Frank decided that the best course of action was to go back to the house and check the handwriting in the notebook against Joe's English journal which he had seen in his backpack. It had been dusk in the parking lot when he was first looking at the notebook, so he should be able to make a more certain determination at home. He hated himself for doing this, but he had to have proof that Joe wasn't involved in case any of the student's accusations were made public.
Frank arrived home to an empty house. He turned off the alarm and made his way directly to Joe's room. He ran his fingers though his hair as he looked at the state of Joe's room. He stepped over the piles of clothes and found the backpack Joe had borrowed. Frank pulled out the journal and found the latest entry. There were similarities in the writing, and some of the letters had the same formation but there were differences as well in the slant and spacing of the letters.
Frank was not a specialist in handwriting analysis, but after assessing both writing samples, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He was fairly certain he could prove that Joe hadn't written that entry in the notebook. He closed the journal and dropped it back in the backpack.
He needed to go back to the hospital and talk to Joe about this; hopefully he was up to it.
As Frank arrived at the hospital, his mom and dad were by the elevators getting ready to leave.
"Frank honey, you should go home and get some sleep too. You look exhausted," Laura said as she gave him a quick hug.
"Joe's doing much better already," Fenton added. "He was already bored and his channel surfing was driving me crazy. Thankfully he found that old movie Backdraft and finally settled on that."
Frank had seen Joe watching that movie recently about an arsonist. He really hoped this was just coincidence.
"Frank, what's wrong?" Laura asked worriedly, seeing the change in Frank's expression.
"Nothing, Mom. I'm fine. I'm going to go in and see Joe now. There's no school tomorrow, so I don't have to get up early," he said before going into Joe's room.
"How are you feeling Joe?" Frank asked as he sat in the uncomfortable chair.
"Been better," Joe said in a hoarse voice turning away from the TV. "My throat still feels raw, but my head hurts less now. Good part is my blood pressure is staying down so far, so I'm sure I can go home tomorrow."
"That's great. I'm glad you're feeling better. You didn't look too good earlier," Frank said. He paused, and then added, "So you're watching Backdraft again? You just saw that."
"I know. I think the fires in the movie are amazing to watch," Joe said.
"Since when did you start liking fires? You know how much damage they cause," Frank said with a little too much vehemence in his voice.
Joe turned away from the movie and looked at Frank closely, "What is wrong with me watching the movie?"
"Nothing," Frank said as he ran his hand through his hair.
Joe turned off the TV and studied Frank with his blood-shot eyes. Frank was acting really strange. Joe said, "Okay, spill. What is bothering you?"
Frank held up the little book and said, "This is what's bothering me."
"Where did you get that?" Joe asked, he thought he remembered putting it in his jacket pocket.
"Vanessa found it in the jacket you lent her," Frank said. "Are you sure this is yours?"
"Of course it's mine. She didn't read it, did she?" Joe said his voice worried. He had planned for her surprise party for so long and he didn't want her to figure it out ahead of time.
"She read it Joe and she showed it to me but---," Frank said.
"Damn it, doesn't anyone respect my privacy anymore?" Joe cut in angrily as he bolted up quickly and immediately the alarms monitoring Joe's blood pressure and pulse started to go off. He had worked so hard on the ideas for Frank's birthday gift which were also in that little book and they both read it without permission.
"Joe calm down," Frank said as he quickly stood beside Joe. "Lay back down," Frank said soothingly as he gently pushed on Joe's shoulders until he relented and lay back on the pillow. Joe didn't want to have to stay another day either so it was worth trying to master his temper, though his brother had really pushed him this time.
"We'll talk in a minute, but we can't do it while you're so upset," Frank said.
The boys watched in silence for a few minutes as the blood pressure monitor inflated again and Frank was relieved to see that Joe's blood pressure and pulse were returning to normal quickly. He chastised himself for not waiting until tomorrow, but it was too late for that. So as the room quieted again, Frank tried to explain.
"What I was trying to say was that I don't think this notebook is really yours. There is some pretty scary stuff in here. Arson. Threats," Frank voice trailed off.
"Arson? The only fire in there is on the candles for the cake. That's hardly what I would call arson," Joe said. This conversation was making his head hurt. Joe reached out his good hand and snatched the book from him, "Here, I'll show you."
Joe opened the book. He read the little that was written in the book and looked at Frank, "This isn't my book," he said confused.
"It's not?" Frank said relief coursing through him as he got the confirmation he had wanted.
"No Frank it's not mine. Mine looks exactly like this but it has all the plans for a surprise party I was going to have for Vanessa and my ideas for a birthday gift for you," Joe said as he stared at the words in disbelief.
After a few minutes in silence, only interrupted the inflating of the automatic blood pressure cuff which showed Joe's blood pressure elevated, but not enough to set off the alarms, Joe finally said, "You didn't really believe that I would write something like this let alone do it, did you?" Joe asked the hurt evident in his voice.
"Joe, I'm so sorry. I got caught up in the facts and forgot about what I always knew in my heart. And," Frank hesitated, "you haven't been real open with me recently, especially about how you feel about not getting the part in the play. Vanessa showed me this and the "Accidents" written there seemed to fit with the ladder falling and with you falling off the step stool near the vent with the open ammonia in the janitor's closet…I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions."
"You're right – you did jump to conclusions," Joe said, as he rubbed his eyes. "It's hurts to think that you would even consider that I could do something like this. You know me better."
Joe searched Frank's face and saw shame in his eyes. He could continue to berate his brother for his lack of trust, but as he looked at Frank's pale face making the bags under his eyes stand out more prominently, he realized he had said enough. He knew Frank loved him and he knew people made mistakes, himself included.
Joe finally continued "I admit I haven't been very open recently. It just seems like everything I planned for the fall has gotten messed up. I'm sorry too; I guess I figured that I should be old enough to handle my problems and feelings on my own without dumping them on you all of the time. But shutting you out wasn't the right thing to do," Joe said as he rubbed his eyes again.
"Joe, you've always been able to handle your own problems. I'm just a sounding board, someone to talk to. I will always be here for you, even next year when I'm at college. Just keep talking to me okay?" Frank said clearly relieved.
"I promise," Joe said. "But what really scares me is someone is out there that did actually write this. And why do you keep saying that I fell off the step stool? I was never on it."
"You said that earlier, but then you sounded confused. I couldn't tell whether you actually remembered what happened or not," Frank said.
"I remember something hitting my head and then the fumes, but that is the last thing that I do remember before waking up in the hospital," Joe said. "I thought it was something that fell off the shelf, but maybe it was a 'someone' instead. Do you think this person knows I have the notebook?" he asked with a yawn as he scrunched his eyes closed to dull the hammering in his head.
"Well, if he does, then maybe some of these accidents that have been plaguing you recently aren't accidents at all. You might have someone after you," Frank said with a frown. "I'm staying here tonight. Tomorrow is Saturday so that will give us some time to go over all of the facts."