In the morning, as breakfast arrived, Frank sat up in his chair and stretched. He gazed over at the mess of blond curls in the bed and wondered what exactly Joe had gotten mixed up with this time. A few minutes later, Joe rolled over with his eyes still closed and mumbled, "Wha'd Mom make for breakfast?"
Frank laughed, "No such luck baby brother. Open your eyes."
"Oh man. I thought it was a nightmare and I would wake up in my own bed," Joe said as he looked at the food on the plate and scrunched up his nose.
"Just eat it, so we can get out of here. How are you feeling?" Frank said with a hint of concern in voice as he eyed the latest blood pressure reading on the machine by Joe's bed. He was concerned about Joe's recovery from the chemicals and was more than a little worried about the danger Joe was in from the unknown person.
"I'm fine, Frank. Don't worry. See, my blood pressure is normal and my arm will feel great once they finally take this thing off. I'm ready to get out of here. Just in time for the weekend too!" Joe said.
"Remember, we need to go over the facts to see who might be after you. I don't think you're safe," Frank said.
"I haven't forgotten," Joe said with a yawn. "Let's get home and we can start working on it."
A few hours later, Joe was discharged with some painkillers for his throat, head and eyes and told to rest.
"Let's get you home Joe," Laura said as she climbed into the car with the rest of the family to leave the hospital. "I think you both should just go home and climb into bed," she said as she glanced worriedly over her shoulder at Joe and then Frank.
"We're fine Mom," Joe replied his voice still gravely. "I'm tired of sleeping, at least for now that is," he said with a smile. "I may feel differently when Monday morning comes around and it's time to go to school."
After they arrived home, Frank and Joe entered Fenton's study and shut the door. "Dad, I think we have a problem here," Frank started.
Fenton looked up from his work and studied the boys, "What do you mean we have a problem? Are you feeling okay Joe?" He felt like the last week was full of problems, and he wasn't looking forward to dealing with any more.
"I'm fine Dad," Joe said hurriedly.
"Well, I wouldn't say 'fine.' I think someone is after Joe…" Frank said. "I don't think all of the incidents have been accidents like we first suspected."
"And what do you think Joe?" Fenton asked his blond son who had dropped into one of the leather chairs and was rubbing his eyes.
"I think Frank is right. I apparently have something that someone is desperate to get back," Joe said. Frank and Joe proceeded to explain the whole story.
Fenton leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He reread the notebook entry once more. "Well, unfortunately, I think you're right. It looks like we have a potential arsonist on our hands and if your guess is right, they've may have tried to hurt you, Joe, possibly more than once; perhaps with the car accident and then with the ammonia spill. And, they seem to have done a good job of making it all look like accidents or your fault."
Frank looked at Joe, "From the writing, the type of book the person wrote in and where Joe found it, I think we are looking for a student. The most likely suspect would be someone who tried out for the play and didn't make it. Who else tried out for the lead role you auditioned for?"
Joe thought back and thought, "Well, Craig, but he made it. He does seem to hate me though. And there was also John, Ryan, Liam, and me. I don't know any of them very well, but I just can't imagine one of them doing this."
"It's a place to start at least," Fenton said. "See what you can find out about their hobbies. Are they very serious about acting, have they said anything about the play to anyone you know?
"I'll call Erza and let him know about the notebook. I'll hold onto it for now. Your van has been in for service for a few days, so I don't think there will be any evidence left at this point, but you boys can take a look. I got the call this morning saying it is ready to be picked up – I already paid for the repairs so you can pick it up whenever. Stay together please – this is getting dangerous."
Frank and Joe agreed and retreated to Joe's room to come up with a plan.
"It is so hard to believe that someone would do all of this because of a stupid school play," Joe said with a cough as he sat down on his bed, leaned against the pillow, and closed his eyes. They were still stinging but he was trying to keep from rubbing them.
"I agree. But there has to be someone out there who is willing to go to extremes to get revenge for not getting the part. We just need to find them before arson is added to the list of charges," Frank said staring at Joe as he slumped further down on the bed with his eyes closed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Fine," Joe said keeping his eyes closed and stifling a yawn. "We should start – making some calls – to see if anyone has calls – no, I mean information about..." Joe just trailed off.
Joe had to be tired. This definitely ranked near the top of horrible weeks, Frank thought.
"Joe were these the names of the guys that didn't get the part? I didn't write them down earlier and I'm not sure of their last names," Frank said as he held out a notebook to Joe.
"What guys?" Joe said as he opened his red eyes, blinked a few times and stared at the paper.
"The suspects we were just talking about, remember?" Frank said concealing his worry.
"Oh yeah, I think that's names. I think we should make some calls," Joe said closing his eyes again.
"Okay Joe, after you take a nap. I think you need one," Frank said sincerely hoping that sleep was the only thing that Joe needed.
Frank pulled the covers up around Joe and went down to the kitchen to make a few calls. He dropped heavily into a chair, wondering what was up with Joe. Could it be a side effect from all that had happened or some other problem he wondered.
Laura came into the kitchen just then to make a cup of tea. She was thankful that Joe was home now, and was having one of those motherly moments when she just wanted to lock the boys in the house and keep them there so they would be safe. She noticed her oldest son leaning heavily on the table with his head in his hands.
"I know it's been a tough week, Frank," she said gently. "Are you okay?"
He looked up at her, and she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "I'm okay. I'm just worried about Joe. He was awake and talking one minute and then he was loosing his train of thought and couldn't keep his eyes open the next. He's asleep now. Do you think something else is wrong with him?"
Laura smiled at Frank and rubbed his arm, "Well, I'm afraid that is my fault," she said.
"What?" he looked up shocked.
"Oh you know Joe," she said. "He hates to take any medication, especially for pain. So, when he actually asked me for a Tylenol, I knew he must really be hurting so I handed him one of his pain killers instead. He didn't even notice or he wouldn't have taken it, I'm sure. Those things will usually make you a bit loopy and then knock you out. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you, but Joe needs the sleep and he wouldn't knowingly take one."
"Well that makes me feel better," Frank said as he rubbed his eyes.
"What would really make you feel better is a nap young man," Laura said as she looked him over closely. "While I won't slip you a painkiller, I will insist that you go lie down for a while. Though Joe was the one to get hurt, helping him takes its toll on you too."
His mom was right, he could use a nap. He would make some calls later when he woke up.
By the time Frank actually woke up long enough to force his eyes open, long shadows were playing across his bedroom walls. He pulled himself to his feet and crossed through the bathroom to check on Joe. His brother was in almost the same position that he had left him in many hours before. Frank contented himself by making sure he saw the slow rise and fall of Joe's chest and then went down to look for dinner.
After a pot roast dinner, Frank sat down to start calling their friends. He really needed some information on the names Joe gave him. First though, he started with Vanessa. He needed to explain to her what had happened. Frank didn't want to her thinking Joe had done anything wrong. Vanessa insisted on the blow by blow account of their conversation.
At the end, Vanessa gasped and said, "Oh Frank! I can't believe I even suspected Joe would do anything like that. I feel so horrible!"
"Vanessa, you did the right thing in coming to me. Now we know that it's not Joe causing the problems, but it looks like he is a target."