Alan Tracy had never been so frightened in his life. When his brother John had called, telling him to go to Mercy Hospital and check on a John Doe they had there, he'd left the hotel without a word. He'd broken just about every traffic law in New York in his need to get to the hospital in question.

Luck had been with him, and no cop had spotted him and he had made it in no time at all. He'd rushed in, and practically took off the head of the admissions officer who took more time than it had taken him to get there to tell him the John Doe was in the critical care ward on the third floor.

He couldn't stand still long enough to wait for the elevator, and had gone up the adjacent staircase, taking the steps three at a time. But now that he was outside of the ward in question, he'd come to a flat stop. His heart told him that if he opened the door, and didn't find his brother waiting for him on the other side, that he'd have to admit to the impossible, that his brother was dead.

Alan wasn't sure he could face that. Suddenly he wished he had brought his grandma with him. He stood staring at the door, unable to move. "Can I help you?"

Alan startled like a cat, jumping and spinning to face the owner of the soft voice. The middle-aged nurse reached out a hand to steady him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. Are you looking for someone?"

Alan's voice practically squeaked when he responded. "Uh, yeah. My brother. He's uh, missing, and I heard you had an unidentified patient. I wanted to see if it could be my brother."

The nurse nodded, her face full of compassion. "I understand. We do have that patient here, but before we go in, I want to warn you, he's had a tough time, and his face is badly bruised. He may not look much like what you expect your brother to look like."

Alan stiffened his spine. "I understand. Can I see him?"

"Sure. Let's go take a look."

The woman led the way into the darkened room. There were four beds. In the two immediately visible were elderly men, each surrounded by machines. Alan automatically catalogued the one as a heart patient, and the other as liver failure, evidenced by the yellowish tinge to his skin.

They rounded a curtain, and the nurse stood back, a questioning look on her face. Alan stared at the injured man in the bed, for a moment before his spine stiffened and he nodded once. "I'll need to see the doctor in charge."

The nurse's eyebrows lifted. "You're sure this is your brother?"

Alan speared her with a look. "Yes," he replied simply. "Please go get that doctor now. I need to inform my father."

If the nurse was surprised at the sudden change in Alan's demeanor, she didn't let on. With a nod, she said, "All right. Please don't use a cell phone in this room. There's the land line on the table. I'll get Dr. Gupta right away."

Alan waited until she was gone, then raised his communicator. Unlike a cell phone, Brains had designed the communicators not to interfere with other electrical equipment. "Alan Tracy to John Tracy, come in John."

The words were barely past his lips before John was there, pale-faced and fearful. "Well?"

Alan nodded briefly, "You were right, Johnny. He's in bad shape, but he's alive."

His brother gasped, and covered his mouth. Alan could see a sudden glisten in his eyes. Alan couldn't bring himself to smile just yet, so he nodded. "Listen, I've got to tell Dad. Can you do me a favor? Can you get a limo over to the Grand Hotel to pick up Grandma and get her over here?"

"Absolutely. Will she be out front, or will they need to go to her room?"

Alan licked his lips. "Um, well, that was the other part of the favor. I was hoping you'd call her and tell her. I, uh, kinda left in a hurry, and I didn't tell her where I was going."

Already feeling better, John smirked, "Chicken."

The elation of finding his brother finally started to sink in, and Alan found he could grin back, "Hey, you're the one who told me not to tell her, the least you can do is call her up for me. Besides, you're seven thousand miles away, she can barely blister your ears at this distance."

"Actually, we're on our way to you right now. As soon as Virgil told Dad the hatch was opened in New York, Dad decided we needed to be there. I'm at the back of the jet, in case, you know, the news wasn't good."

"Ah, cool. Once Dad knows the score, you can, like, arrange for a better hospital. This place is okay, but it has zero security, and I have no clue on whether the doctors are any good."

"Call Dad. I'll take care of the rest."

"FAB."

The brothers disconnected, but before Alan could place the second call, the door to the ward opened, and a short dark doctor entered. Wanting as much info for his father as he could get, Alan strode forward, reaching to shake the man's hand. "Doctor Gupta? My name is Alan Tracy. I understand you've been caring for my brother, Gordon, here."

"Yes, Mr. Tracy. Please come with me, we will find a place to talk."

Alan shook his head. "Just tell me here, Doc. I'm not leaving my brother."

The doctor pursed his lips, glancing at the other beds. Seeing the other patients were quiet, he took Alan by the arm, and moved over to the window. "Do you know where your brother was?"

Alan shook his head guilelessly, "No. He and I were in New York on business. He decided he wanted to see the Falls. I was watching the news this morning, and I saw there was an accident yesterday up here that International Rescue was called in for. When I couldn't get in touch with him, I came searching for him."

The doctor nodded. "Yes. The tour boat capsized. Your brother was apparently on board. He was found some way down river by a fisherman."

Needing to know what the locals were thinking, Alan feigned confusion, "Wait, I thought that International Rescue saved them all. Gordy wasn't with them?"

"You must understand, the waters below the Falls are very turbulent. It was believed that International Rescue did find all of the victims, but your brother was somehow washed down stream."

"Huh. Just his luck. Okay, so how bad is it, Doc?"

"Your brother is suffering from a compound break of the clavicle, and spiral break of the left humerus, but the most serious injury is a linear fracture of the occipital skull. This means…"

Alan held up a hand, "Doctor, I've had First Responder training. I know the terms. How bad is the skull fracture?"

The doctor frowned slightly. "It did not seem life threatening at first. There was some minor swelling of the brain, but not more than we expected. However, when your brother first regained consciousness some time ago, he was unable to speak. Now, it may simply pass, or it could be a more serious indication of brain damage. We won't know until we're able to run more tests."

Alan grimaced, his stomach clenching at the thought of his brother being permanently damaged. The doctor went on. "For now, we are more concerned with infection. Your brother swallowed a great deal of water, and pneumonia is a concern. The bruising that you see extends down his chest and abdomen. We are watching for signs of organ damage, but as you may know, that may not become apparent for several more hours."

Alan nodded. "Okay, thank you, Doctor."

"You are very welcome. Now, Mr. Tracy, if you will come with me, our admissions office needs information."

Alan shook his head. "I told you, I'm not leaving my brother. I've already called my family, and my grandmother will be here shortly. Once she's here, I'll go check in with admissions."

The doctor stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. If you need anything, please feel free to ask."

"Yeah, thanks, Doc." Alan turned away from the man, dismissing him, as he looked back down on his brother.

As soon as the doctor was out of the room, Alan once again raised his communicator. "Alan Tracy to Jeff Tracy. Dad?"

"Alan, good. Listen, son, your brothers and I are on our way to you. We have reason to believe Gordon was dumped in the area of the Falls. I want you to get onto the police, and get a search started. Brains believes a fifty-mile radius should do the trick."

"Not necessary, Dad. I've already found him." Alan had to talk over his father to get a word in edgewise.

"Now, your grandmother is going… What did you say?"

With his father's full attention, Alan smiled. "I've already found him. I'm here in his room at Mercy Hospital in Niagara. He's hurt, but he's alive."

With sounds of astonishment coming from Scott and Virgil, Jeff's eyes widened. After a moment, he said in a shaky voice, "Scott, take over. Let me see him, son."

Alan nodded, and pointed his communicator at the still figure in the bed. "He's got a broken arm and collarbone, and a hairline skull fracture. He's pretty much bruised all over. Doctor said he was found in the water, downstream from the Falls, so they've all just assumed he was in the boat accident. We're secure in that regard. They are watching him for pneumonia and internal injuries, but the big concern is the head injury. Apparently when he woke up a while ago, he couldn't talk. The doctors aren't sure if it's a permanent injury or not."

Alan couldn't see any reason to sugarcoat the truth. For now, his family would have to be content with one miracle at a time. Finishing his narration, he faced the communicator again. "Dad, I'm sure these doctors are competent, but…"

Jeff nodded. "I'll put in a few calls. Son, don't leave your brother until we get there, understand? It's unlikely that anybody will try anything, but I'm not taking chances. We'll be onsite in… six and a half hours. Is your grandmother all right?"

"I'm not sure. I left her at the hotel while I checked the hospitals. I've sent a car for her, but I haven't talked to her yet. She should be here any minute now."

"All right. Don't let her exhaust herself. Keep in touch."

"FAB, Dad."

He disconnected, but the communicator started flashing immediately. He started to lift it again, but aborted the movement when a nurse entered the ward. Alan frowned, realizing he had been left alone for almost half an hour. Considering this was the critical care ward, he felt the people charged with his brother's care were criminally negligent.

He watched as the nurse checked each of the elderly men before moving to Gordon's bedside. His anger caused him to snap, "Nice of you to bother."

"Excuse me?" The nurse frowned.

"You've left all three of these patients alone for over 30 minutes. The sign over the door says critical care. Unless I'm mistaken that means they deserve more of your attention than you apparently care to share."

The nurse stood up, red in the face. "You're Mr. Tracy, right? Well, let me explain to you. See that red light up there? That's the camera. See these electrodes here? These are all hooked up to monitors at the nursing station. Whether I am standing next to the bed, or sitting at the station, my patients are monitored twenty-four seven, and I would appreciate it, if you would not make judgements about things you know nothing about."

Alan stood stiff-faced as the nurse put him in his place. She was out the door before he could apologize. Sighing, he looked at his communicator, and said, "Hey, Virg, you okay?"

"Why didn't you answer? Is something wrong?"

"No, there's no change. A nurse came in is all. What can I do for you?"

Virgil seemed a loss for words, and Alan just nodded. "Okay, Gordon Cam is on the air."

Alan again directed his camera at his brother in the bed. The fact that Gordon hadn't moved at all was a niggle of worry, but Alan knew Virgil would be better for seeing his brother with his own eyes. After holding the communicator focused on his brother's face, Alan scanned it over to the monitor. "As you can see, the oxygenation is good. The heart rate is strong. Minor fever, but they are keeping an eye on that. Doc says he's bruised all over his body. Wanna take a gander?"

Alan moved his hand as if to lift the sheet covering his brother. Virgil growled, "Knock it off, Alan. So, he's really doing okay?"

"Yeah, well, as you can see, he's hooked up to all the monitors in the world, and none of them are beeping, so I'd have to say, he's doing okay."

"Thanks, Al. Listen, Dad's got TE security coming up to take care of things. It's already out on the wire services that he's there."

"That quick? Geez, I haven't even filled out the paperwork for the admission. How can they know he's THAT Gordon Tracy?"

Virgil shook his head. "Not sure. From the looks of it, they aren't sure themselves, but you can bet someone will show up sooner or later to check."

"Yeah, okay. So, can I expect a call from Scott now?"

Virgil chuckled. "I think you're safe if you need to make a pit stop. He's flying while Dad's on the phone. Never knew this little old executive jet could break the sound barrier."

Alan smiled. "Tell him I could get more speed out of her."

Virgil just looked at him, then responded, "You can tell him yourself. Take care of Gordon for me."

"You've got it."

Alan signed off, then looked around the room, and found the ubiquitous hard plastic chair in a corner. He pulled it over to his brother's bed, and sat down, stretching his long legs out in front of him. He took Gordon's hand and just sat quietly.

When the door opened moments later, his head shot up, and he jumped up, ready to fend off any and all reporters. But the visitor stepping tentatively into the room was his grandmother. "Grandma! He's over here."

Alan moved quickly to escort the older woman to the chair. Ruth's eyes were red-rimmed, evidence of her tears. Alan reassured her anxiously, "He's okay, Grandma. I mean, he's going to be. He's banged up, and he's got some broken bones, but he'll be fine, you'll see."

Ruth ran a finger under her eye to wipe away an errant tear, then smiled at her grandson. "Baby, I'll never doubt you again."

The elderly woman turned and placed her soft hand on her grandson's forehead, the movement turning to a gentle caress of the unbruised side of Gordon's face. Her breath hitched at the sight of the bruises and bandages.

Alan stood back, but felt he had to speak. "He's got a broken arm and collarbone and a hairline skull fracture. It's no worse than that time Virg got hurt playing football. You know how tough Gordy is. If he can survive a four hundred mile-an-hour hydrofoil crash, this is going to be a piece of cake."

Ruth turned back to her youngest grandson. "Alan, you settle down now. I can see you're trying to convince yourself as much as me. We'll just take this one day at a time."

His grandmother's words calmed Alan like a soothing balm. He took a deep breath and relaxed. "You're right, of course. Um, you know Dad's on his way, right? Okay, I just talked to Virgil, and he says there's already a report on the news wire that Gordon is here. I need to go fill out admission papers, but I don't want you to have to deal with any sneaking reporters. If anybody shows up, just walk away, okay? I'll deal with them when I've done the paperwork."

Ruth eyed her grandson shrewdly. "Sweetheart, did you promise your father that you would stay with Gordon until he got here?"

"Well, yes, but I'm not going far, just to the admissions office."

"No. You stay. Now that I've seen him for myself, I will go take care of the paperwork."

Alan was torn. He really wanted to be in the room in case Gordon woke up. But on the other hand, he felt a strong sense of responsibility, as if having been the only one who never doubted his brother's survival, he was now somehow obligated to make sure he was well taken care of.

Ruth resolved her grandson's dilemma by simply walking out of the room. Alan frowned and huffed in annoyance, but turned back to his brother. He once more sat down, and took Gordon's hand. It bothered him that his brother never so much as twitched a finger. He stared at their intertwined hands for a moment then looked up at a soft sound from one of the other beds.

The elderly heart patient was awake and staring at Alan with watery blue eyes over a full respirator mask. Alan smiled to acknowledge the contact, but the man was obviously out of it, his eyes remaining unfocused. Within moments, the nurse that Alan had offended was at the man's beside, speaking loudly to him, trying to elicit any kind of response.

The man, despite his open eyes, gave no indication of consciousness, and after a several attempts, the nurse stilled, looking down on the man with real sadness. She patted his hand with real regret, then turned to the other elderly man, checking him carefully, straightening the pillow, and a wisp of the man's hair.

Alan saw what he hadn't before, a caring woman who did her best for her charges. When she finished with the man, she moved stiffly, with apparent resolve, to Gordon's bedside, never once looking up at Alan. Alan watched her then sighed, "Excuse me, Miss…"

The nurse never took her eyes from Gordon, every inch of her body showing her annoyance, but she bent enough to respond shortly. "Grainger."

Alan wasn't much of one for groveling, but under the circumstances, he swallowed his pride. "Miss Grainger. I want to apologize for before. You were absolutely right. I was sticking my nose in. For what it's worth, I'm heartily ashamed of myself. I just… he's my brother, and… well, I thought he was… Aw, crap. I'm sorry. You were right and I was wrong."

The woman looked up and speared Alan with a look, as if judging his sincerity. Suddenly she relaxed and nodded. "I accept your apology, Mr. Tracy. I probably shouldn't have taken such offense. I guess I'm a bit tired."

Alan smiled. "I understand tired. I'm pretty wiped myself. Although, I hope you'll call me Alan. My dad and brothers are coming, and if you try Mr. Tracy on all of us, you'll cause mass confusion."

Nurse Grainger smiled. "All right, Alan. You can call me Deanie."

"Deanie?"

The woman scrunched up her face. "Yes. My parents stuck me with Gurine, and my younger brother pronounced it 'Dean' when we were young, and it stuck."

That bit of personal information eased the awkwardness between them and Alan relaxed, nodding. "Okay, Deanie. Um, I might as well let you know now, my dad is Jeff Tracy, of Tracy Enterprises, and we're likely to have Gordon moved to a private hospital as soon as possible." Seeing incipient anger blossom in the nurse's eyes, he hurried on, "Not because of any lack of care here. Far from it. It's just that once the press finds out Gordon is here, you'll be swamped with paparazzi. Not good for the other patients, you see?"

Deanie's eyebrows climbed. She looked down at the bed, and a light of recognition dawned. "Oh my God, your brother is Gordon Tracy, the swimmer."

Alan smiled ruefully, "Yeah. Olympic gold and all that. But as far as I'm concerned, he's just Gordon Tracy, the brother. And my best friend."

The nurse still had stars in her eyes. "And you say your father will be coming here?"

"Oh yes, Jeff Tracy, the astronaut, is on his way as we speak. As are Scott Tracy, the fighter pilot, Virgil Tracy, the engineer and John Tracy, the astronomer. For the record, I'm Alan Tracy, the race car driver. But you know, we're all really just people."

Deanie's smile turned wry. "You have to put up with a lot of star-struck fans, huh?"

Alan shrugged. "Yeah, sometimes. It's okay, though. You can ask my dad for his autograph if you want. He's pretty good about that, especially when he realizes you've been taking care of Gordy for us."

"That's okay, I'm over it." Deanie twitched the blanket covering Gordon one more time, then with a proprietary pat, nodded to Alan and headed for the door. "I'll check back in a while."

"Okay, thanks." Alan watched her leave, deciding he liked the woman. Still, he hoped she wouldn't capitalize on the information she now had by calling the local news. Alan had learned long ago, that you could never be sure how people would react to the presence of a celebrity. He looked over at his brother, and rolled his eyes.