Chapter 112.
Scott's eyes fluttered open.
He was indoors. Under something warm. In a room that stank of disinfectant. Next to something (or someone) that beeped at regular intervals.
The eldest Tracy felt his vision blur as he struggled to sit upright. He dropped his chin onto his chest and allowed whatever dizzy spell had claimed him to run its course before surrendering and sinking back into the pillows behind him.
His brain refused to divulge what had happened prior to him landing in the bed he was currently sat in. He remembered skiing with Kayo, and seeing his brothers tumbling down the mountain towards him like a supersized beachball, but beyond that, everything was black and foggy.
"Alan!" Scott gasped, hiccupping with nausea when his head objected to being moved. The memory of seeing his youngest brother caught up in the human avalanche that had devoured all of them (bar Gordon) filled him with panic. Alan was so little compared to the rest of them. Virgil and John both possessed enough structural integrity to withstand a tumble without breaking into a million pieces. Gordon was sturdy enough, even post-surgery, and Scott himself was downright indestructible.
Alan was tiny. He'd yet to hit his main growth spurt and still hadn't 'bulked out', despite Scott's assurances that he would. If Virgil was a meatloaf and Gordon a cinnamon roll, then Alan was definitely a noodle. And an uncooked one to boot.
Speaking of his brothers, Scott was surprised to discover them all at the foot of his bed. Quite literally.
Okay, at the foot of his bed was a slight exaggeration. But they were all in the same room as him…in varying degrees of consciousness.
Someone had shifted the five of them around so that the base of all of their cots formed a pentagon of sorts. The layout bemused Scott somewhat, but it enabled them to see each other without Virgil or John having to upset the neck braces they were now sporting.
A quick peek out the blinds showed that the sky outside was dark. Scott's earlier observation received a minor makeover when he realised that his brothers weren't unconscious as a result of whatever injuries they'd sustained.
They were asleep.
Gordon was slumped on his side, snoring nasally with his mouth wide open. He seemed reasonably intact, save for the IV drip in his lower arm.
John was sat vertically and breathing softly, his neck supported by a padded brace. Every now and then he'd twitch in his sleep, mumbling incoherently about Five's most recent systems check.
Alan appeared completely unscathed, much to Scott's relief. The youngest was asleep on his stomach, per the norm, and was busy adding to the lake of drool on his pillow.
Virgil was also wearing a neck brace, was but lying horizontally instead of vertically. He also had what looked like a fractured finger, as well as a swollen cheek that marred his usual rugged handsomeness.
Scott could feel bruises of varying flavours dotted across his body, but a quick visual sweep of his frame revealed nothing that plenty of rest wouldn't heal.
"Oh excellent, you're awake!" a voice sang from the doorway, closely followed by the pitter-pattering of feet as the owner of said voice made their way over. The approval Scott had expressed earlier over the arrangement of the beds flew out the window when he suddenly realised that he was the only one without a clear view of the door.
A young-ish nurse materialised around the head of Scott's bed, her face playing host to a smile the size of Spain as she consulted her clipboard, "Scott Tracy? A pleasure to meet you. My name's Jacinda, and I'll be the one taking care of you this evening. Did you know you've been asleep for the best part of a day and a half? You woke up briefly yesterday…do you remember?"
Scott thought for a moment before shaking his head. Good manners decreed that he return Jacinda's greeting with one of his own, but a headache had started to poke at the back of his skull and he swore he could hear the blood pumping in his ears.
"We've given you some basic pain medication. Side effects may include drowsiness and mild tachycardia," Jacinda began, dimming the lights slightly when John shifted in his sleep, "That means an accelerated heartrate, but there's no need to panic. You're safe and sound in the hospital."
Scott swore he caught a glimpse of his brain as he rolled his eyes.
'No shit Sherlock!'
"Now, do you have any allergies or food intolerances that I should know about?" Jacinda asked, peeking out from beneath her fringe, "We need to know for dinner tonight and breakfast and lunch tomorrow. All being well and pending the results of your physicals, you should be discharged within the next twenty four hours."
A pause ensued as Scott tried to battle the fog clouding his brain. Jacinda was a strange looking woman. She had pretty eyes and a warm smile, but virtually no neck. It was almost as if someone had sewn a head onto a beanbag.
"I'm fine, but my brother John is allergic to pretty much everything," Scott yawned, scrubbing at his eyes with the heel of his hands, "He carries a medical ID card though, so that should tell you everything. Gordon over there is also dairy sensitive. Otherwise, we'll pretty much eat anything, so long as it's not burnt."
"Excellent," Jacinda beamed, scribbling with an enthusiasm that made Scott suspect she was newly qualified, "I'll forward these notes to the nurses covering the morning shift. Until then, buzz if you need anything. I just need to refresh Gordon's infusion bag and then I'll be out of your hair."
Scott nodded drowsily before slumping back and yielding to the pressure of sleep.
It wasn't exactly the lounge back home, but it sure was good to be in the same room as his brothers again.
-x-
The next time Scott blinked his eyes open, the lights had been completely dimmed and the room was in almost total darkness. The blinds had been drawn over both the exterior and interior windows, leaving the overhead lights attached to the beds as the only source of illumination.
Upon flicking his own light on, Scott was surprised to see Alan sat up and playing on his phone. The eldest felt relief flood through him as he reflected on the nightmare he'd just surfaced from. He still couldn't remember much about the accident, but bits and pieces were starting to come back. He remembered getting the air knocked out of him. He remembered his brothers steamrolling over him. He remembered Alan's muffled yelps of panic as they tumbled through the snow. He remembered trying to shield his youngest brother from the worst of the impact as the combined momentum of three adults and one teenager worked against them.
Jacinda had told him that the medics who'd retrieved them from Eaglecrest had found him curled around Alan like a croissant. He'd been unconscious at the time, but had apparently shown signs of resistance when the paramedics separated them.
The insipid light cast by the bulb above Alan's bed was just strong enough to highlight the tear tracks on the youngest brother's cheeks. Occasionally, he paused in his swiping to scrub at his face with the tip of his blanket.
"Alan?" Scott whispered, sitting up and wincing when his spine clicked.
The youngest Tracy jerked in surprise and nearly dropped his phone, "Scott? You're awake!"
Scott put a finger to his lips and motioned at the slumbering forms of Gordon, Virgil and John, "Apparently, yes. What's the matter? Can't sleep?"
Alan sucked on his bottom lip and gave a watery blink, "No. I was asleep, but then I kicked the covers off and woke myself up. And now I can't relax enough to nod off again."
"Hmmm," Scott gave his trademark hum before refocussing his attention on his brother's sodden cheeks, "You sure that's the only thing keeping you up?"
A dramatic sniff climbed out of Alan's nose, closely followed by a small hiccup as he fought to maintain his composure. Despite his best efforts, no amount of playacting could withstand the power of a Scott stare.
"W-Will you stay on Tracy Island?" Alan queried, mopping at his cheeks as they became stained with fresh tears, "Or w-will you move elsewhere? Gran Roca has the facilities to store One and Shadow, or are you going to have somewhere new b-built?"
Scott frowned in alarm as Alan buried his face in his hands. He was about to request some form of garbled clarification, but was robbed of the opportunity when his youngest brother let loose a howl that made Virgil grunt and flip over.
"Alan, what's wrong?" Scott demanded. His bed was just close enough for him to reach over and grab his littlest brother's hand. To his surprise, Alan yanked it away and cradled it as if it had been burnt.
A toxic combination of panic and dread washed over Scott as he groped for the buzzer to summon Jacinda. There was obviously something hugely wrong with Alan, and if he wasn't prepared to tell Scott what the problem was, then the eldest Tracy wasn't above asking for help of the professional kind.
"It's you and K-Kayo," Alan spluttered, inhaling shakily, "We know you proposed to her and that she said yes. Common sense says the two of you will move away from the island, since you won't get any privacy with the four of us lolloping around. It'll be hard coordinating International R-Rescue from two separate locations, but I'm sure you've already mapped it all out. I just wish you'd told us. How could you do this to us, Scott? How could you keep something like this from us? From me?"
Something in the back of Scott's brain warned him against replying to Alan's accusations prematurely. It was obvious the youngest had a lot of worries he needed to unload, and Scott butting in before he'd finished would only serve to invalidate his concerns.
"You don't realise how much things like this scare me," Alan gurgled, his composure rallying as anguish gave way to anger, "You don't know what it's like to live under the care of four brothers who could up and leave at any moment. None of you have the same obligations as real parents, which means there's nothing stopping any of you from just moving on with your lives. Virgil could wake up tomorrow and retire to the Maldives. John could pack his bags and take up that lecturing position that Princeton offered him last year. Gordon could hang up his wetsuit and go and adopt twelve kids. And you…" Alan's breath hitched slightly, "You and Kayo could finally stop your silly dance and just tie the knot. Heck, you could put us all out of our misery and do it tomorrow if you so felt like it. And then there's me, stuck at home with Grandma and MAX. In fact, given Kip's sudden appearance, it'll probably be just me and MAX soon. Oh wait, I forgot about Fritzie…"
Scott sighed, but didn't say anything. He had a feeling Alan's tank hadn't quite run dry.
"I'll miss you so much," the youngest rasped, his equilibrium crumbling, "I just can't imagine life without any of you. You're all I have, and the thought of losing any of you to other people terrifies me. Once you all realise that life exists beyond the walls of International Rescue, you won't have time for little old me. I'll be secondary to any kids you actually ask for."
Opposite Alan, Gordon mumbled something unintelligible and snuggled further into his pillow, blissfully unaware of the intense revelations going on around him.
Silence descended over the room as both Scott and Alan tried to process what had just been shared. Alan had turned the same shade as Thunderbird Three, while Scott was trying to decide how best to tell his youngest brother that the ring he'd been carrying on his person for the last couple of days belonged to their mother, not to Kayo.
"Oh Alan, don't be so ridiculous," the eldest chided, the smile in his voice evident, "We'd never get an officiant at such short notice."
Alan peeked through his lashes, dubiety etched across his face, "What do you mean?"
Scott chuckled and shook his head, "Al, you and I have a lot of catching up to do."
-x-
It was a significantly happier and better educated Alan than settled down to go back to sleep forty minutes later.
He'd had questions. So many questions. And of course, he'd wanted to see the ring for himself. His memories of Lucy were foggy at best, but holding a piece of her legacy in the palm of his hand had given him the outline of an emotional connection to the woman his brothers raved about.
"I'm sorry," the youngest mumbled, his cheeks flushing scarlet as some of the scenes from the last few days flashed across his mind, "I should have just asked you what was going on. I guess I kind of got caught up in the rhapsody of it all."
Scott quirked a brow and side-eyed the dozing John, "You weren't alone in your misunderstanding. And it wasn't your duty to be the whistleblower. Virgil in particular should know me well enough to realise that I'd never pull a fast one on you all like that."
Alan shrugged and let loose a yawn, "We can ask him in the morning. Hey, what time is it?"
Blue eyes travelled around the room as Scott sought out a clock, "No idea. Maybe they don't want to distract us by giving us a reference for how long we've been in here. Can't your phone tell you the time?"
"It's stuck on Tracy Island's zone," Alan grouched, stabbing at the screen in irritation, "It usually updates automatically, but it's been on the blink for a while. I'd just like to know how much longer we have to kill until dinner. I'm starving. Virgil still has his comm gauntlet, but it's too far away for me to see."
Scott's face twitched as he motioned at Alan's phone, "Pull up your music library and pass it over here."
Alan did as instructed, the embarrassment from the ring incident halting the 'why' that hovered on the tip of his tongue.
Without divulging his intentions, Scott scrolled down until he found the music tracks the phone had come pre-installed with. Trombone, saxophone, harp, piano…aha.
Alan slapped a hand across his mouth as Scott selected a track, reached over, and suspended the phone mere inches from Virgil's ear.
Two seconds later, a hideously obnoxious bagpipe solo filled the room.
Virgil made the transition from unconscious to conscious in less than a second, his head whipping in all directions as he tried frantically to pinpoint the location of his Scottish opponent.
"WHO THE HELL IS PLAYING BAGPIPES AT," the engineer paused to consult his gauntlet, "TEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT?!"
Scott smacked his lips before turning towards Alan and smiling benignly.
"It's ten o'clock at night."