A/N: Wow. Thank you. Thank you; thank you for the awesome reviews. Seriously. I don't deserve them at all and yet I am so happy you took the time to read and review. I loved reading what you all had to say and it was just further motivation to continue. Again, thank you!

Oh yeah and also…whaaaa? Another update so soon…I can barely believe it myself!

**Attention** this chapter has been slightly revised from the previous Chapter 32 that was posted. My apologies for any confusion…

Quintessential Bliss

Chapter 32

Frank was dimly aware of the room around him as he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was how utterly silent the room was, save for the slow rhythmic beeping of the machine monitoring his vitals. He also noticed that he was attached to a lot more tubes than he had been. He slowly moved his head and realized that, while he felt incredibly dizzy, he felt slightly better than he had in days.

He was still uncomfortable and he was still in pain, but he felt warm all over…as if his body was coming back to life after days of slowly shutting down.

"Hey," Frank turned his head to see Joe walking into the room. "You're awake!"

"Hey," Frank's voice came out hoarse and dry. "What day is it?"

Joe chuckled, "It's Friday. You've been out for awhile." He reached over and pressed the button for the nurse.

"Is that…normal?" Frank rasped.

Joe shrugged, "I have no idea, but I know they thought it was best you were able to rest as much as possible. Let your body have a chance to accept the new bone marrow. They've got you pumped up on meds to decrease the chance of your body rejecting the elixir."

"Elixir?" Frank was confused.

"That's some Grade-A bone marrow you got there brother. Don't be surprised if you're suddenly much better at football…basketball…baseball…basically everything." Joe smiled his trademark lopsided grin.

Frank laughed but it quickly turned into a groan of pain, "Don't make me laugh, Joe." Frank licked his dry lips, "Can I have some water?"

"Probably," Joe stood up and pushed the button for the nurse again, "We're all under strict orders not to do anything that could compromise your immune system. Apparently you're fighting off infection really well but none of your doctors want to take any chances. So. We'll wait for the almighty nurses to come and let us know what's what."

Frank sighed and leaned his head back, "Okay." He was too tired to say much else but he mustered enough energy to ask, "Where is everyone?"

"Mom and Dad are at home taking showers and changing, Nancy is asleep in a chair out in the hallway. Vanessa is arguing with a seven year old in the waiting room over the merits of boy bands, I think the current topic is Nsync vs. One Direction. The gang is…somewhere; last I saw they were amusing themselves with charades. Bernie and Mary Ann went to the cafeteria…I think."

It was entirely too much information for Frank to take in all at once, but he was coherent enough to understand that a lot of people were hanging out at the uncomfortable hospital just to watch him sleep. "They should all go home," Frank croaked.

"Believe me, bro. I've tried. We've got stubborn friends, they won't leave," Joe smiled and looked up when the nurse came in.

"Mr. Hardy, you're awake! How are you feeling?" she asked as she walked over to check his vitals.

"Parched," Frank answered mulishly.

The nurse smiled, "I'll get you some water."

"Thank you," Frank mumbled.

"I'll page the doctor, he wanted to see you when you woke up," with that she left the room leaving Joe and Frank alone together again.

"So, it worked?" Frank asked cautiously.

"It's looking promising so far," Joe replied with a tight smile. "I guess now we just hope that your body doesn't reject the transplant and whatever was in that toxin allows you to heal."

Frank nodded weakly. He knew that, didn't he? Had Joe already said that? His brain was so foggy he couldn't keep things straight. "I'm afraid, Joe." The brothers didn't keep secrets from each other, but it was rare that Frank spoke so boldly. If he were to speak from his heart to anyone though, it would be to Joe or Nancy.

Joe sat down in the chair next to his bed and leaned over, resting his hand on his brother's arm. The grin he usually wore was long gone and he looked at his brother in silence for a moment before he said, as serious as Frank had ever seen him, "You will get better Frank, I promise. I will find the cure or I will donate bone marrow for the rest of my life, but you will beat this. We've been through too much."

Frank swallowed, "I sure hope you're right Joe."

"Of course I am," Joe replied matter-of-factly. "Everyone knows I'm the one who's always right and you're tall."

Frank groaned but smiled slightly, "There he is ladies and gentlemen, my little brother." He grew suddenly serious though as he looked at Joe. "You're going to interrupt me but just…don't, okay?" Joe nodded and Frank took a deep breath, digging for the energy to get out all he felt he needed to say. "First, if something happens to me," he held up his hand when Joe started to interrupt, "you said you wouldn't." He waited until Joe nodded begrudgingly before continuing. "Anyway, if something happens to me…anything at all…I need you to know that I love you. I need you to make sure that Mom, Dad, Nancy…every one, that they all know I love them. I need you guys to be okay. Do you understand?"

Joe nodded, "Yes, I understand." He paused for a minute and lightly patted Frank's arm, "Nothing is going to happen to you, I swear it. No matter what it takes, Frank. Nothing will happen to you."

Frank could only nod his head weakly and close his eyes as sleep took him once again.

"Damnit!" Joe cursed angrily as he paced in the waiting room of the hospital, blessedly alone for the first time since he'd gotten home. "Damn-IT!" He cursed again and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

He had meant what he said to Frank with utter sincerity. He would not allow anything to happen to his older brother, absolutely. He didn't care what it took, where he had to go or what he had to do. He would make his brother better.

With an angry huff he flung himself down on one of the chairs in the waiting room and rubbed his hand over his face. Sighing, he leaned back in the chair with his head resting against the wall. Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and stopped his angry planning mid-thought.

A white envelope, resting on a chair a few away from the one he sat in.

"No," he whispered when he recognized it instantly. "No!" He jumped to his feet with an angry yell, "No, no, no, NO! Not here, not right now!" He stormed over to the envelope and ripped it open. He read the single line of text on the card inside:

I'm sorry about your brother, he doesn't deserve it, but you do.

"I can't take it anymore," Joe said to himself as he started to rip the card up into small pieces. "I can't. Take. This. Any. More." With each word he ripped the card into shreds. "What did I do? What did I DO?"

Suddenly, it was all too much for Joe. The last few weeks, the letters and their awful messages, Frank's life hanging in the balance and his own slow recovery from something he had hoped he put past him. He dropped into a chair, the pieces of the note falling heedlessly to the floor. All he could do, all he had left, was to bury his face in his hands and sob.

Joe didn't know how long he sat alone in the waiting room breaking down. It could have been minutes or hours for all he knew. When he did finally lift his head up his eyes felt raw and dry. He sniffed and rubbed his hands over his face, so grateful that no one had come in during his meltdown.

He knew he wasn't better after his ordeal. He knew his family still worried about him. He knew that the cards getting sent to him were only pushing him further and further back in his recovery. He also knew that there was no way he could burden his family more than they already were.

He glanced down at the torn up bits of paper and slowly started to gather them up, piece by piece. Crushing them into a ball with his fist he clenched his teeth, "I will not let this break me," he murmured angrily to himself. "Whoever this is, whoever is doing this. I won't let it stop me from helping my brother."

He stood up and walked angrily across the room toward the garbage can in the corner and stuffed the remains of the note into the bin.

Joe stood staring unseeingly at the garbage can for a few moments letting the anger drain out of him slowly. "Send as many notes as you want you crazy asshole," Joe muttered, "I will not let you torture me any more."

With that, he turned sharply on his heel and headed toward the bathroom, hoping to clean himself up before anyone had a chance to see him.

"I'm encouraged by your son's progress Mr. and Mrs. Hardy," the doctor was saying when Joe walked up to his parents and Nancy in the hallway the next morning. "A lot of his vitals are returning to normal. He no longer has a fever, he no longer feels pain at the slightest touch even though he is still extremely sore and he's able to keep soft foods down. All of these are excellent signs."

"Will he be able to go home?" Fenton asked.

"If he continues to make progress, I believe he'll be able to go home by the end of the week. He'll continue to need transplants at regular intervals and he'll be weak. I want to caution you. Your son is not cured; he is simply better off than he was before the transplant. He's going to need a lot of rest for a long time but I believe that in a few months he should be able to do light activity. He won't be returned to his former strength but this is a better prognosis than we had a few days ago."

Laura swallowed and nodded, "Thank you doctor."

"I'll give you more instructions when it gets closer to releasing him. This is good news," the doctor reiterated before nodding at them all and walking away.

"Frank can go home?" Joe asked.

"In a few days," Fenton confirmed.

"The information Phil found," Nancy whispered, "It said that most patients improved with a bone marrow transplant but didn't recover fully. That they all eventually…" Her voice trailed off. "Well, they needed the antidote."

"He'll get it," Joe said, steely determination in his voice. "I'll make sure of it."