A/n: so, originally I wanted this to end a little further along, at the wake or even the funeral. but then I realized it had been way too dang long since an update, and I didn't want y'all to forget me. and since the Cherry Blossoms are in like Peak Bloom tomorrow, guess who is spending the day in DC?! Oh, and Doctor Who starts in 30 minutes and if you think I am gonna miss that just to write some more, y'all are crazy. so, I took a lull and stopped.
Chapter Fourteen
Joe sat back, stunned into speechlessness. "Yer kidding me." He finally sputtered. Frank shook his head.
"Not something I would kid about." He responded.
"I think maybe you need to start at the beginning. Hell, why not play with your new toy and kill two birds with one stone. Special Agent Connelly will be here in a day or so to get your full report."
"Probably not a bad idea, but you could you refill my cup first?" Frank was a study in innocence as he made the request. "Throat is still a bit sore and this could take a while."
"Well maybe you shouldn't have dumped it all over your favorite brother than, huh?!" Joe grumped as he stood up and grabbed the offending piece of plastic. "Be right back." He stepped out into the hallway, where he asked the Nurse what Frank could have. He got his answer, and returned with a pitcher full of ice water and a straw stuck into the new lid on the cup. "You have graduated beyond ice chips you lucky dog."
"Thanks. Now what did you mean Connelly was coming?"
"Ah. That." Joe plopped into the chair and tried to make himself comfortable, failing miserably. "Welp, while you were being poked, prodded and fussed over earlier, I got a phone call from him. Seems the evidence I acquired the other day hit the jackpot."
"Evidence?" Frank frowned as he attempted to rearrange his headset, only to give up, forcing Joe to do it for him.
"Yeah. Bruce and I got great descriptions of our Mystery Men, and the waitress still had a hundred dollar bill that was given to her as a tip. So I swapped it out for some twenties, took her fingerprints to exclude and sent everything off to Sam, who passed it along to the Feds. Fingerprints came back to a 'Person of Interest' in Connelly's drug manufacturing case the next county over. Obviously they are fairly certain you found the location of the manufacturing..." Joe trailed off.
"You could say that yeah." Frank grimaced as he shifted a little, trying to get comfortable. His hiss of pain was not lost on Joe, who frowned a little.
"You want me to get a Nurse?" he asked in concern.
Frank shook his head. "Nahh, it only hurts when I move my arms, and I need to be clear headed to write my report." he insisted.
"If you say so" Joe remained skeptical. "You don't have to do this immediately ya know. I can wait. And I am sure Connelly will be fine with just your testimony. You should be resting."
"Joe, I need to do this. To set the record straight. Might as well be efficient while I am at it. Like you said, two birds with one stone." Frank verbally requested a new text document to be opened and began his tale, not really speaking to Joe at all, but rather narrating to himself.
Flashback
We approached the old sawmill cautiously, despite having observed the two known occupants leaving ten minutes earlier. The door had been recently rehung with new hinges, and also received a new lock. Melody stood back while I picked the locked and eased the door open. Inside it was remarkably clean, very little dust or general detritus. Anything that looked like it was leftover from the sawmill days was piled in a few corners, leaving the main space open.
I observed three large tables situated on the center of the room, all set up with the various equipment needed to produce Methamphetamine. It was obvious that a batch was currently cooking, which I suppose could explain why the other two left. We took their example and did not approach. Instead, I told Melody to go along one wall looking for clues, while I went in the opposite direction. I instructed her to look for papers, files, anything that did not belong in an abandoned sawmill, or that looked like it was new.
We each circled the room, going slowly but methodically. Neither one of us spoke louder than a whisper, so any loud noise made me jump. Eventually, we met on the far side of the room. I had found a few small items, mainly cigarette wrappers and receipts from the diner in Calverton. Melody had not fared any better, although she did have an empty lighter, which she assured me she picked up by the top only. Here Frank left out the part where Melody's voice had been positively dripping with sarcasm as she spoke, and he also failed to mention the sneer on her face as she dropped it into the small plastic bag he produced.
We were approaching the 60 minute deadline I had given Mitch, so I decided to head back. I pulled out my smartphone and took a few hi res pictures of the Meth lab tables. Also took photos of the finished product, which was stacked neatly in a corner as well as a few wide angle shots of the entire set up. I must have lost track of my position, because I stepped back and jostled one of the tables. Frank paused here, closing his eyes. When he failed to continue right away, Joe gasped as the implications set in. He reached for his brother, only to pull back in remorse as he saw the grimace of pain on Frank's face as he jostled the arm.
End Flashback
"Frank?!" Joe cried in alarm. "Oh, god I'm sorry, did I hurt you?!" Frank shook his head, but his eyes were still scrunched in pain and he was gasping a little. Joe stood up and carefully replaced the oxygen mask over his brother's face. He hovered, torn between running out to the Nurse's station, and not leaving his brother alone for even a second.
"'m fine, gimme a sec." Frank wheezed softly, his voice muffled by the mask. A few anxious minutes later and he opened his eyes and smiled at Joe. "See, no worries." he drew a deep breath, slowly, and reached up to remove the mask, very gently using his left arm, which was the least damaged.
"She yelled a warning, then pushed me out of the way. Shoved really. I never believed those stories about a single drop of sweat setting off an explosion. I do now." He smiled sourly. "She'd have made a terrific defensive tackle. I must have flew back a dozen feet. She took the brunt of the blast. If I was any closer, I'd be dead." the smile faded and his voice grew somber. "Joe, I owe her my life. She was a pain in the ass and I wanted to throttle her on more than one occasion. I still want to throttle her." Frank's voice was full of frustration and remorse.
"Yeah, well right now, I love Melody Harper. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't be sitting here right now, and for that, I can forgive anything." Joe said fiercely. "We can be mad at her for getting herself killed later." Joe sighed deeply as he leaned back into the hard plastic chair. "Hall's gonna want to know what Mel did. I'm just worried that will make her even more upset with herself." he spoke quietly, half to himself.
"Make sure Bruce does too." Frank urged. "When he was in here earlier he was apologizing to me about her. I couldn't explain the truth with the tube down my throat."
"I will. I'll even put in a good word with her bosses if it will help. And her family deserves to know she died a hero." Joe looked at his watch. "Damn. I should go, I have a ton of stuff to do. But..." he stopped, obviously not wanting to leave his brother alone.
"I'm fine. A little tired, if you must know, and maybe, if I were to be pushed into a confession, in some pain. I would not turn down some pain killers or a sedative. Which means I'm about to be very boring company."
"Since when are you not boring Big Brother?" Joe teased as he stood up. He laughed at the dirty look he got but made no further snide comments. "I'll send in a Nurse on my way out. I am sure Mom and Dad will be by later anyway. If I don't see you before we take off for Calverton in the morning, good luck on the first session." Joe shuddered in remembrance. Last time he was in this very room, he overheard the teenager in the next room getting debridement after their car caught on fire. He had been in pain himself too often to count, but the sounds of that kid screaming almost caused him to lose his lunch. He was rather grateful he had an excuse to not be around while Frank was going to be subjected to the same thing. And then he flushed with remorse at the thought. If Frank saw, he either failed to consider the implications, or misunderstood them, as he said nothing other than goodbye.
Joe stopped by the Nurse's station as promised and let them know Frank was asking for some relief. They assured that a prescription was already on file and that a morphine drip would be set up shortly. Joe thanked them and took off down the back hallways to his car.
The Nurse came in and settled Frank, setting up the morphine and instructing the patient how to use the apparatus, warning him that it was programmed to stop releasing medicine once a threshold had been met. She was unaware that it was far more likely that Frank would not administer enough, he had always been leery of anything stronger than aspirin, and he still remembered Joe's reaction when he had been weaned off it a couple of years ago. He smiled and thanked her, and asked that if anyone came to see him other than his parents, to let them know he was resting and he'd see them at a later time.
Instead of going straight home, Joe found himself driving to his parents. He was conflicted about a few things and needed some wisdom from his father. When he pulled into the driveway, he heard the lawnmower going in the back yard, so he headed straight through the house to the deck, stopping only long enough to pour two tall glasses of iced tea. His father was perched on the riding mower at the far end of the yard, nearly at the small copse of trees that had served as forest, fortress and other assorted fancies when he and his brother were kids. Joe sat down in one of the deck chairs and waited until Fenton made his way back. As soon as he saw his youngest, he waved, but continued his task, having only one more pass to make.
Fenton shut off the mower and leaped nimbly off, accepting the glass Joe handed to him as he sat down himself. "I assume nothing is wrong with your brother? Otherwise you wouldn't be so relaxed." He commented.
"Yeah, he's fine. In some pain, but fine. He said he was going to rest. He told me what happened." Joe fidgeted with his glass, running a finger over the rim while frowning slightly.
"Oh?!" the (mostly) retired Private Investigator responded. He was curious but also respected his sons' privacy.
Joe sighed deeply and took a long drink of tea before blurting out the whole story before finishing with his admission that he was feeling guilty.
"Guilty?" Fenton was astonished. "Joseph, whatever for?!"
"For wanting to be with Hall and at the same time not wanting to leave Frank." Joe explained. "She's grieving something fierce, and is pretty vulnerable right now. Once again, she's lost somebody she loved. She's also feeling guilty herself for not making up with Melody. And on the other hand, I can't justify leaving Frank. He's always there for me when I am the one stuck in the hospital. And even though he said he was fine with it, I still feel bad about going, not being there while he's recovering."
"Ahh." Fenton said noncommittally, realizing what the problem was. "Your loyalties are divided, aren't they?"
"That about sums it up, yeah." Joe was despondent.
"Do you remember when you were getting your physical therapy? And how you wouldn't let Frank be there? Why was that?"
"Other than the fact that he was hovering and it annoyed the hell out of me?!" Joe's laugh was self mocking. He did, however, consider a bit before continuing. "I didn't want him to see me like that. Plus I really wasn't looking forward to the pity and pain in his eyes."
"Ever consider the feeling might be mutual?" Fenton asked. "Plus, Son, your priorities are changing. Your primary responsibility is to Halloran now. As it should be. Don't make the same mistakes I did."
"Mistakes? You?!" Joe was skeptical.
"Yes, me. Your mother, and later on, your brother, did a masterful job of hiding my flaws when it came to family and my obligations. Family is more important than anything else."
"That's just it, Dad! Frank is my family, and for a lot longer than I have known Halloran."
"True. But the love is quite different, isn't it?" Fenton pointed out.
"I certainly hope so!" Joe quipped with his usual sarcasm. Fenton smiled at the jest.
"I mean, you can hold on to your loyalty to your brother without being glued to his side every step of his recovery. Here's another perfect chance for the two of you to expand on your leading separate lives thing. If I recall correctly, it wasn't so long ago you were pretty insistent about that." His father reminded him.
Joe sat back, digesting the words. "I just, I dunno, feel like I need to be in two places at once."
"There is this really wonderful thing, a new fangled contraption called a cell phone." Fenton's eyes sparkled with mischief. "Perhaps you have heard of it? Why some of the really fancy ones let you see the person you are talking to." his grin grew broader even as Joe's face grew more disgusted until finally the two of them collapsed in laughter together.
They were still chuckling when Laura came out onto the deck, still wearing her jacket. "What's so funny?" she smiled, accepting kisses from both men.
"Nothing Mom, just a little levity is all." Joe assured her as he followed her back into the kitchen as Fenton went to put the lawn mower away. The blond son refused her offer of dinner, claiming he still had to pack for the trip the next day. With a final goodbye to both he got into the car and headed home, but not before calling to see what Hall's plans were for dinner.
"I require fried chicken. Mild, dark meat. Cole slaw and mashed potatoes. And don't forget the honey for biscuits!" the petite black haired love of his life ordered in a non nonsense voice as soon as he asked.
"Yes, Dear" Joe chuckled as he diverted to the nearest Popeye's. It was busy, being dinner hour, so it took a while to get his order, but eventually he was back on the road, armed with Halloran's request and his own preferred spicy tenders and cajun fries. They ate quietly, each still battling their inner demons and not wanting to burden the other with their woes.
Joe contented himself with a phone call to his brother after dinner. Frank sounded like he had just woken up so Joe didn't keep him long but promised to call every day until he returned. Halloran also got on the line to add her good wishes as well. After dinner, they tidied up; Joe took out the garbage while Halloran did a load of last minute laundry. Once all that was done, they each packed a small suitcase before relaxing in front of the TV with some wine. It was then that Joe told her everything Frank had said earlier in the day. She took the news remarkably calmly, although the rest of the evening she was very moody and despondent. Joe talked her into turning in early, couching the suggestion under the guise of needing to get on the road first thing in the morning. Her sleep was restless and as a result, Joe's was too although he managed to doze off a little after 2 am.
The alarm came all too early, and much too loudly but after a token groan, they both got up. They showered together, and were only slightly distracted during the soaping up part. Joe loaded the car while Hall poured the equivalent of two pots of coffee into the thermal carafes. She had made banana nut muffins the night before so they munched on those as soon as they hit the highway. Joe was an hour outside of Bayport before he realized he had never called his brother. "Oh Hell!" he swore at himself, as he fumbled to switch the hands free device on. "Sorry, Bro! Just got caught up in stuff! Have a good night?"
"I slept. I won't say I slept well but I did sleep" came Frank"s tired voice over the airwaves. "I am fine, I just dosed myself and the Nurses say breakfast is extra special today. Which probably means they put honey on the oatmeal or something."
Joe laughed, knowing Frank hated oatmeal more than anything. And as far as he was concerned, honey was for putting in tea, not drizzled on oatmeal. "Poor baby. Word of caution, don't order the grits by mistake. Those are actually worse than the oatmeal. Trust me on this."
"Thanks for the warning. I feel so loved. Now hang up and drive you nut."
"Bluetooth, Mister Paranoia. Besides, Hall's steering" he winked over his shoulder to his bride to be, who was hard pressed to stifle a giggle.
"Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better."
"Love you too, Big Brother!" Joe chortled. "I'll call you after lunch some time, once we get settled. And good luck today." he disconnected before Frank could respond.
"Good luck? What for?" Halloran asked.
"He's supposed to get his first debridement today. It's gonna suck big time." Joe replied. "And yes, I am okay with not being there. Mostly. Priorities. Always you, no matter what. And yes I am okay with that too, so no feeling unworthy or any of that crap." he glared at her sideways before reaching over and grabbing her hand tightly. The rest of the drive passed quickly and just before lunch they were pulling into the driveway of the small house that Bruce and Mitch called home.
A/n: The first hints that Melody was not as evil or unlovable as she appeared to be, with more revelations coming later. The boys have some old habits to get away from, such as the hovering and insistence that they can be the only ones to offer comfort to the other. But yes, even they can be trained.