Jason stopped short of the guestroom and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Joe’s voice sounded. Jason came in to see the younger Hardy partly dressed in his old blue jeans and looking for a T-shirt. "Heard anything yet?"

Jason quickly relayed the latest news. Joe was pleased that Jason did not hold anything back from him.

"So what is our next move?" Joe asked.

"Not sure. Your father and brother will be over soon to discuss that," Jason said, sitting down on the bed while Joe finished picking up after himself. Joe wanted to keep things neat and orderly since he was in another family’s home. Normally, his bedroom looked like a tornado hit it! "There is something I need to show you."

Joe stopped and looked at Jason. Jason motioned for Joe to follow him into Adam’s bedroom. The room was quiet and empty with the absence of the younger Kramer. Jason walked over to the closed and got out a trapper keeper. With a sigh, he handed the trapper keeper to the younger Hardy.

"Here, I promised my brother I would not SAY anything. I am hoping that by just letting you READ it, I am not betraying him," Jason stated as he walked over and sat down in Adam’s bean bag.

Joe opened the trapper keeper. His eyes widened and he felt a gush of air leave his lungs, leaving him breathless. He was looking at newspaper clippings.

The picture of a piece of twisted metal that was once a vehicle was right below the caption. Joe looked up at Jason.

"He was lucky to even be alive. I was there when he flat-lined that night. I never felt so helpless until now," Jason said quietly. Jason then explained everything to Joe. When he was finished, Joe had never felt so lucky in his life. In all of the times that Frank as well as himself had cheated death, Joe had never experienced permanent damage to their bodies. Heaven only knows that they had been hit on the head enough through their cases. However, the boys had always recovered and never gave much thought to what could have been. The Kramers were living what can and will happen.

"So how bad is it? Is there any chance he will regain everything and make a full recovery?" Joe asked. He was deeply interested in Adam’s story.

"It is not as bad as it could have been. At one time, they thought he was possibly going to be a vegetable. But Adam made it. Every time things got bad, he made it. I was always trying to be the strong one, the rock in his life. It is funny you know, he always ends up being my rock and inspiration," Jason said thoughtfully. "The doctors are certain he will never make full recovery until more is known about head trauma. Until then, we are going to continue to work towards getting him back to where he was before the accident."

"Does his problem interfere with investigating?" Joe asked. Then he stopped himself. "I am sorry; I probably should not have worded it that way. I don’t mean anything by it, I am just curious."

"Sometimes the handicaps do interfere, but we are determined to not let them slow us down. He had been doing great with the seizure medicine and we just have to be careful that he does not hit his head," Jason remarked. "Adam decided that this is what he wants to do with his life. Sometimes I wish he would take it easy more, but I know that if he did, then he would truly not be living his life. Adam is a fighter and I am hoping that his fighting spirit gets him through this."

Joe got up and walked over to Jason. "Don’t worry, Adam is going to be just fine."

"I am sorry we did not say anything before, but he swore us to secrecy. He just wanted to be treated the same. It was nothing against you or your family," Jason pointed out.

"I totally understand. I think I would have been the same way, but I am glad that you told me," Joe said with a smile. "It makes me even more determined to get him back. I have got to get to know him!"

Jason was surprised with Joe’s answer. He knew that the Hardys would not care about Adam’s condition, but he never counted on Joe’s response. Jason had to laugh.

"Adam is a character all right," he muttered.

RRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!

The sound of the phone ringing interrupted their conversation. Both boys slowly walked to the hallway to hear Carl answer the phone. After a few short comments and a big sigh, Carl hung up the phone. Instead of hearing Mr. Kramer tell his wife about the conversation, footsteps were heard coming up the staircase.

Jason and Joe were deathly quiet as Mr. Kramer nervously entered Adam’s room followed by an even more nervous Mrs. Kramer.

"Your father just called with some bad news," Carl said with concern. Jason could tell that his father was upset.

Jason’s breath stopped as his father continued.

"Fenton said that Frank must have gone out to get a pop from the pop machines at the hotel. When he never came back, Fenton found his wallet lying beside the pop machine."

Joe felt like someone had literally kicked him in the stomach. He could not believe it.