Twenty Four
Virgil woke up slowly. He felt as if he was treading in molasses, that everything, including his mind seemed to be moving in slow motion. 'I haven't felt this bad since...' he couldn't think when. Couldn't seem to get his mind to function properly. He had a feeling that he'd woken for a reason and tried to remember what.
A sound from the bed beside him jolted his memory. He'd heard Scott call out. Or had he? Everything seemed so vague.
Scott tossed in his bed. "Nooo..." he moaned. "I just need some light, just a little light. Please! Don't put out the light."
Suddenly a thought struck Virgil's befuddled brain with such clarity that it hurt. Scott was having a nightmare. All the worries that were kept buried during the day were coming to the fore while his brother was asleep.
Slowly, painfully, Virgil sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed. A wave a nausea flooded over him and he shut his eyes tightly till it passed. Then, taking a deep breath, he stood up. His brain seemed to leave him for a moment and he wondered why he was doing this. Then Scott groaned again and flung his arms up into the air as if he were warding something off.
Virgil shuffled forward, before falling heavily into the chair beside Scott's bed. His IV line caught itself around his neck and he had a brief mental image that it was a rope about to choke him, before managing to lift it over his head and out of the way.
Scott turned again roughly, his bedclothes falling to the floor. Virgil didn't have the energy to pick them up. Didn't have the energy to do anything.
"Virgil!" Scott called out.
"I'm here Scott." Virgil was amazed that his voice was still working. He felt so dry and thirsty.
"Help me!"
"How?"
"Help me Virgil. Shine the light this way. I don't like being in the dark."
"Scott. I don't have a light."
"Please help me." Scott was begging.
Virgil laid a hand on Scott's arm. It seemed to take a lot of effort. "I'm sorry Scott. I don't have a light for you."
Scott seemed to relax. "You're here Virg."
"Course I'm here."
"You didn't leave me."
"I promised I wouldn't leave you and I won't." Virgil was aware that he was having a conversation with a man who was sound asleep, but strangely didn't feel it was a ridiculous thing to do. He was also aware that he was feeling very tired himself.
"You won't leave me."
"I - promise - won't - leave..." sleep overcame Virgil and he slumped back in the chair.
***
Scott woke the next morning with a dull headache. He put his hand to his head and felt the ever present bandages. Some of his dreams of the night surfaced in his mind and with an effort he pushed them away. "You awake Virgil?"
No reply.
"Virgil?" Scott sat up. Things seemed very quiet. He became aware that he'd lost his bedclothes, as he'd done the previous couple of nights. He climbed out of his bed to find them. Feeling around the floor in his general vicinity he found nothing, so took a step forward. Something in his way sent him flying and he found himself landing on top of Virgil's bed.
It was empty.
"Where's he got to?"
Now that he was fully awake he became aware of a sound beside his own bed. The sound of shallow rapid breathing.
"Virgil? Is that you?"
No reply.
Scott blindly reached out in the direction of the sound until his hands found something hard.
It was an arm cast.
"Virgil, what's wrong?"
Scott felt up the arm. When he reached Virgil's throat he stopped. For the second time in four days he searched for a pulse.
Like the breathing it was shallow and thready.
His hand brushed his brothers face as he pulled back. "Virgil! You're burning up!" He reached out again and felt a clammy forehead.
"Where's a nurse when you need one?" he muttered angrily as he felt about on his bed for the buzzer. His restless sleep had shifted it from where it had been the night before. "Where is it?!"
He tried yelling for a nurse. Even Nurse Stone would have been welcome.
No one came.
"Where is the damn thing?" Frantically he felt under the pillows before finally throwing them in the direction of the far wall in frustration.
He was about to attempt to try to negotiate his own way out of the room when his fingers closed around the buzzer. He pushed the button down long and hard.
It seemed like hours, although it was only minutes before he heard footsteps and the sound of the door to the room being opened.
"What's wrong...?" A female voice started saying.
"Something's wrong with Virgil. He won't wake up, he's got a temperature, his pulse is weak..." Scott felt the nurse brush past him. He grabbed at her. "You've got to help him!"
She pulled free. "I will Scott. Let me examine him."
With an effort he forced himself to sit on the edge of the bed. He could hear the nurse moving about, but had no idea what she was doing. He heard an alarm sound in another part of the ward and then heard pounding footsteps.
"Doctor Martin..."
"What's wrong, Nurse?"
"Pulse is weak, breathing's erratic..."
Scott heard an intercom unit being switched on. "Resus. unit to room three. Stat."
More footsteps. More voices.
"What caused it?" Someone asked.
"Don't know. We'll run tests. We've just got to stabilise him first."
"Will he be all right?" Scott desperately asked no one in particular.
"Get him out of here!" someone ordered.
"No! I'm not leaving." Scott gripped the bed as he felt someone pulling gently at his arm. "I'm not leaving Virgil!"
"Come on Scott." It was Nurse Stone. "You're not helping your brother by staying."
"He wouldn't leave me. I'm not going to leave him!"
"Scott." She insisted. "Please come with me. We're in the way here. Let them look after Virgil."
"Get that oxygen bottle over here!" Someone ordered. "Where's the adrenaline?"
"Here Doctor."
"I can't find a radial pulse." A woman's voice said.
The words scared Scott. "Virgil! Hang in there!"
"What's he still doing in here?" the Doctor practically shouted. "Get him out."
Scott could feel someone tugging at his arm again. "No. I'm not going!" He pushed out at whoever had his arm and felt them lose their grip. He heard the sound of something heavy hitting the floor, but ignored it.
Words were flying about the room and Scott strained to catch them and string them into some sort of order.
"...oxygen..."
"...blood pressure dropping..."
"...sedate him..."
"...phone his father..."
"...give me that..."
"...heart rate critical..."
It wasn't until he felt the sting of the hypodermic needle that Scott became aware that someone had prepared his arm for an injection. He managed to hear the words "Catch him!" before he slid off the bed and into a dreamless sleep...
***
Jeff Tracy uttered a mild curse when his videophone interrupted his work. The caller ID alerted him to the fact that it was the hospital ringing him.
'What have those boys been up to this time' he thought irritably as he answered the call. "Jeff Tracy here."
"Mr Tracy. I'm sorry to have to call you like this, but your son...Virgil..."
Within ten minutes Jeff Tracy was on board the family plane winging his way to the hospital at the fastest speed the jet could sustain...
Virgil woke up slowly. He felt as if he was treading in molasses, that everything, including his mind seemed to be moving in slow motion. 'I haven't felt this bad since...' he couldn't think when. Couldn't seem to get his mind to function properly. He had a feeling that he'd woken for a reason and tried to remember what.
A sound from the bed beside him jolted his memory. He'd heard Scott call out. Or had he? Everything seemed so vague.
Scott tossed in his bed. "Nooo..." he moaned. "I just need some light, just a little light. Please! Don't put out the light."
Suddenly a thought struck Virgil's befuddled brain with such clarity that it hurt. Scott was having a nightmare. All the worries that were kept buried during the day were coming to the fore while his brother was asleep.
Slowly, painfully, Virgil sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed. A wave a nausea flooded over him and he shut his eyes tightly till it passed. Then, taking a deep breath, he stood up. His brain seemed to leave him for a moment and he wondered why he was doing this. Then Scott groaned again and flung his arms up into the air as if he were warding something off.
Virgil shuffled forward, before falling heavily into the chair beside Scott's bed. His IV line caught itself around his neck and he had a brief mental image that it was a rope about to choke him, before managing to lift it over his head and out of the way.
Scott turned again roughly, his bedclothes falling to the floor. Virgil didn't have the energy to pick them up. Didn't have the energy to do anything.
"Virgil!" Scott called out.
"I'm here Scott." Virgil was amazed that his voice was still working. He felt so dry and thirsty.
"Help me!"
"How?"
"Help me Virgil. Shine the light this way. I don't like being in the dark."
"Scott. I don't have a light."
"Please help me." Scott was begging.
Virgil laid a hand on Scott's arm. It seemed to take a lot of effort. "I'm sorry Scott. I don't have a light for you."
Scott seemed to relax. "You're here Virg."
"Course I'm here."
"You didn't leave me."
"I promised I wouldn't leave you and I won't." Virgil was aware that he was having a conversation with a man who was sound asleep, but strangely didn't feel it was a ridiculous thing to do. He was also aware that he was feeling very tired himself.
"You won't leave me."
"I - promise - won't - leave..." sleep overcame Virgil and he slumped back in the chair.
***
Scott woke the next morning with a dull headache. He put his hand to his head and felt the ever present bandages. Some of his dreams of the night surfaced in his mind and with an effort he pushed them away. "You awake Virgil?"
No reply.
"Virgil?" Scott sat up. Things seemed very quiet. He became aware that he'd lost his bedclothes, as he'd done the previous couple of nights. He climbed out of his bed to find them. Feeling around the floor in his general vicinity he found nothing, so took a step forward. Something in his way sent him flying and he found himself landing on top of Virgil's bed.
It was empty.
"Where's he got to?"
Now that he was fully awake he became aware of a sound beside his own bed. The sound of shallow rapid breathing.
"Virgil? Is that you?"
No reply.
Scott blindly reached out in the direction of the sound until his hands found something hard.
It was an arm cast.
"Virgil, what's wrong?"
Scott felt up the arm. When he reached Virgil's throat he stopped. For the second time in four days he searched for a pulse.
Like the breathing it was shallow and thready.
His hand brushed his brothers face as he pulled back. "Virgil! You're burning up!" He reached out again and felt a clammy forehead.
"Where's a nurse when you need one?" he muttered angrily as he felt about on his bed for the buzzer. His restless sleep had shifted it from where it had been the night before. "Where is it?!"
He tried yelling for a nurse. Even Nurse Stone would have been welcome.
No one came.
"Where is the damn thing?" Frantically he felt under the pillows before finally throwing them in the direction of the far wall in frustration.
He was about to attempt to try to negotiate his own way out of the room when his fingers closed around the buzzer. He pushed the button down long and hard.
It seemed like hours, although it was only minutes before he heard footsteps and the sound of the door to the room being opened.
"What's wrong...?" A female voice started saying.
"Something's wrong with Virgil. He won't wake up, he's got a temperature, his pulse is weak..." Scott felt the nurse brush past him. He grabbed at her. "You've got to help him!"
She pulled free. "I will Scott. Let me examine him."
With an effort he forced himself to sit on the edge of the bed. He could hear the nurse moving about, but had no idea what she was doing. He heard an alarm sound in another part of the ward and then heard pounding footsteps.
"Doctor Martin..."
"What's wrong, Nurse?"
"Pulse is weak, breathing's erratic..."
Scott heard an intercom unit being switched on. "Resus. unit to room three. Stat."
More footsteps. More voices.
"What caused it?" Someone asked.
"Don't know. We'll run tests. We've just got to stabilise him first."
"Will he be all right?" Scott desperately asked no one in particular.
"Get him out of here!" someone ordered.
"No! I'm not leaving." Scott gripped the bed as he felt someone pulling gently at his arm. "I'm not leaving Virgil!"
"Come on Scott." It was Nurse Stone. "You're not helping your brother by staying."
"He wouldn't leave me. I'm not going to leave him!"
"Scott." She insisted. "Please come with me. We're in the way here. Let them look after Virgil."
"Get that oxygen bottle over here!" Someone ordered. "Where's the adrenaline?"
"Here Doctor."
"I can't find a radial pulse." A woman's voice said.
The words scared Scott. "Virgil! Hang in there!"
"What's he still doing in here?" the Doctor practically shouted. "Get him out."
Scott could feel someone tugging at his arm again. "No. I'm not going!" He pushed out at whoever had his arm and felt them lose their grip. He heard the sound of something heavy hitting the floor, but ignored it.
Words were flying about the room and Scott strained to catch them and string them into some sort of order.
"...oxygen..."
"...blood pressure dropping..."
"...sedate him..."
"...phone his father..."
"...give me that..."
"...heart rate critical..."
It wasn't until he felt the sting of the hypodermic needle that Scott became aware that someone had prepared his arm for an injection. He managed to hear the words "Catch him!" before he slid off the bed and into a dreamless sleep...
***
Jeff Tracy uttered a mild curse when his videophone interrupted his work. The caller ID alerted him to the fact that it was the hospital ringing him.
'What have those boys been up to this time' he thought irritably as he answered the call. "Jeff Tracy here."
"Mr Tracy. I'm sorry to have to call you like this, but your son...Virgil..."
Within ten minutes Jeff Tracy was on board the family plane winging his way to the hospital at the fastest speed the jet could sustain...