Chapter 8

The sharp beams of a vengeful sun cut through what was left of the dark looming storm clouds, shards of light brightened the air and made the scenery dance with sparkles, which could blind any onlooker caught in awe at its unusual beauty. What made it such an uncommon splendour to the island was the calm trickle of a once raging river that set its course through the valley, the relief of the burdened leafs as they bend one last time to relieve themselves of the large substance of water that had settled on their backs. The once fearful beings that's home is beneath the towering trees shake themselves of the day that had past and look onward to rebuilding their home. The wonder and magnificent sight of the world showing those blessed with senses, that behind the storm clouds is a blue sky.

The balcony doors of the infirmary stood half open letting through a refreshing breeze that caught the see through white curtains and tossed them gently side to side, swaying them in a rhythmic grasp. The air travelled, slightly lifting the corners of paper clasped to Virgil's clipboard that lay on the end of a bed; the cool movement of particles moved up the still form of a sleeping man, however not strong enough to penetrate the blankets to change the warm temperature underneath. The breeze made it's finally reach, brushing past the delicate eyelashes of Scott's face, lifting the lids of his cobalt blue eyes open. His unprepared pupils contracted and forced his eye lids to shut fast. He lay still for a moment, only lifting his hand to his brow, to subside the immediate headache he received from his exposure. He lay still, as the light breeze continued, the curtains danced with the wind, the doors stayed firmly ajar and the beauty of natures creation stood shimmering in the sunlight.

Alan sat on the edge of the cool leather sofa, his elbows digging deep into his knees and his face cradled by his still muddy hands. None of the boys had gotten changed from their mission; even Tin Tin's hair was still matted with rain water and dirt. Now however Alan sat alone, the doors to the patio wide open; his ears picked up like a dogs as he heard the faint song of a shaken bird becoming more confident. It will never be the same again, he thought sadly to himself. Scott had been in a critical state when all four boys carried him into the infirmary, Alan and Gordon taking his legs, Virgil and John his arms and Tin Tin supporting his hips. All because the stretcher had snapped on their journey back. The image kept replaying in Alan's mind, them quickly placing him on the bed, the sheets becoming stained with the mud of Scott's clothes and the blood of his leg. Virgil had worked frantically, cutting Scott's t-shirt open and placing the heart monitoring systems so intensely that Gordon had let out a whimper. Tin Tin attached a drip to Scott's arm; John had run to his father's office and Alan had just stood there, silent; with tears in his eyes. He felt stupid and useless, with his feet planted to the floor, then the sound came. The continuous beep of Scott's heart, coming slower in gyration, then the long monotone tone as Scott's heart stopped beating. Gordon fell to his knees, as if his whole body had collapsed in on its self, Tin Tins hands came to her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks; John and Jeff stopped at the door momentarily before running to his bedside. Virgil on the other hand gave Scott a shot of adrenalin and began to pump his heart. Jeff took the breathing apparatus and pumped air into his baby's lungs between the intervals of Virgil's pumping. Then Scott coughed. Alan left the room.

Tin Tin came down the living room steps in three short leg movements. She lifted her head to the sight of a broken Alan. Alan felt her presence in the room however could not bring himself to look up; she did not expect him to. She walked over to his side and sat close beside him; in any other situation Alan's cheeks would turn a shade of red and his heart would race but at this moment he was not thinking of his love for Tin Tin but the love for his elder brother. He could feel her right arm cup his back as she brought her lips to his muddy ear, his heart raced slightly at the proximity however was more touched by her words as she whispered.

"He's okay."

Alan could not help his explosion of emotion; the salty liquid ran down his face and dripped off his chin. Tin Tin liked it when Alan didn't hold back and showed how he felt but his emotional episode stopped quickly as he refused himself to cry in front of Tin Tin; he lifted his head and sniffed heavily as he used the back of his hand to wipe away his tears.

"Thank god for that"

He managed to it say with a smile, Tin Tin smiled back and brought her left hand to his face; she closed her eyes as she brought her lips to his; his eyes stayed open in shock but then closed in gratitude of the kiss. John came down into the living room to the sight of the ever beautiful Tin Tin kissing his little brothers scarlet face and decided to deter his journey to the kitchen.

The whole island was scarred with the events of the past day; Virgil had left the infirmary for five minutes to refresh himself from having been awake for more than 29 hours with not a minute of rest. He splashed some water on his face and changed his shirt and was making his way down the corridor to the room where he had left his brother alone, he was worried but had kept his tablet with him the whole time to keep an eye on Scott's systems. As he turned the corner he saw Kyrano working solidly away at the floor to get rid of the watery mud solution.

"Good Job Kyrano, thanks"

Virgil smiled as he walked past, Kyrano sat on the back of his legs in his knelt position as his eyebrows made the shape of worry.

"Mr. Tracy you look exhausted, would it not be a good idea to get some rest?"

"Thank you for your concern Kyrano but I'm afraid there is no rest for the wicked!"

Virgil span on his heels and entered the infirmary, he went straight to his office to get his blood test equipment and came out wondering where his clip board was; he sighed as he saw it on the end of Scott's bed and picked up, flicking through the pages. He dropped the pages as his eyes wondered up from his skull and saw the face of his brother staring tiresomely back. Virgil dropped the clip board and came to Scott's side, placing his hand on his arm. Scott looked at him gratefully. Virgil's mouth went dry as all the memories of night before flooded back to him and the unforgettable sound of Scott's heart stopping came ringing in his ears, he shook his head hard to the confusion of Scott and spoke encouragingly to his brother to ease the distressed look on his face.

"How you feeling Scotty? You scared us all half to death!"

"Alright, sorry"

Virgil's heart sank, his brother looked awful, his eyes were purple and half of his body was bruised from his fall, not to mention the state of his leg. Virgil pressed down on his watch when Scott placed his hand on the machine which made him stop the action.

"Not yet, my head is splitting."

"Let me get you something for that."

"No it's fine"

"Scott it will be one injection, that's all"

"No it's fine"

"Scott stop acting like you deserve to suffer, you don't deserve it!"

"Well what if I do! What if I need to suffer for Wendy! What if this happened because I deserve it for not being able to save her!"

"Scott! She's fine! She came out of the coma."

Scott's face dropped, his back gave in to the bed and the sick feeling in his stomach relieved itself. Virgil knew that that wasn't the best way to break the news to Scott but he knew it was needed. He took Scott's arm and gave him the pain killers. Scott stayed completely still staring at the crisp white ceiling as Virgil pushed the thin sharp metal into his vein to deposit the calming solution. After a few moments when Virgil had checked the machines over Scott managed to push himself up, to the shock of his younger brother.

"Sorry Virgil."

"No worries, but you shouldn't be flinging yourself about, your leg is very badly damaged and the rest of you needs to be looked after for the next few weeks as well; your blood pressure is back up, I had to give you a blood transfusion, which means in a few months when your fully recovered ill have to take your blood again for possible future injuries. The cut on your upper right arm is infected but should clear up in a few days and..."

Virgil stopped when he realised that he was rambling slightly and Scott's face was becoming more worried as the list lengthened. Scott knew that all his injuries would put him out of action for 3-4 months depending on how bad his leg was.

"How long do I have to wait until I can fly my bird Virg?"

"I knew you would ask that. Well we need to send you to main land to get your leg set in plaster, I've done my best at securing it but I do want you to go as soon as possible."

"What hospital?"

"Brooks Memorial Hospital in New York"

"Oh that's good then"

Scott looked down and Virgil swore that he saw a slight blush on Scott's face, he'd never seen his elder brother go a shade of pink apart from after some sort of exercise. Scott pushed the colour of his cheeks to change back to their pale state and Virgil stood there in wonder.

"Scotty, what was that?"

"What was what?"

"Why did you blush about New York?"

"I didn't blush, did I? Must be the pain killers working, my headache has eased off a lot; I don't mind you calling the others down now, I need to say some thankyou's."

The artist moved away from his brothers bed still with slight doubts in his mind about Scott's excuse for blushing and pressed down on the button to call all the residents of the house. He cleared his throat and thought of what he might say that will get people here in a short and sweet way. The words came to him and he brought his mouth closer to the watch.

"Scott's awake!"

A fumble of voices, of different pitches, tones and genders came back through his watch at once and brought a smile to Scott's face. Almost within seconds the room started to fill, Scott felt gentle pats and hugs surround him and he began to blush with the attention, the boys teased him and still being careful, playfully pinched his cheeks, which Scott could do very little to squirm away from. The only two missing were Gordon and Jeff but it didn't take long for them to arrive. The wall of people surrounding Scott parted for his father, who stepped towards the bed with slightly glazed eyes; on seeing his father's pupils, Scott's eyes to became wet which brightened there colour immensely. Jeff bent down and gave his eldest a hug and before Scott could apologize Jeff stepped back and broke the silence himself.

"I'm sorry Scott, I always assumed that missions were best dealt with alone after the briefing. I didn't realise that what happened down in that cave really affected you to the extent that it did. I'm your father and I failed to protect you, now you are in such a state. I hope you will forgive me."

Scott nodded before replying to his dad.

"No I'm sorry dad. I'm an adult; I should have come to you to tell you what was going on rather than acting like a child and keeping it all to myself. I now know I can't do everything by myself and I certainly don't have to."

"Hey ssseexusee me!"

Gordon pushed his way past Alan and John and stumbled to Scott's bed side.

"I went searching for this earlier, dad and I fixed it!"

Gordon held up Scott's watch, it looked brand new. Scott's eyes lit up.

"Thanks Gordo, thanks everyone."

Scott took his watch from his little brother and placed it on his wrist; he tightened the straps and looked admirably at the machine. His family talked amongst themselves as Virgil taped silently away on his tablet. Scott glanced out of the parted balcony doors and saw the sun sparkling on the ocean water. Then from above the balcony door two birds with red breasts and blue shimmering wings glided elegantly together, spinning and singing; the birds dance reflected in Scott's cobalt blue eyes when he to realised that he really would be okay.

Well that's a rap! This is the last chapter! Thank you all for reading my story, your comments are wonderful and i thank you all for them. Once again a big thank you to QueenB48 for her support and encouragment. This story would not exist without her kicking me up the butt and telling me to get on with it! I hope you all enjoyed it! I certainly have! Please do tell me if you want me to write more :) -LeahMB95