Thunderbirds and The Tracy Boys remain the creation of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
Chapter 27
"Don…don't…leave…dark….why….why…don't…you come…I'm..here…I'm…in..here," Scott continued to call out, his body trembling and shaking with the fever.
"Ssshh," Jenna soothed him as she now sat by him bathing his face with a cool cloth, Jeff continuing to keep his body cooled against the fierce heat that was consuming him. She didn't ask any questions but she could see by Jeff's face how painful this was for him to see his son like this.
"It was a rescue that went bad, Jenna," Jeff volunteered, completely out of the blue, "very bad." "They were in an old mine system, place should've been shut down years ago," he said angrily, thinking of the cost to his son. Jenna listened in silence as Jeff related the events.
"There were four men left to be rescued so they were told and Virgil had one safely in the Mole," Jeff said, then explained briefly what the Mole was and what it did. "They searched for the other three and found one man who had needed assistance. Scott told Virgil to get him back to the Mole while he continued the search. He had just entered a tunnel off the main one when there was a trembling and the roof caved in," Jeff added in a pained voice as he relived the events. Jenna closed her eyes, hardly able to bear the thought. "Virgil tried but couldn't get through to him and he had victims to get to the surface. Virgil had no choice and he needed to get Gordon and Alan, they had been in another part of the system," Jeff explained as if apologising for leaving him there.
Every time they had attempted to get to him more of the mine workings collapsed and they had to retreat until it subsided leaving them with more rubble to get through. "When they eventually got to him," Jeff related with a pained expression on his face, "he was pinned under beams, one across his shoulders and one across the back of his legs.
Jenna could feel tears sting her eyes as she continued to bathe his face. "Your scars, that's how you got them," she thought to herself, imagining how awful it must have been for him. It was what she had feared and she could hardly bear the thought of him alone and trapped in the dark. It wasn't the worst of it, though.
Jeff continued, finding it harder but he felt he owed it to her now to let her know what his son had been through. "And he was delirious, calling out like he is now," Jeff went on, "and he was…he was badly dehydrated."
"Dehydrated, badly dehydrated," she thought to herself. "He surely couldn't have been badly dehydrated in a matter of hours," Jenna pondered. "Jeff, just how long was Scott trapped?" she asked, an icy fear gripping her heart, wondering if she really wanted to hear the answer. She had promised Scott that she wouldn't ask him any questions but Jeff was fair game since he had brought the subject up. Jeff didn't answer at first, instead, looking to the floor and then closing his eyes against the thought. That icy chill just got colder. "Jeff," she called firmly, pulling him out of his trance-like memory. "How long was Scott trapped?" she wanted to know.
He looked her firmly in the eye. "Two days, Jenna, two days," Jeff admitted with a heavy heart.
"Noo," Jenna cried, feeling those tears spill out freely. "Why so long?" she asked, her heart aching for him as she continued to soothe him.
"That damn mine was unstable," Jeff replied angrily, "like I said, the place should have been shut down years ago. The boys had to work very carefully to avoid bringing anymore down on top of him." "Every time they tried there was another cave-in and it was like starting all over again," he said sorrowfully.
Scott tossed and turned, groaning as a bout of coughing wracked his body. Jenna administered more pain relief and got the distinct impression Jeff hadn't told her everything yet. "There's more, isn't there?" she asked cautiously, wondering just how it could be any worse.
Again Jeff was hesitant before answering. "They weren't given the right information," Jeff replied stiffly, remembering the anger he had felt on first hearing.
"What do you mean, Jeff, they didn't get the right information," she asked puzzled.
"They had found two of the men they were looking for," he explained. "But some bumbling little bureaucrat of a mine official forgot to inform them that the other two men they were looking for had made it out by themselves," Jeff finished off infuriated.
Jenna was horrified, as she looked first to Jeff and then to Scott, realising he had almost lost his life trying to save people that weren't there. "You mean he went in there for nothing, risked his life," Jenna said, her voice ready to break. Jeff nodded. She could well understand Jeff being angry; she couldn't blame him for she now felt a possessive anger of her own well up inside her and it was directed at a certain bumbling little mine official. "If I had gotten my hands on that little pipsqueak I'd have sent him to the floor," Jenna fumed indignantly.
Such was her indignation that the vision of her sending that little man to the floor was too much for Jeff and he had to laugh. He had already seen this firebrand when she was riled and certainly would not relish being on the receiving end of a flying punch from her fist or, at least, that's how Jeff thought she would have sent him to the floor. "I'm sure Scott would have appreciated that very much," Jeff said with a wry smile, still with the mental image in his mind.
She found herself breaking into, first a smile and then a laugh as she, too, caught the mental image, knowing as well that it was a release of tension from the horrific nature of the events told. "How long ago did this happen, Jeff?" Jenna asked gently.
"Almost two years," Jeff answered and then adding sorrowfully, "and he still won't talk about it."
Jenna nodded her understanding and wondered if perhaps, it was painful reasons like this that he hadn't wanted her to ask any questions.
Scott had now drifted into a fitful sleep so Jenna told Jeff it was his turn to go and get some rest. "I'm not leaving him like this," Jeff responded with the equal forcefulness that she had given him.
She half laughed and nodded in mutual respect, "Touche."
"We'll see him through this together," Jeff said with the calm authority of a Commander-In-Chief.
Jenna nodded her acceptance for, truly, she was grateful for his being there and she felt her fondness grow, despite their altercations, for this father who had been through so much.
"Yes, we'll see him through this together," she agreed with a smile. "Now, in the meantime you get some rest," Jenna insisted in the nicest possible way. "And that's an order," she added wryly, indicating the spare bed beside the desk.
"Yes, ma'am," Jeff responded with a wry smile of his own and as if accepting orders from a higher command.
Jenna laughed and shook her head. "You fly boys are all the same, aren't you?" she thought to herself, "no matter what age you are."
Jeff gladly took the opportunity of some much-needed rest, making her promise that she would wake him if necessary. It wasn't long before he fell asleep.
She remained at her vigil; keeping him cool and studying him as he tossed and continued in his delirium, she wondered if she could cope with a life like that, never knowing if one day he wouldn't come home or the having to wait like Jeff does with every rescue they go out on. She found herself thinking, that if she loved him enough she would rather spend one day of happiness with him than to have a lifetime of misery without him. Jenna thought again of all that he had been through and wondered just how many injuries he had suffered. With that in mind she bent down and lovingly placed a kiss on his forehead.
He slowly opened his eyes, having smelt her scent and being aware of her close proximity. He thought she had kissed him but then he couldn't be sure of anything, where he was; the lines between reality and that other place becoming blurred. On seeing he had opened his eyes she helped him to drink to quench his raging thirst and he watched her until his fever took him again.
His dreams became so merged in his mind he was unable to separate them, his nightmare and his thoughts of her. "Don't…leave…..don't …leave..me….Jen….I..n..need..you…Jen…wh..where...are..you…dark."
Jenna thought her heart would break. "Ssshh," she told him, "I'm right here." She stroked his face in order to reassure him but his agitation grew.
"Dar..dark…so..dark…Jen…please..n..need…you," Scott cried out.
Such was his agitation that she sat against the pillows and eased herself underneath him until he rested against her body; wrapping her arms around him she gently rocked him. "I won't leave you, I'm here," she whispered her promise, "I'm here." Eventually, with the gentle rocking motion and her whispered promises he calmed and fell into some semblance of a peaceful sleep. With the heat from his body and her own rocking motion it wasn't long before Jenna, too, succumbed to sleep.
That was how Jeff found them when he woke some hours later, his son resting in her arms. He looked so peaceful and seemingly free of his pain and she had obviously found it necessary to comfort him in such a way that Jeff hadn't the heart to disturb them, instead heading for the shower to freshen up.
Shortly after, Virgil came in with a breakfast tray and smiled to himself on witnessing the peaceful and cosy scene. He couldn't help but think how right they looked together and wished that his eldest brother could find happiness. He liked Jenna, he liked her a lot but she had never given him any indication that she was interested other than being friends.
On hearing softly spoken voices, Jenna opened her eyes; feeling that cosy contentment of having just woken beside someone you care about and feeling the weight of his warm body against hers she soon realised the source of that contentment. She now wondered, though, how she was going to extract herself from this position without waking him as seeing, for a little while at least, he had found some respite.
"Need some help," a grinning face said as he came across the room.
"Oh Virgil, yeah," Jenna replied, slightly embarrassed by the implication of his grin. "Though I don't want to wake him. If you could just ease him forward a bit, I could slip out," she instructed, caring that she shouldn't disturb him, knowing the night he had just had.
Virgil put his hands on Scott's shoulders and eased him forward slightly, allowing Jenna to slip out from under him, then laid him back against the pillows. Scott moaned in protest at being taken away from his comfort. Before heading for the shower Jenna asked Virgil to give Scott something to drink should he wake and how to go about it so that he wouldn't choke. "Just ask your father, he'll show you," Jenna smiled, looking towards Jeff as he was tucking into breakfast.
Stepping into the shower, she smiled to herself, thinking how natural and comfortable it had felt to have had him laying in her arms. She also thought of the intense feelings he had stirred within her, feelings of wanting him. "I think you need to take a cold shower, Jenna," she told herself, laughing lightly.
Scott moved restlessly in the bed, having felt robbed of his comforting warmth. He opened his eyes to observe his brother watching him. "Hey there buddy, how ya doing," Virgil asked, trying not to show the guilty anguish he felt at having been the one who had handed him those germ laden envelopes. "The boss says I've to give you something to drink if you wake up," Virgil grinned, as he reached for the cup of water. Supporting his brother he helped him to drink.
Now aware that she was no longer there he moved his eyes painfully around the room in an effort to find her. "Wh..where's…Jen?" Scott gasped, hoping she wasn't to far away.
"It's OK buddy," Vigil assured him. "She's just in the shower," he added, nodding in the direction of the bathroom. On turning back, he found Scott had started to shiver and tremble as the chill took over his body. Virgil and his father immediately piled the blankets around him in an effort to keep him warm and on coming back into the room Jenna gave him some more pain relief.
Tin-Tin had in the meantime left a breakfast tray for her and now Jeff insisted she have something to eat as she sat stroking his forehead. "Y.y.yeah…p.pleease.. Jen, get..s.some..thing..to…eat," Scott pleaded as he shivered, wanting to make sure she was taking care of herself.
He alternated this way, between chills and fever, for three days with Jenna sometimes keeping him warm by her body heat the way she had done earlier for fear that should he get too cold he would spike an even higher temperature. His brothers all took turns at sitting with him and cooling him as necessary, meaning that he had round the clock attention with everybody getting enough of a break. Tin-Tin did offer but was actually glad when Jenna said he had enough helpers as more than once he kicked off his sheet as his fever rose. His nightmares, too, continued until, at last, on the fourth morning he awoke tired, drained, though his pain considerably eased, his fever having broken during the night.
Her smiling face greeted him as he awoke. "Hi," she said softly, stroking his forehead.
