Words Spoken in Anger Ch. 4

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Previously: Swiping the rainwater mixed with tears from his blurry eyes, he didn't notice that he had been forced to the edge of a precipice by the falling tree. Within a heartbeat, he suddenly found himself tumbling head over heels down the side of the steep dropoff at a dizzying rate of speed. The last thing he heard before his head collided with a rock was the sound of someone calling out his name in terror.

"Scotty, NO!" John called out in sheer terror as he watched his brother go over the side of the steep overhanging and slip out of sight. His heart raced in time with his legs and he bounded haphazardly down the trail, not caring about the vines that whipped at his face and arms as he ran. The only thing he cared about was getting to his big brother and making sure he was okay.

Arriving at the edge of the precipice, he got down on his stomach and carefully looked over the edge, his heart shattering at the sight below him. Scott was lying deathly still, one of his legs splayed out at an awkward angle and blood running down the side of his face from what he could make out when the lightning flashed brightly for a few seconds.

Easing himself over the edge of the cliff, the platinum blonde started making his way cautiously down the side of the rocky face of the cliff, heedful of the danger he was in as he did so. He also knew that with one slip of his foot, Scotty's chances of getting rescued could would be substantially less. Placing his foot on a small rock, he gasped as he felt it break away and clutched harder to the root that his hand was grasping to keep from falling. "Damn it," he swore, as he heard the small rock clatter down to the bottom, hoping and praying that it didn't hit his big brother. Scott was already hurt bad enough as it was. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, he started his descent once more, this time whispering a fervent prayer. "Please mom, watch over Scooter until I get down there to him and take care of him. We can't live without him." John voiced brokenly as tears clouded his eye. He was scared of falling, but worse yet, he was scared of losing his brother.

Finally arriving at the bottom after a few close calls, John shakily made it over the slippery ground to where his brother lay on his stomach in the rain soaked mud, his bruised and bleeding face turned to the side. "Scotty … Scotty, can you hear me?" He asked anxiously as he nervously placed a gentle hand on his brother's back. He had no idea how bad his brother was hurt or even if he should be touching him.

"Scotty please, please open your eyes big brother," John begged as tears cascaded from his aqua blue eyes and down his cheeks before dropping to the ground below. He'd never seen Scott so silent before and it terrified the twelve year old more than he could say. Raising his hand to swipe away the tears, John tried to remember the skills he had been taught in the basic first aid class that he had taken as part of his sixth grade curriculum. Closing his eyes, he focused his mind on remembering the lesson from just a few short months ago.

"Okay students, what is the aim of providing first aid to someone who has been hurt?" Mrs. Stanley, the health teacher, asked her bright and inquisitive sixth grade students after having watched the first aid video demonstrating the process.

"To preserve life, prevent further harm, and to promote recovery." Alison Michaels answered with a proud smile as she sat up straight in her seat. She was the class brainiac and liked to show off, especially since that good looking John Tracy was in her class.

"Correct, very good Alison. Now who can tell me what the first three things are that you need to check for when performing basic first aid and what they are referred to as?" The teacher inquired as she looked out at her students. When no one volunteered besides Alison, she called a name. How about you John, can you answer the question for us?"

"Yes Ma'am, they are referred to as the ABC's of first aid" The second oldest Tracy answered, confident in supplying the pneumonic answer.

Returning his attention to the present, John opened his eyes and started talking himself through the process. "A for airway." he said to himself as he checked Scott's airway to make sure it was clear. Once he was satisfied that Scott's airway wasn't compromised in any way, he whispered "B for breathing," and then checked to make sure he could feel puffs of air coming from his brother's nose or mouth and that Scott wasn't choking. Remembering that the letter C stood for Circulation, he prayed that Scotty would continue breathing, because he didn't want to be the sole person responsible for doing heart compressions and rescue breathing for his brother to keep him alive.

Scanning the rest of his big brother's form, John knew without a doubt that Scott's right leg was broken just by the way it looked. He hoped the break wasn't too bad, especially since his brother had dreams of joining the air force some day and flying planes or fighter jets. Ghosting his hands over his brother's head, he could feel a large knot under his finger tips. "Crap, this is so not good," he thought to himself, just before being surprised by hearing his father's voice and the sound of his name called from above."

~~Thunderbirds~~Thunderbirds~~Thunderbirds~~

As Jefferson Tracy made his way down the path he had seen both his boys go, he prayed that he would find them before something awful could happen. The weather was getting worse, especially with the way that lightning was crashing around the island, and it petrified to think that he could possibly lose one or both of his children. He knew there was no way he could survive another loss so soon after losing his precious wife in the avalanche. Calling out to his two boys as loud as he could, he cursed the thunder that reverberated throughout the area. Even if his sons heard him calling, their returning shouts would be drowned out by the booming sound produced by the electrical discharge of lightning.

Scanning the ground ahead, his fears rose exponentially upon noticing there was no way he could follow their tracks since the pouring rain had wiped away any evidence they might have left behind. "Damn it, how am I supposed to find them?" He thought with despair as he swiped a hand through his rain drenched locks. He knew they could have easily veered off on any of the smaller paths that led away from the main trail down to the beach area. Falling to his knees, he sobbed as he suddenly realized that finding his boys was going to be like trying to find a needle in the proverbial haystack. Hanging his head with a sense of futility, he could have sworn he heard a familiar voice whisper to him as the scent of lavender surrounded him and gave him the strength to go on. "Don't give up Rocketman, our boys need you."

Taking in a few deep breaths to steady himself, Jefferson Tracy pushed himself to his feet to move onwards once again. He couldn't let his boys…or his darling wife for that matter…down, not when they needed him most. Cupping his hands to his mouth to make his voice travel further, he called out once again. "Scott, John, can you hear me?" Attempting to listen over the roar of the rain, he could have sworn he heard a faint sound up ahead responding to his call. Could it be, he wondered as he picked up speed and traversed further down the trail. Moving so quickly, he nearly missed the tell tale sign of a small branch off to the side that had recently been broken by one of his sons as they stumbled by.

"John, Scotty, where are you? Answer me." he called out once again as he concentrated on blocking out the sound of the weather to focus solely on the sound of his children's voices, and to his relief, he heard the most wonderful sound he could ever hear. "Father, we're over here." Rushing towards the sound, his elation soon turned to anguish as he realized that the sound was coming from the bottom of a steep cliff he knew to be just ahead.

"Please, not my boys." he prayed as he made his way to the edge of the dropoff. He sucked in a shaky breath, afraid to look over in fear of what he would see. Bracing himself, he pulled the small penlight he carried with him from his pocket and peered over the edge, shining it down below.

"Oh God, Scotty." He hissed upon seeing his oldest lying listlessly on the ground, John sitting beside him. From his vantage point, he couldn't see how bad things were, but one thing was obvious, his oldest son had a broken leg.

"Dad, Scooter's hurt real bad." John informed his father as he looked up to see the shadow of his father's silhouette looking down upon them.

"I'm coming Johnny, just keep Scott as comfortable as you can." Jeff replied, hoping to calm the obviously scared twelve year old. Making his way down the sheer cliff as quickly as possible, he soon arrived at the bottom and jogged over to his where his sons were.

Kneeling down on the opposite side of Scott from where John sat, Jeff carded his fingers through his unconscious son's hair. "Oh Scotty, what have I done to you?" He questioned brokenly as silent tears slipped down his face.

"Dad, we've got to get Scotty out of here soon and get him some help." John whimpered as he finally let the desperateness of the situation hit him. His father was there now and Scott's life didn't just depend on him anymore.

"We will son, I promise." Jeff responded, pulling himself together as he took out his satellite phone to call for help. There was no way he could carry Scott out of there in his condition and his eldest needed emergency medical help as soon as he could possibly get it. Giving the details of his son's condition and the coordinates to their position, he could only hope that the Coast Guard would arrive in time to help. If he lost Scott because of his anger, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Hanging up the phone, he pulled off the jacket he was wearing and placed it over his ailing son. He had no doubt that Scott was in shock from the coolness of his skin and they needed to get him warm or the results would be disastrous. "Listen to me John, I need you to lay down beside Scotty as close as possible. You're brother's in shock and we need to keep him warm as possible." Jeff informed his son, trying tr remain calm himself.

Waiting for John to get in position, he then scooted as close as possible to his oldest and lay down beside Scott himself all the while praying that help would arrive soon, his son's life could literally depend on it.

TBC