Thirty Three - AR

Scott was looking around, drinking in the sights that only minutes ago he'd feared he'd never see. His family were all smiles, the doctor was looking pleased with himself, and even the utilitarian hospital room seemed, to Scott, to be a thing of beauty. His eyes fell on a nurse standing beside the doctor. Even before his accident he would have considered her to be something special in the looks department. She flashed him a heart-melting smile, said something quietly to the white coated man at her side, and left the room.

He dragged his thoughts and eyes back to Virgil. "Boy you're a mess!"

"Charming!" Virgil pretended to be affronted. "After all I've done for you these last few days. Taking you for walks. Talking with you half the night. Putting my own health at risk..." Gordon and Alan got out their invisible violins and started playing. "Anyway..." Virgil concluded. "If you want to see a mess, just wait till I get a mirror."

At that moment Scott didn't care what he looked like. At least he'd be able to see.

***

Later in the day, when the family had gone home, Scott was sitting on his bed gazing at the ceiling deep in thought. "Virgil?"

"Mmmn" Virgil was reading a magazine.

"Who was that gorgeous 'Angel of Mercy'?"

"Who?"

"That nurse who was in here when the bandages came off."

"Oh her!" Virgil smirked. "THAT was 'Crabby Nurse Stone'."

"You're kidding me!"

"I'm not! A bit different to what you'd imagined?"

"I'll say." Scott sagged against the pillows. "I'd pictured someone about Grandma's age with a face like a wrinkled prune."

"You know she was only 'crabby' for our own good."

"I can't believe the things I said to her."

"Because you now know that she's beautiful? She's still the same person. I didn't think that you were that shallow."

Scott couldn't ignore the guilt that was welling up. "No, not because she's beautiful. Because I've never treated anyone like before. I feel terrible? There were times when I was horrible to her. I still haven't apologised."

"You realise that those walks she took you on were in her own time, when she was off duty?"

"No! Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was all part of my plan. While you were being the evil brother, I was hopeful she'd look to me, the good brother, for solace."

"You swine! Any luck?"

"No, her hands were a problem."

Scott was flummoxed. "Her hands?"

"She had a wedding ring on them."

"Oh, I can see that would be a problem."

"Not that either of us are much in the looks department at the moment." Virgil said lightly.

"I'll say. That's some shiner you've got."

"You should have seen it a couple of days ago. I wouldn't have enough colours in my palette to give you an idea of how it looked."

They were each caught up in their thoughts for a moment.

"Hey Virgil."

"Hey Scott."

"Thanks."

Virgil was surprised. "For what?"

"I don't know. For helping me. For being here when I needed you. I think I would have gone crazy without your support. Even if you did go collapsing all over the place."

"Only the once."

"Yeah. Well. Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome. As I said a few days ago, you would have done exactly the same for me if the roles had been reversed..." Virgil hesitated in thought again. "...And you did. The way everyone's been carrying on, I think you probably saved my life."

"Yeah I got that impression too. No one's actually told me how bad you were."

"No, me neither. I suppose I've got the right to ask."

"I don't see why not. Hey! Is that your chart at the bottom of your bed?"

"Good spotting Sherlock." Virgil crawled to the bottom of the bed and took the chart. He sat back and his eyes widened as he read it. He gave a low whistle and flopped back against his pillows. "I'm not too clued up on medical technology but... See what you make of it." He reached across and handed the chart to Scott.

"What happened to patient confidentiality?" Scott laughed and took the chart. Most of the notations were unintelligible and out of focus, but, by using a magnifying glass, Scott was able to understand a graph on page three. It clearly showed Virgil's blood pressure and heart rate from two days ago. The lines on the printout dropped alarmingly to touch the x axis that ran along the bottom. If Scott was reading the graph correctly the lines had remained there for almost half a minute.

Scott looked back over at his brother, who'd lost a touch of colour. Scott's own good humour had gone. "Virgil! If I'm reading this correctly... you were dead for 28 seconds!"

"Yeah." Virgil said flatly. "That's how I read it too."

"No wonder Father didn't hang about to tell anyone. He must have been in a right state. How do you feel now?"

"How do I feel? I don't know. I think I'm in shock. I don't feel dead."

Scott gave a wry grin. "That's 'cause you're not. You're not thinking clearly. You're not going to be dead if you're living."

Virgil gave a short laugh. "Now where have I heard that before?"