"Joe was scheduled for the second catheterization," Fenton informed the group. "But the first patient had to have emergency open-heart surgery so Joe is still in pre-op."
"Why don't you kids go down to the cafeteria and get some lunch?" Fenton suggested. "It's going to be awhile."
"I couldn't eat anything," Frank declined the suggestion with a small shake of his head.
"Me either," concurred Vanessa. Tony, Callie, Phil, Biff, and even Chet were in agreement. Like Frank, they recognized the difference in the danger Joe was currently in.
"We will all go," Laura decided. "We can't do anything for Joe here and a break might do us all some good."
"But..." Frank began to object but Fenton put a restraining hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
As Frank left the waiting room he spotted Todd Tyler in conversation with an orderly. "Dad, does that guy look familiar to you?" he whispered in his father's ear.
Fenton looked over at the orderly, his keen eyes taking in everything about the man. "I don't recognize him," Fenton said. "But I have never seen an orderly wear those kind of shoes before." His eyes hardened as Tyler took a tight hold of the orderly's arm. Fenton moved away from Laura and the others with Frank by his side.
"Who are you?" demanded Frank as he and his dad neared the two men.
"Lionel Graves," Todd answered for the man. "A reporter for the Bayport Times."
"What are you doing here?" Fenton asked the man.
"Are you kidding?" Graves demanded in disbelief. "One of Bayport's most popular people is having health problems and there is an escaped prisoner after him."
"How do you know that?" asked Fenton, his face giving nothing away.
"I got a tip this morning," Graves confessed. "So would you care to give a statement?" he asked expectantly. "Or, better yet, how about an interview?"
"How about a bloody nose?" Frank countered angrily, grabbing the front of Graves' shirt and pulling him close as his right hand curled into a fist. If anything made him angry it was someone who wanted to use his brother in any way, shape or form.
"Easy," Fenton cautioned Frank, holding his right arm. "Who told you?" Fenton demanded of the reporter.
"I don't know," Graves said, looking a little uncomfortable. "Some guy called me at the office this morning."
"And you follow up every anonymous tip?" Fenton pushed.
"N...no," Graves admitted. "But I overheard Liz and the boss talking yesterday about Joe Hardy having problems at football practice."
"What makes you think Mr. Webling would print your story?" Frank snarled.
"Webling is fair," Graves defended his boss. "He would understand if I scooped his daughter."
"You..." Frank said, shaking free from his father's grip and preparing to let fly.