Chapter 27: A Mother's Gift
"Mr. Hardy, have you heard from your wife? Do you know what time her flight gets in?" Dr. Schwartz's face was grave as she approached the worried father in the corridor. Fenton ran a hand through his limp hair and looked at his watch.
"She called me two hours ago just after the plane took off. I'd say she's got another hour in the air before they land."
"What has gone wrong?" Phil asked the doctor, "He seemed stable before midnight."
"He's going into septic shock." Dr. Schwartz didn't know how much to reveal before Frank's mother could get there. "The sensitivity he has to iron, like the shackles he was bound in during his captivity, has weakened is immune system. Despite the introduction of the antibiotics, his body has turned into a playground for the werewolf's bacterium. The sooner Mrs. Hardy can get here so I can draw some of her blood, the better."
"Do you mean to tell me there is no other donor blood in the blood bank that comes close to his?" Fenton was about to go out of his mind. None of this supernatural medicine was making sense to him. How could bacteria cause sepsis so quickly? What was this element in Frank's blood that Dr. Schwartz kept dancing around? And why would his wife's or Joe's blood make a difference when his own wouldn't? It's not like plain ole human blood could do anything special like he was told vampire blood could.
…..
Laura pulled back the curtains and raised the blinds of the bedroom window. She peered down below to the snow-covered yard. Her youngest son was pulling a sled behind him with one of the smaller neighbor boys riding on it and laughing. A fluid filled cough drew her attention back to her older son, who was still tucked in bed.
"Morning sweetie." She said as she walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. She ran her fingers through the chestnut locks and kissed the feverish forehead beneath.
"What time is it?" Frank asked, trying to sit up on his pillows.
"About ten o'clock. You were sleeping so well I didn't want to disturb you, it was the first full night of rest you've had in days."
"Is Joe still asleep?"
"No, he's outside playing with Jerry. It snowed again last night."
"What? No fair!" Frank sat up straighter in the bed, but Laura pushed him back down.
"It's plenty fair. He hasn't had a fever in two days and he doesn't have a sore throat anymore." Frank groaned and turned onto his side in a huff.
"It's still no fair. I got sick before he did but he got well first."
"Maybe you take after me. I got sick a lot when I was little. It would take me a while to feel better too."
"I'm not little." Frank sulked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Nine-year-old." Laura leant down and kissed his cheek. She half expected Frank to wiggle and complain, but he smiled instead.
"Thanks Mom."
"For what Honey?"
"For… I just feel better when you do that." His cheeks reddened a little.
"Would you like to come downstairs and camp out on the couch?"
"Sure."
Sometime later, after Frank managed to keep down a glass of orange juice and took a few bites of an Eggo waffle, he and his mother were settled on the sofa near the fireplace. The boy rested his head in her lap and Laura lazily ran her fingers through his hair with one hand, her own head resting in the palm of her hand.
Things were so different when Frank and Joe were tiny. If they were croupy, teething or feverish she could nestle them to her chest and soothe their aches away. And their presence was a balm to her soul when she felt down, even a kiss from their tiny mouths on her cheek made her feel better when she was having a bad day.
But boys being boys, they didn't yearn for their mother's healing touch as they got older. Any attempts to coddle them were met with wriggling and complaints of "Moooommmmm! I'm not a baby anymore!"
From what little she could remember of her mother, Laura could recall hours spent with her stroking her cheek, singing her foreign lullaby. Her features had blurred over time, but she could remember the long blonde hair, soft, thin hands, and the way she would make her giggle when she tickled behind her ears.
Frank shuffled under the blanket and sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"Good nap?" Laura asked.
"Yeah, I feel a little better too." Frank coughed again and she patted his back. Laura grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table as she could hear the wetness rattling around and her son's coughing sounded fuller. He accepted the tissue just as the mucus came up and Frank made a disgusted face.
"Ick!"
"I know Honey. But at least that mess is finally breaking up."
The back door opened and slammed shut. Laura heard stomping and the thump of boots being deposited in the hallway.
"Hey Frank! Feeling better?" Joe's nose and cheeks were beet red and his hair was damp from rolling around in the snow.
"Yeah, some." Frank shrugged as he eyed his brother enviously. It was the best snowfall they'd had all winter and he was stuck inside while his brother got to play in it.
"Joe sweetie, go upstairs and put on some dry clothes and towel off your hair before you get sick again."
"Okay Mom." He kissed her cheek as he walked past and bounded up the stairs.
"Frank, why don't you pick out a movie, anything you like, and we'll watch it." Frank smiled and pulled out an old favorite, Toy Story. The tape was staticky in places where it had been played so much, but it was one of Frank's favorites.
They spent the rest of the afternoon, all three of them, cuddled on the couch and munching on popcorn, laughing at the banter between Buzz and Woody. When the movie was over and Joe hit the rewind button on the remote control, Frank rose up and kissed his mother on her cheek.
"Thanks, Mom. You always know how to make me feel better."
…..
Dr. Schwartz closed the door behind herself. She regarded the petite woman who was sitting in the hematology lab at such a late hour of the night. Well, correction, such an early hour of the morning. Mrs. Hardy looked as tired as Dr. Schwartz felt.
"May I, Mrs. Hardy?" Dr. Schwartz asked as she sat down across from Laura, pointing to Laura's arm.
"Sure." Dr. Schwartz touched Mrs. Hardy's wrist and closed her eyes. Immediately she could sense what she had been hoping to find for hours.
"Wow." Bluma said before she realized the words had left her mouth.
"Doctor?"
"I just… you're the first full-bl…" Laura jerked her arm away and began to roll up her sleeve.
"I have rolling veins. Tell your nurse she'll need the butterfly needle." Laura snapped.
"I'm sorry your family is going through such a rough time right now Mrs. Hardy." Bluma moved out of the way for the lab technician to prepare Laura's arm with an alcohol swab and rubber tourniquet.
"About three tubes ought to be enough to get Frank back on the road to recovery, since you're..." Dr. Schwartz hesitated due to the glare Laura shot her. "Once we get him to break that fever, we'll take him into surgery for a debridement of the wound. Then we'll apply a wound vac to the lacerations to speed up the healing. Do you plan on staying around for a few days incase we need you again?"
"I'm not going anywhere."
…..
"Phil honey, would you open the blinds?" Laura asked sweetly.
"Sure Mama Hardy." Phil stretched as he stood from the recliner and Laura could actually hear his joints pop and crack from hours of sitting.
The open blinds revealed a colorful morning sky of orange and pink hues. Phil yawned and returned to his seat.
"Honey, why don't you go back to the room and get some sleep? Maybe a shower too?" Laura wrinkled her perky nose. Phil laughed mid-yawn.
"I got a few hours of sleep here in the chair. You're the one who traveled all night."
"I slept on the plane. Well, tried to sleep a little. Jack brought his wife Judy along. They figured they'd hang out down here until we were ready to head back. Their anniversary's next weekend anyway, so they're getting an early start on their celebration. And so she wanted to talk about Creole recipes and Cajun food and which restaurants she wanted to hit…" Laura stopped and yawned too.
"Really, Laura, why don't you go rest?" But Frank's mother shook her head.
Fenton walked in with a cardboard tray bearing cups of hot coffee. He set the tray on the rolling table near Frank's bed and passed a cup to Laura and Phil.
"Anything new with Sleeping Beauty?" He asked as he sat on the mattress beside his son's right hip.
"He's still out of it. But at least his fever's coming down and he's actually sleeping now, and not experiencing the delirium. That was really getting to me." Phil said.
"I can't say I'm sorry I missed that." Laura chuckled. "Frank would talk in his sleep when he was a kid. It was worse when he was sick. He'd lay there with his eyes closed and just carry on a conversation like someone else was there."
"I think he was reliving some of what went on while he was kidnapped. He kept rambling about Eric." Phil realized just then that his sleep deprived mind had let his mouth slip.
"Eric? What's he got to do with anything? He's been dead for almost a year." Laura asked.
"Ahhh…" Phil was trying to backpedal. "He uh… I dunno. He's been mumbling about all kinds of things." Phil turned to look out of the window, hoping Mrs. Hardy would drop the subject.
"Phillip Aaron Cohen. I've known you for over half your life and I can tell when you're lying. Now, what are you talking about?" Phil gave Fenton and helpless look, but the man seemed to be at as much of a loss for what to do as Phil did.
"Mrs. Hardy, you're going to find some of this pretty hard to believe."
Laura leaned forward, looking more serious than he'd ever known her to be.
"Try me."
…..
Joe shifted on his cot and turned over. It was morning finally. He sat up and gazed at Vanessa who had managed to roll over onto her side while she slept. Her legs were tucked up near her body and the foot of the bed was still elevated.
"Well, that's doing you a lot of good." He murmured and stood to press the control to let the end of the bed down even with the top half. Vanessa's cheeks looked pinker, and the circles under her eyes didn't look as dark. Joe kissed her and sat back down on his cot to check his phone. There was a text from his mom that she had arrived in New Orleans in one piece and was at the hospital with Frank. He sent a reply asking how Frank was doing this morning and then set the phone on the bedside table.
There was a soft knock at the door and Joe looked up to see Chet standing there.
"Just got done with my shift. How's she doing?" The redhead whispered as he entered the small room.
"She had a peaceful night. Her color looks better this morning." Joe replied quietly.
"Good."
"They found Frank."
"Oh my G-d, is he okay?" Chet sat down in a chair close to Joe's cot. Joe sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"Mom had to go down there. He's sick."
"Ah shit."
"Did Biff's cousin ever school you on werewolf-inflicted injuries?"
"Afraid not, the locals are considered friendly. I guess he didn't think it was necessary."
"Well, they're not so much down there. Oh, and Eric's finally dead. Dead dead."
"Thank you Jesus." Chet smiled.
"I know. Maybe things will be different for Frank and Phil now. Better different."
"They found Frank?" Vanessa croaked sleepily.
"Good morning Van." Chet stood to make his presence known.
"Heyyyy Chet." She said and licked her dry lips.
"Want some water Baby?" Joe asked.
"Sure."
"Well look, I'll leave you two alone. Last night was crazy down in the E.R. I'm beat." He squeezed Vanessa's big toe through the blanket. "Check on you before my shift begins tonight."
"Thanks Chet." Vanessa smiled and sipped on her ice water.
When the nurse left Joe squeezed in beside Vanessa in the bed and filled her in on everything he knew about Frank's rescue. Everything, at least what Phil and Biff had been able to tell him last night before his mother got the urgent call to come to New Orleans.
"I know you wish you could be there for him. I wish I had been awake, I would have made you go." said Vanessa as she leaned her head on Joe's shoulder. Joe turned and kissed the top of her head and gave her a loving squeeze around her shoulders.
"Frank's going to be okay. I can feel it. Right now I'm where I need to be."
…..
For the second time in three days, Fenton Hardy found himself sitting in stunned silence. He watched as his wife, diminutive, maternal, soft-spoken Laura, listened to Phil's tale of vampires and werewolves and witches and shape shifters without so much as a squawk or a gasp. She even asked pointed questions about Frank's previous abduction back in January, making Phil come clean about details that he and Joe had covered up back then, thinking the Hardy parents would have a hard time believing them.
"So the son of a bitch is finally dead?" Laura asked.
"Laura!" Fenton said, astonished at his wife's use of such language.
"Well I'm sorry Fenton, but the S.O.B. sat at my dining room table, ate our food and we treated him with respect and warmth like he was a member of the family. And the whole time he had the capacity to treat our son so horribly? Phillip, you probably did right by not telling me the truth before, because I would have hunted him down and killed him myself!" Fenton chuckled at his wife's feistiness.
"I'm serious Fenton." Laura stood to rinse out her coffee cup in the sink before tossing it in the rubbish bin.
"Phil, did you ever find out who those people were on the houseboat that got away? They were too far down river for me to see by the time Captain Bordenave and I got there." Fenton asked before he took his last swallow of coffee.
"The other vampires said they were elves." Phil said.
"Elves?" An odd look crossed Fenton's face that Phil couldn't quite read, like he was trying to recollect something that happened a long time ago.
"Yeah. And that werewolf, Emile, kept hollering for someone called Delebon…" Fenton heard Laura stumble and turned to her just in time to see his ashen-faced wife grab the back of her chair and her knees gave way under her.
…..
Phil looked at his watch when Mrs. Hardy re-entered Frank's hospital room just after lunchtime later that day.
"I wasn't expecting you until after dinner Laura." Phil said as a more refreshed looking Laura placed her purse in the tiny hospital room closet. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I guess the excitement and worry from the last few days finally caught up to me. Plus, Fenton didn't pack his C-pap machine. His snoring was keeping me awake, so I thought I'd come back and send you to the room to get some rest." Phil sighed with resignation.
"I'm not going to fight you this time. I'm at least going to take a shower, I feel kind of ripe." He pulled at the neck of his shirt and screwed up his face in mock disgust. Phil rose and gave Frank a parting kiss on his forehead. As he bent to give Laura a kiss on the cheek, his future mother-in-law wrapped him in a hug.
"Thank you Phillip. Thank you for being there for Frank, and for looking after him." The woman almost seemed weepy when she stepped back from the curly-haired boy. It had been a physically and emotionally taxing weekend.
"Call me if anything changes. Okay Mama?"
"Okay Phil."
Finally alone with her son, Laura took Frank's hand and held it to her cheek. She kissed the rough palm and hummed a melody from her childhood. Hopefully Delebon was far, far away and back under the rock he crawled out from under. Nothing from her meditations indicated that the dark elf had touched their lives in anyway. And even if it meant revealing everything she had worked so hard for so many years to keep hidden, she would make sure it stayed that way.
Laura decided to distract herself by studying her son's face. Frank looked so much like Fenton when he was in his early twenties. She noticed his eyes rolling back and forth under his lids and he began to mumble in his sleep again. He didn't feel any warmer and Laura hoped this wasn't another fever dream, but then she heard him say something…
"Allison… No no, Daddy will get for you… don't cry…" Laura leaned in closer. Did he just say Allison? Oh come on, there was no way that he could…
"Dave, stop… Don't tease your sister like that…" Surely she was mistaken, but could it be possible? Did Frank share her gift? Or curse, as some of the things she saw scared the living daylights out of her.
But how could he? Surely if he did he wouldn't have made half the decisions he'd made in his life or charged in to the dangers he found himself caught up in. But it would explain a few things from his childhood that she had cast off as Frank just talking in his sleep. Now Laura was even more determined. If Delebon had known that Frank had a gift…
"Oh Frank sweetie, I'm sorry I've never been completely honest with your Dad and you boys. But I only did it to protect all of you. Guess you get it honest, the way you boys have kept me and Dad in the dark at times. Funny the things we do to protect those we love, huh Sweetie?"
Frank groaned and his not swollen eye fluttered.
"C'mon Sweetie. Mom's here. Can you look at me and say Hi?" Laura tried to rouse her son to wakefulness. Finally she was rewarded with a peek of chocolaty brown. Frank still looked dazed and his good eye scanned the room. She made a mental note to call Phil later to see if he could find Frank's glasses in his luggage and bring them when he came back. His roving eye finally settled in Laura's general direction.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
…..
Author's Note:
Franklin Lewis Hardy! Do you honestly kiss your mother with that mouth? Sheesh, kids these days….