Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own none of the characters, they belong to Gerry Anderson and Carlton Television.
AN: Thanks again to all reviewers, it is very much appreciated, thanks to Maaike for her "encouragement" :- ) Enjoy Chapter 6.
Chapter 6
As the doors to the ambulance were slammed and the ambulance screeched off, sirens wailing, Gordon felt his knees crumple beneath him. Scott saw his auburn haired brother pale, and immediately threw an arm around his waist, keeping him from crumpling to the floor completely. Scott himself was in shock, he knew that John's condition was serious, but he never expected it to come to this. He dragged Gordon over to a nearby bench and sat him down, before any other Tracy brothers needed emergency attention. Once they were there, Gordon began to sob. All Scott could do was hold his brother tightly. In this situation they were helpless. John's life was completely in the hands of the emergency medical staff. Scott felt himself choke up, but before he could give into the emotion, a familiar voice was heard.
"Scott…. Gordon…" Jeff's voice was calm as he strode across the tarmac towards them. Scott felt immense relief, his father was here, everything would be ok. He was shocked at how Jeff looked though, his father's face was taut and pale, and he looked as if he'd aged ten years in the short space of time that had passed. For his part, Jeff was also shocked at how Gordon and Scott looked. They were covered in a lot of blood, John's blood, he realised with a shiver, and they both looked exhausted. He walked over to them both and hugged them tight. Gordon clung to his father, desperately seeking reassurance; Scott clasped his father tightly before letting him comfort Gordon.
Over the top of Gordon's head Jeff asked Scott about Johns condition, and where he had been taken. A jolt went through Scott as he realised that his father didn't know the worst of the news. "Umm dad, its worse than you think, We just touched down and got him out. They loaded him into the ambulance and then…" his voice cracked and he paused, building up the courage to go on "and then his heart stopped. Then they just left as fast as possible to get him to the hospital…" Scott's voice trailed off as the full impact of what had happened hit him. He sat down and put his head in his hands. All the "what ifs" were running through his head. What if he had pushed Thunderbird 3 right from the start of the journey, then they would have made it back quicker, what if he'd known how space was affecting John, what if… A shaken Jeff interrupted his thoughts, "Son, it wasn't your fault, there's nothing that you could have done, nothing." Scott mutely shook his head, still finding himself able to be amazed at Jeff's ability to read his mind.
Jeff walked over to the tall gentleman who had held Scott and Gordon back and calmly started a conversation, revealing none of the feelings that were flying about inside of him. "Good morning sir, I would like to thank you for making this landing space so readily available to us in our time of need. I'm afraid I must ask you to do a few more things however. The first is to arrange immediate transport for myself and my so...associates to the hospital where our member has been taken. The second is to arrange a guard on our ship, as we can't have anyone having access to her and obtaining our secrets. The third is to relay medical information on our member to the hospital, his name is John, and I have his file here" The tall man nodded crisply, took the file and replied "It would be our pleasure sir. Transport is ready and waiting. My name Sanders, Eric Sanders, if you need anything else, please do not hesitate to ask." Jeff thanked the man before walking back over to Scott and Gordon.
"Scott, Gordon, come on. We need to get to the hospital, Alan, Grandma and Tin Tin will meet us there. Brains and Kyrano are back on the Island looking after things." Scott immediately jumped to his feet, and turned to Gordon. Gordon hadn't reacted at all to what Jeff was saying and Scott literally had to pull him to his feet, as he was so non-responsive. Jeff and Scott both took one of Gordon's arms and between the two of them they managed to get him over to the car that was waiting.
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The car journey to the hospital seemed to take forever, when it reality it was little over ten minutes. The journey was silent, with people in the car lost in their own thoughts. Scott was still thinking about things that he could have done to make their journey back quicker. He blamed himself for John's current state, if only he had noticed sooner. It had to be hell for John being stuck up in "the can" by himself for at least 6 months a year. He himself could easily spend a month up there; it was just selfishness that prevented him from doing so. He vowed that when John was recovered, that he would persuade their father to share out Thunderbird 5 duties more equally.
Jeff too was blaming himself. Him and John shared a passion for astronomy and the stars, and although John claimed to enjoy the peace and time he had for studying the heavens, he felt sure that it must get lonely. Considering how often Alan managed to get out of it John was up there for most of the year. Jeff didn't like John being up there most of the time, but he insisted that he didn't mind taking Alan's place. He sighed as he thought of what his son could have been doing if he hadn't started International Rescue. Then this would never have happened, and John would be furthering his NASA career, or maybe settled down with a wife and kids. He rubbed his hands over his eyes, when he thought of how he had taken away all chance of his sons having a life outside of International Rescue. He was so proud of them all, they had generally willingly given up their chosen career paths to come and be part of this lifesaving operation. None of them had ever complained, least of all John.
Gordon sat in a state of shock in the corner of the car, thinking of the past. He had always been close to John. They had shared secrets when they were younger and still confided in each other now. It was John that he told when his back was hurting, and John was always there, just as he had been during the hydrofoil accident. John had been there for the weeks and weeks of physiotherapy and recovery time and had basically kept Gordon sane. He missed John being away for most of the year, talking on the vid-screens just wasn't the same as talking in person. He blamed himself for what had happened to John. He could see that John wasn't looking well, and should have told their father. If he had, then this may never have happened.
The car stopped at the hospital and Jeff, Scott and Gordon all got out. A woman in a white coat came out to meet them. "Excuse me gentlemen, are you here with an International Rescue team member?" They nodded in the affirmative and the woman continued "I'm Dr Bates, I've been with your member, John isn't it? If you would like to come with me, I will fill you in" They all walked inside the hospital and into a private room.
Scott's insides were twisting in apprehension while he waited for the woman to fill in then in on John's condition. "Well fortunately the paramedics were able to restart his heart." A sigh of relief went round at this, and they all felt as if a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders. "However, his condition is very serious. His head wound is worse than we originally thought, and we have only just managed stop the bleeding and repair the damage. We are also concerned about his physical condition and are running tests to find out what the problem is. If you would like to follow me, I can take you to him now."
The three Tracy men looked at each other. They were all relieved that John was alive, but from what Dr Bates was saying he was by no means out of the woods yet. In silence they followed her out of the room, into a lift and finally stopped outside a private room. She turned to them "I need to warn you of a few things. Firstly don't be alarmed by the number of tubes he has in him. Secondly we have had to shave his head, to get better access at the wound although it may not be completely obvious, as there will be bandages covering his head. The third is that he will not respond to you, he is under heavy sedation but he may be able to hear you, so talk to him. Are you ready?" Gordon swallowed but nodded, Scott closed his eyes briefly before nodding as well, and Jeff took a deep breath before taking a step forward to open the door.