When The Truth Comes Out

by Fishdog

Author's note: All rights to the Thunderbirds belong to its creator Gerry Anderson, and affiliated companies.

I am so sorry about being late, I was waiting on my beta, but oh well. Here it is now ^_^

CHAPTER 2

Alan came to in what he considered to be the comfiest bed ever. His second thought, was that he must have been given some pretty powerful drugs, to be thinking that of a hospital bed, but it was more that that. Alan felt like he hadn't been 'comfortable' in a long time, and then he remembered – or at least he remembered being picked up by Ken. His only real memories were still only that of being kidnapped and then lying on a wooden floor in pain. Alan shuddered as that particular memory came to the forefront of his mind.

"Alan, can you hear me?"

He didn't recognise the female voice as he dragged his way out of the darkness, and when he opened his eyes he saw a nurse looking down kindly at him,

"My name is Lola; how are you feeling today, do you need anymore painkiller?"

Alan gulped then replied very quietly, "Yeah that would be great, but wait, how do you know who I am?"

"Who doesn't, your face has been everywhere! Your father pulled out all the stops to get you back," she replied enthusiastically, while expertly injecting some drugs into Alan's IV.

Alan smiled sleepily, 'yeah' he thought 'that sounds like dad'.

"I'm afraid that your family have not arrived yet, but the man who brought you in has stayed to make sure you're ok, would you like to speak to him?"

Alan nodded,

"Alright, here sip some water and I'll be back in two ticks"

The nurse handed him a plastic cup with a straw. Alan happily took it, thankful for the straw and by the time Ken walked in he had finished the cup.

"So" Ken began "they tell me your famous"

Alan smiled sheepishly, "I honestly didn't realise how much. According to my nurse, everyone knows my face now."

"So I've heard. Trust me to not recognise you really. I'm terrible with faces." he grinned and Alan replied in kind.

After a short nervous silence Alan said,

"Thank you, by the way. You saved my life, and then you stayed to see if I would be ok, and you did it all without having a clue who I was"

"Well, actually I found out who you were pretty soon after I arrived, but I would have stayed anyway. You must have been through a hell of a lot."

"I guess, I don't remember much of it though."

Ken looked at Alan sympathetically but soon snapped out of it and brought out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"Here, it's my phone number" he said and laid it down on Alan's beside table, "If you remember, when your better, and out of this place, could ya give me a ring? Just to say that you're ok. It would give me some peace of mind is all."

Alan smiled again at Ken's awkwardness,

"Of course I will. You are my knight in shining armour after all."

Ken laughed at that, and so did Alan but he quickly stopped as pain shot through him.

"Ok, I had better be going now," Ken added as he felt guilt for causing Alan more pain, "your family should arrive soon and I don't wanna be in their way. I'm going to be staying in town for the next few weeks, so... you know... I'm around... if you need me."

Alan couldn't help but like Ken, he had after all, made him laugh when all he had felt was pain.

"Thank you Ken, I'll keep that in mind."

And with one more smile and a small wave, Ken left the room, leaving Alan with the steady beep of his heart monitor. He closed his eyes for a second and was asleep in the next.

When Alan awoke, he once more went through the realisation of where he was and the panic of how he had arrived there. He hoped his brain would remember next time, because the shiver he felt run up his spine hurt a lot. As his mind was pulled back into focus and he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was alone. He wondered how long he had been out, or even how long he had been at the hospital in total. Alan felt highly irritated at the way time seemed to be jumping so erratically, ever since he was kidnapped, he warned his brain to get its act together, just as the door opened, revealing an extremely pale Jeff Tracy. However as Jeff met his son's eyes, the sadness in them disappeared and he hurried over to the bed,

"Alan, thank God you're ok!" he cried in a hushed voice.

Without disturbing any of the tubes connected to Alan, Jeff pulled his son into an embrace.

"Ow, Dad that hurts a bit" Alan said after he realised that Jeff was not letting go.

"Sorry, sorry" Jeff replied but it was still a few more seconds before Jeff relinquished his grasp. "I'm just so glad to see you. We were starting to think the worst. I thought I would never get to see you again."

Tears sprung to Jeff's eyes and that worried Alan more than his own injuries,

"Dad? You thought I was dead?"

Jeff looked on sadly, "It's been two weeks since our last contact. We started to believe the worst."

Alan felt a sudden panic rip through him once again, and he quietly questioned,

"T-two weeks?"

Jeff looked confused and then took Alan's hand comfortingly,

"I guess it would make sense that your idea of time over all this would be strange, it's ok Alan, you're safe now."

"but I... n-no that can't be right..."

Alan was desperately trying to sort through it all in his head. He remembered being kidnapped. He remembered lying on the wooden floor. That isn't enough memory for two whole weeks, even if he had been drugged up to stay quiet. Surely he should be able to remember more than this!

"Alan?"

Jeff sounded panicked but it only helped to raise Alan's own fears, and doctors came rushing in as Alan's heart rate exceeded the safe rate.

TO BE CONTINUED...

The chapter's a little short for my liking, but I really wanted that cliffhanger :D

Yeah... in case you hadn't relised already, I love cliffhangers!