Virgil jolted awake when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and froze when he saw that hand belonged to his father. He looked beyond Jeff to find the entire family either beside him or behind him, then sat up straight and looked at the bed.
Scott was still, quiet, hooked up to a million machines as usual. But Kelly was nowhere to be found. Virg looked at the chair he'd seen her put her duffel bag into; it was empty. Before he could even wonder to himself where she was, or be grateful that she wasn't there when his father arrived, Jeff spoke.
"Son, we need to meet Dr. Anderson and his team in the conference room."
Nodding, Virgil got to his feet, looked at his watch and realized it was already nearly lunch time. He'd fallen asleep for six hours? Really? He scrubbed a hand down his face, ran his fingers through his hair and nodded at his dad. Jeff and the rest of them turned as one unit and headed for the conference room, Gordon lagging behind with Virg.
"He slept for four hours, but after that he insisted on coming back here," Gordon whispered to him as they walked. "I followed just in case, but nobody was here other than you."
"So she left two or more hours ago?"
"I guess," Gordon replied with a shrug. "Dad disappeared for a while, while John, Alan and I stayed with you and Scott. I never saw anyone who looked like the red-haired lady we rescued hanging anywhere around."
"Damn," Virgil swore softly, because while he was definitely happy there hadn't been a run-in between Kelly and Jeff, he also had no way of knowing what had or hadn't happened since he'd gone out like a light. And no way of contacting her. Shame, he thought. She was nice.
The family filed into the conference room, took seats around the large glass-topped table and waited quietly. At least Grandma, Kyrano and Tin-Tin appeared rested, Virgil thought, and his dad had obviously had a shower and a shave. Virgil grimaced, because he knew he needed both.
"Hello, everyone," said a voice, and they all turned to look at the door of the conference room. "I have met some of you, but for everyone else, I'm Dr. Anderson, the surgeon in charge of Scott's case." Anderson walked in and gestured to each of the two people who followed him, in turn. "This is Juanita Lopez, the Head Nurse in our Pod, and the one in charge of Scott's general care for the duration. Dr. Bakri Wek is my partner on this case, and is here to speak to you about the non-organic questions that you raised with me an hour ago, Mr. Tracy," he finished, looking directly at Jeff.
So, Virgil thought, Dad's been busy.
Jeff held up a hand. "I want to bring Virgil up to speed, since he doesn't know this yet," he stated, then looked across the table at him. "Early on, I forbade the Cleveland Clinic from offering technological replacements for Scott's lung, when it was only his left lung affected, and before they discovered a rampant infection that's compromised his other lung and made his liver non-functional."
Virgil nodded. "I remember talking to you about it while Scott was in surgery."
"Right," Jeff replied. "But after nearly losing Scott last night, I wanted to know every option that's open to him."
"I thought you didn't want artificial organs or robotics used in any way," Virgil countered, brow knitting. He couldn't say out loud why that'd been, of course. Not with the doctors and nurse here. But he clearly recalled Jeff's concerns over how an artificial lung would affect Scott being able to fly Thunderbird One, for one thing. The g-forces alone, Jeff had felt, could wreak havoc with anything that wasn't made of human flesh, let alone how something like that would affect Scott being in the field on rescues.
"I didn't, because I didn't think Scott would want it," Jeff explained with a knowing look. "However, with the problems he has now, I'm prepared to hear the team out, and I wanted you all to hear this as well."
"We've asked those of you not actually related to Scott by blood, sign confidentiality agreements already," Juanita piped up, nodding toward the Kyranos. "Sorry we had to do that; we're not accustomed to discussing patient information with non-family members, but Mr. Tracy insisted."
Kyrano gave a small nod, while Tin-Tin appeared somewhat perturbed.
John, seated to Virgil's right, leaned close and whispered in his ear, "Wait until Penny gets here. They think they're keeping her out of the loop, or getting her to sign one of those things, they're in for a surprise."
Virgil gave his brother a wry grin, because never were truer words spoken.
"Okay," Dr. Anderson said, as he moved to the far end of the room where a five-foot long touch-screen display hung on the wall. Not unlike our own in our conference room back on Tracy Island, Virgil thought.
For the next hour, everyone in the room learned about where artificial organ technology had advanced to in the past decade. In 2028, the first successful artificial dual-lung transplant had been performed, and the patient was still going strong now, six years later. In 2030, multiple artificial organ transplant had finally been allowed to be introduced into a patient whose body continued to reject all human organs after four separate attempts to do so.
Halfway through the meeting, Virgil realized Jeff had Lady Penelope engaged via his wrist communicator, and had to stifle a smile. He could only imagine the conversation his father must've had with her about having to sign a confidentiality form. Asking one of the best spies in the world, and International Rescue's top agent, not to tell someone's secrets, was kind of funny. When it came to International Rescue, and their personnel, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward knew everything but what color underwear its operatives wore. In some cases, she probably even knows that, he thought ruefully.
Well into Hour Two, Dr. Wek finally got around to something that was more relevant to Virgil than getting a medical history lesson. "You can see here," Wek said, his Sudanese accent thick, "that I have done a mock-up of Scott's thoracic cavity. The primary concern at this point are his lungs." The doctor moved images around, used two fingers to make some larger and more visible. "The right lung has three lobes. Currently, only the lower, third lobe, of Scott's right lung has been compromised." He swept that picture away and another took its place. "His left lung is beyond repair, having fully collapsed at this point. All attempts to patch and re-inflate it would only place further strain on Scott's system that his downward spiral overnight has made clear he can't tolerate."
Dr. Wek pushed all that to the side with his left hand, and used his right to bring in a new image. "Scott's liver is one hundred percent non-functional at this time. There is no uninfected tissue left to regenerate the organ completely in six to eight weeks, which is the normal time for a partial human liver to do so."
"You can put that artificial lung you showed us, and an artificial liver, into Scott?" John asked.
"I can indeed," Wek replied. "Dr. Anderson and the head of the transplant unit here, Dr. Acton, are the premiere surgeons in the human organ transplant arena, but I have performed over forty-five artificial organ insertions of lungs, heart and kidneys. I also assisted on the first cybernetic ocular implant in the world three months ago, at the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center."
"But no artificial livers?" Gordon asked from his spot across the table and to Jeff's left.
Wek shook his head. "Because the liver regenerates itself, which means live donors can give part of their liver to a patient rather than the patient having to wait for a death to obtain a full or partial organ, the focus in the scientific and medical communities has been more on the rarer organs, or those more difficult to obtain matches for. Even kidneys are only recently being replaced by artificial counterparts due to the fact that humans can live with only one kidney. In addition, the number of human beings willing to donate one of theirs to help someone out has increased substantially over the past decade. That's left livers on the back burner while we work at perfecting hearts and lungs, as well as other more complicated endeavors, such as cybernetic implants for deformities of, or damage which has occurred to, the human brain."
"Well, one thing I want to know," Alan said from his spot to Jeff's right, "is what this would mean for Scott in terms of his recovery." Virgil nodded. That was probably first and foremost on everyone's minds, only not for the reasons the doctors probably thought it was.
"That depends on what you choose for Scott, or if he regains consciousness, what he chooses to himself," Anderson said, pushing off the wall where he'd been leaning with his arms folded over his chest for the entire time Wek had been speaking. "Given that his right lung is functional except for the lower lobe, we could remove the lobe and leave things that way. That lung will still function and, assuming his other lung – whether human or artificial – functions at one hundred percent, he should have no lasting aftereffects."
Virgil cocked his head to the side. "So he'd be able to exercise? Strenuously?" he asked.
"Yes. There are very few restrictions on patients after about a year of their bodies adjusting to the artificial organ, and them learning the few things they can't do."
"Which are?" Jeff asked, and to Virgil, his father's voice sounded like he already knew the answer.
"Well, for one thing, it's a good thing Scott isn't active in the Air Force anymore," Anderson replied.
"Why is that?" Tin-Tin questioned.
"Because he wouldn't be allowed to fly any kind of jet other than maybe a commercial airliner – though certainly not the Fireflash series – which would effectively put an end to his career, if he were still active, of course, encountering the types of g-forces those pilots do."
Which meant that Scott would never be able to fly Thunderbird One again. The looks Virgil and all the rest of the family were giving each other, told Virg they were all thinking the same damn thing.
"How does environmental interference affect the artificial lung?" Jeff asked. "Inhaling smoke from fires, or peoples' cigars and cigarettes, for instance."
"There's a filter built into the artificial lung which removes any contaminants that make their way into it using a push valve that provides the body the capability of handling these things in the same fashion it does now, through turning it into waste products. Should anything more foreign than particles, such as water, enter the lung, it senses the intrusion and immediately drains the foreign substance from the cavity of the organ. It functions much better than human lungs in that manner."
"So Scott can't ever fly again," Virgil said. His eyes met Jeff's across the table. Virgil looked away first.
Dr. Wek fielded that one. "Again, he can, if he wished to. Helicopters, helijets, and any jets which do not move faster than the older, more traditional passenger jets. All the new ones such as the Fireflash V-3, anything that breaks the sound barrier or produces g-forces which require their pilots to pass military-grade fighter pilot medical tests, for example, is out of the question. We've had both Air Force and Navy medical personnel attempt to qualify otherwise fully healthy single- and double-artificial lung recipients, and they didn't pass three out of the five sections. Tests in the lab have shown that the force of gravity once you go beyond a certain level, is simply too great, even with the latest materials that are being utilized to construct the outer wall of the artificial organ."
Anderson moved slightly to catch everyone's eyes as Wek closed down the files on the touch-screen that he'd been using. "It's not as easy as, put in an artificial organ and the recipient is magically an indestructible cyborg," Anderson stated. "As far as we've come with man-made replacements for human body parts, the fact is also that in many cases, the human body rejects the artificial organ, which leaves the patient with no organ, and much less time to find a human donation than they might have had prior to the attempt at artificial replacement. In addition, in order to move flexibly within the human body cavity, organs cannot be made of stronger materials such as those that are used for bone replacement, like quadritanium, or any of the other metals that could protect them from collapsing or breaking due to things such as high g-forces, or being slammed into."
"Slammed into?" Gordon repeated.
"Yes," the doctor nodded. "For example, if Scott had an artificial lung and got into a nasty barfight where a guy's Size 11 smashed into his chest directly over the lung, it could actually damage it irreparably, simply due to the force applied. A normal human lung might get bruised by the ribs, but it would heal, unless a rib broke and perforated it. With an artificial lung, it's flexible to a point, but not nearly as perfect as the Nature-created version. And unfortunately, the only organ we can get to generate is the liver. Other organ generation experiments, from things such as stem cells or cloning attempts, have all failed to some degree, at this point."
Virgil exchanged looks with everyone at the table one by one, eyes finally coming to rest on Jeff's.
"Look," Juanita said, the first time she'd spoken since Wek's lecture had begun, "I know that Scott works for you in various capacities, Mr. Tracy." Jeff's eyes met hers. "And as long as he continues this work with you, there would be no reason he couldn't live a full, long, happy life with an artificial lung and liver. He could stay fit, he could marry, have a family, whatever his goals are."
No, Virgil thought, and when Jeff looked back at him, he knew they were thinking the same thing once again. If Scott couldn't be International Rescue's field commander, his life would never be full, long or happy.
"We'll leave you to discuss all of this now," Dr. Anderson said. "We realize that it's a lot to take in, but I've got to remove Scott's left lung and the lower lobe of his right lung no later than this evening, and I'm not keen to do that with a liver dialysis machine in my way. We have the artificial organs available here at the Clinic, right now."
"What if human organs become available after you implant the artificial ones?" Virgil asked. "So to keep him alive, to get him healthy and get rid of the infection, you put the fake ones in, then a donor that matches him comes up. Then what?"
Anderson and Wek exchanged a look with Juanita, then Anderson looked directly at Virgil. "I'm sorry, but if we do an artificial transplant, the patient is removed from UNOS for the organs in question within forty-eight hours of successful transplant. The only way Scott would be relisted, is if his body fails to integrate the artificial lung and liver, meaning we would have to immediately remove whichever is being rejected, and he would hit the top of the list with the other one percent of over two thousand people currently waiting for lungs whose cases are just as critical."
"But he'd have no organ at all at that point," John said.
"Right," Dr. Anderson replied. "We can keep him functioning with the remainder of his right lung, as long as the infection hasn't spread to it, and we can use an external liver dialysis to perform liver functions for about a week before his body starts protesting. Are there any more questions?"
No one said a word.
"All right, we'll leave you to it, then. I'll be in the admin center out on the Pod floor when you come to a decision."
With that, the three staff members exited the room, closing the door behind them. Virgil eyed his dad. "No friggin' way," he said to Jeff, and to them all. "Saving Scott's life by grounding him from International Rescue is not an option."
"But what if there is no other option, Virgil?" Tin-Tin asked. "If they put the artificial organs into Scott, at least he'll be alive. He'll be whole by tonight."
"No," came a small voice from next to Alan, and everyone turned to look at Ruth. "You all know that boy as well as I do, and Virgil's right." She swallowed, wrinkled hand gesturing in the air between herself and Alan. "Scott doesn't have a death wish, but he's your field commander. If he can't do that job, what do you think he'll do with himself? Take up a desk job at Tracy Corp's headquarters in Manhattan?"
John snorted, a pretty clear indication of his opinion on the possibilities of that happening.
Forty-five more minutes passed, with everyone around the table debating keeping Scott alive for certain right now using artificial organs vs. waiting for donors. There were pros and cons to both, and yet everyone knew what would happen if they went with the easier and more immediate option of the artificial transplant.
Scott would never be his true self again. And Jeff concluded, after listening to the opinions of every single person at the table, that he wasn't prepared to condemn his son in that way just yet. Not when there was still a chance for Scott to get human organs. Virgil couldn't have agreed more. Yes, he'd seen Scott flatline. But a call could come in at any time with an available organ, or any one of them could be matches to help his brother out; they hadn't heard the results of those tests as yet.
As everyone was resigning themselves to the fact that they would not be seeing artificial organs introduced into Scott's body tonight, at least, and what that meant for Scott's current state of health, there was a knock at the glass-walled conference room's door. It was the head of the transplant unit, Dr. Acton. He entered with a 2-D holo-computer pad in-hand and a large smile on his face.
"I've been briefed by Doctors Anderson and Wek as to the meeting you just had in here," he said, "and I think I may be able to make this a little easier on you."
Every one of them leaned forward, elbows on the table, anticipating some good news for a change.
"Two of you are matches for Scott's liver," Acton replied, looking down at the computer pad and tapping at the in-air stand-up see-through display. "Virgil and John are both exact matches. If either of you wish to live donate, Scott can have part of one of your livers tonight, and won't require either dialysis or an artificial liver at all."
"Done!" John and Virgil said at the same time, getting a few chuckles from those around the table.
"I also have some pretty decent news about Scott's left lung," Acton continued. "Three of you are matches."
"What?" Gordon asked incredulously. "You mean we can give him a whole lung?"
Acton grinned. "Of Virgil, Alan and you, Gordon, one would give a lower lobe of his lung, and another would give a lower lobe of his lung. Using the two lobes, we can fashion a complete lung for your brother that is capable of functioning the same as the lung he was born with did before his injury."
"So," John said, "Virg or I can give the liver, but only they," he indicated his three brothers with a wave of his hand, "can give lung lobes."
"That's right. It's about more than just blood type. It's about a lot of other things, too, and your lungs aren't as precise a match as theirs are."
"But if we give a lobe of our lungs, what does that do to us?" Alan asked.
"Well," Acton said, leaning back as he set the holo-computer down on the conference table, "giving only a single lower lobe means there will be very little impact to you since the rest of your lungs are perfectly healthy, just like Scott not getting a replacement for the lower lobe of his right lung shouldn't keep him from doing the things he loves to do."
Virgil could've sworn that the entire room sat back and sighed in relief.
Scott wouldn't have to face never being able to fly One again. He wouldn't have to face being grounded or removed from any part of International Rescue.
"Let's get to it, then," John said. "Since I can't donate part of my lung, I want the liver to come from me."
"I'll do a lobe," Virgil said, because of course he would. He looked at Gordon and Alan. "You two can duke it out for the other lobe."
For the first time since this whole shitstorm had begun, Virgil actually felt optimistic. He could tell from the look on his father's face that he did, too.
Kelly smiled at Juanita as she entered the small consultation room. "Hi," she said, reaching out and shaking the nurse's hand. "Kelly McInerny."
"Juanita Lopez," was the response, accompanied by a firm handshake. Kelly looked into her brown eyes as she then asked, "You say you're a cousin to Scott Tracy?"
Tracy? It was the first time she'd ever heard a last name to go with Scott. "Yes, I'm Scott's cousin," she replied, keeping her face as neutral as possible. "I sat with him for a few hours, and I overheard you and another nurse outside saying Scott's family was going to be gathered to talk about Scott's impending surgery and potential organ transplants, so I thought maybe I should get tested to see if I'm a match, you know? I mean, you can do partial livers and stuff like that, right?"
Juanita nodded. "Yes, we absolutely can. And while there's no reason we can't test you as a backup, Dr. Acton's just delivered the news to Scott's family that several of them are matches. Undoubtedly they've already determined who will donate for Scott."
Kelly thought for a moment. "Is Virgil one of the matches?" she asked.
"Yes, for both lung and liver," Juanita replied. "Given the sheer number of family members, it's no great surprise that three of the brothers were lung matches. Only two for liver, though."
Three of the brothers, Kelly thought. That means Virgil is Scott's brother, and that there are more brothers than just Virgil. "I'd still like you to test me," she said aloud. "For a 'just in case' scenario, please."
"Will do. I'll let them know you're being tested next time I see them."
"No," Kelly replied quickly, reaching out and laying a hand on Juanita's arm. "Please, I…I don't want them to be worried about that right now. They've got a lot on their plate if three of them are going under the knife. Just test me, and if I'm a match, then keep it in your pocket unless it's absolutely necessary. Please?"
Juanita gave her a look that said she knew there was something more to the request, but Kelly kept herself as calm and reasonable-looking as possible. The last thing she needed was for anyone to find out she'd passed herself off as a fourth cousin to a family whose last name she'd only just found out.
"Well, all right. Of course, everyone's results are confidential, normally. Unless, of course, you're the Tracys. Apparently they want no secrets from each other. Dr. Acton's in there delivering the news about the matches to the whole group of them at once as we speak." She smiled and shook her head as she brought up a file on the microcomputer in her lap. "I wouldn't even be discussing this with you if they weren't so hell-bent on all family members knowing the score at all times. They're an interesting bunch, I'll give them that. I guess when you're rich and you own the largest corporate entity in the world, you have every right to be different than most people."
Kelly sat back in her chair, her mind whirling. She really didn't care who International Rescue was; all she cared about was the guy who'd saved hers and Mari's lives not dying because of it. But here she was being told that Scott's, and therefore Virgil's, last names were 'Tracy,' and that there were at least two more brothers beyond that, and that the family owned the biggest company in the world.
"Okay, we might as well do the interview right here and now, and then I'll have a transplant coordinator get all your basic information like your identification and social security number. After, we'll schedule you for the medical tests and the psychological evaluation."
"Okay," Kelly said, half her mind still on the question of a rich family named Tracy.
Because while she didn't travel in the circles of the wealthy, other than by sometimes helping them with huge cash withdrawals or deposits made at her teller window at the bank where she'd worked for five years, you'd have to have been living in a cave your whole life not to know how the name 'Tracy' equated to the largest company in existence.
Could it be? She wondered, as Juanita fiddled with her microcomputer. All the facts pointed in that direction, but…was it really possible that International Rescue was actually comprised of the family members of…Jeff Tracy?
Author's Note: Thank you to those who've been reviewing, speculating, pointing things out, etc. It's all great fun to read, and I do appreciate hearing from you! I think most of the medical pipe-laying is out of the way now, so onward and upward (and best wishes for poor Scott!).