Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds or its characters!
Chapter 8
Jeff was having lunch in his office when his phone vibrated. "Jeff Tracy." He answered.
"Dad." Alan responded hesitantly.
"Alan? Are you alright? Isn't it two in the morning there?" Jeff was suddenly concerned.
"Yeah, but I'm always up this late. I figured this time would be better for you." Alan reasoned.
Jeff sighed, "It is. I guess I'm just a little shocked. We haven't talked in four months."
"John told me I should call you." Alan admitted.
"I'm glad he did. I was getting worried." Jeff confessed.
Alan could never tell if his dad was being genuine. "You do know phones work both ways?" Alan spat sarcastically.
"I wanted to give you some space." Jeff justified.
"I didn't call you to argue. Can we for just once have a talk that doesn't end with us yelling?" Alan begged.
"How are you? Virgil told me you found a college you liked. You know I'm here to help anyway I can." Jeff asked.
"That's not why I called." Alan interrupted.
"Alan, you know you can tell me anything. Virgil also told me you were having a hard time." Jeff offered.
"Dad, have you ever been around someone who was dying. Not like dying from an accident, but by an illness?" Alan wondered.
"You're grandfather, my dad died of gastric cancer. I wasn't there as much as I should have been, I'll admit, but I was there for the end." Jeff informed. "Why do you ask?"
"My girlfriend's dad has a heart condition. The doctors thought they had it under control until a few days ago. He had a stroke." Alan explained.
"I'm not going to lie Alan. It's easier to walk away. Especially, if you know the person is going to get worse. No person really wants to be remembered that way." Jeff advised.
Alan cleared his throat to try to keep himself restrained. "Part of me wants to walk away. But I could never do that to Carter." Alan mumbled. "Carter doesn't have the choice to leave. Her dad's a single parent."
"Would it help if one of your brothers came down and stayed with you? I know they wouldn't be much help, but at least you'd have someone. John is scheduled to go back on 5 next month. But Gordon or Scott could come for a while." Jeff offered.
Alan hated to take one of his brothers away from IR. Even for a few weeks. "I don't want to take them away from IR. Other people need them more than me. I'll be fine." Alan promised.
"Alan, what do you want, Thunderbirds aside?" Jeff demanded.
"Dad, I told you I'll be fine. I've got to go. It's getting late and I need to be at the hospital early." Alan rushed.
"I'll talk to your brother's okay." Jeff said apparently hearing his distress.
The next few days were better. Only Mr. Murphy wasn't doing better. He was at home, but needed help often. Alan was over at Carter's house helping her with her father. Alan had been so busy he had almost forgotten that John was going home soon.
Luckily, John understood the situation. In all truth John was thankful to be coming home. It upset him to see his brother so warn down. Alan was so busy helping Carter's dad he was forgetting to take care of himself.
"Miss me?" John joked hugging his brothers.
"How was the conference?" Virgil inquired.
"Boring, but informative. Like every other NASA conference." John reasoned.
Scott nodded, "How's the sprout?"
"He was great until last week. Carter's dad came home from the hospital. He needs a lot of help." John said thoughtfully.
"Why can't the hospital assist him?" Gordon wondered. "I'm sure they have homebound nurses."
"They do, but Carter's dad has pretty much given up. Alan told me he is refusing outside help." John breezed.
"Is Alan okay with helping out that much? That puts a lot of pressure on him." Jeff asked.
John shrugged, "I don't think Alan has a choice anymore. He is determined to be with Carter."
"Where is Aunt Mary? Doesn't this affect her?" Jeff pondered.
"Aunt Mary is in the middle of closing a deal on a house. She's barely home." John informed.
"When I talked to him last week I asked him if he wanted one of you boys to come stay with him. He said no, but what do you think? Do you think Alan needs one of us there?" Jeff said worriedly.
"Defiantly, the kid gets up at the crack of dawn, goes straight to Carter's, and comes home at two or three in the morning. Oh and that's if he comes home. Sometimes he crashes on Carter's couch." John elaborated. "He needs someone to ground him, preferably someone who isn't afraid of his temper."
"Well that settles it. I'm the one going." Scott smiled.
"I stand up to Alan just as much as you. Plus I can train on the beach." Gordon argued. "I'm closer to his age."
"Exactly, Alan doesn't need another kid." Scott snapped. "You need to focus on your training. Right now I'm a sitting duck other than missions."
"Scott has a point Gordon. I don't want this to interfere with your plans. Depending on how long it drags out you can replace Scott." Jeff compromised.
Jeff called Alan, but got no answer. He left a message telling Alan that Scott would be coming tomorrow. Jeff told Scott he could wait a few days, but Scott wanted to get out of the house.
Scott had honestly missed Alan. He knew Alan and him hadn't left things on the best note. Scott had sided with their Dad. Scott worried about Alan more than any of his brothers. Alan was the youngest by a large gap. Scott was twelve years older. They had little in common.
When Scott landed in Houston his aunt was there to pick him up. "Where's the sprout?" He asked on instinct.
"Carter's dad went into cardiac arrest a few hours ago. He couldn't leave the hospital." Mary explained.
"Could you drop me off at the hospital before heading back to work?" Scott implied.
Mary nodded, but didn't say anything else. It wasn't hard for Scott to find the waiting room. He was all too familiar with them. Alan and a dark haired girl were asleep. The girl, whom Scott assumed was Carter rested against Alan.
Scott reached out and gently shook Alan's leg. "Scott? I thought you were coming next week." Alan asked tiredly.
"Don't you check you're messages? I decided to come early." Scott whispered trying not to wake up Carter. "Any news?"
Alan shook his head. "No, but no news is good news right?" Alan tried.
Alan looked run down. "Hey I'm going to go ask the nurse if they've heard anything?" Carter said getting up.
"How's she doing?" Scott inquired.
"I think she's just ready for it to be over. He doesn't even look like himself anymore." Alan said rubbing his hands over his face.
"Anything?" Alan asked Carter.
She shook her head. "They said the doctor would come find us as soon as he's done." Carter kissed him. "You should go home. Get some sleep. You've been up longer than me and your brother's here."
"I want to stay here with you." Alan insisted.
Carter kissed him again. "Go home. I already called my grandmother. She's on her way. Say you love me and leave." She ordered.
"You're so bossy, but I love you." Alan stated kissing her.
"Give me your keys." Scott demanded.
Alan looked confused. "I'm fine to drive Scottie. Plus you don't know where we're going." Alan criticized.
"Yeah, it's so hard to get lost on a freaking island when you live on the shoreline. Hand them over sprout." Scott ordered opening his hand.
Alan gave up and handed him the keys. He was too tired to argue. Despite the fact that Alan and his oldest brother rarely got along he was glad Scott was there. John had been annoying, but near the end it was nice having him to talk to. Scott seemed generally neutral about the situation. Scott was never neutral when it came to family. He either agreed with you or he was determined stop you.
"Thanks for coming. How was your flight?" Alan mumbled.
"Long and slow. I guess I'm just used to Thunderbird 1 now." Scott mentioned.
"Sorry I didn't check my messages." Alan apologized.
Scott nodded, "Don't worry about it. You've got a lot going on. You should call Gordon though. I think he feels rejected."
"Why would he feel rejected?" Alan wondered.
"You called Virgil and Dad. Then, John and I got to visit. So far he's the only one left out." Scott summarized.
"Now I feel dumb." Alan admitted.
Scott smiled, but said nothing. Once they got home Alan went to sleep and Scott made dinner.