Disclaimer: As much as I wish I could lay claim to them, I can't. The Thunderbirds and those gorgeous Tracy brothers belong to others.

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When Gordon woke later, he was surprised by who was sitting across from him.

"Morning, sunshine," Scott said when he saw Gordon's eyes open and his younger brother sit up.

Gordon only glared, then looked at Virgil.

"He's been quiet," Scott said. "Hasn't moved an inch the entire hour I've been here. Brains came in a little while ago to give him that new medicine."

"You've been here for an hour?" Gordon asked.

Scott nodded. "Birds outside the window again."

Gordon nodded in understanding, Scott had that problem sometimes.

"What time is it, anyway?" Gordon asked.

Scott checked his watch, opting to forego the sarcastic comment. "Just after six. Look, if you want to go up and sleep in your bed, go. I'm staying put."

Gordon nodded. "Thanks, I didn't sleep too much last night."

The next person into the infirmary was Jeff, who came in a while later. After hearing that Gordon was upstairs in his own bed, Jeff took Gordon's chair.

"I've been down here for almost two and half hours and he hasn't moved an inch," Scott noted.

"Good," Jeff sighed. "I hope it's because the new pain medication is working well."

Scott nodded. "I take it you checked on John and Alan before you came down."

"John's in front of the computer with a cup of coffee and Alan's sitting right next to him with a mug himself. Onaha told me that they both grabbed some cereal when they were getting their coffee."

"You mind if I head up for some coffee and breakfast?" Scott asked his father.

"Not at all," Jeff laughed a bit and Scott left the room.

Virgil woke on his own later to find his father sitting next to him with a book in his hands. Seeing that his father seemed rather engrossed in his book, Virgil didn't disturb him. He just lied there, and his fingers were playing piano bits. Jeff's eyes flickered from the page when he saw Virgil's fingers moving.

"How long have you been awake for?" Jeff asked.

"Just now."

"Just so you know, John and Alan both slept enough and ate breakfast, Gordon's upstairs sleeping and Scott slept and is having breakfast now."

Virgil nodded with a small smile. "Good."

"How's the new medicine working?"

"Better."

"Good to hear," Jeff replied.

Virgil was soon asleep and Jeff continued the book. Upstairs, Scott finished his cereal and headed into the command area to find John and Alan sitting next to each other in front of the computer.

"Anything?" Scott asked when he came in.

Both only shook their heads. So Scott settled on a sofa and kept them company. It wasn't until almost noon that Gordon reemerged from his bedroom. He stopped in the command area for a few minutes before making his way to the kitchen. After grabbing some coffee and food, he headed down to the infirmary. Inside, Virgil was awake, listening to Jeff's recap of the book he was reading. And the soft classical music continued playing in the background.

"Mind a little more company?" Gordon asked from the doorway.

"Of course not!" Jeff said, while Virgil only shook his head.

Since Jeff was in his normal chair, Gordon took the other one. "What's going on?" he asked as he sat.

"Virgil just wanted to know what the book was about," Jeff answered.

Gordon nodded. "Have I missed anything?"

"Not a thing. He was quiet for the most part. Woke up for a couple minutes a little while ago. Now he's only been awake for another couple minutes. I was reading the same book earlier too, so he asked about it."

"He was awake for a few minutes last night too," Gordon replied.

"You too," Virgil pointed out.

"Obviously," Gordon smiled.

"Did something happen last night?" Jeff asked wearily.

"I just couldn't sleep in that chair," Gordon answered. "We went over a couple things and he went back to sleep. I ended up falling asleep a little later. I woke up a little after six to find Scott here and then I went up to bed."

"You want lunch?" Jeff asked Gordon.

Gordon shook his head. "Nah, I just ate something."

"Then it's my turn to get something," Jeff said, standing.

"How's the new medicine working?" Gordon asked once Jeff had left the room.

"Better," Virgil answered.

Gordon nodded. And he could read his brother well enough to know what was really happening. The medicine was just making it possible for Virgil to sleep through the pain.

It wasn't much later when Jeff returned, and Gordon went for a walk. Alan ended up joining him since he'd spent most of the day in command with Scott and John.

Gordon's communicator started beeping, stopping both him and Alan in their tracks.

"Yes?" he asked, seeing his father's face.

"You should get back down here," his father answered, his voice low.

"What's wrong?"

"Virgil's gotten worse."