Nancy laid in bed, staring out into the darkness, which was really all that she could do at the moment. Sure her dad had gotten her a new braille laptop that would allow her to browse the internet but she still hadn't learned braille yet. She really didn't see the point. Her life was over, why bother. Of course her father was worried about her, but that was kind of his job, wasn't it. He was just doing what he thought best. Even if she didn't approve of his methods.

"Nancy, are you awake dear?" Hannah voice filled the room with sudden noise, making Nancy jump.

"Yeah, what's up?" Nancy grunted, not moving an inch.

"Your father wants you up," the friendly housekeeper said, "You have a doctor's appointment in Chicago this morning."

"I just got out of the hospital yesterday, why in the world do I have a doctor's appointment so soon, my first check up isn't for another week?"

"I don't know dear. All I know is that you leave in an hour, so you best get ready. Do you need any help?"

"I'm eighteen, I think I can dress myself, thanks."

"Alright then, if you change your mind, just holler."

…

Carson Drew glanced up from his phone, where he was reading the local newspaper, and smiled up at Nancy as she entered the kitchen, "Good morning sweetheart, did you sleep well?"

"I guess," Nancy muttered, waving her hand uncertainly in front of her until she found the back of her chair and pulled it out.

"I'm assuming that Hannah told you that you have a doctor's appointment today?" he asked, as he took in his daughter, her hair was still a mess, obviously not done for the day and her shirt was on backwards, she did not look like she wanted to be up and about today.

"Yeah, what's that about?" Nancy demanded, "I thought my first check up was in a week."

"This isn't a check up," Carson insisted, "I got you an appointment with a psychologist, he's an old friend of mine and has helped me on many cases."

"I don't need help," Nancy insisted.

"You're pulling away from everyone that you know," Carson pointed out, "Ned, Frank and Joe. Nancy I'm worried about you, please, just humor me. Talking to a professional might help."

"I still don't need help," Nancy muttered as Hannah brought the food to the table.

"I see," she said with a smirk, "I take it that wearing your shirt backwards is a fashion statement?"

…

Joe grabbed his suitcase from the luggage carousel with a sigh, "So after we check into the hotel, we're headed to Nancy's, right? Once she hears all the gory details of our case she is bound to want to help."

"I don't know about this, Joe," Frank said, snagging his bag, "I'm not saying she won't, but you didn't talk to her yesterday. She was pretty adamant that she was taking a break from solving cases. Maybe we should respect her decision. She was only released from the hospital yesterday, she could still be injured."

"Well, yeah, but come on, this isn't like Nance, Frank you know that. She just needs to get back on the proverbial horse."

"Joe!"

"I'm just saying, we'll start talking about the case with her, and the next thing you'll know she'll be solving it for us."

"I doubt it," Frank said, "I think you've forgotten how stubborn Nan can be when she wants to."

"And you've forgotten how stubborn I can be when I want to be."

"No Joe, I don't think I'll ever forget how stubborn you can be."

…

Nancy slid into the car, "That wasn't as bad as I thought that it will be," she admitted, as she put her seat belt on, it took several attempts but she finally figured out how to click it in place.

"So what did you talk about?"

"He just wanted to get to know me better," Nancy confessed, "and he told me about some programs that I could benefit from."

"What type of Programs?"

"Well, there's this class I can take that will teach me braille, how to use technology, and just… how to get from point A to point B."

"That sounds that it will be useful," Carson said.

"Yeah, and there's a… support group I guess, a group meets once a month and does something together."

"That sounds like it will be a good way to make new friends."

"Can we stop by the Library on the way home?" Nancy asked, "I want to pick up an audio book, I'm bored sitting at home all the time."

Carson smiled, the antidepressants that the doctor prescribed a couple of weeks before she was released from the hospital were finally starting to take effect. He might actually get his daughter back, "Okay, but we can't stay too long," he insisted, "Since the Hardy Boys had to come this way for their case, I've invited them over for dinner."

"I hope you told Hannah to cook for eight people," Nancy said, "Joseph Hardy has an appetite like no other. Extremely high metabolism."

"Enough to eat enough food for five people?" Carson asked, "I knew from what you told me that he liked to eat, but I didn't realize that it was that bad."

"No, it's just, Bess and George are friends with them as well, and, well, you know Bess and George, they have a tendency of just inviting themselves over for dinner, and Bess is just as bad as Joe when it comes to food."

"I didn't think about that, I'll let Hannah know."

…

The library was a good call as far as Carson was concerned. The Librarian had been super helpful, helping Nancy download the Library app so that she would have access to their selection of audio books.

"Nancy," Carson said softly, gently touching her elbow to let her know where he was, "We need to get back, Frank and Joe will be at our place soon."

"I still can't believe that you invited Frank and Joe over."

Carson started to give Nancy a look before he remembered that she couldn't see him. He sighed, "I might not know the Hardy Boys as well as you do, but I do know that Joe Hardy would have showed up at our doorstep with or without an invitation, at least this way, Frank will be there to curtail some of Joe's more… impulsive behaviors."

"I guess you're right, but, I'm still worried about how they'll react to my..." Nancy trailed off, her hand going up to her eyes, "It took me a while to get Frank and Joe to treat me as an equal and not as some silly girl who doesn't know what she was doing."

"From what I understand from your first meetings, it was vice versa as well, you thought that they were getting in your way."

Nancy chuckled, "True, we kept getting in each others way. Finally Frank figured out that we were both working on the same case but from a different angle. Once we combined our information we were able to wrap the case up real quickly."

…

Frank sighed as he slipped into the driver's seat of the rental car that their dad had arranged for them. "Okay, we're checked in at the hotel, and our meeting with our informant isn't until tomorrow."

"Great," Joe insisted, "Now we can go check on Nancy, I just have a feeling that there's something they aren't telling us about her."

"Look, Joe, we need to be considerate, according to Bess Nancy was just released from the hospital yesterday. Let's try not to overwhelm her."

"Come on Frank, all she needs to feel like herself again is for her to get a whiff of a new case, like the one we are working on."

"She might not be well enough to help out, just because she's out of the hospital doesn't mean that she isn't still under restrictions. Remember when you had that surgery and you had to take it easy for a couple of weeks after you went home?"

"Yeah," Joe said, "So you think she might not be able to help out?"

"There's a good chance of it," Frank confessed as he drove past the on-ramp to the highway."

"Um, you missed our turn," Joe said.

"No I didn't," Frank said, "I want to pick something small up for Nancy first. We're on our way to visit a friend that just got released from the hospital. It's only polite to bring her at least a Get Well Card."

"And maybe some chocolates, girls love chocolates."

…

"What time are the Hardy Boys supposed to be here?" Nancy asked as her father pulled up into the driveway.

"I don't really know, why?"

"Nothing really," Nancy confessed, "I'm just a little tired, that's it."

"Makes sense," Carson agreed, "You're still healing, and aren't used to being up and about this much. You can go on upstairs and rest, and if Frank and Joe do show up, well, I'll keep them entertained until you come down. I might even get out your baby pictures."

"It's not like Frank and Joe haven't caught me in embarrassing predicaments before," Nancy pointed out, letting herself out of the car, "Besides Frank and Joe are just friends."

…

Frank smiled as he pulled up next to the house, "Here we are, the Drew residence."

"Great," Joe said grabbing the get-well card, box of chocolates, and the cute little teddy bear that Frank had insisted that they buy, "Let's go."

Hannah answered the door, smiling at them, "Hello boys, it's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you as well Hannah," Frank said, "How's Nancy doing? Bess told us that she was released from the hospital yesterday."

Hannah sighed, glancing up at the stairs, "She's doing okay," she admitted, "She's struggling a bit, but that's to be expected."

"Can we see her?" Joe asked, "We brought presents."

"Maybe later," Hannah said, letting the boys into the home, "Mr. Drew and Nancy just got back from running some errands, and Nancy was pretty tuckered out. I believe that she went upstairs to take a nap. She's still working on getting her strength back."

"No, no, we totally understand," Frank said, "If she's napping we can wait. We're just glad to hear that she's getting better."

"I'm sure Nancy will be back on her feet in no time," Joe agreed, "Especially once she hears about the case that we're working on."

"I hope so," Carson Drew said, appearing from his study. He nodded to the two teenage boys, and the presents in Joe's hands, "I see you come bearing gifts."

"Yeah, for Nancy," Frank said, "We heard that she's been in the hospital."

"That's right, she was released yesterday," Carson said, "How much do you know about what happened?"

"Only that she confronted a certain Charles Stokes who was prepping an arson. He got mad, and well," Joe swallowed a lump in his throat, "tried to kill her."

"From what Nancy was able to tell us, he threw a lit firecracker into her face while she was on the stairs. All she remembers is a blinding flash of light and falling down the stairs, before waking up in the hospital. There was a lot of nerve damage. She had to relearn how to walk and talk. They say it's a miracle that she recovered as fast and as well as she did," Carson took a deep breath, "The only lasting damage was done to her eyes, unfortunately, there's nothing the doctors can do for them. I'm telling you this now, so when Nancy wakes up you won't be surprised, but… Nancy is blind now."

Frank and Joe gave each other a horrified look.

"Why in the world did Bess not tell us that little detail!" Joe exclaimed.