The Tracy boys and International Rescue are the creation of Sylvia and Gerry Anderson

Claudette: Re: The Navy – By suggesting that they had to call in the Navy for sea rescues she was not implying that she didn't know they had a submarine but rather the submarine she knew they had was not capable of deep sea work, hence having to call in the Navy which would have been insulting to Gordon. She would have known what colour it was in the same way as knowing about the rest of the machines, by word of mouth. Who isn't going to notice a small yellow submarine!

Chapter 26

"Scott has a cold?" Jeff asked concerned, wondering just how serious this latest setback was, keeping in mind that Jenna had told them to stay away if any of them should be showing symptoms.

Alan chose that moment to re-enter the lounge. "A cold! The poor baby has a cold. Is that all?" Alan mocked, thinking it to be trivial.

Virgil noticed his father's puzzled bewilderment at Alan's choice of words and shrugging his shoulders embarrassingly said, "It's a long story."

Jenna gave Alan 'a look' that made him wither. Remembering their earlier encounter, he decided to play it safe and go and stand behind his older brother causing Virgil to wonder just what she had done to make his youngest brother so scared. Whatever it was, he was impressed.

"Is that all?" Jenna repeated, her voice rising in intensity as she looked to where Alan was hiding. "A cold may be nothing to you but for Scott, it's the last thing he needs. He's under par as it is and I can't even give him any antibiotics to fight this, it's a virus and antibiotics just won't touch it. I just hope his body can fight this and it doesn't turn into anything more serious," she ranted on, wanting them to know it wasn't just a little cold.

Jeff was now looking worried. "Like what, Jenna?" he asked. He had thought his son was showing signs of improvement, having come off the IV drips.

She turned her attention to Jeff, clearly showing her annoyance. "Well, that depends, he's alternating now between chills and high temperatures. At best, the flu or we could be looking at viral pneumonia," she informed him.

Mindful of the fact that she had said antibiotics were going to be of no use, Jeff inquired, "Is there anything you can do?"

"I'll give him all I can to alleviate the symptoms, of course," Jenna told him, "and if Brains had an antiviral agent, that might help but basically, he's got to fight this on his own." She hoped he had the determination and will power to see this through and she was going to do all she could to make sure he did.

"I'll get on it right away," Jeff announced, opening the com-link to the lab where Brains was working and asking for what Jenna had instructed.

"Now, in the meantime," Jenna continued, "I want to know which one of you has a cold?" It was plain to see that nobody present was showing any signs or symptoms and Virgil assured her that Gordon and John were the same, although they didn't have to be in the throws of a full blown cold to pass on the germs.

"Well, it must have come from somewhere," she queried; knowing the source of infection did not originate with her.

Just then Gordon and John, who had been oblivious to the proceedings, came in from the kitchen. "Hey Virg, did you see old Harry this morning, he was sneezing like a good un," Gordon laughed, still unaware of Jenna's presence. "We could have used him instead of the dycetelene canisters to…put…out…fir..," he trailed off as he now realised how quiet everyone had gone. It was now he became aware of Jenna standing there, narrowing her eyes in his direction. Dycetelene was the very effective foam that International Rescue used to put out fires and had proved more than useful in the Hudson Tower drama when rescuing a man trapped in a flooding elevator.

At the mention of this information Jenna had shot a look towards Gordon. "And..just…who..is this Harry?" Jenna demanded; assured she had at last found the cause of Scott's present condition, although she knew no one other than family visited him.

Gordon glanced towards his father, a questioning look on his face asking 'what was going on'. "Eh… Harry's the mail man," he volunteered. "Flies the mail plane, he left some cards for Scott and a parcel for Grandma," he added, looking around bewildered at what the importance of this information was. "Grandma took pity on him and insisted he stay to get a cup of her 'special brew'," Gordon continued, offering the extra information, although he didn't know why he felt it was important.

Things were now falling into place and Jenna nodded an understanding. "And Harry…just didn't happen to sneeze all over those envelopes, did he?" Jenna asked, now sure that they were the vehicle by which the germs entered the infirmary. Visions of Scott putting the envelopes up close to his face to try to make out who they were from filled her mind.

Virgil was putting two and two together and feeling guilty, realising he was the one who had brought them down to his eldest brother and had put them into his hand.

"And no one thought, at least, to take the cards out of the envelopes first before taking them down to Scott?" she inquired, looking at no one in particular and knowing that it would have been the better option.

"Well, they were addressed…to…Scott," John offered lamely before realising just what a pathetic excuse it really was.

Jenna gave a deep sigh of exasperation and shook her head. "Gee, and I thought you guys at International Rescue were supposed to be smart or maybe that only applies to Scott," Jenna said sarcastically and with that she stormed out of the lounge, leaving four flabbergasted brothers and one gob smacked Jeff.

After a few minutes Gordon was the first to break the silence. "Hey Dad, if Scott doesn't want her, can I have her?" he asked with a mischievous grin on his face as if she were some prize trophy to he handed round.

"Get in line, buddy. Get…in….line," Virgil grinned, pulling rank on his younger brother and being totally enamoured with her fearless and forthright attitude.

On opening the door to the infirmary Jenna could hear a very perplexed and slightly embarrassed sounding Tin-Tin. "Oh no, Scott, you mustn't."

Somewhat bemused and puzzled Jenna came farther into the room and had to stifle a smile. Scott was obviously in another hot period as the blankets were now discarded. Poor Tin-Tin was struggling to hold a cold compress to his forehead with one hand while with the other, trying to keep the sheet in a position of decency as he was trying his best to kick it off. The farther down he pushed it the more Tin-Tin realised he had nothing on.

"It's all right, Tin-Tin. I'll take over now and thank you," Jenna intervened with a smile, much to a very relieved Tin-Tin.

Tin-Tin turned to say her goodbyes to Scott just as he finally managed to discard the article that had bothered him and she quickly turned her face away, making a hurried exit.

He had been so hot, the sheet around him making him feel claustrophobic, that all he wanted to do was be rid of it and this person was fighting him. He was determined to get his own way, though; he had struggled and he had won. Now, for a while anyway, he could feel the cool air around him. On hearing her voice once more he opened heavy lids and totally exhausted from his efforts, lay against the pillows watching her.

Jenna looked down on him, smiling and shaking her head. "You really are naughty, Mr Tracy. You shouldn't embarrass a young girl like that," she told him as she picked up the sheet and proceeded to fold it in an oblong. She had every sympathy for his discomfort and he watched her as she tenderly laid the folded sheet across him, leaving his legs exposed.

He didn't know which felt worse, the burning heat of the fever, the thirst or the aches and pains. As she sat on his bed he begged her with his eyes to do something to cool him down. "You really are uncomfortable, aren't you?" she sympathized as she raised the bed. "I'll get you something for the pain and then I need you to drink," Jenna added. He shook his head slightly; his throat was too sore. "Scott, if you don't drink I'll have to put an IV back in. I need to get fluids into you," she implored gently. After injecting him with pain relief she brought him some water and cradling the back of his head to support him she encouraged him to drink. He coughed and choked at first as the water hit the back of his throat. "Just take it slowly, a little at a time," she said soothingly. It did feel good, though.

She dipped the sponge into the cooling water. He watched as it cascaded from the cavities within when she squeezed it, longing for it's refreshing coolness to be washing over him in an effort to quench him from the heat of his fever. His eyes never left her as she bathed him; bringing him much needed relief.

It was now late in the evening and they were so engrossed in watching each other they didn't hear the door open. Jenna turned abruptly on hearing a slight cough from behind her and smiled weakly on recognising the visitor. "Oh Jeff, I didn't hear you come in," she said tiredly, events now catching up with her.

"I wanted to see how he was," Jeff replied, deep concern on his face. As Scott turned to look at his father with pained and streaming eyes, he saw how ill his son was. This recovery certainly wasn't going easy and it was taking its toll, not only on his son as Jeff observed. Sitting on the other side of the bed Jeff asked, "How are you feeling son?"

"I've…been…better," Scott gasped with painful shallow breaths.

"Here, let me do that," Jeff said gently but firmly, taking the sponge from Jenna and continuing to bathe his son. She gratefully relinquished, determined though to take only a few moments respite. "Why don't you go and get some rest, young lady. I'll stay a while," Jeff offered.

"I'm not leaving him like this," she snapped, thinking that Jeff meant for her to go to her room to rest, a room she had not used since she got here, preferring instead to stay in the infirmary. Scott turned to look at her and with a pained smile thought how fiery she was when riled but he could see how tired she was looking and knew that it was because of him.

"She's a real firebrand, isn't she?" Jeff remarked to his son, the memory of her sweeping into the lounge like a storm still fresh in his mind.

Without taking his eyes off her he replied, "Tell….me…about it."

Looking from father to son and feeling decidedly that she was being ganged up on she broke into a smile and shook her head. "Will you two stop that," she pretended to scold. "I guess it doesn't look like I've got any choice, does it?" Jenna added, knowing already the answer that was coming and at the same time knowing that she did need it.

"NO," came the unified response from father and son, making her laugh.

"All right," she said gratefully. "Thanks Jeff, guess I could do with some rest but I'm staying right here," Jenna continued adamantly, much to Scott's relief. He wanted her to get rest but where he could see her. "And you'll need to get some fluids into him," she instructed, wanting to make sure he was going to be well cared for. Jenna then showed Jeff how to give it to him so he wouldn't choke. He noted how tenderly she supported him while encouraging him to drink and how his son watched her intently as he drank, feeling almost like an intruder in a very highly intense and private moment.

Eventually pulling his gaze away from her he turned to his father. "Dad..there's…something..I….need…to..tell…you," Scott managed to say through a bout of coughing.

"No son, don't try to talk," Jeff insisted, seeing how painful it was for him to do so. "There's something I think you should know," he continued, looking to Jenna and back to Scott. "Jenna knows who we are, son," Jeff told him. For an instant Scott thought she must have told his father after all about his dreaming as he turned questioning eyes in her direction. As if sensing what his son was thinking, Jeff assured him, "No son, Jenna didn't tell me anything." "In fact, she tore strips of me for even asking her to divulge anything you might have said. Went on about something called patient confidentiality," Jeff responded with a widening smile of respect.

"She..did?" Scott asked, both impressed and admiring of the fact she would stand up to his father and the fact that she had adamantly refused to betray him. He would love to have seen that confrontation.

"Like I said, she's a real firebrand," Jeff remarked. He then went on to tell Scott of how she had swept into the lounge like a whirlwind, had seen the portraits and again had chewed him out for double standards, finishing with the account of how she demanded to know how he had come by his infection.

No longer able to keep his eyes open for want of sleep he realised that more and more he was falling in love with her and wondered if she could possibly feel the same for him. Jeff said he would take this first watch. As Jenna lay in the next bed watching him sleep she realised that despite having only seen him weak and vulnerable that she was falling more and more in love with him and wondered if for him it might be nothing more than being attracted to his nurse because of the situation in which he found himself.

By the early morning his fever had intensified, having alternated between chills. Now in the grip of another nightmare Jenna awoke to find Jeff battling to keep him cool.

"Wh..where….are..you..guys. No…no…don't…leave….do..don't…leave..me..here…it's..dark. Virg. Gordon….wh..where…are..you?" Scott called out, now bathed in sweat and completely oblivious to either her or his father's presence.