Disclaimer: Same as usual, I own none of the characters, they belong to Gerry Anderson and Carlton Television.
AN: Well I'm back, surprisingly there was sun, and I managed to get some writing done too! Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 8
Scott breathed a sigh of relief as John went still. The high pitched beeping had stopped, so for now, it looked as if the worst was over. He wondered what else could possibly go wrong, if anything.
Scott finally acknowledged the rest of his family and walked over to stand with them as one of the doctors approached. The young doctor looked harried and tired as he began speaking to them all.
"Well I won't lie to you," he said in a British accent "We are still unsure of what the problem is, he will be going for a scan shortly and hopefully that will provide some answers. The seizure that you were unfortunate enough to witness could have been due to many things, a reaction to the antibiotics or his head trauma for example. The scan will help us discover what it is or isn't, and in the meantime we'll change his antibiotics to see if it has an -"
He broke off mid sentence as his pager beeped. He turned away to squint at it, before turning back to the cluster of people gathered in the corner of the room.
"Ok, the scanner is free so we will be taking your man up shortly. If one or two of you would like to accompany him then you would be most welcome," he said briskly.
Jeff nodded as he said quietly "Thank you Doctor –" he stopped abruptly and sought to find a nametag on the doctors white coat.
The doctor, seeing what Jeff was doing gave a small grin, "Stokes, Greg Stokes" he supplied.
Jeff inclined his head in thanks as he continued "Dr Stokes. Thank you for everything you are doing. I trust we will be kept up to date on his condition?"
"Of course. Now if you'll excuse me" Dr Stokes turned to the nurses hovering around John's bed and proceeded to instruct them to prepare for moving the patient upstairs to the MRI suite.
All of the Tracy family then turned to Jeff who was standing quietly and thinking.
"Right," Jeff said decisively "Scott, you stay here and fill everyone in on what's been happening. Myself and Gordon will go with John."
Everyone nodded or made noises that Jeff took to be agreement. Then, one by one they all fell silent as they turned to look at John, still so pale and unmoving, on the bed. The nurses worked quickly and efficiently around him, connecting him up to a portable heart monitor, detaching IV bags from the stands, generally preparing him for the move. Seconds later, he was ready and a green robed orderly had arrived to take him up to the MRI suite.
Dr Stokes followed them as far as the door, before pausing and turning, eyebrows raised enquiringly, to Jeff.
Jeff, understanding, nodded and said quietly "Myself and this young man" indicating Gordon as he spoke "will accompany him."
The young doctor nodded, his dark blonde hair falling into silky peaks as he wearily ran a hand through it. "Ok, if you'd like to follow me" He gestured down the corridor with his hands and turned to walk out the room.
Gordon and Jeff glanced quickly round at their family. Grandma walked forwards and gave them both a quick hug before literally shooing them both out the door. She briefly squeezed her eyes shut as they walked out, and sent up a silent prayer of hope before turning back to the rest of the assembled family.
"So now Scott, why don't you fill us in?" she ordered rather than asked.
Scott sighed, wondering where to begin.
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Jeff and Gordon walked quickly after Dr Stokes as he navigated the maze of corridors with apparent ease. He stopped as they reached the lifts and turned to face them. "I'm sorry that you couldn't travel to the MRI suite," he apologised "there's just no room in the lifts."
There was a brief silence that was shattered by the 'ping' announcing the arrival of the elevator. The three men filed on quickly, with Dr Stokes being the last person on. Pressing the button for the sixth floor he moved to face the other men in the lift and said with some degree of embarrassment "Umm…I know that this isn't the best time, but I wanted to tell you how much I admire the work you do with International Rescue. It reinforced my decision about becoming a doctor actually…"
Jeff and Gordon both unconsciously straightened with pride. It was always nice to receive praise for what you did, and it made Jeff realise that John too was proud of what he did. If the cause of John's collapse was due to too much time in space, John wouldn't mind, as he would argue that they had saved possibly hundreds of people because someone had been there to receive the calls for aid. He would point out that it was one life for hundreds, and even though this particular life was very dear to the Tracy family, he was right, so it didn't matter what effect space had on him.
Jeff gave a small fond smile, knowing full well that his stubborn and generous middle son would use that argument, and win. Returning to the present situation, Jeff thanked the doctor.
"Thank you, we try our best. I would also like to thank you again for the work that you are doing for…our member."
Dr Stokes was a shrewd man, and immediately picked up on Jeff's hesitation. He wondered what he had been going to say, but chose not to comment; figuring that International Rescue had every right to keep its secrets.
"International Rescue are famous throughout the world for helping others, it is the least we can do to see that your member gets the best treatment available" said Dr Stokes quietly.
Jeff nodded in thanks and turned his attention to the lift display panel, it seemed to be taking forever to get to their destination. Suddenly he remembered that Lady Penelope hadn't been informed of what was going on, talking to the Englishman had made him remember. He made a mental note to call her as soon as he could.
Risking another glance at the display panel, Jeff suppressed a sigh and willed the lift to move faster. Looking over at Dr Stokes he found the young doctor staring at his watch. Jeff's eyes narrowed, "Are we keeping you from something?" he enquired coolly.
Dr Stokes looked up. "Sorry," he apologised "Its my parents wedding anniversary today, I meant to call them at home, say happy anniversary, let them know that I'm ok, but with the time difference I'm usually working…" His voice trailed off and a look of sadness flitted across his face.
Jeff immediately felt bad and it struck him that this was kind of how John lived his life. He also knew how Dr Stokes parents would feel. "Where's home?" he asked.
"England…Watford to be exact, a town just outside London." He sighed nostalgically "Don't get me wrong, I love living and working here, but its true, there is no place like home."
The lift finally arrived at their destination and no more small talk was exchanged. Jeff and Gordon followed Dr Stokes through a set of double doors, into what they assumed was the MRI suite. They were led into a small room that contained a computer, numerous computer monitors and a few other pieces of equipment. A man with wild curly hair was sitting at the computer, tapping keys and peering at the monitor.
One wall was completely glass and through it they could see John, sliding headfirst into what was presumably the scanner.
Gordon, who had up to this point remained silent, gasped as he saw his brother surrounded by white coated people and sliding headfirst into this massive machine.
"Its not as bad as it looks" reassured Dr Stokes "All that's basically going to happen is that we're going to take pictures of his brain." Indicating the technician seated at the computer, he added, "Mike here can tell you more about it."
"Yup, well Greg here has pretty much given you the basics." Said Mike with a strong Texan accent, as he turned to look at them "We are taking pictures of his brain, but with the MRI scan we can take pictures from almost any angle, which makes it better than a CAT scan. This means that we can tell what is, or isn't the problem. You'll be able to see the images on these screens here, then they will be printed out and the specialist called in to look at them."
Just then, one of the white-coated people gave a thumbs up to Mike, which he returned. Hitting a few keys on the keyboard he sat back and waited. There was a banging noise, which Mike reassured them was completely normal, and a couple of minutes later, images started appearing on the screen.
As the first image appeared on the screen, Mike and Dr Stokes exchanged a surreptitious glance. Even though it had been subtle, Jeff picked up on it and immediately started staring at the images on the screen, wishing that he could tell what was normal and what wasn't.
He prayed that it was nothing serious, that everything was normal and John just had concussion. Jeff would give anything, all the money he had ever owned, anything, just for John to wake up, or even show the slightest sign of life. He let out a deep breath and bowed his head as he closed his eyes.
Dr Stokes heard him and glanced over at him, his face worried. Avoiding Jeff's questioning gaze, he said gently "Maybe this isn't the best place for you to be right now."
As Jeff opened his mouth to interrupt, Dr Stokes put up a hand and carried on talking, "I mean it, the scans almost over and the specialist will be here shortly to look at them. As soon as we know the result, you will, you have my word on that."
Gordon, who had also picked up on the glance that the doctor and Mike had exchanged, now spoke up. "Is there something that you're not telling us Doctor?" he said, clearly displeased.
Dr Stokes was amazed at the amount of emotion radiating from the young man. Gordon's amber eyes were full of different emotions, anger, confusion, and fear. He was clearly worried about John, someone that he seemed to care for with the love of a brother. Again Dr Stokes wondered, but guessed that International Rescue were frequently putting their lives in each others hands, which would create a strong bond quite quickly.
Returning to the matter in hand, he quickly gathered his thoughts. "Well neither myself or Mike are properly qualified to read and interpret the scans, so we know as much as you do. As I said the specialist will be here shortly, and as you will be the first person to know the result. Dr Willows is the best there is. So if you'd like to go back downstairs and rejoin with your members, then I'll be down as soon as possible."
Jeff and Gordon, powerless to do anything, nodded and allowed themselves to be shepherded out of the room and back towards the lifts. They were both uneasy, but could see the truth in Dr Stokes words. Privately, Jeff thought that Dr Stokes was perfectly able to make a diagnosis, and the fact that he wouldn't tell them, worried him to his core. He immediately began running through the possible things that it could be, none of them good. He suppressed a shiver as his thoughts took him places he didn't want to go.
Gordon was also lost in his own thoughts. Suddenly, he blurted out "Is John going to die?"
Jeff was shaken by the question. His first instinct was to vehemently deny it, but on further reflection realised that he couldn't promise that he wouldn't. His shoulders slumped as he pulled Gordon into a hug and whispered sadly "I don't know son, I just don't know…"
The rest of the journey back downstairs was silent, both men retreating back into their own thoughts. As they reached Johns room, they were met with the sight of John, still pale and unmoving, being moved back into his room. Following his bed in, they were met with anxious glances from the rest of the family.
"Well?" enquired Grandma, after no answers were forthcoming from Jeff or Gordon.
Jeff glanced at Gordon who was standing staring at the floor before shrugging and answering "We don't know, the specialist is looking at the scans. They say they'll be down to tell us as soon as they know. All we can do is wait…"
The family sighed. It was going to be a long and tedious wait. Everyone was silent, all lost in their thoughts. Some were pacing, others sitting, all were feeling that the wait was taking forever.
Finally, Dr Stokes walked into the room, followed by a tall, slim brunette. Both looked sombre and the assembled family immediately felt their hearts drop. "This is Dr Willows, the specialist. She has read John's scan…I'm sorry, there's no easy way to say this…John has cancer, more specifically a brain tumour…."