DISCLAIMER: I'M STILL DREAMING THAT THEY MAY BE MINE ONE DAY - FOR NOW THEY BELONG TO OTHERS.
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NOTES:
* Thank you so much to everyone who is reading this story. Not many chapters left - Unless I go off on a tangent (Which is still quite possible)
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Chapter 37: The Waiting Room
Jeff sat staring at the door. It was now 2am, he and the rest of his family had been waiting in the ICU's waiting room for the past hour for further news on Virgil's condition and so far, no new information had been given about when they could see him. The only reports they had received were from the hospitals security team, letting them know that the Hood had been arrested by the police. They also informed them that both Nurse Andrews and Doctor Sanderson had been found, both had given plausible alibis to where they had been, both had been appalled at the accusations that had been made against them, and both had willingly accompanied the police to help clear their names. Releasing a big sigh, Jeff glanced over at his mother, she was sitting in the middle of a couch with her one arm placed firmly around John, while he stared off into a world of his own. Alan was on her other side, his head resting on her shoulder, his eyes puffy from the tears he had been silently shedding. "Alan, are you okay?" Jeff asked with concern.
Alan nodded his head, then nuzzled in closer to his grandma, trying to hide his face.
"It's okay Jeff," his mother assured him. "I've got these two, but maybe you should check on them!"
Jeff peered over at Scott, who had been sitting in the chair next to him, and currently had his head buried in his hands. "How are you doing Scott?"
"Sorry dad, did you say something?" Scott questioned pulling himself up in his seat.
"I asked how you were?" Jeff repeated. Scott shrugged, releasing a heavy sigh. Jeff placed his hand on Scott's shoulder and smiled sadly at his son. "His he asleep?" He asked, indicating Gordon who was curled up with his eyes tightly shut in another nearby chair.
"I'm awake," Gordon replied, without opening his eyes, "I've just been resting."
"That's good," Jeff said, looking at the clock. It had only been five minutes since he last checked but each minute had felt like an hour had passed. Jeff breathed out in frustration, as he stood, strode over to the door and peaked outside.
"Any sign?" Scott inquired hopefully.
Jeff shook his head and despondently sunk back into his chair.
Another half hour passed by with them all in complete silence, until eventually the door opened, and a doctor and nurse made their way inside. The whole family pulled themselves up in their seats and looked expectantly at the doctor. "Hello, I'm Doctor Knight," he said, shaking Jeff's hand, "and this is Nurse Carrie Greggs."
"Hello," she responded warmly.
"Normally I would take you into the interview room," the doctor said, taking two plastic chairs, handing one to the nurse and using the other for himself, "but as this room is empty for a change, we can go through everything in here." The doctor settled himself, and then continued, "firstly, I would like to apologise for the wait, but let me reassure you that Virgil is stable for the moment. We have taken Virgil for a CT scan and as expected, due to Doctor Sylvia managing to get Virgil's breathing under control very quickly, there have been no problems found with his brain. Blood tests were carried out, and these show that his liver and kidneys are both functioning normally. Now, when Virgil was intubated we gave him a muscle relaxant and we would normally add a sedative to this as well. However, the drugs he was given are keeping him unconscious for the moment, so we've decided not to for now, and he will be kept on the ventilator until he's awake."
"Do you know what drugs he was given?" Alan questioned.
"We have done a drug screen to find out, but unfortunately the results haven't come back yet."
"Do you know when he will start waking up?" Jeff asked him.
"Unfortunately, no. It depends on what he was given and more importantly, how much," the doctor replied. "Do you have any other questions?"
"Can we see him?" Scott requested.
"Yes, you can. Unfortunately, I do need to go and see some other patients now, but Nurse Greggs here will be able to take you through to see Virgil, and she will go through anything else you will need to know."
As the doctor left the room Nurse Carrie Greggs began to go through the procedures of the ICU. She began by telling them that Virgil had been settled in a private side room, she then assured them that there would be a nurse with him constantly, and outlined all the equipment that would be in the room with him. Then, to the family's dismay she informed them that although visitation was twenty-four hours a day, there was a two-person limit at any one time in his room.
Jeff automatically stood up. "I'll be going in, Scott, you can come with me." Gordon, Alan and John went to protest but were silenced by Jeff. "Now, don't worry you will all get a turn. Scott's coming with me first because I need his help with something when we come back out." Scott looked at his dad with a puzzled expression. "I'll explain later Scott… So, myself and Scott will go in there. Then mother, as soon as we come out I want you to go in with Alan. Then after, Gordon and John you will then get your chance… Okay?"
They all reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Are you both ready?" Nurse Greggs enquired moving towards the door.
"Yes, we are," Jeff confirmed, placing a reassuring hand on Scott's shoulder as they followed the nurse into the unit.
… …
Jeff and Scott stepped into the doorway of Virgil's new room, stopped and paused as they observed the sight before them. Virgil was intubated, ventilated, and was now also attached to many more tubes, wires and machines than when they had last seen him. Although they had been warned what to expect it was still an intimidating sight to behold as Virgil lay they perfectly still, his eyes tightly shut, while the life support machine did its work. Eventually, finding the courage to move Jeff slipped into the chair that was next to the bed, reached out and held his sons hand in his, while Scott remained in the doorway.
"Are you okay?" Nurse Greggs asked Scott.
When the nurse received no answer, Jeff turned his head and glanced at his son. "Scott?" Scott remained silent, as he gazed at his brother. Jeff stood, moved back to where Scott was standing, and gently placed both hands on his shoulders and looked in his oldest son's eyes. "Scott. It's alright… Come and sit down." Eventually, Scott broke the transfixed look that he had been holding and stared at his father. "Come on Scott, your brother needs you right now!"
Scott nodded, breathed out slowly, and then allowed his father to move him into the seat which was placed on the opposite side of the bed. Leaning forwards Scott gently stroked his hand through his brother's hair. "Hey, Virg," he began, "you know, if you keep giving me scares like this then I'll be completely grey like dad before I'm 30."
Jeff let out a chuckle. "I think you'll find it's having kids that does that Scott!"
Scott smiled at his father, while he tenderly continued to stroke his hand through Virgil's hair. "You know, if it wasn't for the fact that he was surrounded by so much equipment, I could almost believe that he was being our typical hibernating bear and sleeping!
"I know," Jeff replied.
Scott gazed despondently at his brother. "Come on Virg, you need to wake up for us… Without you, I would only have three younger brothers… And well, after all these years that would be just plain weird!" Scott released a depressed sigh as he watched the rise and fall of his brother's chest. "Without you, who is going to pull me back in line when I go off on one? Scott felt his voice trailing off as he felt a tear trickle down his face. Seeing the sadness in his oldest son Jeff, keeping his one hand firmly placed in Virgil's, reached his other hand across the bed and held Scott's in his. "What if he doesn't wake up dad? We… We can't lose him!"
"We won't," Jeff responded, "he'll make it. I know he will!"
… …
Scott and Jeff eventually emerged from Virgil's ICU room and returned to where the rest of the family were waiting.
"How long were we gone?" Scott questioned, when he took in the sight of his brothers and his grandma, who were now all on the one sofa and fast asleep.
"About 40 minutes," Jeff answered.
"Should we leave them to sleep?" Scott asked.
Jeff shook his head. "I'd love to, but I know your brothers will go crazy if we don't wake them."
"Yeah, and grandma will also flip out!" Scott added.
"You're not wrong there!" Jeff laughed, before moving over to the couch. "Mother."
Ruth Tracy opened her eyes. "Oh, Jeff, Scott you're back," she yawned.
"It's yours and Alan's turn," Jeff whispered.
Ruth nodded and gently woke Alan, who quickly roused and followed his grandma out of the room.
Jeff watched them leave, then looked back at his other sons who were beginning to stir. "Scott, can you get us some coffee from that machine over there."
Scott nodded, pulled some loose change out of his pocket and stepped over to the far corner of the room where two tacky looking machines, one dispensing candy the other hot drinks, were placed. "Do you want some chocolate, as well?"
"Ooh, yes please," John yawned.
"Typical… John, the chocoholic!" Scott stated with a slight laugh handing the coffee and chocolate bars over.
"I'm not a chocoholic!" John mumbled, chomping on the bar.
"Mm… Sure you're not!" Scott responded, passing his father his drink, before taking his own coffee and sitting down on the sofa next to Gordon and John.
"Okay boys," Jeff interrupted, "as I was saying earlier, I wanted to discuss something with Scott… John, Gordon, I think it would be a good idea to bring you two in on this as well, which is why I asked you to go in last to see your brother"
"What about Alan and grandma?" Gordon questioned.
"I could see that your brother was really upset earlier, and what we've got to talk about may upset him further," Jeff looked at Gordon and John, "when you two are with Virgil I will go through what we've discussed with him and your grandma then, and see if they have anything to add."
"So, what is it dad?" Scott inquired anxiously.
Jeff frowned. "What the Hood said about someone helping him."
"Doctor Sanderson or Nurse Andrews… What, do you think he was actually telling the truth?" John asked in disbelief.
Jeff nodded. "When he tried to run, I initially thought he was using it as an excuse to escape. The man would say anything to get away… But then, I thought about it and it makes sense… I know he as these powers, but the only people who showed up dazed were the security guards… Twice, he's managed to get into the hospital, that we know about… After that first time, the door codes were being changed daily, and we were told that the only people who had access to them were the doctors and nurses that were on duty. He managed to gain access to Virgil's room and, I'm not sure if any of you noticed, but he was also wearing a fake ID."
"I had a weird feeling a few days back, when they both came in to check on Virgil, but I ended up dismissing it," Scott informed them.
"Too busy flirting with Doctor Emily Sanderson!" Gordon jibed.
"We had no reason to doubt them… And if I remember correctly you were happy to flirt with that nurse!" Scott snapped back.
"Boys, this is not the time!" Jeff warned.
"Sorry father," Scott and Gordon replied.
Jeff continued. "Now if I'm right, the Hood was, for once in his life, actually telling the truth. Which means that one of those two women were helping him."
"Then we need to find out which one of them it is," Scott stressed, "and ideally within the next 24 hours!"
"I agree that we need to find out which one of them helped the Hood... But why in the next 24 hours?" Gordon asked with a puzzled expression.
"She can't get to Virgil, they are at the police station," John added.
"If I'm following dad's line of thought here… Then I believe that the police will not make these realisations. They will except the excuses that both women come up with, and will conclude that the Hood was lying," Scott surmised.
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Jeff revealed.
"So, you think she will come after Virg again?" Gordon questioned.
"But why, what's she got to gain from going after him again?" John asked. "Apart from potentially being caught?"
"If you remember the Hood said that the woman was with him in the room," Scott answered.
"Which means Virgil saw her!" Gordon and John said in unison, finally coming to the realisation of what their dad and Scott were saying.
"And if he can identify her then she might try and kill him again!" John added with a frown.
"Okay dad, we're all agreeing with you," Gordon confirmed, "the Hood was telling the truth."
Scott breathed out. "So, I guess the reason you wanted us all together is to discuss exactly how we find out who this cow is, so we can stop her from getting to Virgil once and for all."
"Exactly!" Jeff affirmed.
"So, what's the plan?" Gordon queried.
"I'll contact the island and update them on what's happened. Penny had already begun a search with the others help for any intelligence on where the Hood's new hideout was." Jeff explained. "If they have discovered where he was based, then it may be useful to go there see if there are any clues as to who this woman is."
"It would be a good idea to do a background check on them both as well," Scott pointed out.
"I can do that," John offered, "I've got my tablet and I can access everything through that."
"Via a tablet?" Gordon questioned.
John grinned. "Yep!"
"Cool!" Gordon remarked.
"Okay," Jeff cut in, "John, run the background checks. Gordon, Scott. I want you two to correlate the information John finds and see if it gives us any clues as to which one of them it is."
"Well, it could be both! They were both keen on us leaving the hospital." John hypothesised.
"Both? I'm not sure… Personally, now I'm thinking about it… Nurse Andrews was the one who initially suggested we leave the hospital," Gordon stated, "Doctor Sanderson only suggested it was a good idea that we got some rest."
"Yes, but there's been plenty of times that she also sticks out," John added.
Scott frowned. "You could be right John, it could be both… Or it could be just one of them. Either way we need to find out… I've already broken my promise once to Virgil that no one would hurt him again, and I'm not going to break it again!"
