J.M.J.
Author's note: Thank you for continuing to read! Thank you especially to MargaretA66, max2013, and Candylou for your reviews on the previous chapter!
Chapter VI
As Joe groggily woke up, the first thing he noticed was a dark-haired young woman looking over his charts. Had his brain been a little less foggy, he would have realized that, of course, she had to be a nurse. As it was, his mind jumped to the one dark-haired young woman who was always in his thoughts.
"Iola?" he croaked.
The nurse turned to him with a smile. "Good, you're waking up. How are you feeling?"
"I don't know," Joe admitted honestly, although he didn't mentioned his disappointment that she wasn't who he thought she was.
"That's understandable," she told him. "Do you know what happened?"
Joe thought about that. Fuzzy memories started coming back to him. "I was in the parking lot and somebody pepper sprayed me. He had a knife." He touched his side where there was a dull ache that even the pain meds that no doubt were in his system couldn't eradicate, but all he felt was bandages. "What did you do?"
"You were very lucky," the nurse told him instead of answering directly. "The mugger used a pocketknife with a small blade. It didn't damage any organs, so the doctor didn't have to operate. The pepper spray also didn't do any serious damage. It must not have been sprayed directly into your eyes. Once we rinsed your eyes out, they were fine."
"I really feel awful for being so completely fine."
A bemused smile crossed the nurse's face. "That's probably because you're not completely fine just yet. You're going to have to stay here at the hospital at least until tomorrow morning for observation to make sure there's no infection, and even after that, you're still going to have some restrictions because of that stab wound."
"Fantastic." Joe rested his head back against the pillow once more. "If you didn't operate, why don't I remember anything that happened after I got to the hospital?"
"You passed out before the ambulance arrived here and you were in and out quite a bit after that. Between that, the blood loss, and the medications, you're not going to remember much about it. Don't worry about that, though. The main thing is for you to rest now. When you feel up to it, the police want to ask you about what happened."
She started to leave, but Joe stopped her. "Hold on. Can I have any visitors?"
"Sorry. The doctor's orders are no visitors except immediate relatives and even then, only for a short time, and the police's orders are no visitors at all who haven't been cleared for it."
"Are the police guarding the place?"
"Yes. There's an officer standing right outside the door." The nurse pointed out some buttons next to Joe's bed. She showed him which one to press for an emergency and which to press if he simply needed something. She also showed him a bell like stores sometimes have on their counters for customers to ring and call for assistance. "If you need the police, just ring the bell. They'll be in here immediately."
Joe nodded and watched her leave. Then he closed his eyes. For as much sleeping as he had evidently been doing in the last few hours, he felt he needed more of it. He closed his eyes and drifted off.
HBHBHBHBHB
It was before dawn when Jack Wayne landed his plane at the airport on the outskirts of town. Callie was sleeping with her head resting against Frank's shoulder, but she was the only one who had managed to do more than doze off during the long flight. As soon as the plane reached the ground, however, she woke up again.
"Are we there?" she asked sleepily.
"Yeah but we've still got to get to the hospital," Frank replied. "We can probably call an Uber."
Fenton shook his head. "We'll rent a car here at the airport."
"Won't that take longer?" Laura asked.
"Yes, but considering what we're dealing with, it will be safer," Fenton said. "In fact, Jack, if you wouldn't mind renting the car in your name…"
"I get it," Jack replied. "It won't be much security if these Black Rose people have done their homework, but it might throw them off the trail for a little while."
"Exactly," Fenton said.
Jack went to the rental car desk and filled out the necessary paperwork. Then he brought the keys back and gave them to Fenton before attending to his plane.
The hospital was nearly ten miles away from the airport, but traffic was light at this time of the night, or morning, depending on how a person looked at it. When they reached the hospital, the doctor talked to them readily, reassuring them that Joe wasn't in any danger. However, he said that he wouldn't allow them to see him until morning, as he was asleep, and that was the most important thing he could do at the moment.
They found a hotel nearby with some empty rooms. Fenton called Jack to see if he wanted a hotel room and a ride to it, but Jack said that at this point, he would sleep in his plane for the rest of the night. The Hardys all went to bed soon after that.
Laura was the first one awake a few hours later. Despite having been awake practically all night, she couldn't sleep much. She hated the thought of her child alone in the hospital, with someone out there, ready to hunt him down. It wasn't just him, either. Every dealing he had had with Black Rose, Fenton and Frank had been every bit as involved. If that organization was willing to pay an assassin to come after Joe, they would also have some out after the other two Hardy men, too.
She lay in bed a short time but then finally gave up on sleeping and got up. She didn't know what else to do, so she set to work making a pot of coffee. Then she sat down to wait. All she could do was wait. Why did time seem to be standing still?
Then she clasped her hands together as she sat at the table and bowed her head against them. "God," she prayed, speaking quietly but audibly, "You've protected my boys through so much before this. Please, don't stop now. I don't really believe You will, but I can't help being afraid. I don't care what happens to me, but all my boys have ever tried to do is help people. They don't deserve this. Why can't these people just leave us alone? Please, God, just make this stop."
The longer she talked, the more she could feel tears welling in her eyes. She tried to stop them from materializing any more—she didn't want Fenton or Frank to see that she had been crying—but she couldn't help it.
"Laura?"
She turned around to see that Fenton had woken up, too. "I'm sorry," she murmured.
Fenton gave her a quizzical look before getting up and going to her. "What on earth do you have to be sorry for?"
"I don't know. I just can't seem to get a grip on myself."
"You've been through a lot the last few years, Laura. And this…" Fenton let the sentence trail off. He wasn't sure whether admitting that he was worried would be helpful or not, but the truth was that he was terrified.
"It just isn't fair," Laura complained. "And it doesn't make sense. It's been several years since you've had anything to do with them. Why now?"
Fenton furrowed his brow. "It doesn't make sense to me, either. And why Joe? If they were going to come after anyone, Frank or I would be easier to find. We both still live in Bayport; we're both still involved in law enforcement. Either one of us would be a more logical target."
"I don't want to think about any of you being anyone's target."
Fenton held her tighter. "I know. I know. It's going to be all right."
Laura took a few minutes to collect herself. "When do you think they'll let us see him?"
"I suppose it depends on when he wakes up. I hope they don't make us wait until normal visiting hours, but the doctor sounded like he would possibly release Joe today." Fenton frowned thoughtfully. "Let's wait until eight o'clock and then call."
HBHBHBHBHB
"This is, like, the wildest thing that's ever happened to me," Shaun observed as he sat cross-legged on the floor of the apartment with his back against the wall. He had an energy drink in one hand and his bloodshot eyes gave testimony to the fact that he hadn't gotten any sleep that night at all. "You guys always made that Baybridge place sound like a quiet, little town. How come you didn't tell me sooner about all the cults and murderers and gangs and stuff?"
Once Tony had gotten back to the apartment, he had told Phil and Shaun the whole story of what had happened, which, of course, meant that Tony and Phil had to bring Shaun up to date on Black Rose. They had talked all night, considering how many questions Shaun had, but none of them would have slept, anyway, once the question of an assassin possibly being after them was raised.
"I think we were all hoping it was behind us," Tony told him.
Phil had his laptop in front of him and was working on it. "You said the guy who attacked Joe had dark hair, right?"
"Mm-hmm." Tony nodded.
"Just dark brown? Or maybe a little reddish or what?"
Tony shrugged. "Brown, I guess. Why?"
"I'm just trying to make up as complete a description as I can," Phil replied. "This guy's not going to be able to get to Joe in the hospital, so maybe he'll hang around here and wait for Joe to get back here. In that case, we need to know what to watch for."
Shaun actually laughed, earning him curious stares from his roommates. "Dude, this is just too much. It's crazy. Like, you're always complaining about the crime rates here, Phil, but it wasn't till you guys came that I had anything like this happen."
"Yeah, well, at least with the crooks the Hardys deal with, they're singling you out for a reason," Phil insisted. "Here, you just have guys come up and stab or shoot you and there's nothing personal about it."
"You're a lot less dead when you get stabbed by the crazy cult people who are actually trying to kill you than the muggers who don't care one way or the other, they just want your wallet. Sure." Shaun shook his head. "I don't know who's crazier: the cult people or you guys."
"Thanks, Shaun. You always know how to make a guy feel good," Tony told him dryly.
"It's nothing," Shaun said. "I'm always happy to give you guys a reality check any time you need one."
"We don't," Tony replied.
Phil tapped his fingers on his keyboard a few times. "Not to bring up a very sore subject, but it seems like kind of weird timing that Darcy made her appearance right before this happened."
For the first time in hours, Shaun actually reacted as if he cared about what was going on. He sat up straighter and set the energy drink to the side. "You're not saying you think Darcy is part of Black Rose? Just because you don't like her?"
"Darcy is exactly the sort of person who would have gotten sucked into Black Rose," Phil retorted. "She didn't have a lot of friends. She obviously doesn't have any idea how to have a relationship with anyone. She would have been lonely, an outsider. Not to mention that she was in Bayport when they were recruiting there."
"That's right," Tony agreed. "And there's another thing. She was working at the same restaurant I was, and she started after I did. What if it was to keep an eye on me, since I'm one of Frank and Joe's friends? Then she tried to date you, and it could have been for the same reason."
"It fits." Phil nodded. "It fits perfectly."
"Except for one thing," Shaun interjected. "Tony said the dude who tried to get Joe was, well, a dude. Darcy definitely isn't a dude."
"That's true," Tony admitted. "But that doesn't mean she's not involved. I think we'd better tell the Hardys about her being here."
HBHBHBHBHB
Callie was hardly a stranger to hospital waiting rooms, but she didn't think she'd ever learn to like them. They had been promised that they could see Joe soon, but "soon" seemed to have a different meaning to this hospital than the one Callie was familiar with. She was sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs next to Laura, while Frank and Fenton were a little distance away, talking in low voices. They were probably discussing some plan that they didn't want the others to hear. It seemed funny to Callie now that only twenty-four hours earlier, her biggest concern was how Iola's visit was going to go and whether the supper she was planning was going to taste all right. If she could, she'd take those worries back in a heartbeat. A little wistful sigh escaped her lips.
"Are you okay, Callie?" Laura asked her.
"Yeah," Callie said. She toyed with the strap on her purse, which was sitting on her lap, and then she added, "Do you ever feel just totally useless?"
Laura gave her a kind smile. "Sometimes. Times like this, yes. I'd love to be able to just go out and find the person who did this and stop them, but it isn't that simple, even for someone who's been trained for it, like Fenton and Frank. Besides, there's more to be done here than just detective work."
"Like what?"
"If they do release Joe from here, he'll need someone to take care of him and make sure he keeps out of all this, as much as possible, at least."
Callie smiled. "You're going to have your hands full doing that."
A middle-aged man in scrubs walked into the waiting room. There weren't many other people there, so he approached the Hardys first.
"Joseph Hardy's family?" he asked.
Instantly, everyone's attention was on him. Laura and Callie stood up.
"Yes." Fenton gestured to Laura. "We're his parents."
The doctor nodded and then pointed his pencil at Frank. "And you must be the brother."
Frank nodded. "I guess it doesn't take much deduction to come to that conclusion."
"No, especially when I can see the family resemblance."
"You can?" Frank asked in confusion. That wasn't something he heard very often.
"How is Joe?" Laura asked.
"Come with me," the doctor invited them. He only led them a little farther into the corner of the waiting room, where they would have a bit more privacy from the few other people present. "My name is Dr. Berner. Joe is doing very well. There was no organ damage and there is no sign of infection. In fact, he couldn't have fared better if the person who attacked him had been intentionally trying to harm him but not kill him. I kept him here at the hospital last night for observation, as well as for his safety, under the circumstances. I'm satisfied enough to release him this morning, with some restrictions. However, the police have requested that you consult with them before you move him."
"Of course," Fenton agreed. "We can see him now?"
"Certainly," Dr. Berner agreed. "There are police officers outside his room who will ask you for your identification before letting you in, but I don't think you'll have any trouble with them."
The Hardys thanked him and went straight to Joe's room. Just as Dr. Berner had predicted, once the officers saw that the Hardys were family, they let them into the room. They found Joe sitting partly propped up in bed, skimming through a magazine. As soon as he saw them, he set it aside and tried to sit up a little straighter again, although he winced when he did and quickly settled back into his previous position.
"What are all you doing here?" he asked.
"We came to see you, genius," Frank replied teasingly.
Joe rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, obviously, but how did you get out here so fast?"
"We had Jack fly us out," Fenton explained.
"Are you all right?" Laura asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, once I get out of this place," Joe replied.
"What happened, exactly?' Fenton asked. "We heard Tony's side of the story, but he didn't see very much."
"He can probably tell you more than I can," Joe admitted. "Between everything that happened and the pain meds, my memories of the whole thing are a little foggy. I didn't see anything of the guy who did it, what with the pepper spray and everything. They said he must have not sprayed it directly in my eyes, so I was lucky there, I guess."
"That's funny," Frank commented.
"Yeah, it was hilarious," Joe deadpanned. "Haven't stopped laughing since."
"No," Frank said, trying not to be annoyed by his brother's sarcasm. "That's not what I meant. The doctor said that it was almost like the attacker was purposely trying to hurt without killing you. None of this adds up with what Tony was saying about this being an attempted hit."
"This wasn't the attempted hit," Joe said. "I probably didn't get that explained to Tony very well. This guy said he was trying to warn me about the hit man."
"Some warning," Callie commented.
"Let me think." Joe was quiet for a few seconds. Then he gave up with a sigh. "I don't remember exactly how it all went. He was trying to make a deal with me, that he'd help me avoid the hit man if I helped him find someone. The weird thing is that I thought I recognized his voice, but I just can't place it."
"Don't worry about that now," Fenton advised him. "The main thing is for you to rest. We'll be taking you back to our hotel before long."
"Good," Joe replied. "But why a hotel? Why not my apartment?"
"It would be too dangerous for you to go back there now," Fenton told him. "This person who attacked you and the assassin—if they're not the same person—most likely know where you live."
"Won't it still be dangerous at the hotel?" Callie asked. "I mean, if someone is trying to kill him, they might just follow us back there."
Frank thoughtfully rubbed his chin as he studied his brother's face. "Maybe not. I have an idea that might throw them off the track."
