The next few days were the hardest. 

Joe, still very confused and hurt by everything, hardly spoke to anyone.  He stayed with Pharaoh and helped him bury his mother.  They spent a lot of time alone but most of it was spent in silence just sitting together. 

Remus’s body was also returned for burial, and that was when Joe stopped thinking about himself as Remus.  He found it very hard at first because they were the only memories he had and it was scary to think of giving them up as well….

Frank and Fenton tried to be patient but it was getting very frustrating, as Joe seemed to want nothing to do with them.

In reality, it wasn’t that Joe wanted nothing to do with them; it was just that when he looked at his real father and brother, all he saw was pain and disappointment. 

He knew they kept hoping he would get his memory back any moment and when he didn’t – he couldn’t bear to keep disappointing them.

* * *

Pharaoh and Joe were on their way to meet the Hardys for lunch.  Frank and Fenton were flying home in the morning – without Joe. 

Joe knew they really wanted him to go with them but he wasn’t ready yet.  He just wanted to spend some time alone before he went back to face a world he couldn’t remember….

Pharaoh told him he’d be sad to see him go, but they would stay in touch – after all, brotherhood isn’t written in blood….

But as Pharaoh was driving around a particularly tight curve in the road, another car came around the corner in their lane.

“Not again!” was Joe’s last thought as their car rolled over the cliff and came to rest on its roof 15 feet below.

* * *

Not again is what Frank and Fenton were thinking as they sat in the emergency room waiting for news on the boys. 

Fenton had called the police when the boys didn’t show up for the scheduled lunch and he couldn’t reach either of them by cell phone. 

Two hours later, the car was found and the Jaws of Life were called in to rescue the trapped occupants.

Frank had stared dully at the wreck, as he was beyond grief. 

Why couldn’t things ever go the way you want them?  he wondered as they hoisted Pharaoh up and placed him in the back of an ambulance.  A few minutes later, he saw his brother, and the only relief he felt was when he saw the steady rise and fall of Joe’s chest – at least he was alive.

Biff had already flown back to Bayport with the news that Joe was alive and to warn everyone about his amnesia.  So it was only Frank and Fenton who sat in the waiting room. 

“Is there any word yet?”  They looked up in surprise to see the man in gray coming to sit down with them.

“No,” Fenton said dully. 

“Is there anyone here for Pharaoh or Remus Plyth?”  Three heads popped up in shock at the mention of Remus’s name – here we go again, thought Frank.

“We are.” Fenton was too emotionally drained to explain as a red-haired doctor introduced himself.

“I’m Dr. Cabot and I’ve been assessing the brothers.”  Frank flinched but said nothing. “Pharaoh has a slight concussion, sprained wrist and mostly bumps and bruises…. Remarkable really, considering the crash…”

“And Joe…”  When the doctor raised his eyebrow in question, Fenton clarified, “I mean Remus?”

“Yes, Remus….he’s a bit more of a worry.”  Surprise, surprise, thought Frank.  Was Joe’s motto ‘Go big or go home’? he wondered. 

It seemed all their lives, if he got a cold, Joe got pneumonia; if he got a sprain, Joe got a break… his thoughts were broken as the doctor continued, “he’s still unconscious – he has a severe concussion and a compound fracture of his right forearm.” 

“Provided he regains consciousness soon, and there are no unforeseen complications, he should make a full recovery.”

Everyone sighed in relief and the man in gray excused himself long enough to talk to the admitting nurse.  He came back a few minutes later and smiled at the Hardys.   “Everything’s sorted out now – it seems Joe’s only form of ID on him was a driver’s license in Remus’ s name.  Hence the confusion.” 

* * *

Once again Frank was standing vigil over his brother while he slept.  His father had just gone over to check on Pharaoh, who was in a room further down the hall, when Frank felt movement in his brother’s hand, which he had been holding.

“Joe… baby brother… please wake up,” Frank desperately pleaded. 

He didn’t care anymore if Joe thought he was Julius Caesar, as long as would just wake up. I need you, he silently implored. 

Joe’s eyes flickered open and he looked around the room confused, before coming to settle on Frank.  For the first time in his life, Frank couldn’t read his brother’s expression – and it was only then that he felt he had really lost the brother he once had….

And then after a moment Joe spoke.

“Frank?”

And it was the most beautiful word he had ever heard. 

“Frank…are you okay?”  Frank looked up and his heart skipped a beat as he stared into his little brother’s vivid blue eyes and saw Joe Hardy staring back. 

“I am now,” he said, as for the first time in over two months, he reached out and his brother was there… he never wanted to let him go.

When Fenton Hardy walked in the room and saw his two sons locked in a tight embrace he smiled the first real smile in a long time. 

Joe Hardy would be going home.

A couple of hours later, after Pharaoh was moved into Joe’s room, so they could spend one more night together before they were discharged and Joe went home with Frank and Fenton, the younger boy felt very lucky. 

When Joe had opened his eyes in the hospital room a whole flood of emotions had overwhelmed him – emotions… and memories! 

He knew who he was, and more importantly he knew who the brown haired handsome boy was that was sitting beside him, it was his big brother Frank! 

Joe felt twice over lucky – because of everything that had happened, including the bad, he had also gained another brother – Pharaoh – and he intended to make sure that they were connected forever.

But as he lay in bed a little later, with his father and his two brothers watching over him, a strange thought occurred to him.

“Hey!”

“Hey what?”  it was Pharaoh who asked.

“She lied!  I’m not 18!  I’m only 17!!!!!”

That brought a peal of laughter from everyone in the room, especially from Joe, whose laughter was the best thing that Frank and Fenton had heard in months.

And once again Frank’s final thought – as he got up to get his brother a drink of water, as his laughing fit had turned into a coughing fit – was ‘Wait until he sees his birthday present!’

The End…

Or is it…?

Phoenix