A/N: Okay, no long winded apologies for being the worst updater ever, I promise. Just know that this chapter comes with a heaping pile of guilt/shame (on my part) and gratitude (for your part) for continuing to read and stick with this horribly flaky author. Enjoy!
Quintessential Bliss
Chapter 27
Joe stared out the window of the train headed from Seattle to Vancouver. He was tired, exhausted but he couldn't seem to close his eyes and rest. The landscape flew by as he checked his watch to see how long it would be until they arrived in Vancouver.
Seeing that he had another hour at least Joe pulled out his cell phone and dialed Vanessa's number. "Joe?" She answered on the first ring. "Where are you?"
Joe heard the worry in Vanessa's voice and he felt guilty for leaving the way that he had. "Hey Van, I'm fine."
"Well, I'm glad to hear it." Vanessa's voice held just a hint of sarcasm behind her worried tone, "Your actions over the last day would indicate that you are, in fact, not fine considering that you left us all without a word as to where you were going or what you were planning to do or when you were planning to come back! Of course, you did answer your phone the 14 times I tried calling you…oh wait, never mind, you didn't do that either."
Joe let Vanessa say her piece and then he took a deep breath, "How's Frank?"
"How's Frank?" Vanessa spluttered, "I've got an idea, why don't you come back and see for yourself?"
Joe winced, "Gee Van, come on. Just tell me how he's doing."
Vanessa sighed, "He's the same, only now he's worked up about where you've gone off to. Where are you?"
"It doesn't matter," Joe looked out the window at the green trees of the Pacific Northwest. "I'll be back in a few days. I'm working some things out."
"Have you gone after Beatrice?" Vanessa asked.
Joe waited a beat before figuring that lying was stupid, it was obvious what he was doing, "Yes."
"Where are you?" Vanessa repeated the question.
Joe ignored her, "Are you at the hospital?"
"Yes, I'm here." Vanessa sighed.
"Nancy?" Joe asked.
"Hold on," Vanessa said and Joe could hear signs that she was moving away from someone. "She's okay," she whispered. "Right now she's sitting in Frank's room; she's either doing that or pacing the waiting room. It's like she's torn in two different directions, to follow you or stay with Frank."
"You need to keep her there," Joe said urgently. "You can't let her follow me, Frank needs her right now."
"Joe," Vanessa whispered, "I really hate to say this, but he needs you too."
Joe closed his eyes, "I know," he replied, "and I'll be back in a few days, a week at most. I promise."
"Please, please tell me where you are. I can help you," Vanessa tried one more time.
"I'm sorry Van, but I've got to do this on my own."
"Will you at least answer the phone when I call you?" Vanessa asked.
Joe sighed, "I'm not sure, but I'll try and call you as often as I can."
This time, it was Vanessa's turn to sigh, "I love you, you stubborn, stubborn man."
Joe laughed, "I love you too."
"Please go home Nan," Frank said for what seemed like the thousandth time that evening. "The specialist is coming in the morning and there is nothing for you to do here until then. I'm fine; I'll probably be asleep in a few minutes anyway. Besides, my mom told me you slept in the waiting room all night and I don't like that. You've got to be exhausted."
"No, I'm fine," Nancy shook her head firmly. She was leaning against the windowsill in Frank's room, her arms folded across her chest. "Really, I'm not tired at all."
"Nancy, please," Frank pleaded. He didn't know how to express it without seriously hurting her feelings, but the more he saw of Nancy and how much she cared about him, the more it hurt and frustrated him that he couldn't remember anything but that one memory from their time together. He was constantly thinking, constantly trying to remember something, anything else but there was nothing. Frank tried again, hoping that if Nancy went home he could stop worrying about her and the gaping holes in his memory, "I need you to go home Nancy, please. I don't like thinking about you not sleeping or being uncomfortable here."
Nancy looked at Frank's face and saw that he really meant it, "Okay," she finally agreed. "I'll go home." In her mind she thought of the big, empty house that she and Frank shared and how the last time she had been there she had been with Frank. She forced a smile on her face instead, "I'll be back first thing in the morning though; you can't get rid of me forever." She checked the impulse to lean over and kiss his forehead, not being able to touch him in any way was torture.
"I look forward to it, good night Nan," Frank smiled.
"Good night…I-" Nancy's smile faltered and she turned to leave the room, feeling awkward. She had been about to tell Frank she loved him, but of course in his mind they hadn't reached that stage in their relationship.
Vanessa stood up from her chair in the hallway at the look on Nancy's face. Saying nothing she simply walked over and folded Nancy into a tight hug, "Come on, let's get you home."
"Okay," Nancy replied and let herself be led down the hallway. The two girls said goodnight to Laura and Fenton and after clearing security walked together to the parking garage and found Vanessa's car.
Vanessa started the car, "You know, spending the night in the apartment alone doesn't sound very appealing to me right now. How about we have a girl's night?"
Nancy smiled at Vanessa gratefully, "Thank you, I really wasn't looking forward to being alone. I haven't been home since...well, since."
"I understand, let's stop by and grab some of your things."
Nancy felt apprehension build inside her as they pulled into her and Frank's driveway. Why was she so nervous to go into a house? It was just a house. "I can't believe this," Vanessa shook her head.
"What?" Nancy peered out of the windshield at the house, expecting to see something out of the ordinary.
"You're not seeing this?" Vanessa pointed over her shoulder at the street.
Nancy turned in her seat and noticed what Vanessa had seen right away, "I must be really out of it if I missed that."
"Let's go," Vanessa sighed and shoved open her door. Nancy fell into step beside her as they walked toward the car parked across the street from her house.
"Does he actually think he's being inconspicuous?" Nancy asked Vanessa.
Vanessa laughed, "Of course he does. He's wearing his hood and he's slumped down in his seat. I'm surprised he doesn't have binoculars."
They reached the door of the car and Vanessa rapped her knuckles against the glass a few times. The driver looked over at them guiltily before rolling down the window, "I suck at this," Phil declared.
Nancy genuinely laughed for the first time in days, "Yes, you do."
"Joe is going to tease me forever," Phil moaned.
"Yes, he is," Vanessa laughed. "Come on inside Phil, it'll be easier to babysit us that way."
Groaning, Phil opened his car door and grabbed a bag from the seat beside him before following Nancy and Vanessa into the house. Nancy hesitated only slightly before stepping through the front door. She covered the moment by quickly asking Phil, "Joe asked you to watch out for us?"
"Yeah," Phil hung his head and looked embarrassed. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and shrugged, "He probably should have asked Biff or Chet to do it."
Vanessa laughed and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Don't sweat it Phil, you were doing a fine job...even if the hooded sweatshirt was a little overkill."
"But why would Joe have you watch us at all?" Nancy asked. "I mean, as far as we know Beatrice ran off into hiding somewhere." Phil shrugged but Nancy didn't miss the look of contemplation on Vanessa's face. "Vanessa?" Nancy asked, "Do you know something?"
Vanessa looked up at Nancy, "I don't know...I'm not sure."
"You're not sure?" Nancy prodded.
"Well, it might..." Vanessa's voice trailed off. She knew Joe would be upset with her for telling Nancy, or anyone, about the letters he had been receiving and she had promised him she wouldn't mention it. She also knew that the last thing Nancy needed to deal with right now were some mysterious cards Joe was getting.
"Vanessa, spit it out," Nancy said when Vanessa remained quiet.
"Well," Vanessa looked from Nancy to Phil and back to Nancy again, "Oh Joe is going to kill me."
"Joe isn't here right now," Nancy pointed out.
"Okay, fine." Vanessa huffed out a breath and told them all she knew about the cards Joe had been receiving. "That's probably why Joe asked Phil to keep an eye on us."
"Why didn't he tell anyone?" Nancy wondered.
"I asked him the same thing," Vanessa shrugged. "You know how he and Frank get about protecting each other."
"We should tell Fenton," Nancy said.
"That's what I told Joe but he didn't want to burden his dad with anything else," Vanessa replied.
Nancy sighed, "That's probably a good idea, at least for right now anyway. There's nothing Fenton can do about it with Joe off on some bounty hunt and Frank barely holding on. We'll tell him when the opportunity comes up. In the meantime, we should probably stay here instead of at the apartment. No use staying there with some psycho sending greeting cards."
"Nancy," Vanessa shook her head, "I know how hard it is for you to stay here."
Nancy waved away Vanessa's concerns, "It's no big deal Vanessa. It's just a house and staying here makes the most sense." She turned to Phil, "I assume Joe told you to hang out no matter what?"
Phil looked sheepish, "Yeah, Chet was supposed to relieve me later."
"Go ahead and call Chet and let him know he doesn't need to come. I'll make sure the guest bedrooms are ready for you guys," Nancy turned and headed upstairs.
"She's a wreck," Phil muttered.
"I don't blame her," Vanessa replied, "I can't imagine what it would be like if Joe forgot about us, forgot about everything."
"Frank will recover, he'll remember everything," Phil said with certainty, "I started researching Frank's condition as soon as I heard."
"What have you found?" Vanessa asked.
"Here," Phil pulled his laptop out of his case and led the way into the living room to set it up on the coffee table, "I haven't been able to find anything concrete. Even the FBI's most top secret medical data doesn't indicate precisely what could be wrong with Frank."
"You hacked into the FBI database, again?" Vanessa teased.
Phil laughed, "I only do it in emergencies. Anyway, I started looking into other...less reputable secret organizations. I'm having a lot more luck there. Look," Phil's fingers flew across the keyboard.
"Wait a second, isn't this really dangerous? I mean, these...less reputable sources...won't they be really mad if they find out you've been hacking into their systems?" Vanessa asked.
Phil looked offended at the very thought, "If the United States government can't detect me, what makes you think some Russian mob boss is going to be able to detect me?"
"Sorry!" Vanessa held up her hands in defense, "I'm just saying...a Russian mob boss isn't going to be doing all of his own computer work, you know? I mean, he's going to have the money to spend to secure his stuff."
Phil looked at her for a few minutes and then shook his head, "I'm going to pretend that you didn't just gravely insult me." Vanessa laughed and Phil turned back to his computer. "I found this right before Joe called me but I haven't had time to really look at it."
Vanessa peered over his shoulder, "Project Black Feather? That's not a very cool name for a top secret project."
"This isn't the movies Vanessa," Phil sighed and shook his head.
Vanessa laughed, "Okay, okay, I've been watching too many movies. What's the project about?"
"Well, so far I've only been able to read bits and pieces of the encrypted documents but it seems to be an experimental toxin designed to slowly torture the victim. The reason it stood out to me was this sentence right here," he turned the computer so Vanessa could read.
"In lab tests, subjects seem to feel a burning of the skin, described as a feeling of fire when touched by any outside source, including air. Memory loss and..." Vanessa's voice trailed off, "and what? What else?"
"That's as far as I could go, I think I'm missing the next page," Phil blushed, "Sometimes when I pull files over the pages get jumbled around..."
"Um," Nancy's voice had Vanessa and Phil turning around. "The rooms are ready for you upstairs whenever you guys want to go to bed. I'm sorry I don't think there's much to eat here but you guys are welcome to anything you find."
"Thanks Nancy, we'll be okay," Phil replied.
"Okay, I think I'm going to go to bed, I'm pretty tired."
"Good night Nancy," Vanessa said.
"Night," Nancy smiled and turned to leave the room. She stopped and then turned back, "Oh Phil, I um...I left some of Frank's things for you, sweats and a shirt. I thought it would be more comfortable to sleep in than jeans."
"Thanks Nancy," Phil smiled his gratitude.
"You're welcome," Nancy smiled. "Okay, good night."
A few minutes later Nancy stood in front of her bathroom sink and mechanically brushed her teeth. She looked in the mirror at her disheveled appearance. Her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days, which now that she thought about it, maybe it hadn't. She took a drink of water and then leaned closer toward the mirror, "When was the last time you brushed your hair, Drew?" she murmured.
When she walked out into her and Frank's bedroom she crossed slowly to the bed and pulled back the covers. She had promised herself she would not break down, she would not cry. Frank was going to be fine, he was going to live and they would make it back to where they had been before the whole awful thing had happened.
Turning onto her side Nancy sighed deeply and closed her eyes. Subconsciously she reached across the bed and rested her hand where Frank should have been, lying right beside her.
She had promised herself she wouldn't, but the tears came anyway. Hot, fast and silent they raced down her cheeks before her body finally succumbed to sleep.