Hi all! Not far off the finish now. Just a couple more chapters. As ever, thanks to readers and reviewers.

Ms Hobgoblin: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I must admit, this story is one of the ones I enjoyed writing most.

The Eyes of the Beholder

By Phoenix Sparrow

Chapter Eleven – Medical Attention

Brains came out of the blackened Thunderbird, wiping sweat off his brow. He'd managed to put out all the fires out by fixing and initialising the damaged dicetalline sprinklers on board.

He looked over and saw John hunched over his two brothers. Virgil, he saw, looked to have worse injuries than Scott. 'He must have inhaled a lot of smoke,' he thought to himself.

He walked closer and saw both had deep cuts on their heads. 'That's more likely to be the cause for their unconsciousness.'

He looked over at John and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked round and Brains saw his eyes were red. He smiled sympathetically. "They'll be a-a-alright, John. Scott a-a-and Virgil are strong, they-they're fighters."

"I know," he said quietly.

"You stay with them, I-I-I'll go and call your father."

John nodded absently. He'd heard Brains speak but hadn't registered what he'd said.

He walked over to Thunderbird 1, pausing briefly at the entrance to look back at John. He lowered his head before climbing into the craft and activating the radio.

"Brains? Are they all right? What happened?" Jeff asked. Ever since Scott had radioed in to report Thunderbird 2's failure, he'd been nervous and worried. He'd paced back and forth, tried to sit down somewhere only to jump back up at the slightest noise, thinking it may be them trying to contact him. When he saw it wasn't, he resumed his pacing and the cycle continued.

"Uh, uh, I'm not sure, Mr Tracy. T-to both questions. Both Scott and Virgil are unconscious a-a-and I don't yet know why Thunderbird t-two malfunctioned."

Jeff ran a hand across his hair then lowered it to rub the side of his neck. He drew in a deep breath. "Ok," he said, as he exhaled. "Can either you or John bring Thunderbird 1 back so we can get Gordon and Tin-Tin out there, too?"

"I-I-I would recommend sending Joh-John so I-I-I can take a look a-a-at Thunderbird 2 to see if I can find out why sh-she malfunctioned."

"Agreed," Jeff said. "Tell John to use all possible speed. I'll contact the local authorities and get Virgil and Scott some help."

Within the hour, John had left and was on his way back. Brains had stayed with Scott and Virgil until the ambulance arrived. Jeff had requested, when he made the call, that they try to keep it as quiet as possible. Not only for security, but also for the sake of his sons. The people organising the ambulance arranged for the paramedics that they'd helped earlier to go. They were still in the area and had already dealt with International Rescue that day.
Brains was crouched in the soft grass in between Scott and Virgil. They were both still out cold. He stayed with them until the ambulance arrived.

As he heard its engine, he looked up hopefully. They pulled beside them and jumped out as John returned with Gordon and Tin-Tin in Thunderbird 1.

The paramedics ran over, stopping beside the two fallen men.

"My God! What happened?" one asked, looking round, shocked.

"We-we don't know yet, but there was a fire a-and some explosions. V-Virgil was trapped i-i-in the cockpit and Scott went in a-a-after him."

Just then John ran over.

"Do you know any more?" the paramedic asked him.

He nodded. "Brains, you should go and start work on Thunderbird." He nodded and ran off with Tin-Tin tailing him. John turned back to the paramedic. "Virgil crashed and hit his head. His leg was pinned under…"

While John explained, Gordon stood there looking bewildered. John was talking away to one paramedic, while the others were tending to Virgil and Scott's injuries. Brains and Tin-Tin had gone inside Thunderbird 2 to try and determine what the problem was. And Gordon. He had nothing really to do. He'd only be in the way with Brains and John didn't need any help explaining. Not that he could really help with that anyway.

"Gordon!" John shouted. Looking up, he realised John was no longer talking, Virgil was being moved to the ambulance and Scott was coming round.

"Yes John?" he asked.

"Scott's come round, but they still want him to go into hospital to be seen to. Virgil is, unfortunately, not so lucky. I'm gonna stay here and help Brains and Tin-Tin. You go in the ambulance with them, will you?"

Gordon had walked over by now. "Yeah, sure."

Scott was sat on a chair they'd pulled from the mobile control console. His head was bandaged and his arm was being checked over. He looked over and, on seeing his brother, smiled. He saw Gordon physically relax. "Hi Gordon!" he said. "Ah!" he added as the paramedic touched a tender spot on his arm.

Gordon walked over. He could see Scott shivering, despite the warm summer sun. 'Must be in shock,' he thought. Looking round, he saw a blanket lying on the floor round the bottom of the chair. He sighed. 'Always trying to act tough. I'll bet he threw that away.' "Here," he said, picking up the blanket and carefully wrapping it round his brother's shoulders. "And leave it there. I know what you're like!" he scolded.

Scott grinned and got up as the paramedic finished. He still felt a bit off balance and light-headed and as he got up he fell against Gordon.

"Whoa, careful. Come on, that way," Gordon said, pointing in the direction of the ambulance.

They reached the vehicle and Gordon helped Scott in. He then climbed in himself, only to have his breath catch in his throat at the sight of Virgil. His uniform top had been mostly cut away, save for a few parts, which had stuck to the wounds. This showed the extent of cuts and burns on his chest, arms and neck. A breath mask mostly covered his face so Gordon couldn't see the extent of the injuries to his face.

He reached out a hand to find something to steady himself and found another hand had gripped his. Looking over, he saw Scott. His arm now had a clean dressing on it and his watch had been removed in case of swelling.

Gordon smiled seeing how calm Scott was and sat down next to him. His smile faded again when he looked back over at Virgil.

The paramedics closed the doors and the engine started again.

Scott looked at Gordon and saw him watching the rise and fall of Virgil's chest. He's always felt responsible for his brothers being the oldest. Even now when he himself was injured and in need of treatment he felt he should comfort Gordon. He was the second youngest so Scott could only imagine what he was thinking.

He raised his good arm and wrapped it round Gordon's shoulder, hugging him close. Normally, he would have had Gordon pulling away from him, but he didn't move. "Come on, Gords. You know what Virgil's like. He'll be fine."

Gordon looked over and what Scott saw made him feel uneasy. He didn't see Gordon as he knew him looking back at him, he saw Gordon as a scared child worried for his next elder brother. He had lost all sense of everything. All he felt was worry.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story. I'd just like to take this moment to wish my brother a happy 21st birthday, even though he's so unlikely to read these stories at all. I'd still like it known. Happy Birthday Mike!