Nancy saw Frank slump over in his seat and his hands slip off the control. Nancy quickly grabbed the controls and applied the brakes. She felt the plane slow down and then finally stop.

She sat still for a moment before taking her hands off the controls. She sat back in her seat, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She felt lucky they were alive.

Slowly opening her eyes, she unclipped her seatbelt with shaking hands and turned to face Frank. His seatbelt was holding his body up, but his head was slumped forward with is chin touching his chest.

She reached for Frank’s wrist and found his pulse. It was beating strong. She looked at Frank’s face and could see blood dripping from his forehead.

"Nancy," a voice called from the back. A moment later, Ned and Joe appeared in the doorway. Ned asked, "Are you two all right?"

"I’m fine," Nancy said keeping an eye on Frank. "But we need to get the emergency crew on board now. Frank’s been hurt."

"Got it," Ned said and made his way to the door.

"How bad is it?" Joe asked trying to squeeze into the small cockpit.

"He’s got a fairly deep gash on his forehead," Nancy said. "But other than being unconscious, he seems to be all right."

Joe slid out of the cockpit when he heard the medical technicians climb on board. Nancy followed him and stood beside Joe as they went into the cockpit.

An officer climbed into the plane and ushered Joe and Nancy off so they could be checked over. A half hour later, they were both cleared of any serious injuries. Both only had bruises from the bouncing of the plan and agreed it was a small price to pay because they were alive.

They waited a few minutes and saw Frank being carried out of the plan on a stretcher. The medical technicians had placed a foam collar around Frank’s neck to keep it immobile in case he had damaged his spine in the crash.

Joe moved to the ambulance with the others close behind. "Excuse me," Joe said. "What hospital are you taking him to?"

"Mount Laurence Hospital."

"Nancy, please go with them," Jo said as he turned to face the group. "Since none of you know my aunt and wouldn’t recognize her, I’ll stay here with you guys." Joe looked at Nancy. "As soon as I find her, we’ll meet you there."

"All right," Nancy said. She gave Ned a quick kiss and climbed into the ambulance just before it sped away.

Joe led Ned, Bess and George into the airport terminal. Joe scanned the faces of the people waiting for planes to arrive. After walking deeper into the terminal, he saw his aunt facing a window, apparently watching the runway. Joe said over his shoulder, "I see her."

The others followed Joe as he approached his aunt. She hadn’t changed much in the past three years. She was almost six feet tall and extremely thin. He long brown hair was still pulled into a braid that went halfway down her back, only now, there wee a couple streaks of gray.

Joe moved quickly toward the woman. When he got directly behind her, he leaned forward and said, "Aunt Maggie."

She turned quickly and her eyes opened wide when she saw Joe standing there. "Joe, it’s good to see you." She gave him a hug, then stopped. "You have changed much. You are turning into a fine looking young man. Your picture doesn’t do you justice."

"Thanks, Aunt Maggie," Joe said, feeling his face turn red from his aunt’s praise.

Maggie looked around trying to find something. She looked back at Joe and asked, "Where’s Frank? I thought he was coming with you."

"Aunt Maggie," Joe began. "We need to get to the hospital. We had a minor problem with the plane and Frank was hurt when we landed."

"Oh, no," Maggie gasped, putting her hand to her mouth.

"We need to go," Joe said.

"What hospital?" Maggie asked.

"Mount Lawrence," Ned said.

"Let’s go," Maggie said. "We’ll come back for your luggage."

* * * * *

Half an hour later, they arrived at the hospital. Maggie found a parking space and the five of them quickly made their way inside. As they walked into the waiting room, Nancy rose with a smile on her face.

Joe felt relief seeing her smile. "How is he?"

"Relax, Joe," Nancy said. He’s going to be all right. He’s got a slight concussion, but it’s not serious."

"Terrific," Joe said smiling at the others. "Aunt Maggie," Joe began as he realized he had forgotten about introductions because he was worried about Frank. "I’m sorry. I forgot to introduce everyone."

"It’s all right," Maggie said putting her hand on Joe’s shoulder. "You were worried about Frank. I understand."

"I’ll do it right," Joe said turning to Bess and George. "This is Bess Marvin and George Fayne."

"George?" Maggie asked, another puzzled look on her face.

"It’s actually Georgia after a family member, but I prefer to go by George," she explained.

Joe turned to Nancy and Ned. "And this is Nancy Drew and her fiance’, Ned Nickerson."

"It’s a pleasure to meet you," Nancy said. "It’s just a shame it had to be here."

"I know, but at least Frank is all right," Maggie said, with relief in her voice.

"I sure am," a voice said from behind them.

They all turned and saw Frank crossing the lobby with a doctor. His face was pale, but he wore an ear to ear grin. A large bandage was wrapped across his forehead.

Maggie gave Frank a strong hug and a kiss on the cheek. She kept an arm around his shoulder as she asked the doctor, "Is he really all right?"

"He’ll be fine," the doctor said reassuringly. "His head injury isn’t serious and the cut on his forehead wasn’t as bad as we thought."

"But he’ll be okay?" Maggie asked.

"He’ll be fine," the doctor said as he turned to Frank. "He just needs to take it easy for a few days. If he feels nauseous or dizzy, bring him back here immediately."

"I will," Maggie said and shook the doctor’s hand. "Thanks so much." The doctor left the waiting room and Maggie continued. "Well, are you ready to head to the house?"

"Yeah," Joe said and the others nodded. "We just need to get out gear off the plane."

"We can stop on the way to the house," Maggie said.