Author's Note:

Thank goodness for snowstorms! I'm housebound with my family so I decided to post this chapter early in the day! I hope all my east coast and New England neighbors are staying safe during the storm! Enjoy the chapter and the snow if you have it! Don't forget to review!

Chapter Twenty-One

Frank was lost, left in darkness. Thoughts whirled around his head, people, places, events. One thing kept coming to mind though. A vision of a person whom he thinks is gone. She stretches out her hand for him to grab on to but he can't seem to reach her. She disappears and he yells her name for her to come back to him.

"Nancy," escaped his lips causing his father to drop the book he was reading. Fenton rushed over to his son, waiting for him to open his eyes for the first time in days. He was so distracted he didn't hear Joe come in until the sound of a wrapper came to Fenton's ears.

"What is it?" Joe asked in between bites of the burger in his hands.

"Do you have to do that now?" Fenton asked, annoyed.

"Geesh, I only asked a question," Joe said, rolling his eyes.

"I know you did but do you have to be so rude?"

"Okay! Okay! I'll leave!" Joe was about to leave the room when Fenton stopped him and wrapper his arms around his son. "You okay, Dad?"

"I've just been such a wreck since your brother has been here," Fenton said, quietly. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just thought I heard Frank say something and I was sure that this would be the moment he finally woke up."

"Dad, it hasn't that long," Joe said, comforting his father. "I trust if you did hear something, he'll be up soon. You want your dinner?"

"Yes! I'm starving!" Fenton realized he sounded exactly like Joe when he was hungry but he didn't say anything.

"There had better be enough there for me," replied a groggy voice. Fenton and Joe whirled around to Frank, whose eyes were still closed but his hand was resting on his face. "You know you two could wake the dead with your arguing."

"Frank!" cried Fenton. He put his food onto the tray table and rushed over just as Frank finally opened his eyes to look at him. Joe came over and gave his brother a hug as best he could.

"Don't ever do that again!" Joe cried, pointing a finger at Frank's face.

"Do what? I don't understand." Frank looked from his brother to his father in confusion. Joe and Fenton looked at each other in alarm.

"Frank, what was the last thing you remember?" Fenton asked with a worried look. He nodded to Joe who left the room, a french fry sticking out of his mouth.

"I'm not sure," Frank said, trying to recall everything. "I remember coming to River Heights to help Nancy and then she disappeared. A few other things pop into my head as well but it's all a jumbled mess. My head hurts too. What…what are you doing here, Dad?"

A doctor walked into the room with Joe close behind him. He began looking over Frank, though he started to become a little nervous as to why Fenton was there and why they were acting like something was wrong.

"Stop, please." Frank pushed the doctor away. "Someone tell me, what is going on?"

"Frank, calm down," Fenton said gently, holding on to Frank's shoulders. "Everything will be okay once the doctor is done with you."

"But, Dad, I'm not sure why you're so worried or even why you're here," Frank stated. "Joe and I just got here just a day ago. Talk to Mr. Drew. He'll tell you I'm not crazy."

"Son," Fenton began, holding onto Frank's arms ad looking straight at him. "You asked me to send your laptop here and I brought it instead. Don't you remember? You've been out for almost three days now. We've been worried sick about you! Mr. Drew is fine. Hannah is fine. You are fine."

"But where's Nancy?" Frank protested the doctor once more but this time a few nurses came in to help. "Dad? Please tell me she's okay! Stop it!"

Fenton and Joe were pushed out of the room by a nurse as Frank continued to yell. The door closed leaving the father and son to wonder why Frank was acting like that. A few moments later, the doctor came out with a grim look on his face.

"What's wrong with my son?" Fenton asked him.

"It's typical for patients with head trauma to wake up confused," the doctor explained. "What he may be experiencing is what we call 'retrograde amnesia.' He'll recall certain things but not a lot, especially events that just occurred within the past few days. His long-term memory is fine but the rest of it is just muddled."

"Will Frank be okay?" Fenton asked, trying to go back into the room. The doctor stopped him from entering.

"Eventually," the doctor said. "I gave him a sedative to calm him down a bit so he'll be out again. What he needs right now is rest."

"Can we see him?" Joe asked hopefully.

"Yes, but just know it's going to be hours before he wakes up again," the doctor noted. "The best thing for you and for Frank right now is for all of you to have rest."

"Okay, thank you," Fenton said.

"The nurses can assist you if you need anything more." They watched as the doctor went to the nurse's station and placed a folder on the counter.

"This way, Mr. Hardy," replied a nurse who opened the door for Fenton and Joe. When they reentered the room, Frank was peacefully asleep once more as if he never woke up. Fenton walked over to the bed and bent over, saying a small prayer for Frank to be okay.

"Tell me again why we're going back there when our faces are all over the news?" asked Sage. Maddox was driving the car as Sage sat next to him in the passenger seat. He wanted so much for her to just shut up but he didn't bother to say anything. He knew it would make it worse for him. "This is just stupid! I could be back in my warm bed right now but no, Dr. 'Crazyman' wants us to go do a job in River Heights…again. How much longer till we get there?"

"Not much longer if you don't shut your trap!" growled Maddox looking over at Sage. "I'll pull over and show you a thing or two."

"Hey, we made a deal you wouldn't do that!" Sage shrieked.

"Yeah, but it didn't involve your bitching throughout the whole time we been together! Now, let's get there in peace before I kill you!"

Sage huffed and folded her arms over her chest. She didn't understand why Maddox was treating her this way. They drove the rest of the way to River Heights in silence, reaching their destination near midnight. Maddox pulled the car up to a small but quaint house and stared at it for a few minutes. Only one light was on upstairs while the rest of the house was dark.

"How long do we have to wait here?" Sage asked. Maddox rolled his eyes again and looked over at her. She grumbled and slouched back into her seat.

The pair waited another hour before the light went off and the house seemed silent. Maddox watched the rest of the neighborhood as it slept. All of the houses were just as dark and silent as the one they were interested in. He looked at the clock on the dashboard and tapped Sage, who was fast asleep, on the shoulder. When she didn't wake right away, he punched in the arm in which she squealed loudly. Maddox shushed her with a finger over his mouth and pointed to the house.

Fifteen minutes later, Maddox carried a large bundle over his shoulder with Sage ahead of him, opening the trunk. He dropped the bundle into the trunk with a thud, closed it and drove off.

"One down, one to go," Sage said. Maddox said nothing more on the short drive but his heart was pounding in his chest. The night was still young and he had a job to do.

"I'll wait here," Maddox stated as he pulled into a parking space. The five-story building stood ahead of them, lighting up the night. With it being in the wee hours of the morning, the building was not as busy as it would be during the day.

"Fine," Sage said, getting out of the car and slamming the door. Maddox watched her walk toward the building as if she was supposed to be there. He waited until she disappeared into the lobby before he shifted the car into gear and moved it toward the back of the building where the delivery doors were. No one was around so he parked the car next to the building and got out. Sage may have had her job to do but he had his own that she didn't even know about. He just hoped he got out without being caught.

Joe seemed restless and couldn't sleep. He felt like something was wrong but he couldn't quite grasp as to what it was. At Detective Norris' insistence the night before, Joe and his father returned to the hotel with Hannah to get some much needed sleep. The detective assured them that everything would be okay but Joe was still a little leery. He kept waking up every hour since Fenton went to sleep but just couldn't stay asleep himself. He looked at the clock reading 2:15 in the morning. It had been almost nine hours since Frank finally woke up and scared the crap out of Joe with his outburst. Fenton was worried as well but fell asleep quickly with the knowledge that Frank was awake.

"Dad?" Joe looked over to his father in the other bed. No answer.

"Dad?" Joe said a little louder.

"Mmm?"

"Dad?!" Joe yelled.

"What?!" cried Fenton, annoyed and rolling over to face his son. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. "There had better be a good reason for you to wake me up this early!"

"I have a bad feeling," Joe said, worried.

"You seriously woke me up for a bad dream? How old are you? Five?" Fenton flopped back onto the bed, pulling the covers over him. "Go back to bed!"

"Dad! I said I have a bad feeling," cried Joe. "Not a bad dream."

At this, someone pounded on the adjacent door, Fenton lifting his head again. Joe rushed over to the door, swinging it open to reveal a tear-faced Hannah standing at the door in her night gown. She held a phone in her hand that looked like someone was still on the line. Hannah thrust the phone into Joe's hand and started to sob.

"Hello?"

"Joe!" cried the voice of Detective Norris. "You and your father may want to go to the hospital with Hannah."

"Is everything okay?" Joe cried, his heart pounding. Fenton threw the covers off him and started getting dressed.

"No! Someone just tried to kill Carson Drew!"