Gordon and Alan listened intently to their brother's side of the conversation, trying to piece together what was going on. Scott wasn't saying much though so it wasn't really getting them anywhere.
This was the third time their father had called. The first time had been just to let them know that they were still waiting but Jeff had just wanted to check in with them. The second time had been when John had finally been taken back to be seen by a doctor. Gordon was hoping this time was to let them know how John was doing.
"Dad, don't worry about it, we'll be fine," Scott told Jeff Tracy. "I'll take care of things here until you come home." There was a short silenced as Scott listened to what his father was saying.
"Bye Dad," Scott finally said ending the conversation and hanging up the phone. As he looked up from the phone he found Gordon looking at him expectantly. He looked to his left and found Alan doing the same thing.
"John was admitted," Scott told them. "The doctors want to run some more tests just to rule out all possibilities. Virgil refused to leave the hospital and Dad wants to be nearby too so we're on our own for the night."
"Scott is there something wrong?" Alan asked sensing that his brother wasn't telling him everything.
Scott hesitated. His dad hadn't wanted him to tell his two brothers but he knew he couldn't keep it from them.
"Scott?" Gordon said growing concerned.
Before Scott could say anything though the IR alarm sounded throughout the house. All three of them got up quickly and headed for the control room.
As Scott, Virgil, and Alan came into the control room they found Brains already there sitting at the desk. Brains looked up as the three entered the room.
"Hurricane Bill has made la-la-landfall on the Georgia c-c-coast," Brains told them. "Satellite is picking up multiple distress calls around the re-re-reg- area."
"Brains, get a hold of Dad and make sure he's aware of what's going on," Scott told him taking charge of the situation. He then turned to his two brothers. "Let's go see what we can do to help."
"F.A.B.," they both replied and all three Tracy brothers headed for their respective portraits. Scott to Thunderbird 1 and Gordon and Alan to Thunderbird 2."
Jeff Tracy hung up the phone and headed back down the hallway. As he passed the small waiting room on the floor he looked inside. Virgil still slept on one of the couches. Jeff had offered to take him home but Virgil had refused saying he wanted to stay near John. Jeff knew exactly how he felt.
Seeing that Virgil was still asleep he kept walking down the hall to John's room. He opened the door and walked inside. The room was dimly lit by the small light on the wall and the moonlight coming through the window.
Jeff walked over to the bedside and sat down in the chair he had vacated only a short time ago. John slept peacefully, the sedatives that the doctor had given him still in affect. He had told Scott the real reason they had admitted John even though he hadn't told Virgil.
Dr. Callaway, who had seen John, was waiting on the results of a few more tests but he was reasonably sure they would all come back negative. He was convinced that John's fainting spell had been due to fatigue and emotional stress. It was Dr. Fredricks, the psychiatrist that Dr. Callaway had called in for a consult, who had wanted to admit John.
Dr. Fredricks had said he hadn't gotten much out of John which didn't surprise Jeff any. John had trouble opening up to his family and even more opening up to strangers. John had admitted to the doctors that he had been having trouble sleeping because of some bad dreams. He wouldn't say anything else though. Dr. Fredricks wanted another opportunity, after John got some sleep, to talk to him and had asked Jeff to try and convince John to stay at the hospital for a little while.
Jeff had done so. He knew if John would talk to Dr. Fredricks that it would probably be beneficial for him. He also knew the likelihood of that happening was very low.
Fredricks had asked him what he knew and Jeff had refused to tell him. He didn't feel it was his place. Like he had told Gordon, the decision to seek professional help had to come from John. If any of them tried to get involved then they risked alienating themselves from John and right now John needed them more than ever. That didn't mean that he wouldn't try and convince John to talk to Fredricks tomorrow and he had told the doctor as much but that was all he would promise.
The beeping of his wrist comm broke through his thoughts. Jeff headed for the room's bathroom to take the call in case a nurse should walk into the room.
"Jeff here. Go ahead," he said into the wrist comm as he closed the bathroom door.
He listened to Brains as he told him about what was going on. Jeff thought briefly about heading for Tracy island but then decided against it. He had trained his sons well. They knew what to do and Scott was a competent field commander. If he needed help, Jeff knew he wouldn't hesitate to ask until then Jeff decided to stay where he was.
"Keep me updated, Brains," Jeff told the scientist. "Tell Scott that if he needs me or Virgil to let me know and we'll be there."
"Yes, Mr. Tracy," Brains told him before closing the links.
Jeff Tracy turned off his own wrist comm and then headed out of the bathroom and resumed his bedside vigil.