CHAPTER 39
Con went through the panic room to see Vanessa. Unable to calm himself, anger eating at him…it made him jittery as hell. He reached the door and started to open it, but Rebel bowled through at full pelt from the other side. He careened into Con with his front feet high, straight into his torso. Con grunted, "Oof!" and folded in the middle, catching his companion before Rebel bowled him over entirely.
Rebel's tail beat in such a tight circle he risked taking off and circling the room.
Con dropped them both to the ground and allowed himself time to pet Rebel while still on his knees. Rebel had a real calming effect, and by the end, had Con smiling. He eventually sent the dog off with a hand gesture. "Mad dog."
He stood and looked into the room to find Vanessa laid on top of the covers, curled into a tight ball, looking asleep. Apparently Rebel's antics hadn't been loud enough as to rouse her.
Con sank down onto the edge of the bed, unsure what to do next. 'Darn Fenton Hardy and his easy parenting skills!' He moved her blonde hair to one side so he could see her face, put his hand against her forehead and then her cheek. 'She does feel hot.' Vanessa stirred, so he yanked the hand away.
Her eyes fluttered open and focused in on the wall. She hadn't yet sensed his presence, but then, startled, she twisted to look at him.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey yourself. What happened to your face?"
"Got into a tussle with a killer." He hadn't lied; he'd rumbled with a killer all right, just not the one who attacked Vanessa. He watched her for another couple of seconds then reached to offer her his arms. She sat up and leaned forward, so he moved closer and accepted her gently, holding her as she cried. Her arms slid around his middle, gripping tightly and she buried her head into his shoulder. 'Why do they always leak?' He squeezed her tighter, she didn't try to escape. 'Huh, maybe I could get the hang of this, given enough practice.' He felt himself relax into their embrace and some of his own internalised tension lifted.
"I'm sorry, I can't help it," she muttered, nasally.
"Van, don't apologise. The nut job tried to murder you and he nearly succeeded. I've known cops who couldn't handle similar situations as well as you. You've got great instincts and mental stamina. You've blown our minds."
"Have I?"
"Do you think the others will come out the other side unaffected by this?" Con smiled. "Girl, for your first case, you've had a baptism of fire. Anything else will seem small fry."
"Doubtful. What happened to the Red-Headed Man?"
"Dead."
She pulled away to look at him although they didn't let go of each other. "Dead? How? Who did it?"
"Me. I shot him and I'm glad."
"What about the woman?"
"Also dead, by the Red-Headed Man's hands. We dunno why, perhaps Frank knows but he's in no state to tell us. Maybe the man did it just because he could…out-lived her usefulness."
Vanessa's hand went to her throat and fingered the dressing over the knife wound, courtesy of Mrs Holliday's handiwork. "Did he do the same to her as me?"
"Don't lose sleep over it, she made her own bed."
"Don't worry, I won't. I remember now how she encouraged him to kill me and even took a photo. Con…Dad? Will you marry Mom and put your name on James' birth certificate so we can be a real family?"
Con's head spun at the sudden change of subject. "Whoa there Pinocchio! Where did that come from?"
"I've been thinking about it."
"You think way too much." Con grunted, "Huh!" Then he went quiet and still.
Vanessa's eyes narrowed. "Now you're hiding something. What is it?" She rubbed at her nose.
"Nothing." He found a box of tissues, reached to pick it up and offered it to her.
With a yanking action, she pulled three out in quick succession like a magician. "I think I'm getting a cold." She complained, dabbing her eyes and blowing her nose. "Con?"
He looked out of the doorway at one of the PCs. "I think one of your internet friends wants to speak to you, there's one of those boxy-texty things on the screen." He used his fingers to emulate typing on a keyboard.
"Con Riley, stop avoiding. You can't lie to save your life."
"I'm not lying! There's one of those boxy-texty things. It's got writing in it." He wrinkled his nose, leaned forward and whispered, "Nerd script."
"Okay, so technically you're not lying, but you're dodging. Tell me!"
Con raised an eyebrow.
"TELL ME!"
He sighed in resignation and dropped his head. "Women! I can't keep anything from any of you. The female of the species and their wiley ways." He turned his head to look sideways at her and rubbed the back of his neck. "I asked your mother to marry me when I fetched her with Laura."
Vanessa's mouth dropped open. "No way!"
"I didn't want to leave with the possibility something bad might happen without her knowing how I feel; getting shot at puts life into perspective."
"And?"
"And?... And what?"
She punched him in the arm. "What did she say, ya lug."
"Yes, of course! The woman can't resist me."
Vanessa screeched, or made an attempt at it, but her ruined throat wouldn't cooperate. She threw her arms around him and gave him another hug and a hard kiss on the cheek. "Does James know? I guess Laura does?"
Con beamed stupidly at her, really pleased she seemed so excited. He'd worried she would hate it. "You guess wrong. For once Laura doesn't know, I asked Andrea in the bedroom. Laura wasn't there. I haven't said anything to James. I wasn't supposed to say anything to anyone so don't blab."
"I won't, I promise. O-M-G! Did you go down on one knee?"
"Yeah. But I didn't have a ring so I need to sort one out."
"What about the wedding, what are your plans? Will it have a theme? Church? Garden? Marquee?"
"Van, don't run away with yourself. We only talked for about two minutes and then we grabbed Laura and high-tailed it. No plans yet, early days. We might elope," he teased.
"Don't you dare!"
Con extricated himself and rose up. "Let's get to the hospital and get you looked at. The Chief will probably want photos taken of your bruises. We need some clothes for Nancy, they're bound to have taken the ones she's wearing for analysis. Oh! And shoes. Pick her out something nice, she needs the boost." Con paused in consideration and grinned slowly. "I'm getting married!" he said, all at once he realised the gravity of the situation. "Good Lord! I'm getting married, me! I'm marrying Andrea Bender. Envy me, boys."
"You sure are, and I bet they do."
"But keep it to yourself."
"My lips are sealed. Eeeep!"
Mrs Holliday appeared in the doorway with a smile. "Congratulations!"
Con groaned and slumped back onto the bed. "That's two people who shouldn't know who do. I'm seriously bad with secrets."
Mrs Holliday made a zip-up gesture across her mouth and even Rebel stuck his head around the door with a look of 'I heard it all too.'
-o0o-
Laura and Andrea arrived back in Bayport four days after the team's victory, and headed straight for the hospital. Fenton and Con met them at the front of the building and they had an emotional and relieved reunion before they took the ladies to their respective son's hospital rooms.
-o0o-
Andrea stuck her head around the edge of James' door and found James sat half upright, flicking aggressively through a magazine. His countenance lit up when he saw her there. "Andrea! You're back," he near whispered at her.
She and Con entered and looked at the second bed in the room, occupied by Joe, his back turned to the door. He appeared to be sleeping as he hadn't reacted to Andrea and Con's arrival. As if to confirm her suspicions, James went, "Shush," and tipped a thumb towards his friend. He waved Andrea forward to give her a kiss on the cheek and a prolonged hug.
Andrea looked down his body to his leg. "Painful?"
"Not really, aches and itches. I'm so bored; do you think you can talk them into letting me go home?"
Andrea looked doubtful. "I'm not a trained medic by any figment of the imagination, but even I can tell only half the job's done. Aren't you supposed to be fitted with a plaster cast?"
James sighed and threw his head down onto his pillow. "Darn your logical mind, Andrea Bender."
"Besides, you can't abandon Joe." Andrea took another look down her new son's body again, taking in his condition. She noted the tube in James' arm feeding broad spectrum antibiotics through an intravenous bag into his system to fight any possibility of infection.
What had happened to James resulted in him being in surgery for longer than Frank - the damage had proved complicated. The bullet had bounced around inside his leg and torn it apart before exiting. His bones had been pinned back together with a permanent mixture of screws and plates. Repairs to the surrounding tissue and muscle had followed. He'd been left with several drainage tubes and his leg in traction. Eventually, his leg will be plastered up to his thigh, removing James' mobility for at least six weeks.
"Any idea what your recovery will consist of?" Andrea asked.
"Loads of physio and exercise. And pain."
"Nothing my—" Con leaned forward theatrically, "Police Detective son can't deal with," he said and grinned.
"Police Detective?" Andrea turned to James. "Did The Chief promote you?"
"He did. I'm waiting for him to realize his mistake, that he offered it to the wrong guy."
Andrea gave him another congratulatory hug. "I've always liked Ezra Collig, he makes sensible decisions." She moved to the other bed and walked around to look at Joe. His forehead and his chin were a patchwork of contusions, but the swelling had reduced enormously. He had a couple of stitches in the cut above his eye which ran right through his eyebrow. It would obviously leave a scar. "Poor Joe, another thumping."
A full CT scan awaited Joe upon arrival at the hospital from the chopper. They had woken him and the medical staff had been concerned at the lost sight in his one eye and his level of confusion which gradually worsened. All indications pointed to a skull fracture.
Thankfully upon investigation, they were able to confirm he didn't have a skull fracture. They blamed swelling. They prescribed an anti-inflammatory and gradually his eyesight returned. He couldn't remember a thing from when they'd left the woods to head back to Hope Industries, but wasn't going to let it worry him.
The only thing that bothered him was constantly being woken by the nursing staff and asked stupid questions.
Andrea leaned her arms on the side bars of Joe's bed and studied him. "Do you think there'll ever be a time when Joe 'Sir Galahad' Hardy isn't covered in bruises because he's fought to protect his family and friends?"
"Probably not," Joe muttered. He opened his eyes and treated her to one of his special smiles. "Good trip?"
She smiled back and ruffled his hair. "Would've been better if we hadn't been worried out of our minds about you bunch of reprobates!"
The door opened and Vanessa backed her way in with drinks. She didn't see Andrea until she turned around. "Mom!" she spluttered. "When did you get back?"
"Surprise!" Con announced and moved to take the drinks.
Andrea froze on the spot and stared at her daughter. "Your neck!" she whispered. "Oh baby."
Vanessa hands attempted to cover up the bruises. "Mom, they're not so—" she turned on Con, "DAD! Didn't you warn her?"
"Of course I did!"
"They're…so much worse than expected." Andrea said and walked across to reach up and take Vanessa into her arms. "My poor baby." She kissed Vanessa's forehead but froze for a few seconds, before she stepped away and gazed into Vanessa's eyes. "Did you just call Con, Dad?" She turned accusingly on Con who held his arms out to the side in a show of innocence.
"She started calling me that on her own! Nothing to do with anything else." The way he phrased the words 'anything else' made her narrow her eyes dangerously. "Seriously, Andrea, no connection."
"No connection to what?" James asked.
"Yeah Dad, no connection to what?" Vanessa threw a cheeky look Con's way.
Andrea and Con stared wide-eyed at one another, but were saved as the door crashed open and Nancy busted in, excited. "Frank's awake! They're taking him off the machine." she announced. "He's fine - mentally with us one hundred percent and strong as an ox!"
"At last!" Joe said and flung his bedclothes to one side, started to climb from the bed, swinging his leg high.
"NO!" several voices shouted at once in horror.
Joe hadn't bothered with his pyjama bottoms and had forgotten.
"Really, Joe?" Nancy spluttered, hands over her eyes.
"You don't know the half of it," James muttered.
"I saw the whole of it!"
