Thirty Nine - BF
Dusty met them cheerfully, but warily. She'd seen how the Scott's unfeeling comment had hurt Virgil. Scott had said those hateful words and Virgil had instantly stalked out of the room. He hadn't heard Scott call the apology after him. She'd noted Virgil's absence from the canteen at lunchtime and Scott's lack of appetite. She was glad to see them working together again, but noticed that the younger man was a little distant from his brother. She hoped that this afternoon's session would ease the tension between them.
"This obstacle course is a little trickier." She told them. "We've got smaller objects lying about the floor and there are various delicate objects on the larger pieces of furniture. I'm not going to tell you what there is or how many items Scott. You're going to have to figure it out for yourself."
Scott didn't look happy about the challenge.
Virgil surveyed the course. The ubiquitous rope fence was still there, but now instead of following a straight path it curved to the right and back against itself. The obstacles ranged in size from a couple of tables and chairs, to smaller items such as footstools and small cardboard boxes. The 'delicate objects' consisted of what looked to be three plastic vases on each table. He put his feeling of unease down to what had happened earlier.
Dusty led Scott to the beginning. "Ready when you are."
He nodded and took a step forward. The first few steps were fairly easy. Then he came to a table. Wary of the 'delicate objects' that sat on it he tried to give it a wide berth. He wasn't expecting to find a footstool so close and fell over it heavily, landing on one knee with a jarring thud.
Virgil automatically took a step forward to assist and was held back by Dusty. "No. Let him do it himself."
Scott heard her. Yet again anger and frustration welled up inside him. He staggered to his feet and kicked the footstool away.
"Scott!" Virgil exclaimed.
"You heard her!" Scott snapped. "You're to let me do this myself. I'm coping the best way that I can. Who cares if I get hurt or if I hurt you? I'm useless at this. I'm useless at everything I try."
"No you're not, Scott." Dusty protested.
"Yes I am! I can't even dress myself! Something as easy as that and I can't manage it without help! How many times did you have to help me this morning Virgil?"
"Only three..."
"Three times! That's three times too many. And what about meals? Another simple task and yet I can't eat anything without spilling something onto my clothes, and then it's back to get changed again. Back to needing help getting dressed! Do you know how humiliating that is? When we were kids I used to have to help you Virgil, it shouldn't have to be the other way around now!"
"I don't mind..."
"But I do! I don't want to be reliant on others!" Scott shouted.
"You won't forever." Dusty tried to reassure him. "You will learn."
"Forever! Forever trapped. A misfit in a sighted world. You should have left me when this first happened, Virgil. You should have saved yourself and then maybe you wouldn't have broken your arm! You should have left me to drown! When I told you to go on without me you should have obeyed me! I gave you an order!" He was starting to get hysterical.
Virgil glanced worriedly at Dusty. This was getting too close to International Rescue. "I couldn't..."
Scott was continuing with his tirade. It was as if he hadn't heard his brother speak. "Here I am and I can't even walk safely around a table! A table! I used to be able to fly a plane in ways most people couldn't even dream of! I've flown at speeds faster than most people can comprehend! And now I can't even negotiate my way across a room!"
"Calm down Scott." Virgil said anxiously.
Scott flung his arm out and it struck against the table causing the vases to rattle. "Are you sure you can even trust me around such delicate objects, Dusty? Don't you realise that I destroy things that are precious. Things like friendships! I might break one of your delicate objects!" He found a vase and picked it up. "Just like this!" He dashed the vase to the ground. It didn't break, merely rolling away under the rope. This made him angrier. "I can't even do that properly!" He found another vase and threw it against the far wall.
"Scott!" Virgil said in alarm. "Stop!" and ducked as the third vase came sailing with great force in his direction. "You'll hurt someone if you carry on like this."
"Hurt someone! What about me? How many bruises and grazes and sore knees do I have to get before someone says enough? Doesn't it matter that I'm hurting all the time? Both body and soul? Well I've had enough!" With a yell and a martial arts kick that he should have been proud of, the table splintered into pieces. He picked a larger piece up and threw it, not caring where it went or who it hit. Fortunately it sailed wide of the two extremely worried and somewhat frightened people.
"I'm going to get help." Dusty whispered to Virgil before she slipped out of the room. The sound of the door closing behind her was enough of a guide that Scott was able to hurl a piece of wood accurately in that direction. It crashed against the door and clattered to the floor.
Virgil knew he'd have to do something before someone was injured. "Scott," he begged. "Please calm down." He was rewarded by having a table leg thrown in his direction.
When Scott turned his attention to demolishing a footstool Virgil decided that it was time to take some action. He pulled down the rope barrier and stepped quickly up to his brother, deftly avoiding another lethal piece of wood. He grabbed Scott by both arms. "Stop it!" he ordered.
Although he now wore a smaller cast that gave him use of his left hand, the strength in that hand wasn't enough to restrain an irate older brother. Scott freed his right arm and swung his fist into Virgil's face.
Virgil hit the floor and lay there stunned.
The horror of what he'd done sunk into Scott's angry brain. He knelt beside his brother. "Virgil! Virgil, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" He reached out anxiously.
Virgil sat up groggily and felt his face. "That's quite a right hook you've got there, brother." He flinched as Scott gingerly laid his hand against the injury.
Scott was dismayed at the swelling that he could feel around Virgil's eye. "I'm really sorry. Let me get you an ice pack." He stood and made his way over to where he knew the first aid kit resided. He managed to find two ice packs and brought them back to where Virgil was still sitting. He placed one against the affected area, holding it in place.
Virgil took it from him. "It's okay. I've got it."
"I'm really sorry." Scott took the other pack and laid it over his own knuckles. "I can't believe I did that to you. I hurt you this morning and I've hurt you now. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"I'm sorry."
"Stop apologising, Scott. I'm okay."
The door was cautiously opened. Dusty entered followed by the doctor. He took in the mess. "Are you both okay?"
"I hit Virgil." Scott said sadly.
"So you did." The doctor was looking underneath Virgil's ice pack. "Quite a good shot too, by the looks of it."
"I didn't duck quick enough." Virgil said lightly, and flinched again as the doctor examined a cut to his eyelid.
"I'm sorry, Virgil." Scott sounded really miserable now.
"I know you are Scott. You don't have to keep telling me."
"I think I've damaged a couple of things."
"Yes you have." Dusty agreed with him. "But we won't worry about that just now."
Scott turned to her voice. "I'm sorry, Dusty."
"Scott." Virgil said quietly. "Do you realise what you've just done?"
"Hit you. I'm sorry."
"No I didn't mean that. You helped me just then, with no instructions. You got the ice pack without anyone's help."
"I did?" Scott sounded surprised. "Oh yeah. So I did."
"See. You're not helpless Scott." Dusty told him. "I know you are frustrated, but you are not helpless. You will learn. Maybe you're just trying too hard at the moment."
"Yeah. Maybe. Can I try again?" Scott ignored the doctor, who was checking his hand before placing the ice pack back on it.
"What? Now?"
"Yes now. Don't they say that if you fall off a horse you should get straight back on?"
"Yes but..."
"Please." Scott begged.
"Okay. But let me get rid of some of the debris first."
Scott managed a little laugh. "You call that debris? A few bits of furniture? That's nothing. Right Virg?"
Virgil chuckled. "Right Scott."
Neither of them elaborated to either Dusty or the doctor.
The latter stood up. "Well no real harm done. If you have any problems with that eye Virgil let me know, but I think you'll be okay."
Virgil stood also. "Thanks Doc."
"Well I guess that's all." The doctor looked at Dusty. "Do you want me to stay?" he fingered his bag lightly.
She shook her head. "No. I think we'll be fine this time."
***
Later that evening Virgil made his nightly phone call home. He smiled when his father answered the videophone.
Jeff had stayed close to the phone all afternoon in case Virgil had needed to talk to him again. He hadn't known what to expect and what he saw was a shock. His eyes widened as he took in Virgil's bloodshot eye, his bruised swollen skin, and the steri-strip that held the edges of the cut together. "What happened to you!?"
"Scott punched me." Virgil told him truthfully.
Jeff waited. Despite the shock of the lunchtime phone call this was too hard to believe. "Okay. Now what really happened?"
"He did! Scott hit me. With his fist."
Jeff was struggling to get his mind around this. "It was an accident, right?"
"No. He meant to do it."
Now Jeff was worried. "Is he alright? Are you alright? Do you want to come home?"
"No. Everything's okay."
Alan had been listening to the conversation. He walked around his father's chair so that he could see the videophone screen. He gave a whistle and then a little grin. "So did you hit him back?"
"Alan! When a guy as powerful as Scott hits you, you don't get the chance to retaliate! I was down for the count and seeing enough stars to keep John happy for a year!"
"Virgil." Jeff said patiently. "What happened?"
Virgil explained about the incident. "Dusty even went to get the doctor to sedate him so he wouldn't hurt himself or anyone else."
"He hurt you though!" Jeff sounded angry.
"Actually I'm kinda glad he did." Virgil admitted.
"What!" Jeff was flummoxed.
"Oh yes." Alan smirked. "Is this some kind of masochistic tendency of yours we didn't know about Virgil?"
His brother chuckled. "No nothing like that. I just mean that the shock of hitting me brought him back to his senses. And what's more, he took control. Found the first aid kit without any trouble. Well he's had enough experience needing it that you'd expect him to know where it was. But he got out two ice packs, walked back to me, and put an ice pack on my eye. He wasn't thinking about what he was doing, he was thinking about what needed to be done. And he did it! With no help!"
There was a knock on the connecting door before Scott poked his head in. "Are you decent?" he asked flippantly.
"Come in Scott. I'm on the 'phone to home. Do you want to say hi to Father and Alan?"
They were unsure of what the answer would be. Scott hadn't being willing to talk to his family since he'd gone into rehabilitation.
"Why not." He said. "Hi Father."
"Hi Scott." Jeff decided that he would try not to be angry with his eldest. "How are you?"
"Not bad." Jeff was pleased that the standard phrase 'fine' was not used. "How are you Alan?"
"Great." Alan replied. "I see you've been getting in a little boxing practise with Virgil."
Scott cringed at the reminder. "Does he look that bad."
"I've seen him worse..." Scott relaxed. "But only after he'd fallen down a river bank, broken his arm, got hypothermia and nearly drowned."
"Oh." Scott said quietly.
"What happened son?" Jeff asked.
Scott sighed. "I don't know. Dusty had made the obstacle course more of a challenge than I was used to. I tripped over a footstool and then heard her tell Virgil not to help me. And then I guess I lost it. As I think Virgil told you..." he looked embarrassed, "...I'd made a bad mistake at this morning's session and this just capped it off. I felt sore and frustrated and humiliated and out of control. And I just blew my top."
Jeff decided not to mention the 'bad mistake'.
"I'll tell you one thing Scott." Virgil was standing beside the videophone. "There's nothing wrong with your hearing. You were deadly accurate with most of your throws. I had to be pretty quick on my feet to escape being hit..." he gingerly fingered his sore face, "... Well I was most of the time."
"I'm sorry Virgil."
Virgil laughed and rubbed Scott on the back. "I know you are. You don't have to keep telling me. Anyway you cleaned up on the obstacle course afterwards. I think that must have been some kind of record."
Jeff looked over to the doorway when he heard a sound. "Gordon! Would you like a word with Scott?"
"Can I?" Gordon sounded surprised. "Hey Scott, how's it going?"
"Not too bad."
"You've got less bruises than you had last time I saw you. Things must be getting better..." then Gordon's gaze wandered over to Virgil and his expression changed to one of surprise. "Or are you just getting Virgil to do the hard work for you? What happened to you?"
Scott reddened.
"I walked into a cupboard door." Virgil lied. "Get Alan to explain it to you later."
"Are things getting any easier, Scott?" Jeff asked.
Scott screwed up his face. "Not everything. There's some things I still have a heck of a lot of trouble doing." Then his face lit up. "I'll tell you one thing I achieved though," he said proudly. "I managed to change my shirt tonight without any help."
Virgil saw Alan open his mouth to make a comment and gave his youngest brother a warning glare. Alan closed his mouth again.
"That's good son." Jeff was saying. "You're making progress then."
"Yeah. Except that the reason why I had to change it was because I managed to spill my dinner onto the old one. I'm doing okay with most things, but I just can't get the hang of eating peas. They keep on rolling off, and when they're coated in mint sauce you've got no chance of keeping clean. I've got a heck of a big laundry bill."
"Mush your peas up." Gordon suggested. "At least they wouldn't be able to roll then."
"That's a thought." Scott said. "I might try that next time." He changed the subject. "How's things at home. Have you had any call outs?"
"Things have been quiet, thank heavens." His father replied...
***
Much later, after that 'phone call, Jeff was finishing up for the night. The rest of the family had already retired to bed. He jumped when he heard the familiar beeping sound. Instinctively he looked towards John's portrait. His son's immobile features smiled down at him.
He realised that the sound and accompanying flashing lights were actually coming from Lady Penelope's portrait.
"Evening Penny. Have you had a good holiday?"
"Wonderful, thank you Jeff. Parker and I had a most relaxing time..."
He realised with a jolt that she didn't even know. No one outside of the immediate family group knew of the turmoil that had occurred to this family over the last few weeks. Jeff suddenly realised that he would actually have to tell people of Scott's disability.
'Disability'. One word. One word that, rightly or wrongly, changed your perspective of a person. Scott had always been so... able. And now there were things that he was no longer able to do, that he would never be able to do again. Disabled. It seemed a crime to pin such a label to him, but such a label would inevitably be assigned.
Who needed to know? There were a few extended family members, Scott's Air Force buddies, old school friends... Agents. International Rescue agents would have to be told. Some who were good friends should be told personally but others... he would have to compose and send out a worldwide memo to the vast network of agents that worked for International Rescue.
"... and so, after we convinced the authorities that Parker's tools were not intended for breaking into the safe, but rather for some domestic chores at Margery's manor, we decided that it would be prudent to head home. So here I am. Rested and ready for your next challenge..." Lady Penelope paused. "Jeff! I do believe you haven't heard a word I've said!"
He suddenly realised that she'd been talking and he hadn't taken in a word. "Sorry Penny." He said ashamedly. "What did you say?
"I said I'm ready for any challenges. What's wrong?"
"Um. We've had a challenging few weeks ourselves."
She studied his face. He looked older than his years. Drawn, preoccupied and tired. Normally he was a good listener, but this time he'd practically ignored her. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Jeff?" she prompted. "What's happened? Is it the boys? I didn't hear about any rescues on the news."
He nodded slowly and she prepared herself for the worst. "It wasn't reported. It was in a top secret facility." He gave her a brief rundown of the events of a month ago. "They both nearly drowned and were suffering from hypothermia when they were rescued."
'Nearly' and 'rescued'. She latched onto those words with relief. "How are they?"
She saw sadness in his eyes. "Virgil's arm was pretty badly broken, but it's on the mend."
"And Scott?"
He appeared to be struggling. "The burns to his face are healing..."
"Yes?" Whatever he was about to say must be serious.
"Penny! He's lost his sight. He can't see."
She caught her breath. "Is it... is it permanent?"
He nodded.
"Oh, Jeff. How's he taking it?"
"Hard. He's still in rehabilitation. Virgil's there to support him, but he's even striking out at him! I don't know Penny. I'm really worried. I'm worried about both of them. Virgil's doing his best, but I can see that he's finding it a struggle. And Scott... He's normally so in control and now that he's losing that control..."
She understood. "Do you think he'd like me to visit him?"
"I don't know. Virgil calls home at least once a day, but I've only spoken to Scott once since I left, and that was tonight. He seemed fairly cheerful but..." He shrugged helplessly. "Scott said he didn't want us to visit so that we wouldn't leave International Rescue understaffed, but he hasn't tried to contact his brothers at all. It's as if he's pushing us all away."
"Well I'm not family. He might react differently to me. Where is the facility? Parker and I can fly there tomorrow..."
She got the necessary details and bid him a fond good night. "Keep positive Jeff. It will get better."
She sat in thought a moment before gracefully reaching out and gently pulling on the bell pull.
"You rang M'lady?"
"Yes Parker. I've just had a rather disturbing phonecall."
"H-it wasn't the cops, ah, h-authorities was h-it? They didn't see too 'appy at our sudden departure." He said anxiously.
"No Parker. It wasn't the police. It was Mr Tracy."
"Mr Tracy, M'lady?"
"I'm afraid there's been an accident."
"An accident? Not to one of them Tracy boys?"
"I'm afraid so, Parker. It appears Scott has been blinded."
"Blinded! Blimey. That's not good, M'lady."
"No Parker. Not good at all. We shall fly out tomorrow to offer him support." She gave him the details. "Arrange it will you."
"Yes, M'lady."
***
Later that evening Virgil told Dusty about much of his 'phone call home. For the first time, in a long time, he was starting to feel positive about the future. "You know. I think that light bulb you were talking about might have been switched on..."
Dusty met them cheerfully, but warily. She'd seen how the Scott's unfeeling comment had hurt Virgil. Scott had said those hateful words and Virgil had instantly stalked out of the room. He hadn't heard Scott call the apology after him. She'd noted Virgil's absence from the canteen at lunchtime and Scott's lack of appetite. She was glad to see them working together again, but noticed that the younger man was a little distant from his brother. She hoped that this afternoon's session would ease the tension between them.
"This obstacle course is a little trickier." She told them. "We've got smaller objects lying about the floor and there are various delicate objects on the larger pieces of furniture. I'm not going to tell you what there is or how many items Scott. You're going to have to figure it out for yourself."
Scott didn't look happy about the challenge.
Virgil surveyed the course. The ubiquitous rope fence was still there, but now instead of following a straight path it curved to the right and back against itself. The obstacles ranged in size from a couple of tables and chairs, to smaller items such as footstools and small cardboard boxes. The 'delicate objects' consisted of what looked to be three plastic vases on each table. He put his feeling of unease down to what had happened earlier.
Dusty led Scott to the beginning. "Ready when you are."
He nodded and took a step forward. The first few steps were fairly easy. Then he came to a table. Wary of the 'delicate objects' that sat on it he tried to give it a wide berth. He wasn't expecting to find a footstool so close and fell over it heavily, landing on one knee with a jarring thud.
Virgil automatically took a step forward to assist and was held back by Dusty. "No. Let him do it himself."
Scott heard her. Yet again anger and frustration welled up inside him. He staggered to his feet and kicked the footstool away.
"Scott!" Virgil exclaimed.
"You heard her!" Scott snapped. "You're to let me do this myself. I'm coping the best way that I can. Who cares if I get hurt or if I hurt you? I'm useless at this. I'm useless at everything I try."
"No you're not, Scott." Dusty protested.
"Yes I am! I can't even dress myself! Something as easy as that and I can't manage it without help! How many times did you have to help me this morning Virgil?"
"Only three..."
"Three times! That's three times too many. And what about meals? Another simple task and yet I can't eat anything without spilling something onto my clothes, and then it's back to get changed again. Back to needing help getting dressed! Do you know how humiliating that is? When we were kids I used to have to help you Virgil, it shouldn't have to be the other way around now!"
"I don't mind..."
"But I do! I don't want to be reliant on others!" Scott shouted.
"You won't forever." Dusty tried to reassure him. "You will learn."
"Forever! Forever trapped. A misfit in a sighted world. You should have left me when this first happened, Virgil. You should have saved yourself and then maybe you wouldn't have broken your arm! You should have left me to drown! When I told you to go on without me you should have obeyed me! I gave you an order!" He was starting to get hysterical.
Virgil glanced worriedly at Dusty. This was getting too close to International Rescue. "I couldn't..."
Scott was continuing with his tirade. It was as if he hadn't heard his brother speak. "Here I am and I can't even walk safely around a table! A table! I used to be able to fly a plane in ways most people couldn't even dream of! I've flown at speeds faster than most people can comprehend! And now I can't even negotiate my way across a room!"
"Calm down Scott." Virgil said anxiously.
Scott flung his arm out and it struck against the table causing the vases to rattle. "Are you sure you can even trust me around such delicate objects, Dusty? Don't you realise that I destroy things that are precious. Things like friendships! I might break one of your delicate objects!" He found a vase and picked it up. "Just like this!" He dashed the vase to the ground. It didn't break, merely rolling away under the rope. This made him angrier. "I can't even do that properly!" He found another vase and threw it against the far wall.
"Scott!" Virgil said in alarm. "Stop!" and ducked as the third vase came sailing with great force in his direction. "You'll hurt someone if you carry on like this."
"Hurt someone! What about me? How many bruises and grazes and sore knees do I have to get before someone says enough? Doesn't it matter that I'm hurting all the time? Both body and soul? Well I've had enough!" With a yell and a martial arts kick that he should have been proud of, the table splintered into pieces. He picked a larger piece up and threw it, not caring where it went or who it hit. Fortunately it sailed wide of the two extremely worried and somewhat frightened people.
"I'm going to get help." Dusty whispered to Virgil before she slipped out of the room. The sound of the door closing behind her was enough of a guide that Scott was able to hurl a piece of wood accurately in that direction. It crashed against the door and clattered to the floor.
Virgil knew he'd have to do something before someone was injured. "Scott," he begged. "Please calm down." He was rewarded by having a table leg thrown in his direction.
When Scott turned his attention to demolishing a footstool Virgil decided that it was time to take some action. He pulled down the rope barrier and stepped quickly up to his brother, deftly avoiding another lethal piece of wood. He grabbed Scott by both arms. "Stop it!" he ordered.
Although he now wore a smaller cast that gave him use of his left hand, the strength in that hand wasn't enough to restrain an irate older brother. Scott freed his right arm and swung his fist into Virgil's face.
Virgil hit the floor and lay there stunned.
The horror of what he'd done sunk into Scott's angry brain. He knelt beside his brother. "Virgil! Virgil, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" He reached out anxiously.
Virgil sat up groggily and felt his face. "That's quite a right hook you've got there, brother." He flinched as Scott gingerly laid his hand against the injury.
Scott was dismayed at the swelling that he could feel around Virgil's eye. "I'm really sorry. Let me get you an ice pack." He stood and made his way over to where he knew the first aid kit resided. He managed to find two ice packs and brought them back to where Virgil was still sitting. He placed one against the affected area, holding it in place.
Virgil took it from him. "It's okay. I've got it."
"I'm really sorry." Scott took the other pack and laid it over his own knuckles. "I can't believe I did that to you. I hurt you this morning and I've hurt you now. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"I'm sorry."
"Stop apologising, Scott. I'm okay."
The door was cautiously opened. Dusty entered followed by the doctor. He took in the mess. "Are you both okay?"
"I hit Virgil." Scott said sadly.
"So you did." The doctor was looking underneath Virgil's ice pack. "Quite a good shot too, by the looks of it."
"I didn't duck quick enough." Virgil said lightly, and flinched again as the doctor examined a cut to his eyelid.
"I'm sorry, Virgil." Scott sounded really miserable now.
"I know you are Scott. You don't have to keep telling me."
"I think I've damaged a couple of things."
"Yes you have." Dusty agreed with him. "But we won't worry about that just now."
Scott turned to her voice. "I'm sorry, Dusty."
"Scott." Virgil said quietly. "Do you realise what you've just done?"
"Hit you. I'm sorry."
"No I didn't mean that. You helped me just then, with no instructions. You got the ice pack without anyone's help."
"I did?" Scott sounded surprised. "Oh yeah. So I did."
"See. You're not helpless Scott." Dusty told him. "I know you are frustrated, but you are not helpless. You will learn. Maybe you're just trying too hard at the moment."
"Yeah. Maybe. Can I try again?" Scott ignored the doctor, who was checking his hand before placing the ice pack back on it.
"What? Now?"
"Yes now. Don't they say that if you fall off a horse you should get straight back on?"
"Yes but..."
"Please." Scott begged.
"Okay. But let me get rid of some of the debris first."
Scott managed a little laugh. "You call that debris? A few bits of furniture? That's nothing. Right Virg?"
Virgil chuckled. "Right Scott."
Neither of them elaborated to either Dusty or the doctor.
The latter stood up. "Well no real harm done. If you have any problems with that eye Virgil let me know, but I think you'll be okay."
Virgil stood also. "Thanks Doc."
"Well I guess that's all." The doctor looked at Dusty. "Do you want me to stay?" he fingered his bag lightly.
She shook her head. "No. I think we'll be fine this time."
***
Later that evening Virgil made his nightly phone call home. He smiled when his father answered the videophone.
Jeff had stayed close to the phone all afternoon in case Virgil had needed to talk to him again. He hadn't known what to expect and what he saw was a shock. His eyes widened as he took in Virgil's bloodshot eye, his bruised swollen skin, and the steri-strip that held the edges of the cut together. "What happened to you!?"
"Scott punched me." Virgil told him truthfully.
Jeff waited. Despite the shock of the lunchtime phone call this was too hard to believe. "Okay. Now what really happened?"
"He did! Scott hit me. With his fist."
Jeff was struggling to get his mind around this. "It was an accident, right?"
"No. He meant to do it."
Now Jeff was worried. "Is he alright? Are you alright? Do you want to come home?"
"No. Everything's okay."
Alan had been listening to the conversation. He walked around his father's chair so that he could see the videophone screen. He gave a whistle and then a little grin. "So did you hit him back?"
"Alan! When a guy as powerful as Scott hits you, you don't get the chance to retaliate! I was down for the count and seeing enough stars to keep John happy for a year!"
"Virgil." Jeff said patiently. "What happened?"
Virgil explained about the incident. "Dusty even went to get the doctor to sedate him so he wouldn't hurt himself or anyone else."
"He hurt you though!" Jeff sounded angry.
"Actually I'm kinda glad he did." Virgil admitted.
"What!" Jeff was flummoxed.
"Oh yes." Alan smirked. "Is this some kind of masochistic tendency of yours we didn't know about Virgil?"
His brother chuckled. "No nothing like that. I just mean that the shock of hitting me brought him back to his senses. And what's more, he took control. Found the first aid kit without any trouble. Well he's had enough experience needing it that you'd expect him to know where it was. But he got out two ice packs, walked back to me, and put an ice pack on my eye. He wasn't thinking about what he was doing, he was thinking about what needed to be done. And he did it! With no help!"
There was a knock on the connecting door before Scott poked his head in. "Are you decent?" he asked flippantly.
"Come in Scott. I'm on the 'phone to home. Do you want to say hi to Father and Alan?"
They were unsure of what the answer would be. Scott hadn't being willing to talk to his family since he'd gone into rehabilitation.
"Why not." He said. "Hi Father."
"Hi Scott." Jeff decided that he would try not to be angry with his eldest. "How are you?"
"Not bad." Jeff was pleased that the standard phrase 'fine' was not used. "How are you Alan?"
"Great." Alan replied. "I see you've been getting in a little boxing practise with Virgil."
Scott cringed at the reminder. "Does he look that bad."
"I've seen him worse..." Scott relaxed. "But only after he'd fallen down a river bank, broken his arm, got hypothermia and nearly drowned."
"Oh." Scott said quietly.
"What happened son?" Jeff asked.
Scott sighed. "I don't know. Dusty had made the obstacle course more of a challenge than I was used to. I tripped over a footstool and then heard her tell Virgil not to help me. And then I guess I lost it. As I think Virgil told you..." he looked embarrassed, "...I'd made a bad mistake at this morning's session and this just capped it off. I felt sore and frustrated and humiliated and out of control. And I just blew my top."
Jeff decided not to mention the 'bad mistake'.
"I'll tell you one thing Scott." Virgil was standing beside the videophone. "There's nothing wrong with your hearing. You were deadly accurate with most of your throws. I had to be pretty quick on my feet to escape being hit..." he gingerly fingered his sore face, "... Well I was most of the time."
"I'm sorry Virgil."
Virgil laughed and rubbed Scott on the back. "I know you are. You don't have to keep telling me. Anyway you cleaned up on the obstacle course afterwards. I think that must have been some kind of record."
Jeff looked over to the doorway when he heard a sound. "Gordon! Would you like a word with Scott?"
"Can I?" Gordon sounded surprised. "Hey Scott, how's it going?"
"Not too bad."
"You've got less bruises than you had last time I saw you. Things must be getting better..." then Gordon's gaze wandered over to Virgil and his expression changed to one of surprise. "Or are you just getting Virgil to do the hard work for you? What happened to you?"
Scott reddened.
"I walked into a cupboard door." Virgil lied. "Get Alan to explain it to you later."
"Are things getting any easier, Scott?" Jeff asked.
Scott screwed up his face. "Not everything. There's some things I still have a heck of a lot of trouble doing." Then his face lit up. "I'll tell you one thing I achieved though," he said proudly. "I managed to change my shirt tonight without any help."
Virgil saw Alan open his mouth to make a comment and gave his youngest brother a warning glare. Alan closed his mouth again.
"That's good son." Jeff was saying. "You're making progress then."
"Yeah. Except that the reason why I had to change it was because I managed to spill my dinner onto the old one. I'm doing okay with most things, but I just can't get the hang of eating peas. They keep on rolling off, and when they're coated in mint sauce you've got no chance of keeping clean. I've got a heck of a big laundry bill."
"Mush your peas up." Gordon suggested. "At least they wouldn't be able to roll then."
"That's a thought." Scott said. "I might try that next time." He changed the subject. "How's things at home. Have you had any call outs?"
"Things have been quiet, thank heavens." His father replied...
***
Much later, after that 'phone call, Jeff was finishing up for the night. The rest of the family had already retired to bed. He jumped when he heard the familiar beeping sound. Instinctively he looked towards John's portrait. His son's immobile features smiled down at him.
He realised that the sound and accompanying flashing lights were actually coming from Lady Penelope's portrait.
"Evening Penny. Have you had a good holiday?"
"Wonderful, thank you Jeff. Parker and I had a most relaxing time..."
He realised with a jolt that she didn't even know. No one outside of the immediate family group knew of the turmoil that had occurred to this family over the last few weeks. Jeff suddenly realised that he would actually have to tell people of Scott's disability.
'Disability'. One word. One word that, rightly or wrongly, changed your perspective of a person. Scott had always been so... able. And now there were things that he was no longer able to do, that he would never be able to do again. Disabled. It seemed a crime to pin such a label to him, but such a label would inevitably be assigned.
Who needed to know? There were a few extended family members, Scott's Air Force buddies, old school friends... Agents. International Rescue agents would have to be told. Some who were good friends should be told personally but others... he would have to compose and send out a worldwide memo to the vast network of agents that worked for International Rescue.
"... and so, after we convinced the authorities that Parker's tools were not intended for breaking into the safe, but rather for some domestic chores at Margery's manor, we decided that it would be prudent to head home. So here I am. Rested and ready for your next challenge..." Lady Penelope paused. "Jeff! I do believe you haven't heard a word I've said!"
He suddenly realised that she'd been talking and he hadn't taken in a word. "Sorry Penny." He said ashamedly. "What did you say?
"I said I'm ready for any challenges. What's wrong?"
"Um. We've had a challenging few weeks ourselves."
She studied his face. He looked older than his years. Drawn, preoccupied and tired. Normally he was a good listener, but this time he'd practically ignored her. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Jeff?" she prompted. "What's happened? Is it the boys? I didn't hear about any rescues on the news."
He nodded slowly and she prepared herself for the worst. "It wasn't reported. It was in a top secret facility." He gave her a brief rundown of the events of a month ago. "They both nearly drowned and were suffering from hypothermia when they were rescued."
'Nearly' and 'rescued'. She latched onto those words with relief. "How are they?"
She saw sadness in his eyes. "Virgil's arm was pretty badly broken, but it's on the mend."
"And Scott?"
He appeared to be struggling. "The burns to his face are healing..."
"Yes?" Whatever he was about to say must be serious.
"Penny! He's lost his sight. He can't see."
She caught her breath. "Is it... is it permanent?"
He nodded.
"Oh, Jeff. How's he taking it?"
"Hard. He's still in rehabilitation. Virgil's there to support him, but he's even striking out at him! I don't know Penny. I'm really worried. I'm worried about both of them. Virgil's doing his best, but I can see that he's finding it a struggle. And Scott... He's normally so in control and now that he's losing that control..."
She understood. "Do you think he'd like me to visit him?"
"I don't know. Virgil calls home at least once a day, but I've only spoken to Scott once since I left, and that was tonight. He seemed fairly cheerful but..." He shrugged helplessly. "Scott said he didn't want us to visit so that we wouldn't leave International Rescue understaffed, but he hasn't tried to contact his brothers at all. It's as if he's pushing us all away."
"Well I'm not family. He might react differently to me. Where is the facility? Parker and I can fly there tomorrow..."
She got the necessary details and bid him a fond good night. "Keep positive Jeff. It will get better."
She sat in thought a moment before gracefully reaching out and gently pulling on the bell pull.
"You rang M'lady?"
"Yes Parker. I've just had a rather disturbing phonecall."
"H-it wasn't the cops, ah, h-authorities was h-it? They didn't see too 'appy at our sudden departure." He said anxiously.
"No Parker. It wasn't the police. It was Mr Tracy."
"Mr Tracy, M'lady?"
"I'm afraid there's been an accident."
"An accident? Not to one of them Tracy boys?"
"I'm afraid so, Parker. It appears Scott has been blinded."
"Blinded! Blimey. That's not good, M'lady."
"No Parker. Not good at all. We shall fly out tomorrow to offer him support." She gave him the details. "Arrange it will you."
"Yes, M'lady."
***
Later that evening Virgil told Dusty about much of his 'phone call home. For the first time, in a long time, he was starting to feel positive about the future. "You know. I think that light bulb you were talking about might have been switched on..."