A/N: I have no excuse as to what took me so long with this last chapter, except to say that I wrote about four-fifths of it and stalled out... for about a month and a half. Sorry for the long wait, guys, and thanks for continuing to read. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Not mine.
No sooner had Nancy reentered the lounge than Joe leaped out of his seat beside Vanessa and greeted her with a hug. "Good to see you, Nance."
"You too." Nancy answered, squeezing him tightly. "I would have come sooner if I'd known." she chided softly.
Joe pulled back slightly, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I should have called you." he admitted.
Really looking at Joe for the first time, Nancy could see that he was worn with grief and anxiety. The bags under his eyes bore a faint resemblance to Frank's bruises, and she felt immediately remorseful for complaining. "I don't blame you, Joe. I know you had bigger things to worry about." she spontaneously pulled him in for another quick hug. "How are you holding up?"
"Fine, now that Frank's on the mend." Joe replied. "How is he? Was he really talking? Could he understand you?"
Joe's earnest questioning almost broke Nancy's heart. The thought of sitting by Frank's hospital bed talking to him while he was too weak to answer and too delusional to comprehend... What Joe must have felt... Nancy stepped back, keeping Joe's hands. "He was still a little feverish, but he was talking. And he could definitely understand me... I hope." she answered with a half-smile. "I've seen him looking worse." She gave his hands a reassuring squeeze. "I'm not a doctor but something tells me Frank's going to be fine."
"Thanks, Nance." Joe nodded. She couldn't help noticing how his eyes continued to drift in the direction of Frank's room.
"Maybe you should go see him for yourself." she suggested.
"Mom and Dad are already in there-" Joe started. He was cut off by a hand on his shoulder. Laura Hardy had just entered the lounge.
"Frank wants to see you, honey."
Joe dropped Nancy's hands and was off like a shot, leaving Nancy and Laura facing each other in bemused silence.
"Nancy. I'm glad you came." Laura broke the silence, enfolding Nancy in a hug. "I know seeing you made Frank feel so much better."
Nancy dropped her gaze to the floor, blushing. She had nearly forgotten what Laura and Fenton had witnessed in Frank's room a few minutes earlier. "Mrs. Hardy, I... Frank... I didn't realize-" she stuttered.
Laura chuckled. "It's okay, honey. I understand."
Surprised, Nancy met her gaze.
"I'm Frank's mother. I see a lot more than you think." Laura continued with a knowing smile. "I've known you for almost as long as I've known my boys, and I've seen you and Frank together... I've always known Frank felt something special for you, and for you to come now..." she drifted off, remembering a drug bust that had resulted in the shooting of a young NYPD cop over twenty years ago, and the way she had felt when she'd heard the news. He'd only been grazed, but Laura had been treated to her first real glimpse of life without him. She rested a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "Sometimes you don't realize how important something is until you almost lose it."
Nancy's eyes shone with unshed tears and she nodded mutely.
Laura pressed a motherly kiss to Nancy's forehead. "I don't imagine you made many travel plans. You just stay at our house for as long as you like."
"Thank you." Nancy whispered, emotion overcoming her as Laura stepped away, joining her husband on the plastic couch. She watched for a moment as Fenton slipped a loving arm around his wife's shoulders, and Laura pecked him on the lips. With a deep breath, she turned away, subtly drying her eyes on her sleeve. She slipped out of the lounge, heading for the front doors. I need some air. Turning a corner, she nearly collided with a girl coming the opposite direction. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was. Oh no. "Callie!"
The girl's brown eyes narrowed as she looked up at Nancy, pushing long strands of blonde hair back behind her ear, squaring her shoulders defiantly. "Nancy." she said evenly.
"I..." Nancy tried to speak and couldn't. What was there to say in this situation? Frank had told her Callie and he were just friends, but he'd been ill, delusional, maybe... what if there was still something between Callie and Frank?
"I know why you're here." Callie said quietly.
There was an accusatory tone in her voice, and Nancy couldn't really blame her. After all, Nancy and Frank had been extremely close all their lives- including when Callie and Frank had been dating- and there had been a few occasions where they had overstepped the boundaries of friendship. "I'm here to see Frank." she acknowledged.
"Because you're in love with him." Callie finished flatly.
Nancy bit her lip. "Yes, I am."
Callie's brown eyes sparked confrontationally. "Well then, where were you last week, when he was missing?" Here her voice grew watery. "Or two days ago when the doctors said there was nothing else they could do? Where were you then, if you care so much?"
"I came as soon as I heard." Nancy said neutrally. She couldn't let Callie rile her up- fighting with Frank's ex-girlfriend in the middle of a hospital wouldn't help anybody. "Callie, I'm sorry. I do care for Frank, a lot. I have for a long time."
"I suppose that makes it okay to mess around with him while his girlfriend is waiting for him at home."
"I never 'messed around' with him." Nancy protested. She and Frank had almost always remained faithful to their significant others, and even on the few occasions when they did slip and reveal their true feelings, neither ever did so lightly. "But I'm sorry you got hurt. You don't understand. We didn't mean for this to happen."
"Of course you did!" Callie spat. "Frank loves you! You got exactly what you wanted!" She blinked and a tear fell from her eye. She quickly dashed it away with her sleeve. Calming slightly, she commented bitterly, "You know, I guess I don't understand. I'll never understand Frank the way you do. Just like I'll never understand why he was snooping around in that stupid warehouse in the first place." Her voice carried the long-suffering tone of someone who has had the same argument over and over.
Nancy paused for a moment while Callie composed herself, realizing how heartbreaking this must be for the other girl. "I'm sorry, Callie." she said again. "I love him."
Callie lifted her sleeved hand to dry her eyes once more, nodding her understanding. "And here I always thought I'd lose him to a bomb." With that she stepped around the taller girl and continued towards the waiting room.
In the stunned silence that followed her footsteps, Nancy let out a long breath.
She didn't know how long she'd been sitting on the steps to the hospital's back entrance, just absorbing the events of the past few hours, when Joe interrupted her thoughts.
"Was there a girl fight?"
She punched him lightly in the shin, and he sat down next to her. "Of course not. Don't be a jerk, Joe."
"Sorry. It's just hard to imagine you and Callie talking. I mean, when Frank and I are with you we're usually on a case, and it's like a whole different world from our home life, you know? It's like Thanksgiving with Dad's side of the family and Mom's side- they don't always mesh."
Nancy smiled briefly. "I know. It's always kind of weird when you guys come to River Heights too... It was so terrible to have to talk to Callie like that when I barely know her. I know she must feel awful."
"Yeah, Vanessa's with her. She didn't take the breakup too well. I guess I don't blame her- she and Frank were together forever. It was like she didn't fully realize it was over until you showed up."
"Joe?" Nancy started tentatively. "What happened between them?"
Joe shrugged. "I mean, I don't know the whole story, but they were fighting about our caseload again a couple of weeks ago. Callie always hated having to sit home and worry, but I sometimes think she hated helping more. Granted, we've had a few close calls. I guess I can understand why she'd be less than thrilled about our investigating."
"Right." Nancy agreed.
"Frank suggested they take a break, and then I think Callie dragged you into it. Frank had come clean and apologized to her for whatever happened between you two in Egypt a while ago and I think she never really forgave him." Perhaps seeing the look of crushing guilt on Nancy's face, he grinned and nudged her, adding, "I'm sure whatever it was, it was at least half Frank's fault."
Nancy smiled weakly at the memory of the fleeting kiss she and Frank had shared after a case in Egypt where they'd gone undercover as a married couple.
"Anyway they've been on the outs for the past few days, but once Frank was hurt Callie was right there with him. That's it, Nan. Far as I know he's a free man."
Nancy blushed at his insinuation. "Oh."
"Unless of course you know something that I don't..." he prompted.
Nancy smiled and shrugged. "Maybe I do."
"All right!" Joe crowed, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Welcome to Bayport, Nance!"
Nancy laughed and leaned into him. "Thanks... you guys are a trip!"
Frank rubbed his chin and frowned. "Do we have any vehicle sightings?" He was propped up against his pillows, Nancy curled up under his arm, case files spread over their laps.
"Hmm?" Nancy said. "Oh. Just the one. Unmarked van, no plates."
Frank closed the file in front of him. "You seem a little distracted, Nan. Are you all right?"
Nancy blushed. "Sorry, Frank. I'm just feeling a little unfocused. My mind was wandering."
"Wandering to what?" Frank teased warmly.
"This. Everything that's happened. You." Nancy confessed. "Just a few days ago I was sure I'd never see you again, and I'm just amazed by the way everything worked out." She curled into his embrace.
"It worked out perfectly." Frank said, nuzzling her ear with his lips. "Except that these bandages mean I won't be able to take you on a proper date for another 4 to 7 days."
Nancy laughed. "After all this time another few days should be easy."
"It isn't." He planted a sweet kiss on her lips. She returned it enthusiastically, and the case files lay forgotten for a few minutes.
Finally, she voiced the sentiment that had been haunting her since she'd heard about his injury. "I should have said yes to you a long time ago."
"Excuse me?"
"On your 16th birthday, remember?" Nancy said. "I was so stupid back then. I can't believe I turned you down."
Frank could see that she was being serious. "If you hadn't, we wouldn't be here like this right now." he said softly. "We would have lost out on some great relationships with Callie and Ned, and we wouldn't have really realized what's so special about each other."
Nancy's guilty expression eased slightly. "Maybe you're right."
"Well, you're happy, aren't you?"
"So happy." Nancy murmured, capturing his lips once more.
The door opened and Joe walked in, causing them to separate reluctantly. Spotting the files on the bed, Joe folded his arms. "You were working on the case without me?"
"Actually," Frank said, exchanging a sly glance with Nancy, "We weren't."
Nancy reddened and Joe noticed. "Oh... sorry." He took a few steps backward, towards the door.
"Oh, just sit down!" Nancy said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. Joe obeyed with an excited grin, pulling a chair to the bedside and resting his elbows on his knees. She pressed one of the manila folders into his chest. "That's the file on the first robbery."
"The jewelry store." Joe clarified, flipping it open and scanning over the information. "And the next one was how soon after?"
"Two days." Frank said, shuffling the remaining files around on the bed. "I think Nancy might have something with her three-man theory. When you consider the photos of the crime scene here-"
"And don't forget to take a look at the official report..." Nancy settled herself between the two boys, folding her long legs under her and reaching for a case file, content.
A/N: Thank you so much to all of my reviewers, and especially to the ones who PMed me to remind me to get my butt in gear and finish this! I hope you liked it. As always, don't forget to review!