I want to thank everyone for your reviews. Here is my new Chapter. This is probably my favorite chapter so far. Sorry it took me awhile to update, I just wanted to get it just right. There is a moment between Joe and Chet that I felt they never got in the book. Plus, I think you'll like the ending. Love to hear your thought, please review.

Iola's Treasure 15

"Get off of me!"

Joe cried out as a pair of gloved hands began to coil around his neck. Panic shot through his body as a man in a black ski mask stood over him. Joe tried desperately to pry the gloved hands away from his neck.

"Get off...me! Frank! Frank...Help!"

He reached for the mask, pulling it off his assailant's head. He gasped in shock to see his mother's face. "Mom... No it can't be!"

"Joe, wake up. It's okay. I am here now. You're safe". He felt the soft and gentle touch of a hand caressing the left side of his face. All at once Joe opened his eyes. He sat up quickly; gasping for breath which made his chest hurt. A monitor started to go off somewhere beside him. He was drenched in sweat as he moved his hand to his face and felt a white bandage wrapped around his head. He reached the back of his head, feeling a small bump, and he winced slightly at the contact.

Joe glanced down at the light blue gown he had on, then notied the IV in his arm that was connected to the beeping monitor. His eyes frantically searched his surroundings; soon realizing he was in a hospital bed. At last his blue eyes fell onto his mother who sat on his bed concern written all over her face.

"Mom" Joe whispered, tears flowing down his face.

"I'm here baby." Laura soothed to him, sweeping the tears from his face. Joe threw his arms around her, feeling like a scared little boy seeking refuge in his mother's arms.

Laura wasted no time enveloping Joe into her arms drawing him into a hug. She could feel his body trembling as she held him close. "He may be seventeen, but he's still my baby." She reminded herself quietly. She gave him a few minutes to quiet down and to get all cried out.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly, moving to stand by his bedside and ease him back onto his pillow.

"Yeah" Joe nodded.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Joe just nodded yes before turning his head away. Just then Dr. Bryce and Officer Riley rushed into the room along with Chet close behind them.

"Is everything all right in here?" Dr. Bryce asked. "We heard Joe screaming and then his monitor started going off."

Dr. Bryce had checked on Joe earlier, he was happy to report that Joe was doing a lot better. He'd taken away the oxygen mask seeing as Joe was breathing alright on his own; however he kept it near, just in case. "How's your head and chest? Any pain? Are you having trouble breathing?"

"I'm fine." Joe replied, giving the doctor his full attention. "I have a dull headache but my chest only hurts when I get excited."

"What got you excited?"

"He had a nightmare." Laura answered for him.

"Did it have to do with whoever attacked you?" Officer Riley inquired.

Joe remained silent, turning his head away. "Joe, it'll help if you talk about it." Officer Riley said gently.

"It's only been a few days; your lungs as well as your ribs are still healing. The important thing is to relax and rest as much as you can; it'll help you heal" Dr. Bryce offered casually. "I'll have a nurse bring you something for your headache. Don't forget to use the oxygen mask if you need to."

"Thank you." Laura said, as the doctor left the room. She looked on as her son began fidgeting with the tip of his blanket bunching it up in his hands. He started scanning the room, seeming to look for a familiar face.

"Where's Frank?"

"He and your father are in New York." Laura answered. "They'll be back soon."

"They went to check out a lead on your attacker." Officer Riley chimed in. He sat down next to Joe. "Can you tell me who attacked you?"

"No."

"Is there a reason why?"

"I need… Frank." Joe swallowed with difficultly as a lump rose in his throat. He was twisting the blanket so tight his knuckles were turning white. From the way Joe was acting, Officer Riley could see he was completely terrified. Who could blame him? Someone had tried to kill him; that was enough to terrify anyone.

Officer Riley placed a gentle hand on his trembling shoulder, "Joe, I made a promise to Frank that I would keep you safe." He pointed to the door behind him, "I've been standing outside your door guarding it with my life. Your family, Chet and of course, the doctor are the only ones allowed in here. Nobody gets past me without my knowledge."

"Joe, I promise you are safe." He asked again, "Will you tell me who attacked you?"

Joe adamantly shook his head no. "Where's Frank? I need... Frank," he pleaded, tears streaming down his face. Laura saw true fear in her son's eyes. She knew he needed to feel safe. As far back as she could remember, when they were younger, Joe would always go running to Frank; it didn't matter whether he was upset from a nightmare or a bully picking on him at school.

Yes, there were times when Joe would come to her and Fenton to help him feel safe. However, majority of the time, it would be his big brother that Joe would go to for comfort. For whatever the reason, Frank had the magic touch when it came to making his younger brother feel safe.

"Thank you, Officer Riley for trying, the only way Joe will talk is with Frank here," Laura said, quickly changing the subject. She turned back to her son, wiping the tears away from his face. "Joe, I'm going to go call your father. He'll get Frank here."

"Mrs. Hardy, I'll sit with Joe." Chet spoke up. "That is…if it's okay with him."

"Joe, is that alright?" Laura asked waiting for his answer.

Very slowly, Joe nodded yes.

"Thank you, Chet." Laura said with gratitude. She then gave Joe a hug before heading for the door. "It's going to be alright. We'll get Frank here."

"I'll be right outside if you need anything." Officer Riley said rising to his feet leaving the two boys alone.

Chet sat down in the chair next to Joe feeling the awkward silence between them. He took a deep breath saying the first thing that came to him. "Hey, Joe How are you?"

There was no answer.

"Guess that was a stupid question."

"Chet, I'm sorry." Joe said suddenly.

Chet raised an eyebrow and looked at Joe strangely. "Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry for blowing up at you at Prito's." Joe shamefully admitted. "I've been angry for a long time, because I couldn't save her. It was wrong of me to take my anger out on you."

"Joe…"

"No, please, let me finish" Joe stopped him. "I couldn't understand why you never got angry with me for not saving her. I wanted you to yell at me or beat the hell out of me...something...but you never did."

"That's because it wasn't your fault." Chet replied. "The truth is, I was angry, and I still am, but not at you." He shook his head."The people responsible for her death are the same people who put that bomb in your car; you and Frank were the actual targets. My sister just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"They murdered my sister and almost killed my two best friends." At that moment Joe looked right at Chet. "Joe, you and Frank are like brothers to me. We grew up together...someone already took my sister away from me. Now I'm angry that someone tried to take my brother away from me."

"I'm the one that owes you an apology. If I hadn't showed you that article about Barmet Island becoming a resort, you wouldn't be in this mess. Frank explained to me why that island was a special place for you and Io... "Chet cut himself off unable to say his sister's name.

Joe saw tears in the corners of his friend's brown eyes. He could feel his pain; it hurt like hell to say her name.

He put a hand sympathetically on Chet's hand. "Chet…" He felt hot tears running down his face, and he bit his bottom lip to ease the flow of them. "It's okay to say her name…Iola. It's okay to talk about her. We need to talk about Iola. It's the only way to keep her alive. Iola...was such a beautiful person...with a big heart for wanting to help someone in need, the way she embraced life with open arms... was amazing."

"Barmet Island was our special place." Joe took a deep breath before he went on, "It's where we fell in love. We may've been ten years old at the time, but we knew we wanted to be together. I wanted to marry Iola as soon as we graduated high school. When I found that gift from her and with the combination of the island being destroyed because of that stupid resort, I lost it. I thought I was going to lose Iola all over again."

"I loved her." Joe quickly wiped his tears away.

"I loved her too. Iola... was my little sister," Chet quivered out her name. "She drove me crazy sometimes, especially that feisty and bossy attitude of hers. God..."He began to choke up. "...I'd give anything to hear voice again or to give her a hug. It's not fair. We were robbed Joe...we were robbed of her life. I miss her...much."

Unable to hold back his tears, Joe's voice quivered out a pathetic "I know...I know."

Without a word Chet stood up and grabbed Joe in a hug. At first, Joe stiffened in his arms, then taking a sharp breath he sobbed once as gut wrenching sobs overtook him. Chet held him tight as his own grief took over. Tears fell as each young man held onto the other, grieving...for the life and loss of a little sister...and the lost love.

About an hour or two later the boys had stopped their crying and settled down. The room was filled with sounds of laughter as each boy took it in turns to tell stories of their shared childhood and reminiscing about the good times they'd had, even including stories about Iola from time to time.

"That's a good sign." Officer Riley said standing next to Laura in the doorway. She had a big smile spread across her face listening to the beautiful sound of laughter; it was a sound she hadn't heard in a long time.

"Yes, for now." Laura replied as they stepped back out into the hallway, giving Joe and Chet the privacy and time needed to grieve and heal from Iola's loss. Now the healing could truly begin for everyone. Hopefully things would slowly get back to normal. She was very grateful to Chet. He was a good friend to Joe and now the fear seemed to fade away, at least for the moment. "Hopefully Fenton will get Frank here soon. Then Joe can put this nightmare behind him."

Laura thought back to the conversation she'd had with Fenton an hour ago. "Fenton, it's Joe...He's okay." Laura's voice had sobbed into the phone. "He woke up from a nightmare; I think he knows who attacked him, but he's afraid to talk. The only way he'll tell us is with Frank here. Do whatever you have to Fenton. Just get Frank here".

"Come on, Fenton, where are you?" She pleaded to herself. "Laura!" A familiar voice broke into her thoughts.

Laura looked up to see Fenton rushing towards her, with Frank close behind him; fear and worry etched into their faces.

"Oh thank God." She said, greeting them each with a hug.

"How's Joe?" Frank asked anxiously. " Dad, told me about his nightmare."

"He's fine now. Chet's with him." Laura answered.

"Did you get the DNA sample from Albert Douglas?" Officer Riley asked after greeting Fenton and Frank.

"No, Albert Douglas is gone." Fenton remarked grimly.

"What do you mean gone?"

"His office was completely empty, clean from top to bottom; no fingerprints at all when I checked."

Disappointed by this news, Officer Riley broke in, "Well hopefully Joe can shed some light on all this and tell us who his attacker was".

"Frank, you go see Joe." Fenton insisted, "You have a better chance of getting him to talk to us". Frank headed straight into Joe's room as soon as his father finished his sentence.

"Do you remember..."Joe started to ask Chet when he heard it.

"Joe."

A big smile spread across Joe's face. There he was, his big brother and best friend, standing in the doorway. "Frank!"

"I think I'll go stretch my legs a bit." Chet stood up, taking that as his cue to leave. "I'll see you guys later".

"Thanks Chet." Frank said.

"Yes thank you." Joe replied.

"Anytime." Chet replied back leaving the brothers alone.

Frank was at Joe's bedside in an instant. Joe immediately threw his arms around him not caring about the sound monitor going off. Frank wrapped his arms around Joe, drawing him into a hug.

"It's about time you got here." Joe whispered into his brother's ear, "What took you so long?"

"I've missed you too, little brother." Frank rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh, going into big-brother-mode almost immediately. "A big brother's job is never done."