"Dad?" Joe’s quiet voice reminded Fenton he was not alone in the car. It suddenly occurred to him that Joe hadn’t uttered a word since they left. Fenton realized that had he been thinking clearly, he would have known immediately that something was wrong.

"Yes?" He replied, briefly turning to glance at Joe.

"I’m sorry. It’s my fault." Joe said, the slightest tremor in his voice.

"No, it isn’t." Fenton said forcefully. "You couldn’t possibly-"

"I knew." Joe cut him off. "I knew it was her right from the start! I knew it the day George Sansom was arrested! I was just too…stupid…to say anything!" Joe continued his voice breaking.

"You are not stupid! Don’t ever let me hear you say that again!" Fenton reprimanded before continuing in a much gentler tone. "You did say something yesterday. You explained why you considered her a suspect. You methodically laid out your evidence. And you were right. You couldn’t have done anymore, so please stop second-guessing yourself."

"But if I had done all that two days ago, instead of waiting…" Joe began, guilt ridden that his brother was in the hands of a madwoman because of his inability to make a decision.

"If you had done all that two days ago, there wouldn’t have been enough conclusive evidence to arrest either one of them. We would have had to let them both go free until we had more proof as to which one was the assailant. Gloria probably still would have gone after Frank, but the difference is we wouldn’t have known who abducted him." Fenton stopped and looked at Joe, hoping his words would have the desired effect.

"Joe, your silence didn’t condemn Frank. In fact, it helped him. We didn’t have to waste time trying to decide who might have taken him or where we should start looking. Keeping your thoughts to yourself that day was probably the best thing you could have done."

Fenton watched as Joe stared out the window, remaining silent. He could tell Joe was thinking about everything he’d said. He knew Joe would eventually see that he was right, but he also knew that no matter how ‘right’ he was, Joe would still feel as if he had let his brother down. Sighing inwardly, Fenton knew the only thing that would make Joe feel better was to arrive at their destination to find his brother unharmed.

Twenty minutes later, Fenton pulled up in front of a house surrounded by police cars, blue and red lights flashing, giving off an eerie glow in the darkness. He was both relieved and concerned to see the ambulance parked in the driveway.

Getting out of the car, he and Joe were immediately approached by one of Sam’s officers.

"Mr. Hardy. Chief told us to be on the lookout for you. Right this way." The officer said, leading the way into the house.

Walking down the front hall, past the living room they entered the kitchen. The officer continued through an open door and down a steep set of cement steps with Fenton and Joe rushing down behind him. As they entered the room at the bottom of the stairs, Joe and Fenton came skidding to a halt beside Sam Peterson, taking in the sight before them, shocked.

Frank was lying motionless on the cold, hard cement floor with two EMT’s hovering over him, their various pieces of equipment strewn about. Several police officers meticulously moved around the room, collecting and preserving evidence while obviously giving the medical personnel a wide berth.

Joe stared at his older brother for a moment, then began moving towards him. Suddenly, Frank’s body began to twitch. Joe stopped in his tracks, watching in horror as Frank’s body convulsed and contorted uncontrollably, the paramedics leaning away from Frank, making sure there was nothing in his way that could injure him should he bump into it.

Precious seconds passed with only the sound of Frank occasionally gagging and gasping for air breaking the silence. As Frank’s back arched painfully, his arm flailed to the side hitting one of the IV stands that hadn’t been moved far enough away, snapping Joe out of his daze.

"Do something!! Help him!" Joe screamed at the EMT’s.

When they simply looked at him sympathetically, he barreled forward, determined to do something – anything – to help his older brother. Instantly, he felt himself grabbed from behind and heard his father’s distraught voice.

"Joe, there is nothing you can do for him!" Fenton said, his voice full of emotion as he tried to hold back his younger son.

Joe continued moving forward somehow, dragging his father with him.

"Frank!" He cried out as a particularly bad shudder wracked his brother’s body.

Now there were more arms around Joe, holding him back, preventing him from reaching Frank.

"NO! Let me go!!" Joe yelled, fighting desperately to get away. "Please, let me help him! Please, Dad!!"