Desolation, Destruction, Danger and Despair.
Summary. . . . . . . . . . The mood is somber, it's not a good day, and it's about to get worse as a call comes in for help.
Disclaimer. . . . . . . . . Not mine just loaning, I promise to return in one piece . . . . . . . well eventually, and maybe dented a little bit.
A.N. . . . . . . . . . . . It seems as though I have an apology in every chapter I write these days, but this one I wish with all my heart I didn't have to write. This chapter had been sitting on my laptop, ready to be fine-tuned and posted, when I got an emergency call from back home stating that my Mum was seriously ill and I needed to return asap; I made it home, but unfortunately my Mum never awoke and passed peacefully a few days later. She loved Thunderbirds and this story was originally started as a birthday gift for her, to be finished and presented to her in May of next year, the only work of mine she never got to read, so in her honor I dedicate this chapter, and all future writings to her, and pray that wherever she's now resting she finds this story and it brings her the enjoyment my other works did when she was here. Gillian x
A.N.2. . . . . . . . . . . Thanks to all who took time out to read the last chapter, and to those who reviewed also. Here's chapter 10, I hope that you enjoy this one also. Peanut x
Scott ran a weary hand over his face, as he checked the numbers for what seemed like the thousandth time, dismay clear within his eyes as he noted that yet again there had been no change to his brother's condition, he could only be thankful that Virgil had so far not gotten any worse on the long trip back home. He glanced at his watch, wanting to rip the device from his wrist when it told him only five minutes had passed since he had last checked; only the fact that it held the communicator stopping him from doing so, he wanted something close at hand should his sibling's fragile state shatter even more.
He fought back sleep, fought against the exhaustion that wanted him to surrender, to lay his body down upon the bed next to his brother's in Thunderbird 2's sick bay. Instead he tried to focus on his youngest brother flying his own precious Bird back home, and the payback he would inflict if Alan so much as put a scratch upon her; but that thought brought him little joy, not while Virgil was laid up as he was, and with little else to think off, his mind wandered back to the mine, and their desperate dash to get Virgil out of there.
True to his Father's words, Gordon and Alan had turned the corner within minutes of Scott shutting down communications with the island; the three siblings working efficiently together to prepare Virgil for the trauma of the trek ahead, although Scott's anger threatened to surface as yet again as the medical scanner he had requested Gordon to bring once more refused to work, Brain's concluding that there must be something in the mine interfering with it, leaving the Tracy's still in the dark as to what was going on in the middle brother's torso. In the end they all agreed they would have to take the chance and move Virgil anyway; they needed to get him back to the big green rescue craft and its state of the art medical bay, and after that they needed to get him home.
The journey back up through the mine was a tortuous experience for all concerned; Virgil moaning pitifully each time he was jostled, his equilibrium thrown off by the numerous shots he'd taken to his head, so that with each unsteady gait the others made, nausea rose once more within him and set back off the chain reaction he had suffered earlier, pain quelling sick, pain quelling sick; Scott cursing up a string as he was powerless to take his siblings pain away, unwilling to risk giving the injured man anything too strong until they returned to Thunderbird 2, he needed him drug free should the scanners there show up the need for surgery; Gordon and Alan, stoically trudging along, each taking some of their siblings weight, each dismayed and a little scared, Gordon in particular, never having seen a brother this injured before, never having seen his oldest sibling's calm façade fall before.
It was a relief to all concerned when they finally reached the opening Virgil had first made with the Mole, all three walking brother's glad when they glanced down and found Virgil to be unconscious once more; whilst the winch back up would be smooth, getting him over the lip at the end would not be. Virgil though stayed under through the process, stayed under through the trip back up to the surface in the Mole, even stayed under as they emerged into the darkness of a Russian night. Brains and TinTin were there to meet them, just as their Father had predicted; the engineer, in a move that when they looked back later would surprise them all, quickly taking over control, ordering a shaken Alan to pack up Mobile Control and fly Thunderbird 1 back to base, before asking an equally shaken Gordon to do the same with the Mole and Thunderbird 2; Tintin would fly back the untraceable private jet they had flown there, leaving himself to help the oldest Tracy son take care of Virgil. Moving to help Scott, they'd made their way quickly into the med bay; Scott stifling a sigh of relief when all equipment worked as it should do, and his sibling finally could be checked out thoroughly.
The list of injuries, when Brains had finally finished read like a medical journal, some Scott knew about, other's leaving him reeling. Broken ribs that had caused a partial lung collapse and some internal bleeding, though at the moment not life threatening; damage to the tricep muscle of his left arm, the wound showing major signs of infection despite Scott's best attempts as cleaning it, with no flesh left to stitch close the wound a skin graft would have to be made, and a disfiguring scar a permanent reminder; a broken right ankle; damage to the calf muscle on the same leg, thirty stitches required to close the wound site; three separate head injuries, one of which was causing Brains some concern, as it bled slowly into Virgil's brain, a monitor keeping check over it, as all concerned prayed the bleed would stop itself and Virgil wouldn't have to go under the knife; severe concussion, Virgil's pupil's drastically uneven and sluggish to respond to light; three broken fingers; another open wound to Virgil's back that Scott had missed and was now reprimanding himself for; hypothermia, blood loss, low blood pressure, shock, the list went on with more minor injuries, but Scott had stopped listening. Brains had prepped his brother in Two's sick bay and inserted a chest tube to extract the air that had gather in Virgil's chest cavity, allowing the lung to re-inflate, setting his fingers and ankle, grafting and stitching his wounds at the same time; but Virgil was far from stable, was still in serious danger, and as the engineer cleaned himself up he added another problem to the mix; a severe risk of pneumonia setting in, an illness that concerned them all. Would Virgil have the strength to battle that too, along with everything else?
They'd set up the monitors to keep track of the brain bleed, covered the injured man in warming blankets, set up IV's to drain much needed blood and antibiotics, kept a constant check upon his blood pressure, and placed an oxygen mask upon his face; but so far it seemed to be doing little to revive the man. Virgil's stat's remaining the same, and to Scott who knew his brother best, it seemed as though Virgil was giving up, that his brother was refusing to fight back. He'd sat there ever since Brains had finished, gently wiping away the sweat that was pouring from Virgil's infected body, and talking softly to his sibling praying his words would get through, so caught up in his monologues he missed the engineer returning, only realizing he was there when the nervous man placed a hand upon his shoulder and spoke.
"We're approaching the island Scott, you have to prep and strap in for landing."
"I'll be alright here Brains. I don't want Virgil to be alone."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, you know the policy."
"Stuff the policy, I'm staying here."
"Scott, please."
"No Brains I'm staying here!"
Needing to get the man to his seat, Brain's used a low blow to get his message across. "And how do you think Virgil will feel if you got injured in the landing because you refused to leave his side?"
The result was instantaneous. Guilt, which Brains felt sorry for putting there, clearly written within Scott Tracy's eyes; but it got the reaction Brains needed. Scott brushing a cool cloth once more over Virgil's features before taking his seat and preparing for landing.
The minute they had touched down though, he was back up and at Virgil's side once more. His shoulders set, his game face on, and his mind prepared for the battle ahead. Virgil wanted to give up, Scott could tell, but the eldest Tracy wouldn't let him go without a fight, was prepared to do anything and everything to bring his brother back, and when he did he would put to rest once and for all Virgil's misplaced guilt over their mother's death; his brother had spent enough years, enough birthdays, in silence, alone and in the dark. It was time for him to shout out, see that there were people here who loved him, who never blamed him. It was time for him to come into the light and life once more, just like their mother would want him too.
To Be Continued. . . . . . . . . . . .
A.N. . . . . . . . . . . I hope this chapter was okay for you? I'm never the best with hospital and medical scenes, so please forgive me. Will be back soon with more. Peanut x