Chapter 17 – Breath of Life

Callie worked frantically to get Frank under some semblance of control. She could tell Frank was terrified, but she had no idea that he actually assumed the worst about Joe. "Baby, oh baby, c'mere. Frank, he's going to be okay. It's all going to be okay. Shhh, Baby, Joe's going to be okay."

Somewhere between the retching, Frank heard Callie and realized that she was so grief-stricken that she had lost her mind. He screamed at her "Joe's not okay! How can Joe be okay, Callie! He just blew up with that car! He's dead, Callie, dead!" This set off another round of hysterical sobs from Frank.

As the depth of Frank's pain finally reached Callie, she realized she could fix this for him after all, if she could just get him to listen to her. "Frank, Frank, please, listen to me, Babe. You zoned out or something. Joe isn't dead. He was taken to the hospital. Your mom and dad and all the kids are with them, so is Kayley. He's going to be okay. Frank?"

"What, what are you talking about, Callie? How? How could he…?"

"Frank, he was thrown clear of the explosion. He landed on his back over there on the grass, see? Over there." Callie repeated as she gently turned Frank and pointed him to the area that Joe landed in. "He's at the hospital, Sweetheart. Let's go."

Frank found it almost impossible to get fresh air into his lungs. Could this really be true? Why would Callie lie to him? He allowed her to help him to his feet and accepted the tissues from her purse to wipe his mouth off with. Almost robot-like he got into the passenger side of his car and allowed Callie to drive them to the hospital. As soon as he saw his family gathered there, he knew it was true.

Frank sobbed all over again as his mom, dad, Kayley, and all the kids ran to greet him as he walked into the waiting room. This time, he was sobbing with tears of relief – so were they as they were very scared about the state they had left him in.

Kayley Knight-Hardy sat starring out the window of the hospital, with one thought running through her head 'they were so close''.

Laura Hardy smiled at her grandchildren as they waited. They had been with her since they arrived at the hospital after the bomb and still there was no real news. One thought was running through her mind at this point and she looked out of the window at the stars, 'we only just got him back'. She felt arms encircle her and she leaned back into her husband's safe embrace as she allowed her thoughts to wander.

"Yes!" The doctor was startled when he walked into the waiting room and asked if anyone was here for Joseph Hardy. Five people stood at once and answered in unison. Children stopped whatever they were doing and stared at him. Clearly they were hanging on for whatever it was he had to tell them.

"Joseph is going to be just fine," he could almost feel the physical air blow on him as they all heaved sighs of relief. "He has sustained a mild concussion and had the wind knocked out of him pretty good when he landed so hard. Thank goodness it was grass he landed on. His back, as well as the rest of him is pretty sore, but he will make a full recovery. If there are no complications in the night, he will be released tomorrow morning at the latest. He is awake and is asking to see his wife, Kayley?"

Kayley wiped at her face and squeezed Frank's hand in gratitude before she followed the doctor down the hall.