Chapter 2

When Thunderbird 3 touched down, Jeff and Brains were waiting with a stretcher. Scott met them in the T3 lounge. Both men were hunched over John.

"Come on, talk to me, John!" Jeff was squeezing his son's earlobe to try and get a reaction. He got none. John was no longer shivering, just lying on the couch.

Brains was searching for a pulse. He found one in John's neck, but his blood pressure was so low it was almost undetectable.

"We'd better get him to the sickroom, Mr. Tracy!" stammered Brains, urgently. Without pause Scott and Jeff placed John on the stretcher, and rushed him to the sickroom, where the household had gathered.

Everyone stood back with bated breath to allow Brains to work. Tin-Tin was helping him set up equipment, and Jeff stood near John's head with his fingertips pressed together.
Brains connected John to a heart monitor. As soon as he switched it on, it was clear to everyone that it was very fast. His blood pressure and respiration were low. Brains put an oxygen mask over his face, and looked at the monitors with great concentration. He carefully placed a line in John's left arm, finding it very difficult to get a vein, and Tin-Tin hooked up a drip. John's fever was high, but he had stopped sweating.

"He needs to be intubated."

"Okay." Said Jeff. Brains had done a couple of intubations before, but was still inexperienced, and not a doctor. He looked to Jeff for reassurance, and received a warm smile. He placed the tube expertly, and fixed it to the oxygen support machine.

"He needs to get to hospital, Mr. Tracy."

"Right!" Jeff was about to send one of the boys to contact Dr. Featherstone, when Brains interrupted him.

"He's in VF."

"What?" asked Jeff. Before Brains could answer him, there was another, terrible development.

"Cardiac arrest!" Brains did not stutter, and he climbed up so that his feet were on the lowered bed rails, and began pressing on John's chest, counting as he did so.
Scott rushed to help him. They had trained for such a situation, and performed CPR at countless rescues, but Scott had never thought that they would have to use it in anger on one of their own. He grabbed an ambu-bag from one of the cupboards, and began to bag John, looking at Brains to get the right rhythm.

Brains nodded to Virgil. He came and took over, and Brains got the trolley with the defibrillator and brought it over. He looked at Jeff, and he nodded. There was fear and panic in the eyes of both men.

Brains cut through John's shirt and placed the paddles on his chest. He pressed a button on the machine. It's cold, mechanical voice spoke.

"Charging." The machine emitted a high pitched whistle, like a camera flash, as it built up it's charge. "Clear!" shouted the machine. Everyone backed off, and the machine jolted John with an electric shock.

"Still in VF!" Brains' voice trembled. Virgil overtook heart massage briefly as Brains reset the machine. He placed the paddles on John's chest again.

"Charging."

"Clear!" Again everyone stood clear.

"Still VF!" squeaked Brains. Virgil took over again, and Brains attended to the machine. But before he could do so, the hear monitor tone changed. Brains looked at the readout.

"Asystole!" he cried.

"Jesus!" yelled Scott, still bagging.

"Lidocaine!" shouted Brains, and Tin-Tin fumbled around in the emergency box for it. She drew some into a syringe, and Brains injected in into the port in John's hand. He used the machine to shock John again, to no avail. He administered more lidocaine, and closed his eyes, willing John's heart to start again. Jeff squeezed John's hand, and talked to him softly.

"Come on, John. Come back to us, Son." He stroked his hair.

Gordon rose and came to relieve Virgil, who was dripping with sweat and completely exhausted.

"I can do it!" snapped Virgil.

"Virgil, you've been going for half an hour; you're spent. You'll help your brother more letting Gordon take over," said Jeff.

Virgil looked affectionately at his father, then Gordon, and conceded. Tin-Tin stepped up and replaced Scott with the ambu-bag. Another 15 minutes went by, and John was shocked repeatedly.

"Mr. Tracy, I think-" said Brains quietly, but he was cut off.
"No!" he held John's hand tightly.

"Father-" said Scott.

"I said no!" replied Jeff angrily. Scott took his father's hand away from John's and held it tightly in his own. "No!" Jeff said quietly. "No!" He sank down to the floor, weeping terribly. Tears fell from the eyes of everyone in the room.

Gordon was still pumping but his hands were gently moved away by Virgil, who then hugged him tightly.

Brains switched off the machines, and the absence of their sounds in the background made everyone feel an eerie silence in the room.

"Is he dead?" asked Jeff. He sounded like a small child. He knew the answer, of course, but it was as if he was looking for finality.

"Yes, Mr. Tracy." Stuttered Brains threw his tears. He took of his glasses and wiped them on his shirt. Tin-Tin was being comforted by Grandma, until Kyrano led her away to her room. Grandma gave a look to the others, and Scott, Virgil and Gordon left the room, leaving Grandma alone with Jeff and John. Jeff was leaning on the bed rails to hard that his arms were numb. The edge of the bed was wet with his tears. He stroked John's pale cheek. Grandma lifted his arms, to little resistance, and hugged Jeff to her.

"Oh! Mother!" cried Jeff, and whimpered in her arms for several minutes.

"There, there, Jeffrey."

"My baby boy!"

"I know."

"I feel like I'm dying inside!"

"I know. I know."

"It hurts so bad!"

"I know, Jeff."

"You do?"

"I do."

They looked at each other knowingly, and Jeff calmed down. He kept crying, and touching John.

"Let it out, Jeff."

"I have to be strong. This is just like when-"

"Yes, Jeff. But you don't have little boys anymore."

"No. I know."

"You'll all be okay."

"Will we? I sent him up there, Mom! I sent him to his death. I'm always sending them to their deaths!" said Jeff, his voice becoming angry.

"They have a job to do, Jeff."

"A job I gave them! Jesus, Mom. I told Lucy I'd take care of them!"

"And you did. John died doing what he loved, Jeff."

Jeff mumbled and ran his fingers through his hair.
"It's just so-" He cried out in pain as he punched the edge of the metal bed. His hand was cut badly.

Grandma sighed and went to the cabinet for a dressing. She put it on Jeff's hand.
"I'm sorry, Mother."

"You have nothing to apologise for, Son."

Grandma tried to lead Jeff away but he clung to John.

"There's nothing there now, Jeff. It's just his body. John isn't there anymore."

Jeff smiled and leaned into his mother as she led him out to his room.

"Goodbye, Son."

"Someone should tell Alan," said Scott. He was sitting in the lounge with Virgil and Gordon. He looked at his brothers, but they looked at him blankly.

"I'll do it, said Scott, and headed for Jeff's desk.

"We'll all do it!" said Virgil, and Gordon nodded in agreement. They joined Scott.

"Thunderbird 5 from base. Come in Alan." Said Scott sadly.

"Alan here. How's John?" He was in his space suit.

Alan's smile faded as he took in the look on his elder brother's face.

"He's not-?"

"He's gone!" wept Scott.

Alan burst into tears. "When?"

"We worked on him for an hour after we got back. But we couldn't save him." Virgil sobbed to the point where it was hard for him to talk.

"He wasn't in pain," added Gordon. "He never woke up."

"What was wrong?"

"His heart stopped." Said Scott, more calmly. "I guess they'll have to post mortem him before we find out exactly what."

Tin-Tin entered the room, and we she saw that the boys were talking to Alan, she turned to leave. Scott stopped her and called her over. She spoke to Alan.

"I'm so sorry, Alan."

"Thanks, Tin-Tin."

"Are you going to be okay up there?"

"I guess I'll have to be," he sobbed. "Someone has to. Oh God, how am I going to go to his funeral?"

"We'll figure something out," said Scott.

"I'll do it." said Tin-Tin. "I can man the satellite."
"But that means you'll miss the funeral!" said Alan.

"John is your brother, Alan. It's important that you go."

Everyone sighed at Tin-Tin's use of tenses. "John was my brother," mouthed Gordon. Nobody heard him.

"I've done the repairs. John saved Thunderbird 5. There was a fire."

Brains came in. "Scott, I need you help," he stammered, looking down at the floor.

Scott sighed. "Okay, Brains!" He got up and followed Brains to the sickroom.

"I called the doctor. He will be over tomorrow. We need to move John, Scott. I can't do it on my own," said Brains, weeping.

Scott smiled, sadly, and fought to stop his heart breaking as he helped Brains place John on a narrow trolley, and stood back as Brains covered him with a sheet. He was about to pull the sheet up over John's face, when Scott stopped him.

"Let me."

Brains nodded and stepped aside.

Scott planted a soft kiss on his brother's forehead. "Goodbye, Buddy. Say hi to Mom for me."

He pulled the sheet up delicately over John's face, and nodded to Brains. Both men pushed the trolley, painfully slowly, to the small walk-in freezer in Brains' lab. There was a unit on one side specially designed for storing bodies.

"The shrink-wrap is still on this stuff, Brains!"

"I know. We've never had to use it!" stammered Brains. In a most inefficient and caring manner, they placed him on the slab, and closed the door. They left to join the others, bar Jeff and Grandma, in the lounge.

Scott went to his father's cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. Gordon fetched glasses. Scott poured some for each of them. They raised their glasses. Alan was still on the air, and furnished himself with a drink as well.

"To John," said Scott. Everyone joined in the toast.

"Hey!" said Gordon. "Do you remember that time you broke his telescope, Virg?"

"Yeah?" Virgil's crying stopped. The sad air in the room lifted slightly.

"Yeah!" said Scott. "He said he was going to insert it in you!"

Virgil laughed. "Yeah, I remember that."

"You really got him mad!" said Scott.

Virgil blew his nose. "I was seven years old!" he said. Everyone laughed.

"And what about when you were supposed to be proofreading his book?" chimed Alan.

Scott looked sheepish. "Yeah, I lost it. He had to re-write eleven chapters from memory before I found it."

"Yeah, he went nuts!" laughed Alan. "He chased you around the house with the manuscript!"

"Remember when Dad had to go and see his teacher at school because John told him he wouldn't do his homework?" giggled Gordon.

"Really? John?" said Tin-Tin.

"Yeah, he was a real rebel," said Gordon facetiously.

"Don't listen to him, Tin-Tin. John said he wouldn't do it because the data they were given to use was only accurate to two decimal places!" said Gordon.

Tin-Tin chuckled. The conversation went on into the night. They shared their funny, sad and moving stories about John. They laughed, cried and smiled together. At five in the morning, they resolved to go to bed, glad that they had taken this opportunity to share their thoughts about John.

"Goodnight Alan!" said Scott, the last to leave.

Grandma and Kyrano put Jeff to bed. He was so sad that he could barley move, and they laid him on top of the bedclothes, with his shirt and trousers on. The tears had irritated the skin on his face and he had pink, sore lines running down each side of his nose. Grandma wiped them with her handkerchief, and nodded to Kyrano. He bowed and left.

"It's going to be okay, Jeffrey," she said, stroking his arm. Jeff whimpered, and his mother kissed him on the forehead, and left to go