International Rescue and the Tracy Boys are the creation of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson

IloveSam: Sorry about John. Don't worry, he hasn't gone away, in fact, he's gonna pop up real soon.

Chapter 29

"Just leave it Jen," Scott snapped as he saw her coming with the basin of warm water and towels for his morning routine.

"You know I can't do that, Scott," Jenna replied, realising he was in a less than good mood, "we have a routine."

"Well, hang the routine," he continued in his annoyance. "Leave me alone, Jen. Just….leave me alone, please," Scott begged her, unable to bear her near him.

"Scott, I know you're tired and fed up. Why don't you just…..," she had started to say when he cut her short.

"Why don't I what, Jen. Why don't I lie back and enjoy it, is that what you were gonna say?" he said tersely, pulling his face into an angry frown. "Just don't patronize me," he added sharply, turning his face to the window.

"I have no intention of patronizing you, Mr Tracy," Jenna retaliated with equal sharpness. "What I was going to say was why don't you just try to relax," she added, feeling the need to defend herself against his quick assumption, "but you can enjoy it or not as you wish."

He continued to gaze out of the window, his thoughts, tortured confusion. How could he tell her that was his problem. That he did enjoy it, that he had got used to her touching him and even found himself looking forward to these times. How could he tell her of the pleasure it gave him but that it was killing him not being able to give her the same pleasure; that he wanted to know her body as well as she knew his. His sweet agony was, indeed, just that. The agony of wanting her, and yet, not knowing if she would respond or push him away. There were times when she had given him signals but they were always getting interrupted and never got the chance to find out. Perhaps the best thing was to push her away, make her dislike him and then he could end these tortured thoughts. That's what his head told him but his heart told him different.

"The way I see it, Mr Tracy, is you have two options," Jenna stated firmly, refusing to be intimidated.

He turned to her, frowning, a questioning look on his face. "And what might those be?" Scott demanded, knowing all she had to do was leave him alone.

"One. You lie back and let me get on with my job," she said, stating the obvious with the same firm tone in her voice.

"And the other?" he asked, wondering what she could possibly have in mind other than knocking him out, which, of course, was a ludicrous idea.

"And the other," Jenna replied, now with a wry smile breaking on her face. "The other is…I just send you to sleep and then get on with my job," she added and motioning her fingers as if she were injecting a syringe.

"You wouldn't dare," he responded incredulously but knowing she probably would have the audacity to do it.

"Oh…wouldn't I," she challenged him, with a fiery glint in her eye, "just try me." Another option entered her mind causing her wry smile to become broader. "Of course, there is a third option," she reminded him, looking at him with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"And what's that?" Scott asked, his frown deepening but he could feel her infectious and wicked grin begin to melt his icy exterior and burn through to his soul; finding this verbal exchange both exciting and stimulating.

"I send for Ruth Hiller," she replied quite casually and shrugging her shoulders. "She would just looove to get her hands on you," Jenna remarked, grinning and looking him up and down in an appreciative manner. "I..think…I have her number here somewhere," she added, pretending to look in her pocket for a telephone number.

For a moment Scott was speechless. Virgil had told him about Gordon and Alan's stunt in the infirmary the night he had been brought in after surgery and the threat of this woman called Nurse Ruth Hiller. He had remembered thinking it served them right for she, did indeed, sound like a scary prospect and now he was being threatened with her. The thought, though, of Nurse Hiller giving him a cold and clinical scrub like she was scrubbing the deck of a ship became too much for him; his frosty exterior broke completely and he laughed outright.

"So, which do you prefer?" she offered him as she smiled, looking him squarely in the eye.

His head told him he should prefer Nurse Ruth Hiller but his heart wanted Jenna Rollins. "All right, all right, you win," he conceded laughing, "just don't do that to me, please."

She laughed along with him, thinking how devastating he was when he laughed and hoped he would be able to do more of it, as he got better. He endured his 'sweet agony', followed by the exercises. Jenna gave him the rubber ball to exercise his right hand while she worked on his left arm, in an effort to stimulate some feeling, while at the same time, keeping the circulation going.

Gordon had left him the rubber ball when he and Alan had been down with him a few nights earlier. It was small and fitted easily into the hand, allowing you to flex your fingers over it and so strengthen your grip as well as the muscles in the arm. It had been something Gordon had used during his rehabilitation and had found more than useful, so much so, that he kept a few to use for whenever his own hands and arms felt stiff and tight. He had a plentiful supply and told his brother he could have more if he needed them. Jenna was most impressed with Gordon's ingenuity and had told him it was ideal and just what Scott needed. Scott had found it useful, as he was able to pick it up at any time of the day and flex his hand.

It was during these sessions that they got to know each other a little more, their likes and dislikes and Scott got to know more of her background. Gordon and usually one of his other brothers came down to help him with his leg exercises. He had had a setback with battling the fever but now Scott was getting back on track, although he found he still tired easily.

Grandma had made him some more fruity oatmeal for breakfast so Kyrano made him something equally light and tasty for lunch. He fell asleep a short time after and Jenna woke him some hours later.

Sitting reading at her desk, Jenna glanced over to see Scott reaching for a glass of water on his beside locker. Her immediate reaction was to go and help him, to get it for him but she held back, realising he was going to have to try things for himself if he was ever to get his life back. She observed him for a while, periodically glancing over the journal she was reading to see how he was managing.

He managed to reach the glass but instead of his fingers curling around the glass they only succeeded in pushing it farther away out of his reach. He gave up. Before getting up to retrieve it for him, though, Jenna noticed he was trying to push himself upright from where he had slipped sideways in an effort to reach the glass so she waited to see if he was going to be able to do that. The more he tried the more frustrated and tired he became as he just didn't have the energy to achieve it and Jenna couldn't bear to watch him struggle any more.

"Need some help?" she asked sympathetically.

"Yeah, guess so," Scott replied gratefully, knowing he wasn't going to get upright by himself and beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable.

She sat up close and facing him, lifting his right arm and placing it around her shoulder. "Just hold onto me," she said as she slipped her arms under his until her hands rested on his back. Jenna was aware of his muscles flinching as her hands touched him and he was aware of the warmth of her hands causing him to take in a deeper breath at her touch. "Are you…ready? I'll..lift..you…on..three," she told him, very aware now of their close proximity. They were, for all intents and purposes, locked in an embrace, only a hairs breadth between them as they gazed into each other's eyes. On the count of three, along with his help, she managed to straighten him up.

Somehow they weren't in that much of a hurry to part; he didn't take his arm from her shoulder and she didn't take her hands from his back. She felt that rush that comes with anticipation as she breathed in his scent, watching again as his eyes flitted from hers to her mouth and back again. Surely, this time fate couldn't be so cruel again she hoped as she began to weaken physically at feeling his arm around her.

He couldn't resist pulling her that little bit closer, he had to know, would she push him away. His heartbeat quickened at the thought of her moist, sensuous mouth on his. He had thought to take his time, enjoy the moment. Had he known, though, he would have thought about not wasting any time but, then, that's not how he wanted this first kiss to be, quick and hurried like some guilty high school kid getting caught out behind the bike shed.

"Eh…not..interrupting anything, am I?" a cautious voice asked.

They continued to look at each other briefly. Jenna could see his cheek muscles flinch in annoyance as she gave him a 'why does this keep happening to us' look.

"Damn, this is like livin' in a goldfish bowl," Scott thought irritably to himself. It was rapidly coming to the stage where he was going to kiss her and hang anyone who was there.

"Yeah John, actually you are. I desperately want to kiss your brother so just go away," she felt like saying when what she settled for was. "No, of course not. Scott just needed straightening up," she said as if needing to justify what she was doing.

"Oh good. I just wanted to tell you," John went on enthusiastically, talking to Scott, "I talked Dad into letting me stay, at least until you're on your feet." "Oh and that reminds me, Jen," John said, turning his attention to her. "Dad wants to know when Scott will be……….," he added but he didn't get to finish his sentence.

"He'll get a report when I'm good and ready," Jenna snapped irritably before walking off to the bathroom leaving a stunned looking John.

John shrugged his shoulders and gestured his open hands. "What'd I say?" he asked Scott, surprised and his voice rising in pitch.

"Women!" Scott replied matter-of-factly as if to say 'how would I know' but he wondered if she was as disappointed and annoyed as he was.

John went on to tell him how he had coaxed their father into letting him stay for another short while. By then more visitors arrived, keeping him occupied but every so often Scott would glance across, watching her as she sat at her desk engrossed in a book and when she looked across to him their eyes would lock.

When Jenna brought his meal to him the next evening Scott said he wanted to try it for himself rather than have her feed him, not that he didn't appreciate her it was just he wanted to start taking control of his life again, which pleased her. She brought the table over the bed and put everything within easy reach, then retired to the desk to start putting together this report. Not wanting him to know she was keeping an eye on him she tried to concentrate on writing but couldn't help, every so often, watching just to make sure he was managing.

He raised the fork to his mouth, got half way there and everything fell of unto the table. He tried again. It was hard enough even trying to get something onto the fork with only one hand especially when, sometimes, the plate would move on the table. He never imagined this would be so difficult. The peas he had given up on a long time ago as they kept rolling around the plate and spiking them had proved all but impossible; one having bounced like a rubber ball onto the table another having shot across the room.

(Author's Note: Was it a pea or was it Thunderbird 2!)

Jenna had to bite her lip to stifle a laugh and bury her head in her work at that one, although she knew really this was proving deeply frustrating for him but she didn't want to interfere, not unless he asked for her help.

Almost to his mouth this time when his hand shook slightly sending everything falling down round him. In a moment of anger and deep frustration he swiped the back of his hand across the table sending the plate crashing to the floor. He lay back against the pillows; angry and annoyed with himself he pulled his face into a heavy frown and closed his eyes.

On hearing the plate crash to the floor Jenna looked up, not at all surprised and feeling every sympathy for him. She realised he needed to feel seriously good about himself and on pondering for a few moments her face broke into a smile. She knew just what she needed to do.