"Oh dear, your grandmother!" Jeff looked disorientated and ran for his private study to call his mother and fill her in on the day's events. After a few hours Jeff submerged from his private study looking pale and on edge.
Just at that unlucky moment Virgil happened to be passing Jeff's office. Jeff spotted his son and grabbed hold of him asking him to do him a huge favour.
"Virgil, I need you to head to the mainland to collect your grandmother and Tin-Tin." Jeff said sternly as he looked directly at his son.
Virgil at this point looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there. If only he had waited 10 more minutes before going to get Pipa and Haley some food from the kitchen.
"Yes sir. I'll leave straight away." Virgil had no other option but to obey.
After all, his father could have crushed Virgil right there and then by the look on his face. Jeff left it at that, and headed straight for his Scotch collection. After all, it had been a long day, a very long day. Virgil surpassed his father and headed for the kitchen to grab some food before taking off for Los Angeles where his grandmother and Tin-tin had been staying for a few days.
As he entered the kitchen he noticed Alan sitting at the kitchen table with Lucy. Alan was trying to make her eat some food but she had become so over-excited over the last few hours at the prospect of her new surroundings that food was the last thing on her agenda.
"Lucy, please eat. Look, it's yummy."
"Uncle Alan, can we go to the beach please, please."
"It's dark Lucy and late and Uncle Alan is tired." Lucy gave the puppy eyes, her way of pleading to go to the beach.
"Don't give me those eyes Lucy. I mean it." Alan kept looking and knew he could not resist her eyes. "Ok, ok, I promise to take you tomorrow if you eat your dinner. Please just eat." Alan noticed Virgil enter the room and was glad for adult company.
Unfortunately for Alan, Lucy had also noticed her new uncle entering the room and had quietly sneaked off from her dinner to go to her new uncle. "Hey uncle…" her eyes hit the top of the socket in her attempt to remember Virgil's name. "Hey Uncle Vacuum. Can you take me to the beach?"
"Lucy, would you eat your dinner please." said Alan stressing as he grabbed the kid and placed her back down at the table.
"Hey kid, hey Alan having fun." Virgil smirked as he headed to the fridge.
"Ha ha, very funny Virgil you try entertaining a 5 year old all day, and trying to keep her out of harms way. Honestly I don't know how dad did it with us."
"Hey Alan, can you take some food to Pipa and Haley, I only have time to grab a quick bite before heading off to LA to pick up grandma."
"Um sure. On first name terms with the doctor. My, my, big brother if I didn't know any better I would say that you liked her."
"Maybe, maybe. You better get Scott to watch the kid. Pipa didn't want her to see John like that."
"Scott didn't seem to like her too much. He just kept grunting at her much like Dad is doing. I'll ask Gordon, he loves kids."
"That's because Gordon still is a kid himself. I don't think he ever grew up. Peter Pan in the flesh, I'm telling you."
"yeah well." Alan said, beginning to chuckle at the thought of Gordon being Peter Pan. " I'll warn him not to teach her any tricks because she'll use them."
"Well I'll be seeing you when I get home with Grandma. Wish me luck. But hey, whatever she does, at least you'll get it hundred times worse."
"How does that work." Alan looking genuinely confused.
"Put it this way. You knew about her great-grandchild and never told her." Virgil chuckled before leaving the kitchen, on his way to New York.
-----------------------
Once Alan had made some sandwiches and lemonade, he looked around for other refreshments but couldn't find any. Alan realised that the fridge never ever contained coca cola. He found this very odd and only realised this when Lucy asked for some with her dinner. He then placed the lemonade and sandwiches on a tray and begged Lucy one more time to eat the rest of her dinner, but she had become more interested in following a small lizard that had entered the kitchen from outside. At this, Alan gave up and assumed that she was full. He then called Gordon on his com watch and asked him to watch Lucy and also tire her out so that she would go to sleep soon.
Unfortunately for Gordon, who had been planning to teach his young niece a trick or two, was tricked out of this, by having to sign a contract for Alan stating that he would not do any tricks or teach Lucy any tricks for the rest of the evening.
Meanwhile in the medical room Pipa was still in a state of shock. She just kept stared at her husband. When Alan entered the room she didn't even notice he had entered.
Doctor Smith on the other hand had noticed and also noticed the rather large plate of sandwiches.
"I'm really sorry but I'm absolutely starving." said Dr Smith, as she munched her way through a sandwich or two.
"No help yourself. Virgil had to go off to New York to pick up our Grandmother but he should be back for the morning. Pip, do you want something to eat?"
Pip looked up startled as if someone had dragged her out of a dream.
"Oh my goodness, look at the time! I better get Lucy fed and put to bed." She was starting to run through the corridors and rooms, but she just kept rushing round in circles, not knowing exactly where she was.
"Pip, Lucy is OK. I fed her and Gordon is attempting to tire her out. It is OK, we have it all under control." Alan sat Pipa down in the chair she had been sitting on before and poured her a glass of lemonade which she took gratefully.
"Thank you." she said into her glass and then stared at John again.
"Alan, could you phone Tasha for me to tell her that we are fine. I promised her earlier that I would do it when I arrived and knew how bad John was. But I guess I um, got a bit side-tracked." Tears began to fall down her face. Alan knew that Tasha would be beside herself with worry. She considered Pipa a sister and the fact that John was injured would worry her deeply.
"Sure, Pip, I'll call her in the morning." Alan left shortly after this.
He knew that he had to get Lucy to go to sleep and that tomorrow would more than likely be the worst day of his entire life with the arrival of grandma.