It was nightfall and the hallways were bustling with traffic at the local hospital. Jason felt pretty good as he rounded the corner to the main floor. He had been there many times in the past few months, as was his parents, Chuck and Alyssa who followed right behind him. But this time things were different. Adam was going to be okay and Jason knew it. After coming out of his seizure on the way to the hospital, Jason was able to speak with Adam briefly in the squad. The oldest Kramer was glad that his only brother was so alert after the seizure. The paramedics seemed to be satisfied with his progress as well, but not enough to keep Adam Kramer out of the hospital for observation that night. Adam protested, but Dr. Coykendall had the final say. Jason recalled that scene with a smile.

"Doc, I swear that I am fine. Look! I can do jumping jacks or push ups or whatever you ask. Just please let me go home tonight," Adam pleaded from the ER room.

"I am sorry Adam, but I can not in good faith let you leave this hospital. You have been through quite a trauma, not to mention we need to get your medication regulated after getting a double dose," Dr. Coykendall pointed out to the stubborn teenage patient that he had once thought would never live, let alone do jumping jacks!

"But I am not the one who double dosed the medication!" Adam replied swiftly, looking over at his older brother.

"I know that and you had better thank your brother one day for maybe saving your life by doing it. You need to follow after him and pick up some of his good traits," Dr. Coykendall said with a smile. He truly did enjoy Adam’s spirit and persistence. Thank goodness he was just as stubborn about dying!

Adam looked at the doctor and crossed his arms. "And what trait might that be?"

"LISTENING TO THE DOCTOR!" Dr. Coykendall chuckled. Then he turned to Jason. "Keep him out of trouble, okay?" Jason nodded with a grin. The doctor then smiled at Mr. and Mrs. Kramer as he got ready to leave.

Adam just sighed with defeat. Dr. Coykendall did stop before he left the room and looked back towards the spirited blond haired boy. "I will do this for you though. I will make sure that you have your own private room for the night and for tomorrow until you are released. I don’t think we are overbooked tonight and some privacy is what all of you probably need."

"Thank you doctor," Mrs. Kramer said as she went over by her son. "Thank you for everything."

"No problem mam’. I will see you sometime tomorrow morning," he said as he left the room to check on other patients.

"Jason, hit floor number two!" a voice said as it woke him out of his thoughts. "Earth to Jason!"

"Sorry mom," Jason said as he realized he was in the elevator and promptly bushed the correct button.

Jason peered over at Alyssa, who was seated in a wheelchair at the time. The day’s events had left her very tired, but she still insisted on being able to see Adam. He wondered if she was fine though, since she had been so quiet during dinner in the cafeteria. Whenever anyone mentioned her as being the hero, she would simply hold her head down. He knew why she was upset, but he also knew his brother well enough to know that Adam would not be upset. Quite the contrary, Adam loved Alyssa more than she could ever know. This was a welcome sight to the Kramer family, who thought Adam was never going to experience true love. Jason knew how he felt about his own girlfriend of four years, Kara Dobbins. There was nothing that would make him ever not love her, even though they had their moments. Adam and Alyssa had something special. Something worth holding onto and Jason knew that Adam was never going to let go.

The ringing of the elevator bell woke him out of his trance again. Everyone loaded out of the elevator past Jason, who waited to push Alyssa down to Adam’s room. They stopped at the nurses’ station to make sure of Adam’s room number.

"He is in room 336. But only a few people at a time, okay? The patient needs his rest," the older nurse insisted. After assuring her that Adam would get his rest, the small group made their way down the hallway. They turned to go into room 336 when they were met by familiar people.

"HEY! How’s it going Frank?" Jason asked, spotting the older Hardy boy sitting in one of four chairs that were placed in the room. Joe was standing behind him with Fenton by his side.

"Just fine. They just bandaged my arm up and said I was fine to go home," Frank replied with a smile.

"We came down to say good-bye and to visit with Adam before we go," Fenton Hardy announced. "I am glad that Adam is going to be fine. You have a tough set of kids here Fenton and Laura."

"Hey I do have a question that no one seems to know the answer?" Adam asked from his hospital bed. Everyone turned to look at him. When he saw he had everyone’s attention, he continued. "Did they ever catch James Cooper and his cronies?"

"Cross and Samuel were arrested at the house. Cross ratted Cooper’s hideout to the police and James Cooper literally walked into the state police’s hands," Fenton laughed.

"All of them will be spending quite a bit of time in prison," Carl reassured the group.

Everyone seemed pleased with the outcome of the three men who had caused enough problems for both families.

"Thank you. You have quite the pair yourself there Fenton," Laura replied, looking over at Frank and Joe. "But why must you go so late tonight?"

"We have a feeling that mom wants us home after everything," Joe exclaimed. "Dad was able to get us on one of the red eyes straight into New York late tonight. That way we will be there as soon as we can."

"I can understand that. I am sure your mother is waiting anxiously to see all of you," Laura said with a knowing smile. "I am just sad to see you go. Oh, that means we need to get you to the house to get your things and to the airport."

Fenton started to protest, but Laura quickly proved to be the winner of that battle. Jason agreed to stay the night with Adam while Mr. and Mrs. Kramer took the Hardys to the house to gather their things. Then they would make the trip to the airport to see them off. Chuck agreed that he would take Alyssa home.

"We had better get going if we are going to make it in time," Carl warned as he looked at his watch.

Fenton turned to Adam, who was very alert and proclaiming to feel better than he had ever felt. "Keep your nose clean! And another thing, I would never let go of her. I married a girl just the spitting image of Alyssa. She blessed me with two sons and a mountain of support," Fenton said winking his eye. Adam blushed three shades of red!

"See you later Adam. I will e-mail you later when we get settled in at home," Joe added. "Thanks for keeping my brother in line for me."

"No problem Joe, just keep him on his toes!" Adam answered with a coyly grin.

Frank got up and walked over to Adam. "We sure have been through a lot you know."

Adam nodded. "I sure hope you are not mad at me for holding you back."

"Not in a million years Frank. Your thinking probably also saved us all," Adam remarked. "Just like Jason, always thinking of something! Thanks Frank."

"You are the best partner I have ever had," Frank said with a smile. He was then met with Joe, who stood there with his arms crossed, eyeing him suspiciously. Frank turned back towards Adam and said with a chuckle. "Well, the best non-related partner that is."

Everyone in the room laughed at the boys and bid their farewells. Soon it was just Jason, Chuck and Alyssa in the room. There was an uneasy silence that was present in the room. Chuck and Jason knew what they had to do.

"You know, I am just plain STARVED!" Chuck said as he rubbed his stomach.

"But you just ate!" Adam quipped back.

"I need something for the road. All that excitement today must have spiked my appetite!" Chuck continued on.

"I’ll go down with Chuck to grab a snack for later," Jason said, starting for the door with Chuck.

"If I forget to tell you both, I wanted to say thank you," Adam said softly.

"Thanks for what?" Jason asked as he stopped in his tracks.

"I wanted to thank Chuck for helping to find us," Adam replied. "I wanted to thank you for helping to save me when I was having that seizure." Jason grinned, but then his face turned serious

"Adam, I am sorry that we had to tell the Hardys about your condition. We really…" Jason started to explain, but Adam cut him short.

"I understand Jason. We’re cool."

With that, the boys left the room. Adam looked over at Alyssa, who was sitting quietly in a wheelchair. He motioned for her to come over. Alyssa slowly wheeled her way over to the side of the bed. Adam, wearing his Snoopy pajama pants, quickly turned himself to where he was sitting on the side of the bed.

"You know I almost could have killed that guy with my bare hands," Adam said, peering into Alyssa’s eyes.

"I am sorry Adam. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just knew that I had to get into that house and see if you were in there for sure," Alyssa explained, tears starting to form in her eyes once again.

Adam took her hands into his and stared into the eyes that he fell in love with in Miss Meade’s history class. "Alyssa, I want you to know that I have never loved you anymore than I do at this moment."

Alyssa looked up at him. "So you are not upset?"

Adam stood up beside his hospital bed, much to Alyssa’s disapproval. He reached down and pulled Alyssa into a standing position. Alyssa could feel Adam wrap his arms around her waist, just he had always done. But this time, it was more special than ever. She couldn’t smell his cologne, but feeling his warm chest next to hers was good enough. She once again felt safe and loved at the same time. A feeling that no one else could give her.

The young lady looked up and met Adam’s eyes. Slowly and passionately, the young couple kissed. Alyssa felt like fireworks were going off around them instead of hospital call buzzers. They were determined that nothing was going to separate them from each other’s arms again.

 

After a few minutes, Jason and Chuck made their way back to the hotel room. Before they entered, Jason peered into the room. He quickly backed up and motioned for Chuck to take a peek.

Adam and Alyssa were swaying to Adam’s voice, singing "Longer" to her in a soft tone. Jason recalled another time when he heard that song, but that time it was Alyssa who was doing the singing. The scene was simply magical to him. The young couple was oblivious to everything around them. Not wanting to spoil the moment, Jason smiled and motioned for Chuck to back up.

"Let’s go and take another walk. I think they need some more time… alone," Jason whispered as he walked over and closed the door to his brother’s hospital room.

As Jason walked down the hallway, he could not help but to smile. His baby brother was in love with a wonderful girl. And not just any girl, the very girl that was more than likely destined to be his first and only "sister".

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation, The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.