"At one a.m.," Loewan answered. "The transfer will only take a couple of hours. We should be able to clear out of Bayport by dawn at the latest."
"You have got to get out of here," Joe whispered to Dr. Lane although his eyes never left the two men who sat a few feet away.
"We can't," Dr. Lane whispered back. "You can't move and even after the time allotment is up, you won't be able to run."
"Not us," Joe denied. "You. Look, I know I've got something seriously wrong with me," he said before Dr. Lane could object again. "At least you will stand a chance if you escape. If you stay, they will kill you."
"Forget it, Kid," Dr. Lane said, touched. "I'm not ready to give up on you just yet."
"If you escape then you can tell the police about the shipment," Joe tried to coax the doctor into complying. "And where I am."
"Sorry, Joe," Dr. Lane refused. "If I leave they might do something that would kill you. I'm not prepared to take that chance."
"But I'm dying," Joe objected.
"You don't know that," Dr. Lane said, frowning. "I don't even know that. What's with this defeatist attitude anyway?" he demanded. "Until now you have been one of the most optimistic patients I have ever had."
Joe finally looked away from their two captors and met the doctor's eyes. He could clearly see that Joe wasn't buying his own pessimistic attitude. Joe had merely been trying to get him to try and get away. "Forget it, Joe," Dr. Lane said, smiling fondly at the youth he was rapidly growing to like and respect. "You're stuck with me."
"Um, I don't suppose you could tell me the results of my catheterization?" asked Joe hopefully.
"I wish I could," the doctor replied sincerely. "But I never got a chance to look over the results and compare them to your other tests."
"Great," grumbled Joe.
"Shut up!" snarled Deerborne. "Or I will tie up the doctor."
Joe glared at Deerborne but quit talking.
Fenton entered Frank's hospital room with a phony smile plastered on his face. "How is Frank?" he asked Laura.
"I'm okay," Frank answered for himself, opening his eyes and looking at his father. He had awoken earlier and spoken with his mom and Callie but had fallen back asleep. His father's voice had reawakened him. "How is Joe?"
Fenton looked at Laura who looked down and blushed. She hadn't told him. "Joe came out of surgery all right but we haven't heard the results yet."
"Then why are you here?" demanded Frank, trying to sit up. "Is Vanessa with him? Mom said you were taking care of him."
"Son, I want you to lean back and try to relax," Fenton instructed his eldest son.
"Answer me!" snapped Frank.
"Vanessa went home," Callie answered softly. "She will be back later."
Frank's face whitened as the monitor above Frank's head started beeping erratically. "They got him, didn't they?"
A nurse came into the room to check the monitor. All remained silent as she checked Frank's temperature, pulse and blood pressure. She frowned at Frank's guests then jotted something down on his chart before leaving the room.
"Yes, they took your brother," confessed Fenton. "But they also took Dr. Lane," he quickly added. "So they aren't planning on killing Joe."
"Yet," grumbled Frank.
"Yet," concurred Fenton readily. "But the fact that they took Joe's doctor with them means they need Joe alive for now and that does give us a chance to get him back."
"What about his surgery?" asked Frank. "Did they find out what's wrong with him?"
"The results are back," Fenton acknowledged. "But only Dr. Lane can give us the diagnosis."
"How are you going to get Joe back?" demanded Laura.
"Ezra has an APB on the ambulance that Dr. Lane signed out," Fenton said. "And Sam Radley has a lead on Loewan."
"Then follow up on it," Frank ordered. "Don't waste time here."
"Sam's source said Loewan was going after one more shipment," Fenton informed the group. "The transfer is at one a.m. Sam and I will be ready and waiting."
"What about the police?" queried Callie.
"If Loewan is planning on using Joe as a bargaining chip for his freedom then the police can't be there," Fenton said.
"You're going to let him get away?" asked Callie in shock.
"If that is the only way to get my son back," Fenton acknowledged looking her in the eyes with his head held high.