Disclaimer: see chapter one
AN: As usual, all medical stuff has come from the net, so it could be wrong. If it is, let me know, and I will correct it.
Also, my German is a little rusty, so I'm sorry if it is wrong. I tried to use BabelFish, but it can be unreliable at times, so I gave up.
Chapter Ten- Unexpected Rescue
Scott fidgeted and rolled over… again. It was the middle of the night, and Scott hadn't been able to get to sleep. Agitatedly, he threw off the covers, and flew out of bed, pulling a t-shirt on over his head.
"What's wrong?" Tash asked sleepily; she had stirred as he moved.
"Just can't get to sleep." Scott leaned down, and kissed her. "I'll be back soon."
Once he was satisfied that Tash was fast asleep, he went to the cot, to check on Melissa. Unsurprisingly, she was wide awake. Resiting her on his hip, he silently stepped into the living room, and his crystal blue eyes flicked to the balcony. He would have company tonight.
Alan sat on a chair, rocking his almost one month old son. "Have you seen anything new, John?"
John solemnly shook his head.
"Do you mind if I have a look?"
"Knock yourself out." John took Leroy out of Alan's arms, and Alan sat down behind the telescope.
He took one look in the telescope and blinked rapidly. Alan focused the telescope a bit, but it made no difference. "I can't see anything. There's too much cloud cover."
"That's because there is a storm heading our way." Scott explained, as he snuck up behind his brothers.
Alan jumped up, and spun around. "Don't do that."
"Do what?" Scott asked, puzzled.
"Sneak up on us." John cut in. "I think my heart's going at four hundred miles an hour."
"You'll survive, John. Don't be so melodramatic."
John leant back on a chair. "So, what are you doing up so early, Scott?"
Before Scott could answer, the emergency alarm blared round the villa.
Brains was on-board Thunderbird Five, doing routine checks and upgrades when the call came through. He stuttered out the situation to Jeff, who was already sitting behind his desk, after activating Base Control. "Thanks, Brains. Base out."
Jeff turned around and faced his team. "Multi-vehicular-accident in Germany. The emergency services need our help, as they can't get everyone out. The co-ordinates have already been sent into the Thunderbirds. It doesn't look good, so you'll need to leave as soon as possible. John, Thunderbird One, pronto. Virgil and Alan, Thunderbird Two."
He turned and faced Tash, knowing he faced a dilemma. Should he send his pregnant daughter in law out, or should he leave the emergency services on site to deal with the injured? He was leaning towards letting the emergency services deal with the mess, but deep down he knew that he couldn't do that. The emergency services had called them for help, and Jeff was damned if he wouldn't provide it.
Sensing his hesitance, Tash put him at ease. "It's fine, Dad. I'll go."
"Are you sure? Anything can happen out there; I'm sure you're aware of that."
Tash looked at Scott. "You're OK with this, right?"
"As long as you come back in one piece, safe and sound."
Tash nodded to Jeff. Her mind was made up. "The Thunderbirds need me, so I'll go. I'll have everyone else looking after me."
Jeff looked to Tin-Tin. "Go with her, and stay with her at all times. More likely than not, she will need the extra pair of hands."
Tin-Tin nodded, but she had a distinct feeling that Jeff was hiding something from her. "Yes sir!"
Thunderbird Two landed gracefully at the rescue site. The crew disembarked promptly, awaiting instructions from their Field Commander.
"Tash, Tin, set up triage over there." John barked from behind Mobile Control.
Virgil and Alan returned from putting on their safety gear and grabbing the appropriate equipment.
"John, inform Base that we are about to start rescuing." Virgil ordered, and promptly followed Alan.
Jeff twirled around to face Scott in his executive chair. "They're just about to start. John's doing a good job as Mobile Control."
"I know." There was a wistful note to Scott's voice.
"Scott," Jeff reasoned. "I know you want to go on rescues. But I won't compromise your health. I can't do that as your employer and your father."
"I know." Scott repeated. "But it doesn't mean that I can't wish to go on the rescue."
"No it doesn't." Jeff agreed, surprising Scott. He sprang off his chair, and sat heavily beside Scott on the cushiony sofa. "What treatment are you going to go with?
"Pentacibil. It's the one the doctor recommended."
"When are you going back?"
"Monday." Scott continued, just as Jeff opened his mouth. "Yes Dad, straight after the appointment, I will let you know everything."
Sparks were flying in the air like fireworks, corresponding with the regulated hiss of the oxyhinide.
"Alan, stop the gas." Virgil yelled into the headset. "We're too close to the victim with the gas. Fetch the Jaws of Life. We'll try and cut the roof off the car."
Alan was back in the blink of an eye, and he handed one pliers, nicknamed 'Jaws of Life' considering how many lives they saved, to Virgil. "On the count of three, Virg. One…."
"Two…."
"THREE!"
Virgil and Alan squeezed the two ends of the pliers, until the tips of their fingers went white. Their hard effort wore off, as the metal gave way. Alan pried the roof away from the chassis of the car, while Virgil assessed the driver.
"Alan, get an anti-gravity stretcher, and take him straight to triage."
Alan sprinted off to retrieve a stretcher, and Virgil informed Tash of the in-coming casualty.
Tash pulled on a pair of white gloves, ignoring the sensation of blood rushing through her head. "What're we dealing with, Alan?"
"Unconscious male. Definite broken wrist and suspected fractures on his ribs. Probable whiplash from his seatbelt, and several bruises and lacerations."
"OK, thanks." Tash pulled a small torch out from her pocket and shone it into his eyes. "Pupils reacting to light change. Tin-Tin," she called, while rubbing her forehead; "can you get me the portable X-ray machine please?"
Tin-Tin wheeled a smallish machine to Tash, and she proceeded to take several X-rays of the patient. Alan was right; he had broken his wrist in three places, and fractured a few ribs. She turned to face Tin-Tin. "You ready to do something?"
Tin-Tin nodded eagerly, only too glad to be of assistance.
"Great. Get your gloves on. We got to make some plaster casts and stitch him up."
Hours passed. Virgil and Alan wearily wiped sweat away from their brow.
"Thank God this is the last car." Alan muttered tiredly.
"Yeah, this was really tiring. I can't wait to get beck to Base and kick back with a beer."
"Ditto."
"Think Dad will let us skip the mission debrief, just once?" Virgil asked hopefully.
"Not a chance in hell. Since when has Dad postponed things voluntarily?" Alan responded dryly, as he pulled the door off the car body.
Knowing what Virgil would ask for, Alan grabbed a spine board, oxygen mask and neck collar. "I hope she has medical insurance."
Virgil gently shook the person, and thankfully she came around.
"Wie heißt du?"
Virgil looked blankly at Alan, while mentally cursing himself. Why had he chosen to learn Spanish at school?
Alan shrugged; the only language he took was French. He raised his wrist and activated the comm. link in his watch. "John, we have a slight problem, and you're the only one that can solve it."
"What?"
"We have a rescuee here, but she can't or won't speak English. It's making this difficult as she won't let us treat her."
"What's she saying?"
"'Wie heißt du.'"
John bit back a laugh. "She want's to know who you are. Patch me through." He could hear a very frantic call.
"International Rescue, Frau. Wir kommen helfen. Ich heiße John. Sprechen du Englisch?"
John heard a 'ja' and a sigh of relief.
"Alan, try again. She might be more accepting to treatment now she knows who we are. She can understand a bit of English, so use layman's terms."
"Thanks John. Alan out."
"FAB."
Carefully, Virgil and Alan managed to slide her onto the spine board, and carried her to the triage tent.
Tash and Tin-Tin had just finished dealing with the last casualty, when Alan and Virgil placed another victim on the last vacant bed.
"Conscious female. Suspected whiplash, and fractured spine, with possible paralysis. Says she can't feel anything past her waist. Also has embedded objects in her lacerations."
Tash began to assess the last patient, while Tin-Tin gave the brothers a much needed bottle of water.
"We'd better go help with the clean up. Thanks for the water." The two boys disappeared from the tent.
Tash stood up to wheel the X-ray machine to the bed the victim was lying on. As she stood up, the blood rushed through her head at two hundred kilometres an hour. She couldn't stand up straight. Luckily, Tin-Tin was right behind her, and caught her as she fell backwards.
Tin-Tin placed Tash in a chair. "Are you OK? I can get Virgil to check you out."
Tash shook her head grimly as she tried to stand up. "I'm fine."
Tin-Tin shot her a sceptical look, and restrained her from standing. "People who are fine don't normally have dizzy spells."
"I'm fine." Tash re-iterated. "I know exactly why that happened. And it's nothing to worry about."
"So, what's wrong?"
Tash rubbed a hand unconsciously over her slight, yet unnoticeable bump. "I'm just over two months pregnant."
"That's great!" Tin-Tin squealed. "Congratulations! What do you know?"
"Is this really the right time to be talking about this?" Tash indicated to the woman lying on the bed, still untreated.
"You're right." Tin-Tin agreed. "What do I do?"
"There's not much we can do. She'll have to go to hospital for further checks and spinal tests. Just treat the lacerations by removing the foreign objects and stitching them closed."
Tin-Tin pulled out some forceps and a dish, and began to remove glass from the wound.
"Since you want to know Tin-Tin, it's a boy."
John packed the last of the Mobile Control into Thunderbird One, and stretched. This had been a long rescue. He jogged over to Alan and Virgil, who were standing by Thunderbird Two. "Are you guys ready to go?"
They both nodded.
"Good. Get in your 'Bird. It's time to go home."
AN: As always, please review.