Neither John nor Virgil argued with Alan when he began murmuring to his bunny, apparently her name being Gemma. Virgil had to hide a smile and sucked on his bottom lip while John who via a digital link was leaning on his elbow and had his mouth covered with a hand to hide his own smile. He'd never seen Alan the way he was currently treating Gemma. He guessed he would have if their dad had let him have a pet during the time he grew up. He wished their dad hadn't just let Scott have a pet when they were kids. John would have liked to have a pet and his dad would only ever let them have goldfish, though Alan was still devastated as a kid when his fish would die from ick or just in general being a fish.

"She's good for you kiddo. So you've named her finally." John said softly from behind his hand making his statement somewhat muffled.

"Yeah, I had help but her name is Gemma." Alan replied as he brought the bunny to his chest and gently scratched behind her ears.

"Gemma is a good name." Virgil said as he watched his brother interact with the bunny. He smiled more openly this time and leaned forward to pet Gemma if Alan allowed it. Alan looked untrustingly at Virgil before giving the barest of nods. Virgil smiled back widely at his brother for accepting Virgil's affections to his bunny before he leaned down and clicked his tongue softly at the small fluffy creature.

"How'd you come up with the name Gemma?" John asked as he waited on his brothers to quit making goo-goo eyes at the bunny.

"I…um…had help." Alan admitted though he wouldn't disclose who had helped him though John knew from watching Alan that he meant Brook helped in naming Gemma.

"It's a nice name Al." John said as he tried to convince Alan through non-verbal communications to tell him and Virgil who helped name Gemma but Alan was keeping his lips sealed. "Okay, so how was breakfast?"

"It was good." Alan said softly, not wanting to tell anyone that he had breakfast in the sun lounge with Brook. Fermat didn't even know, he'd been asleep when Alan called the nurses to go to the sun lounge after he'd gotten an email from Brook asking if they could get together and have breakfast. When Alan looked around he saw that Fermat's curtain was closed and could faintly hear the physio therapist working with him on stretches to check the function of his leg.

After a little bit of prying that actually failed on John's part, horribly so as a matter of fact; John quit trying to snoop after his attempts. He smiled at his brothers before departing and letting them spend time together uninterrupted. They all might be brothers, but even they liked being able to divide up and share their time with their kid brother. It wasn't often much anymore that they could spend some one on one time with Alan without disruptions.

"So Alan, what did you want to do today?" Virgil asked as he hoped Alan might want to do something with him.

"Hmm, I don't know. Let's try lay in bed, lay in bed or oh I know….lay in bed." Alan replied with a snarky attitude. Virgil rolled his eyes at his little brother's snarky attitude, but he knew Alan didn't mean anything by it.

"Alan, I know it doesn't seem fun…but I will gladly spend the day with you whether you're laid up in bed or if it were the other way around." Virgil said as he moved closer to sit beside Alan so that his little brother was leaning into his shoulder. "If you want to just watch movies we can do that and if you'd rather not, well…I'm sure we can find something to do."

Alan looked like he wanted to say something and he visibly deflated before letting his head fall to Virgil's shoulder. Virgil knew the boy's tells and he knew something was eating Alan. His little brother didn't make it often known, but he did talk on occasion.

"When you guys went to the last trial…what happened?" Alan asked softly.

Virgil sighed as he debated saying anything to his brother. Sure he'd kind of goaded his brother into talking, but this wasn't exactly what he wanted to talk about with him. Looking at his little brother and meeting his eyes, it made him think twice though about changing the subject.

"It wasn't pretty. I can't lie…Robert's still maintaining his innocence." Virgil whispered. He saw Alan's face fall and instantly he wished he'd fought their dad more when it came about that he wanted to send Alan to Wharton. He didn't want Alan facing this. "I just wish I knew what went down between you two…you know…kind of been like a fly on the wall."

"I've told you all about what happened…I'm innocent…I didn't do anything. I accidently spilled my dinner on him and he became pissed and refused to let me apologize. Then he bullied me relentlessly. He destroyed my camera, hurt my friends…laughed at my pain about mom's death and about Grandma Elsie and Grandpa Hubert dying in front of me and the others…they died in front of us and while most people would be shocked he just laughed at us…me in particular. He mocked me, teased me…I know I'm not usually so open about my emotions…but he made me cry."

"I believe you…not about your innocence, I've known you wouldn't hurt a fly from the time you were a baby. You'd actually get upset if anyone hurt any other living creature while in front of you. Mom and Dad couldn't even kill ants in your presence or else you'd have an absolute meltdown. Mom started catching any live bugs in the house in Tupperware containers and she'd take them outside and releasing them just to keep you from bursting into tears." Virgil commented with a chuckle. "You always were a soft hearted child. Still are."

"Hey, don't be making up lies about me…you'll tarnish my rep." Alan replied before offering Virgil a smile.

"Hey, your rep isn't much of one…besides…who're you trying to impress? Certainly not the nurses?" Virgil poked with a smile.

"I may be younger than you, but if given the chance, I'd give you a run for your money." Alan said before he gave pause. Virgil seemed to notice the change in his brother's demeanor.

"What is it kiddo?" Virgil asked.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Alan asked to which Virgil quirked an eyebrow.

"Why?" Virgil asked, his tone more sober now and less playful.

"Just after starting at Wharton's…Fermat and I were kind of…invited to a late night function in our dorm's commons. It was a Friday evening and…one of the boys got our dorm parent to turn the fireplace gas on so that we could huddle around the fire. You know like a…a rich kids version of camping. Anyway, when we were all huddled around; they started telling us about the supposed ghost of our building." Alan said, his voice a little louder than a whisper.

"Don't tell me you actually believe that bull honky?" Virgil asked incredulously.

Alan bit his lip before nodding his head. Virgil rolled his eyes while Alan rushed to explain.

"Virge, do you remember when I was a little kid and I woke you all up when we were at grandma's one night crying about the lady with no eyes standing at the end of my bed?" Alan asked, his eyes narrowed in irritation.

Virgil had to think for a moment or two before he remembered that Alan had woken up the house screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs. Their dad was away on a business trip so the boys were all made to go spend the week with their grandmother. It was summer vacation, so they didn't have to worry about living too far from town and missing school. Alan had been in his own room, having gone to bed earlier than everyone else because his curfew was set at 8 pm by their grandma for Alan due to his age. The rest of the boys had gone to bed at 10 while their grandma had gone to bed barely fifteen minutes earlier.

'A piercing scream rends the night air and Virgil who'd been sharing a room with Gordon sat up sharply same as Gordon did. Both boys looked at each other for a split second before leaping from their beds and racing from their room. A second scream pierced the night air and immediately both boys knew who it belonged to.

Scott and John exited their rooms just as fast while their grandmother was hot on their heels as they all ran for Alan's bedroom at the end of the hall. Upon entering the room and flicking on the bedroom lights, they were shocked to discover that Alan wasn't being attacked by some wild beast nor the boogeyman. He was however a dead white and tears were rushing down his face while he held his blanket up to cover his face, leaving only his eyes to peek from below the blanket material.

The boy's grandmother moved to sit on Alan's bed and comfort him. The seven year old was downright terrified and he quaked visibly.

"What is it dear?" Grandma asked softly as she held Alan close and let him cry into the front of her night gown.

"…" Alan could only sob in response to their grandmother's questions and Scott peeked out the bedroom window to see if something outside had scared his baby brother. The moon was full outside and the sky clear. Scott could see the cornrows on the opposite side of the field and could see the cattle's shadows moving about in the barn. Nothing was plainly visible as the cause for Alan's terror.

"What scared you kiddo?" John asked as he moved to sit on the opposite side of the bed.

Alan didn't reply, only raising a hand and pointing to the foot of his bed with a shaking hand. Tears welled anew in Alan's eyes before the boy whispered.

"The lady with no eyes."

"Pardon?" Virgil asked as he looked beneath Alan's bed to see if anyone had been hidden beneath his bed that might have scared him. "I don't see a lady anywhere except for grandma."

"She was at the foot of my bed." Alan whimpered.

"I didn't see anyone when we came in." Gordon said as he did a complete 360 around the room to see if they'd missed anyone hiding in the room.

"She left…when you turned on the light." Alan said as he sunk down beneath his blankets just a little bit.

"Did one of you boys tell him scary stories again?" Grandma asked as she leaned down to kiss Alan's forehead.

"No." was the collective response.

When everyone prepared to get up and leave, Alan who noticed he'd be alone in his room for the rest of the night flipped out.

"Wait! Please don't leave!"

"Alan, we all need to go back to bed. Unlike you, the rest of us have things to do tomorrow." Scott said as he stood up and gave a stretch. He was tired and he had to muck the stalls with John and Virgil tomorrow then buck some hay for the cattle and horses. Gordon had to whitewash the fence for their grandma and Alan, his only chore was to go out and feed the chickens and drag the bucket of slop out for the pigs. He had an easy enough job but Scott, John and Virgil had manual labor that they needed energy for.

""Please don't leave me alone in here with her." Alan begged, his eyes still misty with tears.

The boys all contemplated leaving their brother in his own room. He was a big boy now, he shouldn't be afraid of the dark anymore. But Virgil spared one glance at his baby brother before heaving a sigh.

"Alright kid, you can sleep with me…but just for tonight." Virgil said as he helped to disentangle the blankets from Alan's feet and legs. "You need a shower first though…you stink."

Alan looked down at himself before taking notice that in his fright of things that went bump in the night, he'd wet his pants. He blushed as he looked back up at his brothers. Nobody was laughing though. Alan didn't scare too easily, so if something scared him bad enough that he'd pee his pants, they all knew it was pretty bad. The last time Alan had wet his pants, Alan was four years old and didn't understand the logistics of unlocking the child safety lock on the toilet. He couldn't get anyone to open the locks and get the seat raised in time before he'd had an accident and the older boys had to clean up the mess and their brother.

"Yeah, how could I forget? Because I said you could sleep with me I had to give you a bath before we could go back to sleep." Virgil commented as he remembered the fun of having younger siblings.

"Well, I wasn't making it up about that lady. There was a woman standing at the foot of my bed and if you remember what I said about her outfit."

"She was wearing a white night gown…how could I forget? You only talked about her constantly." Virgil replied stiffly.

"Well, I did some research and found out that those can be common apparitions. They're known as "a lady in white" or the "weeping woman". In Brazilian legend, the weeping woman may have been pregnant or died a violent death…the woman that stood at the foot of my bed didn't weep, cry or moan…but I remember she tilted her head and smiled at me." Alan whispered.

"So why did you scream if she didn't try to hurt you?" Virgil asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"You try waking up after midnight and opening your eyes to see a glowing white woman with no eyes standing at the foot of your bed…tell me you wouldn't be scared to death of her." Alan challenged.

"I guess I can't argue with that…but why would she have come to you?" Virgil asked.

"Promise you won't get mad?" Alan asked, slightly unsure of his notion.

"Alright I promise." Virgil replied with a heavy and drawn out sigh.

"I think it might have been mom…I mean, it'd make sense…she did die a violent death and as far as I know the homestead has been in grandpa's family for generations. So it couldn't be just any old ghost that came to stand at the foot of my bed."

Virgil didn't have any arguments to that. He knew that what Alan said held some water. He knew Alan could believe what he wanted, even if he himself had trouble believing in ghosts.

"To each their own I suppose. I personally don't believe in ghosts but you can believe what you want." Virgil said not wanting to discount anything Alan said. Nobody else saw the woman in white in Alan's bedroom that night, so he knew he had no right to accuse Alan of lying.

"Well when I was attending Wharton…before it was destroyed, the older boys passed down a supposed true story to us all." Alan said softly.

"And just what was this supposed true story?" Virgil asked as he gave his brother a look. Not a look with a specific meaning behind it, just a look.

"As the story goes, when the school was first constructed…it was originally built as an orphanage. The building was built in 1917 and kept a bunch of children. One day there was a young girl that had wandered down by the boiler room and it just so happened that the boiler was malfunctioning. Something happened and the boiler at the time exploded, killing the little girl and injuring several others." Alan spun the story for Virgil who sat by Alan's side, one hand in his own lap and the other on Alan's bunny Gemma. "After the little girl died, the orphanage closed its doors until many years later, the school was reopened as Wharton's School for Boys. It's said the ghost of the little girl still roams the halls…or she did, not sure where her ghost will be said to wander next."

"And you actually believe that?" Virgil asked, his voice seemingly disinterested.

"Well yeah, I mean…once when me and a couple other boys had to clean the halls for our detention punishment, we heard footsteps on the floor above us. Me and Jem went upstairs and checked to see if someone had snuck in and every door upstairs was locked tight. It was after hours anyway and nobody was there. We went back downstairs and reported there wasn't anyone there…when we heard footfalls again in the hall upstairs. We ran up again and again there was nobody there. We cleared out of there faster than you could blink because that was just freaky." Alan explained.

"Are you sure none of your friends were pranking you? Not trying to make you scared out of your gourd and run?" Virgil asked teasingly.

"My friends wouldn't do that…they're not mean spirited." Alan defended.

"Okay, say it wasn't your friends that did it…could there be anyone else that would?" Virgil asked, trying to help Alan figure out the puzzle.

"No, nobody comes to mind…as far as I know there wasn't anyone besides the teacher, me, Jem, Eddy and Josh." Alan said softly.

"What did you guys do to get detention?" Virgil asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Eddy and Josh played a prank on the teacher serving our detention and Jem and I laughed. We truly had no knowledge of the prank, but got detention anyway." Alan said with a complete look of innocence written across his face. After studying his brother, Virgil knew Alan was serious. He was totally innocent in the whole scheme of things.

"Okay…so going back to what we were previously talking about…you mentioned that Robert laughed even when Elsie and Hubert died. Care to tell me about that?" Virgil asked softly.

"You already know from dad I'm sure that me, Jem, Fermat, Eddy, Josh and Todd all saw them die…we were at the field for track and Grandma Elsie and Grandpa Hubert were sitting in their car watching us compete. They were trying to get closer, but their car stalled on the tracks and nobody could go to them to move the vehicle in time before the train came. Jem and I were held back by our teammates…we are the sprinters on the team and I think that if we hadn't been held back, we could have saved them." Alan said as his voice became quieter and quieter.

"But we also could have lost you two…granted you might have been able to reach Elsie and Hubert in time, but then you'd have been in danger." Virgil reasoned. He knew Alan held a longstanding regret for not being able to save Elsie and Hubert, but if they had to have a replay…it'd have been a repeat of Alan and Jem being held back by their team. That Virgil would rather happen again if given a chance, same as if he'd been given a chance for their mom. Virgil would rather their mom pass away rather than Alan. The younger was a blessing to their whole family. "So you said that Robert laughed after they died too? Can I ask what he said?"

"He laughed and said that anyone associated with me died early because I was cursed to kill everyone I interacted with." Alan said as he sunk down in his bed.

"That does it…when you're done with being in the hospital, if Robert is back in attendance of Wharton's I will not allow you to go back there. Even if dad wants you back in attendance, I won't let you. I'll stand in his way." Virgil said, his nostrils flaring as his anger became known. "I won't place you in direct danger again. Even if dad refuses, I will leave the island and I'll keep you with me at the apartment so you have a guardian and you'll attend…but you won't stay in the dorms…neither you nor Fermat."

"I don't want to go back to Wharton…if I get the chance to go back to school, I'd much prefer going to that public school that my other friends are going to." Alan said simply. "I mean…I'd actually much prefer to go do online correspondence from the villa, but if I'm given a choice between Wharton and public school, I'll choose public school. I'd rather die than go back to Wharton's."

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Later that evening, Virgil met his dad at the restaurant in the hotel they were staying in. He'd called an emergency meeting with his dad, sans any of his other brothers to relay the information he'd learned from Alan. He feared that his dad was considering placing Alan back in a private school. The last time that Scott had brought it up, just a week prior to going into the hospital, their dad commented that he had it all figured out for Alan's schooling and hearing that just left Virgil with a bad taste in his mouth. Now he may be making a mountain out of a mole hill, but…he was concerned and he was a big brother. And knowing that Alan would rather be dead than go back to Wharton's once it was rebuilt…well that sat like a stone in the pit of Virgil's stomach and it made him feel sick.

"Good evening Virgil…what's going on? Where are your brothers?" Jeff asked as he settled in his seat before he smiled at the server when she came up to pour a glass of water for him and Virgil.

"They don't know that I'm meeting with you." Virgil said as he shifted his eyes around the room.

"Son, what is this about? You're acting like you do when you've played a prank on one of your brothers and you're afraid of being caught. You're not as secretive as you think you are." Jeff commented as he placed the

"Alright, I wanted to talk about Alan's education." Virgil started, dropping all talk and just cutting to the chase.

"Yeah, he'll go back to school once he's done with surgeries and he's healed." Jeff said. "I don't see a point in him being focused on his school right now, not when he's got so much else going on in his life."

"See that's the point…Alan going back to school. I don't want him going back to Wharton's period." Virgil laid it all out for his dad. "I mean if you insist, then I'll gladly move out from the villa and live on the mainland with Alan and be his guardian. Anything so that he doesn't have to go back to Wharton."

"Whoa, where is this coming from son? I'm not making Alan go back to school at Wharton's." Jeff said, eyes going wide at the assumption that he'd send his youngest son back into that hell hole. "Virgil…"

"Dad save it. A few weeks ago when Scott asked about Alan's education, you said you had it all planned out. I know from previous conversations that whenever you say that you have it all planned out, it means that you have come to a decision and that nobody can sway you from that decision. I don't want my baby brother being forced to take drastic measures because of having his hands forced into a decision he'd rather not take." Virgil pleaded. "Please dad."

"Son, when I said I had it all planned out…I meant that I was decided on letting Alan make the final choice on his education. I may not like his decision, but I almost lost your brother because of my own selfish decision and I'm not willing to make that same mistake again. I'm pretty much decided that what Alan wants, Alan gets. If he wants to homeschool, I won't stand in his way. Doesn't mean I won't pester him to finish his assignments, but I will let him choose. It's his life and I've forced his hand too many times to say that makes him a mature adult. He'll never understand consequences if I don't let him make informed decisions on his own. All he'll ever see are my mistakes. If I don't let him try to grow up and make his own choices, I'm doing nothing but disabling him for the future."

Virgil was left speechless at what his dad was saying. He thought his dad had decided on something that was a complete and polar opposite to what he was going to argue for Alan's sake.

"Is that what this whole meeting was about? You thought I was gonna send your brother back to Wharton's once it was rebuilt?" Jeff asked somewhat incredulously.

"Well yeah…you said you had everything figured out when it came to Alan's education and you didn't let on or allude to what you were thinking. I thought you wanted Alan to go back to Wharton." Virgil replied, his voice growing quieter and quieter as he came to realize that he had been wrong in his assumption and was jumping to the wrong conclusions.

"I'm not sending Alan or Fermat back to Wharton, they're not getting another cent from me. They failed to protect your brother from bullies and they falsely advertised that they had a zero-tolerance policy. I thought I was sending Alan to a good place, not to a place that could potentially kill my boy. No, Alan will never set foot in those doors again." Jeff said as he got the story straight to Virgil.

Virgil didn't argue any further, he only lowered his gaze in shame. He didn't trust in his dad and made a complete ass of himself to his father.

"I'm not mad at you Virgil…if nothing else, I'm proud of you." Jeff corrected. Virgil raised his gaze at that and saw his dad smile at him. "You're looking out for your brother's best interests and that is what I like to see."

"I seriously thought you wanted to send Alan back to that place." Virgil said as he visibly deflated.

"No, I can't get my money back for the time Alan did attend, but I did get the remainder back for what Alan and Fermat were unable to attend. It's not the full amount, but its close. But let's not talk about that. Let's talk about something else. Like Alan's rehabilitation." Jeff said.

"Wait, what?" Virgil asked.

"I spoke with Alan's doctor today and he said a few more weeks, until the last bandage comes off and then Alan can begin physical therapy. He's planning on starting Alan with hydrotherapy, to let him get comfortable with weight bearing." Jeff said as he brought to light that things would be moving along gradually for Alan.

"Can I ask why hydrotherapy?" Virgil asked. He'd heard of it being used with bariatrics and canines as well as senior citizens…but never for a kid Alan's age. He supposed it was common in some places, but he never imagined Alan using it.

"Since Alan's nerves were damaged in his feet and he has little sensation, the doctor feels like trying to fully walk on the healing tissue will be more detrimental as opposed to actually helping. So he wants Alan to start off with hydrotherapy because the water will relieve his feet and legs from the strain as he gets reintroduced with walking. It'll be baby steps for a while. When Alan does begin walking again, depending on how he does with the hydrotherapy, the doctor said he may or may not need forearm crutches for a while. If it turns out that Alan can't feel and it turns into something permanent, Alan will most likely need forearm crutches for stabilization purposes." Jeff acknowledged softly. He knew talking about Alan like he was physically incapable of walking was like mudslinging. Alan was a strong young man and he'd become notably upset if someone labeled him as disabled or handicapped. So Jeff refrained from acknowledging Alan's difficulties as such.

"All of this over some money." Virgil groaned under his breathe. He shook his head at that.

"Excuse me?" Jeff inquired as to what his son said.

"Remember what Alan said about this whole thing being about money? Alan wouldn't give the money that Robert claimed was rightfully his? And all Alan has to show for it is the possibility of not being able to walk ever again." Virgil said softly.

"Don't…don't start disbelieving in your brother. He will walk again. He may have difficulty and he may not. We can't make that call until he's tried." Jeff said as he tried to keep Virgil's belief in his brother alive. "We must have faith."

"Okay, but we're all going to need to be reminded of that so that we don't pressure Alan. You know how we can get…overbearing." Virgil said with a sigh. He knew how they could all pressure Alan. Being the youngest, he always lived in their shadow. It wasn't fun being reminded of that by their youngest member.

"I'm not disbelieving in Alan, just trying to keep in mind that things don't always work out the way we would like them too. I don't want to be disappointed if Alan can't walk like normal when this is all said and done." Virgil said before he sighed when the server approached to take their order. Virgil quickly glanced through his menu and settled on steak tips and portabella mushrooms while Jeff ordered a Salisbury steak. Once the server left with their order, Jeff heaved a great sigh.

"Listen, I'm not ragging on you for what you said…just keep in mind that your brother has still got hurdles he must face and he can't do it on his own. He'll need us to support him and keep him going no matter how tough or disheartening it may be. But we don't want to pressure him into anything. Remember what we discussed…if Alan makes the final call and he's not getting any better, we'll not fight him on his decision. He's now old enough to make informed decisions." Jeff said as a reminder not to force Alan's hand any more. He made the request to be treated like he was growing up and so Jeff was going to try to cut the proverbial apron strings and let Alan make his own decisions. It was his body after all.