A/N: I almost cried writing the last chapter. Thanks to those who reviewed and added my story to story alerts or me to their favorites. It means a lot to me.

Frank watched Joe being rolled in through the doors to the ER from his spot on the stretcher. Joe's eyes were closed, and the mass rush of voices drifted over to Frank. "We have to get him into surgery." "Hang another pouch of O-Neg." Frank he heard another siren come up to the doors, and a muffled cry as his mother ran up to Joe all the way from the patrol car, before the nurses held her back from the surgery doors, explaining in calm muffled tones the procedure.

"How are you holding up, Frank?" Fenton's voice cracked a little as he saw his eldest son rolled past on a gurney. He paced with the nurses, who let him in willingly, and held on to his son's hand.

Frank blinked back the tears in his eyes. "I'm alright. It was a clean shot, through and through. It didn't hit anything important from the looks of it. They just want to make sure." He paused before saying, "Alicia…?"

"I'm going to go check on her; as soon as I see to it your mother is ok and I send her over here. Alicia was being carried in by an EMT as we sped through the parking lot." He shook his head. "The EMT said she fought him, and then stubbornly denied painkillers. They ended up giving her something that knocked her out."

"Sounds like Alicia." Frank said with a tight smile. A selfish part of him wanted his dad to stay with him, but he knew that having someone slightly level headed around is both what his mother and sister needed at the moment. And who better to keep them that way than the Hardy men.

As they wheeled him into a small curtained cubical to wait for an MRI, Frank let go of his dads hand with a smile. "Go take care of the Hardy women. I'll be here for a while, knowing the ER quite well myself." His dad chuckled lightly; they were both trying to ease the tension, knowing full well there was nothing they could do until Joe was out of surgery.

Fenton walked out of the cubical to find his wife being escorted back to the waiting room. "Laura!" he called. She turned and ran into his arms. "He looks so pale, Fenton, they won't let me go with him…" she sobbed into his shoulder. He patted her on the back and kissed the top of her forehead.

"Why don't you go wait with Frank? He needs someone right now, and I want to be there when Alicia wakes up." Laura nodded, wiped her eyes, and the nurse pulled back the curtain to reveal where her eldest son was lying, wrapped up in a heated blanket. Fenton saw her mess with his hair before the curtain swung closed. He walked over to the nurse who was looking over Frank's medical file.

"Excuse me," he asked, his voice still quiet, and for some reason he couldn't bring himself to talk louder. "Excuse me," he said again, and the nurse looked up. "Could you help me find my daughter? Her name is Alicia Hardy. An EMT told me he would bring her back here few moments ago." He waited as the nurse asked a nearby EMT who was headed back out of the ER.

"Yeah, Alex had a girl; I think they moved her to recovery. You should check with the front desk." Fenton muttered thanks and ran out of the ER doors. He hurried over to the front desk and desperately asked the woman sitting there for his daughter.

"Her name is Alicia Hardy. They said they move her to recovery." He waited, tapping his finger nervously on the desk, wondering if they would let him in.

"Yes, room 132. She hasn't woken up yet." The nurse looked at Fenton sympathetically. "Are you her father?" As he nodded, she stood up from the desk and motioned to another nurse to take her spot. "I'll show you to the room. It's just right this way." They walked down the long white corridors until they were close to the end of the hall. Arriving at the room, Fenton looked in and saw two nurses moving her onto the bed. As they left, one nodded and said, "You may go in now."

Fenton walked over to his daughter's bedside. He sat down and grabbed her small hand. He turned it over in his, and traced the lines. His little girl was a fighter, and he hated seeing her like this. Her arm was bandaged from below her wrist to just her elbow. He knew that she had a large gash in her side, too, from when he saw her still in her torn blouse. A tear slid down his cheek as he thought of what must have happened in that alley, and to have all three of his children in the hospital at the same time.

A while later, Alicia's fingers curled around his, and he looked expectantly at her, hoping she would open her eyes. "Alicia?"

~o~

Alicia heard someone call her name, distantly. "Alicia? Can you hear me?"

She tried to respond, but her mind was all foggy and her throat wouldn't respond to her commands. Her words came out as a moan instead of a coherent sentence. She tried to open her eyes, but nothing seemed to be working. Subconsciously, Alicia was annoyed. This is why she hated drugs, no matter how useful they were at the moment, it just made things more complicated later. She tried again, and this time was met with a bright glare.

"Ow…" she muttered, as she squeezed her eyes closed tight again. She took her free hand and shielded her eyes while she tried to open them again. –Wait a second– she thought. Her free hand, what was the other hand doing? She looked over to the side and saw the look of relief on her father's face. "Dad," she smiled excitedly, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just checking up on my little girl. I heard you got into trouble again," he said, swallowing his tears.

It was too late though; Alicia had already caught on to his pain. "Daddy?" she asked, concerned. "What's wrong?" As she slowly started to remember where she was and how she got there, fear gripped her. "Where are the boys?" she choked out, her voice blocked by the tears she knew were coming.

Her dad squeezed her hand. "Frank is alright, they just want to make sure that nothing vital was hit. He should be in recovery soon, just after his MRI." He stayed silent for a long time, and would not look at her. She looked at him, pleading him to go on. When he looked up, he had tears in his eyes. "Joe went into surgery about a half hour ago. We haven't heard anything yet."

There was a knock on the door, and a nurse walked in, holding the door open for Laura, who rolled Frank in. "Now remember my conditions, you are not to leave that wheelchair," the nurse scolded. She looked at Fenton. "Your wife says all three of your children are this stubborn."

Alicia piped up. "No, I am much worse." She sat up all the way and stated plainly, "And I'm alright. I want to get out of here."

Alicia moved to get up, but her mother crossed the room and pushed her back down lightly, "You need your rest," she said, kissing her forehead. Alicia protested wildly, all of her nervousness and fear turning itself to pure adrenaline. The last thing she wanted to do was rest. She knew she lost the battle and collapsed back into the bed with a frustrated sigh, which hurt her side.

"Note to self, don't sigh or laugh to hard..." she muttered to herself.

The nurse turned to leave, but Frank called after her. "Do you know how our brother is doing? Is he out of surgery?"

"I'll come tell you as soon as I know anything." She left the room, and a silence fell over the Hardys. Alicia looked at her eldest brother, whose eyes were downcast as he mentally blamed himself for the events of the night.

"Frank?" As his eyes met hers, she felt a tear slip out on its own free will. "Don't. Joe will be fine."

Frank stood up out of his wheelchair. "Frank, you're not supposed to leave your wheelchair." Laura shook her head as Frank walked around to the other side of Alicia's bed and sat next to her. She slid over and he put his feet up on top of the blankets.

"See, Mom? No worries! I'm still resting."

Frank put his arm around his sister, and she put her head on his shoulder and hugged him tightly. "Everything will be alright," he murmured in her ear.

It wasn't long before Alicia's eyes grew heavy again and slowly closed. She shrunk down deeper into the blankets and her brothers comforting embrace, and drifted off to sleep. Frank smiled as her whole figure relaxed, the tale tell sign she was completely out. He gently moved her down and laid her out on the hospital bed. He stretched out on his side next to her, rested his head in his hand, and watched her gentle breaths. All the while, he thought about all the danger he put her in.

He absent mindedly pushed one of her dark auburn curls out of her eyes. A long time ago, he promised himself that he would never let his sister come to harm, and was firmly against her joining him and Joe on their mysteries. Every time they came home from the high school, she would run up and ask for the latest mystery, and he would try to change the subject to protect her from it. As he watched her peaceful figure, he knew now he had never regretted her coming along. She knew what she was doing, and that was something he had grown to accept. "And I would have come along anyways," Alicia's voice said in his head. It was true, he reminded himself. His sister was definitively the most stubborn of them all, and she learned it from Joe. And that thought reassured him more than anything else. They were fighters. This wasn't the end.

~o~ the angels can wait for a moment ~o~

Joe couldn't believe it. Was he really dying? His life was flashing before his eyes, and now…

He knew he was out cold in the hospital, undergoing surgery. So why could he think? Was he somewhere between life and death, waiting for fate to decide? He thought of his mother and father, and his two siblings, who were waiting for him to come back. He couldn't leave them. It was still too soon. Frank and Alicia would blame themselves, asking what if they had done something different. He would not leave them with that guilt. He couldn't; no, he wouldn't.

The thoughts darkened, and soon he was back in dark oblivion.

Flashback

"Frank! Joe!" Alicia cried.

The young boys ran over to a dark hole in the ground. "Alicia? Are you down there?" Joe asked.

A muffled affirmative sob was the reply. "There is a cave down here, but it's really small and dark. I don't like it. Help me, please."

"It will be ok, Alicia!" Joe called down. "Your big brothers are coming." Joe turned to Frank. "Go get help, I'm going to crawl down and keep her calm and safe." As he moved to go, Frank put a hand on his shoulder,

"You go get help. You're faster, and I know you'll try something risky if I leave you on your own." Joe gave him a reproachful glance. "Hey, she's my little sister too, and I'm responsible for both of you." Joe glanced at the cave for a second more before taking off back towards the town. Frank walked over to the cave entrance. "Alicia? Is there enough room for me to slide down next to you?" A small yes came from the bottom. He grabbed his pocket flashlight and shined it down. It was a long ways down. He hooked the flashlight to his shoelaces and turned and backed into the hole. "You'll have to guide me, Alicia. Can you see the light?"

"Yes, I can. You are about 10 feet above me right now. There is a ledge two feet below your shoe right now." When Frank reached the bottom, the area opened up into a four foot by four foot room. He found his 7 year old sister curled in a little ball, frightened out of her mind.

He walked over to her and put his arm around the shaking Alicia, "Don't worry, everything will be alright."

Alicia looked up at Frank, who was mentally beating himself up for not protecting his sister. "Frank, don't. It was all my fault. I ran off without you and tripped. Don't blame yourself." She cuddled in tighter, afraid that the darkness would take him away from her. They sat there like that until Joe came back with help and pulled them up.

"Alicia!" Joe exclaimed with relief. "You're alright!" He hugged her tightly, then nodded to Frank. They both took one of their hands and walked back to the trail they had been exploring.

"Now we won't lose anyone." Frank said solidly. "From now on, we'll stick together."

Alicia stopped and pondered. "Together? I'd like that... Promise that we will be together for a really, really, really long time? Like forever, ok?"

Frank and Joe looked at their sister, and nodded. "We won't ever leave you alone." Joe said finally. "Ever."

~o~

Fenton wrapped his coat around Frank's sleeping form. He had fallen asleep watching over his sister, who had fallen asleep in his arms as they were waiting for news about their brother. He walked over to his wife, who was staring out the window, and wrapped his arms around her tenderly. "Are you ok?" he whispered in her ear. When she nodded, he kissed her cheek. She turned in to his arms and started quietly crying into his shoulder. He held her steadily, and ran his fingers through her hair. A few tears of his own came to his eyes, but he blinked them back. -For Laura's sake- he thought.

When she stopped, she pulled back a little and said, "I'm just tired, and worried. I'm afraid I'll lose all of my children if I lose one. They are inseparable." She looked over at the bed, which brought a sad smile to her face.

"You should get some sleep," Fenton said softly. He led her over to the couch in the corner of the room. "I think the nurses realized we would be here for a while." He smiled lightly, and took her long jacket and draped it across her shoulders, and sat down beside her, stroking her shoulder as she laid down, her eyes still wide open.

There was a light tap on the door, and Laura sat up straight. "I came to take Frank back to his room, so he could sleep. I guess this works as well," the nurse said, smiling at the two still in a deep sleep. "I came to let you know, your other son is out of surgery now. He's having trouble breathing on his own, but otherwise he is stable. He hasn't woken up, and we aren't sure if…" Laura stifled a small sob, "…but you can go see him."

Laura looked at her husband, and they stood to go see their youngest son. When Fenton glanced at the two sleeping, he thought about waking them. Laura put a hand on his arm. "Let them sleep until we get back. A few more moments won't hurt them."

They left the room, turned out the lights, and the door clicked shut behind them.

A/N: I don't know about anyone else, but the worst part about the ER and hospitals is the hopeless waiting around, where all you can do is pray and wait. This is a lot longer than I meant it to be, but I keep coming up with ideas. Please R&R. tell me what you think. Also, this is from my minimal experience in a hospital… so take this as an artistic styling and ignore the liberties I'm taking.