Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and am not making any monetary profit from this story.

"She looked okay, I suppose." Carson Drew told Frank and Joe Hardy. They were sitting together in the waiting room in River Heights Memorial Hospital. "A few scrapes on her arms and face, two broken fingers, and the leg, of course, but she was alert." He sighed. "She must be in a lot of pain though. The doctor said her left leg was fractured in multiple places."

Frank winced. "Poor Nancy."

"It could have been a lot worse though." Joe said seriously. "Some scrapes and a broken leg is coming off pretty easy for a fall off a third story balcony." He cringed every time he pictured the scene. He, Frank, and Nancy had been outnumbered in the fistfight, five to three. He had just knocked out his first thug when he saw Nancy's opponent block one of her kicks and give her a hard shove, sending her toppling over the low railing.

"Nancy!" Joe cried, seeing his friend go over the edge. He was relieved when he saw her fingers still clasping the bars of the wrought-iron railing for dear life. "Hold on, we're coming!"

Frank saw what had happened as well, but he was fighting two people at once. The momentary loss of concentration gave his opponent the opportunity to lay Frank out on his back, groaning.

Joe leaped over the body of the fallen henchman but was stopped by the last man, who grabbed him from behind in a chokehold. Helpless, Joe watched as the thug who had pushed Nancy smiled evilly and stepped on her fingers. Nancy let out an awful shriek as she lost her precarious hold, and a second later there was a terrifying thud as she hit the ground.

"Nancy!' Frank roared, picking himself up and disposing of his two opponents by bashing their heads together (with significantly more force than he normally would have used). Joe, too, felt a manic energy surge through him. He somehow got loose from his captor and tripped him up, the man's head bouncing off the tiled terrace. He grabbed the man who had pushed Nancy (and who was now gawking over the railing at his handiwork) and threw him against the wall. With a single punch, the man was out.

Joe crossed to the railing, not really wanting to see what lay below- the sight of Nancy's body spread-eagled on the ground, face pale with shock and pain, leg bent at an unnatural angle almost made him physically sick with fear. Frank was already halfway down the stairs as Joe whipped out his cell phone and dialed 911.

"That was one of the scariest moments of my life." Joe said. "And I've had a lot of scary moments."

"No kidding." Frank said quietly.

Carson shook his head and surveyed the Hardys. For the first time since he had gotten the call that Nancy was in the hospital he was able to think about something else besides his daughter's condition, and now he saw that neither boy had made it out of the confrontation unscathed. Frank's jaw was badly bruised and was starting to swell, and Joe had a split lip and a fair-sized lump on the back of his head. Both boys' knuckles were bruised and bleeding. "You know, you boys should get checked out too." Carson said. "Your father would kill me if I let you go home without getting looked at."

"We're fine." Frank said, resting his chin on his clasped hands.

"Later." Joe agreed.

At this point, Nancy's boyfriend Ned Nickerson entered the waiting room. "The nurse says you two can go in now." he said to Frank and Joe, looking slightly reluctant to deliver the message. "She said to tell you that they're putting Nan on some pretty heavy pain meds though. She might be asleep or something when you go in." At least, he hoped she would be. The truth was, Ned dreaded leaving Nancy alone with Frank even for the fifteen minutes of visiting time they were allowed. At least Joe would be with them, Ned consoled himself, although he suspected Joe was hardly likely to care about any flirtations going on between his brother and Nancy, one way or the other.

"Thanks, Ned." Joe said, standing. Frank followed him down the hall and into Nancy's room.

Nancy was awake, looking pale and bruised, but she smiled when they came in. One leg was encased in a cast from foot to hip, and it was slightly elevated in a sling that hung from the ceiling.

"Wow, Nan." Joe said, appreciatively eying the sling. "I've never gotten one of these."

"Then I guess you've never had your leg broken in four places." Nancy said with a slight giggle. To emphasize her point, she rapped on the cast with her knuckles.

Frank and Joe exchanged amused glances. The pain medication Ned had warned them about seemed to be making her a little loopy. They took a seat on either side of her bed.

"How are you feeling?" Frank asked sympathetically, taking her hand and giving it a careful squeeze.

Nancy shook her head. "It hurt a lot, but it's better now."

The hand that was resting near Joe had two splinted and bandaged fingers. Joe's eyes narrowed as he remembered her attacker's boot grinding into them, forcing her to let go... "Sorry we couldn't get to you in time." he said softly.

"Don't worry about it." Nancy said, her grin slightly dazed. "It was going to happen sooner or later."

"Yeah, but now we don't have a hundred-percent keep-Nancy-from-falling rate anymore." Joe said. He winked at her playfully.

"Don't flirt with me, Joe Hardy!" Nancy said, laughing again. "It's never going to work!"

Joe laughed too. "They're giving you good drugs, huh, Nance?"

Nancy didn't appear to understand the question. Instead, she turned to Frank. "Ouch, Frank, your face!" she said loudly.

Frank touched his sore jaw with a grimace. "It's nothing. Just a little bruise."

"Well, I still think you look handsome." she reassured him, not lowering her volume at all.

Frank blushed slightly. "Thanks, Nan."

"No, really." Nancy continued. "You're adorable, Frank. And so smart. It's sexy."

Frank turned a darker shade of red and glared at Joe, who was clearly struggling not to laugh out loud. "Shut up, Joe."

"Don't listen to him." Nancy said. "You're a lot nicer than he is. Really sweet. That's one of the things I love about you. And, you don't have a smart mouth that always gets us in trouble." she said, swiveling her head comically to glare for a moment at Joe, who could no longer contain his laughter. "That's one of the things I love about you too." She sighed loudly and longingly. "I think you're amazing, Frank."

Frank attempted a smile. "I think you're pretty great too, Nancy." he said awkwardly, standing up. "Well, Joe and I should be going. Our fifteen minutes is almost up." He was lying; they had only been there for seven minutes. Joe continued to snicker but didn't call him on it.

But Nancy did. "Aww," she protested, in a pleading voice. She grasped Frank's hand and held it to her face. "Stay with me. Please?"

Frank sighed. He couldn't stop the feelings that arose from the simple touch of her warm, smooth skin under his fingers. She wasn't making this easy for him. Momentarily, he gave in to temptation and stroked his thumb gently over her cheekbone. "Get some rest, Nan." he said softly.

She pouted when he pulled his hand away. "Bye Frank."

As Joe passed her bed on the way out he gave a little grin and waved at her. "Bye, Nancy."

She giggled, her sulking forgotten, and waved back cheerfully. "Bye Joe!"

Frank started walking fast the moment he was out of the room and into the hallway, knowing that if Joe caught up to him he'd be in for the ribbing of a lifetime. He was unpleasantly unsurprised to hear Joe's mocking falsetto in his ear.

"'I think you're amazing, Frank.'" Joe teased, keeping up with Frank pace for pace. "And sexy." he added with a cheeky grin.

Frank scowled at him. "Joe, she was high as a kite. She didn't know what she was saying."

"Aw," Joe said, poking his brother in the ribs, "I wouldn't say she didn't mean it..."

Frank sighed as he reached the safety of the waiting room, where Carson and Ned were sitting quietly. No matter how cheeky Joe was, he knew his brother wouldn't say anything in front of Nancy's father and boyfriend. Especially her boyfriend. "Hey, Joe, how about you shut it?" he murmured under his breath, then smirked. "You know how your smart mouth always gets us in trouble."

When Nancy awoke the first thing she was conscious of was a throbbing pain in her entire leg. She opened her eyes slowly and realized it was still nighttime; the hospital room was dark. She dimly spied her father's figure snoring lightly in the chair beside her. She stifled a moan as she tried to shift to a slightly more comfortable position. The memory of the fall came back to her and she sucked in a sharp breath... lying on the ground, panting, sickly white bone poking through the flesh of her calf... the ambulance ride... Here she lost track of time; she had probably been unconscious. There would have been some kind of surgery, she supposed, but the next thing she remembered was her father sitting by her bedside, stroking her hair and murmuring soothingly... Then Ned came in... and weren't Frank and Joe here at some p-... shit.

Nancy's head fell back upon her pillow, her face burning so hotly that she was sure it was giving off light in the darkness. I didn't really say that... did I? She squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment, as if closing them hard enough would enable her to erase the past.

...Shit.

A/N: I needed to write something fun. I'll probably write a part two so Joe can do some more mocking, lol. Please review!