Left by the Wayside
by Criminally Charmed
Disclaimer - See Chapter One
WARNING - I will be headed back to the WPP, as I am sure to be getting death threats with this one. But I shall be joined by Shadowfox8 while she tries to escape her reviewers due to "Always a Hero". I am extending the sanctuary offer to Megz McGizzle for her "Death of an Innocent". (Seriously girl - you made me bawl!)
Chapter 34 – Everyone Has an Achilles' Heel
Night had settled over Baystate Medical Center, with most of the patients – and probably a couple of on-duty personnel – in various states of slumber. In maternity, a young woman struggled to give birth to her second child, knowing the pain would be forgotten once she held her newborn in her arms. Meanwhile in geriatrics, an elderly woman passed away, the pain that had racked her frail body for the last year gone as she found the peace she had been longing for since her disease had become more than she could bear without constant medication.
In the Adolescent Acute Care Unit, Abby Nahmal made a note as she flipped through some records that she had volunteered to update. The seven room ward could hold up to eighteen patients, but currently the only one was Alan Tracy. Of course, a separate room, which could, like Alan's, hold up to three patients at a time, was currently nicknamed "the dorm room" by the teen's brothers. No one could blame the Tracys, or the hospital administration, for a healthy dose of paranoia in trying to protect the kid. And it was actually "do-able" at the moment, with little disruption to other patients.
But it made for a boring shift.
That ended when a young man ran into the wing, startling both Abby and the security guard positioned at the door to Alan's room.
"Sir," Abby said firmly, "this area is restricted -"
Trevor Ballard had a look of wide-eyed panic, unusual for the calm, controlled Marine. "You don't understand. I need to talk to Gordon Tracy. No," he argued when the security guard tried to push him away, attracting the attention of the deputy sheriff who was stationed by the stairwell. Even as the deputy joined the small group, Travis raised his voice.
"I need to speak with Gordon Tracy and I need to do it now! I know he is here, please, just let me speak to him."
They were so focused on the frantic service man that no one noticed the figure slipping into Alan Tracy's hospital room…
Jeff Tracy awakened; stretching silently as he looked around Alan's darkened room. It took the father a moment to realize what had woken him.
It had taken nearly a minute for Jeff's eyes to both clear of sleep and adjust to the dim lighting of the hospital room but he became instantly awake at the sight of a shadowy figure leaning over his son.
"Get away from him," Jeff growled even as he grabbed the arm of the intruder. He was unprepared for the smaller figure to twist his arm and pin him to the bed.
"Huh?" Alan mumbled as he woke, confused. "Dad? What are you doing?"
"Obviously," Shana said quietly, "forgetting that you are still subject to checks. I couldn't sleep so I decided to check on you."
"Can't sleep in a hospital?" Alan joked quietly.
"Nah," Shana grinned. "I sleep fine here. But I am used to getting up right now and feeding twins. It took me a few minutes to figure out where they were and by then I was wide awake. And," she added thoughtfully, "it doesn't take that long to pump their breast milk for later."
"Whoa," Alan sighed as he somehow managed to yawn at the same time. "That was TMI, doc."
Jeff chuckled lightly as he stood next to Shana as she checked over Alan. "Wait until your brothers start making you an uncle. You'll really get too much information then."
"Yeah, if any of them get around to it," Alan grumbled. "You do realize I am the only one of us with a steady girlfriend, right?"
"Alan -" Jeff began uncomfortably before his youngest cut him off.
"Dad, Tin and I aren't even close to being ready for sex. In fact, we are thinking of taking the pledge to wait until we get married. Does that help your blood pressure?"
Glaring at Shana when she chuckled as she checked Alan's surgical site, Jeff continued. "Yes, Alan, it does help. Respect for yourself and your partner is important and there is nothing wrong with waiting. I don't claim your brothers are saints, but they at least waited until college -"
Jeff broke off when Alan began to giggle. "Is something funny, Alan?"
"W-wait? D-Dad – Scott, fifteen, Mary Beth Taylor, under the bleachers after his team won the championship. John, seventeen, Kelly Garretson, Kansas State Science Competition in Topeka. Virgil, sixteen, in a dressing room with Susan McGill before the school's spring musical. Gordon, his fifteenth birthday, with a nineteen year old who will remain nameless as if I said it, Dr. Pierce would know that a certain Olympian decided that was what Gordon should have for his birthday. Gordon," Alan explained to Shana, "likes women. Older, young – whatever, as long as they are not married or underage. One of his most successful physical therapists was named Gretchen and she apparently had some unique exercises that helped him build up his endurance."
At Jeff's shocked expression, Alan began to giggle again. "Dad, they really didn't think I was listening. They weren't trying to corrupt me. But don't ever try and act like my brothers were saints. And before you criticize my brothers, all I can say is I did my science paper on your space career, which included a lot of research into your personal life. And Scott was a nice, healthy eight pound baby for being born six weeks early, wasn't he?"
Shana and Alan both grinned at the blush that now rested on the Tracy father's face. Alan nudged Shana, yawning as he made himself comfortable again. "Scott was a bit of a surprise, the middle three planned – never did get a girl though – and I was either another surprise or the result of make-up sex…"
Alan froze when he realized what he had said. "Um, sorry Dad. Would you buy the meds made me say that?"
"Since you are off most of your medications," Jeff said wryly, "no, no I would not. But I will accept you have been under a lot of stress. How's that?" Alan nodded and it was Jeff's turn to grin as his youngest began to drift off to sleep.
"Oh, and just for the record, Alan," Jeff continued as Alan's eyes began to slide closed. "You were both."
Shana chuckled, shaking her head. The Tracys really were remarkable people.
Never a heavy sleeper, Scott woke to the sound of a disturbance in the hallway. Nudging Virgil as he got up, pulling on a t-shirt to go with the cotton shorts they were all sleeping in, Scott opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
Behind the oldest Tracy son, the three middle boys had all mimicked Scott's actions, dressing even as they followed him to the door.
"What's the problem?" Scott began before Gordon saw who the intruder was.
"Trevor?" the red-head asked through a yawn.
While John was the only other one there who had met Trevor, Scott and Virgil had heard enough about "the other Allen" to relax their stance. There was no way Gordon would let a threat anywhere near their Alan, so they felt at ease with the Marine's presence.
"It's Allen," Trevor gasped. "He overheard me arguing with our aunt. She's our father's older sister and she always thought he could do no wrong. She was blaming Heather and I for pursuing charges against Dad, Mom for "ruining his life" and then she started in on Allen."
"Allen's only, what?" John asked. "Five?"
"He was five this past Christmas," Trevor said. "No, she was saying that Allen was a mistake, that Mom used him to keep Dad married to her, that if Allen didn't have health problems Dad wouldn't have started drinking again. Shit! He heard it all. And now we can't find him. The doctors are still worried about his kidneys and he needs to be monitored. But the cops and security here aren't able to spare too many people, and the hospital staff is light because of the time. Please! Can you help me look?"
The Tracys looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Gordon spoke up for them. "Sure. I'll go and two of you," he motioned to his brothers, "fight it out to see which of you come with me. Between the three of us, with whoever else is on the case, will find Little Allen. Someone needs to stay with Dad for our Alan."
"Virgil," Shana said from the doorway of Alan's room. "I'm here, so you can go."
"And I'll go," Scott surprised them by speaking up. At his brothers' shocked looks, he grinned. "Like Dad says, I need to learn to delegate. But John?"
"Yeah, Scotty?" John asked as he moved towards Alan's room.
"Anything happens to the Sprout on your watch, you'll really need that hot doctor Shana wants to introduce you to."
Teresa Delgado rubbed her eyes. She had barely gotten any sleep last night and the message from the head of security about an "incident" had only made worse. Teresa was not looking forward to finding out what that was about.
The elevator was closing as the administrator had exited the staff elevator opposite it on the fourth floor. Looking down the hallway, Teresa could see Pediatrics through the small window in the secured doors. Controlled access to certain wards was a security feature that BMC adhered to closely.
Nodding at the nurse on duty, Teresa tapped a file in one hand before knocking on the door of ACCU number seven – Alan Tracy's room.
The door swung open, with Jeff Tracy standing in the opening. "Ms. Delgado? Let me guess? The check bounced?"
Teresa gave a small chuckle as the billionaire stepped back to allow her access. Seeing the lights on and Alan Tracy being moved from his bed to a wheelchair by Dr. Pierce and his brother, John, the administrator could see why the teenager wasn't still asleep.
"Up early today, Alan?" the woman grinned at the fifteen year old.
"It's such a nice day," Alan quipped as he allowed John to make him comfortable as Shana tucked a small blanket over the boy's legs. "Who wants to sleep it away?"
Shana smiled lightly. "There was a small incident and three of the Tracys went to help. Alan wants to stay up until they come back. But," she jokingly glared at Alan, "someone has to agree to rest if he gets tired."
"Oh, Lord," Teresa groaned. "What has happened now?"
"A little boy disappeared from pediatrics," John explained as he pulled his brother's chair closer to the wide windows that Alan had come to enjoy the view of the gardens.
"And Gordon has become close to the family, I guess," Alan added.
Teresa Delgado started to tap on her PDA. "OK, the hospital was locked down five minutes ago. Due to the hour, the Code Adam wouldn't be called over the PA. I have to check on a few things." Looking at Jeff, she shrugged. "I mainly came here to ask you to join me in a brief video meeting with the state's attorney. They are debating if they should be pursuing criminal charges against a Baystate Medical Employee who leaked information about Alan. She is the one who misread some notes and said that Alan had died. She didn't delete the text messages she had sent or received and several of them were leaked information. We also found a small video camera, with footage of your sons. None of Alan, I think that was what she was waiting for before turning over to her cousin. She swears she didn't know it was in her bag. But it was traced back to her cousin – a reporter named Ana Nevada."
John nodded at his father. "I've got it, Dad."
Jeff bent over, brushing a hand over Alan's head. "I won't be long, Allie."
"Go do a Scott on them, Dad," Alan grinned.
From the doorway, Jeff paused as he held the door open for Ms. Delgado. "Where do you think your oldest brother learned it from?" Jeff joked.
Allen Ballard hid in a corner as another big person moved quickly past him. The toddler wasn't sure where he was going but he wanted to get away from Auntie Louise. His daddy's sister had never been very nice to Allen and she made his mommy cry.
Mommy. Allen wanted his Mommy now. He loved his big brother and sister but Trevor had moved away and Heather was supposed to go away soon as well. Auntie Louise had said that Allen had wrecked his daddy's life and now he would wrecked Trevor's too. Allen didn't want to hurt his big brother. He just didn't get what was happening -
Suddenly, Allen saw a small cupboard that had been left open. He had taken to hiding in one like that when his daddy would come home sick. Allen hated how Daddy would yell and throw things when he came home sick.
Sliding into the tiny cabinet, Allen pulled the door shut, hearing it close but not realizing the "click" was the sound of the lock securing the cupboard. Curling into some cotton wipes, the little boy fell back asleep, barely feeling his foot hit the bottle of cleaning fluid, making its contents soak the mop heads and filling the cabinet with fumes…
Asesino and Angelo made their way in through the loading docks, the BMC shirts Angelo had stolen from a parked car a few hours earlier making them look like employees arriving for the day. A few glances were thrown their way, but with Asesino wearing a badge, no one looked too closely.
Pausing in the lobby, Angelo looked around, trying to determine the best way to get to the fourth floor where he knew Alan Tracy currently was ensconced. He turned to say something to Asesino when he saw the man holding a newspaper from a bundle that had been left by the door of the lobby.
"Boss?" Angelo whispered tentatively, visibly flinching when he saw the cold hate in the gang leader's eyes.
"Did you know about this?" Asesino growled. "Did you know my baby brother, my Carlos, was dead? That they sent him to be slaughtered?"
"N-no, Jefe, I didn't know," Angelo lied. "What happened?"
Asesino shoved the crumpled paper at his lieutenant. He didn't care now about the money. He couldn't trade his baby brother for the son of some billionaire. Thinking of the extra security mentioned in the other article – the reason he had picked up the paper in the first place – the gang leader was filled with blinding rage.
People were bending over backwards to protect some little rich kid – a white boy – but Carlos was sent to an adult prison and not even separated from the general population. His sixteen year old brother was cornered in a bathroom, raped and beaten so badly that he died, but no one had made any effort to protect Carlos. Why should Alan Tracy get to live when Carlos was dead?
Alan looked out the window, smiling at the sunrise. "Tin-Tin loves to watch the sunrise," he said softly. He looked sad for a moment. "I promised her I would watch them with her. How can I climb the bluff with Tin in this thing?"
John sat on the couch and reached over to place a gentle hand on his brother's arm. "Allie, she is tougher than she looks. And Tin will be just as happy to watch sunrises from the patio as she would be from the bluff."
Looking thoughtful, Alan nodded. "Yeah, we could always watch it from the balcony in my room."
Glaring at the other blonde Tracy, John snapped, "Not if you want to see sixteen, you won't."
Alan laughed. "Channeling Scott again, Johnny? Tin has been in my room plenty of times."
"And have any of these times been since you realized Tin-Tin was – how did you put it? – blossoming?"
Shana snorted with laughter. "Blossoming?"
"Don't you have rounds or something," Alan half-heartedly snapped.
"Nope," Shana said as she pulled an apple from her smock coat. Taking a bite, she quickly chewed before swallowing, "This was supposed to be my day off. The new monkey exhibit opened at the Children's Zoo." Looking sad, she glanced out the window before joining John on the couch.
"It was supposed to be the twins' first trip to the zoo, but with mommy as a doctor and daddy a cop, I guess it won't be the first event one or both of us miss."
"Dad didn't make it to all of our events," Alan commented. "After mom died, I guess there just wasn't that much time."
John looked thoughtful. "Al, when was the last time dad showed up for something of yours?"
"When the lab blew up."
The blunt statement made Shana chuckle but drew a look of concern from John.
"Alan, when was the last time Dad showed up for a game, an award – heck, just to pick you up from school? One you hadn't been booted from," John quickly added when Alan looked to comment something.
Alan shrugged. "I can't remember. Probably not since Kansas. But until the last year or so, one of the brothers would be there."
"And for the last year or so?"
"Penny. And of course, the small ceremony they had for the Dean's list and students accepted for Advanced Placement was the afternoon after I got hit. He didn't know about it, I wanted him to be surprised but Dad was supposed to be there for that. At least I hope he would have been."
John reached out once more and grasped Alan's hand. "We're gonna do better this time, Al. I swear we will."
Alan smiled sadly. "I'd love to see that John. But – well, we'll see."
Shana got up to supposedly begin to work on setting up breakfast for the Tracys but in reality it was her way of giving the brothers some space. She was beginning to see the Tracys, for all they were a loving family, had some wounds that it was beyond her skills to heal.
Angelo nervously followed behind Asesino, as the gang leader muttered and grumbled, seemingly carrying on a conversation with parties unknown. As they drew closer to the area where he knew the youngest Tracy was, Angelo decided to ask a question.
"Asesino, once we have the kid, how do we get out of here? He's not likely to go quietly," Angelo asked.
The gang leader turned and glared. "What makes you think the gringo bastard gets to live? Carlito died, so the rich kid dies too."
Freezing, Angelo took a step back. "Jefe – for a nice chunk of change, I thought sure, why not? But to risk our lives just to kill some kid who probably never even knew Carlos existed? That's just crazy, man!"
Pulling a knife from an inside pocket, Asesino flipped it open and waved it at Angelo. "Then go – go and make sure that idiot we dragged along got us a car. I'll waste the little rich boy and join you."
Angelo nodded, backing away, guilt at betraying the loyalty of the gang warring with the strong sense of self-preservation that had served him well lo these many years.
Fleeing down the stairs, it was clear that self-preservation was winning. As he ran out of the hospital and into the early dawn light, Angelo justified his abandonment of the man he had so blindly followed for so long as being the only way he was getting out of this alive.
Well, at least until the moment Angelo failed to see the news van that was cutting through the parking lot, trying to set up for the day. The driver of that van also failed to see Angelo. This unfortunate combination resulted in the driver's insurance rate increasing exponentially as a result of the gang member's body being caught between two equally unforgiving surfaces: the van's grill and the pavement.
Scott sighed, looking around the hospital while clutching a hastily made photocopy of the well-worn photo from Trevor Ballard's wallet, the "Little Angels Preschool" embossment still visible in the corner.
The oldest Tracy son felt a shimmer of guilt at the idea of having left his own little brother but tried to remind himself that while Alan was protected by John, a fiercely defensive doctor, a security officer and a deputy sheriff, little Allen Ballard was lost somewhere, scared and alone.
The sooner we can find Allen, the sooner I can get back to Alan, Scott thought as he walked down the hall near the ER. Thinking back to the day that Alan had been brought here, he shuddered as he tried to imagine how their father had felt, forced to sit here, helpless, as the medical personnel desperately tried to save his youngest brother. To be what they were, rescuers on the front line, it was incredibly frustrating to stand back, powerless when someone they loved was at risk.
Peeking into an empty waiting area, Scott tried to think of all the places he used to search for Alan in when the little boy would get it into his head to hide. Even while Scott fondly recalled his Alan at the missing child's age, the older brother was still in awe of the amazing person the fifteen year old was becoming. The fact that Alan so readily accepted his family's apologies, just needing a bit of reassurance that he was loved and needed, was amazing to Scott. He wondered if his brother would ever realize just how precious he was to Scott and the other Tracys.
"Mr. Tracy?"
Scott turned to see a security officer coming down the hall.
"We locked down the hospital but your brothers said to tell you that they and Mr. Ballard went outside to search the grounds in case that little boy got out before the lockdown."
"Corporal Ballard." When the guard looked at Scott in confusion, he shrugged. "I'm ex-military. We work hard for that rank. Trust me; you wouldn't call a doctor Mr. Smith – you call someone by the title they have -"
Scott stopped speaking abruptly; halting as his olfactory sense was overwhelmed by industrial cleaners. Having spent way too many nights in hospitals with family members, Scott knew that the heavy duty cleaning should have been long done by now. Narrowing in on a small cabinet, Scott knelt on the ground and yanked open the door, his heart nearly stopping as a small, blonde boy tumbled out, still and silent as he fell into Scott's arms.
He had found Allen Ballard.
Asesino stood outside the door, peering into a small window, waiting for just the right moment. He had pulled off the maintenance clothes they had stolen earlier, the scrubs Angelo had "borrowed" for him the day before allowing more free movement and the badge allowing him to pass through security doors.
In the hallway of the ACCU, Tim, a security guard, had been glad to pick up the extra hours. A full-time student at U-Mass, Springfield, he had been hoping that he would be given more hours to cover vacations over the summer, allowing him to head back to school in the fall with more money in the bank.
Tim had switched places with Andy Krieg, the deputy sheriff, as they had frequently through the night, feeling the change of position were keeping them more alert. The student was looking forward to the end of his shift. Andy – as the deputy had insisted he call him – had offered to take Tim out for breakfast. A criminal justice major, Tim had been anxious to use the opportunity that this crisis had brought him to actually talk to law enforcement experts. The diner Andy was taking him to was known to be as a cop hang out, so he might be able to talk to others as well.
Suddenly, the door yanked open behind Tim, and in a blur of motion he felt a hand grab him by the front of his shirt and head butt him into the wall. The last thing Tim saw as his world went black was Andy running towards him.
Andy Krieg had begun to make his way over towards Tim. He really liked the kid and thought he would make a good cop someday. Like many other officers, Andy was always on the outlook for future law enforcement officers. Mentoring was a way of life in his career field. Andy knew he wouldn't be where he was if it hadn't been for a state trooper who had lived across the street from his grandmother while Andy was in high school.
He was less than fifteen feet from Tim when the door whipped open behind the college student. Before he could reach him, Tim was thrown head first into the wall, falling unconscious to the floor. Suddenly, the man, who Andy recognized as Asesino Herrera, grabbed the deputy's arm and thrust a hand towards him. As pain radiated throughout his stomach, Andy looked down as Asesino pulled back the knife, now covered in his blood. Even as the officer collapse, the murderous thug pulled Andy's service weapon out and slipped it into the waist band off the scrubs.
The cop dropped to the ground at the gang leader's feet, even as Abby had run over, her instincts' as a nurse having put thoughts of personal safety aside. Asesino grabbed the young woman, holding her to his chest and pushing the knife at her throat. Abby wasn't sure what made her flinch worse – the blade pricking her skin or the deputy's blood trickling onto her nurse's smock.
Shana looked over at the brothers, smiling at how relaxed Alan looked this morning. Pulling out the table that had been set to the side the night before, the young doctor looked at her watch, wondering if she should call Maddie and get breakfast for the three of them or wait until the other Tracys returned.
Any thoughts of a relaxing breakfast were pushed from Shana's mind as the door whipped open. To the horror of the three occupants of the room, a man none of them immediately recognized forced his way in, a bloody knife at the throat of the terrified nurse.
Asesino's eyes went to the blonde teenager in a wheelchair by the window. A blanket was tenderly tucked around boy's legs and even with signs of fading injuries it was obvious that the fifteen year old was being lovingly cared for. Thinking of his own little brother, savagely murdered while this kid was receiving TLC from a doting family, the gang leader felt cold fury run through his body. Throwing the nurse into the room, knocking down a blonde man who had stood up and moved closer to the door when they had entered, Asesino pointed the knife at Alan Tracy.
"You get to live, huh? Cops make all kinds of efforts to find you, the doctors bend over ass backwards to save you? What makes your life more important that Carlito's? What makes you more important than my baby brother? He's dead. No cops riding to the rescue, no doctors saving him. He dies, raped and beaten by men who hated him cause he wasn't white. Bet they would have you as their poster child – blonde hair, blue eyes, and all-American boy. No. If, Carlos is dead, you don't get to live."
A/N - Asesino freaks out and has chosen to target Alan. Why oh why did that have to happen?
Alan - Because you are a sick, twisted woman.
CC (Blushes) - Gee, thanks.
Alan (throws up his arms) - I give up! How can you be so pleased by that?
Jean - It's normal for fan fic writers, Alan. Accept it.
Scott (grins) - Jean, you're back. Um, hi.
Alan - Oh, no. Scott, you can not be flirting with Jean. (whispers) - She's one of THEM.
Scott (nudging his brother before walking Jean over to the sofa) - Learn the lesson, Alan. Sometimes it is easier to catch a fly with honey than to swat them.
CC (laughs)- Ah, Scott. See - I told John.
John - You talking about me again, CC?
CC (pulling the two blonde Tracys to sit down as she sets out cookies and lemonade) - Yes, John. I was hoping I made you happy with the last couple of chapters.
Alan - Lady, you have an armed lunatic in my room. And that little kid, the mini-me, is not in good shape either. Is this a hint for me.
CC - No, of course not Alan. (takes a sip of lemonade) I never hurt Allen as bad as you.
Jean (snickers) - She has a point, boys.
CC - Anyhow, John I am introducing Emily again...(loud pounding and muffled screams can be heard) Um, any how - Emily will be back. And you get to try and protect Alan. This is a good thing, right?
John (shrugs as he bites into the cookie, smiling as the chocolate chip goes down smoothly) - Yeah, I guess so.
Jean - Are you doing the same for Scott? (glares at CC)
CC - Not yet, Jean. You can keep playing with Malibu Ken, um, I mean, Scott. I'm just giving John another chance with Emily.
A loud pounding can be heard again.
Alan (looks around) - Um, where is Sam1?
Jean smiles at CC, handing her a key.
CC - Oh, she's around. (mutters) Lock me in a closet, will ya?
Jean (laughing) - Oh, I so warned her. Do not tick you off.
CC (shrugs) - We are evil twins. Huh. With you around, should that be evil triplets?
Alan - Nah, she isn't as bad as you two.
Scott - Read Jean's Supernatural stories. What she does to Sam - wow.
CC - Yep. Enjoy the ride. I am close to hitting my stride and well...More soon. Promise.
Alan - You could take the holiday weekend off, ya know?
CC - And waste all that writing time? Never. So sit down, munch a few cookies and remember I always repair toys that I break. G'nite!