Nosocomephobia - fear of hospitals
Everyone assumed that it was Gordon who had a phobia of hospitals, and in some way they were right. With his history no one would blame him, and indeed Gordon's hatred of hospitals was legendary.
Only four - no - three people knew of John's fear – his terror – of hospitals.
Scott and Virgil understood. John's phobia of hospitals went back further than his brother's hydrofoil accident. Further back than Scott's hospitalisation after being MIA for six months.
It went back to that fateful holiday.
They had lost Mom in the snow, nothing could be done to save her. But Scott and Alan, they were alive, barely, and they were both taken to the local hospital where John, Gordon and their Dad were waiting.
Both brothers were in serious trouble. Both had hypothermia badly. Alan had a broken leg but Scott had wrapped him in his own jacket and it had kept him from freezing to death. Scott, on the other hand…
Dad and Virgil were with Alan in a tiny cubical, but Scott was still being treated and no one was allowed into that area. There were so many casualties, however, that no one noticed an eight-year-old child slip behind the curtain to watch the medical team working on his unconscious big brother.
John didn't understand all the equipment, but he knew what the flat beep was, knew what paddles were for. Knew why they cried 'clear' before jolting Scott.
He'd seen enough movies to understand what was going on.
No one saw him slide down the wall, tears flowing freely, as he watched them trying to resuscitate his brother. No one noticed until they had used the machine four times.
John couldn't wait any longer and he ran up to the bed, grabbing Scott's hand and screaming for him not to leave them too. He clung on as a nurse tried to remove him and everyone was shouting for him to be taken out, and as soon as he was no longer touching Scott they tried one last time.
The resultant beep-beep gave John's heart a lift even as he was unceremoniously dumped outside the room. His Dad came racing over to him, having discovered that John was missing, and had scooped him up and carried him back to Alan's cubicle and held on tight as John cried himself to sleep in his father's arms.
John never told anyone how close they came to losing Scott, although he was pretty sure that his father would have been told. Scott and Virgil, while not knowing the full details, understood that he had this phobia and did their best to make sure he wasn't ever left alone when in one, whether he was an inpatient or a visitor, after he'd freaked out when Virgil had been hospitalised for appendicitis.
This time, John had no one to help him manage his phobia. Both Scott and Virgil were hospitalised due to a building collapsing on them during an aftershock and Gordon, Alan and Kayo were still working to rescue people.
John was on his own in the hospital. It took both Grandma and EOS talking in his ear to help him control his breathing as he sat in the double room, a brother unconscious on each side of him. They were just about close enough that he had hold of a hand each, clasping them in such a way that he could feel their pulses, and that, coupled with the voices in his ear, soothed him in a way the machinery couldn't.
He would never be over his phobia of hospitals, but with his family's help John knew he could cope with it when the need arose, and it would arise often in their line of work.