Chapter 16

Brains came back into the sickroom, where Gordon was sitting on one of the beds, swinging his legs idly.

"I've called ahead to the hospital. They're expecting them. And Tin-Tin is making good time," stuttered Brains.

"Godspeed," whispered Gordon. "Do you think Dad's going to be okay?" he asked.

"He'll be in good hands, Gordon."

Gordon sighed. That was a little noncommittal, even for Brains.

Brains beckoned Gordon to accompany him into the operating room.

John was laid out on the table. His arms were flopped down either side of it, and his skin was almost blue. His veins stuck out markedly from his skin, especially the ones on his face. They looked like grisly tattoos. His eyes were open and looking to one side. Gordon shed a tear, and gently closed John's eyes. He was expecting Brains to cover him with a white sheet or something. Instead he was looking carefully at John's injuries, and checking his wrist for a pulse.

"What are you doing, Brains?" asked Gordon.

"The edges of these wounds are beginning to heal. And he has a pulse. Sort of!"

"But he's dead!"

"Technically, yes!" said Brains.
"What do you mean, 'technically?' Is he dead or isn't he?"

"He is dead, but his blood contains the nanobots, which are still carrying out his autonomic functions at a cellular level. So they may be capable of repairing him!"

"But then he'll try and kill us again!"

"Not if we wait for him to heal, and then give him the reprogrammed nanobots."
"Let me get this straight. You can rebuild him?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"So he'll be okay?"

"I don't know, Gordon. Actually, I suspect some brain damage. I think John had the seizures because the creatures were rewiring his brain. They didn't have the greatest success, because they did not succeed in fully suppressing John's consciousness. The brain is a delicate organ. I suspect that while they might be able to repair much of the rest of him, they will not be able to repair his brain completely, or more importantly, his mind."

"How bad is it going to be?"

"I don't know that either."

"Oh," said Gordon. He jumped up onto the work surface next to the trolley. "Come on, John. You can fight this, buddy."

"Hurry, Tin-Tin!" said Scott. He was sitting across the aisle from his father, behind Grandma. Jeff was shaking and foaming at the mouth. Now his nose was bleeding, too, and it filled his oxygen mask with droplets of blood. Scott put his hand on Grandma's, and then stood to roll Jeff onto his side. He almost immediately started to fit. Scott had to let go of him.

"ETA, Tin-Tin!" hollered Scott down the cabin.

"Eight minutes, Scott. There'll be three ambulances waiting for us when we touch down!" she replied.

"Hold on, Dad!" he whispered. He looked over at Grandma and she smiled at him.

Holding onto Jeff, Scott failed to put on his seatbelt for landing and fell over when the jet touched down. Tin-Tin taxied to the private terminal and Scott rushed to open the door. There was a giraffe already outside, and several paramedics rushed in. Scott was pushed aside, and the paramedics were terse as they hastily went about their duties.

"Name!" said one of the paramedics. "This one!" she said, pointing at Jeff when Scott stared at him blankly.

"Jeff. Jeff Tracy."
"History?"

"Shot and beaten by pirates."
"We don't have time to dick around!"

"No, seriously. It was pirates."

"Right," said the paramedic, not really believing him, but not caring, either.
"Medical conditions, allergies?"

"None."

The paramedic nodded to her colleagues. They removed Jeff's stretcher and took him down to a waiting ambulance. "Good to go!" she yelled from the top of the giraffe.

"Wait!" said Scott. "Grandma, you go with him."

The paramedic asked the truck to wait for Grandma, and they sped off.

"This one?" said the paramedic, pointing at Virgil.

"I can talk," said Virgil.

"You are?"

"Virgil Tracy."

"History?"

"Shot by-"

"Pirates. Yeah." She was scribbling on her rubber glove with a ball pen. There were more medics on the giraffe waiting to take Virgil. But the paramedic in charge had them put Virgil in their truck, and come back for Kyrano.
"You are?"

"Kyrano. I too was shot by pirates, ma'am."

"Just Kyrano?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Right, take this one too."

Kyrano was helped into a chair which the medics slid down the steps of the giraffe. Then Scott heard their ambulance go too.

Alan was semi-conscious.

"And this one?" said the paramedic.

"Alan Tracy!" said Scott.

"You all related?" the woman asked, looking around at Tin-Tin and Scott.
"No," said Scott taciturnly.

"This one got by pirates too?"

"Yes."
"But where is his bullet wound?"

Scott thought fast. "They didn't shoot him. He just got hit in the head."

"By pirates."

"Yeah."

"Okay," she called to her one remaining colleague. "Let's go." She and the other woman unhooked Alan's stretcher and offloaded him. Scott and Tin-Tin waited at the top.

"Are you coming?" said the first woman.

Tin-Tin and Scott went down to the ambulance. There was only room for one of them in the back with Alan, so Scott stayed with Alan, and Tin-Tin rode in the cab.

At the hospital, Scott barely had a chance to see his father before he was rushed to surgery.
"He has a bleed in his brain," said the doctor, gravely. "We'll do everything we can."

Scott nodded and shook his hand. He shook himself, and went to see Alan.

"He'll be fine, Mr. Tracy," said a senior nurse. "It looks like he's getting over some sort of infection, but he'll get the treatment he needs. We'll get him up to the ward shortly, and he should be right as rain in a couple of weeks." Scott reassured himself; Alan had pinked up a little already. He had oxygen on him, and various drips, but he did look better, like he was sleeping as opposed to dying. The relief about Alan's condition served to distract him a little from his concern for his father.

He walked across the department to the trauma unit. Virgil was in a bed, holding a long wire in his hand. He had large dressings on his injured arm and leg, drips in both arms, and an oxygen line on his nose. He certainly seemed happier than before. Scott sat down in a chair next to his bed.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing at Virgil's fist.
"It's a PA machine!" said Virgil, nodding at the machine to which the wire was connected.

"Eh?" said Scott.

"When it hurts, I press this button, and – aaah!" he sighed. He pushed the button and a cool stream of morphine climbed up his arm. His eyes misted.

"Go easy on that stuff, Virg!" joked Scott.

Virgil's smile faded. "How are the others?"

"Alan seems okay. I haven't seem Kyrano yet."

"And Father?"

"They're doing everything they can."

"You'd better call Gordon."
"Yeah. But I thought I'd wait until I had better news."

"He'd want to know, Scott."
"Yeah, I know."

"You should- oh."

"What?"

"Sorry, nothing."

"No, come on!" said Scott.

Virgil sighed. "I was just about to tell you to call John."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Like I say, easy on that stuff!" said Scott, trying to lighten the mood. "Are you feeling okay, otherwise?"
"Yeah, pretty good! I'm just waiting to go to theatre."
Scott stood up as a doctor and two nurses came into the cubicle. Virgil smiled at Scott and used his eyes to point to a beautiful, petite brunette nurse. Scott chuckled and shook his head.

"They're ready for you in theatre, Mr. Tracy," she said, and smiled.

"You sure like this Mr. Tracy stuff!" said Scott, and looked glum once again as the comment reminded him of his father.

"See you in a couple of hours, Scott!" Virgil waved as they pushed his trolley away, leaving Scott in an empty room.

Scott went to Kyrano's cubicle to find that he had already gone to theatre. Tin-Tin was sitting in the cubicle, dozing in a chair. Scott was about to turn and leave when she woke up.

"Scott?"

"Hi, Tin-Tin."
"How is everybody?"
"Alan's okay, and they've finished working on him for the time being. He'll be going up to the ward soon. I'm sure he would love for you to sit with him."
"Thanks, Scott."
"And Virgil has just gone to theatre."
"And your father?"

"We'll have to wait and see. I'm sure he'll be fine, Tin-Tin."

"He will be fine, Scott. You'll see."

Tin-Tin went off to Alan's cubicle, and Scott went to tell Gordon and Brains the news.