Chapter 43
The constant beeping from the monitors had come to provide almost a sense of comfort to Matt. As much as people had tried, he had not left his brother's bedside since Jeff had gotten out of surgery. No one could get him to take or break or even eat anything. He had to be there, Matt thought to himself, it was the least he could do for all the mistakes he had made in the past twenty-four hours. Jeff now lay motionless in a hospital bed and there was no clue to what had happened to Jessica.
"Matt?" Amy stepped into the room and walked over to him. "Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm fine." He said never taking his eyes off Jeff.
"Honey, you can't just sit here. It'll drive you crazy. You need to eat something or at least get some sleep. You haven't slept since this all stared."
"I can't." He said shaking his head. "I have to be here."
"Matt, you heard the doctors, they have him heavily sedated. He's not waking up anytime soon."
"It doesn't matter. He's my little brother. I'm not leaving him."
"At least, let me bring you up something to eat; you need to keep your strength up." Matt finally looked at her and she knew he was trying to hold back his tears.
"Why did this happen?" He asked her. "He's a good kid, he didn't deserve this and neither did Jess."
"I don't know." She said putting her arm over his shoulder. "Sometimes it just happens and there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to pick up the pieces. Jeff will be okay I know it."
"And Jess?"
"They'll find her. Sooner or later this guy will slip up and someone will see her."
"If she's still alive." Matt said defeated.
"Hey, don't say that. Don't give up."
"Why not? They've got no trace of her, no leads. It's like she's fallen off the planet, that's not normal. Look at him." He gestured to Jeff. "Look at what he did to him. Who's to say he didn't do the same thing to Jess, or even worse?"
"You got to believe that this guy wanted something more than that with her. He wanted a life with her and he wouldn't just go off and kill her when he finally got that chance."
"Unless, she fought back, told him she didn't want the same thing," Matt said.
"We can't stop thinking there's hope. Jess is a smart girl. She'd figure out how to play along."
"I just don't know." He said turning his attention back to Jeff. Amy had run out of words to say so she just sat there for awhile and held Matt's hand. She had never seen him this way before.
"I'm sorry." He eventually said. "I know you're just trying to help."
"Stop apologizing." She told him and Matt laughed quietly.
"That's what I was always saying to Jess. When he burnt down the ring, after the ladder match, even when we had to have the guards in the house, she kept saying how sorry she was. I wanted to strangle her. Now I want to tell her I'm sorry for not protecting her and I can't because she's gone."
"Matt," She started but he cut her off.
"I think I just need some time to be alone. Please?"
She looked at him and realized that there was nothing she can say or do to make him feel better, so she squeezed his hand and left him alone in the room with Jeff, heading back to the waiting room where everyone had assembled.
"Any luck?" Shannon asked her and she shook her head.
"Where's Gil?"
"He went off with Vince. They had something Vince wanted to discuss in private. Why?"
"Because Matt's in bad shape and if I can't reach him maybe his father can. He's convinced Jessica's gone. He's given up."
"Do you want me to give it a try?" Shannon asked her.
"I don't think it will help." Amy said collapsing into a chair.
"Look, maybe we should take a break, get a little air. It's not doing us any good just sitting here."
"I want to be here in case Matt needs us. Besides we'll just be hounded by all the reporters outside." Shannon had to agree with her.
The reporters had set up shop right outside the hospital waiting for any news on what was going on. The police had decided to turn to the media for help in locating Jessica, since they had no leads but now Shannon was thinking it was the wrong thing to do. Anytime any of them stepped outside cameras and microphones were forced at them. There was no escape, and the reporters were very intrusive, not caring about what they were going through. It had become a circus and what was worse was that it hadn't led to any tips on where she might be.
"All right, well at least let's go down to the hospital cafeteria. You could use a break and maybe they have something that we can force Matt to eat."
"I don't know." She started to say but Shannon took her hand and led her out of the room.
When they stepped out they saw Vince and Gil talking to a doctor. Vince seemed to be angry as usual.
"I'm telling you I don't recommend it." The doctor told them. "His lungs are just not ready and I'm not sure he can handle the duress he'll be waking up to."
"Look," Vince interrupted him. "We're running out of time here. The longer she stays missing the less likely we have of finding her."
"I understand that," The doctor told him. "But my main concern is the patient."
"What's going on?" Amy asked coming up to them.
"We were thinking of having them wake Jeff up." Vince told her.
"Is he ready for that?" Shannon asked.
"No." The doctor spoke up. "It puts Mr. Hardy at too much risk. He can't come of the breathing tube yet so he wouldn't be able to speak anyway, and the trauma of waking up in that position might put him under more stress." The doctor then looked specifically at Gil. "It would do more damage than good. I don't recommend it, at least not at this point. Why don't we wait until tomorrow? Give him some more time to heal. We can see how he's progressed in the morning. But I do have to warn you, your son suffered a serious head trauma as well. There's a good chance he won't even be able to remember anything."
