I didn't intend to right a second chapter to this. Oh well. This is definitely the end. Definitely. Unless you guys give me any good ideas.
John woke with a unique sense of discombobulation
Normally he would be in his small room in the habitat ring of Thunderbird 5. He would be lightly strapped in – just enough that in the event of a gravity failure he wouldn't be flung into a bulkhead. The temperature would be a comfortable 21 degrees centigrade. There would be a faint hum of the life support systems, a churning of the ring mechanisms and a cheerful chirrup to great him from EOS.
This was different. He was slightly warm. The air itslef felt warm and smelt slightly of sea and trees. There was little electrical noise, instead he heard a rustle of leaves in glass and a chorus of birds. There was music coming from somewhere and a clatter that sounded suspiciously like someone dropping saucepans.
It took all this information for John to realise that he wasn't on Thunderbird 5, but instead in his room on Tracy island. That he couldn't remember how he got there was extremely worrying, so he swung his legs round, got out of bed and strode to the door for answers.
Tried to stride. What actually happened was he took two steps and the room started spinning. He managed to take one more step before losing his balance completely. He tried to reach for his dresser but instead of bracing himself he merely slammed his arm into it, resulting him landing on the floor heavily.
"Damn it." He swore. He had his eyes closed tight against the smarting pain of his fall when his door burst open.
"John! Shit – are you ok?" Then Virgil was at his side, kneeling where John was propped on hands and knees. "Did you get up too fast and let gravity get you?"
"Something like that" John muttered. He always had a slight problem with his balance when he returned to Earth after an extensive rotation on Thunderbird 5 and the partial gravity he used in the hab-ring wasn't enough to ease his re-entry to terra firma. "What happened Virgil? I don't remember coming down."
Virgil frowned with concern and tipped John's head up. "Look at me." He instructed "Did you hit your head just now?"
"No." John said, watching Virgil as Virgil watched him – looking for pupil movement and reaction he guessed – the first box on the checklist for concussion.
"That's something at least. EOS bought you down in the space elevator and Scott put you to bed." Virgil was evidently satisfied with whatever he saw, as he released John's chin.
John considered. He could vaguely remember Scott. He had been yelling about something, and EOS... "Was there a rat?" He asked, trying to put the pieces back together.
Virgil smiled. "Apparently. You can ask EOS for more details when you feel up to it. For now, how about some breakfast? It's 5pm, but being as you just woken up from an epic twenty..." Virgil glanced at his watch "seven and a half hour nap, we can do breakfast for dinner." Virgil stood, and held out a hand to the still kneeling astronaut.
John reached for it and let Virgil's steady strength pull him to standing. He needed the hand Virgil put on his shoulder to prevent him taking another tumble as his vision spun but this time he managed to stand upright.
"Twenty seven and a half hours? Really that long?" No longer he felt refreshed.
"Yep, you have the record now. Alan said he was going to put in some serious training to get it back." Virgil grinned.
"Who's been manning the comms while I was... napping?"
"EOS mostly. We told her to put most calls through to the GDF and local emergency services so we have only been out once in that time. We were all pretty close to burn out, you just go in there first."
"If I'm honest, it's all a bit hazy" John admitted. To say it had been a busy couple of weeks would have been an understatement. An almost continuous series of accidents and natural disasters had kept them all on their toes, and John was always needed. Over the last few days the missions had started to blur into each other somewhat and he found he was becoming more and more reliant on EOS.
Vigil's expression was serious as he replied. "I'm not surprised John! You weren't sleeping, barely eating! You were hallucinating again and if EOS hadn't been there you may have tried to take morning stroll out the airlock or something."
There had been just one other time that John had worked so hard that he forgot to sleep: when Dad disappeared. He had been frantic in his search, blaming himself when his scans found nothing. That time Alan had given Scott a lift into orbit in Thunderbird 3 and the two of them had forced him back to Earth. He had trying to repurpose the coffee maker into a high frequency modulator for the main comms aray at the time at the time. Not exactly dangerous but far from sensible.
"Come on Virgil, it's not as bad as that. I .." but Virgil didn't give him a chance to finish. "You can't say that. You don't know. Exhaustion is bad for your long term health as well as your short term, and god knows I'm going to have enough trouble sorting out any problems you have from spending so much time up there. And sleep deprivation used to be a form of torture you know – it has all kinds of side effects."
"But the calls just kept coming." John said, trying to get his brother to understand the sense of responsibility he had to make sure that anyone who called them got an answer. Whether or not International Rescue could help John was dedicated to making sure everyone was heard.
"I know. I know you don't like leaving anyone in trouble, none of us do, but if you don't take care of yourself you won't be able to help anyone. Do you want to know how much sleep you've had in the last week?"
John thought back. The amount of difficulty this was giving him was telling enough. "No. I don't think I do."
"Huh. Then we won't talk about that now. But ask EOS of the footage of yesterday – I've seen it and it's pretty scary." Virgil put a hand on his shoulder. "We need you but we don't want you to work yourself into the ground – or into space – for this."
"I'll watch it. I promise. And I'll set up some sort of reminder system so it doesn't happen again." John reassured, already planning processes and contingencies.
"Scott's way ahead of you – he's working with EOS and I think he intends to set it so you'll be locked out if you're not fit for duty."
John thought he'd see about that. Scott might try to lock him out of his own systems but he was unlikely to succeed. John also thought that he would add ten percent to whatever parameters Scott set, on the basis that the eldest had taken ten percent off whatever EOS recommended.
"Will you be able to make it to the kitchen or shall I get Max to carry you?" Virgil joked, interrupting John's thoughts.
"No I can manage. I just didn't account for not yet having my land legs but I'm feeling better now." Better all round despite the fact that his arm was still stinging from the collision with the furniture. That may be bruised in the morning, but that was a worry for another day. "Let's get some get some breakfast, because then I'm going to need another nap."