"Jason, I truly do not know," the doctor said, looking straight at Jason. "However, he has to have something on his side for him to make it this far. But I do promise you this. Adam will not die if there is anything that I personally can do about it."

For the first time, Jason felt relief and a little hope for his brother. He truly felt that the doctor did care and that alone made him feel less tense.

"I have to go and check on other patients. If you need anything, please let our staff know. You may see Adam for a few minutes and then only one person can stay with him because of the shortage of room, The doctor said as he turned around. "And please don't lose hope."

The room was silent for a little while as everyone was taking in what had been said about Adam's condition. Clara left to be with Alyssa. Mrs. Kramer asked her to keep her informed of Alyssa's condition and Clara asked the same for Adam. Jason was still not comfortable with the role that Alyssa was playing in their lives at this time and he was definitely going to get to the bottom of things after he was sure that Adam was going to be all right.

"Let's go and see Adam. I will stay with him tonight," Mrs. Kramer said looking at the Kramer men.

They went to the second floor where the ICU was located and asked the nurse to show them to Adam's room. None of the Kramers were ready for the sight that they saw. Instead of an active and vibrant seventeen-year-old, all they saw was a motionless figure in a bed that looked like their beloved Adam. He had a breathing tube that was hooked to a respirator and two IV's hooked up to his body. His face was very bruised and he had a bandage that was covering his left ear. Amazingly he still had his sandy blond hair, but it was very disheveled. The sight of her son's appearance visibly upset Mrs. Kramer. Mr. Kramer helped to guide her to the side of the bed and she reached out to take her son's hand. She handled it like it was a delicate artifact. Jason stood by the door entrance just staring. He had seen his brother sick with the flu, with a broken arm and several other injuries. However, he had never seen him in a hospital bed fighting for his life. Mr. Kramer motioned for him to come over to the side of the bed.

"Is he in pain?" Jason asked. "He just looks so beaten up."

"No, he is just in a deep sleep," a voice reassured him. "It is the body's way of coping with severe injuries."

Jason almost jumped out of his skin until he saw that it was a nurse. The nurse was a beautiful lady of color. She had her long black hair twisted up into a bun. She was dressed in scrubs with a colorful shirt with rainbows all over it. It seemed funny, Jason thought, Adam had always loved the sight of a rainbow.

"My name is Kim and I will be his attending nurse for this shift. If there is anything that I can do for you please let me know, " the nurse said as she checked the machines that monitored Adam.

"Thank you," Mr. Kramer said on behalf of the family.

"I will take good care of him. He has been stable since they brought him up. That is definitely a good sign," she said as she rearranged the blankets around Adam. "We will monitor him at all times and move his limbs every three hours to help keep his muscle tone as much as possible. We also encourage you to talk to him and treat him like he can hear everything. Most comatose patients can hear and the stimulation seems to help bring them around sooner."

Mrs. Kramer stroked her son's hand. "Well, that will not be a problem. Whatever it takes to bring him back."

"We need to let him rest. Who will be staying with us tonight?" Nurse Kim asked.

"I will, but I will have to go and get my things from the car," Mrs. Kramer said, standing up and laying Adam's hand down gently.

"I can stay mom, you have to be tired," Jason offered.

"No, YOU need to go home and rest. You have been through a lot, besides I am his mother and I will not leave his side," Laura replied looking at her eldest son.

"But mom, you..."Jason started to say, but his mother interrupted.

"I am also YOUR mother and I want you to go home and get some rest," she said with a caring, but firm voice.

"Your mother is right, Jason," Mr. Kramer said. " I will check into things as soon as I get home."

"I will be back tomorrow though," Jason said. "Go ahead and get your things and I will stay here with Adam until you get back."

"Yeah, I AM your husband and you do need to eat something to keep your strength up," Mr. Kramer said to his wife, who begrudgingly agreed.

After his parent's left, Jason sat down beside the bed and stared at his brother. He felt like he was still in the nightmare of the whole night and he just was not waking up. He was so much into his own thoughts that he did not see Craig walk into the door.

"Jason?" Craig said quietly.

"Craig," Jason said with a startled voice.

"I just wanted to say hi to him," Craig said. "He is really taken a beating hasn't he?"

"He is tough. I just wish that...." Jason replied as his voice was trembling.

"Jason, you can't feel responsible for this," Craig answered, as he looked his friend straight in the eye. "It was an accident."

"I don't think so. I should have never let him go to that wacko's place alone like that," Jason said in an aggravated tone. "I let my guard down. I let HIM down."

"No you didn't. He was very happy and you know as well as I know that he liked Alyssa a lot," Craig replied in the same tone. "Adam would be very upset with you if he heard you now."

"Well at least he would be sitting at home perfectly safe," Jason quipped back.

"Jason, you have always tried to protect Adam. No one doubts how you both feel about each other, but Adam can take care of himself. He is a fighter and he is going to be okay," Craig said trying to calm Jason down. "Right he needs your encouragement, not your anger. No matter what, Adam likes Alyssa and it is going to be a hard road to travel from here on if you don't accept it."

"I can't help but feel that she is responsible for this in some way," Jason said in a much calmer voice.

"But you are right about one thing. He does need me now. He also needs for me to find out the truth."

"You don't think this was just an accident do you?" Craig asked, eyeing Jason.

"No I don't and I am going to find out the truth and make whoever is responsible pay for what they did to my brother," Jason answered. "He would do the same for me."

"So when do we start?" Craig asked, leaning up against the wall.

"We?" Jason asked.

"You are not going into this alone and Chuck is out of commission," Craig said with a stern voice.

"We will start tomorrow by getting the accident report and getting a look at that Cherokee."

"I will be there at ten. I better get going since I did sneak up here," Craig said, turning to leave. "Take care."

Jason was left alone with Adam once more. He knew that he should not feel such anger towards Alyssa, but he just could not help it. He was going to investigate this accident and deal with the findings no matter what they may be. He just hoped that Adam would understand and be able to accept the truth as well. He did not want to jeopardize his relationship with his brother.

He looked up at his brother. He felt so helpless as he reached over and took his brother's hand. He remembered what the nurse had said about comatose people being able to hear everything around them.

"Adam, I know that I never say it much, but you are not only my little brother, you are my best friend. We have been through a lot together and I am not about to lose you now, no matter what the future may be," Jason said as he started to become emotional. 'I promise to investigate this with open eyes if you promise to keep hanging on. I am not going to let him get away with doing this to you."

"Besides, I have to have someone to keep out of trouble. My life would be very boring without you," he said with a chuckle as the tears streamed down his face. Just then Jason thought that he felt Adam's hand try to grip his hand. He didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but he tried to think of it as a sign.