Disclaimer: Thunderbirds is not mine, and I make no money from my fics. They are for the pure enjoyment of other fans on the Net.

Author's Note: Oh, thanks for the reviews, lovely people! It's really rewarding! Have any of you actually guessed I LOVE REVIEWS?????? :-)

Enough of me and my mouth....here's chapter 14!

Fate

By Suzi Roberts

Chapter 14 – One Emotion After Another

The deep orange shades of the evening sun turned the tips of the clouds a rosy pink.

On any other day it would have been a perfect sunset.

Today, it seemed to Jeff Tracy, that there could be diamonds lining every cloud and he wouldn't care.

All he wanted was for his sons to be home safely.

He stood outside the hospital, puffing rather violently on a cigar, cursing himself.

Why had he let the boys go through with this?

Virgil had been doing fine before – they could have worked out some kind of routine.

Then Jeff remembered the pain Virgil had been in after each dialysis session; could he really put Virgil through that every day for the next, what, forty, fifty years?

No, he couldn't.

It had been decided that Scott would donate a kidney to Virgil.

They'd gone ahead with it today.

Now Scott lay in a coma. Virgil was obviously stressed and in his current state of health, that wasn't good news.

Jeff stamped out the cigar end, muttering angrily under his breath.

He breathed in the cool air one more time before turning around and going back inside the hospital.

******

Virgil lay propped up on what felt like twenty pillows.

He wasn't reading, or listening to the radio or sleeping. He was just lying there.

Thinking.

Dr Jackson had assured him he'd be able to see Scott when he wanted, as long as he got enough bed-rest during the hours between.

So that was what Virgil was doing.

Resting.

And he was getting mighty sick of it, too.

Each minute felt like an hour; each hour felt like a year.

He looked at the clock and counted the hours left until he could regain his vigil at the window to Scott's room in Intensive Care.

Two hours remained.

*****

They were changing his feeding tubes.

He lay in the same perfectly still position, eyes closed, dark hair tousled.

The nurses spoke quietly amongst themselves as he lay there, as if not to wake him from a somewhat peaceful sleep.

A pretty young blonde nurse came in and checked the machinery.

She looked at the young man lying on the bed briefly before returning to the small group of nurses outside.

"Do you think he'll make it?" She asked in a low voice as she closed the door.

"No-one knows, Sara." Another nurse replied. "The thing about comas is no- one can tell when someone will wake up – if they ever do."

*****

Virgil had fallen asleep for the first time since the operation. He was far from relaxed, and his sleep wasn't peaceful, but the tiredness had finally got the better of him.

Jeff sat with him for a while in emotional agony, not able to grasp the fact that both his sons would be in such a critical condition.

Virgil seemed to be getting on OK, but his state of health was still serious and he needed constant monitoring and care.

Jeff watched as Virgil slept restlessly, pain shooting through him occasionally making him screw up his face as he slept.

He knew Virgil was quite often overlooked in some respects; Scott often took the limelight from Virgil when it came to rescues. It wasn't done purposefully; sometimes it just happened.

As children, Jeff had often paid Scott the most attention, especially when they'd entered their teens, although he'd tried his best to share himself equally between his sons.

But Jeff did love Virgil every bit as much as Scott.

He loved them both.

He just wished he could tell them that.

*****

Tin-Tin sat on the sofa, tears burning in her eyes as she looked at the piece of paper in front of her.

First she'd found this letter in her room.

Then Josie had told her and the family about Scott.

It was all too much to bear.

Scott was in a coma, they'd been told.

He was critical.

It seemed unlikely to everyone that such a strong man could be in a state like that.

Yet Tin-Tin knew how true it was when Josie had explained to her how upset Jeff was.

Jeff Tracy was strong and would not get that upset over anything without extreme reason.

Mind overcrowded with thoughts, Tin-Tin rose out of her seat and proceeded to look for Alan.

That in itself was a fruitless effort.

He'd left the Tracy Lounge after being told the news, along with Gordon, and Tin-Tin hadn't seen either of them since.

Gordon had been very upset at the news, perhaps more than everyone else.

"I keep thinking it could have been me in Scott's position," he'd told Tin- Tin a little later, "Then I feel angry at myself for thinking like that. It's so selfish; Scott's lying in a coma in the hospital, and all I can do is think about myself."

She'd comforted him as best she could, and he'd finally gone out for a swim.

Like he always did when he was stressed.

She gave up after searching most of the Island, deciding that Alan obviously wanted to be alone for this one.

Lonely, she walked over to Jeff's desk and called John, wondering if he'd been updated.

"Why, hello, Tin-Tin. This is a nice surprise."

Tin-Tin smiled sadly. No, it was obvious he hadn't.

"Hi John. Listen, I've got some news about Scott and Virgil."

John looked at her questioningly.

"I'm afraid it isn't good news."

John's face fell.

"Is it Virgil? He's OK, isn't he?"

"Well. As OK as you can be after an operation like that," Tin-Tin half- smiled. "No, John. I'm afraid it's Scott."

John continued to look nervous.

"What about Scott?" he asked, not really wanting to hear the reply.

"He's...he's in a coma, John. Something happened in surgery...I don't know what, I just know he's critical."

Tin-Tin bowed her head, tears threatening again.

"Scott?" John whispered. "Scott?"

Tin-Tin didn't reply, just nodded.

"How's Dad?"

Tin-Tin just shook her head.

"OK, Tin-Tin. Thanks for letting me know." John gabbled, ending the call abruptly, leaving Tin-Tin alone once again in the uncomfortable silence of the house.

*******

Jeff sat by Scott's bedside, watching, willing him to wake up. He talked non-stop, in the hope that Scott might be able to hear him.

He watched for signs that Scott might be about to awaken from his sleep.

And when Jeff took his hand, he half-expected Scott to sit up and tell him not to be so soft.

He didn't. He lay still, monitors bleeping alternately.

"Come ON, Scott," Jeff willed him aloud. "Come on. Your brother's doing so well. He wants to thank you. Besides, we need you, remember?"

Scott didn't move.

"Scott!" Jeff said, louder. He squeezed his son's hand harder, in the hope he might be able to feel him, and perhaps somehow respond.

Scott's hand remained limp.

Jeff looked up at the clock on the wall. It said 11 pm now. He'd have to go back to Virgil soon.

But for a while more Jeff sat, quietly holding the hand of his eldest son.

___________________________________________________________________

End Note: Hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing to anyone. I just thought it might be nice to find out how some of the characters were feeling during this difficult time.

Chapter 15 up on Thursday...