Joe tried to keep his focus on the game, but he had to admit that it was hard. He was worried about Frank. He knew something was going on when Frank dropped to subject so easily earlier.
Joe didn't know why his brother liked to dwell on things. But he always knew that it was different when it came to Nancy. Frank never overreacted to things with Callie. But with Nancy, it was like he couldn't see past tomorrow. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Joe had great respect for Nancy; he had even come to love her as a sister.
Joe just silently prayed that Frank wasn't going up there to pick a fight with Nancy. He knew that Frank never really trusted Luke from the get-go, but it was no reason for him to take it out on her. It always amazed him how they could fight like cats and dogs one day, and the next go on as if nothing ever happened between them. But his fears were confirmed when he heard shouting coming from Nancy's bedroom.
Luke and Joe just looked at each other uneasily. He figured that Luke had a pretty good idea of what they were arguing about.
"I'm sorry about my brother." Joe said.
"You don't have anything to be sorry about. It's not your fault." Luke said, sighing.
"Still..." Joe said. "My brother tends to get crazy when it comes to her."
"Really?" Luke asked. "I didn't even notice."
Joe chuckled. "He's not exactly the most subtle person in the world."
"So, it's not just me?" Luke asked. "He's like this with everyone she's with?"
"I'm afraid so." Joe said. "And it didn't help matters any when he saw you two kissing."
"Oh. So he did she that." Luke said.
"Yeah. But don't worry about it, man. He'll get over it." Joe said.
They both looked up when they heard Nancy's door get thrown open and the sound of angry footsteps.
"I am trying to protect you, Nancy!" Frank's voice boomed out.
"I don't need your protection!" Nancy's voice cried.
They don't know what happened next. All they heard was a series of thumps and then suddenly it stopped.
"Nancy!" Frank screamed.
He ran down the steps two at a time and knelt down next to Nancy. He looked her over looking for any signs of broken bones. He let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw none. Luckily the steps weren't that steep. She had just been knocked unconscious.
Frank grabbed her in his arms and felt tears spring to his eyes. Why couldn't I have just left her alone? He looked up when he saw Luke and Joe come in from the living room.
"Frank, what happened?" Joe asked.
Frank seemed to be lost. "She fell," he said numbly.
"What did you do to her?" Luke demanded.
"We were talking." Frank said.
"Did you push her?" Luke asked.
"What?" Frank asked, snapping out of his initial shock.
"Did you push her?" Luke asked again.
Frank gently lay Nancy back on he ground and stood up. He was about to say something to Luke when Joe stepped in front of him.
"That's crazy, Luke. Frank would never hurt Nancy."Joe said.
"We just heard them screaming at each other. Who's to say he didn't push her?" Luke asked.
Frank stepped up to him threateningly. "We were talking. I grabbed her arm and she pulled away from me. She lost her footing and she fell. I tried to catch her but it was too late. Now, as much as I would love to continue this little fight with you, I have to get her to the hospital."
Luke stared at Frank as if sizing him up. "I'll call the doc."
"No." Frank said coldly. "I'm taking her to the hospital where professionals can actually check her out. I don't care how far it is."
Frank looked at Luke as if daring him to argue with him. Luke backed away and ran a hand through his hair.
"The closest one is in Fox Hill. About twenty miles past town." Luke said.
"Come on, Joe." Frank said. "Help me get her to the car."
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Frank got into the hospital in ten minutes flat. He scooped Nancy up in his arms and ran into the hospital with her. A doctor came up to him and immediately took over from him. Frank quickly explained what happened and watched helplessly as they wheeled her into an examination room.
Frank walked into the waiting room and sat down. What had he done? Why did he have to be so jealous? Why couldn't he have left well enough alone?
He barely looked up when Joe sat down beside him.
"Why did I have to be so stupid, Joe?" Frank asked. "Why do I have to be like this when I'm around her?"
"Don't start blaming yourself for this, Frank. You know she won't. It was an accident, plain and simple. Love cam make you do some pretty crazy things." Joe said.
"But I just kept pushing her." Frank said. "I had no right to do that to her. It's her life, just like she said."
"Well, you can sit here and keep blaming yourself for this, but it's not going to help her any." Joe said. "Everything will work out."
Frank and Joe remained in the waiting room for an hour and a half before a doctor finally came out and talked to them. Frank stood up and looked at the doctor expectantly.
"My name is Doctor Mars." He said. "She's going to be okay. She has a pretty nasty bump on her head. But I was concerned about a couple of other things. Did something else happen to her in the past few days?"
"She was involved in a car accident a couple of days ago." Frank said.
"And she wasn't brought to a hospital?" Dr. Mars asked.
"She had the accident in Huntingdon. The town doctor just looked her over." Frank explained.
"Figures." Dr. Mars muttered. "She had a mild concussion so we want to keep her over night just to make sure that everything is okay. We also put a temporary cast on her leg, just to give it a little more support."
"Can we see her now?" Frank asked.
"Sure. They're putting her in a room right now. But don't stay too long because she needs to rest." Dr. Mars said
"Thank you, Doctor." Joe said.
He and Frank took the elevator up to the second floor and walked to the nurses' station. They found out Nancy's room number and made their room to 208. A nurse was leaving the room when they got there.
Joe watched as Frank hesitated at the door.
"Go in, Frank." Joe said. "If it will make it any better I'll stay out here."
Frank shook his head. "No. You come in, too. You may be a good distraction."
Joe stepped in front of Frank and opened the door to Nancy's room. She was lying in her bed with her eyes closed. The only sounds in the room were the heart monitor and Nancy's steady breathing. Frank took her hand and her eyes fluttered open.
"Frank." she said softly.
"Hey," he said with a small smile. "Nancy, I am so sorry about this. I never meant for you to get hurt."
"It's okay." Nancy said. "We were both angry and it was an accident."
"Hey, this isn't too bad of a room here." Joe commented. "A lot better than the motel room we were staying at."
Nancy smiled at Joe. She knew he was trying to break the mood and ease the tension.
"Well, maybe we should find a way to put you in here too." Nancy said.
"Maybe a little later." Joe said. "So, do the doctors still agree that you have a hard head?"
"Hard as a rock." Nancy said. "I couldn't bear to tell them how many times I've actually been knocked out. I think I would have been a case study for them."
"They could put all three of us on exhibit." Joe said.
"Did they happen to tell you how long they want to keep me here?" Nancy asked.
"Overnight for sure." Frank said.
Nancy made a face.
"Look on the bright side, Nan." Joe said.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Maybe you'll be lucky enough to skip out on the hospital gourmet they treat you to." Joe said.
Nancy rolled her eyes at Joe.
"Listen, we're going to let you get some rest. But we'll be right outside the room if you need us." Frank said.
Nancy nodded and yawned. "Okay."
Frank leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep well, Nan."
Nancy turned on her side and closed her eyes. Frank turned off the light and left her to sleep peacefully.
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Frank and Joe dozed on and off in the uncomfortable chairs outside Nancy's room. Frank got up several times during the night and wandered around the hospital. He did anything to get his mind off of Nancy falling down the stairs. She had forgiven him for it, but he still felt guilty about it.
Frank poked his head in Nancy's room around seven the next morning and saw that she was still sleeping. When he walked back out of her room, he saw Luke walking towards them.
"Is she okay?" Luke asked.
"She's going to be fine." Frank said. "She just had a mild concussion and they put her leg in a temporary cast."
"Good." Luke hesitated. "I owe you an apology, Frank. I never should have went off on you like that. It was stupid of me to think that you would push her down the steps. I was just angry."
"It's okay." Frank said. He held out his hand and Luke shook it.
"Anyway, I just wanted to bring you Nancy's cell phone in case the sheriff called." Luke said, handing it to him. "And this." Luke produced a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.
"Did you want to go in and see her?" Frank asked.
"I have to get to the store." Luke said. "Just tell her the flowers are from me and that I'll see her later."
"Okay." Frank said.
"Thanks." Luke said.
Frank watched Luke walk away .He wondered why Luke wouldn't want to go in and see Nancy. He was distracted when Nancy's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" he said.
"Who is this?" a female voice asked.
"Frank Hardy." He said. "Who is this?"
"This is Sheriff Vaughn. May I speak to Nancy?"
"She can't talk right now. But I can give her a message for you." Frank said.
"I'd rather just talk to her." Vaughn said.
"Is this about the murder she witnessed?" Frank asked.
"How do you know about that?" Sheriff Vaughn asked, suspicious.
"She told me all about it. I'm one of her good friends." Frank said.
"Where is she?" Vaughn asked.
"She's at the hospital." Frank said. "Look, if you don't believe me, come down here yourself."
"I may just do that." Vaughn said.
"She's sleeping right now." Frank said.
"Just tell her that her story is turning out to be true." Vaughn said.
"What do you mean?" Frank asked.
"We just found the car she saw the night of the murder." Vaughn said.
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Author's Note: I am so glad that ya'll enjoyed that last chapter. I was kind of nervous when I wrote that one. I like that you are suspicious of everyone, as well you should be...As you can see I didn't kill Nancy off or have her seriously hurt. I would hate myself if I did that. I hope that you liked this chapter and please review.
