Six Degrees of Seperation Isn't Far Enough

by Criminally Charmed

Disclaimer - Don't own. 'Nuff said.


Chapter Eleven

Seeing the devastated look on her father-in-law's face at Alan's frantic pronouncement, Emily sat on the other side of the bed and gently stroked one of Alan's arms, drawing the teenager's attention.

"Alan," Emily said gently. "We need you to calm down. Can you do that for me, Sweetie?"

Rocking slightly, still obviously terrified, Alan nodded. "Yes," he breathed out, trying desperately to calm himself. Jeff and Emily continued to hold onto him, speaking in soft, soothing tones.

Glancing back at the other doctors, Emily received their nods of approval before taking the lead.

"Sweetie, you've been in an accident," Emily said, deciding not to use the word "explosion" in order to allow Alan to recall the incident on his own.

"I was?" Alan asked, obviously confused. "The last thing I remember is flying to New York with Dad…Dad! Dad, are you OK? Did I crash the plane?"

"The plane didn't crash, Alan," Jeff said softly. "And I wasn't with you when you got hurt. I was finishing up the meeting."

"I – I was supposed to wait in the apartment," Alan recalled. "Did I fall or something?"

"It's best if you recall things on your own, Alan," Dr. Wetherall began, stopping when Alan became panicky at the strange voice.

"Alan, it's alright," Emily said. "This is Dr. Wetherall, he was the doctor who has been treating you here at the hospital. You're in New York Presbyterian."

"You worked with the program here while in pre-med, right, Em," Alan recalled.

Emily nodded before realizing Alan couldn't see that. "Yes, Sweetie. I did my pre-med at Columbia University."

"I've been here several years," Dr. Wetherall mentioned. "I can't recall you being here."

Alan gave a watery chuckle. "Well, she graduated Columbia when she was fifteen."

"Seriously?" Wetherall commented, surprised. When Emily just shrugged and smiled shyly, he shook his head. Obviously, Dr. Tracy was as smart as he had been told.

"Alan," Dr. Simone stepped forward. "Alan, I am Dr. Simone. I am a neurologist."

"So I hit my head," Alan correctly surmised. "Concussion or skull fracture?"

Surprised, Dr. Simone looked at Emily with a raised eyebrow before answering Alan. "A mild skull fracture."

"But a cracked skull is still a cracked skull," Alan said morosely. "Is that why I can't see? Is – is that why I'm blind?"

"Sweetie," Emily said as she rubbed his hand between hers. "There's a blood clot in your head. It may be causing some pressure up there."

"Will – will I need surgery?" Alan asked, obviously scared at the prospect.

"We do not think so," Dr. Simone replied. "Now, we will monitor you for a day or so, then, if your family has the facilities they assure me they do, I believe you can be discharged to home. But there must be great caution taken. Not only from the head injury. In order to try and dissolve the clot without surgery, we will be placing you on blood thinners -"

Alan interrupted. "So minor bruising or cuts have the potential to be serious, even life-threatening, right?"

Dr. Simone smiled. "Your sister-in-law is teaching you a bit about medicine, hmm?"

Leaning towards his father, Alan just shrugged, trying – and failing – not to wince at the pain the movement caused. Actually, Alan had learned a lot about emergency medicine from Virgil. Lately, Emily and Sarah Jane had been teaching him as well but most of what he knew was from watching his middle brother at work.

Just then, a nurse stuck her head in the room. "Dr. Wetherall – you're needed in the ED. Oh, and Dr. Tracy, um…Your husband is in there as well."

"What?" came from all three Tracys, with Emily leaping off the bed – as well as a pregnant woman could – a hurrying down the hall.

"I am sure your brother is fine, Alan," Dr. Simone said in a comforting tone when she saw the teen's distraught expression. "Dr. Wetherall is heading down there. In the meanwhile, I would like to run some more tests and get you started on the blood thinners. We need to test several times before I would be comfortable letting you go home. So rest, and I will set up the tests."

Once he heard the door shut, Alan leaned back into his father's embrace. "Dad?" Alan whispered.

"Yes, Alan," Jeff said gently.

"I'm scared," Alan admitted tearfully, the only person he would really admit that to being the one who was now holding him.

"So am I, Allie," Jeff admitted. "So am I."

As Alan broke into sobs, his father continued to hold him, almost grateful that his son couldn't see the tears pouring down his own face.


"You Tracys," Daria snapped. "Can't you stay out of trouble when you come to New York? I have enough work on my plate."

"Hey," John protested. "A knife-wielding mad-man was so not on my agenda today."

Dr. Wetherall came in a side entrance to the treatment area, following a nurse who led him back to where the nut-job's victim was lying down, mildly sedated. Emily Tracy came in on his heels and threw herself at her husband.

"John," she gasped. "Are you alright? Where are you hurt? Why aren't you lying down?"

"Um, Emmy," John said, "I wasn't the one hurt."

"Your husband decided to put himself between some nut case with a knife and his would-be vic," Daria snapped.

"Hey, I disarmed the jerk and protected the guy, right?" John protested.

"You're not supposed to be doing that!" Emily growled. "You are the calm, rational one. Not the hot-head, not the impulsive one…"

"I was very calm and rational," John argued. "I calmly stood there and rationalized that I could get the knife away from him."

Emily was about to say something when a wave of vertigo nearly knocked her off her feet.

"Emmy," John said frantically as he grabbed her, gently setting her into a chair.

"I'm fine John," Emily protested weakly. Glancing up at Daria, she gave a small smile.

"Pregnancy induced hypertension," Emily shrugged. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, right," Daria said. "Had me on bed rest for three weeks because of it. I know how dangerous that can be."

Before Emily could say anything, a familiar voice drew her attention.

"I'm fine, Robert," Edward Eppes said as he started to pull his lab coat back on. Seeing the blood on the sleeve, he set it aside. "Thanks to that, um – well, whoever he was…"

Edward stilled and then moved forward. "And there's my hero. Are you a cop or something?" Edward asked with a grin

"No, he's not," Emily said in a surprised voice.

Edward whipped around, stunned to see Emily sitting there. "Emily, Emily Haas?" he said in shock.

"Actually," Emily said as she stood, clutching her husband's hand, "it's Emily Tracy now."

Seeing the woman he still had deep feelings for holding hands with the man who had probably saved his life robbed Edward of all intelligent speech. Trying to recover, he looked Emily over and smiled sadly.

"I always knew you'd look beautiful like this," Edward murmured.

Seeing confusion on her husband's face, Emily squeezed John's hand and smiled. "John, this is Dr. Edward Eppes. Edward, this is my husband, John Tracy."

Edward nodded, holding out his hand. "Congratulations, Mr. Tracy – you're a lucky man."

"Thank you," John said calmly. "But you should call me John. With the way things are going between your cousin and my brother, we could end up as family soon."

"Family," Emily gasped. "John, Alan is awake."

"He's awake," John said in delight. "C'mon – I want to see him."

Leaving the room, Emily grasped John's hand. "Starman – we need to talk before we head up there. There's something you need to know."


"Why haven't they called?" Scott asked for what had to be the hundredth time since his brothers had retrieved him from the space station. In the end, both Virgil and Gordon had gone up to the space station, figuring it could take both of them to keep Scott calm until they got back to Earth.

"Well," Gordon said in a pseudo-cheerful tone, "you know the old saying – no news is good news."

"Or not," the middle Tracy brother said.

Virgil had stopped dead in his tracks at that moment, seeing Kate standing at the entrance to Three's silo. The tears filling her dark brown eyes looked strange to the brothers. Kate's eyes truly were a reflection of her soul, whether showing joy, anger or love. But at that moment there was a level of heart-break in them that no one on the Island had ever seen.

Scott moved quickly to her side, pulling her in close. "Katie?" he whispered. "What is it?"

"A-Alan is in the hospital," Kate responded, "New York Presbyterian. Your dad's PA – Ann-Marie? – called. The hospital won't give out information -"

"The hell they won't," Scott growled, ready to stalk off until Virgil put a hand on his arm.

"If Dad is there -" he broke off, turning to Kate. "Dad is with him right? And not…Not as a fellow patient, right?"

When Kate nodded, Virgil continued. "They'll only talk to Dad. And he or Johnny will call us soon. Did you talk to Emily and John?"

Kate nodded again. "They are on their way to the hospital. Emily is already in touch with the doctors treating Alan. She said she'll have John call once they know Alan's condition. But he's alive, so-"

"OK," Scott sighed. "Let me go change and then we'll wait on a call."

When Kate didn't follow the brothers, the trio turned back to her. "Katie?" Scott questioned. "What else is there?"

Kate sucked in her breath. "Three people were caught in the explosion. Some summer hire, he went to the hospital along with Alan. But the third person was killed in the initial blast." Turning slowly to face Gordon, Kate took a step forward.

"Gordon, Lisa is dead. She 's gone."

Gordon became deathly pale, and he felt like he had been swimming against the ocean current for days, numb and beaten. He didn't even react when his brothers led him back to the house, blindly changing before following his family back to their father's office to do the hardest thing of all.

Wait.


John looked down at Emily's face, concerned about the stress she had to be under. A part of him was also a bit jealous. He had known about Edward Eppes but seeing the good looking man, who Emily had once been involved with, bothered him on some level. Especially as it was clear that the physician still had feelings for Emily, even after she had married and was carrying her husband's baby. Had the good Dr. Eppes once pictured Emily as Emily Eppes, the mother of his children?

"OK, out of all the people I have to save is my wife's ex-boyfriend who just happens to be the cousin of the woman who will probably marry my older brother," John thought. "What is this – a game of six degrees of Kevin Bacon?"

"John?" Emily looked at him in concern. "John, I have to tell you something before we go upstairs."

"OK, Emmy," John said. "What is it? I want to see Alan."

"I know," Emily agreed. "It's about Alan. Now this is probably just temporary. There needs to be more tests run, of course. But you need -"

"I need to see Alan," John interrupted before sighing. "Sorry, Emmy," he apologized.

"Like I was saying," Emily continued. "You need to know something before going in. You heard us discussing the blood clot, right? That it was significant but not an immediate threat and that blood thinners should be the safer route than surgery." When John nodded in agreement, Emily went on.

"Well, a clot such as Alan's, combined with the fracture of the skull, can cause cranial pressure, leading to complications."

"In English, Emmy," John said in frustration. "What's wrong with the Sprout?"

"Alan is blind, John," Emily said gently.

John bent his head and started to turn away until Emily grabbed his arm and forced him to face her. The tears running down his face broke her heart and she pulled her husband into her arms.

"Let it out, John," she whispered, feeling her usually stoic spouse break down in her embrace. "I'll be right here, Starman." Feeling the baby kick, Emily smiled as she whispered, "We both are."

John had felt his unborn child move in his wife's belly and he smiled. Reaching down a hand, he pressed it against Emily's stomach and whispered, "It'll be ok, baby. It will be ok."


Flint pulled the car he had stolen a few blocks from the hospital into an alley behind the building where they had been staying. Pulling out the disposable cell phone they had acquired in, he thought, Des Moines, Flint called Mitchell.

"Mitchell?" he asked as soon as the phone was picked up on the other end.

"Flint? Where the hell are you? They are running an alert of you being in the area."

"I'm in an alley behind the building. Run everything down here and we'll get going."

"I'm gonna wanna a full story once we get to our new safe house, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Flint growled. "Let's get moving. Like you said – once they tie the kid in to the attack, the cops will be all over the place."

Within ten minutes, essentials had been loaded into the stolen vehicle and the men were driving away, set to plot a new way to cause as much mayhem as possible.


John stood outside of his little brother's room, forcing himself to breath slow and steady.

Placing a delicate hand on her husband's arm, Emily gave an encouraging smile. "Remember John – stay positive. Now while nothing is set in stone, the chances that this is temporary are very good. You need to be strong for Alan."

"Emmy," John smiled sadly. "I've been doing that my whole life. Nothing new there." Kissing her gently, John took his wife's hand and together they went into Alan's room.

Alan was lying in their father's arms, his eyes closed but the trails of tears staining his face. John forced the lump that had taken residence in his throat away as he sat on the other side of the bed.

Jeff looked up from his baby's face when he felt the bed take on additional weight. He gave a weak smile to John but before he could say anything, his second son began to speak.

"Hey, Sprout," John said softly.

"I'd like to say nice to see you John," Alan mumbled without opening his eyes. "But that isn't happening at the moment."

"Alan," John sighed as he brushed a hand over his younger brother head. "It will be alright. Emily said there is a really good chance that you'll get your sight back when the swelling and pressure go down."

"But by saying chance," Alan countered, opening his eyes which looked at a point beyond his brother's shoulder since he couldn't focus on John. "You are admitting that I may be blind for the rest of my life. So much for flying a rocket, huh?"

"Excuse me?" a new voice added.

The Tracys were shocked to realize that while they had been so caught up in the drama of the latest twist in their life, that someone had entered the room. Emily was the first to react.

"Edward," she said pleasantly. "Can I help you?"

Edward Eppes stepped forward. "Hi Alan – you don't know me, but I'm Dr. Edward Eppes, Kate's cousin. She mentioned you almost as often as Scott in her e-mails."

"She does?" Alan said, brightening for the first time since waking up.

"Yep," Edward said cheerfully.

Alan suddenly sat up. "Wait a sec – if you're Kate's cousin, that would make you Professor Eppes son, right?"

Edward chuckled. "You got it, kiddo. Uncle Don mentioned that you are a huge fan of Dad's books. His "Everything is Math" series has been a huge seller. Dad wants to meet you so he can give you a personalized copy of his latest book."

Closing his eyes, Alan curled back into his father's chest. "Think it has a Braille edition?"

"Not sure," Edward said evenly. "But it does have a cd version read by the author. Dad is really very animated when talking. His classes love him." Turning to John, he put his hand out.

"I just wanted to say thanks for the assist again. If I can do anything for you, let me know." As he shook John's hand, he gently spoke to Alan.

"You have quite the hero here for a brother. Saved me from a knife-wielding nut job."

"Are you OK, John?" Alan asked softly.

"Not a scratch, Sprout," John assured him.

"Don't call me Sprout," Alan grumbled, making the others smile. If Alan was arguing, he was healing.

"Well," John mused as he stood. "Now I have something really scary to do. I still have to call home."

"Good luck with that," Emily said cheerfully.

"Thanks," John sighed. "Sure I can't get you to do it?"

Emily just grinned and shook her head.

Edward and John left the room together, heading for the elevators. "Why," Edward asked, "is calling home so bad?"

"Kate's talked about her father," John said softly. Edward nodded, so John continued.

"You know how they say girls marry a guy who reminds them of their father?"

Edward stood stock still. "No – way. Don Eppes 2.0?"

"Or worse," John cheerfully countered.

Shaking his head, Edward entered the now open elevator in silence. He may have envied John Tracy for his wife and unborn child, but not for a brother cut from the same cloth as Don Eppes. His uncle's over-protectiveness and fierce nature was a thing of legend. Heaven could only help someone who had threatened his family.

And even that was questionable at best.


Scott Tracy was a strong person, a honest person, an honorable person…

He was not a patient person.

So when his second brother called, Scott had to fight his baser instincts to yell at John.

And when John told the gathered Tracys – and honorary Tracys in the Kyranos, Hackenbackers, Sarah Jane and Kate – that Alan was alive he was thrilled. But by the time John had finished telling them what else was happening, Scott was silent – and a silent Scott was never a good thing.

Shortly after John signed off, promising to call back with an update as soon as he could, Virgil and Sarah Jane took Gordon outside for a long talk, while the Kyranos and Brains left to try and comfort their children, both of whom were devastated by what was happening to Alan.

Scott remained at the windows of his father's office, staring at the rolling surf. He had always thought the bright blue waves had reminded his of his youngest brother's eyes, not only for the color but for the sparkle and wonder that had shone from their depth. It broke Scott's heart to think of looking into those eyes and not seeing the light that had always made them so beautiful.

He knew the others had left yet he could sense Kate was still there. So it was no surprise to him when he felt her arms encircle him from behind. Since Kate was almost as tall as Scott – as tall with heels – he was also not surprised to feel the weight of her head on his shoulder, a few stray curls tickling the side of his throat.

"I didn't protect my baby," Scott said softly. "I'm supposed to protect him."

Kate smiled. Scott really was a lot like her dad.

"My dad said that," Kate admitted. "After I was shot."

"Which time?" Scott asked wryly, knowing that Kate had also been shot last December by Jackson Mitchell.

Kate chuckled. "Last year he asked me if I had killed Mitchell. I told him no, that I knew just shooting him would create enough paperwork. No – I mean back when I was nine years old."

"You remember that?" Scott questioned.

"No," Kate admitted. "But Grandpa told me. And you know what brought him out of it?" When Scott shrugged, Kate continued.

"Uncle Charlie told him that I would need his love and support to get me through what happened, so stop feeling sorry for himself, get off his ass and be there for his baby."

"So what are you telling me?"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and be there for Alan," Kate shrugged. "I would have thought that was obvious."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Scott grumbled.

"Nope," Kate whispered. "But John and Emily are in New York with your Dad, so if you want me to make you feel better…"

Scott followed Kate to the smaller house across the way. Even if all it really was being held – more or less – it did help, but it was knowing that Scott finally had someone he could lean on in hard times that was really gave Scott the strength to continue, to be what the rest of the family would need – their rock.


A/N - Reactions are setting in, twists and turns are occuring...And I gotta get to work. Laters!