Day One: Now, let me carry you
Drieyf asked for John as caretaker.
Trope: Now Let Me Carry You. A situation where one character who is known for supporting and helping another is suddenly in need of support, only for the person they supported to come through for them.
Characters: John, Grandma
Warnings: Landslide, Broken bones
Living in space virtually full-time was John's absolute dream. He'd wanted it since he was a small child, listening to tales told by his father and his Uncle Lee. Growing up had only cemented that desire.
John had been a quiet child, reserved compared to his brothers. They understood him and mostly enabled his chosen lifestyle. Of course, just because they had accepted, didn't mean the world had.
School was an especially cruel place, and Scott's fists could only do so much. With no Mom to shield him from the world anymore, one person in particular stood up for him, became that shield.
He never forgot it, even as he moved away, first to Harvard and then to NASA and finally to the ISS.
When his father offered him that opportunity of life in space John grasped it with both hands. International Rescue, while not his original dream, soon became a shared family one. A dream that flourished and grew and enabled them all to become closer as a family as they helped others not suffer the same fate they had. Twice.
What John had not thought about living in space, was just how far away he was when things went wrong.
International Rescue had been back in operation for four years. In that time John would need both hands and feet to count the number of times he'd felt helpless as a brother was injured, as a rescue went south, as lives were lost that maybe one extra pair of hands could have saved…
His brothers consoled him, told him how important his job was, and John knew that. He absolutely knew that. Didn't stop the feeling. Plus, as EOS got better and better at handling comms John began to feel a little like a spare part up on Five.
But today, today John was the only one available to perform this rescue. All his brothers were on their own rescues.
Tracy Island was an extinct volcano. This meant the ground was fertile and the fauna unique. It also meant that they fell into the Ring of Fire, and as such they occasionally had tremors.
EOS had alerted him that a small landslip had occurred. This was not usually anything to be concerned about, they happened occasionally on the Island, he would inform Scott when he returned his brother would set about making sure that the area would be safe. Between his regular runs and John's scans they'd always managed to pre-empt any issues.
This time the landslip had occurred in an area near to the villa. And had claimed a victim.
Grandma had been out on her daily walk.
Sally didn't get a lot of 'me-time'. It didn't worry her in the slightest – no one who worked on a farm knew such luxury – but she'd taken to having a daily walk through the gardens Kyrano had curated and she helped Kayo upkeep and up around the Villa. At her age her joints needed the exercise, not that she'd ever admit that to her boys.
Her boys kept her young.
Today Sally had just about made it up to the highest part of the trail when EOS' called her to warn her of a quake that the Island would feel.
No one could foresee that the section Sally was currently traversing would give way beneath her, knocking her out cold and partially burying her.
'John! There's been a landslide on the Island and Grandma's been caught!'
John froze. Then jumped into action.
'Scott, I'm handing over control of the rescue to EOS. There's been a landslide and Grandma's…'
'John, go. I'll liaise with EOS, you talk to Virgil. We'll be as quick as we can. Go!'
He did as his brother bid, and within minutes he was heading home in the space elevator, willing it to go faster even as he knew it couldn't and trying his Grandma constantly.
Nothing.
Brains met him in the hanger and had a hover-stretcher ready. No words were exchanged, but the engineer placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze before leaving to double check the infirmary was ready.
John set off. It wasn't a long trek to where their Grandma had been, and on the way he spoke to Virgil. They all had bio-monitors build into their suits, but Grandma didn't, and he had no idea what to expect.
Well, he had some idea. Both Scott and Gordon had been buried in landslides before, and broken bones were the norm. They were younger and fitter than their Grandmother, however, and John was worried about that.
The incline was steep enough for John to have broken out into a light sweat in the heat and in his rush, and as he came to the start of the where the slip had occurred, he gasped. The wide path had disappeared for quite a distance, far enough that no one would have been able to jump the distance.
A little way down the slope she lay, legs buried up to her right hip and her left knee. John breathed in sharply, and then set to work.
He slid carefully down the slope and stopped beside the crumpled form. Hands trembling, he ran the Medscanner over and was more relieved than he could say when only a broken right leg was the major concern. Lots of contusions and abrasions and a moderate concussion, but the relief that there was no broken hips – or worse – had John sighing.
As he dug the ground out around her he filled Virgil and Brains in on what was going on and the results of the scans. Virgil promised to be home as soon as possible, but the rescue had hit an unforeseen snag and he couldn't say how long it would be. Brains would be able to take care of Grandma for now.
Sally came to as John finished removing the loose dirt from around her, looking around her in confusion.
'John?'
"Grandma! You're awake!'
'Err…what happened?'
'There was a landslide.'
'Oh. EOS said something about that. What's the damage?'
'Broken leg. Moderate concussion. Lots of abrasions and contusions.'
'Well, I'm going to be sore for a while.'
Typical Tracy understatement, John thought. Everyone thought Scott got his stubborn streak from his Dad, but they'd be wrong by a generation.
'John, will you be alright holding me?'
'Of course I will, Grandma.'
She hummed in disbelief but didn't say anything else.
With the hover-stretcher ready, John knelt carefully beside the woman who had been a mother to him longer than anyone else. Sally clung to his neck as he slid an arm under her knees and another around her shoulders.
Grandma weighed next to nothing as he stood carefully. He held her close for a moment, and he could feel her smile into his shoulder.
'I'm alright, John. You can put me down now.'
John blushed.
'You've been carrying me and my brothers for all our lives. Let me carry you for a bit.'
Hover-stretcher forgotten for a moment, John carried his Grandma home.
