A/n: Plebe summer is coming to a close and I have a new batch of poor starving college students to take care of. I also realized that somehow or another I slacked off royally and am no longer 5 chapters ahead, I am only 3. I hang my head in shame and resolve to do better. But I probably won't and by next week I will be scrambling to meet my self imposed twice weekly deadlines. For all you bloodthirsty people salivating at the thought of Joe getting hurt: the wait is over.
Chapter Five
For the umpeenth time in his life, Joe Hardy was in the Emergency room at Bayport General. The unusual part was the reason he was there. He was not there because he had gotten shot, or stabbed, or beat up or otherwise worked over by some lowlife. He wasn't even there in support of his brother, or any other family member, friend or co worker. Nope. This time, he was there due to sheer dumb luck. He sighed in disgust for the tenth time in as many minutes, causing Joanna to look over the top of the magazine she was reading and laugh at him.
"Don't you start." he growled at her. "You haven't known me long enough to have permission to laugh at me." He shifted in the hard plastic chair, being careful to not jostle his broken wrist, and wishing mightily they'd call his name already. "Bad enough you just had to call Frank and rat me out."
"Be grateful Halloran isn't in town. Otherwise I would have called her too." she retorted.
"You know, I hereby take back every good word I ever put in for you. If had known you would be like this I would have told Frank to hire the other guy." he groused.
"You would have killed him in a week. Admit it, Hardy. You like partnering with me." Joanna smiled smugly and yet serenely at the same time. Before Joe could make a witty and sharp tongued comeback, his name was called. He settled for giving her a dirty look before standing up and following the nurse back into the examination rooms.
"So, what do we have here?" the intern said as he came into the small curtained area where Joe had been cooling his heels for a good half an hour after the Nurse took his vitals. He gently prodded Joe's wrist and grimaced in sympathy at his gasp of pain. "How did this happen?" he asked
Joe grunted. "I'd rather not talk about it, it's kind of embarrassing."
"Oh?" the intern's eyebrow raised very high up on his forehead. He excused himself and rather hastily said he'd be right back with his Resident, who would confirm the diagnosis and sign off on the necessary x rays. Fast forward another fifteen minutes and the Intern returned with one of the Residents, someone whom had seen Joe more than once before in a professional capacity.
"Hey Doc." Joe ruefully smiled at the newcomer. " Didya miss me?"
"Not really, no. I thought we told you there was no discount for frequent visits?!" Dr. Martin, a middle aged man of slight build and thinning hair, responded with a grin. Neither man really noticed the shocked look that came over the intern's face at the exchange, nor his discreet slipping out of the area. Dr. Martin conducted his own, albeit cursory, examination and said "Yup. You busted it. Who did you knock out?"
"Nobody." Joe replied with an embarrassed laugh. "Seriously I really don't wanna talk about it."
The intern had returned by this time, and Dr. Martin instructed him to send Joe up to Xray and then on to Ortho for a cast. The intern brought over a wheelchair and made Joe get in, despite his protestations that he was quite capable of walking, it wasn't a leg that was broken. He then flagged an orderly and told him to bring the patient to Xray and to wait for him there and proceed to Ortho immediately afterward.
No amount of bribery or pleading from Joe convinced the orderly to take a break and let him do things himself. "No offense, Mr Hardy, but you have kind of a bad rep around here." the kid chuckled.
"Sheesh. Sneak out of ICU one measly time when you are 14 and you are branded for life." Joe grumped but stopped the badgering. Soon he was wearing a nice lead apron and flirting with the young, pretty Xray tech. He manfully stifled the gasp of pain when she positioned his wrist on the plate and took the picture. It wasn't too long before he was back in the wheelchair, being chauffeured to Ortho, a large envelope filled with pictures of his broken wrist in his lap.
Ortho was much busier, it was late summer and a lot of kids had broken a bone or two playing sports. Here the orderly did leave him, and took the wheelchair along. He sent a quick text to Joanna telling her where he was and she texted back that she was on her way up and did he want coffee?
Dumbest question of the day he texted back one handed.
Joanna arrived coffee in hand and much to Joe's disgust, with his brother. "Go away. Your presence is neither required nor welcome." he snarled as he gave yet another dirty look to his betrayer.
Frank ignored the tirade. "Are you okay, what happened?!" to his credit, the concern was mild and not at Chicken Little standards, a huge improvement from as little as a year ago.
"As I have said to every. Single. Person. Who has asked me today, I do not want to talk about it." He would have crossed his arms in a pout, but his wrist was throbbing. He settled for turning his head away from the now teasing grins of his brother and his partner. Frank raised an eyebrow in Joanna's direction, but she shook her head.
"Oh no, no way am I tattle telling. I am the one who has to endure overnight stakeouts with him. Grumpy Joe is migraine inducing." She reached over and patted Joe on the head like he was 8. "Now that your real babysitter has arrived, I am off. Dance recital night at school oh joy." She hesitated. "On second thought, it might be less annoying to stay here..."
"Meh. For the 'Grumpy' comment you can just suffer at the recital. And take lots of pictures so we can embarrass Melissa at the next company picnic." Joe urged. So she took off.
It was a long wait. Frank learned almost immediately that Joe really meant what he said about not wanting to talk about it so instead they discussed the wedding, which was happening in 3 days' time. Joe forgot all about the pain as he got excited, discussing stuff that he never thought he'd be excited to discuss, like flowers and party favors. "Halloran is freaking out big time. She comes home tomorrow, and she swears that is not nearly enough time to get ready. Gloria is still kidnapping her tomorrow evening right? For the spa thingy?" he asked.
"So far as I know, yeah. You and I have a date with the guys at the cabin. Bruce has already got everything set up and they'll meet us there. Tony is making enough pizza to fill even your bottomless pit of a stomach, we'll just have to eat it cold. Chet and Biff are bringing the beer." he swiped Joe's coffee cup and took a swig. "That gives us almost 36 hours to get over any hangover.. I thought just you and I could stay there the next night since you aren't allowed to see the bride. If we get on the road by 8, we'll be back in plenty of time."
"Sounds like a plan." Before he could say any more, though, his name was called and he stood up to follow yet another orderly into the back. The Ortho doctor was gazing intently at the Xrays as Joe was brought into the room.
"You certainly get around, don't you?" he mused. "Any arthritis in those fingers yet?"
"Nahh, not too bad, except in the dead of winter." Joe replied as he got comfortable and allowed the orderly to help him take his shirt off.
"How'd you break them? Doesn't look like your typical 'slammed into a door.' the doctor asked.
Joe sat and thought about it. "Hmm, I think that was when Macowski went after me with a hammer." Joe named a low rent thug who had managed to capture him and tried to extract information on the case he had been working on with his father and brother while he was still in high school. "Maybe 8 or 9 years ago now? I guess." Joe shrugged, supremely not caring. 'The wrist gonna be the same way?"
"Probably. It is a clean break and there does not appear to be too much joint damage, but you will definitely lose some stability." the doctor responded. " Mikey here will wrap you up all nice and tight. 6 weeks should do the trick."
"Any chance we could do something a little less permanent, doc? I am getting married in three days. No way I can get the tux altered to fit over a cast. Not this late."
The doctor considered. "Perhaps. Instead of a full plaster cast, Mikey, can we try one of the polymers?" Mikey also considered before nodding his head. "Put a brace on over the wrap to provide extra stability. Should be fine."
"Then go with that." Joe thanked the doctor, who left with Mikey, who was off to get the supplies ready. He soon returned with a roll of what looked like an Ace bandage plus a bowl of paste. Or something. He unrolled the bandage then swirled it in the paste, covering the entire thing. Once it was soaked through, he covered Joe's wrist with a gauze sleeve and then began wrapping the bandage around it, not quite pulling it tight. Within seconds, though, Joe realized it was beginning to harden, almost like papier mache or glue drying. It was rigid, and yet still had some give to it. The over all effect was a thin veneer. Then he positioned a wrist brace on and that was tightened severely.
"This will not be as durable as a regular cast, so absolutely NO lifting, carrying or using the wrist at all. No driving, either. Nothing that puts any sort of strain on it. If I were you, I'd come back after the wedding and get a real cast, but that's just me."
"I'll think about it. I do have 2 days before we leave on the honeymoon..."
"Then you definitely want to come back. What fun is it if you can't brace yourself in bed, if you know what I mean?!"
Joe got a knowing look in his eyes and didn't even blush although a slow smile crept over his face. "You may have a point, there, Mikey."
"Sit tight and let that harden some more. I'll be back in about half an hour or so." Mikey left, taking the dregs of his art project with him. Joe leaned back on the table and closed his eyes but after a few moments was disturbed by a gentle clearing of the throat.
"Greg?! What the hell are you doing here?" Joe exclaimed incredulously.
Greg Herndon looked over his shoulder at the young intern from earlier. "THIS is your abuse victim?!" he asked in amazement.
Nervously the intern came further into the room. "There is no shame in admitting it, Mr Hardy. Abuse is not limited to women."
"Where in the hell do you get the insane idea I am being abused?!" Joe couldn't decide whether to be outraged, or amused, and from the looks of Greg's face, neither could he.
Suddenly less sure of himself, the intern stuttered "When a patient comes in and refuses to explain how an injury occurs, and there are other signs, we have to pursue that possibility."
"Dude. I didn't want to discuss it because it is as embarrassing as hell. The last thing I need is for my brother, or anyone else, for that matter, learning that I tripped over my own two feet, on a flat surface with nothing and no one around me who could have caused it. I'd never live it down!"
"But your xrays? And your medical record? All those injuries?!"
"Joe's a Private Investigator. Has been since he was like 16. Getting beat up by low lifes is a typical work week for him." Greg supplied. "You aren't a local, are you?" he asked with a grin. "Anyone who grew up in Bayport knows the Hardy Boys."
The intern shook his head, which was now beet red from hairline to neck. "I just started three weeks ago." Greg took pity on him at that point and suggested that they chalk this up to slight overenthusiasm. As a Police Officer he knew it would be counter productive to dissuade the young intern from going with a gut reaction in the future. It can, and had, saved lives before and been the impetus for real abuse victims to get help. After a significant look complete with arched eyebrow at Joe, he too added his appreciation for the interns diligence and concern.
"If you want to know my sordid past, just hang out with Nurse Keller in ICU. She has plenty of stories to tell." Joe said with a grin as the intern apologized for the twelfth time. "It's okay, really. Nice to know somebody actually gives a damn about helping others." he reassured the young man. They were interrupted by Mikey's return, who shooed everyone out so he could inspect his handiwork.
Mikey pronounced it good, and sent Joe on his way with repeated admonishments to use the wrist for absolutely nothing until he got a real cast put on it. Joe thanked the guy and promised to obey. He met his brother in the waiting area and broke the bad news.. no driving allowed. To his credit, all Frank did was sigh.
A/n: True story: the incident with the intern actually happened to a friend of mine, as in he literally DID fall down a flight of stairs (tripped over a pet toy) and was too embarrassed to admit as much to anyone. the usual excuse: I walked into a door, I fell down the stairs, can be code for abuse. against either gender. and there was was a slightly overzealous intern who assumed the worst when he saw the other bruises and medical file( my friend was a NCAA soccer athlete and was constantly getting banged up) It did get straightened out eventually but not before all sorts of other people had to get involved.