure he would have ended up on the floor if he'd been standing. Instinctively he reached for his brother, the slight movement serving to increase the disconcerting effect on his balance.
Frank moved closer just as Joe reached out, his brother's hand falling on his shoulder. "Joe, what is it?" There was a look of fear on Joe's face, worrying Frank more than the gasping of his name had done.
As quickly as it had come the event passed bringing a sigh of relief from the younger Hardy. "That was...strange, scary."
"What was? What happened?" Frank anxiously asked.
"I couldn't see, well mostly."
"Couldn't see? Joe that's serious." A sudden thought occurred to the older boy, it'd be just like his brother. "Has this happened before?"
"No," Joe saw the doubt on his brother's face, "no Frank. I swear this is the first time it's happened."
"So your sight just went away?" He really didn't like the sound of this.
"Kind of. It started at the edges..."
"What started?"
"Blackness ; it grew fast until all I could see was a pinpoint of light. It messed with my balance too. I felt like I was swaying."
"That's why you reached for me?"
"I guess. That was just instinct really," Joe admitted. "I'm just glad I was sitting down, probably would have fallen if I'd been standing."
"Was there any pain?"
"No, just my vision going wonky along with my balance. But I think the balance was because of the vision problem."
"We need to tell Dad." Frank could see by the look on Joe's face that he was about to protest. "We don't know what caused it Joe, it might be something serious. Do you really want to wait and risk waiting too long?"
Joe sagged, or would have if his ribs would allow it, he knew when he was beat. "Alright but I'm not going to the emergency room. Dr. Bates' office should be fine."
Frank decided not to argue. He'd let his father and the doctor handle that. "Be right back."
"What's wrong?" Fenton asked the moment he saw Frank's face.
"Did Joe hurt himself?" Gertrude asked
"Why would you ask that?"
Gertrude smiled. "I realize your father and I are old in your eyes but there isn't anything wrong with our hearing. We heard a few things hitting walls."
"Oh, no that isn't why I came in here. I think his ribs and neck might have protested the movement but he said the pain from it wasn't very bad."
"Then what's wrong?" Fenton asked again. He frowned thoughtfully as his eldest relayed the event with Joe's vision. "You're right Frank we shouldn't ignore that. I'll call Dr. Bates and see what he thinks we should do. You let Joe know," he instructed as he headed for the phone. "Oh and Frank, tell your brother that if the doctor says emergency room then that's where we'll be heading."
"I'll let him know."
A short time later the family, Gertrude refused to be left behind, were on their way to the doctor's office. Dr. Bates was well acquainted with Joe and knew how much he disliked hospitals. His most recent experience certainly wouldn't have helped in that department. As the doctor had an x-ray machine in the office he had told them the initial examination could easily be done in the office. If all went well there would be no need for a hospital visit.
Joe chewed his bottom lip as he looked out the window. He had acted as if it wasn't any big deal but the truth was he was scared. He didn't know what could cause his vision to black out like it had and the few things he could think of were very bad. His brother's hand on his arm brought him out of his thoughts.
"It'll be okay Joe," Frank spoke softly, reassuringly.
"Of course it will," Joe easily agreed.
"You don't have to pretend Joe; I can see you're worried. Anybody would be."
"I guess." Turning back to the window Joe resumed watching the scenery flash by as his mind worried over the possibilities.
Dr. Bates was a very old-fashioned doctor. He'd even been known to make house calls when needed, something you didn't find anymore. His office was located in the front part of an old two story house; the doctor's living quarters taking up the back half and second floor. He was waiting for them when the door opened, Fenton holding it open for the rest of the family as they made their way inside.
"Hello Joe, your father tells me you're having some trouble," the elderly doctor greeted his patient.
"Did he tell you what happened?" Joe asked.
"He did, but I'd like to hear it from you. Why don't we go on back to the exam room," he suggested. Leading the way he pushed the door open for the youngest Hardy, leaving the rest of the family to wait in the outer room. "Now Joe, could you tell me exactly what happened?" He listened carefully, occasionally jotting a note as the younger man described what had happened. "Was there any pain, any at all?"
Joe gave the question some thought. He'd told Frank no but he had only been thinking of obvious pain. "No, I don't remember any, not even a twinge," he answered after a moment.
"And what did you do right before the blackout?"
"Nothing, I just turned my head, that's all." Joe bit his lip, he wasn't sure he wanted to ask the next bit. "Dr. Bates do you think it's something serious?"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here Joe. It's just as likely to be something minor as a serious problem. You might only have turned your head a little too quickly," the doctor responded, hoping to soothe his patient's fear. "I'd like to take some x-rays of your neck to begin with. That's the most likely trouble spot, given your recent injuries. Once I can look at those I'll have a better idea of how to proceed. Sound good to you?"
Joe smiled. "Yeah." He followed the doctor down the hall to the x-ray area.
"I'll be right back," Dr. Bates said as he looked at the exam table. "I think we're going to need a little help." Saying nothing more he left the room, returning a couple of minutes later with Frank. Working together the three men, mostly Frank and the doctor, moved Joe from the chair to the exam table. "If you'll wait in the hall Frank I'll get the x-rays taken care of."
Laying a lead apron over his patient the doctor got to work. After taking several x-rays from various angles he called Frank back into the room and they got Joe back into his chair. "Could you take your brother back to the exam room while I develop the x-rays?"
"Of course Doctor," Frank readily agreed. Nothing was said as they moved down the hall to the exam room. "You want me to stay?" Frank asked as Joe wheeled past him into the room.
"You don't have to."
"But you'd rather not be alone," it wasn't a question. Following his brother into the room Frank shut the door behind him. Neither brother wanted to give much thought to their reason for being here, opting rather for small talk as they waited. When the door opened a short while later both young men were relieved to see that while the doctor wasn't smiling he didn't seem terribly worried.
Dr. Bates attached the x-rays to the light board and turned it on. "I've found the problem Joe and while it does need to be addressed it isn't as serious as it could be."
"So I'm not going to go blind?" Joe asked, finally voicing one of his biggest fears, the other being a tumor that would eventually kill him.
"No Joe," Dr. Bates assured the young man. Picking up a small pointer he indicated the area on the x-rays that needed explaining. "The problem is right here. These two vertebrae, C2 and C5 specifically are displaced. It likely occurred during the electroshock you were subjected to."
"Are you saying my neck is broken?" Joe asked in a small voice, his eyes never leaving the x-rays.
"Technically it could be stated as such but it would be more accurate to think of it as a dislocation."
"Okay, that sounds a little better I guess."
"This is what's happened, C2 and C5 have become dislocated and when you turned your head a nerve was pinched, causing the vision problems. You may also experience headaches or neuralgia as a result of the injury."
"Why wouldn't the doctors in Hong Kong have caught that?" Joe asked.
"I can't answer that Joe but x-rays are misread more often than you might think. It's also possible that the soft tissue damage from the electroshock induced seizures could have hidden the injury. Now that damage has made good progress on healing it has allowed other problems to become apparent," Dr. Bates patiently explained.
"So it wasn't necessarily incompetence?"
"No Joe. I won't rule that out but there are so many variables that could have caused the doctors to miss the damage that I'm not comfortable casting blame."
Joe nodded thoughtfully, "Fair enough."
"Can it be fixed Doctor?" Frank asked.
"Yes, there are a couple of options."
"Maybe Dad should be in here for this," Frank suggested before Dr. Bates could go any further.
Joe agreed. "Might as well bring Aunt Gertrude too."
Frank left, retuning a moment later with the remainder of the family. With Joe's permission the doctor quickly brought them up to speed.
"As I was about to tell Joe there are a couple of options. One would be surgery and while that would certainly fix the problem anytime you operate so near the spinal cord you are running a risk of some pretty severe complications."
"Well I didn't think there'd be a pill that would fix it," Joe joked. He knew it couldn't be that simple.
Dr. Bates chuckled. "No Joe, but there is an alternative, one that is less invasive. How familiar are you with chiropractic?"
Joe looked at his brother wondering if he had ever heard of it.
"Isn't that where a trained professional uses their hands to force the bones of the spine into their proper position?" Frank asked. He remembered reading something about it, though he couldn't have said where.
"Yes, that's it exactly," Dr. Bates confirmed. "Many doctors frown upon it, seeing it as little more than quackery and I'll admit some who practice it are untrained, dangerous charlatans. There are some, however, who have gone to school for many years learning how to use chiropractic manipulations safely and effectively. If you opt for that route I can recommend a Chiropractor who is well trained and trustworthy."
"Do I have to decide today?" Joe asked.
"No, not at all. While the problem needs to be addressed, the sooner the better, you have time to examine all your options. I'll give you some brochures and you can talk it over with your family, decide what you want to do."
"What would you do Dr. Bates?" Fenton asked.
It was a fair question. "If Joe were my son I'd recommend chiropractic over surgery. While problems could occur with chiropractic it isn't invasive and the doctor I have in mind is exceedingly cautious, particularly when manipulating the vertebrae of the neck."
"I guess we'll talk it over and let you know in a few days," Joe said.
"Good enough Joe. Let me just get those brochures and you can be on your way."
TBC...
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