Disclaimer: We don't own the Thunderbirds. Not now, not ever.
Chapter 2 – A Brother Is AngryJeff carried Gordon to a second bio-bed. While Brains begins to examine Gordon, Jeff turns to his other sons.
"Scott, Virgil, I want you to go get John from Thunderbird 5. Set it on auto. We need to deal with this as a family."
Scott tried to argue. "But dad . . ."
Jeff cut him off. "I know you are both extremely angry with Gordon right now. A lot of your feelings are borne out of concern for Alan, but Alan will be ok. Now we need to figure out how to heal this family. Now go."
Scott knew by the tone of his dad's voice that it was useless to argue. So he and Virgil left the sickroom and headed to Thunderbird 3.
The three brothers returned to Tracy Island three hours later. John went immediately to the sickroom. He found his dad dozing in a chair between the two beds.
John felt sick to his stomach as he approached the beds. He shuddered as he saw the various monitoring equipment hooked to his brothers. "Oh my God, how did this happen?" He whispered. He couldn't imagine Gordon hurting Alan like this. His eyes darted between his brothers. The worry that had been building in John all morning had finally reached the breaking point.
He did nothing to hide the anger in his voice when he turned on his dad. "How the hell did this happen? How could you be so blind? You can run a multi-billion dollar company. You are the head of International Rescue. Yet you miss what is happening to your own son right under your nose. Scott and Virgil did too. We are supposed to be able to trust each other with our lives. Can anyone explain to me how this happened?" John knew that he was ranting. He couldn't help himself until he looked at his dad's face. The anguish that he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. "Oh God Dad, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm just so worried and angry over this whole situation. I was just ranting. Please forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive because you are right, John." Jeff stated sadly. "I have had my priorities wrong and now it is tearing this family apart."
"I know things look bleak right now. We are just angry at the whole situation, but we will get through this. Our strength has always been the way our family rallies around each other during a time of crisis. We will get through this. I promise." John said as he tried to keep the tears from falling. "How are they, physically, I mean." He asked his dad.
"Well," Jeff began, "Alan is pretty much the same. He will be fine with plenty of rest. Now, as for Gordon's condition, he is suffering from malnutrition, sleep deprivation, and a mild case of dehydration. Brains has set up an IV and also gave him a sedative."
John watched his dad carefully. Jeff seemed to have aged ten years in just a few hours. Something in his manner tipped John off.
"What else?"
Jeff looked at John, eyes shining with tears. "If I had known I would never have told him to do it. What if the damage is permanent?"
"Dad, what are you talking about? Who did what? What damage?"
"After Scott and Virgil left to get you, Gordon woke up. He was very agitated. He was trying to leave. He said that he was going to leave the island. He was so wound up that I thought it would be dangerous if he really tried to leave. So I ordered Brains to give him a sedative. When Brains got the test results back . . ." Jeff's voice choked with emotion.
John was beginning to panic. What could have happened to upset his dad so much? "What did the tests show?"
"His blood work showed both alcohol and barbiturates in his system, and his EKG showed an irregularity in his heartbeat. Brains is running some more tests to determine why."
"But you think it is because of the sedative."
"You know that drugs and alcohol don't mix. He already had both in his system and I added more drugs to the mix. I just ordered the sedative without considering the possible consequences."
"You can't blame yourself, dad. You didn't know about the drugs or alcohol. You were in a no-win situation. It could have been dangerous to let him go in the state he was in. Besides you don't know if the sedative had anything to do with the heart problem. Any number of things could be causing it. Just the stress alone could be a factor. That is why Brains is running more tests. You also don't know that it is permanent. Let's not borrow trouble.
John heard movement from Gordon's bed. He looked back at Gordon. Even with the sedative, he looked like he was wrestling with his blanket. John recognized the signs. He just hoped that his yelling at his dad hadn't set Gordon off. Well, he would do what he could to help him now. John sat on the edge of the bed and took Gordon's hand. He started talking softly to Gordon as he brushed a lock of hair away from Gordon's face.
"Ssh, Gordon, it's alright. It's just a dream. I'm here. I'll help you. Listen to my voice. I won't let anything happen to you. Remember Gordy, you can always trust me."
Jeff could see that John's quiet voice was having a calming effect on Gordon. "John, what's going on?"
"He is having a nightmare. My guess is that he has been having a lot of them lately."
"A nightmare? How do you know that?"
John turned slightly to look at his dad while still holding Gordon's hand. "This is how Gordon has nightmares. When the rest of us have nightmares, we tend to cry out in our sleep or wake up screaming. Gordon, though, never makes a sound. He twists himself up in his blanket and then wakes up with a gasp and with silent tears running down his face. It is really heartbreaking to watch. He started doing this after mom died. We were sharing a room back then. Remember? Well, anyways, we learned that if I talked to him quietly he would calm down. The next morning, we would talk about his nightmare. Eventually, it would work out of his system. Traumatic experiences trigger the nightmares. Things like mom's death, his hydrofoil accident, the first time International Rescue lost a victim caused him to have them. If I am on the island, I can usually tell if he is upset enough to have a nightmare and I sit with him. It's like a sixth sense that I developed. If I am on Thunderbird 5, he usually calls me when he wakes up from one and we talk it through. We have had quite a few chats in the middle of the night. I just wish that he had called me this time. Maybe talking about it would have prevented this. I don't know. It is at times like this, Dad, that I feel so cut off from my family." John's voice again choked with tears.
Jeff sighed. "I know John. I live here and I still feel cut off from my family. I never knew about Gordon's nightmares. I didn't even realize how bad he was getting. Alan had to point it out to me. What kind of father does that make me?"
"You are a great father. You have raised us to be five caring and responsible adults. You created a business that not only gave us fulfilling jobs but also helps better the world. You are unfortunately just a human being. You miss things. You are not perfect. Nobody is and nobody expects you to be, despite what I said earlier. You just do your best."
Jeff gave John a weak smile. "I know but it is difficult to believe that at times like this, though."
John smiled back. He could hear the fatigue and emotion in his dad's voice. John also heard the door to the sickroom open as Scott and Virgil entered.
"Dad, go get some rest. I'll stay here with the boys. Scott and Virgil will keep me company."
"But John, you just got here. You should take some time and freshen up. At least take time to get out of your uniform." Jeff said with a smirk.
John looked down at himself. With a half-smile on his lips, He said. "Yeah, I guess your right, Dad. I'll tell you what. I'll go freshen up but when I get back, I want you to go rest. OK."
"Sure John, I'll see you when you get back, Thank you." Jeff said as John left the room.
Scott and Virgil leaved against the wall near the door. John always seemed to be able to handle their father better. So they let him. But even they noticed the heaviness in their dad's voice.
"Hey, Dad, we can watch the boys if you want to head up with John." Scott volunteered.
"No, that's ok. I'll wait for John."
"Hey, don't you trust us?" asked Virgil, trying to lighten the mood.
The somber replied brought a heaviness to Scott and Virgil. "No, not right now I don't. I don't even trust myself. We let him down, boys. We let them both down." Silence reigned in the sickroom.
TBC
Author's notes – Thank you to everyone who has read our story, and a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed. We are glad that people are enjoying it.
For those who were frustrated by who was who – sorry. The muse demanded it, strenuously. It was beating into Grumpy's head "NO NAMES." We felt that the suspense of not knowing would add to the drama of the story.
Spence – How did you do? Did you get it right?
AngelMouse5 – You were so close. Three out of four is not bad.
Rachie Tracy – Grumpy sticks her arm out to wave, but she isn't ready to come out from under her rock just yet.
Buann – Congratulations, you won the cookie. You were able to correctly identify the brothers. – Yeah.
Zeilfanaat – Sorry about you leaving. Depending on how long you are gone, Grumpy may be out from the rock by then…or not.
throwra-angel – Well, here was chapter 2. We hope you liked it as much as the first.