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Chapter 17

Lieutenant Green personally escorted Dr Bishop and his companion to the command centre so they could speak with Colonel White before they went down to the medical bay to see Doctor Gold.

"Doctor Bishop" White said rising to his feet to shake the other man's hand. The Doctor took it enthusiastically

"Colonel it's nice to meet you in person" he replied

"If it wasn't for the circumstances I would probably agree with you Doctor" the Colonel responded, annoyed at the overly enthusiastic and cheerful manner of the doctors greeting. It angered him that the man could be so happy when one of his officers' lives was hanging in the balance. The Colonel wasn't naive. He knew that the doctor's presence on Skybase did not guarantee a solution to save Scarlet's life, but it certainly raised the odds in their favour. Although White had been trying to mentally prepare himself for the worst ever since Doctor Gold had informed him of Scarlet's condition, it hadn't meant that the Colonel had come any closer to accepting it. The truth was that although what had happened to Scarlet because of the Mysterons had been difficult for them to accept when it had first happened, it had since made White's job a little easier knowing that Scarlet was able to survive pretty much any situation he walked into.

So the last thing anyone had expected was for an inspection of a lab that was supposed to be helping Spectrum to be the reason that Scarlet was now lying in the Skybase medical bay, dying.

"Colonel" the doctor continued, oblivious to the Colonel's inner turmoil "Allow me to introduce my companion and wife, Doctor Yelena Bishop"

"Doctor" The Colonel nodded, acknowledging the female doctor

"Colonel" she replied, her voice calm and authoritative, a stark contrast to that of her husband's "If it's alright with you, we would like to get started right away"

"So do you think it's possible to save Scarlet's life?" he asked

"I'll be honest with you Colonel, we aren't one hundred percent sure at this stage" she stated in rather a cold, flat tone

"Unfortunately we had not foreseen this sort of complication when we were designing the weapon" her husband added

"Raymond" Yelena hissed

"It's quite alright Doctor" Colonel White said to her "Captain Scarlet's a unique individual and his special circumstances are a well-guarded secret- much like your research. If we had each been aware of what was really going on all this could have been avoided"

"Of course Colonel" Raymond Bishop said, his demeanour changing as if he had only just realised the seriousness of their current situation. "Unfortunately that was out of our hands..."

"Would it be possible to see Captain Scarlet now?" Yelana asked before her husband said something else to annoy the Colonel. Although White hadn't said anything to contrary it was clear to Yelana that her husband's words were bothering the Skybase commander. So she wanted to stop him before he said something else which would cause further tension between themselves and the Spectrum officers.

"Of course Doctor's I will escort you to the medical bay personally- if you would follow me" White held his hand out in the direction of the elevator. Once the three of them were inside, the Colonel pressed the button and within seconds they were on their way to the medical bay.

As Colonel White entered Skybase's medical bay followed by their guests, he noticed Doctor Gold sat at his desk looking at his console. The doctor looked tired and more than a little frustrated. He looked up from whatever it was he was working on when White approached him

"Mason, everything okay?"

"Under the circumstances" the doctor shrugged. White could hear the exhaustion in the Austrian doctor's voice as he spoke. "I was just going over Scarlet's latest scans"

"Any change?" White asked, feeling hopeful. Gold sadly shook his head

"Nothing positive I'm afraid. I had hoped that his retro-metabolism would have begun to make a difference by now but..." his voice trailed off, like he was unable to find the words-or just couldn't bring himself to say them, White wasn't sure which.

"I'm hoping that with the help of our guests, that we will be able to find a way to help Scarlet" White said, looking through the door into the adjoining treatment room where Scarlet lay; in the silence White could hear the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. That was when Gold noticed the man and woman who had entered behind the Colonel. The man he recognised as Doctor Bishop, but he had never met the woman who was with him.

White quickly introduced Gold to Doctor Yelena Bishop and Gold gave the two Doctor's an update on Scarlet's condition; as well as a brief explanation about Scarlet's retro-metabolism. Once the update was finished, Colonel White excused himself and left the medical bay.

"Is he okay?" Yelena Bishop asked Doctor Gold, she appeared to be genuinely concerned about the Colonel

"As I'm sure you can understand" Gold answered "It's difficult for the Colonel when someone under his command is injured while on duty. Due to Scarlet's unique circumstances, this has been a little more difficult, not just for the Colonel but for us all to deal with"

"Because of Scarlet's unique circumstances?" the male Doctor Bishop asked

"Scarlet's retro-metabolism has meant that he has been able to put himself into situations that any other person probably wouldn't survive...he's even come back from the dead on several occasions. So when both Captains' Scarlet and Blue were injured in the explosion..."

"You expected him to recover the same way that he always has" Yelena commented, knowing exactly what the Doctor was going to say. Gold nodded

"I'm guessing that Scarlet's what is it you call it...his retro-metabolism" Gold nodded again "this is why he is still alive?"

"From what I understand from the information I have regarding your work, I believe so, yes"

"Are those your latest scans?" Raymond asked indicating the read out on Gold's console.

"Please," Gold said, moving aside so that the other man could have a look at his findings. As Raymond Bishop looked over the latest scan results, Gold noticed that his wife's attention was elsewhere. She was staring into the room where Scarlet was lying.

"Would you mind if I go and speak with him?" she asked Doctor Gold as he came up alongside her.

"Of course not, I have told him that you were on your way down; I'm sure he would like some real answers about what is happening to him" Gold told her as he led the way into the other room. Quietly they both approached the bed containing the injured Captain Scarlet. Gold walked over to the right side of the bed toward where Scarlet's head was located

"Scarlet" Doctor Gold whispered, so as not to startle his patient. "Doctor Bishop is here to see you; do you feel up to talking to her?" As she got nearer the bed, the extent of Scarlet's injuries from the explosion became more apparent and it took all her self-control not to flinch at the sight of them.

Scarlet's eyes opened slowly and he blinked several times, allowing them to adjust to the dim light of the room "of course not Doc" he croaked, his voice barely more than a whisper "her?"

As Scarlet spoke, Doctor Gold stepped aside so that Doctor Bishop could step forward and take his place

"Captain Scarlet, I'm Doctor Yel..." she froze, her words catching in her throat. Doctor Gold looked over at her, confused. The colour had drained from her face and no one could deny the obvious expression of shock and surprise on her features

"Oh my god..." she whispered as her gaze fixed firmly on Scarlet's face "...Paul"