A/N: Wow, hello readers...where do I start? Um, sorry for leaving this story hanging over the last 9 months. I haven't felt up to writing up until recently. Depression hit hard over the last couple months as well as working like crazy leaving me like a pile of goo by the end of the workday. Thank you for hanging on these last couple months and hopefully ya'll won't have to wait extended periods of time for updates. I have also been finalizing a story that I started writing a couple years ago. Hope to share it sometime soon.
Anyway, carry on and thank you to those that have stayed with this story. It'll probably be coming to an end in a few more chapters. And since it took me forever and a day to update, I've posted three chapter for your reading pleasure.
Much love!
Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010
Over the next month and a half, Alan and Fermat gradually increased their activities. Brook came around regularly after being discharged from the hospital allowing Alan and her to spend more time together. She began talking more to Fermat again and thereby Tin-Tin as well. The two girls realized they shared similar interests and though she could no longer swing the fire poi or twirl her staff, she could still make use of her hoops that she's learned to incorporate into a variety of dances.
Alan had learned over the last few weeks of therapy how to increase his fitness and he was growing more and more surprised at himself over time. What he previously began to think was a lost dream, walking again, running or any of his other previously enjoyed activities was fast becoming a reality once more. Lacey decided that a field trip was due and she got permission from Alan's dad and the hospital before taking Alan to the local park to test Alan's endurance. There, Lacey encouraged Alan to jog with her. Alan was a little slow to begin, but soon he was keeping pace with Lacey and even found that he could go faster if he pushed himself. By the end of the 'field trip' Alan felt like he'd just climbed mount Everest and he dropped to his knees in the grass before laying back and throwing his arms up over his head. Lacey stood not too far from Alan, smiling at her patient. He was practically lapping up the freedom being presented to him. For the first time in months, he was laying in amongst the grass and taking advantage of the warm sun. It made Lacey happy to see Alan, one of her more forlorn patients seemingly enjoying life since his relocation or hospitalization in general.
"Alan, how're you doing over there?" Lacey asked, bent over with her hands on her knees, breathing hard.
"I'm…doing great." Alan replied, picking his head up from the grass to look at Lacey before giving her a thumb up.
"Let me know if you're thinking of going another round!" Lacey said half facetiously and half serious. Alan dropped his head back to the grass and he groaned. The thought of more jogging made Alan want to find a hole in the ground and just stay there.
"I think I'm good Lacey, but thanks though." Alan said breathlessly. He closed his eyes, just taking in the comfortable warm weather and the delicate breeze cooling him down. He felt proud that he'd managed to do as well as he had, wished his dad or his brothers could have seen him in action. But then his thoughts turned back to International Rescue and how he was supposed to be able to help if he was somewhat limited in his activities. What if they were called out on a rescue that involved fire and Alan, now being afraid of fire froze up during the rescue?
"Here. You look like you could use some water." Lacey said as she stopped in front of Alan having walked to the vendor on the corner and bought two bottles of water. "Don't chug it, after all that running I don't want you to get sick."
"Thanks Lacey." Alan replied as he sat up to drink deeply while being mindful not to chug his water. After quenching his thirst, Alan replaced the lid on his bottled water to look at Lacey who had since sat down in the grass herself. "So, now what are we going to do since we've jogged all the way out here?"
"I kind of figured I'd let you have a free day. We've been stuck inside, and you haven't been able to enjoy any of the nice weather. Aside from your medications you've been taking and therapy, you haven't really been given a day of rest. I took the rest of the day off because I figured you'd want to relax a bit." Lacey said before she sat up straight and waved at someone in the distance. Alan turned to look, and he practically beamed with happiness when he saw Brook. She was wearing a flower-patterned dress that showed off her figure but looked classy. Alan stood up to greet Brook and he couldn't help but to take a slight step back when it occurred to him that his family was there.
Alan's moment of hesitation was just the moment Brook needed before she broke into a jog and ran to Alan before wrapping her arms tightly around a boy she considered her boyfriend. Alan kissed her cheek and smiled at her before he greeted the rest of his family who looked out of place in their obnoxiously loud tropical shirts.
"What are you guys wearing?" Alan asked as he took in what his brothers and father had taken to wearing.
"A bit of the tropics…you like?" Gordon inquired obnoxiously. He received an elbow in his ribs from Virgil and he growled under his breath at his brother before pasting a grin back on his face.
"But why are you wearing those gaudy shirts?" Alan asked as he glanced at his father, each of his brothers, his grandmother and Brook. He thought Brook and his grandma looked nice in their tropical floral dresses, but he thought the attire his dad and brothers were wearing were positively cringe worthy.
"Because! It's a slice of home until we can actually go home." Gordon chimed in once more before he once again got an elbow in the ribs. He glared once more at his brother, expecting it to once again be Virgil only this time it was Scott who was giving him a stink eye look.
"I'm not quite following." Alan said as his father came closer. "What is going on?"
"Son, I'll explain soon. In the meantime, lets take a walk." Jeff started as he led Alan away from the group, to have a private talk with him. Everything around Alan faded away from the moment that he and his dad started walking, his dad opening a conversation. "I met with Dr. Juno and Andreesen again yesterday. They have met and talked at length and have determined that you and Fermat have reached the limit of the care they feel they can provide to you both."
Alan stared at his dad, more in shock than anything and he remained silent. He didn't notice his dad was leading him back to Blythedale hospital until they entered the courtyard to see a small gathering of tables and balloons on the lawn. It took Alan a moment to realize that the tables and balloon were oddly out of character of the children's hospital, but he figured they were a birthday party for one of the patients.
Jeff led Alan to one of the tables and prompted him to sit down. Right about the time Alan was seated, one of the doors opened and Brains led a similarly perplexed Fermat out to be seated at the table with Alan. Both boys looked at each other before looking at their friends and family in confusion. The gathering on people reminded both Alan and Fermat of a family party back home on the island, but they couldn't for the life of them remember if any of their gathered family or friends had birthdays coming up or not.
"Boys, do you now why we gathered here today?" Jeff inquired as he crouched down in front of both Alan and Fermat, looking at them in the eye.
"Is it Fermat's birthday or something?" Alan asked in a bit of confusion.
"No, not quite son. His birthday is coming up but not for a few more weeks." Jeff replied with a chuckle. The Tracy patriarch was joined by Brains who also crouched in front of his son.
"I s-swear w-we'll do s-something for y-your birthday F-Fermat." Brains said as if he were apologizing to his son for not trying to do more in the past for Fermat's birthday. Which didn't bother Fermat, his birthday wasn't always a happy time considering his mother and he shared a birthday and celebrating his birthday had always meant remembering his mother. Fermat had grown used to celebrating his birthday as if it were simply another day. Fermat shrugged at his dad before refocusing on Alan's dad to hear what he had to say.
"What's going on is…your doctors both feel that they have taken your therapy as far as it'll go." Jeff explained carefully watching both boys reactions to being told the news they've been hoping for since first being admitted to the hospital. "You're going home. We're all…going home."
Scott, John and Virgil were positively beaming, Gordon on the other hand seemed a little quiet. Nobody seemed to take notice however of Gordon's silence. The reaction of Alan and Fermat kept everybody else distracted from Gordon's expression. Alan and Fermat's eyes and reactions were enough to keep everybody's attention focused on them instead of Gordon.
"You mean we're actually going home?" Alan asked, excited for the first time since initially hearing from Lacey several months back that she felt Alan and Fermat had reached the point that they could begin looking forward to the discharge date. And when Alan thought back on it, he realized that Lacey was right. She'd suggested they set a date for a few months out and steadily increase their activity in therapy regularly. With the regular increase in activity, Lacey said they'd likely be able to go home earlier than their projected date and she was right. They were a month earlier than the date Fermat and Alan had set, now all that was left to do was to prepare for returning home to continue their lives.
"Yes, we're going home." Jeff said, solidifying not only for Alan and Fermat but for them all that it was time for them to go back home.
"When?!" Alan asked, excitedly.
"Probably by the end of this week. You and Fermat need to let this settle in for a bit, we need to get the villa prepared for you both at home, need to get a flight plan scheduled and pack your things…and…you both will need to say good bye to your friends for a little while." Jeff said as he glanced over his shoulder at Brook who had been in contact with Alan's brothers after hearing through the grapevine that Alan and Fermat both would soon be discharged.
Alan felt his mouth go dry after glancing back at Brook, at the idea that he soon wouldn't be able to see her as often. Not that he'd been able to really see her a whole lot with them being in two separate facilities for the most part. He wasn't quite ready yet to say goodbye to her, but he did know that this wasn't for forever. It was a temporary goodbye, just until Fermat and he theoretically got back on their feet and recovered some more.
"This isn't a dream? Right?" Alan asked as he looked around at each of his brothers and saw their smiles. "We can go home?"
"Yes, we can go home." Jeff said, smiling at his son. His smile only grew however when Alan excitedly jumped from his seat into his arms, hugging him tightly. Fermat copied Alan and jumped at his father, wrapping his arms around his father's neck and squeezing with the strength of a boa constrictor. "We can go home."
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Tin-Tin came in from outside, having gone down to the beach to spend the morning down there where she, Alan and Fermat would always go to hang out. When she opened the door, she heard her father, talking on the phone. She figured after seeing her father pace back and forth briefly while her mother stood off to the side watching her father that it must be news concerning her friends. Not wanting to get too excited if it was bad news.
"Alright, I'll be sure to tell her. Good bye, sir." Kyrano said before he hung up the phone and sighed deeply. His shoulders dropped as he tipped his head back. Turning to speak to his daughter and wife, Kyrano smiled. "The doctors have decided that Alan and Fermat are okay to come home. Mr. Tracy was calling to give us the green light to start preparing for their return."
Kyrano had to brace himself before Tin-Tin launched herself at her father. Wrapping him tightly in a hug. She laughed exuberantly as her mom joined them in a group hug to celebrate the imminent return of their family friends.
"What do we have to do to prepare for their return?" Onaha asked as she pulled out of the hug.
"Lay in some supplies so the family doesn't have to leave for a few weeks as the boys get used to life back on the island. Set up their rooms to accommodate their walking aid devices should they need them. Straighten up the living room and just let them resume life as normally they can." Kyrano said as he looked between his wife and daughter. "It's important that the boys both try to regain a sense of normalcy."
"That doesn't mean you and the boys can get back to your old shenanigans. Take it a day at a time." Onaha said as she placed her arm gingerly around Tin-Tin's shoulders. "It's been a long while since the boys have had a chance to be normal."
"I can't wait until they get home!" Tin-Tin said excitedly as she bounced on the balls of her feet. She was practically vibrating with excited energy. As soon as her mom and dad decided they'd take the boat out to the mainland to gather supplies preparing for the family's return, Tin-Tin took that as permission to go about her pre-celebratory planning. Once she saw her parents off, Tin-Tin went to the attic to locate their tubs of decorations. There the young woman found a tub for general celebrations, after raiding the box Tin took her spoils to the living room so she could inspect them for damage.
Once in the living room, Tin-Tin sank to the floor with her prizes. There she unfolded the 'Welcome Home' banner that they'd decorated for Gordon when he'd returned home from the hospital himself. They'd packed it and all the streamers and posters away after that welcome home party for future welcome home occasions. They just never utilized the opportunity to welcome Alan and Fermat home from the mainland before because their families were always immersed in rescues. Now though Tin-Tin fully intended to use the banners and this was going to be a welcome home party of the century as far as Tin-Tin was concerned.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Jeff sat beside Alan's bed, smiling leisurely as he observed Alan and Fermat slumber. He couldn't believe the day they'd all had. Learning that Alan and Fermat would soon be discharged took Jeff by surprise, that was without a doubt. He can honestly say that he was not expecting that kind of news. He'd expected Alan to at the very least be required to stay at Blythedale for a few more months, not until the end of this week.
Jeff briefly wondered if he should go home with Scott, John and Virgil to prepare the house for the boys' arrival. He had no doubt that they'd adapt well to their surroundings, that wasn't what worried Jeff. But he did wonder if he should set up a bath chair for both Alan and Fermat since they hadn't quite graduated to bathing by themselves yet. Alan still needed a bath seat of some kind and Jeff figured if both boys had a bath chair, that would give them both a little more freedom to be themselves.
Figuring it was about time to turn in for the night, Jeff stood up and tucked the blankets in around Alan, before side stepping around Alan's bed and over to Fermat's. Gingerly, Jeff removed the younger boy's glasses and he took care to set them on the nightstand between Alan and Fermat's beds. He gently combed his fingers through both Alan and Fermat's hair before he stepped away from their beds.
Upon leaving the boys' room, Jeff noticed their attending Dr. Juno just taking her leave from the center. The woman had a light jacket on to ward off the cool evening air and a knit cap on to cover her ears. She was carrying a backpack and a briefcase. Jeff met her by the receptionist desk which was empty considering the time of night.
"Good evening Dr. Juno." Jeff said in greeting, smiling at the doctor. She smiled back.
"Good evening to you also Mr. Tracy. How're you tonight?" Dr. Juno inquired as she took a moment to peak with her patient's father.
"I'm well. Honestly though? I'm attempting to make a game plan for when Alan and Fermat get to come home." Jeff replied, shrugging as the nerves set in and it occurred to him that he had more to do besides just setting up a bath chair. They needed to rearrange the living room to accommodate Fermat's walker should he need it at any point and he needed to make sure the obstacles around the house were minimal to make Alan and Fermat not feel like they were burdens on the household because of needing a hand periodically.
"Don't go to a lot a hassle. Alan and Fermat are doing splendidly and if I must say so myself, they're much further ahead than other's I've seen in their condition. They'll be fine." Dr. Juno said as she moved to walk with Jeff. The patriarch walked with the boys' doctor and walked her to her car as they talked more about how Jeff might be able to make Alan and Fermat's lives easier with their newfound freedom. Dr. Juno remained steadfast that Jeff and his collective family wouldn't need to make a lot of changes to accommodate the boys' being reintroduced to a regular life. When they reached Dr. Juno's car, Jeff smiled at her before he stepped away, allowing Dr. Juno to get in her car. "Thank you for walking with me to my car. Have a good night."
"Have a good night, Dr. Juno." Jeff said before he too walked to his rental car with the intention of returning to his hotel room.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
The following morning found Jeff waving at his mother and second youngest son who would remain on the mainland to visit Alan while Scott, John and Virgil would return with their father to prepare the island for Alan and Fermat's return. They'd taken the day to drive back to Manhattan where the four of them would board the family jet which hadn't been flown in several months.
Jeff and Scott both claimed a seat within the cockpit, leaving Virgil and John to sit back in the passenger hold. The flight was like a stark reminder to when they were flying to Manhattan immediately following the fire, when the fate of Alan and Fermat was uncertain. It was a surreal moment for Jeff, the only difference being that Gordon and Brains were missing from the flight and that instead of flying like the hounds of hell were nipping at the family's heels – this one was steady and set at an easy pace. There was no sense of urgency with this flight and Jeff felt as if he could breathe.
Scott on the other hand was gazing through the windscreen, looking down with a grimace as they flew over the remains of what once was Wharton's school for boys which was once more in it's infancy stage as builders worked to rebuild from the ground up. The view from above didn't look like much, but Scott could see the bulldozers and other equipment moving around on the property where the dorms and main buildings were being rebuilt. Scott would be happy if he never had to send Alan back to Wharton after the devastation. The memory of the fire was still a stark reminder of how easily he and his family could have lost two of their most important family members.
The cockpit remained silent as Jeff flew and Scott copiloted. John and Virgil conversed quietly about the plans they had for Alan and Fermat. Virgil wanted to decorate a huge welcome home banner and he wanted to talk to Onaha and Kyrano about fixing all of Alan and Fermat's favorite foods. He then wanted to collaborate with Tin-Tin about plans she had for the welcome home party. John on the other hand was trying to figure out how he might be able to make life easier for Alan through the rest of the house. The only thought that John thought of was to rearrange Alan bedroom slightly because of where Alan's bed was in the room.
Alan's bed was on a raised pedestal along the far side of the room and with Alan's feet having been burned in the fire, despite the therapy and surgeries; Alan still had moments where his feet were completely numb and if he lost his balance due to numb feet when getting out of bed, Alan could fall and break something again. John figured he could enlist the help of Virgil and Scott to move Alan's bed from the pedestal and in place of Alan's desk on the other side of the room, while they moved Alan's desk onto the pedestal since Alan didn't usually sit at his desk unless it was to tinker with his little do-dads. And typically when Alan sat at his desk tinkering, he didn't sit in his chair like someone normally would so his feet regularly fell asleep.
When the family arrived back on the island, Jeff immediately went to his office to answer a few of the calls he'd been getting. That left Scott, Virgil and John to do what they wanted to in preparation for their brother's return home. John roped Virgil and Scott in to help him rearrange Alan's bedroom.
Upon entering Alan's bedroom, the brothers couldn't help but to look around. It was their brother's room, smelled like Alan's room, but the brothers couldn't figure out what looked so different. It took another half second before Scott figured out what looked different and he couldn't help but to say.
"It's clean. Normally we can't find the floor in here, but we can see the floor and it doesn't smell like 5-week old gym socks in here." Scott said with a straight face, which had John snorting in laughter at Scott's statement. Virgil smirked but tried not to laugh. He did do a silent test sniff and had to agree with Scott, Alan's room smelled like soap and he glanced down at his feet to see that the carpets had been shampooed.
"Wonder who felt brave enough to come in and clean in here rather than leave Al's room to be cleaned by him." Scott asked, knowing it had to have been Onaha since she's the only one that didn't really recoil at the idea of entering Alan's sleeping quarters armed to the teeth with cleaning supplies. She did clean his room biannually and she was used to the mess he made, but this wasn't her biannual deep clean of the villa.
"It was me."
The brothers turned around at the voice that spoke and opened their arms to accept the hug that Tin-Tin was initiating. Virgil hugged Tin-Tin and lifted her from off the floor in his embrace. John gave her a bear hug, smiling at hugging the young woman their family acknowledged as a sister. While Scott lifted Tin-Tin from the floor and spun her around like he'd always done. The young woman when they'd first moved to the island didn't dare ask for hugs from her family's employer's kin, but over the years they'd relaxed and formed a kind of community within their island's parameters.
"You didn't have to clean Alan's bedroom. But thank you for doing so anyway." Scott whispered in Tin-Tin's ear before he set her back on the floor.
"I wanted to try to make it easier for Alan to get around and I wanted to make sure there weren't any obstructions in his walking path." Tin-Tin explained.
"Many thanks Tin-Tin." Scott said before he looked to John to see what he had in mind when he mentioned rearranging Alan's room. The star monitor gave the room a cursory glance before he took charge, wanting to finish up before they dispersed to the corners of the island.
"So, this is what I had in mind. Take Alan's frame apart and move it here." John said as he talked his idea aloud intending to get Virgil and Scott to understand what he had in mind. Tin-Tin walked across to Alan's closet, opening the door to retrieve a toolkit so that John and the boys could get to work on disassembling Alan's bed frame. She then removed a clean set of sheets and pillowcases. After the brothers removed the mattress and set it against the wall, they set out to take the bed frame apart. Tin-Tin removed the bed clothes and tossed the used linens in the hamper across the room. Scott and Virgil in the meantime got the legs taken off the main frame. John stood the legs against the wall and turned to help his brothers get everything moved down from the pedestal that Alan's bed had been on previously.
Once everything was moved, the brothers set about reassembling the bed frame, situating the mattress after Tin-Tin had switched the linens. Once the bed was set back up, Scott helped Tin-Tin make the bed and he tucked the bedspread in to military precision. Once done, Scott happily took the vacuum when Tin-Tin prepared to sweep, insisting he could take care of the dust bunnies with the device. While Scott vacuumed, Virgil and Tin-Tin took to moving the desk up onto the pedestal where Alan's bed had previously been and once that was done John put Alan's piles of books and stacks of storage boxes back on the desktop.
"Alright, that's done. Thank you all for your help." John said once everything had been finished.
"It's no trouble, thanks for coming up with this plan. It'll make Alan's life easier, I hope." Virgil said as he stepped back into the doorjamb to look at their handy work. "I like this layout, much better than what Alan had done previous."
"I kept worrying that Alan was going to roll out of bed one of these days." Scott admitted, knowing that he'd thought he'd heard Alan a time or two stumble while getting out of bed. His baby brother was hopeless when it came to being quiet unless he felt like doing so then he was a master at sneaking.
"Hey, while we're all together…can we work on refreshing the banner that Onaha and Kyrano packed away?" Virgil asked, seeing Tin-Tin's face light up at the opportunity to do what she'd originally set out to do. The only reason she hadn't yet re-painted the banner was because the paint stayed in Virgil's room and she always asked his permission before entering his room. Virgil was always telling her she didn't need to ask permission, but time and again she always insisted that it was out of courtesy that she not enter his room without his explicit permission.
Seeing the beaming smile on Tin-Tin's face answered that question for everyone. With the decision made, Virgil announced he'd go get a variety of paint brushes and paint. Almost as if it were an afterthought, Virgil turned to Tin-Tin.
"Would you like to come with me to pick up all the supplies from my studio?" Virgil inquired, smiling when Tin-Tin nodded excitedly and followed him. He couldn't help but to smile as he listened to Tin-Tin chatter enthusiastically about her ideas of how to spice up the banner so that it didn't seem cheesy or juvenile.
Once Virgil and Tin-Tin retrieved their chosen supplies, Virgil led them out to a picnic bench that was mostly used for messy projects such as when they painted the banner to welcome Gordon home. Scott and John were already out at the picnic bench, a pitcher of sun tea between them and four glasses placed on coasters around the table. Virgil was the first between him and Tin-Tin to reach the table and he laid what supplies he had down, pulling a small pack of thumb tacks out of his pocket and fastening the banner to the benchtop.
"So, do we have any idea of what we want to paint on the banner?" Scott asked, jumping straight to point. He didn't immediately get an answer, but Virgil did open a can of black paint and hand out brushes.
"I figure we can just have fun with it. I've personally found spontaneity inspires really amazing results." Virgil replied before he tried to strategically place a smudge of black paint on Scott's cheek. Scott raised an eyebrow at Virgil before shaking his head with a mumble about little brothers being brats. Virgil shrugged before he carried on with spreading black paint on the banner to cover up the obnoxious design that Alan had thought was so appropriate for Gordon's welcome home banner. With that, Virgil lost himself to his thoughts while he painted.
Before long, Virgil set down his paint brush to admire the work. Tin-Tin smiled brightly, having stepped back to appreciate the finished product. Scott grinned at the idea that still hadn't seemed to hit home…Alan and Fermat were soon to be coming home. John on the other hand looked at the banner with a look of contemplation. He seemed to be assessing the banner as if it were missing something. Virgil noticed his brother's calculating gaze and he turned to enquire just as John picked up a bottle of glue and wrote lightly to leave a glaze of glue before pouring a small handful of glitter to highlight what he added to the banner.
"305 days gone is too long…has it really been that many days that Alan's been in the hospital?" Scott asked as he stood beside John to read over his addition.
"Yeah, by my calculations, it's been about that long." John said. "Not quite a year since he left for school, not including the time he's been in the hospital or the five days he came home for Thanksgiving. It's been a long road, but now Alan and Fermat both should be able to come home and try to at least forget their experience."
"Do you realistically believe that they'll be able to forget that though? The trauma? I mean we live it day in and day out with Operations, but they're still just kids." Scott said as he tried to understand what Alan and Fermat would be thinking over the course of time spent recovering.
"I think, with all due respect Alan and Fermat are stronger than you all give them credit for." Tin-Tin interjected softly before looking between the gathered brothers. "I know you all mean well, but Alan and Fermat aren't made of fine China. They're strong and they'll surprise you if you give them a chance."
The brothers looked at each other, aware that what Tin-Tin spoke was the truth. It'd just become normal for them all to coddle Alan and Fermat with the fire nearly taking two people that they all held dear.