LOST AND FOUND - PART III
RECOVERY
Chapter 20
When Joe opened his eyes one morning a week after Adam's friends arrived he was badly startled to see Thea, Dulcy, Marie, and Cassandra all in his room. Thea and Marie were sitting while the other two stood at the foot of his bed.
"Morning Joe," Thea said cheerfully as she leaned forward in her chair.
He looked at her with sleep-dulled eyes then pulled the covers over his head. Thea laughed.
"Dulcy?" she said and the tall, red-haired woman came to tug on the covers. Joe desperately tried to hold on to them, but was surprised when she managed to pull them out of his grasp. The tall woman pulled them down until they only covered him from the knees down. Joe shivered lying there in his nightshirt.
"It's time to get up and move around some Joe, we don't want you to become bed-bound," Thea said. "We need to get you out of bed and dressed today. But don't worry, the first day is always the worst."
Joe just stared at her in irritation as she looked back with raised eyebrows. "Do you need help getting dressed?" she said and Joe's eyes widened at the thought of the four of them dressing him.
"No, I can do it myself," he said quickly and sat up, but a wave of dizziness broke over him and he fell back as the room came to a spinning stop.
"Dear Lord, you're worse off than I thought," Thea said. "I'll send Adam up to help you. You didn't really think the four of us would do it, now did you?" She gave him a grin as she and Marie stood then the four women filed out of the room.
Adam came through the door only a few minutes later.
"Good morning," he said cheerfully and Joe groaned.
"What is it with you now? You never used to be so annoying in the morning."
"Could it be because I appreciate being alive? Or that I actually have something in my life to be cheerful about? Or the fact that my wife isn't dead?" Adam said and came to the side of the bed to look down at his brother.
The irritable expression on Joe's face cleared and he looked earnestly up. "Thea looked fine when she was just in here. She IS alright now, isn't she?"
Adam smiled at the younger man's concern. "She's fine and no one can believe how quickly she's recovered. And you need to recover too, so you have to get up and move around some. But don't worry, the first day is always the worst."
Joe chuckled, "You two have been together too long - Thea just said the same thing to me." He slowly sat up as Adam watched him closely.
"Alright so far?" Adam asked. Joe nodded. "Just stay sitting there for a minute."
Sighing at how incredibly weak he felt, Joe watched Adam move around the room, collecting his clothes. Then he moved back to the bed.
Adam took his legs by the ankle and slowly slid them over the edge of the bed. He let Joe sit there for a bit, then took him by the upper arms and helped him to stand.
Joe helped as much as he could and by the time he was fully dressed he was exhausted. Adam pushed on his shoulder and told him to sit down. Then he left the room to send the four women back in.
When they did, Marie and Cassandra each took an arm and they helped him stand again. Dulcy stepped in front of him and they walked very slowly out of the room with Thea following closely behind. She had taken that position so she could observe Joe without any distractions.
As the five of them made their way downstairs she saw that his knees were starting to shake and he was having a small problem with walking in a straight line. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Thea said, "I don't think he's ready for going outside yet, so let's just go to the kitchen for a bit."
When they reached the kitchen, Thea got a look at his face as he sank down gratefully into a chair at the table. "Why don't we all have some coffee and cake?" she said.
"Thea," Joe said, "I don't understand this. Here I am as weak as a kitten and you look like you're back to normal."
"Well," Thea answered as she moved around the kitchen, "having a major organ removed is a lot different than what I lost. Besides, women have more stamina for this sort of thing than men do."
"More stamina?" Clearly Joe did not agree.
Dulcy spoke up, "Think about it Joe. Women experience internal pain frequently and men don't."
"Woman are used to enduring such things," Marie chimed in.
Cassandra, always shy, just nodded.
"My Momma always said that if men had to have the babies there'd be no children," Dulcy laughed and the other women nodded in agreement.
"That is very true," Thea said as she brought a cake plate with a domed cover to the table and turned back to collect plates and utensils.
Cassandra finally spoke, "The Good Lord made us this way for a reason Joe."
He looked around the table at the women and actually became interested. "So you're saying God gave you more stamina to endure?"
The women sitting at the table nodded and Thea said, "Of course," as she brought the cups to the table and turned back to bring the coffee pot. Then she sat down directly opposite the young man.
"If you ever had the chance to study anatomy you'd be amazed at the intricate design of the human body. And I'm still wondering if we will ever understand how everything works, especially the brain. We understand so little about it," she shook her head as she started cutting slices of the cake and passing the plates and forks to her right. Cassandra stood and took the coffeepot around to fill the cups.
Joe took a bite of the cake, feeling more alert than he had since the operation. "So how did you study anatomy?"
Thea started to answer him, but then paused. "Well, how do you think I studied anatomy?"
"From books?"
"Partly, but the real learning happens in doing. So we 'studied' bodies."
"Geez! You mean you cut them up!" Joe said as he put down his fork and picked up his coffee.
Thea looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You should be thankful I did, otherwise how would I know where the spleen is, what it looks like, and how to take it out and not have you bleed to death in the process."
"It's still kinda disgusting," Joe insisted.
"Yes, but very useful," Thea laughed and the other women joined her.
"We're used to her talking like that," Dulcy explained. "You'll get used to it too."
Joe looked at the statuesque redhead and smiled, realizing he was having a good time. "Where did you and Wes first meet?"
Thea cleared her throat and stood to take her cake-plate to the sink. Cassandra turned red and looked down at the table as she busily stirred her coffee. Marie smiled, wondering whether or not Dulcy would tell the truth.
"I met Wes for the first time in a paddy-wagon," she said and they heard Thea choking on laughter at the sink.
"A paddy-wagon?!"
"Yes, but I didn't really get to 'meet' him until I started working for Adam after my release."
"You were in prison?" Joe's voice had risen so high it almost squeaked.
"Mmm hmm," she nodded, "didn't you know that? A lot of Adam's employees did time."
Joe just sat there with his mouth hanging open.
"It's true Joe," Thea said as she came back to the table and sat down. "He gave just about everyone he ever arrested a chance to go straight, but only one chance. One mess-up and you're out."
Closing his mouth, Joe turned his gaze to Marie. She nodded.
"No, you too?"
"Yes, Joseph. You're brother caught me stealing food. But then he fought to get me a suspended sentence and sent me to school so I could learn how to be a secretary. When I finished he gave me that job."
"You were stealing food?" Joe said not understanding.
Marie nodded, "I was hungry, alone, and no one would hire me. Except your brother."
Joe sat there for a while thinking, going over everything he had just heard. He thought about it intently and realized Adam had done all these things just because he thought they were the right and honorable things to do. He hadn't said a word, had not looked for approval or even acknowledgement. His seemingly tough and hard exterior covered a heart full of compassion for people.
His thoughts naturally turned then to the love he had seen many times in Adam's eyes when he held his children, something Joe had seen but never actually saw before. These revelations also made him see his brother more clearly now and he made up his mind that his older brother's example was one he should follow. He was about to ask more questions when the back door opened and Adam came in.
"Having a party?" he said and came to sit down next to his wife and looked Joe over with his sharp gaze. Joe stared back at his brother with everything he had just heard making him look at his older brother with new eyes.
"Joe," Adam said, "why are you looking at me like that?"
Joe blinked and tried for a natural expression, "No reason."
"Well stop it, it's weird," Adam said giving him a frown.
Everyone else at the table, including Joe, started laughing then and Adam looked at them like they were crazy. "What have you been drinking?" he asked and that only made them laugh harder.
Thea leaned her head on his shoulder and when she could speak she said, "We were just telling Joe about how you found some of your best employees."
"Ah," was all her husband said as he looked away, almost as though he was embarrassed. "Everyone deserves a second chance," he added quietly.
"Even me?" Joe asked jokingly and Adam looked at him narrowly for a moment then he smiled.
"Well, I guess there IS at least one exception to every rule," he said and the women laughed while Joe just grinned back at his brother.
Thea was about to ask her husband if he was hungry when he stood and said, "I think it's time to get Joe back to his room and no, Thea, I don't need anything to eat."
She shook her head at him for reading her mind again.
Adam went to Joe and helped him up. "Every time I set foot in this kitchen she starts pushing food at me. If I ate every time she wanted me to I'd be Hoss's size."
Joe grinned at that mental picture and the women were still chuckling as Adam pulled Joe's right arm across his shoulders and put his own left arm around the younger man's waist.
The two slowly made their way upstairs and by the time they made it to Joe's room he was almost stumbling with fatigue. He made no protest as Adam got him back into his nightshirt and tucked him in.
Joe closed his eyes, but they popped open again when Adam leaned over him, "Do you need anything else? A drink of water? A bedtime story?" The younger man laughed and grabbed a pillow to throw, but it just thumped harmlessly against the door as Adam pulled it closed behind him.
He thought he would fall asleep right away, but instead found himself thinking about both of his older brothers and seeing similarities in their characters he hadn't been aware of before. Mentally shaking his head at himself for being oblivious, his thoughts turned to his father and how pleased he was with his grandchildren. When Pa was with them he seemed like a different person. For some reason the recent events had caused him to view everyone, including himself in a different light. He wasn't sure as to why things seemed different, but suspected it was because everyone around him was changing. Adam had grown in many ways to fulfill his potential, his father had finally come to understand he had to start treating his sons as men, and Hoss had become more comfortable dealing with women, thanks to Thea, and was having a wonderful time with the children.
"Hoss would make a great father," was the last thought he would later remember thinking as he fell into a deep, peaceful, and healing sleep.
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The next couple of weeks settled into a pleasant routine for Joe. For the first week the ladies would come in the morning to escort him around the house and grounds, then the walks always ended in the kitchen with some sort of food being served and interesting conversations.
The second week the mornings were used for exercises that Thea told him were meant for stretching out his muscles and loosening his joints. The afternoons were reserved for walks.
At the end of the two weeks Thea came to collect Joe one morning and she led him out toward the barn, but when they reached it she led him around the left side and down a path until they came through a gate in a high hedge. Joe saw a square, flat building with large windows in the top half of the walls.
Thea tugged on his arm and led him up to the door, opened it, waved him inside then closed it behind him.
Joe looked around and saw that the room was plain with bare wood walls and floor. The windows let plenty of light in showing strange equipment scattered around and mats on the floor. He jumped when he heard Adam say his name. He looked up to see Adam standing on a railed platform with a ladder leading up to it. His older brother reached out to grab a rope that hung down from a thick beam and started to lower himself. Joe stared, impressed by the sheer strength it took for him to lower himself so slowly and yet keep his body so perfectly straight.
When Adam was finally standing he tossed the rope away and said, "Welcome, Joe. This is where we separate the men from the boys."
Joe just looked at him with a puzzled expression as the other man shrugged out of his shirt as he moved over to what looked like a short bed, but with a rail at one end. He watched as Adam sat down right on the edge, swung his legs up, and then hooked his feet under the rail. Putting his hands behind his head he lowered his upper body until his head almost touched the floor, then sat back up. The muscles in his abdomen shook at first then began to stand out in sharp relief as Adam continued and Joe lost count.
The older man's torso was shining with sweat by the time he stopped and sat up for the last time. He was breathing hard and reached for a towel to wipe himself off as he gave Joe a speculative look.
"The ladies have done everything they can for you Joe, so now you belong to me."
Joe's mouth dropped open. "What?"
Adam laughed. "You will be working with me everyday to get your strength back."
"Do I have a choice?"
"Of course you do, and your choices are to stay the way you are, or work with me every day and be in the best shape you've ever been in your life. It's up to you." He smiled at Joe's expression. "You didn't really think I've stayed so strong by sitting behind a desk did you? I've had this setup everywhere we've ever lived and most of what I will be teaching you are the physical methods we used during my recovery. I've just never stopped."
Joe looked around at the strange equipment and then at a boxing ring at one end of the room. He turned back to his brother when Adam spoke again.
"I have to tell you from experience that at first this will hurt, a lot. Then it will hurt some more, but eventually the pain will be minimal and you just won't care." He gave Joe a wicked grin. "It's up to you, kid, so make your choice."
"Will I have to fight you?" Joe said looking at the ring again. His brother laughed at his apprehensive expression.
"No, but I can teach you what I know about fighting without actually knocking you senseless."
Joe looked down and thought for a while. "I'd be pretty stupid to say 'no' wouldn't I?"
"Yes, but don't let that stop you - it never has before."
"Very funny."
Adam just looked at him with one brow raised and a half-smile.
"Alright, I agree. So when do we start?"
"There's no time like the present," Adam said and laughed.
"Why do I have this feeling I've made a big mistake by saying 'yes'?"
Adam just laughed harder and that's when Joe truly began to worry.
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An hour later Thea was standing at the sink in the kitchen washing dishes when the back door opened and Joe stumbled in. He didn't even glance at her, he just started almost crawling up the back stairs.
She moved over to the doorway and watched him until he reached the top. Then she heard his slow footsteps as he went to his room, the sound of the door opening and closing, and then the unmistakable creaking sound of his body hitting the bed.
The back door opened again and Adam came in. He was shaking with inaudible laughter and when he took one look at her concerned face he just shook his head and started laughing out loud. She stared at his back as he turned away, walked across the kitchen, and went into the hallway.
His laughter seemed to get louder as he moved away and she could still hear it until he went into his tower office and shut the door.
Thea raised her eyes heavenward, shook her head, sighed, and went back to her dishes.
RECOVERY
Chapter 20
When Joe opened his eyes one morning a week after Adam's friends arrived he was badly startled to see Thea, Dulcy, Marie, and Cassandra all in his room. Thea and Marie were sitting while the other two stood at the foot of his bed.
"Morning Joe," Thea said cheerfully as she leaned forward in her chair.
He looked at her with sleep-dulled eyes then pulled the covers over his head. Thea laughed.
"Dulcy?" she said and the tall, red-haired woman came to tug on the covers. Joe desperately tried to hold on to them, but was surprised when she managed to pull them out of his grasp. The tall woman pulled them down until they only covered him from the knees down. Joe shivered lying there in his nightshirt.
"It's time to get up and move around some Joe, we don't want you to become bed-bound," Thea said. "We need to get you out of bed and dressed today. But don't worry, the first day is always the worst."
Joe just stared at her in irritation as she looked back with raised eyebrows. "Do you need help getting dressed?" she said and Joe's eyes widened at the thought of the four of them dressing him.
"No, I can do it myself," he said quickly and sat up, but a wave of dizziness broke over him and he fell back as the room came to a spinning stop.
"Dear Lord, you're worse off than I thought," Thea said. "I'll send Adam up to help you. You didn't really think the four of us would do it, now did you?" She gave him a grin as she and Marie stood then the four women filed out of the room.
Adam came through the door only a few minutes later.
"Good morning," he said cheerfully and Joe groaned.
"What is it with you now? You never used to be so annoying in the morning."
"Could it be because I appreciate being alive? Or that I actually have something in my life to be cheerful about? Or the fact that my wife isn't dead?" Adam said and came to the side of the bed to look down at his brother.
The irritable expression on Joe's face cleared and he looked earnestly up. "Thea looked fine when she was just in here. She IS alright now, isn't she?"
Adam smiled at the younger man's concern. "She's fine and no one can believe how quickly she's recovered. And you need to recover too, so you have to get up and move around some. But don't worry, the first day is always the worst."
Joe chuckled, "You two have been together too long - Thea just said the same thing to me." He slowly sat up as Adam watched him closely.
"Alright so far?" Adam asked. Joe nodded. "Just stay sitting there for a minute."
Sighing at how incredibly weak he felt, Joe watched Adam move around the room, collecting his clothes. Then he moved back to the bed.
Adam took his legs by the ankle and slowly slid them over the edge of the bed. He let Joe sit there for a bit, then took him by the upper arms and helped him to stand.
Joe helped as much as he could and by the time he was fully dressed he was exhausted. Adam pushed on his shoulder and told him to sit down. Then he left the room to send the four women back in.
When they did, Marie and Cassandra each took an arm and they helped him stand again. Dulcy stepped in front of him and they walked very slowly out of the room with Thea following closely behind. She had taken that position so she could observe Joe without any distractions.
As the five of them made their way downstairs she saw that his knees were starting to shake and he was having a small problem with walking in a straight line. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Thea said, "I don't think he's ready for going outside yet, so let's just go to the kitchen for a bit."
When they reached the kitchen, Thea got a look at his face as he sank down gratefully into a chair at the table. "Why don't we all have some coffee and cake?" she said.
"Thea," Joe said, "I don't understand this. Here I am as weak as a kitten and you look like you're back to normal."
"Well," Thea answered as she moved around the kitchen, "having a major organ removed is a lot different than what I lost. Besides, women have more stamina for this sort of thing than men do."
"More stamina?" Clearly Joe did not agree.
Dulcy spoke up, "Think about it Joe. Women experience internal pain frequently and men don't."
"Woman are used to enduring such things," Marie chimed in.
Cassandra, always shy, just nodded.
"My Momma always said that if men had to have the babies there'd be no children," Dulcy laughed and the other women nodded in agreement.
"That is very true," Thea said as she brought a cake plate with a domed cover to the table and turned back to collect plates and utensils.
Cassandra finally spoke, "The Good Lord made us this way for a reason Joe."
He looked around the table at the women and actually became interested. "So you're saying God gave you more stamina to endure?"
The women sitting at the table nodded and Thea said, "Of course," as she brought the cups to the table and turned back to bring the coffee pot. Then she sat down directly opposite the young man.
"If you ever had the chance to study anatomy you'd be amazed at the intricate design of the human body. And I'm still wondering if we will ever understand how everything works, especially the brain. We understand so little about it," she shook her head as she started cutting slices of the cake and passing the plates and forks to her right. Cassandra stood and took the coffeepot around to fill the cups.
Joe took a bite of the cake, feeling more alert than he had since the operation. "So how did you study anatomy?"
Thea started to answer him, but then paused. "Well, how do you think I studied anatomy?"
"From books?"
"Partly, but the real learning happens in doing. So we 'studied' bodies."
"Geez! You mean you cut them up!" Joe said as he put down his fork and picked up his coffee.
Thea looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You should be thankful I did, otherwise how would I know where the spleen is, what it looks like, and how to take it out and not have you bleed to death in the process."
"It's still kinda disgusting," Joe insisted.
"Yes, but very useful," Thea laughed and the other women joined her.
"We're used to her talking like that," Dulcy explained. "You'll get used to it too."
Joe looked at the statuesque redhead and smiled, realizing he was having a good time. "Where did you and Wes first meet?"
Thea cleared her throat and stood to take her cake-plate to the sink. Cassandra turned red and looked down at the table as she busily stirred her coffee. Marie smiled, wondering whether or not Dulcy would tell the truth.
"I met Wes for the first time in a paddy-wagon," she said and they heard Thea choking on laughter at the sink.
"A paddy-wagon?!"
"Yes, but I didn't really get to 'meet' him until I started working for Adam after my release."
"You were in prison?" Joe's voice had risen so high it almost squeaked.
"Mmm hmm," she nodded, "didn't you know that? A lot of Adam's employees did time."
Joe just sat there with his mouth hanging open.
"It's true Joe," Thea said as she came back to the table and sat down. "He gave just about everyone he ever arrested a chance to go straight, but only one chance. One mess-up and you're out."
Closing his mouth, Joe turned his gaze to Marie. She nodded.
"No, you too?"
"Yes, Joseph. You're brother caught me stealing food. But then he fought to get me a suspended sentence and sent me to school so I could learn how to be a secretary. When I finished he gave me that job."
"You were stealing food?" Joe said not understanding.
Marie nodded, "I was hungry, alone, and no one would hire me. Except your brother."
Joe sat there for a while thinking, going over everything he had just heard. He thought about it intently and realized Adam had done all these things just because he thought they were the right and honorable things to do. He hadn't said a word, had not looked for approval or even acknowledgement. His seemingly tough and hard exterior covered a heart full of compassion for people.
His thoughts naturally turned then to the love he had seen many times in Adam's eyes when he held his children, something Joe had seen but never actually saw before. These revelations also made him see his brother more clearly now and he made up his mind that his older brother's example was one he should follow. He was about to ask more questions when the back door opened and Adam came in.
"Having a party?" he said and came to sit down next to his wife and looked Joe over with his sharp gaze. Joe stared back at his brother with everything he had just heard making him look at his older brother with new eyes.
"Joe," Adam said, "why are you looking at me like that?"
Joe blinked and tried for a natural expression, "No reason."
"Well stop it, it's weird," Adam said giving him a frown.
Everyone else at the table, including Joe, started laughing then and Adam looked at them like they were crazy. "What have you been drinking?" he asked and that only made them laugh harder.
Thea leaned her head on his shoulder and when she could speak she said, "We were just telling Joe about how you found some of your best employees."
"Ah," was all her husband said as he looked away, almost as though he was embarrassed. "Everyone deserves a second chance," he added quietly.
"Even me?" Joe asked jokingly and Adam looked at him narrowly for a moment then he smiled.
"Well, I guess there IS at least one exception to every rule," he said and the women laughed while Joe just grinned back at his brother.
Thea was about to ask her husband if he was hungry when he stood and said, "I think it's time to get Joe back to his room and no, Thea, I don't need anything to eat."
She shook her head at him for reading her mind again.
Adam went to Joe and helped him up. "Every time I set foot in this kitchen she starts pushing food at me. If I ate every time she wanted me to I'd be Hoss's size."
Joe grinned at that mental picture and the women were still chuckling as Adam pulled Joe's right arm across his shoulders and put his own left arm around the younger man's waist.
The two slowly made their way upstairs and by the time they made it to Joe's room he was almost stumbling with fatigue. He made no protest as Adam got him back into his nightshirt and tucked him in.
Joe closed his eyes, but they popped open again when Adam leaned over him, "Do you need anything else? A drink of water? A bedtime story?" The younger man laughed and grabbed a pillow to throw, but it just thumped harmlessly against the door as Adam pulled it closed behind him.
He thought he would fall asleep right away, but instead found himself thinking about both of his older brothers and seeing similarities in their characters he hadn't been aware of before. Mentally shaking his head at himself for being oblivious, his thoughts turned to his father and how pleased he was with his grandchildren. When Pa was with them he seemed like a different person. For some reason the recent events had caused him to view everyone, including himself in a different light. He wasn't sure as to why things seemed different, but suspected it was because everyone around him was changing. Adam had grown in many ways to fulfill his potential, his father had finally come to understand he had to start treating his sons as men, and Hoss had become more comfortable dealing with women, thanks to Thea, and was having a wonderful time with the children.
"Hoss would make a great father," was the last thought he would later remember thinking as he fell into a deep, peaceful, and healing sleep.
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The next couple of weeks settled into a pleasant routine for Joe. For the first week the ladies would come in the morning to escort him around the house and grounds, then the walks always ended in the kitchen with some sort of food being served and interesting conversations.
The second week the mornings were used for exercises that Thea told him were meant for stretching out his muscles and loosening his joints. The afternoons were reserved for walks.
At the end of the two weeks Thea came to collect Joe one morning and she led him out toward the barn, but when they reached it she led him around the left side and down a path until they came through a gate in a high hedge. Joe saw a square, flat building with large windows in the top half of the walls.
Thea tugged on his arm and led him up to the door, opened it, waved him inside then closed it behind him.
Joe looked around and saw that the room was plain with bare wood walls and floor. The windows let plenty of light in showing strange equipment scattered around and mats on the floor. He jumped when he heard Adam say his name. He looked up to see Adam standing on a railed platform with a ladder leading up to it. His older brother reached out to grab a rope that hung down from a thick beam and started to lower himself. Joe stared, impressed by the sheer strength it took for him to lower himself so slowly and yet keep his body so perfectly straight.
When Adam was finally standing he tossed the rope away and said, "Welcome, Joe. This is where we separate the men from the boys."
Joe just looked at him with a puzzled expression as the other man shrugged out of his shirt as he moved over to what looked like a short bed, but with a rail at one end. He watched as Adam sat down right on the edge, swung his legs up, and then hooked his feet under the rail. Putting his hands behind his head he lowered his upper body until his head almost touched the floor, then sat back up. The muscles in his abdomen shook at first then began to stand out in sharp relief as Adam continued and Joe lost count.
The older man's torso was shining with sweat by the time he stopped and sat up for the last time. He was breathing hard and reached for a towel to wipe himself off as he gave Joe a speculative look.
"The ladies have done everything they can for you Joe, so now you belong to me."
Joe's mouth dropped open. "What?"
Adam laughed. "You will be working with me everyday to get your strength back."
"Do I have a choice?"
"Of course you do, and your choices are to stay the way you are, or work with me every day and be in the best shape you've ever been in your life. It's up to you." He smiled at Joe's expression. "You didn't really think I've stayed so strong by sitting behind a desk did you? I've had this setup everywhere we've ever lived and most of what I will be teaching you are the physical methods we used during my recovery. I've just never stopped."
Joe looked around at the strange equipment and then at a boxing ring at one end of the room. He turned back to his brother when Adam spoke again.
"I have to tell you from experience that at first this will hurt, a lot. Then it will hurt some more, but eventually the pain will be minimal and you just won't care." He gave Joe a wicked grin. "It's up to you, kid, so make your choice."
"Will I have to fight you?" Joe said looking at the ring again. His brother laughed at his apprehensive expression.
"No, but I can teach you what I know about fighting without actually knocking you senseless."
Joe looked down and thought for a while. "I'd be pretty stupid to say 'no' wouldn't I?"
"Yes, but don't let that stop you - it never has before."
"Very funny."
Adam just looked at him with one brow raised and a half-smile.
"Alright, I agree. So when do we start?"
"There's no time like the present," Adam said and laughed.
"Why do I have this feeling I've made a big mistake by saying 'yes'?"
Adam just laughed harder and that's when Joe truly began to worry.
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An hour later Thea was standing at the sink in the kitchen washing dishes when the back door opened and Joe stumbled in. He didn't even glance at her, he just started almost crawling up the back stairs.
She moved over to the doorway and watched him until he reached the top. Then she heard his slow footsteps as he went to his room, the sound of the door opening and closing, and then the unmistakable creaking sound of his body hitting the bed.
The back door opened again and Adam came in. He was shaking with inaudible laughter and when he took one look at her concerned face he just shook his head and started laughing out loud. She stared at his back as he turned away, walked across the kitchen, and went into the hallway.
His laughter seemed to get louder as he moved away and she could still hear it until he went into his tower office and shut the door.
Thea raised her eyes heavenward, shook her head, sighed, and went back to her dishes.