Unspoken
Disclaimer: would love to say I own them but I don't.
Thank you for all the lovely reviews. Big thanks to Sam1 and Loopsta for checking over this. Dedicated once again to Darkflame for being the awesome friend that she is. Love you.
Chapter 2: No Longer a Sanctuary.
Moving faster than he probably ever had in his life, Gordon was in the water and by his brother's side before he even realised he'd moved. Flipping him over, he dragged his brother to the side. He got them both out of the water, ignoring the stabbing pain that ran down his side from the sudden exertion. His hand searched for a pulse but he couldn't find it.
"No, no you're not doing this to me, John."
He slammed the button on his watch that would call his brothers to him and began chest compressions.
Gordon paused for a second and waited, praying for a response. "Come on, John. You are not gonna die like this," he begged. Just as he was about to resume the compressions, John coughed and water spewed from his lungs. Gordon tipped his head to the side so he wouldn't choke and rubbed his back until he was done. John's head then fell back against his brother.
"That was close. I thought I was gonna have to give you mouth to mouth then," he said, trying to keep his voice light and disguise the tremor running through it.
Suddenly, two figures skidded to a stop beside them and Gordon for once was relieved to see his older brothers beside them.
"What the hell happened?" asked Scott before Virgil could.
"I found John in the pool," Gordon said quietly. Just saying the words made it hit home what he had actually seen and done. He wobbled slightly at the thought but found the welcoming arm of Virgil wrap around him as he moved close to check on John who had stayed silent but was clearly awake.
"You remember what happened, John?" asked Virgil, lifting his brother's head slightly. The other arm stayed wrapped around Gordon, whether it was comfort or in case Gordon lost his balance again, he didn't know but he wasn't moving it. He could also sense that Gordon didn't want him to move it either.
John slowly raised his head to his brother and then shook it softly, wincing in pain as he did so. He had no idea what had happened or even where he was right now. All he knew was his head hurt and he was cold.
"Let's get you to sickbay so I can check you over," said Virgil, softly smiling down at his brother. He stood up, squeezing Gordon's shoulder for a moment. Scott and Virgil carefully pulled John up who swayed but stayed standing. They stood on either side of him and slowly made their way to the villa door.
Virgil then turned back to Gordon who was still sat on the floor. "Why don't you grab a shower and then come down to the infirmary? I'll know more of what is going on by then," he said, smiling gently at his younger brother. Gordon nodded but made no attempt to move, he just needed a minute alone.
Jeff sat in the sickbay beside his son who was tucked up in the bed. John was suffering from the after effects of almost drowning on top of the virus he already had. He had fallen asleep almost as soon as Virgil had finished checking him over and his lack of fuss to Virgil's care showed just how ill he was truly feeling. Jeff found himself running his fingers through John's hair not because his son needed it but because he did. He had almost lost his stargazer today. If it wasn't for Gordon, he wouldn't be able to do this. As he thought of his second youngest son, he realised he hadn't seen him. He had expected the young man to be down here as soon as he had showered. Sooner in all honesty. He could feel his worry building as to where his water loving son was.
He looked over to where Virgil was recording his brother's status. Virgil had always kept meticulous records on any accidents and though this wasn't strictly an accident, he knew it still warranted recording. He was proud that his son put so much effort into it as he knew how much the artist hated paperwork. He was about to say something to him when suddenly John stirred.
He sat bolt upright in the bed gasping, which quickly turned to coughing, leaving the young man struggling to breathe. Jeff was behind his son, rubbing his back before he even realised he had moved.
Virgil had reacted just as quickly and was ready in case they needed to take more serious action. He also had a bowl just in case all the coughing made his brother sick.
Finally, the coughing subsided and John relinquished the contents of his stomach into the bowl just as Virgil had predicted. He disappeared with it and John sank back against his father once more, all his energy lost. Virgil reappeared with a glass of water and carefully held it up to his mouth, knowing John didn't have the energy to hold it.
John sipped the water slowly then pulled away when he'd had enough. He went to thank his brother but no words came. Clearing his throat slightly, he tried again but all he got was an embarrassing squeak.
Virgil put up his hand, stopping his brother before he could try again. "It's okay, John, you're welcome," he said, knowing exactly what his brother was trying to say. "You swallowed a lot of water plus you're battling a virus which I'm guessing may be in your throat or chest possibly both judging by that cough."
John just nodded weakly. His throat hurt and his chest did feel tight so his brother was probably right. As if almost drowning wasn't enough to contend with.
A hand touching his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts to see Virgil looking at him worriedly. John gave him a half smile, knowing he had no way to reassure Virgil he was okay. Clearly his voice was long gone for the time being. He could see Virgil wanted to check his throat and his chest so he let him. Out of all the boys, John was the one who allowed Virgil to just do what he needed to do. It was easier in the long run.
"Yep, looks like you have an infection in your throat and your chest is sounding a bit congested now, too, bro, I'm afraid. You've also got a fairly high fever as well," explained Virgil as Jeff moved so John could lie back down. John just nodded his head again.
The door opened and Scott came into the room. Jeff looked up, surprised to see that Gordon wasn't with him. He was getting worried about his second youngest son now.
"I've let Alan know what's going on and he wants to be kept informed. Oh, and he said feel better soon," said the oldest son as he approached the bed. "How's the patient?" he asked.
John rolled his eyes at Scott and wished he could make a reply to that but of course he couldn't so he stuck with glaring at him instead. It was then he realized there was a face missing too. He looked to his dad, wondering how to ask where his younger brother was but he saw worry in his father's steel grey eyes. Touching his hand gently to get his attention, he mouthed his brother's name and could see his father understood.
"I don't know, Son," he replied, knowing instantly what John was asking. John pointed to the door and Jeff knew what his son was telling him to do. "John I…" he began but again John pointed to the door. "Okay," he replied, knowing his son wasn't going to give up until he went to find him. Standing up, he smiled down at John, "Try and sleep, that's an order."
John gave him a weak salute and Jeff couldn't help but grin at him. That was exactly the reaction he had expected from him. He then turned to Virgil and Scott. "I'll be back," he said and walked out of the room.
"What was that all about?" asked Scott.
John couldn't explain so he looked over at Virgil, hoping his usually astute brother had understood.
"Dad has gone to find Gordon," explained Virgil, having seen John mouth his brother's name to their dad.
Scott nodded in understanding, he'd been a little surprised himself not to find Gordon down here. He then turned to John, "No voice, hey bro," he said sympathetically.
John nodded and closed his eyes. "Get some sleep," Scott said softly.
He moved away from the bed and towards the small desk where Virgil was recording more details in John's medical file. "You can head off now Scott. I'll keep an eye on him," said Virgil without looking up.
"Nah I'll stay, after last time, I'm not letting him out of my sight until he's recovered," replied Scott, pulling up a chair.
"Uh, I am going be here you know?" said Virgil, suddenly looking up at his brother.
"I know but I'm still going to stay. I don't want him running off again," replied Scott.
"Do you not trust me to keep him here?" questioned Virgil, feeling annoyed that Scott doubted him like this.
"Well, he escaped last time," muttered Scott, not wanting to get into an argument with Virgil right now.
"Yeah because he had no one watching him. He's not exactly going sneak past me is he? He can barely stand."
"Only because you wouldn't let me," said Scott, standing back up again. If Virgil wasn't going to drop it then fine, he'd talk about it but his younger brother was not going to like it.
Virgil stared at Scott in disbelief, he couldn't believe Scott had just blamed him for what had happened. He stood up, the hurt and anger now evident in his honey burnt eyes. "Then you look after him if you don't trust me to do it," he stated and walked out of the room.
Scott sank back down onto the chair. That wasn't quite what he wanted to do but he couldn't deny that a part of him knew John wouldn't be lying in this bed if Scott had stayed with him. Caught up in his thoughts, he hadn't realized that John had witnessed the entire scene. John closed his eyes as Scott's head turned back to face him but a look of sheer pain crossed his eyes at what he had just seen.
Jeff meanwhile was struggling to locate his second youngest son. He had tried the usual places but there was no sign. Jeff sighed and walked to the lounge, from his desk he had the ability to locate everyone on the island. Pressing the relevant buttons, a small screen opened up, showing various dots in different locations. Jeff had them colour coded so he could quickly identify that Gordon was down on the south beach. What surprised him, however, was that Virgil was not in the sick bay but in his room? One problem at a time though and right now he needed to find Gordon.
He quickly walked down the south beach and found Gordon sitting close to the water's edge just watching as the tide rolled in. He could easily see that his second youngest son was struggling to deal with what had just happened. He walked over and sat down on the sand beside him but said nothing. With Gordon, he'd learnt to let the young man talk to him first. Otherwise, Gordon tended to feel pressured and often turned to jokes or said nothing.
"How's John?" he asked finally.
"He's going to be fine. He's fighting off a fairly nasty virus but he will be fine, thanks to you," replied Jeff.
"I thought he was dead," Gordon said. His voice was barely a whisper but Jeff heard every word.
He wrapped his arm around his son, hoping Gordon wouldn't shrug it off but to his relief his son didn't. "He didn't die, though, Gordon. You were there and you saved him. He will be okay in time. Few days' rest and some smothering from his brothers will put him right."
A slight grin crossed the prankster's face at the smothering his older brother was about to face but it soon faded away. Gordon couldn't get the image of John lying face down in the water out of his mind. In his sanctuary, his place of solace. It wasn't as if he didn't know the dangers that the water held but it had never seemed so real until this very moment. His pool, his water had almost claimed the life of his brother and that was something he didn't know how to handle.
"Why don't you go and see John, reassure yourself that he is fine," said Jeff. He knew his second youngest was not okay but he could also tell Gordon wasn't ready to talk about how much it had affected him yet. Jeff knew that what Gordon needed most of all right now was to see his brother alive if not well.
Gordon nodded and stood up, he then jogged off towards the villa and Jeff hoped to the infirmary. He, however, stayed where he was and stared out to sea. "Something tells me this is going to be far more reaching than any of us are expecting," he said to himself.
Gordon arrived at the infirmary and stopped at the door. Peering through the small window, he could see the pale form of his oldest blond brother. He found himself staggering back slightly as his brother looked almost the same as he had when he pulled him out of the water. He couldn't go in there, he couldn't face him. He backed away from the door and then spun round, heading away to Thunderbird Four.
His arrival, however, had been spotted by someone though. John's eyes had opened at just the moment Gordon had appeared in the window. The older Tracy could see his brother was suffering and he hated that he was the cause. Clearly, his dad hadn't been able to get through to him and the only other person who was usually good at that was up on Five. John sighed, making Scott realize his brother was awake once more.
"That wasn't much of a sleep," he said, smiling at his younger brother.
John just gave him a weak smile which rapidly disappeared as his body was once more racked with coughing. Scott repeated the actions his father had done earlier, rubbing John's back until he was done. John sank back down onto his pillows, wincing as pain filled his throat and chest.
"Are you in pain?" asked Scott, seeing the pain in his brothers blue eyes. John nodded.
Scott activated his watch and called for Virgil. He hoped his brother wouldn't ignore him and he was relieved when a tired face appeared on the screen.
"I'm on my way," was all his brother said before the image vanished.
Scott lowered his arm and turned back to John - who had closed his eyes but experience told Scott his brother was not sleeping.
Virgil appeared in the room and walked over to John. John sensing his presence opened his eyes and then brought his hands up to his throat. As expected, Virgil knew exactly what his brother was trying to say. He moved away and gathered what he needed before returning to the bed.
"How did you know he was in pain?" asked Scott as his brother administered pain relief. He hadn't said anything and John obviously couldn't.
"Because I can read him just as well as you can," replied Virgil but he didn't look at his oldest brother.
"Well, neither of us did earlier," said Scott, rising from his seat. His anger and guilt resurfacing that they'd allowed John to end up outside drowning in the pool.
"Are you blaming me for what happened earlier? He's a grown man not a kid," retorted Virgil, moving to stand in front of his brother.
Scott held his ground, "Yes, he is but at least one of us should have stayed with him."
"So, I'm to blame because I made you leave his room despite the fact that what he needed most was quiet to rest?" questioned Virgil, stepping closer.
John watched the exchange, knowing it needed to all be said but he wasn't going to let them go too far. At the end of the day, this was his fault not theirs. The question was how to get their attention back to him?
"That's not what I said," replied Scott.
Virgil sighed, "You didn't have to, it's written all over your face. You think I shouldn't have made you leave but I did what I thought was best. So, I guess that means you're questioning my judgement as well?"
Scott paused, suddenly, unable to answer that because by all rights he was questioning his brother's judgement and his decision.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence there, big brother," said Virgil but all the anger was gone from his voice now. What remained was guilt and pain.
Suddenly, a loud clatter caused them both to spin round to find the small tray Virgil had set up by John's bed was now on the floor. Looking to John, they saw him glaring at them both. He then gestured to Scott and the door. Scott shook his head, he couldn't just walk away right now. John rolled his eyes and pointed at the door again.
"Just go, Scott, before he uses all his energy kicking you out," sighed Virgil.
Scott glanced at Virgil for a moment and then did as his brother asked. He guessed John wanted to talk or sign or communicate in some form to their younger brother. He decided to see how their father had got on with Gordon instead.