Chapter 25: Vows
Joe Hardy had never been accused of being a squeamish person. He'd seen his share of blood and injuries over the years, be they sports related or from his line of work. He'd even toughed it out when Chet popped his wrist back into alignment so that the rapid healing properties of the vampire blood still in his system would allow the bones to knit back together correctly. His arm was still tender, but almost good as new.
However, the sight he beheld just now left him wanting to run to the nearest bathroom and relieve his queasy stomach. He tried to inhale and take a few calming breaths, but that antiseptic hospital smell filled his nose and his stomach won out.
"I'll be right back." He squeaked to Phil and practically ran from the room, almost upsetting a nurse with a tray of food for another patient in his race to the restroom.
…..
Fenton, Laura, Gertrude and Vanessa arrived exactly two hours after Joe hung up with his father earlier that morning. Another three hours of pacing and waiting in the surgical waiting room passed before a nurse led the way to a different family consultation room. All four Hardys, Phil, Chet and Vanessa crowded in to hear what the nurse and doctors had to say.
Dr. Miller, a small man with salt and pepper hair and bottle-thick glasses was pleased to report that the rib that had punctured Frank's lower left lung tissue had been re-aligned successfully and the lobe had re-inflated. However, the pneumonia that had set in was very much still a concern. Because of the level of pain medication Frank would be on to manage his leg and the fact that he would need to remain flat on his back for some time, it was best for Frank to remain intubated for the time being. A respiratory therapist would come in and attach a nebulizer to Frank's breathing tube twice a day to administer the needed medicine to clear up his lungs.
Dr. Barringer was less cheerful. He dove right in with the fact that because Frank's blood pressure and pulmonary function were already compromised, he was unable to perform the complete reconstruction of Frank's femur. Instead, he had to perform a temporary external fixation, a bar and screws would be visible on the outer part of Frank's leg. A second surgery would be in order once Frank was stable enough to endure it.
"Your son is in for a long recovery, six to eight months at least. That will include physical therapy, but I hope to have him moving that leg as soon as possible after the second surgery."
"When can he be transferred to Bayport Memorial?" Laura asked as she nervously wrung a hospital brochure between her delicate hands.
"Not until after the second surgery, I want to oversee that myself. Then I'll turn his case over to Bayport Orthopedic Associates, Dr. Hamner is an excellent surgeon to consult for your son's follow-up care."
The family and doctors exchanged parting pleasantries and set off for the Intensive Care Unit waiting room. Another hour and a half passed before the family was allowed to see Frank, only two at a time. Fenton and Laura returned to the waiting room after twenty minutes, pale and shaken from their visit.
Joe and Phil went next, and it was more than Joe could take. This wasn't the first time Joe had seen his brother in a hospital bed, but it was by far the worst he'd seen. He had been warned about the ventilator, and he thought he knew what to expect based on the diagram Dr. Barringer had sketched out of the external fixation. But actually seeing it was another story altogether. A circular metal framework supported the pins and bars that kept Frank's thigh straight. Although gauze pads covered and protected the pins' entry sites, the extensive bruising and yellowy-orange flesh from the Betadine wash made Frank's leg look just…wrong, unnatural.
Joe noticed a bag clipped to the bed's frame. Of course, Frank had been catheterized as well since he wouldn't be going anywhere soon to take care of that. Joe approached the bed to touch his brother's hand, and noticed both wrists were secured with soft restraints, obviously so if he woke up he wouldn't pull or tear at anything. The lack of an I.V. on either wrist became apparent, and Joe's eyes traveled up to a pole where several bags of various medications, the transfusion blood, and saline, all bottle-necked into one line, attached to Frank's neck. That was the cherry on top, and Joe speed from the room as fast as he could.
Alone, Phil pulled up a chair. He tried not to focus on the gory details and the beeping and pulsing machines surrounding Frank. Phil took Frank's cool hand in his, and gazed at Frank's pale, peaceful face.
"I guess it's just you and me right now." Phil tried to gather his thoughts as he stroked each finger, and traced the lines of Frank's palm. "I'm going to call work tomorrow, going to take a leave of absence until you're out of the woods. And if they don't like it, then fuck 'em, I'll quit. I'll help Dad at the store when I can until you're better, then I'll look for something else. But I'm going to be here for you, every step of the way." He reached up and brushed a lock of hair that had to be tickling Frank's eyebrow. Frank looked so young and vulnerable lying there.
"You did what you had to do to protect us, to protect me. And you've paid a high price for our protection. But you did not deserve what that bastard did to you. Don't think for one minute that I won't love you or want you because he touched you and treated you that way." He lowered his head and kissed the back of Frank's hand, and pressed his forehead against the cool skin.
"I don't know if your ears can hear me, but I hope your heart can. I've had a lot of time to think while you've been gone. You are my past, my present, and I want you to be my future. I want to make a home with you, maybe in a few years we can adopt, have a little family. I want to grow old with you. So, you need to get well, get up and walk again. Go back to work, to what you love and what you do best. And I vow to be here, to support you and to love you."
"You really mean that?" Phil popped his head up and turned around. Joe was leaning against the door's frame. He still looked a little green.
"Every word."
"I'm going to hold you to it." Joe sank into a chair on the other side of the bed, out of view of the medical apparatus' that had unnerved him earlier.
"Can I make a confession Phil? When Frank first came out to me, I was more worried about him and his future, than upset because my brother was gay. I saw the way gay kids at school got teased and pushed around. I read the headlines about hate crimes and protesters. Society isn't always very kind to homosexuals, even in this more enlightened age we think we live in. I didn't want him to have to go through all of that. I just wanted him to have a happy life, like what I had envisioned for myself.
It's been really hard to watch him go through his relationship ups and downs, or to see people treat him differently when they realize he's gay. And I'll admit, there are some things that a straight brother just can't wrap his head around. But I'm glad that he's had you to lean on, and I'm glad you two are together now. You've made him very happy, and that's what Mom, Dad and I want for him."
"So…when the time is right, do I have your blessing?" Phil asked with a half smile. Joe chuckled at his friend.
"Well, if you're going to be all formal about it, I suppose I'm not the one to ask. You'll have to go to Dad and Mom. But if I could speak for them, then I'd say yes."
…..
The hikers shelter collapsed beneath the weight and the force of the man thrown into it. He sat up, dazed and covered in wooden splinters and snow.
"You will not touch him!" Amy said as she loomed over the man before her. Ezekiel sat on the top of the wooden picnic table as the drama before him unfolded.
"He only needs two more inoculations and he'll be turned!" Eric pleaded as he stood up, shaking the debris from his clothes.
"It's too late! By now he's probably received enough donor blood to dilute any of your venom that was in his system."
"Then I can start over…"
"Enough!" Amy took a moment to compose her self before she spoke again. "He is lying in that hospital, broken, because he tried to save me. He saved Ezekiel, instructed him to run and get away from his human friends. And where were you? You were responsible for his impending transformation. He was supposed to be under your protection.
So, where were you while the humans were freeing him and your brothers and sisters were being attacked? You were out there pouting like jealous lover looking for that silly boy. And to do what? Kill him? Kill an innocent life out of jealousy because you just cannot handle the truth? Tthat deep down Frank Hardy had fallen out of love with you a long time ago and his heart now belongs to another. That his beating human heart loved his friends and family so much that he endured your abuse just to protect them."
Amy stepped away, looking down the hill to the charred remains of the Hersher Estate. Amy was not sad or angry for the loss of her pretty things. For someone who had come up from nothing, she had acquired enough liquid assets to start over again, the same for Ezekiel. But her heart was heavy. She mourned the loss of her brothers and sisters, of Magnus… The knowledge of Magnus' betrayal was like a double edge sword in her heart.
But Magnus was right about one thing, she did have a soft spot for humans, humans who wanted to remain human. Frank never truly wanted this. And despite everything he was put through, he'd seen Ezekiel spared and her own life as well. If Eric had been there, he probably would have tried to find a way to save him too.
"I know I promised the slayer that I would not remain in his territory, and I will not hunt nor try to breed from this area. But I will have to amend our agreement. Because as of now, Frank Hardy's mortal life is under my protection."
"No!" Eric yelled, "You can't do that!"
"I can. It is now so. You may not touch Frank Hardy. The same goes for his lover." Eric lunged for Amy, but Ezekiel hopped up from the table and clothes-lined Eric with his arm before Eric got within a few feet of her. Ezekiel then stood beside Amy and looked down on his younger brother.
"I'm sorry Eric." The youth cleared his throat. "The mortal lives of Frank Hardy and Phil Cohen are under my protection."
"No…No!" Eric kneeled over in the snow, shaking and weeping. He rose up and looked at the pair one last time before he sprinted into the dark forest.
"You realize he'll try to find a loophole."
"I know." Amy said sadly.
…..
Alf Hooper oversaw his grandsons and cousin's children covering up as much of the Hersher Estate battle as possible. He was tired, had been feeling tired for months now. But he was going to be eighty nine this fall, what did he expect? He was quiet on the ride home, actually nodded off until Biff woke him when their party arrived at Buddy's parents' house.
It was lunchtime and Benny's wife had anticipated their arrival. The Hooper hunters usually stopped by for a big breakfast or lunch after a long night of slaying. Alf pushed his food around on his plate, he had a lot on his mind. His thoughts traveled back to the last moments of the battle, when he should have taken the shot and killed that white faced devil then and there. But his reflects had been slowing down, he wasn't quick enough and the boy who they had been trying to rescue got hurt anyway. Damn.
Joe had called Biff on the ride home to give him an update. They were all relieved that Frank was going to live and eventually recover. Alf even promised to stop by and meet Frank when he was transferred to Bayport Memorial.
Buddy and Biff each gave their grandfather a bear-hug goodnight, and set off for home. Old man Hooper went through the now empty house, grumbling a little at the mess all those whipper-snappers made. It sure was good to have a house full though, it reminded him of when Al and Benny were young.
When he finally retired for the night, and closed his daily devotional book, he picked up a picture frame from his nightstand. It was a picture of him and Marjorie from their wedding day, he was in his crisply ironed army uniform, she was in an ivory skirt and jacket, with a fox stole around her neck that she had borrowed from her sister.
"Good night sweetheart." He said, he then set the frame down and turned out the light.
His eyes snapped open to the sensation of someone slapping him on his back.
"Wake up Hooper before all the pretty ones are taken." Private Ackerman said cheerfully as he walked past. Alf watched as the other young soldiers lined up to exit the bus that had brought them to the ball.
"Oh, this dream again." Alf said to himself as he stood up and got in line to relive this memory. He stepped off the bus and was joined by his best friend Smitty. Smitty was going to die in a month, he didn't know that of course but Alf would remember watching the light leaving his eyes on the battlefield somewhere in France. They walked together, laughing and talking until they entered the ballroom.
There was something different about the dream tonight, because as soon as Alf walked into the ballroom the swinging music of the band stopped. Everyone who had been seated at a table stood, and the thunder of applause began. Well this was certainly different. He turned to Smitty, but his friend just smiled broadly and motioned for Alf to walk in the direction of the bandstand.
Slowly he walked down the path that was being cleared for him. He first saw his brother Biff, which didn't make sense because he should still be in high school, but there he stood, tall and muscular wearing his own army uniform. Then he saw his mother and father, he saw faces that weren't associated with this memory that he had met over the years. He saw his son Al standing there, as intact as when he last saw him. And then there was Marjorie.
This part of the dream had not changed. She was still as beautiful as the day he met her, her auburn hair pinned up in victory curls, wearing her brand new powder blue dress. But instead of waiting shyly by the punch bowl for Alf to come up and ask her to dance, she ran to him. Marjorie threw her arms around his neck and the crowd broke into another round of cheer and clapping. She kissed him and the sensation took his breath away.
"Darling, I've missed you." She said when she broke away.
"Oh, Sweetie, I've missed you too."
The noise of the crowd faded as she took his hand and led him to the band stand. The band leader, whom Alf had a hard time seeing for the glare of lights that surrounded the figure, gave him a slight bow and stepped aside. The ballroom filled with a brilliant light, and Alf and Marjorie walked forward, hand in hand.