This is the penultimate chapter of this story. Next one is last. Hope you enjoy!

The Eyes of the Beholder

By Phoenix Sparrow

Chapter Twelve – Hospitalisation

They arrived at the hospital and Virgil was taken straight through to be examined in the 'crash' room. Scott was taken to a cubicle to be examined by a doctor and Gordon was left on his own in the relatives' room.

He wasn't alone for long, though. After a matter of minutes of sitting alone, wandering about aimlessly and reading the magazines without taking anything in, the door opened and a man walked in. Not a doctor, but…

"Father!" Gordon exclaimed after Jeff had shut the door.

"How are they?"

"I don't know about Virgil yet, but Scott's alright, uh, I think. They said his lungs were a bit damaged by the smoke and he had a deep cut on his head and a nasty burn on his arm."

"Oh, but apart from that he's ok?"

Gordon smiled. "Yeah." He stood next to the window in silence for a moment before continuing. "You know all they way here, Scott was helping me; comforting me. I kinda lost it when I saw Virgil like that."

"So? He's your big brother. He's always been the sort that watches out for you lot."

"I know. I just feel it should have been me helping him! He's the one with the bandages, not me! I feel like I…"

Jeff got up and stood beside him. "It's not your fault, Gordon. Seeing Virgil like that is the sort of thing that shocks you. Your reaction was natural." Gordon looked his father in the eye. "It's ok. Everything'll be ok. Virgil will recover."

There was a knock on the door and a doctor walked in. Jeff and Gordon turned to face him.

"Scott is doing well. He has asked if you would go and see him, uh…" The doctor seemed unsure. Scott didn't know that Jeff had arrived so probably only requested Gordon.

Jeff smiled. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind seeing both of us."

The doctor smiled back and held open the door. "He's in cubicle 4. Over there." He pointed to a closed off room at the end of the corridor.

They reached the door and knocked. "Come in," they heard Scott's voice call out.

They opened the door and walked in. Jeff saw Gordon smile as he sat down on the end of Scott's bed. "How you feelin', Scott?"

"I'd feel much better if I didn't have to wear this!" He indicated the typical hospital gown he had on. They laughed. "Hi, dad. How'd you get out here?"

"I have my ways."

"You mean you used my plane."

Jeff sighed. "Yes, I used Ladybird. You know mines-"

"Busted up?" Scott finished for him.

"Yes. I suppose you could say that."

"That's the only way to describe it after what Alan did to it!"

"Alright! Alright! You're definitely on the mend," he said, ruffling Scott's hair.

"Hey! Ow! Careful, dad!"

Jeff withdrew his hand quickly. "Sorry." He sat down on the chair next to the bed, only to jump back up when something dug into his back. "Ooh! Ow! What's that?" He turned round and saw an International Rescue issue pistol. His eyes went wide as he realised that it was still in its holster on Scott's sash. He picked up the uniform and held it up by what remained of its shoulders.

He looked over at Scott. "That must have been some fire."

The main body of it was charred and black with holes in it. One sleeve was missing and the other was black and burnt. The sash was smothered with burn marks and blood.

Gordon looked at the once proud uniform then at Scott who had suddenly sat back. "I didn't realise it was that badly damaged."

"Whoa," Gordon whispered. "I think you need a new uniform, Scott," he said out loud.

Scott and Jeff looked at him then suddenly burst out laughing.

They were still laughing when there was a knock on the door and the doctor walked in. They calmed down and looked at him.

"Virgil has been stabilised and is being moved to a private room. Would you like to see him?"

"Yes." That was Scott's answer; given the moment the doctor had finished speaking.

They looked at him. "Uh, sir, I think you should stay in bed."

"Look, I'm going to see him. I want to make sure he's ok for myself."

Jeff looked at the doctor. "Would you mind coming back in a minute? I'll have a word with him."

The doctor looked confused but left.

The door closed nearly soundlessly behind him then Scott spoke up again. "Dad, I'm going to see him."

"Scott, the doctor thinks you should rest. Stay in bed. I'll tell you how he is," Jeff said.

"Stay in bed? Rest? How can I stay in bed and rest while my brother is critically ill?" he yelled.

"He's not critical anymore-"

"You know what I mean!" He sighed and lowered his voice. "Dad, I have to see him. What would you do?"

Jeff smiled. "Probably just what you're doing," he replied, gently.

"Well then. Please, Dad? I have to see him for myself."

Jeff sighed. "Ok. I'll tell the doctor to get you a wheelchair."

"What?"

"A wheelchair. The doctor said you rest. I'm letting you go, but you're not exerting yourself. Just nod and say 'Yes Dad' or you stay."

"Yes, Dad," he said, nodding.

The doctor, who they learned was named Doctor Lewis, led them down the corridor to where Virgil had been moved. They wandered along, while Jeff pushed Scott along in his wheelchair.

They reached the room and Doctor Lewis held the door open for them. "I'll come back in about ten minutes."

The three Tracy's moved over to Virgil's bed where he lay. He was still unconscious and his strong arms rested on top of the covers, though one was in a sling. His torso was wrapped in clean, white, loose bandages and his right leg was plastered and up in a harness. His head was mostly covered with a bandage, which also covered over his left eye.

Gordon walked closer, taking Scott with him when he realised his father had frozen. He was snapped out of his trance when his watch bleeped. He looked at it confused; it wasn't an hour. 'Oh yes. Comm.'

He pressed the button and saw Tin-Tin's face fill the small screen. "Go ahead, Tin-Tin."

"We found the problem, Mr Tracy. Someone has been tampering."

"Tampering? You mean there was a saboteur?"

"We don't think it was intentional, well, not the cause for the fire anyway. There's a chip missing from the automatic camera detection systems. This person redirected power by moving wires and reconnecting them in the wrong places to get to the component. We're lucky he didn't cut the wires."

Jeff nodded as he took this all in. "Right. So what now?" he asked, looking over at Gordon and Scott. Gordon had fallen asleep in the bedside chair and Scott was sat very still next to the bed. He'd taken hold of Virgil's hand (the one that wasn't up in a sling) and was talking quietly to him.

"Well, I don't know how he did it, but he's managed to fix her enough to get her back to base. He's had John running too and fro between here and Moratoa Island."

Jeff's eyes were wide. Moratoa Island was where they kept stores of fuel and a few spare parts, not the big ones, but small (but still important) ones. "Tell Brains he's a star. I owe him another one!"

"F.A.B., sir," Tin-Tin said, smiling. "There's one little problem. He only repaired the drive systems. She'll have to be escorted home, because none of her computer systems are working."

He nodded again. "Alright, Tin-Tin."

"What??"

He looked at the display confused. "What is it?"

"I could kiss the Devon police! They've found a man running round the moors. He was totally lost and confessed to the tampering on Thunderbird in exchange for being taken from the moors!"

"Did he have the component?"

"No. He said he dropped it in the mud somewhere." She paused and looked carefully at the image of Jeff. "How are they?"

"They're good. Scott's conscious now, but Virgil's still out cold, I'm afraid."

"Well, you make sure you tell them both I send my love and wish them a get well soon."

"Ok, Tin-Tin. I don't know about Virgil, but Scott will find out in a minute."

She smiled. "Alright, I can give you more details later. There's nothing else really to say except that John is going to take Thunderbird 1 and escort Brains and I in Thunderbird 2."

Jeff smiled at her. "Thanks, Tin-Tin. See you at base, though, I'm not sure when."

"Take your time. They're your boys, they take priority." She smiled back at him again and cut the link.

Jeff walked closer to Virgil's bed and Scott looked up hopefully. "They've mended her enough to get her home," he said.

Scott smiled; an expression that quickly changed to surprise as he felt his brother grip his hand tightly.

"Dad!" he whispered urgently. "Did you see that?"

Jeff looked down at Virgil. He watched him grip Scott's hand again and he drew in a breath sharply. "Virgil?"

He turned his head to one side then slowly opened his eyes. He looked directly at Jeff. "Dad?" he said faintly.

"Virgil!" He looked round and nudged Gordon, waking him.

"Ugh, what? I'm up!" He looked round. "Virgil!"

"Gordon, go and find Doctor Lewis quickly." He nodded and ran off while Jeff sat down. "How are you feeling now, son?"

"Like I've been hit head on by Thunderbird 3," he said quietly.

"Well, your sense of humour's intact," Scott said.

He grinned slowly. "Who's mended?" he asked suddenly.

"Jeez, Virge! You don't think of anything else, do you?" He looked over at Jeff, who raised an eyebrow. "Thunderbird 2. She's on her way home."

"How bad is she?"

"Oh, no! I'm not telling you! You need to think of Virgil first for once!"

Virgil frowned then quickly stopped as he felt pain under his bandage. He let go off Scott's hand and raised his own to touch the dressing. He flinched as he touched his injury. He then looked over the rest of him; his raised leg being the first thing he saw.

The door opened and Gordon came back with Doctor Lewis. "Well," he said. "You're looking a lot better, Virgil. Are you feeling any pain or discomfort?"

"I did a bit, but that was when I frowned at them."

Scott and Jeff laughed discreetly as Lewis continued. "That's good. The, uh, not much pain thing, anyway." He turned to Jeff and Gordon. "We're going to keep Scott in overnight, but Virgil will have to stay here longer, I'm afraid."

"What??" the two brothers said in unison.

"We have to make sure."

"Calm down, Scott. You'll be back at base tomorrow," Gordon said.

"Yeah, but-"

"No 'buts'. Do as you're told!" Jeff added; mocking a tone he hadn't used in years.

Scott crossed his arms stubbornly, only to suddenly unfold them. "Ah! Jeez!" he said, rubbing a hand gently down his burn.

Jeff hid a grin then Virgil spoke. "Think yourself lucky, Scott. You get to go back tomorrow. I've got to stay here for longer!"

They talked to Virgil for a while longer then Lewis ushered them out saying they needed rest. Virgil's head was dropping every now and then, which he tried to cover up when it snapped back up. Scott, too, was falling asleep in his chair so they said goodbye to Virgil and wheeled Scott back to his room. They woke him long enough to get him into his bed.

They went outside the hospital building. "How you holding up, Gordon?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. I'm just…"

"Worried?" Gordon nodded. "They're alright. They're in good hands." He looked around realising it was dark then looked at his watch. "Yikes. It's nearly 10pm at home."

"So?"

"So, we're five hours behind England. That means it's about 3am here!"

Gordon grinned and looked round. The streetlights gave everything an orange tinge, nearly matching his sash.

"Come on," Jeff said, putting an arm round his shoulder. "We'd better get back to base. We'll come back out tomorrow to get Scott."

Gordon nodded and they walked off. "By the way, where is Ladybird?"

Jeff looked at him. "Not far away. Remind me to tell Alan that when he's done his shift he has to repair the damage to my plane!"