Chapter Six: Home
A/N: Only four more chapters left after this one:) AND this is a long chapter! (6 pages!)
A/N 2: Okay you will have to forgive me, I am in a strange mood and have been adding comments into the this chapter. LOL! Not many, but there, there...in (prentices.)
Alan yawned as he was helped out of the private jet onto Tracy Island. Summer was almost over and he was just now getting home. This would bother him later, however at that moment he was just excited that he was out of the hospital and back home. Alan sighed as Scott went into over protective big brother mode and practically carried Alan into the house and much to Alan's horror, the medical wing.
"No, bed...my own bed." Alan mumbled the pain medication kicking in making him sleepy.
"Nope, that is some serious pain medication they have you on, you need to be somewhere where someone can watch you." Jeff stated in authority.
Alan was too tired to argue, he would argue when he woke again. The walk to the medical wing seemed to take forever and Alan was practically panting by the time he got there. He only mumbled a complaint as Scott lifted him onto the state of the art gel hospital bed, took his clothes off and changed him into a hospital gown, then tucked him in finishing by raising the rails. Alan was asleep before he even hit the pillow.
Fermat sat beside his best friends bed and just stared. What was going on with his friend? Alan had been acting strange lately...well stranger then normal. He would talk in his sleep, as if he was talking to someone. Alan had never talked in his sleep before, unlike all of his brothers, Alan did not snore or anything. A part of Fermat had been giving reasonable excuses for this occurrence, after all Alan had just gone through hell and back...twice in a very short amount of time, it was bound to effect him somehow. But Fermat had a feeling that there was more to it then that. That maybe there was something else going on, something big that started in that forest. Something Alan was afraid to tell anyone. It was like a large jigsaw puzzle that for the life of him, Fermat could not figure out how it all fit together. With a sigh, Fermat sat back and just stared at his sleeping best friend, before his own eyes began to droop themselves. With a yawn, Fermat climbed into the bed next to Alan's and was out like a light.
Alan woke up feeling much better...rested wise. It was obvious he had not had his pain medication yet, as he was now wide awake, extremely sore, and thinking clearly. He looked around and found himself alone, completely alone. The hairs stood up on his neck, was this another ghost dream? But there was no ghost either. Then he noticed a display monitor hooked in with IR's computer. Turning it on and putting in his password and found out the reason there was no one around, a rescue was taking place.
(Got to stick a real rescue in here some place, right? LOL!)
Alan watched as his family fought a lava flooded mountain for the lives of a small family.
"Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Five." Scotts voice came over the radio.
"What's up Scott?" John's voice spoke.
"I need a satellite view of the mountain, is there anyway you can find out if there is away around this river?" Scott asked. Alan tensed as the camera switched from Thunderbird 2 to 1 and a large river of red-ish yellow lava was shown below. The Mule could be seen below on the ground, spraying a fire repellent everywhere. There was a moments pause before John came back on.
"Yeah, tell Gordo to turn right and to follow the river about a quarter of a mile, the river is only a trickle over there, if he moves fast the Mule should not suffer anything but a color change." John stated. Scott relayed the information and the Mule could be seen moving away. Fermat appeared in the doorway and smiled. Alan nodded at him and scooted over in his bed so that Fermat could watch as well. This was how it always was, the two best friends, went on almost every mission together. Whether they were really a part of the mission or just watching it. They watched from different camera angles, all set to change cameras when another camera came up with a better view. Gordon paved the way to the home near the top of the mountain, in a spot where miraculously the lava had not touched yet. That did not make it any less hot. Keeping the fire at bay, Gordon made it safe for Thunderbird two to land, the family scrambled from there home into the bird, the children wide eyed in wonder and fear. The parents with a deep sadness, this would be the last time they would see there home and all of there possessions would be gone. The mother clutched there picture albums close to her once the children were on board before she to disappeared, the mule boarded last and they were off, mission accomplished.
Alan let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding then sighed. He and Fermat slapped hands in a high five before Fermat scooted of the bed and Alan laid back, his body really beginning to hurt again. As if reading his mind, Brains walked in with a smile.
"Hey Alan, ready for more medication?" Brains asked. Alan only wanted the pain to go away, he hated the side effects, but he was hurting all the same and it was starting to become almost unbearable so he nodded. Brains pulled out a bottle, and a syringe. Alan eyed the needle stuck to the syringe.
"Um, Brains? Didn't the doctor give you some pills or something?" Alan really hated needles. At least in the hospital, he had an IV in which he had been unconscious when it was put in. Then all medication from then on was just put into his IV port.
"Not for another couple of days. This has some of your medications in it, not just your pain reliever. It was the only way I could get you out of the hospital early." Brains gave an apologetic smile. "If you want, I can start you on a new IV line, and we can go from there.
"How many shot do I have to have in a day?" Alan asked. Brains smiled, he knew from experience that Alan had always been terrified of needles.
"Well, the pain medication is twice a day, and maybe one at night, you have three sets of antibiotics, only one of which can be mixed with the pain medication so...around five a day." Brains stated knowing full well that he was about to start an IV line. Alan didn't say anything, he knew Brains knew his answer.
Fermat distracted Alan as best as he could as Brains quickly got a new IV started and taped up. Alan was proud, he had only winced and just a little squeak had come out. It was over in less then half a minute, and Alan smiled as he would not have to have another shot for the rest of the week. Alan looked up at the bag of water looking stuff hooked to the other end of his tubing.
"Why do I need saline?" Alan asked.
"I want to make sure your going to stay hydrated. It was a problem I was worried about, but this is a good solution." Brains stated as he pushed Alan's medication into the IV line and cleaned up.
"Alright, before your med's kick in, let's take a walk. You can use the restroom and stretch before you get to tired to do so." Brains helped Alan out of bed and they slowly walked down the hall to the bathroom, where Alan did his business, and cleaned himself up a little. He stared in the mirror in shock. He had changed in the last few months. He had lost a massive amount of weight, and now looked kind of boney. His hair had grown and looked greasy from not being washed for the last couple of days. It hung limply halfway down his face. He was pale, a combination of being sick and stuck in doors for what felt like forever had played it's part. Dark circles around his eyes only made the paleness stand out even more. Alan groaned at the site of himself before a yawn escaped.
"You o-o-okay in there, Alan?" Brain called trough the painted white wooden door.
"Yeah...I look horrible!" Alan called back. He scrolled when he heard a chuckle. The door opened and Alan grabbed his IV pole and began to walk out.
"Don't worry, when your feeling better those black eyes will go away and we will get your hair cut. When you wake up in a few hours you can go lay down beside the pool so that you can get some sun. Once you start eating more, you will begin to look like new." Brains stated cheerfully. Alan only nodded another yawn taking overs. Falling asleep was easy, the medication did most of the work.
Alan woke again and looked around expectantly, there was no one there, still no sign of any ghosts. Had it been real? Was it all some kind of weird dream or illness hallucination? Alan suddenly felt really lonely. Turning on the computer he learned that there was no rescue going on and that it was five-thirty in the morning. Alan's stomach growled loudly and he wondered when the last time he had eaten anything. He carefully stood up and was surprised, the pain was at a bearable level and he was pretty sure the medication should have run out by now. Grabbing his pole with an almost empty saline drip, and moved slowly out of the room, down the hall and to the restroom again where he did his business. Ten minutes later found one very exhausted Alan panting at the dining room table.
After resting for a few minutes, Alan walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Runs to the mainland for food only took place every two weeks and in emergencies. So the fridge was almost always packed with food. Grabbing a bottled water and sandwich making supplies, Alan began to make a grilled cheese sandwich, before dumping the pan and spatula into the sink and walking back out to the table tired once again. The sandwich was great however and made the whole journey worth it.
Alan rested his head on the cool table, waiting for even a speck of strength to come back to him. He was really tired of being tired and could not wait to be completely well again. The doctor had said a week, it felt like the time since he had been released had been a year already and there were no "ghosts" to keep him occupied. The door to the dining room opened startling Alan slightly as well as Ohana? who always woke up extra early to make sure her boys had enough food in the morning. This was the first time she had seen Alan since before he left for school for spring break.
"Mr. Tracy!" Ohana? exclaimed before pulling him into a tight hug. She had wanted to visit him so badly but wasn't able to leave the house alone. "It is so good to see you up and about, I was just about to go check on you. Are you hungry?" Before Alan could answer to the negative Ohana? came to her senses. "What are you doing out of bed young man? Come on, I'll help you back up to medical, then I will bring you a nice big breakfast in bed. You are to skinny, young man. You must have dropped at least fifty pounds since I saw you last! All that work of feeding you up gone to waste. Oh well, I will just have to start again!" She grinned as they walked slowly towards the bed Alan had been assigned while he was sick. Alan looked up at Ohana? wide eyed, he did not think he had ever heard her ramble so much.
Alan fell asleep again almost immediately and woke up feeling almost back to normal. After feeling sick for so long it felt strange to feel well again. Getting up, Alan stretched and his stomach growled in hunger. Upon further inspection he found that it was almost noon. An even louder growl was admitted from his stomach, and Alan grabbed his IV pole and walked back to the dining room pleased to note that all though he was still tired after the short jaunt, he was not nearly as tired as he had been just hours before. Maybe he had just gotten another dose of medication? He was surprised to find the whole family there.
"Alan!" Gordon exclaimed.
"Hey, what's up?" Alan asked looking at all of the scattered papers on the table.
"We were just going through nurse whatever her name is's file." Scott spoke.
"And you should be in bed." Jeff stated sternly.
"I'm feeling much better, can I just sit out here for awhile?" Alan asked. Jeff was silent for a moment before he nodded and Tin Tin grabbed another chair from the wall where all the extra ones had been pushed.
"So what do we have so far?" Alan asked.
"Well her real name is Kendra Anaple. (Quit laughing my friendly HEB friend!) She was born and raised in South Carolina in nineteen forty-two. Both of her parents died when she was fifteen and she and her little brother were sent to an orphanage where her little brother, a Ryan Anaple (an-A-pool); died of an unknown illness at the age of seven. Kendra disappeared a week later. An Amy Zabia graduated from nursing school five years later fitting her description.
Amy was a model nurse at a small Children's hospital in Houston, Texas. She was very efficient, and never left a job undone. She worked there for three years before she began to become angry at the children for random benign things like being awake past lights out, and playing to loudly. They moved her to the infant wing, and that's when a piticular troublemaker from her previous floor who was a long time patient with cancer died not from his illness but from an over dose. No one could figure out how it had happened, the child was not even due for medication at the time he died. Amy quit a week later never to be seen again...as Amy anyways.
A copy of her same nursing certificate with a new name: Angelica Freehill was filed when she went to work in a small hospital twenty miles behind your school, there was an outbreak of some kind and they evacuated then burned the building down. They found what was left of a boy's body in the rubble, reports show that he had died right before the fire, but statements say that the boy was starting to improve before everything happened. Angelica disappeared before the fire was even put out."
"Well, yeah. After she killed Alex, she had to leave before they figured her out." Alan mumbled. Everyone stopped and looked up at him.
"How do you know his name is Alex? Even the doctors and nurses did not know the boy's name." Virgil stated. Alan shrugged feeling very uncomfortable.
"Maybe it wasn't...the name just came to mind." Alan wanted to sink into his chair and melt away. He was about to claim he was to tired to continue when Jeff went on as if nothing happened.
They all listened as story after story was told, Alan had to fight not to speak up when a story he already knew was brought up. They sat there talking, Scott marking a map of everywhere the nurse had been until they got to Alan's hospital.
Alan stared at the large map while his brain tried to catch up with all of the new information on this evil woman he had just received sunk in. With the exception on the name beginning with an a, and her murdering underprivileged children; ages ranging three and up, there was really no ties.
"I'm going to go swimming." Gordon announced. There was a general agreement between all of his brothers minus Alan who glanced at his IV pole. Brains whom Alan had not even seen leave the room returned with a new bag of saline and a shot in which he injected into the port of his IV line.
"Is that going to make me sleep?" Alan asked eyeing he clear-ish orange liquid dripping into his veins.
"N-n-no, this is just your antibiot-t-tic. Tell me if you fell like you need your d-d-d pain medication, other wise I will wait until tonight to give it to y-y-you." Alan nodded in relief. Jeff eyed his son wearily. After seeing Alan almost die twice and everything else that had gone on for the past couple of months it was all he could do not to send him back to bed.
"Let's go sit outside by the pool, that way we can talk and you can get some sun on your pale skin." Tin Tin grinned as she stood up and turned to Alan. Alan nodded letting her help him up and the three best friends walked out to the upper pool, thankful that Alan's brothers had chosen the lowest. Alan laid on a long pool chair and smiled as his friends laid on each side of him.
"So Alan, how did you REALLY know that the boy's name was Alex?" Fermat asked after a moment of comfortable silence. Alan tensed and stayed silent for a full minute as he thought about what he should say. Should he tell the truth? Would they believe him? Would they send him back to the hospital? With a sigh, Alan decided he did not want to do this alone anymore so he began his story, starting from the beginning in the forest. His friends listened silently until he was finished.
"Alan..." Tin Tin started staring wide eyed at Alan. Alan groaned...they didn't believe him, and the ghost of a young boy was standing at the end of his chair...staring.
A/N 3: I updated! HEHEHE! I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed and encourage everyone to review again:) I would also like to thank My HEB Partner (a co-worker) who I am introducing into the TB world for bringing to my attention that I have named my villain: Kendra. Kendra is another co-worker of mine who at the time I began this story I was incredibly mad at as she was spreading a rumar that was hurting my job and getting me in trouble with my boss. She was stressed and had way to much on her plate and although I will never forget what she did, I forgave her (though it took a lot of time) and we are back to being friends, though I will never be as close a friend with her again. But at the time I really had not even realized I had named my villain that until my HEP partner came to work laughing and brought it to my attention. So am I going to change the name? No. MWAHAHA!
Happy Early Halloween! See you next chapter! - Lauren