Disclaimer: I do not own.
A/N: I decided to re-write this because I didn't like the old one. Sorry if any of you lot preferred the old one but meh, I deleted that one and I'm putting this in it's place.
Warning-Accidental child abuse in chapter 2 but never again k: )
Oh and Sam1, I'm sorry if my story upset you personally even in the slightest, I didn't mean for that to ever happen, it made me feel guilty when I read you're review. Sorry and hope you like it as it gets happier.
A Tracy Childhood. (Re-Write.)
Chapter Three
The next morning John could not move his wrist. It was not just from where his father had twisted it, it was where he had then landed on it when he had fallen on it at an odd angle. He didn't tell anyone though, just wore a long sleeved shirt that covered the bruises. He left the others asleep as he went downstairs to tidy up quickly and start breakfast.
He found his father still on the floor sound asleep. He sighed and shook his dads shoulder gently, receiving a muttered curse in reply.
"You shouldn't really talk to me like that dad, bad influence. Now I need to move you to the sofa so that the others wont see you like this," John said, pulling at Jeff's arm with his good hand.
"Oh my head," Jeff gasped, pressing his hands to his eyes.
"Go to the sofa dad, I'll sort everything out," John said quietly. Jeff nodded and did as he was told. John then moved to tidy up the kitchen but only using one hand it was difficult, and when it came to putting the table back on it's legs he simply couldn't do it. He was about to try using his other wrist when two hands appeared in his line of vision and helped him turn it over.
"Let me see you're wrist," Scott ordered in his big brother voice. John sighed and held out the offending wrist, wincing as Scott touched it gently. "John, you need to get it x-rayed."
"It's fine Scott, I only twisted it in the fall, it'll be fine by tonight," John said moving past his brother to make the lunches.
"If it doesn't look better tonight we're going to the hospital," he said sternly. John nodded distractedly as he tried to butter bread with the wrong hand. "I'll make the lunches today, you go and wake them up."
"Great, today you get the easy job," John grumbled but Scott just laughed at him.
Alan painted in silence while the other children talked loudly around them. Their assignment today was to paint their family and their house...an assignment that Alan was finding difficult. Should he draw the truth, that John looked after them now? Or should he draw his family before the accident? Or should he pretend, put his dad as his true parent?
"You need to start painting Alan," his teacher said kindly.
"I don't know what to paint miss," Alan admitted quietly. She crouched by him slowly.
"Well, the assignment is you family so why not start with you, then your brothers, then your pa-" she cringed, "Your father." Alan nodded slowly before picking up his paintbrush and putting it in his favourite colour, green, before he started to draw himself in the childish was only a kindergartner can.
1 times 7 7
2 times 7 14
3 times 7 21
4 times 7 28
5 times 7 35
6 times 7
Gordon sighed, he hated times tables, REALLY hated them. But it was math class and so he had to do them along with the other kids in his class. He just really REALLY hated times tables.
His small fingers danced with amazing grace, bringing forth beautiful sounds from the piano. His teacher was nodding his head contentedly. Virgil's thoughts were not however on the music, they had strayed to his mother and how she had first taught him to play chopsticks when he was four.
Tears blurred his vision and he made numerous wrong notes and couldn't get back into the correct tune so he gave up, sighing, putting his hands on his lap.
"Sorry sir, I-I..."
"It's alright. Now lets do a simpler piece," his teacher ordered. Virgil nodded and changed the music on the stand before beginning to play, a much simpler piece than before.
John's wrist and ribs hurt, badly as he changed for PE. The other boys were staring at him as his now short sleeved top revealed the bruises.
"Man you can't do PE like that," Tommy said quietly, lifting John's wrist up to get a better look, "How'd you do this?"
"I fell at home," John said quietly, not looking his friends in the eyes. Tommy was about to tell him to go to the nurse when the teacher came in, ordering them out into the basketball court.
"You cannot play basketball like that," Tommy growled at John, just loud enough for their teacher to hear. He stalked over to the two boys and looked at the wrist.
"Why have you not had this seen to Mr Tracy?" he asked, looking at the wrist.
"I-I-I didn't...um..." John mumbled. He couldn't think of a good enough lie and he couldn't tell the truth, that he hadn't wanted to explain how he had got it.
"I'll take you to the nurse now, Mr Andrews, get everyone into two teams and get a game going," the teacher ordered Tommy who rushed out. He then took hold of John's shoulder and led him out of the changing room.
Scott was skiving off History, sitting instead with his friends outside when he saw John being walked to a car by the school nurse and the PE teacher, the nurse cradling his wrist. It was then Scott noticed that John was crying. He jumped up and ran over to the teachers and John, crying out his brothers name.
"Hey Scott," John mumbled weakly. The nurse had examined his wrist but when she had moved it the pain had been un-bearable, bringing forth the tears dripping from his face. "I have to go to the hospital."
"I knew you would! I told you this morning...didn't I tell you this morning?" Scott said angrily. John sighed and looked away from his brother, the nurse said she thought it badly broken which would be terrible. He had had to lie about how he had got the injury but they might guess... "I'm coming with you."
"You can't Scott, Gordo and Virg will be worried and someone has to collect Ally later," John told his older brother strictly, sounding like it was he the older and not Scott.
"But John..." Scott said quietly.
"I'll be fine on my own Scott, I'll see you later," John said, smiling through his tears.
"Alright, but if you need me just get them to ring the school and I'll be right there," Scott said strictly. John nodded and then allowed the PE teacher to help him into the car, shutting the door for him.
"You're father will be told about this and you shall be informed if he returns to school today Mr Tracy...and why are you not in class?" the PE teacher asked.
"I was on my way to the bathroom when I saw John," Scott lied easily.
"Right, well hurry along."
"Yes sir."
The phone ringing loudly woke him up and slowly he moved to it and picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello Mr Tracy? I'm Gemma, your son's school's secretary. I'm just calling to inform you that you're son John has been taken to the hospital."
"What? What for?"
"His wrist has most likely been broken. He told the nurse that he fell this morning."
"Oh, I was still asleep when the boys left..."
"Right." He could hear the disapproval in the woman's voice.
"Which hospital?"
"Central."
"Thank you for calling and telling me, I'll head down to the hospital."
"Goodbye Mr Tracy."
He set the phone back in shock, John in hospital...he'd get cleaned up and take an aspirin before going...he had to go. But...when had John fallen?
It was a bad break, one that required an operation to put a metal plate over the broken bone. And of course he needed his fathers signature for this so he had to wait in pain until his father, hung over as ever, arrived.
"Hello John," a woman said kindly as she walked up to him. "I'm Marie. The doctors are worried about how you got your injury." Great, a social worker.
"I fell."
"Then John how do you explain the finger marks?"
"It's where Scott, my brother helped me up." BLATANT LIE! Marie frowned at him but Jeff Tracey's arrival interrupted her before she could speak again.
"Oh John I've been so worried, the school called me and told me...when did you fall?" Jeff asked his son worriedly. During his drive there he had gotten more and more worried, why couldn't he remember?
"This morning, just after I woke up. You were still asleep," John lied, it seemed he could do nothing but lie at the moment. "It's broken and they need you're permission to fix it."
"Why?"
"They need to operate and put some metal on the bone," John said quietly. To tell the truth he was afraid of the operation, so afraid he was shaking. Jeff stared.
"We just need your signature here Mr Tracy and we'll get John into the next available slot for the theatres," the nurse told Jeff, holding out a clipboard. Jeff took it and quickly signed his name. "Thank you Mr Tracy, I'm sure it won't be long now."
"Where's John?" Alan asked as Scott picked him up after school had finished.
"He's had to go to the hospital, he's hurt his wrist," Scot said. Gordon was holding on Scott's shirt as they walked home, Virgil walking a few paces behind.
"I don't like hospitables," Alan mumbled, putting his head on Scott's shoulder.
"Neither do I. Now what did you do today?" Scott asked.
"I had to paint a picture of our family, mine got put up on the wall," Alan said proudly. Scott smiled and congratulated him, knowing that having Alan's work put up was a rare thing indeed. "I put mummy in it."
"Oh, that's...nice," Scott said awkwardly.
"She was an angel, a pretty angel." Scott smiled at Alan and shifted him slightly in his arms so he could hold Gordon's hand as they crossed a road.
"Virgil, will you hold onto my shirt please," Scott said and he felt his brother comply. "And...cross." They walked quickly across the road to the pavement. He noticed that Gordon and Virgil kept a hold of him the rest of the way home.
The operation was successful and John was allowed to go home after a period of observation, his arm in a cast. As soon as his brothers saw this they insisted on being the first to sign it and John complied, watching with a smile as they wrote.
Get well soon-Gordo
Hope it doesn't hurt to much-Virgil
Ha ha! Unlucky!-Scott
A L A N T R A C Y
Alan's was possibly the sweetest as he took almost 10 minutes to complete his name on the uneven surface.
"When does it come off?" Scott asked, flicking the cast as he sat down beside his brother, an open can of coke in his free hand.
"Not for a while," John sighed. "I'm gonna go on the internet and do some research for History ok? If you need me just call." He rose awkwardly, not using his arm in the sling and moved to the stairs. "Do you want me to come down and get tea?"
"I'll get it son," Jeff said, startling the two boys. "I haven't cooked in a while." He touched John's shoulder and frowned when he pulled away slightly but dismissed it as the boy walked calmly up the stairs. "Scott, do you know how John fell?" Jeff asked his remaining son who actually glared.
"He didn't tell you? You twisted his wrist last night when you were drunk and then threw him at the table," Scott said spitefully, "And he lied for you, so that you wouldn't get in trouble."
"What?"
"Didn't you hear me dad? In your drunken rage you did that when he wouldn't give you the bottle of whiskey," Scott snapped. "If this doesn't stop you drinking I don't know what will, you hurt him, you broke his wrist! And I don't trust you any more." And with those last few heated words Scott ran upstairs leaving Jeff alone, crying.
Jeff didn't do this often, stand and watch one of his sons sleeping...it was also the first night in a long time that he wasn't drunk as a skunk. John looked like an angel, blanketed by pillows and the duvet with his broken wrist resting by his head on the pillow.
"Oh John how could I?" he asked himself. He was so ashamed, he'd broken his sons wrist, he'd been a terrible father...for so long John and Scott had run this family. "No longer, no longer will my sons care for me. I will change John, I will change."
A/N I've spell checked it and for some reason I've decided that after re-posting this chapter for a third time I am going to try and continue, it might take a while though, I'm not depressed enough for angsty scenes so it might get happier.