Jordan strained to listen. She was sure she'd heard something. She heard something coming down the path towards them. Jordan was terrified. Adrenaline kicked in. She grabbed the rock. She was ready to fight. Suddenly, she saw the lights. "Charlie! Jordan!" It was Don.

Jordan started screaming, "We're here! We're here!"

Don came running towards her. He pulled out the radio. "We got them!" Don passed the radio to Megan, and fell to his knees in front of Jordan and Charlie. Don put his hand on his little brother's arm, and looked at him closely. Don's heart was pounding.

Jordan was sobbing with relief. She gently patted Charlie's cheek to wake him. "Charlie? Charlie we're getting out of here."

Charlie's eyes fluttered open. He looked up to see Don and Jordan both leaning over him. He was confused. "What? Oh, hi Donnie." He smiled weakly at his big brother.

"Hey, Buddy. Are you ready to get out of here?" Don tried to smile reassuringly as he stroked Charlies' damp hair.

Search and rescue arrived, and went to pull Charlie away from Jordan. She immediately put her arms around him protectively. "You be careful", she said threateningly.

Don pulled her arms down. "It's okay. They will take good care of him." She didn't look convinced. Megan eased Jordan to her feet. Jordan was very stiff and sore from sitting with Charlie in her lap for so long. She was shivering. Megan put her arm around Jordan to steady her. Jordan refused to leave until they were ready to carry Charlie out. When they arrived back at the trail head, Jordan saw the ambulance waiting. She sighed with relief.

Alan was waiting with the EMT's when they emerged from the woods. Megan walked straight over to Alan and touched his arm. "Mr Eppes, I'll drive you to the hospital." Alan nodded.

Don, Alan, and Megan were in the family waiting area. They still hadn't heard anything. A doctor finally came in. "Eppes?"

The three rose and stepped forward.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Wells. You must be his father." he stepped forward to shake Alan's hand.

"Alan Eppes", Alan said, "How is Charlie?"

"We've done a CAT scan. He has a kidney stone over a centimeter in size. We need to do a lithotripsy as soon as possible. The stone has caused a blockage and we need to move aggressively before the kidney is permanently damaged."

"Kidney stone?" Alan asked in disbelief. "But Charlie is only thirty years old! What is a lithotripsy?"

"Anyone can have kidney stones, Mr. Eppes. No matter your gender, or age. The lithotripsy is where we send shock waves from outside the body to crush the stone into dust so it can be easily passed." Dr. Wells paused, then continued.

"Actually it amazes me how well he is doing given what he has been through. A stone causes severe pain and nausea. With the size of this stone, it caused blockage, and very quickly brought on infection. It's a good thing he was brought in. Any longer and it may have resulted in kidney failure."

Alan was horrified by the thought.

The doctor patted Alan's shoulder and continued, "I have ordered him a morphine pump, so he will not be in any pain. We also have him on very strong antibiotics and something for the nausea. We are going to have to blast the stone .. the lithotripsy.. so he can pass it. It will take a few days, but then he should start feeling like his old self."

"Can we see him?" Alan asked, reaching for Don's arm.

The doctor nodded at Don. "Sure. Just for a few minutes. He's asleep though."

"Thank you." Alan shook the doctors hand.

Don noticed movement in the doorway. Jordan walked into the room. Her eyes and nose were all red. "Hey Jordan." Alan reached his arm out to her. Jordan immediately came over to Alan and hugged him. "Are you alright," Alan asked, "Did they check you out?"

"Yes. I'm fine. I told all of you I was fine." she wiped away a tear. "How's Charlie?" She sniffled and looked at Alan pitifully.

"Hey, he's going to be fine." Alan hugged her and patted her reassuringly.

"We're going to see him now." Don added, "Come on with us."

Jordan smiled at them gratefully.

"I'm going to wait here", Megan told Don. "I'll see Charlie later when he's awake."

Jordan walked with Alan and Don down the hallway. A nurse stopped them. She eyed Jordan's disheveled appearance.

"Immediate family only."

Don saw tears immediately come to Jordan's eyes, and he pulled out his badge. "She is coming with us." Don told the nurse firmly.

The nurse eyed Don and gave a curt nod to Jordan and walked away. Jordan sighed, relieved. "Thanks Don." Don put his arm around her shoulders as they walked to Charlie's room.

They stepped inside. Charlie was asleep, as the doctor had said. Alan walked over and kissed his youngest on the forehead and gently tousled his hair.

Don walked to the other side of the bed. Seeing his little brother like this was heart wrenching. He very gently squeezed Charlie's hand. "Hey Buddy. You're going to be fine." Don blinked back tears.

Alan turned and saw Jordan behind him. He reached for her hand and pulled her up to Charlie's side. She looked down into Charlie's peaceful sleeping face. "He's, he's.. not hurting anymore, is he?"

"No, no, they have him on morphine." Alan assured her.

"Thank God", she breathed, barely audible. She leaned over, and gently kissed his cheek. Then she carefully took Charlie's hand in between both of hers and squeezed his hand lightly.

A nurse came in, and told them apologetically that they needed to go out. They had to get Charlie ready for the lithotripsy.

Reluctantly, Jordan released Charlie's hand. She didn't want to leave him.