Of Insects and Illness Ch. 3
Disclaimer: I don't own the Thunderbirds or anything recognizable in this story.
Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. I'll try to get the next chapter up more quickly. I also do not have any medical knowledge whatsoever, so please forgive any glaring errors.
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Previously: "At least they'll have a few hours of rest." Jeff thought to himself knowing that if Alan was diagnosed with malaria after reaching the mainland, that rest periods could be few and far between.
Arriving at the mainland a few hours later, Jeff and his exhausted family were whisked off to the prestigious St. John's Hospital where the staff was waiting on the family to arrive. Dr. Singer had called ahead alerting them to the fact he would be arriving with a very sick young child in tow and to have an ER room waiting on him. As they arrived at the ER doors, Alan was quickly transferred to a waiting gurney and rushed inside while his family followed behind. As they pushed through the swinging doors, Robert informed Jeff that the boys would have to wait in the waiting room since he would be the only one allowed in the treatment room with Alan.
Turning to face his oldest, Jeff said, "Scott, I need you to watch over your brothers for me while I go with Alan. Can you do that for me son?" He hated putting the added weight on Scott's shoulder with his oldest already feeling guilty, but he had no other option.
"Yes Sir." Scott responded, even though he desperately wanted to be with Alan. He knew that his dad needed to concentrate on the baby of the family and couldn't do so if he were worried about the boys getting into mischief, especially young Gordon.
"Thanks son, I'll let you know something just as soon as I can. And Scotty, make sure you keep an eye out for anyone who looks suspicious." Jeff informed his oldest knowing that if the press heard about Alan, they would soon be descending on the hospital. Turning quickly, he jogged down to the treatment room that Alan had been taken into and was alarmed to see an IV port already being placed into his child' small limp hand as his baby boy cried.
"Robert?" He questioned anxiously, as he tried to comfort Alan while the nurse hung a clear bag of fluid from the stand and attached it to the port in Alan's hand once his pajama top had been removed.
"It's just a precautionary measure for now to keep Alan from becoming dehydrated since he threw up a couple of times on the way in." Dr. Robert Singer informed the anxious father as he started assessing his young patient's heart rate and blood pressure. As he worked, he became alarmed at the amount of heat emanating from Alan's small body. Grasping the tympanic ear thermometer he gently placed it into Alan's ear.
"Daddy. I'm c-c-cold." Alan whimpered as he drew his little arms and hands up to his chest as he tried to shift his ear away from the offending object being placed into it. He had barely finished the statement when his body began to shake uncontrollably.
"Allie." Jefferson gasped as he reached out to try and stop his youngest from hurting himself with the way he was flailing about on the bed.
"Damn it." Dr. Singer cursed knowing immediately that Alan was beginning to exhibit classic signs of malaria with the sudden coldness followed by rigor, which the child was going through now. "Somebody call the lab and get me a phlebotomist up here right away. Tell them I need a blood culture for malaria and I need it done yesterday." Robert called out as he grasped a small vial from the medicine cabinet and quickly injected a mild muscle relaxant into Alan's IV.
"Robert, I don't understand, how could Alan have malaria when he was vaccinated for it?" Jeff questioned suddenly remembering that he had had all of his boys immunized before they moved to their tropical island. It had been a very hectic day that time at the doctor's office and it had taken all his patience to keep his three youngest occupied and behaving themselves as they waited to get their shots.
"Jeff, the vaccine given for malaria is only effective about sixty percent of the time it is given. Chances are that the dose Alan received was not substantial enough to build up the antibodies in his blood for his body to fight off the disease."
"What, why the hell wasn't I informed of this information when I had my boys inoculated?" Jefferson queried, anger evident in his words.
"I wish I could answer that for you my friend. Apparently the doctor who vaccinated the boys didn't think the information was very important at the time or assumed that you already knew the odds of the vaccine not working." Robert answered somberly. He hated when something like this happened because not only did it cause a lot of heartache for the family members of sick children, but it caused him too look bad too.
"I'm sorry Robert, I shouldn't have exploded at you like that." Jefferson Tracy apologized sincerely. "It's just that I'm so worried about Alan."
"I totally understand Jeff, I would lose my temper too if it were one of my children laying there on the table." The doctor replied as he moved out of the way for the phlebotomist, who had just arrived, to draw some blood. Once the lab technician had completed drawing the required blood samples, Dr. Singer once again approached his now sleeping patient to take his temperature once again to find a reading of 103 degrees.
"Jeff, we're going to be moving Alan up to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit it just a few moments. You might want to go out and talk with your boys about what's going on while Alan is sleeping. The medication I gave him should keep him out for a few hours. Also, I am going to have Alan placed into one of our private rooms where all of you can visit with Alan at certain times of the day together." The doctor informed the harried looking father as he placed a cooling blanket over the young child to help bring his fever down.
"Thanks Robert, I would very much appreciate that." Jeff replied, grateful that he would be able to keep his boys with him most of the time. He knew however that there would be times that he would have to rely on Scott to stay with either his brothers or Alan while his baby boy was being treated. If need be, he would call Brains of Kyrano later to enlist their aid in helping to take care of his other sons. Standing beside Alan's bed, he carded his fingers through his baby's blond locks and whispered, "I love you Spout." Bending down to plant a kiss Alan on his fevered forehead, Jeff sighed and palmed his cheek tenderly before turning to leave the room. His other boys needed to know what was going on with their baby brother.
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"Scotty, what are they going to do to Allie?" Gordon asked as he gazed up at Scott, his green eyes misted with tears. He hated that the doctors had kept them from being allowed to go back with Alan and it petrified him to think something could happen to Allie while they were separated, sort of like what happened to their mom.
"They're going to do whatever it takes to make Alan better" Scott answered as he swiped the tears away that were beginning to roll down Gordon's cheeks with his thumbs.
"Like what?" The ten year old inquired as he chewed on his bottom lip.
"Well, they'll probably have to do a blood test to find out what is making Alan sick and then they'll start him on antibiotics or some kind of other medicine to help him get well." Scott answered, making sure his explanation wasn't too technical for the ten year old child.
"Do you think they'll keep him at the hospital tonight cause Allie won't like it if they make him stay here?" Gordon asked as he leaned into his brother's side with a yawn.
"Yeah, he'll probably have to spend the night, but Dad will make sure he's not alone Gordy." Scott replied as he grabbed his jacket off of the chair beside him and wrapped it around Gordon. It was obvious the copper haired child was nearing the end of his limits since it was the middle of the night. Easing his brother down so that he could rest his head in his lap, Scott began to hum as he ran his fingers through Gordon's hair to ease the child off to sleep.
"He is going to be alright, you know that don't you Scott?" Virgil queried as he noticed the worry lines etched into Scott's face. He hated seeing his older brother so worried.
"I sure hope so Virgil, I don't know what I'd do without him." Scott choked out turning his head away as his own eyes began to mist with tears. He didn't want to show weakness in front of his brother.
"Scott…" Virgil started to say something to try and comfort his brother when he noticed their father walking through the swinging doors that separated them from Alan. "Dad's here."
Walking into the ER waiting room, Jeff was glad to see the room fairly empty. At least there was no reporters lurking around trying to get a juicy story on his family. Glancing towards his children, he could see Gordon curled up with his head in Scott's lap fast asleep while John sat sleeping on the small love seat beside them and Virgil sat in a chair opposite from Scott. Striding over towards them, he could see the angst written on Virgil's face as he talked with his brother.
"Scott, Virgil, is something wrong?" Jeff asked as he kneeled in front of his sons and waited for an answer. He couldn't help but notice the way Scott took in a stuttering breath and wiped his eyes before turning to face him.
"No, were fine, how's Alan?" Scott answered, hoping his father didn't hear the slight quiver in his voice. The last thing his dad needed was to worry about him losing it.
"Robert's pretty certain he has malaria. He's ordered some blood tests to be sure." Jeff answered as he squeezed Scott's shoulder in comfort. "They're admitting Alan to the hospital and he'll be placed into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit so they can keep a close eye on him." Jeff answered softly.
"It's bad, isn't it Dad?" Scott asked as he scrubbed a hand across his mouth.
"I'm not going to lie to you son, it could be. The doctor said that there's a chance Alan could suffer some rough complications from the illness, but that doesn't mean that he will, we'll just have to pray for the best." Jeff stated offering words of encouragement to his oldest.
Trying to clear his throat of the lump that seemed to settle there, Scott asked, "When can we see him?"
"As soon as they get Alan settled, we can go up and be with him." Jeff answered as he palmed the nape of Scott's neck to feel him slightly trembling. He hoped that seeing the youngest would help to put some of Scott's fears at ease. He didn't need his oldest worrying himself sick and ending up in the hospital too.
TBC