By now, Jason was so overcome with frustration that he did something that they did not teach him in first aid. He took his hands and formed a fist. Then he raised his fist above his brother and swiftly and powerfully hit his brother in the diaphragm. The tears were streaming down his face and he felt like he was losing not only his little brother, but his mind as well. Once Jason hit Adam, a stream of water gushed from Adam's mouth. It was then that Jason realized that Adam could not breathe because he was full of water. He looked down at Adam and realized that he was showing some signs of life. He quickly turned his brother onto his side as he began to vomit up the murky water. In the distance, Jason could hear the sounds of sirens approaching.

"Just hang on, help is coming brother," Jason said to Adam, who was semi-conscious at that time.

Within two minutes, Jason saw the familiar site of the Pine County Sheriff's cars and much to his surprise, an emergency squad. He was not ready for the deputies to get into a defensive stance with guns drawn at him when the cars pulled up. Jason raised his hands at the command of the officers. Then he saw a familiar face come from the third car.

"Don't pull a gun on my sons!" Carl said as he made his way to his teenaged sons. He looked at Jason and then at Adam. He turned and yelled, " Tell the paramedics to get up here. We have an emergency!"

Seconds later, paramedics were right beside Adam. Jason quickly filled them in on what had happened. Jason wanted to help the paramedics, but they quickly shoved him to the side along with his father. Both of them watched nervously as they placed Adam on a stretcher and loaded him into the squad. He was still semi-conscious, but at least breathing on his own.

"We are getting him to the hospital before we have anymore complications. If he is having seizures, we especially need to get there. Who is going to ride with us?" the one female paramedic asked the Kramers.

"I will," Jason said. He wanted to be there in case something would happen. Carl nodded in agreement.

"We will be leaving shortly. You will have to ride in the front for now. You did a good job keeping him alive even though you need to brush up on your first aid stuff. You should be proud of your son," She replied and walked back to get the squad ready to go.

"Are you all right?" Mr. Kramer asked as he hugged his eldest son.

"I am now," Jason answered. "At least he is alive now. I thought we were going to lose him again."

"He is in good hands. We picked up the two that did this at the end of the road. We were unable to get Wheels and Rod."

"What about Chris?"

"We picked him up on down the road. The police took him into custody and tot he hospital since he was shivering so bad."

"They do know that he helped save our lives."

Carl looked at his son. He knew what he was thinking. "I will get James to represent him and we will see what we can do for him, I promise."

"Thanks Dad. Besides with Rod on the loose, he will be safer with the police"

"They are going to the car lot. They think that Rod will show up there so it is a waiting game right now. As for Wheels, she is long gone by now."

"I am sorry that we did not get her. I guess we messed this one up," Jason said, looking glummer than he already was at the time.

"Jason, don't feel bad. I have lost Wheels Johnson two times in the past five years. But I want you to know that we got something better from the papers she left behind at the warehouse," Carl said putting his arm across his son's shoulders. "We have her contacts location in New York and that is what the FBI has been working on for at least five years too. It is not everyday that you get the ones at the top of the ladder."

Jason smiled at hearing that and then he remembered Adam. He looked at the paramedics who were still getting everything ready for the trip to the hospital. He wondered what the night would hold for his family as he quietly walked over as the paramedic signaled for him and sat in the front seat. Visions of that night were still fresh in his mind along with the memories of the last night that he saw his brother on a stretcher. Tears started to form in his eyes again as he saw his father on his cell phone. He figured that he was calling his mother, who was probably frantic by now.

"Hey, he is going to be fine," The driver said, noticing Jason's behavior. "I think it is great that you even care about your brother. Some people that we haul have been shot by their family and no one even cares."

Jason looked over at the young man that was driving. "Thanks." That was all Jason could say until they got a block from the hospital.

Jason looked over at the driver who had just informed the hospital of their location. The hospital answered that they were ready and even Dr. Coykendall was on duty that night. That part alone relieved Jason even more.

"Thanks, and it is sad about what you said," Jason replied.

"I know. I really feel for those patients. I just wished that I had a brother or a sister," the driver answered.

"I sometimes wished him away, but I really don't know how I could live without him. He is not just my brother, but my best friend too," Jason told him, reflecting on all of those times that Adam really aggravated him.

When the squad reached the hospital, Adam was immediately taken into the back portion of the emergency room. Jason went to the waiting area. Within just fifteen minutes, Laura Kramer walked through the doors followed by Carl Kramer. Chuck came along about a half an hour later. He rode in the car with Chris back to headquarters when Carl suspected that things were getting too dangerous. When he heard what had happened, he begged one of the officers to take him to the hospital. After a lot of haggling and badgering, the sheriff sent one of his auxiliary officers to get Chuck out of his hair.

"I guess I should call Alyssa and tell her what has happened," Jason said getting up to go to the pay phone. Chuck however, motioned for him to sit down and offered to make the phone calls to Alyssa and the rest of the gang. Jason smiled in appreciation of his friend's offer. He really did not feel like being on the phone at that time. An hour later, Alyssa along with Kara came in through the emergency lobby's doors. Kara had driven out to the church camp and picked up Alyssa when she heard the news since Alyssa's guardian did not want her to go alone. Everyone waited and waited for any word on Adam, but it was not until two hours after Adam had arrived at the hospital that the familiar face of Dr. Coykendall came through the emergency doors.

"I am sorry it took so long, but we had to run numerous tests and I wanted to see the results first hand," He said as he stood in front of the small group. "First of all, he is doing fine."

Everyone in the group let out a sigh of relief, especially Laura who had been crying silently the whole time they waited for the doctor.

"What about the seizures?" Jason immediately chimed in. He was very impatient with Dr. Coykendall at times.

Dr. Coykendall just smiled though because he understood that Jason was just concerned.

"Yes, he has shown some evidence of irregular brain activity. Seizures can be life threatening or just as mild as a daydream. Adam is fortunate that his can be controlled with medication. His brain is still healing and the jolt at the football game just stirred some things up. We are putting him on the medication tonight and we will need to see him weekly to make sure that the dosage is going to work for him. I am going to keep him here to make sure that we have no further complications. I also want him here for observation because he swallowed a good bit of water, not to mention he stopped breathing. But I think he is going to be just fine."

"Are there going to be any other restrictions?" Carl asked.

"He will not be able to drive for about 4-6 weeks until we are sure that this medication is going to stop the seizures. I am going to order him to be on home tutoring for two weeks for the same reason. I do not want him going up and down steps or anything else that would be risky. For which I do understand that is going to be a hard thing to do with him."

"Can we see him?" Laura asked, her eyes red from crying.

"We have gave him some sleeping medication so he is totally in a deep sleep. I will allow one person to spend the night with him. The rest of you are more than welcome to visit with him tomorrow afternoon. I want his body to rest for a good twelve hours," Dr. Coykenall said. "Any more questions?"

No one said anything. Then the doctor smiled and returned to the ER area.

It was decided that Mrs. Kramer was going to spend the night with her son. Everyone else agreed to come back the next day around noon to visit with Adam. Jason did not want to leave his brother, but knew that his mother was standing her ground. She wanted her husband and son to get a good night's rest and that was her orders. At least this time, Adam was going to be fine unlike the last time that they were at the hospital.

The next day, Jason left to pick up Kara. Chuck had already agreed to bring Craig and Alyssa with him. Mr. Kramer had to stop by the sheriff's office before he went to the hospital and would be there shortly.

When they entered Adam's room, Chuck and Alyssa were already there along with Laura Kramer. Adam was still a little groggy, but at least showed some signs of life. Jason walked over to the side of the bad and hugged his mother and took his brother's hand.

"How is it going?" He asked softly.

"I am so drugged that I really don't feel any pain," Adam said as his voice was still slurred.

"Well, I am just glad that you are going to be okay. You scared me out at the lake," Jason replied, recalling when they all had almost drowned in Orchard Lake.

Adam just grinned slightly. Mrs. Kramer then told everyone that Adam was doing very well except for a small cold that he had developed from the cold water. They were giving him antibiotics for that problem. It was definitely a different atmosphere than the last time. Chuck then offered to go with Kara and Craig to the cafeteria for lunch.

"Is that all you think about?" Alyssa asked as he was the first one up and out of his seat.

"Hey, Mrs. Kramer here needs something to eat. I would be honored to eat with such a classy lady," Chuck replied. The rest of the group groaned and snickered at his cover up of the truth. Then he walked over to Laura and extended his hand. "Do you wish to accompany me?"

Laura agreed reluctantly. She did not want to leave Adam, but Jason promised to not leave his side. It was then that Alyssa wheeled up beside him and had Jason help her onto the bed. She leaned over and gently gave him a kiss on the cheek. Adam blushed immediately.

"Oh, yeah. Dad said that they caught Rod on the interstate this morning. One of his own flood cars broke down on him," Jason said. "Wheels is still running around somewhere."

"What about Chuck's car?" Adam managed to say.

" Well, I have an idea. Our papers gave the New York State Department the information they needed to locate some of the head honchos of the operation. I guess there was a $2,500.00 reward involved and Dad said it was ours. If you don't mind, I would like to give it to Chuck to get him a car since he has helped us so much in our past cases without any recognition," Jason said, waiting for a response from his brother.

"That would be fine with me, except one thing," Adam said slowly.

"What?"

"I want to help him pick the car out this time."

"I will tell him later. I think he needs to sweat things out for a day though."

"How is Chris?"

"Dad said that he will make sure he is taken care of so don't worry about him. Just concentrate on getting yourself together," Jason said.

"Jason?"

"What?"

"Mom told me what you did. Thank you for not leaving me and for saving my life," Adam said gratefully.

"If you really want to thank me, you need to follow the doctor's orders and take your medicine," Jason said sternly.

"Yes, big brother," Adam said raising his arm to his forehead.

"I second that," Alyssa chimed in. "Now can I give him my surprise."

Jason nodded as he gave her a small CD portable stereo.

"This is a special song to me that my grandmother used to play for me when things got rough," Alyssa replied. "It also describes how I feel about you. When I heard that you had almost drowned, I knew that I needed to let you know how much I love you too. But I could not find the words until I ran across this CD when I went for my treatments in LA. I know that it is not your type of music, but give it a chance."

She then pushed the play button and a sweet slow melody of an acoustic guitar was heard. Adam looked at her quizzically like she was crazy, but she simply placed her fingers to his lips for silence. Jason knew that his brother preferred heavy metal, but recognized the song. His eyes even became misty as he heard the song verses and realized something special was happening in that room. Adam, at first squirmed, but as the song progressed he saw his eyes shine like they had never shined before. When the song ended, Alyssa quietly stopped the CD and looked at him. "That is how I feel about you."

"What was the name of that song?" Adam asked, as he tried to swallow with the lump in his throat. No song had ever moved him like that in his life.

"It is called ' Longer' by Dan Fogelberg," Alyssa answered with a smile.

"It was simply beautiful," Adam said with a glowing grin. Alyssa gave him a big hug and they both cried softly, but not from sadness. It was pure happiness. Jason could not believe it. Alyssa may have came from a crazy family, but she was one great girl. Jason gained an even greater respect for her after that moment.

"Did I miss something?" a familiar voice said. It was Carl Kramer who had just arrived at the hospital and was stunned to see the two teenagers in tears.

"You could say that," Jason said with a sly grin.

His father looked at him in a mysterious way, looking for an answer.

"My little brother has fallen in love," Jason said with a grin and walked over to his Dad. He thought that Adam and Alyssa needed time alone. Jason could tell that his father was still very confused by the look on his face.