TAKING TO TASK

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Helping Hand"

"Sssh, kid," Joe froze in place when he felt the meaty hand clamp down on his shoulder and he froze, cursing himself for not being fast enough. He was pulled backward and almost lost his balance as the larger man pulled him along until they were near a doorway.

"What kind of stupidity are you up to Kid?" the voice of Goon 2 demanded in a hostile tone of voice. "What are you doing lurking around Ras-Alman's place? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Joe was taken aback by the man's harsh words and he studied his assailant as he tried to make sense of the man's words. Joe felt bad, his whole body ached from his previous beating and everything hurt. Going down steps and sneaking his way out was not easy under any circumstance; doing it when beaten half to death was foolishness – but necessary foolishness.

Joe felt the world spin around him for a moment and he had to hold on tightly to the man who had his shoulder while Joe got his bearings again. With each passing moment on his feet, the pain seemed to get worse until Joe felt as if his whole middle was one gigantic ball of fiery agony.

The goon – as Joe mentally thought of all of Ras-Alman's henchmen – watched him for a moment, the hostility replaced by concern.

"You couldn't wait for help, could you?" the other man demanded. "Had to be a hero."

"I had to… get away…" Joe gasped. "Couldn't sit there… and wait to get killed. Not telling… Ras-Alman… what he wants to know! You taking me back?"

"You shouldn't have been here in the first place," the man hissed at him. "What kind of… you want Ras-Alman to kill you? You think he doesn't have ways of hunting you down? You think he doesn't know that your brother and his girlfriend are in the area and likely hunting you down even as we speak? Use your brain Kid!"

"He wants to kill my brother!" Joe hissed angrily, ignoring the pain in his ribs and stomach to glare at the goon. "Ras-Alman already took too much of my brother's life away from him, he's not getting anymore, not if I have anything to say about it"

The goon glared at him in frustration. "So you just bumble in, assume Ras-Alman is really stupid and get yourself caught and beat up. That's what you do?"

Joe shrugged. "I'd do more than that if it got Ras-Alman behind bars and assured Frank's safety."

Joe paused for a moment.

"Are you taking me back or can I get out of here?" Joe demanded. "I'm sure standing here debating it isn't the smartest thing in the world for either of us."

The goon continued to glare but he pushed Joe forward down the hall toward the door. Joe grimaced in pain again but kept walking as the Goon walked behind him.

"Your car's still across the street," the man said. "Get in it and get out of here. Don't let me catch you near here again."

Joe stopped short of the door and turned back to the man. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Nobody you need to know," the goon said. "Let's just say I have my own reasons for bringing Ras-Alman down and I DON'T need your help! Get out of here, Kid. I have to go plant a false trail."

The last shove toward the door nearly sent Joe to his knees. Joe struggled to catch his breath, gasping painfully as he wrenched the door open and cautiously moved out into the cooling night air. The car he had driven here was, as the man said, parked across the street and Joe turned to see the door being closed and locked behind him.

Joe looked toward the car and wished it were about twenty feet closer. As it was, getting inside and trying to drive anywhere was problematic. He doubted he'd make it twenty feet before passing out and he really wanted to get out of here.

He was about to hobble forward when a car stopped in front of him and he fell to the ground…

Too much being too much, Joe Hardy let the darkness that swirled around him take over.

"Anyone here for Joe Hardy?" a doctor's voice rang out from the doorway to the waiting room where Frank Hardy and Nancy Drew sat holding hands, worrying about what was wrong with Joe.

"Us," Frank waved his hand in acknowledgement. He and Nancy stood and approached the doctor, walking with him down the hall to a private office and sitting down with him. The office was decorated in comforting shades of blue and green, from the painted walls to the upholstery on the chairs. The wood on the desk the doctor sat behind was a light oak, solid looking and neat with only a single folder sitting on top.

"I'm Doctor Sawyer," the doctor introduced himself. The doctor was middle-aged, about six foot tall with brown hair and blue eyes. When he smiled, a dimple appeared in his left cheek. "I've been treating Joe since he arrived. I want to assure you that he's going to be okay. He was badly beaten and has several cracked ribs and some large contusions on his abdomen, but they will all heal with time. I want to keep him in the hospital for at least two days to keep an eye on him and then he's going to have to rest and take it easy for at least three weeks following his release."

Frank relaxed just a little at hearing the diagnosis and treatment.

"In the meantime," Doctor Sawyer continued. "You can both go see him as soon as he's settled into his room. It will be up on the third floor. You can ask at the nurse's station in about twenty minutes. He's sleeping right now; I gave him a mild sedative and he's on a painkiller that's going to keep him pretty well out of it."

Frank nodded and looked at Nancy who had squeezed his hand in support.

"I should warn you," the doctor said a moment later. "Because of the nature of Joe's injuries, I had to call in the police. They'll want to question him later to find out what happened – they will probably want to question you as well."

Nancy sighed, worried, and looked over at her boyfriend. Frank shrugged and smiled at her.

"It'll be okay," he said softly.

The doctor watched this with narrowed eyes. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Frank looked up at him for a moment. "Only that he was undercover when he got injured… we weren't really wanting anyone to know what we were doing… now we could all have our covers blown…"

"Maybe they're already blown," the doctor commented. "Whatever the case may be, we had procedure and policy to follow on this case. I'm sorry."

Nancy shrugged. "It's okay, Doctor. Thank you for doing what you can for Joe."

They got up and left the office and headed out to the waiting room again.

When they got there they both froze when they found themselves standing face-to-face with the last person they expected to find in St. Louis.

"Ned!" Nancy's exclaimed.