A/n: Guess who is awake! Yay!
Chapter 13
The next morning, Joe awoke to the sound of the shower down the hall. Carefully he eased his way out from under Halloran's still sleeping form. That was unusual, she was usually up far earlier than he was. That alone indicated to him that she was more wrung out by the situation than she was letting on. He leaned over, kissing her softly on the cheek. The only response he got was a little wriggle as she snuggled deeper under the covers. He kissed her again before taking a quick shower of his own. Coming downstairs, he found Bruce rummaging through the kitchen. "Looking for something?"
"Caffeine. Large copious amounts of caffeine." Bruce grunted sourly.
"Man after my own heart." Joe grinned as he reached into the proper cupboard and pulled out the grinder before opening the freezer door and grabbing the bag of beans. He swiftly ground enough for two pots and prepped the grounds with his special recipe. "Hand me the Britta" he requested and nodded his thanks when the pitcher of filtered water was passed over. In minutes the coffee maker was burbling away happily. Joe bustled about the kitchen. Bruce just grunted every so often, giving dirty looks to the coffee pot which was brewing far too damn slow for his liking. Eventually, though, finally, the coffee pot gave a last gurgle and spit. Joe reached above the coffee maker and grabbed three mugs. He poured two right away, passing one silently over to the still grumpy paramedic. The remainder of the coffee went straight into a thermal carafe and he started the second pot
"Hungry? I can do omelets or french toast. Apparently, my pancakes are inedible." Joe sniffed, pretending to be insulted.
"I'll cook. Least I can do. I am almost awake now. And my pancakes are the envy of the entire station." Bruce offered. "Just show me where everything is." Joe had no problem with this and soon stepped back and watched Bruce putter around, cracking eggs like a pro. Joe sat at the tall kitchen island, nursing his coffee and chatting with Bruce about anything except the explosion and Melody. Once or twice he thought about running upstairs to check on Halloran, but he wasn't sure what her plans were for the day. It was a workday, but being the Boss did have its' perks on occasion. In the end though, he waited until Bruce was ready to serve the first batch.
"Lemme run upstairs and see if my beloved is awake. Otherwise I don't want to be accused of eating all the pancakes without giving her right of First Refusal." Joe said.
"Fine by me. I should call Mitch anyway, see how I am getting back."
Joe quickly ran up the stairs and pushed open the door to the bedroom. She was still in bed, although he was pretty sure she was awake. He stepped fully into the room, crouching down to eye level with her head. "Hey Sleeping Beauty" he said quietly. He was rewarded with a pair of emerald green eyes opening and the teeniest of smiles on her lips.
"Make up your mind." she reprimanded with a hint of laughter in her voice. "Pick one Disney Princess and stick with it. Otherwise I may have an Identity Crisis."
"Hmm, true. And I make a much better Flynn Rider than I do Prince Charming." he conceded as he leaned over and placed a light kiss on her nose. "Bruce made breakfast. It's about ready. Wasn't sure if you planned on going into work today..." he left the rest of it unsaid. She frowned a little, thinking.
"I should, if just for a little while." She sat up and allowed him to pull her to a stand and wrap her robe around her. " Why don't I go in, just to let Phil and Dave know I will be gone the rest of the week. I'll meet you at the hospital this afternoon." She decided as they made their way downstairs. She accepted the plate from Bruce with a smile of thanks and gave Joe another smile as he placed her coffee, heavy on the cream, next to her arm. Joe's own plate was piled high and Bruce's finished off the batch. They all ate quickly, with the two lovebirds complimenting Bruce on his skills as they polished off the pancakes with great relish. Soon, everything was gone and it was time to get on with the day.
"I suppose you have called the hospital already?" she asked Joe, who shook his head no.
"Nope. Haven't even called the parental units. But I am going over there like right now." he sad.
"Well g'wan then. Git." she admonished. "I'll load the dishwasher and take my shower. I'll meet you at the hospital early this afternoon." she turned to Bruce. "What are your plans?"
"Thought I'd bum a ride to the hospital with Joe. I'd like to see Frank, thank him for keeping Mitch safe and letting him know I don't hold Mel against him. And Mitch is already on his way. He'll meet us there too."
"Sounds like a plan." Joe declared. He grabbed Halloran around the waist, tickling her underneath the robe that was in danger of coming undone. She giggled but bravely fought him off. "Love you lots." he whispered into her ear before letting her go. He swept into the hallway, Bruce following close behind. Keys in hand, he led the way to the Impala and they were on their way to the hospital.
With a familiarity born of too many visits, Joe took a back entrance to the hospital's parking lot and snagged a parking spot close to an entrance that most others never knew about or used. He went down one short corridor before taking a left turn through a stairwell access door and sprinted up the three flights, Bruce keeping pace. The emerged in the Burn Unit about six steps from the Nurse's Station, which that morning was manned by a pair of middle aged women with greying hair but kind eyes. They both smiled at Joe but one was on the phone so could only raise a hand in quick acknowledgement of their presence. "Good morning dear." the other one spoke. "I just finished checking Frank's stats. He had a nice quiet night, but no sign of waking up yet. You can both go in, but remember, only two at a time."
"Thanks!" Joe grinned and quickly made his way down the short hall to Frank's room. He shoved the door open and strode in half expecting Frank to be awake and trying to pull the tube out of his throat. He was disappointed. The nurse had opened the blinds and sunlight streamed in, bathing the room in a much softer light than the harsh florescent blubs that lined the ceiling. Joe was grateful for that, in the natural light Frank looked a lot better than he would have otherwise. He approached the bed, frowning a little. Frank should be awake, or at least he thought so. He nudged the bed with a knee. "Wake up, Lazybones." Nothing. Joe let out a long, overly loud and overly dramatic sigh and flopped unceremoniously into the chair, actually causing it to skid back a few inches. Still nothing. Bruce looked quizzically at his blond friend, then at the darker one lying unconscious and breathing in sync with the machine next to the bed.
"Don't think he's listening, Bud." he said dryly.
Joe snorted. "He never does. And yet I am always the one accused of being the obstinate one. I tell ya it isn't fair." He leaned forward and gently wrapped his hand around Frank's bandaged one. Speaking much more softly, and more gently than Bruce expected of his friend, Joe repeated his request. "C'mon Bro. Wake up. You know I always hated the Silent Treatment gag. Way too passive aggressive." he squeezed his brother's hand, trying to balance his desire to get through to his brother and his unwillingness to cause any more pain on the burned limb. He thought he imagined it, but when he squeezed a second time, he was sure. The merest imperceptible twitch underneath his fingers. Growing excited, but still trying to remain calm, he spoke again. "Frank? Open your eyes for me, Bro. Please? Pretty Please?!"
Bruce was hard pressed to remain stoic, it was comical the way Joe was pleading like a four year old begging for extra dessert. He was saved by the timely vibration of his cell phone in his pants pocket. Pulling it out, he saw that it was a text message. "Mitch is here. I'm gonna go meet him downstairs so he doesn't spend an hour wandering around like a lost puppy." Joe absent mindedly waved his free hand in acknowledgment even as he kept begging Frank to wake up. Chuckling, Bruce left the two brothers to their battle of wills.
Joe never heard him leave, he was too busy staring intently at Frank's face, hoping to notice the exact second he opened his eyes. He resisted the urge to shake his brother. But man was it hard to do so. Instead he kept up the wheedling, going from concerned,to annoying to obnoxious in both tone of voice and content. He figured that at some point Frank would just get fed up and open his eyes just to get some relief. It had worked before on several occasions.
Frank Hardy was nothing if not predictable. Sure enough, after about ten minutes of constant haranguing by his brother, he stirred and groaned a little as he tried to open his eyes. Joe immediately picked up on it and upped his urgings. "That's it Big Brother. Wakey wakey." He stood, crouching directly over Frank so the first thing he'd see was a familiar face. Frank's eyes opened the merest slit and he shifted, groaning softly. "Just look at me, 'kay?" Joe pleaded. "All the way open, Frank."
Finally, with effort, Frank opened his eyes completely. Joe's face lit up with a big smile. "'Bout time you woke up. Was getting tired of talking to myself." As soon as Frank tried to talk, he began to choke and panic lit his eyes until Joe's words cut through the haze. "Woah, there slow down. No trying to talk with a tube down your throat. It doesn't work that way." Joe had leaned even closer, placing both hands gently on Frank's chest to keep him still. "Hey, Frank, relax, okay? Don't fight it." At Frank's slight nod, Joe stood back up. "I'll be right back. Just want to tell the Nurses you are awake. Don't do anything crazy while I am gone." With a final squeeze of Frank's shoulder he was out the door.
The nurse who earlier had been on the phone was still at the desk and this time able to talk. As soon as Joe told her that Frank was awake, she paged Dr. Meadows. "It will probably be a few minutes before she can stop by. Why don't you go back in and wait? I'll be in in a sec to check his vitals." she said. Nodding his thanks, Joe turned around and headed back.
Halfway there, he stopped mid stride and abruptly swung around, heading to the waiting area. He stepped outside onto the smoking patio and called his parents. "He's awake." he said as soon as Laura had picked up. He smiled a little at her squeal of delight and shout through the house to her husband. "Yes Mom, I will tell him you are on your way." he replied to her request. He hung up after a quick goodbye and returned to the room, where the Nurse was just finishing up her check.
"He's doing great." she smiled at Frank although the words were for Joe. "Dr Meadows is on her way and she'll want to do a more thorough exam." she patted Frank on the leg before leaving. Joe sat down and scootched the chair closer even though the act squished his knees.
"Hey." he said quietly. He felt a little foolish, actually. It was one thing to ramble on incoherently not expecting a reply, and quite another to talk knowing you can't get one. He went to grasp Frank's hand, but when he did he could tell it was hurting him. "Sorry, Bro." he apologized. "Does it hurt a lot?"
Frank nodded but tried to smile. It was lost behind all the tape that was keeping the tube in place, but Joe noticed the crinkling around his eyes and smiled back. "Stupid question, huh?" This got a definite eye roll. "Well I highly endorse Dr. Meadows. Oh and this time she'll be able to use her experience and expertise on injuries she actually is trained to handle instead of slumming it on my back!" he patted the bed. "And ya hafta admit, these beds are damn comfy. Think we can talk her into letting us bring a couple home?" At that Frank started laughing but it quickly turned into more like choking. Joe was freaking out when Dr. Meadows can striding in.
"Slow down, Frank. Don't fight the machine. You just relax and let it make the decisions for you." she soothed.
"My fault, Doc. I made him laugh." Joe chastised himself.
"Then why don't you take a break. I need to do a more thorough examination and I prefer to do it without an audience. I am very shy." she winked at Frank, who had calmed down enough that he was no longer fighting the machine. He did, however wink back. Joe took long enough to apologize to his brother before taking off.
"Now then." Dr Meadows began. "Let's have a look, shall we?" Unlike most doctors( and Frank had seen his share despite not having his brother's penchant for needing them) Dr. Meadows kept up a steady commentary on her observations. "Pupils equal and reactive. Pulse strong and steady." she picked up Frank's right hand, the limb that had taken the brunt of the explosion. She gently unwound the bandage, pausing every time she noticed Frank squirming a little in discomfort. "If it get's to be too much, I'll stop." she said. Frank only shook his head minutely. She continued unwrapping and finally, His arm was laid bare. Deftly, she maneuvered herself so that his view was blocked as she peered intently at the burns. Frowning slightly, she managed to smooth out her expression before turning back and smiling at Frank.
"Can you move the fingers for me, one at a time, please?" Frank did so, slowly, pain evident by the tears in his eyes and the light sheen of sweat on his forehead. He repeated the exercise on the other arm when Dr, Meadows switched sides. He got a break when she pulled the blanket off his legs, but as before, did so in a way that he was unable to see for himself. It was a little frustrating. He wanted to know how bad it was. But Dr. Meadows was not going to oblige him ,and it wasn't like he could come right out and ask.
By the time she finished, his frustration was evident. "My goodness, and I though Joe was the impatient one!" she lightly teased. "You are going to be fine young man, but you need to let me finish and then I will tell you all at once, okay?" his frown indicated that he thought she already was finished.
"Not so. I need to do a few pulmonary function tests first, and then I can give you your prognosis." she chuckled at his confusion, which through long practice she was able to discern even through the mess of equipment surrounding most of his face. "I am fluent in Facial Sign Language. I can tell you want to know how bad it is, and I promise you will hear the whole truth from me.. once I am sure of everything. Until then, just chill." Her grin got slightly wider. "Just like you kept telling your brother when he was the one laying abed like a complete spudge." Now his eyes widened in amazement. "I also have a very good memory and excellent hearing." She straightened up and headed out the door, but stopped and turned back as she reached the threshold. "I'll be back in a little bit to do some more testing on your lungs."
Frank was left alone for a while then. He really had expected Joe to come rushing back in as soon as the doctor had left , but the door remained closed. He still ached to know what was going on, and what had happened to Mitch and Melody, not to mention when this damned tube was coming out.
He had almost drifted back asleep when the door creaked open. It was Bruce and Mitch. "Hey, man." Bruce said as he caught Frank's eye. "Joe's with your parents. They said we could come in first, since we need to get back to Calverton." Bruce sat down on the chair, while Mitch hovered nearby. "I just wanted to thank you, for everything. For telling Mitch to stay outta the line of fire. At least he listened..." Bruce broke down then. Mitch laid a hand on a shoulder, and Frank forced himself to raise his own arm, offering it in apology or support, neither man was sure. Bruce took it gently, being careful not to squeeze. It took a long moment, and a very deep breath, but he blurted out. "It's not your fault, Frank. So don't feel guilty about anything. I don't blame you for what happened."
Mitch chimed in as well. "I know we aren't supposed to speak ill of the dead, but I am a big believer in Karma. It was bound to catch up sooner or later." Frank was trying to shake his head, and both of the other men thought he was trying to still shoulder the responsibility. Mitch continued. "Seriously, don't beat yourself up about it. We all know Melody disregarded you and did what she wanted anyway."
Frank gave pulled his hand away and slammed it on the bed in frustration, but it also caused a wave of pain to roll over him and he scrunched his eyes tightly until it passed. When he opened them again, Bruce had stood up. "We have to get going. We'll be back in a couple of days." He leaned in very close and whispered. "If I had to choose between my husband and my cousin, I may be a selfish bastard but I'm glad I am not burying Mitch. So Thanks, for him." straightening up, he surreptitiously wiped away a tear before turning and wrapping his arm around Mitch's waist.
As they were leaving, Dr Meadows returned. "Me again!" she chirped, carrying a clipboard this time. She fiddled with a few dials, then unclipped the hose from the section that was sticking out of his throat. "Take a deep breath." she instructed. "Another." Frank complied, brow furrowed as the sensation was odd, if not uncomfortable. "Good , very good." she clipped something on the end of the tube and then told Frank, " Breath in as deeply as you can then blow out as hard as you can." he did so and she immediately took a look, smiling broadly at whatever she was seeing. "Oh your numbers are great! I think we can remove the breathing tube altogether. Like the sound of that?!"
He responded by bringing his right hand up in a sort of thumbs up gesture. He couldn't quite get the fingers to curl completely around though. Within moments, the offending apparatus was out of his throat and he was coughing slightly. "No talking!" the doctor warned him. "Ice chips for now, maybe in a few hours we can see about actual liquids." she shoved the intubation machine out of the way, but replaced it was an oxygen tank, complete with mask that covered his nose an mouth. He made a small moue of disappointment which she caught. "It's just a precaution, you inhaled a lot of smoke and your lungs need all the help they can get. In 24 hours we'll see about swapping it out for a nasal hose, okay?" she promised.
He frowned and then sighed his acceptance. "Well at least you are easier to convince than Joe was." She sat down then, pulling the chair close. "I wanted to go over some things with you, before your family comes in."
"Frank, I am not going to pull any punches here. The burns on your arms are quite severe and you are going to need skin grafts. Luckily, your legs are far less of an issue and other than some pretty heavy blistering which will hurt like hell when they burst, I am not all that concerned. But back to your arms." she sobered, looking straight into his eyes. "It is going to take a long time. The debridement will be painful and tedious. I am hoping we can use your own skin for grafts, as that will be best all around, but your brother has offered to donate and we can also use cadaver skin." she paused, noting the look of panic that had come over his face. "I want you to understand something. " she looked steadily at him. "You will have a complete recovery. Of that I am sure of." She smiled. "Do you believe me?" she asked.
Frank looked at her a long time before nodding "Yeah" he rasped out in a barely audible voice. He didn't believe her but he was willing to let it slide for the moment. Dr. Meadows pursed her lips and regarded him for a moment before making a decision.
"All right, I think that is enough for now. I want you to rest; and that means keeping the visitors to a minimum. Tomorrow when you are a little stronger we will see about beginning the debridement process. I don't want to release you until that is completed, so the sooner we start, the sooner you can get out of here." She stood up, giving him a look that was hooded. "Your mother is chomping at the bit. And I am shocked Joe hasn't tried to sneak in yet. But I mean it. Rest." and with that, she left, only to have the door immediately swing back open heralding the arrival of Fenton and Laura.
His parents fussed over him for a while, and he was hard pressed to not talk as per doctor's orders, although he managed to get across his request for more ice chips. Every time he tried to move, his arms protested mightily, and his legs weren't exactly happy either. The only saving grace was that his throat, while sore, felt much better without the tube and swallowing was a lot easier. He took full advantage of the oxygen mask, taking lots of slow, deep breaths and before too long he no longer tasted char. Fenton noticed he was getting tired long before Laura did and tried to hint to his wife that they should go. Frank, of course, was too polite to tell his mother to go away. That didn't stop him from sending some pointed looks over her head to his father, though. Eventually, though, Laura was persuaded once she saw Frank yawn mightily. "We'll be back after dinner, dear." she promised. Frank nodded and raised a hand weakly in goodbye.
He fell asleep almost immediately and napped for several hours. When he awoke, he was only slightly surprised to see Joe back in the room, seated in the chair with his head tipped back and snoring lightly. His initial attempt to get his brother's attention failed, so he tried another tactic. He painfully reached for the small plastic cup that once had ice chips in it but now contained water. He fervently hoped it was still cold as he he nudged it off the little table and onto his brother's lap.
It worked better than he could have hoped for. Joe sputtered awake with an oath. "What the hell...?!" his surprise quickly turned to annoyance as he realized Frank was laughing at him underneath the mask until he began coughing again. He immediately jumped up and helped calm his brother down until the coughing subsided. "You shouldn't exert yourself like that" he reproved mildly once Frank had relaxed again.
"It was worth it" Frank rasped softly. He smiled under the mask and lifted his hand. Joe grabbed it and held on loosely. It hurt, but he needed the tactile sensation more. "Had to get your attention."
"Yeah, well, next time throw a pencil at me or something." Joe groused as he settled back into the chair, only to immediately jump back up and disappear into the attached bathroom. He came back out with a threadbare towel that barely looked capable of drying his hands, let alone sopping up several ounces of melted ice chips that had pooled onto the seat.
"Didn't have a pencil handy." was the innocent reply, still soft but sounding less asthmatic. He got a dirty look in return before Joe finished drying the chair off. Frank tired to hide the smirk at hearing Joe's grumbled mutterings about wet pants.
"Just for that I think I will call my bride to be and tell her to forget about your present." he grumped, crossing his arms and pouting.
"What present?!" Frank asked, intrigued.
"Never you mind" Joe harrumphed, pretending to be mortally insulted. He sniffed the air disdainfully and carefully presented an air of haughty indifference. He kept it up an entire 45 seconds before the now empty plastic cup whacked him on the head. "Hey, now! Watch the hair!"
Further abuse was forestalled by the timely arrival of Joe's bride to be. She was carrying a laptop case. Her first action was to kiss Joe before she turned to the patient and leaned over to give him a peck on the forehead. "How are you feeling?" she asked with a smile.
"He's picking on me." Frank pouted. "He threatened to take my present away." her giggle caused both men to smile in response.
"Doc Meadows says you'll be here a while, and I know how easily you get bored. So I figured the first thing you were going to ask for was some paperwork from the office to do." Joe reached into the laptop case and pulled out a vaguely familiar notebook. One with a bright pink cover and a cute white Japanese anime character. "Seeing as how I didn't get much use out of Hello Kitty myself when I was last laid up, I thought you could take notes with her yourself." Joe was the epitome of wide eyed innocence. "I even brought the matching pen." it was produced with a flourish.
Frank sighed. "I'm right handed, Joe."
"Yeah, so?" Joe was all earnestness but his sapphire blue eyes were sparkling with mischief.
Frank managed to get his right hand about an inch off the bed before giving in to the pain. He tried wiggling them, and got nowhere. "You might have noticed my my right hand is not in all that great a shape at the moment, Little Brother."
Joe pretended to notice that for the first time. "Huh, well whaddya know. Bummer, dude." Halloran smacked him across the back of the head.
"Be nice, he's an invalid." She reprimanded as she took the bed's controls and slowly raised Frank's head and torso to a less reclined position. She then took the laptop case out of Joe's hands and pulled out the contents, laying it on the small table and positioning it so that it lay over the bed in Frank's eye line.
"That's my laptop." Frank said, eyebrow raised as he looked at each of them. Halloran nodded and pulled out one more item, a headset, which she plugged into the laptop before setting the other end on Frank's ears. He sat there, nonplussed as the laptop was turned on and cycled through it's start up menu.
"Say 'Spider Solitaire'" Joe urged.
"Umm, 'Spider Solitaire?'" Frank said in a questioning tone and gasped as the appropriate program on his computer opened and the cards started shuffling and arranging themselves. A grin slowly spread over his face as the implications set in.
"It's voice activated software. I had Phil install it this afternoon." Halloran said, pleased at his response. "You are our Beta tester. It's for a client who needs it to be pretty intuitive as well as flexible."
"Now you can do all the paperwork your little heart desires without having to type or write a blessed thing." Joe enthused. "If it is as cool as the demo Phil gave, I may install it on mine too!"
"Wow, thanks, Hall!" Frank said. "This is great!" he immediately closed out the game and asked for a spreadsheet to open. He grinned like a little kid in a candy store who had just been told he could buy out the place.
"Glad you like it. Phil was eager to have you test it out anyway and this seemed like the perfect time to start." Halloran stepped back into Joe's embrace for a moment before declaring she needed to get back to the office. "Since I'll be leaving tomorrow for the rest of the week, I should at least pretend to balance the books." with a wave good bye to Frank, and long, lingering kiss for Joe, she left.
"Leaving?" Frank asked with a frown.
"The wake is tomorrow and the funeral the day after." Joe said soberly. "I am going with her, unless you need me to stay here."
"Oh." Frank sat there, shocked at the fact he had forgotten, or at least temporarily did. "Um, no, you should go. Give my condolences." He grew uncomfortable, absently chewing on his lower lip, something Joe hadn't seen him do in twenty years.
Joe sat down in the chair, pulling it closer. He gently lowered the laptop's screen and pried the headphones off his brother. "Hey." he said quietly, laying one hand on a knee. "You wanna talk about it?" He wasn't going to push, he hated when people did that to him, but the offer was sincere.
Frank took a deep breath, expelling it rather forcefully, so much so that the mask over his face clouded up momentarily. He reached up with his left hand and slowly pulled it down so that when he spoke, the words were clear. "Melody Harper saved my life."
A/n: And so begins the redemption. When I made the decision to kill off Melody, I also decided to give her a few redeeming qualities as I felt she was turning into the anti Mary Sue. However I also decided that they were very well hidden, so much so that even her close friends and family would be unaware, hence Bruce's attitude. These will be further explored in later chapters, and hopefully she will be a little more sympathetic at that point. You are getting this early as later on this week I am going out of town, and it was either get this finished and up early, or have you all wait twice as long between updates. I am mean. I am not that mean.