Ch. 10

The minute John tapped him on the shoulder, Brains knew something was wrong. When he turned, he was startled to see John's panicked expression and his hand to his neck.

"John?" John dropped to his knees. "John!"

Brains looked over at John's plate, saw the half-eaten truffle and put two and two together. By now, a small crowd had gathered around them.

"T-t-try to keep him c-calm," Brains said urgently to Catrìona. She nodded and knelt down beside him, murmuring softly. Brains broke out of the circle and ran to John's jacket where it was hanging over his chair; he knew that John always kept a spare epi-pen with him at all times.

TB

Meyer watched, paralyzed with shock, as Tracy well to the ground. He hadn't realised the guy was allergic to nuts! He'd simply thought he didn't like them! Meyer felt awful. Already, he was wondering why he even pulled the trick in the first place.

He watched as Catrìona knelt beside John, putting an arm around him, murmuring soothing words, as Hackenbacker ran off-

Why did he run off? Meyer looked up, but his view was obscured by the crowd of scientists clustering around, trying to see what was going on. One of the medical experts that had given a talk that morning pushed through and joined Catrìona, rapidly asking questions. As she did so, Hackenbacker came back clutching an epi-pen. He handed it to the doctor, who quickly administered the drug inside. After a moment, John began shaking as the effect of the drug took place, and together Hackenbacker and the doctor heaved him up and helped him out of the room as quickly as they could. Hackenbacker shot him a very dirty look as they left.

The crowd dispersed, leaving Meyer standing by himself. He'd never seen anyone going into anaphylactic shock before; it wasn't something he particularly wanted to witness again. He watched as Catrìona and Radcliffe ran after them. As they reached the door, Brains paused and said something to Catrìona. She whirled round and stared at Meyer, her eyes furious. He dropped his gaze. He was going to endure some sleepless nights.

TB

John groaned and opened his eyes blearily. For some reason, he was lying down in a room that seemed to be completely white. As he focused better, he made out a figure sitting writing something on a worktop over by a door. He was aware of something covering his mouth, but trying to look at it made him feel busy, and he flopped back, exhausted. The figure turned.

"Mr Tracy? Can you hear me?" John nodded. The figure stepped closer to the bed, and John saw it was a middle-aged woman, with tight grey curls and a motherly expression.

She reminds me a bit of Grandma, but younger, thought John.

"Do you remember what happened?" she asked.

I was talking to that Meyer person, when... I tasted nuts in that truffle! I must have had an allergic reaction! He nodded again.

"Good," replied the woman. "My name is Dr. Taylor. I'm just going to go and tell your friends you've woken up. I won't be a moment."

John closed his eyes and thought back. Meyer had told him the truffles didn't contain nuts. Which must have meant that either Meyer hadn't tasted them, or John's one unluckily contained one by accident, or-

-Or Meyer had deliberately said they didn't.

Why would he do that? John hadn't even met the guy before, so what could he possibly hold against him? He yawned as a wave of fatigue swept over him. He'd try and figure it out later. For now, he needed to sleep. He'd forgotten how much the treatment took out of him.

TB

Meyer watched her storm over to him patiently, and, for some reason, that just made Catrìona all the angrier.

"I sincerely hope you didn't know he was allergic to nuts when you gave that to him," she growled. She was a little satisfied to see him bow his head like a chastised child, but she continued to glare.

"I didn't." Meyer looked up at her, scowling. "I thought he simply didn't like them." He winced after saying it. Catrìona gaped at him.

"He asked you and you still lied? You eejit! When someone asks you if something contains something, the chances are they do it for a reason!" She didn't care that some people were beginning to stare. She'd had it with this man ever since the first day, and this was the final straw. "I can't believe you'd be so stupid! You're supposed to be the head of a huge company! You're supposed to be intelligent and have common sense! I... argh!" She ran her hands through her red hair in frustration and turned on her heel. Meyer watched her go regretfully.

I think I may have just damaged my chances of getting her to go with me on a date.

TB

Brains steeled himself as he put out the call. He'd shut himself in an empty closet down the corridor from the main conference room, and had activated the transmitter on his watch. He just hoped no one else was around in the Tracy lounge right now.

"This is Tracy Island, go ahead, Brains." Brains groaned inwardly. Scott was the biggest mother-hen he'd ever seen, and right now, Brains wasn't sure he could cope with that. On his watch, he could see Scott's face, with Virgil peering over his shoulder. Even worse.

"H-hi, Scott. Is your, ah, f-father nearby?"

"He's probably down at the pool, but he'll have heard the signal. What's up?"

Brains kneaded his forehead, an uncharacteristic show of emotion. "I'll w-wait until, ah, he c-comes."

"No need, Brains." Jeff Tracy's voice floated through the speakers on Brains' watch, and his face appeared a moment later on the dial, Scott moving over to allow his father some space. "What is it?"

Brains sighed. This was it.

"Ah, I'm j-just calling, um, t-to tell you, ah, that J-john had, um, an allergic reaction earlier t-today, but-"

"He what?"

"Scott, p-please." Brains sighed. He'd known Scott would react like this, but he really didn't want to have to deal with it. He needed to get back to the first aid room and see how John was, and then he would need to make sure Catrìona hadn't murdered Meyer. There would be far too much paperwork.

"Sorry, Brains."

"J-john had an, ah, allergic r-reaction to s-something, um, he ate, and is now r-resting in, ah, the f-first aid room under the c-care, um, of one of the m-medical experts here," said Brains. "The first aid r-room, ah, is s-surprisingly w-well equipped." On the tiny screen, Jeff's face relaxed slightly.

"So long as he's in good hands. Could you maybe get him to call later, once he's rested up a bit?" Jeff remembered how much the treatment could take out of John; the adrenaline rush almost always left him feeling knackered.

"Of c-course," replied Brains. A sudden bang outside caught his attention.

"What was that?" asked Virgil sharply.

"I d-don't know," said Brains, opening the closet door slightly to peer out.

sorry to leave you hanging there, but i'm afraid i can't guarantee any updates for the next couple of weeks *cringes* i've got two auditions coming up, one for the rncm in manchester and the other for the rsamd in glasgow, and i'm afraid these take precedence. they also mean travelling a lot, since i live in the very north of scotland (keep going... nope, you've fallen in the sea, i don't live quite that far up) so it's a long way to anywhere, really. add homework and youth orchestra to that...

the good news is, i've got the next chapter written, so i might be able to at least post that, but after that... anything's possible, i'm afraid.