Chapter 50

As soon as Jeff was brought back into his room he was surrounded by police with a barrage of questions for him. Jeff struggled to answer as best as he could, shaking his head yes or no. He grew more frustrated as time moved on. Thankfully, his doctor finally came in and ordered them to leave.

"I've got good news," he stated once only Gil and Matt were left in the room. "Your tests came back and they're good. Our lungs are functioning well and there's no sign of any additional bleeding."

"So does that mean the tube can come out?" Matt asked him. Jeff felt an overwhelming feeling of relief as the doctor nodded.

"Now you need to remember when it comes out there's going to be some soreness, and it will hurt to talk but it will still be a lot easier to communicate with everyone. Are you ready?" He asked and Jeff nodded eagerly. "Okay, now I'm going to remove it, when I tell you to take a deep breath."

Matt watched as the doctor removed the tube. When it was out, Jeff had a coughing fit which Matt could tell hurt him tremendously. But after a few sips of water, Jeff was sitting up breathing on his own.

"Now you take it easy." The doctor warned him. "I'll be back to check on you in a little bit." Once he left Matt and Gil just stared at Jeff.

"You look like shit." Jeff finally said hoping to alleviate the fearful look in his brother's face.

"Yea well thanks to you I haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately." Matt said smiling.

"It shows." Jeff joked as his brother and father sat down next to him. They were all smiling but no one wanted to address what Jeff really wanted to talk about. "So what do you know?"

"The police are trying to locate him now." The last person to talk to him was Vince, and Shane was vague about where he was. They took Vince's cell phone to try to pin point the location and they're going to check Shane's as well but they're thinking he already shut it off."

"That's it?"

"Vince called off the guys from searching until they can get a more accurate location. They've pretty much searched all of Virginia and North Carolina anyway." Matt told him. "He and Stephanie are with the police now, trying to help."

"How'd they take it?" Jeff asked and Matt just shook his head.

"I imagine it can't be easy." Gil said. "The thought that your own child could be capable of something like this is hard to accept. Not to mention that he considers Jess one of his own."

"And there really has been no sign of her?" Jeff asked. Already knowing the answer, Matt and Gil didn't respond to him.

"Look, it's been a pretty rough day. Why don't you try to rest a little?" Gil said.

"I can't, not till she's back with me. I can't even imagine what she might be going through."

"She's tough." Gil told his son. "She can make it through this but she's going to need your help and you can't do anything holed up in this hospital bed. You need to get your rest. Let your body heal." Jeff wanted to argue more with his father but he knew he was right and he was actually too tired to fight it.

"Fine." He agreed. "But the minute something happens, I want to know."

"You will, I promise." Gil turned to Matt. "Let's give your brother some space." Now waiting for a response, he dragged Matt out of the room.

"Don't you think someone should stay with him?" Matt asked once they were in the hallway.

"I think he needs some time to himself. He's got a lot to process and us hovering over him isn't going to make it any easier. Why don't we see how the investigation is going? Hopefully we'll have something good to tell Jeff when he wakes up." Matt agreed and they walked over to where the police had set up shop.

Vince was still sitting in the corner talking to a detective but it looked like they were done with Stephanie. She was sitting on a couch with Amy. She looked visibly upset and Matt could tell Amy was trying to console her.

"How ya doing?" Matt asked going over to them.

"I'm sorry." Stephanie said with tears in her eyes.

"It's not your fault." He told her.

"I should have known. With everything he's done in the past, I don't know why I didn't think of it."

"Because he's your brother," Amy said.

"That shouldn't make a difference. I mean I saw all the signs. He was always so protective of her. I've even accused him of being obsessed before but when everything started to happen, I didn't even think about it. I just don't get how he could do this. He drove her to a breakdown; she tried to kill herself, not to mention what he did to Jeff. It's hard to believe that's my brother." They just looked at her not knowing what to say.

"I had to call my mother." She continued. "I didn't want to but the police were already sending someone over to the search the house and I didn't want her to find out from them. I had to tell her what he had done. I had to say that her son, my brother, kidnapped my best friend."

"How did she take it?" Matt asked.

"She broke down crying. I still don't think she believes it. What's worse, she had to go tell Marissa. Can you imagine finding out that your husband has been stalking someone for over three years?"

"How's Vince?"

"I haven't had a chance to talk to him. He's been with the FBI since we got in here."

"FBI?" Matt asked.

"Yea. That's them over there. I guess because Jess was taken across state lines, they're here." They were distracted by a commotion across the room as several agents took off.

"What's going on?" Matt asked them but no one would answer him. Vince finally came over to them with Gil following him.

"They pulled Shane's cell phone record. He made a call a few hours ago, to North Carolina." Vince told them.

"Is he still in North Carolina?" Stephanie asked.

"They didn't say. They were going to check with whoever received the called."

"Did they say who it was?" Matt asked.

"They weren't very forth coming." Vince told them. "I'm going to make some calls to see if I can get any more information."

"But nothing on Jessica?" Amy asked and Vince shook his head.

"So far nothing but at least they have a lead. I just want to know what the hell he was thinking," Vince said.

"Or why we didn't see it earlier." Stephanie added shaking her head.

"How's Jeff?" Vince asked.

"He's resting now." Gil told him. "They took the tube out and the doctor said his test results were good. He's out of the woods, now he just needs to heal."

"Can we see him?" Amy asked.

"A little later, I want to give him some time to deal with everything." Gil said.

"I'd like to speak with him also," Vince said. "But we'll wait to you feel he's ready. I need to go check on Linda and then I'll make those calls. I'll be back shortly." Vince told them then left the room.

He had to get out of there, Vince thought to himself. It was just too much to deal with. Somewhere along the way, his son had lost it, and Vince had missed it. He felt like he failed as a father and didn't know what to do next. He also couldn't stand to look at the Hardys. It was his son's fault that they were in that current predicament. Shane tried to kill Jeff and now he had his hands on Jessica.

Vince knew he had to find Shane and fast, fearing the consequences if the police found him first. That way he could ensure Shane would be safe, and Vince would make sure he got whatever medical help he needed. I'll get my son back, Vince thought with a sigh.