"Get away from him!" Angelic screamed, struggling to break free from the two officers that were trying to hustle her from the cage.
Ignoring her, Frank kept applying pressure to his brother. "Come on, Joe. Open your eyes," Frank begged, his voice heavy with emotion. But Joe's eyes remained closed as Angelic was dragged out of the basement.
An ambulance arrived a few minutes later and placed Joe on the stretcher. "Sir," Officer Marsdale said to Fenton. "I will drive you and Frank to the hospital. The other men will deal with Angelic and maintain the crime scene."
On the way to the hospital, Frank pulled out his cell phone and called Callie. He told her what had happened. "Would you pick mom and Vanessa up and meet us at the hospital?" he asked.
"Of course," Callie said at once. "Frank," she added softly before she hung up. "Joe's a fighter. He'll make it."
Four hours later, Dr. Melvin Shauster, a man of average build and height, entered the crowded emergency waiting room. "How is he?" Frank demanded, rushing over to the doctor.
"He's stable," Dr. Shauster answered. "But he's still unconscious."
"Why?" Frank asked. "He was stabbed. She didn't hit him in the head. What made him lose consciousness?"
"There is a bruise on the side of his head," the doctor said. "He must have hit his head when he fell. He does have a concussion and, quiet frankly, that is giving us more cause for concern than the stab wound."
"Why is that?" Fenton asked.
"The puncture was clean and straight," Dr. Shauster "No vital organs were injured and the application of pressure to the wound almost as soon as it happened kept the blood loss down. He will heal with only a scar left to show he was ever injured there. As for the concussion, whenever there is a head wound that results in loss of consciousness, there is cause for concern. The fact that Joe hasn't regained consciousness doesn't reflect positively. You said he fell? What could he have hit as he fell?"
"The bed," Frank guessed, frowning. "But it was probably the floor. It was concrete."
The doctor nodded. "That is a distinct possiblility."
"Can we see him?" Laura asked.
"Of course. But only one person at a time and only the immediate family. He's in room four ten," Dr. Shauser informed them.
"Van...you go and see Joe first," Frank said. "I'll be last because I'm not leaving here without him."
"Only family members..." the doctor began but Frank interrupted him.
"Vanessa is my sister," Frank lied. He knew how much Vanessa loved Joe. She deserved to see him.
"Run along, Vanessa," Fenton told her, giving her a wan smile.
"Thank you," she whispered, fresh tears on her cheeks as she hurried to the elevator.
Hours after the others had left, Frank fell asleep in the chair by Joe's bed. When Joe stirred, Frank was instantly awake. "That's it, baby brother," Frank said softly, brushing hair away from Joe's forehead. "It's time to wake up."
Joe moaned and his eyes flittered open. "Angelic," he rasped, his throat dry.
"She's in jail," Frank told him. "They are going to transport her to the Grandhurst Hospital for the Mentally Incompetent in the morning. She...she killed someone. The police found a body under a mound of dirt in the back yard."
"NO!" Joe said, his eyes going wide as he tried to sit up.
"Stay down," Frank ordered in alarm, holding Joe's shoulders down. "The police identified him as a local thug. She won't do time because she's crazy, but she will be locked up and will never get near you again."
"Of course not," Joe said bitterly, looking into Frank's eyes accussingly. "You just don't want me to be happy."
"Joe?" Frank asked stunned. What had come over him?
"Go away," Joe said wearily, closing his eyes.
"I'm not leaving you," Frank told him, his voice firm. "Not until you're better."
Joe opened his eyes again. They were cold and hard as they looked into Frank's. "I hate you," he said, but instead of anger, his voice was devoid of emotion.
Frank's face drained of color. "You..you don't mean that," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.
"You're right," Joe responded. Frank relaxed, briefly. "I don't care about you at all."
"What's wrong with you?" demanded Frank. "What did she do to you?"
"She didn't do anything to me," Joe replied. "She loves me. She really loves me. Which is more than can be said for my so-called friends and brother."
"That's not true!" insisted Frank. "I love you very much. How could you not know that?"
"Excuse me?" scoffed Joe. "Weren't you the one who said I had no feelings; no loyalty? You turned on me."
"I'm so sorry," apologized Frank, tears springing to his eyes. "I do love you. I just..."
"If you love me then leave me alone," Joe ground out. "Leave me and Angelic alone."
"Never!" Frank declared. "Joe, she tried to kill you. Again! Can't you see? She's dangerous. That isn't love."
"Frank..."
"No! Don't interrupt me!" shouted Frank, trying hard to make him see he had been brainwashed.
"Frank..." Joe's voice was louder.
"I said don't..." Frank's eyes snapped open to see Joe in a sitting position on the bed looking at him in concern.
"Are you okay?" Joe asked.
"Am I okay? Are you okay? God, Joe!" Frank shouted, jumping from his chair and throwing himself at Joe. He hugged Joe as tight as he dared. "You had me scared to death. How are you feeling?"
"Very sore," replied Joe. "And a little thirsty."
Frank hit the call button for the nurse. "Joe's awake," he said. "He's thirsty."
"Going to make sure it's okay to give me water," Joe observed with an affectionate smile.
Frank smiled back. "About Thursday..this whole week...I'm sorry," Frank began but Joe cut him off.
"Don't," Joe said. "Angelic orchestrated the whole thing."
"But I should never have believed it or said what I did," Frank apologized anyway. "You're the most loyal, caring person I know. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," Joe told him. "I've said things I didn't mean too. It's that all heat of the moment thing." Joe paused for a minute, not wanting to upset Frank. But, he had to know... "You, uh..didn't hit Angelic, did you?"
"No," Frank answered and saw the look of relief on Joe's face. "Joe, she stabbed you. How can you want to protect her?"
"I'm not sure I can explain it," Joe admitted. "But to have someone care about me so much..to put me above everyone and everything...it was kind of heady. She never would have hurt me unless I tried to leave or someone tried to take me away from her. She would have kept me in the basement forever, tending to my every need; pampering me."
"She's being taken to a medical facility in the morning," Frank told Joe after he had quit speaking. he had no idea how to respond to Joe's comment.
"She killed someone," Joe said.
"They found the body," Frank informed Joe. "She is dangerous. And not just to you."
"I know she needs help," acknowledged Joe. "But I just couldn't let you hurt her."
The doctor on call entered the room at this point. While he examined Joe, Frank went to call his parents. He also called Vanessa to let her know Joe was awake and could be seen the next day.
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Four days later, Joe was released from the hospital. He arrived home to find his family and friends had thrown him a welcome back party. During his hospital stay, his friends had dropped in for frequent visits to apologize and wish him a speedy recovery and all animosity had been laid to rest.
Joe was ushered to the living room sofa. Frank propped his legs up as Vanessa took a seat on the floor beside him. Fenton picked up the stack of mail that was lying on the coffee table in front of him and handed it to Joe. "These came for you in this morning's mail," Fenton informed his youngest son.
Joe glanced at the return addresses, intending to see who were they were from and then put them aside until later but one of the envelopes piqued his curiosity. It had no return address. Joe opened it. "It's from Angelic," he said as everyone watched him.
Frank snatched it from Joe's hands. "How could they let her send him a letter?" he demanded.
"What does it say?" Laura asked.
Frank looked at the letter and frowned. He looked at Joe curiously. "It's a recipe," he said. "What makes you think it's from Angelic? There's no name and it's typed."
"It's for Orange-Banana Crepes," Joe said. "She made them for me and I said I wished mom had the recipe."
"She's never going to give up on Joe, is she?" Chet asked, looking at Frank.
"Maybe not," Frank replied, tearing the recipe into tiny pieces. "But she's never going to win either."
End
