~#~ (Chapter 21)

Several hours later Alan was up, dressed and wandering around the house pondering the lack of any immediate family members. Armed with a mug of coffee the youngest Tracy boy ambled slowly towards the sickroom and slid the door open.

Luckily for everyone sleeping inside, Alan had an uncharacteristic flash of forward thinking and paused before blundering into the room. He spotted the sleeping bag on the floor at his feet and leaned over the occupant to discover that it was John. The elder blonde boy was curled up in the bag, fast asleep with only the top of his forehead and his mop of golden hair on view.

Alan shrugged to himself and stepped carefully over his brother and into the sickroom. He stood in the centre of the room, took a sip of his coffee and took stock of everyone. Virgil, he noticed with a grin, had kicked the covers off the cot and was lying in an untidy heap in the middle of his bed by the window. The bedcovers lay on the floor beside him and Alan chuckled quietly to himself when he saw that the artist had managed to lose one of his socks at some point during the night.

Scott was lying flat at the foot of Jeff's bed looking, for all intents and purposes, like a shaggy, heavily bristled guard dog. He was lying flat on his back with an arm across his eyes and was half in and half out of his sleeping bag, snoring softly. Jeff, in complete contrast to his sons, was neatly tucked into his bed. He, like the other three, was fast asleep and his breaths were deep and even. His bed looked barely disturbed and Alan frowned as he tried to decide whether it was a good or bad thing that it was still tidy.

His musing over the state of Jeff's bedcovers was broken when his eyes strayed from his father onto his final brother. Gordon was lying quietly in his bed with his eyes at half-mast and he was watching Alan with a dopey smile on his face. Alan returned the smile and crept nearer in order to speak to Gordon without disturbing the others.

"Hey," he whispered. "Man, it's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

Gordon reached up and clumsily patted Alan on the arm. "Been better," he whispered. "…and worse. All here?"

Alan frowned for a moment and then pulled back, looked around the room again and nodded. "Everyone's here. Virgil's over there," he pointed to the window. "Scott and Dad are behind me and John's turned himself into a big blue draft excluder over by the door."

A look of confusion crossed Gordon's face. "Draft 'cluder?"

"Excluder," Alan repeated. "Hang on, wait there a minute and I'll show you."

Alan pulled his phone from his pocket and crept back across the room. Silently he used the phone to take a picture of John and then took it back and held it up to Gordon.

Gordon grinned. "John slug. Why?"

Alan paused again. "Why?" he repeated. "You're asking me? How would I know? It looks like everyone's been playing a game of musical beds during the night and that someone forgot to send me an invite. How long's everyone been in here and why are they here? Did you wake up before now or something? Like at some point during the night?"

There was a long silence as Gordon tried to pick out even the vaguest of memories that would tell him if he'd been conscious before opening his eyes and spotting Alan. "'member something," he murmured. "'gil said no move. 'gil tell off, said Dad…" Gordon's forehead crumpled slightly and his eyes became moister than they had been. "Dad, Al. Where's Dad?"

Alan stepped aside so that Gordon could see Jeff, who was still peacefully sleeping in the other bed. "I already told you he's here," he murmured. "…and he's fine. The bruising's barely visible now and he's managing to get about without too much trouble. He's a bit slower than normal but Brains, Virgil and Doctor Levenson are all keeping their eyes on him."

"Bruising?" Gordon replied. "Hurt?"

Alan nodded. "Yeah. He…um…he…"

"He fell." Scott's whispered reply sounded loud in the quiet room as he rolled over and then clambered out of his sleeping bag. He climbed to his feet, crossed the room and flicked his hand at Alan to tell the blonde to get out of his way. Alan rolled his eyes and wandered around to the other side of Gordon. Scott then perched on the edge of Gordon's bed. "He fell, Gords. That's all. There's nothing to worry about. OK?"

Gordon clearly wasn't convinced but wisely chose to remain silent. After a short while he blinked hard and sighed. "Doctor Levenson? Fixed. What 'appened? Why fix?"

Scott sighed. "You fell apart," he replied softly. "With the virus and the coughing and…everything, you literally fell apart." Scott looked up at the two scan pictures that were pinned to the wall above Gordon's head and realised that his brother had no way of seeing them from where he was lying. "Brains' idea was good, Al," he muttered. "…but I've just found a very serious flaw in his plan."

Gordon frowned up at his brother. "Not making sense. What on about?"

Scott stood up, leaned over Gordon and gently pulled the scans off the wall. He turned around and perched back on the bed beside Gordon but this time facing the same way as his brother. He held the 'before' scan up so that Gordon could easily see it. "Exhibit A." he murmured. "…or 'before'."

Gordon squinted at the scan for a moment until Alan realised the problem and leant over to switch on one of the tiny reading lights above his head. Gordon blinked hard several times and then attempted another look at the picture which Scott was patiently holding in front of him. "Wow," he whispered. "Mess."

Scott nodded gently and smiled. "Yes it was. This though…" he laid the 'before' scan down and held up the 'after' shot. "…this looks much better, don't you agree?"

"Better," Gordon repeated. "Walk? Doctor Levenson said walk. I 'member."

Scott nodded again. "He said that everything was fixed, as far as he could tell but that until he got you up and moving, he wasn't going to know for certain and no, you're not going to be getting up any time soon."

There was a rustle behind Scott as Jeff stretched himself and then swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "You have another week before Doctor Levenson will even contemplate unstrapping you," he said softly. "..but you won't be alone and we'll do our very best to keep you amused."

A ghost of a smile crossed Gordon's face as he slowly rolled his head towards his father. "An' I keep Gran'ma amused."

Jeff smiled back and reached up to rub his neck. "Exactly, although as I said earlier, she won't be back for a few days. Either Virgil, Johnny or Scott can go an fetch her. Alan, you and Tin-Tin started all of this so if you don't mind, I'd rather keep you both here."

Alan blushed slightly. "I hadn't thought of it like that. Sorry for breaking you, Gordy. You too, Dad."

Gordon attempted to reach over and pat Alan's arm. The young blonde worked out what his brother was trying to do and leant towards him so he didn't need to reach so far. Gordon's lack of coordination meant that he couldn't react quickly enough to the movement though and he ended up poking Alan in the eye instead.

Unable to stop himself, Alan yelped loudly and then clamped his hand across his mouth before he could let out another sound. Virgil let out a loud snort, rolled over without waking and then fell quiet again. Scott and Alan turned their attentions to John and frowned at one another when they realised that he was no longer slumbering by the door.

"Where'd he go?" Alan asked. "He was there a few minutes ago. I know he was."

~#~

The door to the sickroom swished quietly open and John, wearing his usual garishly-patterned dressing gown, stepped through, carrying a tray of plates piled high with pancakes and toast. He was followed by Kyrano who was holding another tray, this one loaded with coffee, mugs, a jug and a sugar bowl.

Scott hurriedly cleared the over-bed table at the end of Jeff's bed so that John and Kyrano could put the trays down. He nodded approvingly when he realised that Kyrano's tray also held some weak-looking fruit juice contained in a bottle with a sports cap. He plucked the bottle from the tray and stepped back over towards Gordon. "Here," he said softly. "You remember this from last time? Take it slow. Sip it and don't choke yourself."

Gordon gave a fraction of a nod and held his hand out for the bottle. Scott helped him to grip it and then supported most of the bottle's weight while his brother took a drink.

Gordon sighed appreciatively and then rolled his eyes when he realised that everyone was watching him. "Good," he murmured. "Drink good. You drink. All. Where 'gil?"

"He's still asleep, Gordon," Jeff chuckled. "I swear that boy could sleep through anything. Alan, you're nearest. Do the honours."

Alan looked from his father to Virgil and back again. "You want me to wake him up?"

Jeff nodded. "That was the general idea, yes. Get him up or he'll miss out on the pancakes."

"If you say so." Alan shrugged and then moved across to the cot and pinched Virgil in the centre of his bare foot. Virgil twitched slightly but didn't wake so Alan repeated the move but this time with his fingernail pressed into the sole of Virgil's foot as well as his thumb.

Virgil whimpered and tried to crawl away from the annoyance that was his little brother but soon ran out of cot and for the second time that morning, found himself in a heap on the floor.

He sat up, rubbed his right eye with the base of his hand and then looked up to find a grinning Alan holding a hand out in his direction. He grabbed the hand, hauled himself to his feet and very deliberately knocked Alan's knees out from beneath him so that the younger Tracy fell into an ungainly heap on the cot. He looked across at Jeff, winked and leant down to pull Alan back to his feet. "Consider that payback," he whispered and then looked in the direction that Alan nodded and noticed that Gordon was awake.

Virgil strode away across the room, hopping slightly as he pulled off his one remaining sock. "Hey," he murmured as he stopped beside his brother's bed. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long. Ev'y one else sleep. Al came say 'Hi', then 'cott, Dad, John. Coffee, 'gil, drink. Pancakes."

Virgil turned around to find Kyrano holding a mug out towards him. He took a sip, sighed appreciatively and then sat down on the bed, level with Gordon's knees. Scott handed him a plate and then moved back up the bed to help Gordon take another drink.