"Okay Alan, wakey wakey dear." Karen prodded as she gently shook Alan's shoulder. "It's time for your dressing change sweetheart."
"Mmm, five mo' min'tes." Alan slurred as he pressed his face into the fluffy pillow.
"No dear, you've got a schedule you need to keep. Come on, up and at em'." Karen helped Alan to sit up in bed. Alan opened one eye just barely a crack and stared around in order to gain his bearings. He was still sleepy, he hadn't slept good the night before. He'd put on his music playlist that John had brought from the cloud and listened to it while he tried to go to sleep. It worked after a bit, but three hours of sleep wouldn't do him much good. He was apprehensive about talking to the shrink and he was nervous about the earlier sensations that he experienced in his feet when Dr. Warner was applying the medicine to them. He hadn't felt anything since and while that bummed Alan out, the doctor had told him not to be disheartened.
"Okay, I'm up." Alan grumbled as he yawned and stretched his neck – listening to the satisfying clicks.
"Good, now I want you to sit up, eat your breakfast, then we'll go get your dressings changed." Karen pushed Alan's tray in front of him and Alan half-heartedly began eating. When he'd finished, another nurse entered the room as well as Dr. Warner and they all maneuvered Alan out of his hospital bed onto a gurney for transport. Karen covered Alan with a sheet before pushing the gurney down the hall.
Alan still couldn't get over it, he hated being the patient, even when he was back home on the infirmary. He'd do whatever it took to escape the infirmary, but he knew he couldn't here. Not only was it because he actually needed the treatment, but because if he snuck away his dad would likely tear the hospital and Manhattan apart looking for him. And his brothers would join in and make even bigger qualms over looking for him. No, Alan though not content to be the patient would rather stay in one place and try to get better so he might be able to do what he wanted in life.
Alan looked around when he entered a large room filled with all sorts of jars. If Alan was being honest, he'd call it the witch's lair because that's what it made him think of. There was a decent sized tub, like what Alan was usually put in when he was given a bath and he'd prefer to call it the cauldron. Alan held his breath when he was again lifted into the air using the sheet he lay on. When he'd been placed on the treatment table, Alan found his hospital gown removed and a sheet draped over him again before he could feel slight pressure as his bandages that were wound around his feet were cut.
"There we go." Karen and Dr. Warner worked together to remove Alan's bandages and when they'd gotten them fully removed, they began to gently clean the old medicine from Alan's feet. Alan found feel them turning his feet this way and that but other than that he couldn't feel much. 'Is this anything like what Gordon felt like after his accident?'
Alan lay perfectly still until he assumed his feet were bandaged once more because he was then rolled onto his side. Thankful for the sheet, Alan tried not to blush when he felt Karen giving him a sponge bath. He still felt rather embarrassed to be bathed by other people, but he'd rather a female nurse over say his grandmother, father or brothers bathing him. When Gordon helped to bathe him a few weeks ago, Alan wished more than anything to be able to crawl under a rock and hide. He'd been humiliated to have his brother in the same room as him when he was stark naked, but Gordon just shrugged it off. Gordon said he was fine with it – not like Alan had anything he hadn't seen before, but that wasn't the point. Alan felt humiliated because he was his own person and he valued his privacy and being totally naked and being bathed by your older brother was embarrassing. It was different when Alan was two and occasionally was bathed with Gordon, but that had stopped when Gordon started asking to have his own bath time separate from Alan. The last time either brother had actually seen the other completely in the buff was when either of them would go to wake the other up during one of the heat spells on the island – it wasn't uncommon for any of the brothers to sleep au 'natural during the hottest part of the season. They were used to it, but to have an older brother bathe you? That was pushing it for Alan.
"Your burns are looking really good Alan; the ones on your back and stomach are fading." Dr. Warner said as he assisted Karen with turning Alan to his other side. "Dr. Andreessen will be coming by shortly to examine your burns and I do believe he'll be quite pleased."
Alan remained quiet, the blush burning his face. He seriously felt humiliated right now. When this whole hospital stay was over, he was never having another sponge bath as long as he lived. When he was a crotchety old man in a nursing home somewhere, the nurses could just take him out back and hose him down for all he cared. A knock at the door made Alan lift his head slightly before he gave a small wave to Dr. Andreessen.
"Hello Alan." Dr. Andreessen came over and smiled at his patient. "How are you feeling?"
"Embarrassed, humiliated, mortified, ashamed…pick all four and any other synonyms that means embarrassed." Alan replied as he refused to meet Dr. Andreessen's eye.
"Well, maybe I can provide you with some good news; I come with a clean gown for you to wear rather than just that sheet while I inspect your burns and apply the special medicine." Dr. Andreessen produced a hospital gown with little green diamond shapes and he'd unfolded it before helping Alan run his arms through the sleeve holes. When the gown was covering Alan sufficiently, Dr. Andreessen tied a couple of the strings to close the gown. "Isn't that better now?"
Alan nodded silently before following Dr. Andreessen's quiet commands to lie back down on his back. When he was lying back down, Dr. Andreessen began inspecting Alan's legs just above the ankles. Alan craned his neck to look at his legs also and saw Dr. Andreessen make a stumped facial expression.
"What?" Alan asked, afraid to hear what the doctor had to say.
"It looks like a few of the burns on your legs are going to require surgery sooner than others." Dr. Andreessen replied, knowing that the news he was about to reveal was also best told to Alan's father. It was imperative that Alan have the surgery sooner rather than later and it'd appear to be more harrowing than his last surgery. "I'll need to discuss this with your father Alan."
"What is it?" Alan asked, his voice rising in pitch as he became alarmed.
"I'd rather explain this to your father and you together if possible. We can move you to a reverse isolation room within this ward, but you and your father need to hear the news…together." Dr. Andreessen's face was grim as he looked his young patient in the eye.
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Jeff sank down on the bed in his and Brain's hotel room, removing his shoes gratefully. Explaining everything to his sons was more difficult than was expected and he didn't wish to do it again. Scott had voiced his displeasure at being left back in California rather than being woken up and going with his dad to return for Alan. Penny and Ruth had thankfully been able to cool Scott's anger and they'd gotten him involved in a little shopping trip to pick up a couple new outfits for the boys just so they had something spring-ish to wear since the days were gradually getting warmer.
"How w-was the flight J-Jeff? Besides n-nerve wracking?" Brain's inquired as he turned from his own laptop which Kyrano and Tin-Tin packaged along with Virgil's laptop. He'd requested it be sent so he could try to make preliminary adjusts to the Thunderbird hangars as well as the house to accommodate Alan and Fermat since they were likely to be in wheelchairs for a while after they were discharged from the hospital. Jeff had already approved the changes be made, so Brian's was making a blueprint.
"It was just that…nerve wracking. Parker couldn't have flown fast enough to get me to the hospital." Jeff's cell phone rang about that time and he started digging in his pockets for the cell phone. "Hello?"
Jeff sat silently before his eyes widened and he'd reached down beside the bed and retrieving his shoes. "Okay, I'll be there in…give me fifteen minutes. I'll be there soon."
"Is everything o-okay Jeff?" Brains asked as he turned once more in his seat to look at his friend rapidly tying his shoes strings and shoving the phone back in his pants pocket.
"No, Dr. Andreessen says he wants to have a word with me and Alan concerning further treatment. He didn't sound like he had good news prepared." Jeff stood and grabbed his jacket. "Could you do me a favor and drop me off at the hospital? I don't want to take the rental in case you want to come down to visit Fermat."
"S-Sure, no problem." Brains saved the work he'd done to the blueprint before closing the lid to his laptop. Standing up Brains grabbed his own shoes before stepping into them and preparing to go. "Are y-you going to l-let the boys know?"
"I'll leave the boys a note, they seemed tired and I'd rather not wake them." Jeff said as he grabbed the notepad and pencil before jotting down a quick note for his sons. Retrieving the spare room key he'd obtained to his son's room he went down to leave the note.
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Knocking quietly, Jeff entered his son's room silently – taking care not to awaken his sleeping sons. Or so he thought they were. In fact the two of them were sitting up watching videos on Scott's laptop.
"Hey dad, what going on?" John looked over at his dad, shocked to see him in his coat and shoes. He looked like he was preparing to go somewhere.
"I need to head down to the hospital. Dr. Andreessen wants to meet with me and Alan." Jeff said as he crumbled the note in his hand and tossed it in the trash bin. There was no sense in leaving a note if his two sons who he thought were sleeping were wide awake.
"What's up?" Gordon asked.
"I don't know. All he said was he needed to speak with me regarding Alan's treatment so Brain's is taking me down there." Jeff said softly. "I'll let you know what was said when I know myself."
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Jeff walked into the hospital, removing his jacket slowly as he approached the nurse's station in the burn ward. It felt like a lifetime since he'd been in the hospital, in fact it'd been about three weeks since he himself had been to the burn ward. He and his sons had been downstairs in the surgical wing's waiting room as they waited for news on Alan and Virgil a couple days ago. Dr. Andreessen met him at the front of the desk.
"Good afternoon Jeff." Dr. Andreessen put his hand out to shake Jeff's hand.
"Good afternoon to you also Zach." Jeff greeted, his face stony as he tried not to be too concerned about the news the awaited him. "How are you doing?"
"I'm well Jeff, thank you for asking." Dr. Andreessen replied cordially.
"So what's going on with Alan?" Were the first words out of Jeff's mouth. Dr. Andreessen caught himself, before motioning for Jeff to follow him. The Tracy patriarch followed but he was still without any information and he hoped it was terrible news. Things were finally going right, aside from Alan's psychosis. "Dr. Andreessen?"
"I'd rather tell you and Alan together as you both are going to not be happy with the news I have to deliver." Dr. Andreessen beat around the bush. Jeff felt nervous when he heard that news and now all he wanted was to be with his son. Did Alan know more than him? Had Alan requested to see his dad upon hearing the news? Was it concerning Alan's last surgery? Had the tables been turned and they thought Alan was recovering? Jeff didn't know but man did he want to. He wanted to try to understand what was going on with his son. This not knowing was getting to him.
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Alan shifted nervously on his bed as he waited for Dr. Andreessen to return, hopefully with his dad. He'd demanded Dr. Andreessen tell him his discovery, but the doctor had adamantly refused to do so and had declared that Alan's father needed to be present to hear the news. That had made Alan nervous. What was so bad that his doctor would forgo being direct with him in favor of bringing his father in on this? Closing his eyes, Alan tried to calm his fried nerves before opening them again at the sound of the door opening.
"Dad!" Alan called the moment his father came through, dressed in scrubs like he'd been previously. Jeff strode forward and enveloped his youngest in a hug. Alan savored the feeling of being held in his father's sure and steady grasp. They only separated when Dr. Andreessen cleared his throat to gain their attention.
"You'd better have a seat Jeff." Dr. Andreessen said softly before taking a stance by the foot of Alan's bed. Jeff sat on the bed beside Alan, wrapping his arms around him in a protective hold. Alan leaned his head into his father's shoulder, now being thankful for the doctor insisting that his father be present for whatever this delivery of news meant for him. That didn't mean having his father there made it easier on Alan though. Dr. Andreessen looked at father and son and wished not for the first time why things just couldn't go right for Alan and his family for a change. "I am afraid we're going to need to do a different type of surgery on Alan and we'll need to do it soon."
"What type of surgery?" Jeff asked as he looked at his young son and back to the doctor nervously.
"It will be a radical type of surgery, a form of reconstructive surgery on Alan's thigh above the knee." Dr. Andreessen said, not liking that he was being made to deliver this news to this family. It just wasn't right. After all Alan had gone through, why couldn't things go right for a change?
"What's wrong with me?" Alan asked, his voice quavering slightly.
"I'm afraid with the lowered immunity, if we don't get this surgery done right away…you could become incredibly sick and possibly be in danger of losing your life." Dr. Andreessen said and his eyes pinched closed when he watched the blood drain from father and son's faces.
"What?" Jeff asked as he hugged Alan to his chest, smoothing his hair back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
"It would appear that Alan has a staph infection. I don't know if it was something Alan touched at any one time since being admitted to the hospital or if he was exposed to the bacteria indirectly during transport – but Alan's flesh is infected around one of the burns and it needs to be treated immediately to prevent the spread of the illness to his endocardium or any of his other burns. If his blood becomes infected it could be fatal considering he has a low immune system at present. Or if the lining around his heart gets infected, it could stop his heart. That and the fact that he's got a couple of burns that appear to be necrotic is…alarming."
"How…" Jeff began, but was quickly cut off by Dr. Andreessen.
"It can usually be contracted because of direct or indirect exposure to the bacteria that causes it. I got to looking a little closer at one of Alan's bed sores and what I thought was a sore, was actually a fluid filled blister. It's called impetigo." Dr. Andreessen said, trying to not overly alarm his patient or patient's father. "Impetigo is contagious, and that's one reason I want to have Alan treated. That way he can't potentially pass off the illness to any of his family and so we won't have to isolate him further in the event of a spread through the hospital."
Alan looked stricken at the news and he looked to his father for comfort. Now he was glad Dr. Andreessen had been insistent on his father returning. Jeff hugged Alan close, trying to comfort his youngest as he absorbed the news. Staph infections could be harmless, but in Alan's case – he was on immunosuppressant medications and it could make Alan sicker. Same as Virgil, with Virgil having been in close proximity to Alan the night prior, who's to say that Virgil hadn't been exposed as well? Jeff very well could have two sons fighting for their lives if they didn't get this under control.
"So what are you going to do?" Jeff asked as he gently rubbed Alan's neck.
"The plan is to take Alan completely off the immunosuppressant medications and give him a bombardment of antibiotics to combat the infection. We want to stop it while it is in its early stages before it can progress to possibly a greater stage or can mutate into something we can't fight." Dr. Andreessen stated, knowing that this necessary treatment would set Alan back in his treatment. Alan would need to stay in this reverse isolation room to prevent Alan from possibly passing the illness off to any of the nurses and Alan would be allowed visitors again, but right now it'd be limited to Jeff only.
"So when do you plan to initiate this?" Jeff asked.
"As soon as possible. We need to flush Alan's system of the immunosuppressant medications, the only set back of that is that Alan's body could potentially refuse the skin donation made by Virgil." Dr. Andreessen said softly.
"But I thought you and Dr. Warner said Alan's body had already accepted the skin donated by Virgil." Jeff said, prompting Alan to speak also.
"Yeah, I thought it was successful." Alan said, his eyes begging Dr. Andreessen that the news he was delivering wasn't true.
"I'm sorry Alan. Your body could still refuse it because the immunosuppressant medication is gone. Your body needs that medication to adjust to the donation and without it; the skin which still carries a bit of Virgil's DNA could cause your body to reject it entirely. You may need to have another surgery to replace it if your body does refuse it." Dr. Andreessen looked apologetic as the words seemed to shatter Alan. He didn't cry but you could see the storm building in his blue eyes. Alan was upset and rightly so.
"Are we done here?" Alan asked, as he turned his face away from his father and Dr. Andreessen's view. His voice broke, and Jeff could feel Alan shaking in his arms like he was trying for all his worth to not lose his cool.
"We can be." Dr. Andreessen said, knowing Alan needed to collect himself and he couldn't do that with an audience present.
"Dad can you stay here?" Alan whispered brokenly. He wanted his dad with him right now. He didn't know how much more he could take of everything going wrong for him. It wasn't fair! Why was it always him? "Please?"
"Yes, I'll stay." Jeff replied equally as softly as Alan's question. He couldn't leave his son, not when it seemed like the carpet had just been ripped from beneath his feet. Dr. Andreessen left the room, leaving Alan and Jeff alone together.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Jeff crossed his ankles on the bed as he leaned back into the headboard. Alan was lying listlessly in his arms, his head resting on his father's chest. Jeff could hear the occasional sniffles telling him that Alan was trying not to cry and his son's shoulders would jerk occasionally telling Jeff that Alan probably was crying, but doing so quietly.
"Why me dad? What did I do to deserve this?" Alan asked quickly following another sniffle.
"You didn't do anything Alan…fate is just a cruel mistress." Jeff replied as he gently rubbed Alan's neck.
"I want to go home, I don't want to be here anymore." Alan said brokenly, his voice wavering dangerously.
"I know you do, I do too. But we've got to sit this out and make sure you are healed." Jeff said comfortingly.
"At the rate things are going, I doubt that I'll be walking out of here." Alan's voice cracked and Jeff looked at Alan just as the flow of tears began cascading down his face. "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for son?" Jeff asked as he sat up in order to hold Alan closer. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I'm keeping you away from your work and IR…the world is suffering because of me." Alan buried his face in his father's shoulders.
"Alan, I am here because I am your father and I love you. To hell with saving the world or manufacturing bigger, better products for Tracy Enterprises. You are my world and I will stop at nothing to save this world that matters most to me." Jeff rested his cheek against Alan's mop of blonde hair, listening as his son poured out his sorrows into his shoulder. Alan deserved to go home, but he needed to get the surgeries done and out of the way before they could even think of doing that. "Everything will be fine Alan, I promise it will be."
"Don't make a promise that you don't think you can keep dad." Alan murmured from his hiding place in his dad's shoulder.
"I will make a promise, because I believe you will get out of here and I think you will be better. Don't give up before you've even started son." Jeff rocked Alan gently.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Josh sat up and stretched, talking to that therapist had been like letting a weight off of his shoulders. She'd suggested things for him to do to not have nightmares and he'd taken her advice to heart and man did he feel refreshed. Glancing at the clock, he was shocked to see that he'd been asleep for the last eleven hours. Throwing back his covers, Josh padded downstairs for breakfast. For a change of pace he was up when his dad was up for work at six in the morning. Usually he'd have to go to school at 7:30 so he was actually early.
"Hey buddy, what are you doing up? Did you have another nightmare?" Josh's father asked as he was sat at the breakfast table drinking his coffee before going in to work.
"No, I just woke up." Josh said as he went to fix himself a bowl of cereal.
"Why don't you go back to bed and get more rest? Your mom and I are fine if you miss another day of school." Josh's father said lightly.
"No, I feel rested enough to go to school today. I must have seriously needed the sleep." Josh rubbed tiredly at his eyes, but he was no longer as tired as he'd been. He actually felt human again. Amazing what a few hours of sleep can do for you.
"Okay, well if you're sure son." Josh's dad said as he took a sip from his coffee. "So I take it the talk with the therapist helped?"
"Oh yeah, and she didn't make me feel like I was going crazy like they make you think happens from the movies. She didn't pull any of that 'and how does that make you feel' stuff. It was nice." Josh said as he sat at the table with his father, digging in to his breakfast.
"So how did you sleep?" Josh's dad asked as he looked seriously at his son.
"I feel fine. I'm still kind of sleepy, but not nearly as much as I've been feeling recently." Josh chewed his cereal slowly as he conversed with his dad.
"That's great. Do you plan on going back?" Josh's dad asked lightly knowing his son hated looking weak to the people he loved.
"Yeah, Connie was great. She was able to help me better understand the nightmares and she gave me some tips for preparing for sleep and stay asleep. Did you know reading a lighthearted book is a good way to make your mind focus on other things?" Josh asked as he wondered what his dad would think of his topic of choice.
"Connie?" His dad asked as he looked at his son seriously again.
"Yeah, she asks that her patients call her Connie. She says it helps everyone feel comfortable with her. I'll admit it does. Not at all like calling her Doctor."
"Oh I've no doubt." Josh's dad said as he stood to go to work. He walked past Josh and tousled his hair affectionately before going to get his briefcase. "See you later tonight son."
"Later dad." Josh finished his own breakfast and sauntered out of the kitchen to go see if he could do some homework during the spare time before going to school.
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Jeff returned to the hotel a few hours later, feeling for the entire world like Atlas carrying the weight of the world on his back. He returned to his room and sank wearily once more back onto the bed, wondering if it'd be wise to remove his shoes for the second time that day. It hadn't seemed to be wise earlier when he'd removed them because he just had to put them back on to go to the hospital. A knock at his door answered Jeff's question and he stood to open the door and sagged when he saw three of his five sons. Stepping to the side, Jeff let Scott, John and Gordon file into the room before going to go sit on the bed.
"So? What did the doc have to say dad?" Gordon asked, anticipating there to be bad news.
"Yeah, what'd he say?" Scott asked, wanting to hear any news he hadn't been told about.
"I saw you from the foyer and we all wanted to know what was going on with Al." John volunteered as he raised a hand meekly letting his father know that he was the culprit for him and his brothers flocking to his father.
"Have a seat boys." Jeff moved to face the sitting area in the room and he'd sat down himself to explain everything the doctor had told him and Alan. Scott, John and Gordon sat like little boys that were told to sit in the corner during a time out. Their faces appeared to be stretched thin in exhaustion and gloom. Some things…have been changed and it would appear that Alan's stay in the hospital has been lengthened for an undisclosed amount of time."
"What's happening to him dad?" Scott asked, his face taut with concern.
"Your brother…Dr. Andreessen informed me and your brother that he's got a staph infection. Apparently he has what the doctor thought were bedsores and as it turns out they are something called impetigo. It can be contagious and because it's such a serious staph infection…the doctor has come to the conclusion that Alan needs to be taken off the immunosuppressant medications and kept isolated while the infection was treated with antibiotics." Jeff said and he'd looked at each of his present sons and saw their faces fall. Life just couldn't be fair to them…could it?"
"So how far is this going to set back Alan's treatment?" John asked, relieved that he wouldn't be having the surgery next for some time, but upset that it was because his little brother had contracted an infection which could be dire.
"I don't know. Alan's got to have a different surgery here shortly also. Apparently one of his burns is necrotizing as the doctor put it and the flesh that is necrotizing needs to be removed." Jeff repeated his conversation with the doctor after having left Alan's room.
"What does necrotizing mean?" Scott asked, hoping it didn't mean what he was thinking.
"Think about it Scott, necrotizing and necrotic is the same thing. It means the skin around the burn is dying." Gordon responded. He'd enjoyed studying Greek when he was in high school, it allowed him and Alan to have their own secret language because the only other person who understood what they were saying was in space most of the time. He knew that necro in Greek meant to die or the act of killing. Therefore necrotizing or necrotic meant that something was dying and usually if in reference to a person, something within or part of their body was dying when mentioned in conjunction with necrotizing or necrotic.
"So what does that mean for Alan if his skin around the burn is necrotizing?" Scott asked as he looked at his dad and Gordon, the younger redhead obviously knew something of what their dad was talking about.
"It means that the skin needs to be removed or it could spread." Jeff said. "Alan's got to have surgery to debride the area of the necrotizing flesh."
"Spread?" Scott asked, with mild alarm
"Yes, the necrotizing flesh can spread. It's just like what happens if you leave a type of food out on the counter when it needs to be refrigerated. Part of it spoils first and gradually spreads through the entire entrée." Gordon said as he used the best analogy he could think of.
"Do you always have to think about food?" Scott turned to his younger brother, a smirk playing on his face as he asked the question.
"What?" I'm hungry and it's not lunch time yet!" Gordon rubbed his stomach pitifully. Trust Gordon to raise everybody's spirits with a bit of humor however minor it was.
A/N: So I wanted to apologize for not posting on this story for quite some time. I've been struggling with my algebra grade and I am desperately trying to pass it so I put off writing for this story. I know I've been posting other stories, like short oneshots but those were kind of in the moment stories that spent no time at all to write. That and I've kind of been conducting a test. Apparently FF doesn't acknowledge that I am even posting these updates or news stories because they aren't showing up in the updated or new stories...at all. I've done searches for them and can only find them if I go to my own profile.
Please if anyone can, let me know if you've even been getting the emails or notifications that my work is being uploaded. I get them, but sometimes they are delayed. However, I have no way of knowing whether you are or aren't unless you say something. It's seriously not much fun writing without the critiques and I'll find a way to email FF to ask what is going on and why my work is not showing up.
You guys are awesome and again, I apologize for my absence on this story.
~Angel~