Chapter 9: The Aftermath
Brains was finally able to convince Grandma Tracy to go to bed around midnight, though she had actually fallen asleep hours before. He promised that he would stay there to watch over the boys and let her know if anything happened, or if any word made it to them about Kayo. Max and EOS were still working on the antenna, having come across a part that they did not currently have in stock, they had to figure out a work around for it. Normally Brains would have been up to the challenge, but even he was drained by the day's events. It was the middle of the night, almost nearing dawn. Brains was sitting at the desk, sipping some coffee, reading some new material he had downloaded a few days ago. The words on the tablet were blurring together and even he was having trouble making sense of them. He had just leaned back to stretch when he heard a groan come from behind him. He popped up from his chair and glanced at each of the beds, to figure out which of the Tracy's were waking up. It was Virgil.
Brains was over by his bedside in a moment, checking his monitors, IV, and hand. He lifted his eyelid and flashed the light in it, and was thankful to see it retract quickly. Virgil moaned again and reached up with his bad hand to bat the annoying light away. Brains ducked and took hold of his arm to keep him from slamming it down and causing him a good amount of pain.
"John, Alan," He moaned again, as he tried to pull his arm away from Brains.
"Virgil, c…can you hear me?" Brains asked as he continued to hold onto his arm, "Your s…safe now. John and Alan are o…okay."
"Thunderbird 3… I can't control her…" Virgil had opened his eyes, but didn't seem to know where he was. Brains was concerned, but knew if he swung his arm around anymore he could cause even more damage. His decision made, Brains ran to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a syringe and vile. He filled the syringe, making sure to get rid of the air bubbles and then injected it into Virgil's IV. Slowly the drug made it's way into Virgil's blood stream and he calmed down and faded back into a deep sleep. Brains realized at that moment, that he had not given the boys any kind of pain medicine. He had been so intent on their physical injuries, making sure they were properly taken care of, that it hadn't occurred to him that they had also been in pain. He chastised himself as he went around and gave them all doses hoping they would forgive him when they woke up.
Brains returned to the desk and sat down. He tried to continue to read his tablet, but soon found his head on the desk, his breathing slow and even. He slept for the next few hours until EOS appeared opening up the security feed from the lounge.
"IS ANYONE HERE? BRAINS? GRANDMA," Kayo yelled at the empty room around her. Brains rubbed his eyes and stood to go meet her, but EOS stopped him.
"Grandma Tracy is on her way," She reported. Nodding Brains turned to check on the boys one more time before Kayo arrived.
Kayo turned around and looked throughout the large lounge and even up on the small balcony above hoping for anyone to show up when she suddenly heard her name,
"Kayo!" Kayo spun to find Grandma Tracy walking out from deeper in the house, "Thank goodness you're okay! We have been so worried about you!" Kayo leapt into the older woman's arms who hugged her back with force.
"Where are the others? Where are the boys?" Kayo pulled away tears running down her face, "We saw the birds, what happened?"
"We?" Grandma Tracy asked as she looked out toward the pool and happened to see Lady Penelope and Parker just coming to the top of the stairs, "Oh good, they're here too."
"Grandma!" Kayo begged.
"First, I want you to settle down for a moment," Grandma Tracy instructed, "Dry your eyes and take some deep breaths."
"But," Kayo tried to protest, but the firm look from Grandma Tracy cut her argument off. Kayo frowned and wiped her eyes on the back of her arm, bringing her bandaged wrist to Grandma Tracy's attention.
"Looks like you could use a little TLC as well," She commented as she took Kayo's hands into her own and examined them.
"Grandma Tracy, I am so pleased to see you well," Lady Penelope announced as they finally caught up, "But what in the world has happened?"
"We've had a bit of a rough day," Grandma Tracy replied a small smile on her lips, "Now that Kayo is home, everything is fine."
"But what about the others?" Kayo begged squeezing the hands that held hers.
"I'll take you to them. They are hurt, but they are Tracy's. They will survive," She smiled as she waved for the three to follow her down the slightly hidden hall that led to the more secretive parts of Tracy Island.
They followed Grandma Tracy to the infirmary, a room nobody liked and had hoped would never use. However, when Jeff Tracy had built the room, he had built it for a worse case scenario. Ten beds, with all the equipment and technology of the finest hospitals. Grandma Tracy paused for a moment and turned to face the three behind her,
"Now, before I open the door, I want you to listen to me." She waited until all three had nodded before proceeding, "Brains will be able to give you a more detailed analysis of their conditions, but they are going to be okay. No matter what it looks like, they are going to be okay." She opened the door and the three looked in to the occupants of the infirmary. Five of the ten beds were occupied, three along one wall of the long room and two along the other. Brains was standing next to one of the beds looking at a chart and turned when he heard the door open.
"Kayo!" He exclaimed upon seeing her, "I…I'm so glad you're okay!" But Kayo wasn't listening, she had her hands to her mouth and tears running down her face.
"Come now, Kayo," Grandma took her by the arm and led her farther into the room.
"What happened," Kayo almost screamed looking frantically between Grandma Tracy and Brains.
"W…we don't really know the details," Brains frowned looking from the boys to the small group before him, "But I will tell you everything that I do know." Kayo clenched her teeth and nodded. Brains walked over to the first bed, the one closest to Kayo where the oldest, and seemingly less damaged, of the brothers lay and began to explain what they knew.
"Scott and Gordon left in T…thunderbird 2 just after your communications broke up. We l…lost contact with them just after noon. They were in the middle of searching for you," Brains explained catching them up with the events.
"That must have been," Kayo gasped and clenched her fists at her sides.
"Kayo?" Grandma Tracy kept her arm around the young girl as she started to shake.
"If I had only been able to stop that machine," Kayo shook her head as she relayed to the others the events that had happened to her on that ship and how it had been her fault Thunderbird 2 had crashed.
"Kayo, there is no way any of this is your fault," Grandma Tracy shook her slightly to get her attention.
"But, if I had told Scott where I was, if i had checked in like he asked me to…"
"If horses had wings and could fly," Grandma Tracy shot back, "There is no point in thinking of all the what-ifs. You did what you could at the time, nothing less. Do you understand me?" Kayo wanted to argue, but knew better and just nodded.
"Was Scott the one that landed Thunderbird 2," Penelope asked.
"No, Scott was actually in the m…med bay strapped to one of the beds. Gordon was the one that landed Thunderbird 2." They all turned their heads to the next closest bed, on the other side of the room. They all moved in a little group and gathered around Gordon.
"Gordon's injuries are pretty straight forward," Brains explained pointing to his broken nose and bandaged hand, "I doubt these happened when Thunderbird 2 crashed."
Kayo couldn't help but feel responsible for the two brother's injuries, but choose not to voice her thoughts at the moment. She looked over at the remaining three beds and then turned to Brains, "What happened to them then?"
"We think someone h…hacked into Thunderbird 5," Brains announced. Kayo's knees buckled and she fell to the floor almost taking Grandma Tracy with her. Penelope caught her in time and helped in lowering her safely down. Brains knelt down in front of her pulling a small flashlight from his pocket checking her eyes as she stared blankly ahead, "I should p..probably give you a full exam as well."
"T…they were hacking her," Kayo gasped, "They were hacking Thunderbird 5." Brains leaned back and stared at Kayo in shock.
"How do you know? and who is they?"
"The men who had the EMF device that caused us to crash. They had gotten an access code from someone at Tracy Industries," Kayo announced as she felt around her pockets looking for something. She unzipped a pocket and pulled out a small drive handing it over to Brains, "I took this from their computer. I don't know if it'll help or not."
Brains took the small drive and walked over to his tablet, "EOS, look through this. It may have some information on our hackers."
"Absolutely!" The AI announced in an overly cheerful voice, "We're almost done building the antenna as well, soon I will get my revenge."
"I m…may have to block her from using the antenna," Brains mused as he turned back to the others who were staring at him in surprise, "She came down with John." He waved them off and returned to the group leading them over to Virgil's bed one down from Scott.
"After your distress call, Scott ordered Virgil to go with Alan to get John off of Thunderbird 5. B…because of the hacker he was not able to use the Space Elevator," Brains explained.
"Wait, Virgil? In space?" Penelope asked a little shocked.
"I thought Virgil couldn't do space," Kayo tried to clarify.
"He doesn't. N…not well, at least," Brains confirmed, "Scott and him argued for a bit, but Scott had made his decision, so Virgil went."
"I wonder how long he lasted," Parker mused.
"Well, he wasn't the one we found strapped in the med bay, so longer than normal. Maybe after this he'll be able to do more in space," Grandma Tracy suggested.
"N…no, he is severely dehydrated, and there was some blood in his mouth," Brains shook his head, "I imagine he was throwing up most of the time they were up there. N…normally he would have been brought right back down, but something happened."
"The hacker said he was able to control the gravity, thrusters, and the airlocks," Kayo explained.
"That makes sense," Brains nodded, "Just before I lost contact with Thunderbird 3, they had just made visual contact with Thunderbird 5. They said that the gravity ring was going crazy and that the ship itself was b…bouncing around."
"With John on board," Penelope asked frowning.
"Y..yes. Virgil and Alan had to cut the power to the gravity ring so they could go get him," Brains continued,"I stayed in contact with them, for a bit, but lost contact after they had boarded Thunderbird 5,"
"At some point, Virgil broke his hand. Maybe when the airlocks opened," Grandma Tracy added.
"Wait, if Thunderbird 5 was acting all crazy, then Thunderbird 3 probably wasn't able to dock, right," Kayo asked.
"That is c…correct."
"So then, Virgil had to do an EVA… if not multiple ones."
"That is a p..possibility."
"Oh, dear," Penelope shook her head, "But what about John?" The group then moved to the next brother across from Virgil, a bed down from Gordon.
"John is severely concussed, though it may not look it, he was thrown around T…Thunderbird 5 pretty badly," Brains then leaned over and opened each of John's eyes watching as they contracted slowly against the light above them a hopeful sign.
"So he was probably unconscious when they arrived," Penelope asked.
"More than likely, but when we retrieved them off of Thunderbird 3 John was in the co-pilot seat, so he w…woke up at some point."
"Only to get knocked out again," Parker shook his head.
"Where was Alan when they landed," Kayo asked looking over at the last occupied bed in the room. Grandma Tracy was almost holding Kayo up she was shaking so bad, as they moved over to that bed.
"I…I'm unsure what exactly happened to Alan. He had a c…compound fracture to his left arm. Something also sliced his abdomen open, though luckily not very deep," Brains explained shaking his head.
"They probably weren't prepared when the airlocks were opened," Penelope pointed out, "They had to grab something and both broke bones in the process."
"That is v…very likely, Lady Penelope," Brains looked down at the chart to see if there was anything else.
"Kayo, come sit down on the bed," Grandma Tracy announced suddenly and led her over to one of the empty beds.
"Yes, l…let me check your vitals," Brains walked around the bed and once again flashed his small light in her eyes.
"She's hurt her wrists as well," Grandma Tracy announced as she lifted her arms to show Brains. Kayo just sat quietly her mind running with everything she had been through and everything she had just learned about the others as Brains went through and checked her out.
"Brains," Kayo spoke as Brains was getting ready to listen to her heart, "Why couldn't we contact the island? What happened to the communications antenna?"
"Thunderbird 3 c…clipped the island taking it out as she landed," Brains explained, "Max is working on making a temporary one. These wrists were bandaged nicely."
"Yes, a friend of mine took good care of her," Penelope explained, "She is a fine nurse."
"Yes, I can see that," Brain nodded, "Kayo." Kayo wasn't listening anymore she had zoned out once again her brain working. "Kayo!"
"Huh?" Kayo jumped at being yelled at and blinked slowly.
"I want you to stay here for a little, get some fluids in you," Brains announced as he walked over to the medicine cabinet and pulled out another IV bag of fluid.
"No, Brains, I'm fine," Kayo tried to stand up, but found that her legs were turning traitor and didn't want to support her weight.
"This i…is not a discussion," Brains said, walking toward her with the IV needle in his hand. Realizing that she was not going to be able to make a break for it, she leaned back in the bed and turned her head. She never did like getting stuck with needles, but knew the less she fought the faster it would be over with.
"Ow!" Brains wasn't quite as practiced with putting the IV's in as Virgil was, and Kayo glared at him for a moment as he apologized.
"Once the bag is empty, you'll be free to go," Brains instructed her, and then turned to Penelope and Parker, "Are you two okay?"
"Oh yes, perfectly fine. We unfortunately missed out on the adventure this time," Lady Penelope frowned looking over the boys, "How long do you think think they will be unconscious?"
"Virgil a…actually woke last night. He was confused and disoriented, so I sedated him," Brains explained, "He should wake up this morning sometime. As for the o…others, soon I hope." Kayo was watching each of the boys hoping for some sign of consciousness when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"It's going to be okay, Kayo," Penelope announced.
"I know. I just can't believe how crazy this all is," Kayo shook her head and looked down at her bandaged wrists.
"You said they got the access code from someone at Tracy Industries, didn't you?"
"Yes, they bought it from someone there. I didn't recognize the guy, but I think he was after the company. He thought that they may have found some secret project the company was working on."
"Well, they weren't completely wrong," Parker pointed out.
"I think we have some work to do, Parker," Penelope looked over at the boys again, "Contact me as soon as your are able and let us know about the boys."
"We promise," Grandma Tracy nodded.
"L…lady Penelope wait a moment," Brains walked to the door where Max was waiting, "Looks like Max finished the temporary antenna. It is not very strong but at least we'll be able to stay in c…contact." Max rolled forward and handed Lady Penelope a large black box. "You can use this to contact us."
"Not very pretty is it," Lady Penelope commented and Max slumped in disappointment, "But I'm sure it works wonderfully." Max perked up a little and Parker and Penelope left with Brains. Grandma Tracy stayed behind next to Kayo's bed looking over the girl, concerned.
"You're still not thinking this is all your fault are you?"
"How is it not?" Kayo argued slumping down in the bed.
"According to Brains, the hacking had started earlier in the week. They still would have had to go up and get John."
"But it would have been Scott, not Virgil," Kayo countered.
"True, but that doesn't mean Scott couldn't have been injured as well. And once they found the source of the hacking, they may have crashed anyways since they already had that AED thing."
"EMF."
"Whatever. The point is, in some weird way, it was a good thing that you had disappeared."
"How is that?"
"Well, if you hadn't you may not have ended up on that ship, and gotten that drive, or found out it was them doing the hacking."
"I still don't like it."
"I'm not asking you to like it," Grandma Tracy smiled and patted her hand, "I'm just asking you not to blame yourself for things you cannot control."
"I'll work on it," Kayo frowned.
"I suppose that's a start," Grandam Tracy stood and started to the door, "I'll go get you some breakfast. If they start to wake up just let EOS know, she'll alert us."
It was over an hour later when Kayo looked up at the bag hanging next to her, the level of fluid having only dropped about a third of the way, "Brains." She looked over to the desk where the engineer was sitting again, "How long is this going to take?"
"Oh, the entire bag, about four hours," He responded.
"What?"
"But, since you ate a good breakfast, and if you promise to keep drinking water today, I can take it out now."
"Yes, please! I can't stand just sitting here doing nothing," Kayo begged. Brains couldn't help but smile at the girl. He had noticed her tapping her fingers and fiddling with her jumpsuit, picking at a random sticker on the bed, and other things to keep her mind busy. She was not one to take being made to sit still. Brains had just pulled the needle from her arm when once again a moan echoed through the quiet room. They both looked up and across the room, Virgil had started to stir.
Kayo jumped from her bed, Brains right behind her, and they were by his side in an instant.
"Virgil?" Kayo called as she leaned over the bed, "Virgil can you hear me?"
"Where am I?" Virgil mumbled, "What happened?"
"Y…you crash landed. You're on T…Tracy Island," Brains responded, as he watched his heart monitor and blood oxygen levels closely.
"Crashed…. John! Alan!" Virgil started to sit up his eyes wide but both Kayo and Brains put their hands on his shoulder and kept him from popping up.
"They're alright, everyone is back home. Safe and sound," Kayo answered soothingly. Slowly Virgil blinked and looked up at the two above him.
"Kayo? You're alright?"
"Yeah, just a couple bumps is all."
"Scott and Gordon found you okay?"
"Well, not exactly," Kayo frowned and looked over at Brains.
"What happened?" Virgil tried to sit up again, but the two would not let him.
"You need to rest some more, Virgil," Brains ordered him.
"I want to know what is wrong with my brothers," Virgil growled, "Where are they?"
"They're right here," Kayo answered, moving down the bed a little so Virgil could see Scott off to his side.
"And Gordon?"
"Just over there," Kayo loosened her grip so he could sit up on his elbow and see his other brother.
"What happened to them?"
"We don't exactly know," Brains reported, "We'll need to wait till they wake up to find out."
"But weren't you with them," Virgil asked looking at Kayo.
"No, they never found me. Lady Penelope brought me home."
"Damn," Virgil slumped back down onto his bed.
"H…how are you feeling?"
"Like crap."
"C…could you be more specific?"
"My hand is throbbing," Virgil sighed knowing that Brains was just running down the checklist he himself had created, "My head hurts too, but it's more like the shadow of a headache. Chest is a little sore, and I've got an awful taste in my mouth."
"I didn't think to x-ray your chest," Brains mused.
"No need, they're not broken. I think it's just from all the dry heaving I did."
"Yes, I assumed that may have happened," Brains nodded as he made note of the empty fluid bag, "I'll refill this, I'm sure you need the fluids."
"I'm sure i do," Virgil agreed gruffly.
"Would you like some more pain killers?"
"When did you give them last?"
"Um, this morning, maybe three hours ago. But I only gave you a small dose."
"Nah, I can stand it for a few more hours, but then I want a full one."
"Of course," Brains walked away to enter some more data into Virgil's chart and to collect a new bag of fluids.
"Kayo, can I ask two favors of you?"
"Sure, anything."
"Sit me up, and a glass of water?" Kayo smiled as she hit the button to raise the head of the bed so that Virgil wasn't limited to the view of the ceiling anymore. Once he was satisfied that he could see all of his brothers, she made her way over to the small kitchenette and filled a cup with ice.
Virgil didn't say much, just sucked on his ice as he watched his brothers. They knew not to push him to talk about the events up there, he would tell them in time. Brains eventually made his way out of the infirmary leaving Kayo to alert him if the other's woke up. Soon after he had left, Grandma Tracy arrived, EOS having alerted her to Virgil's awakening. She smothered him with love, which embarrassed Virgil a little, and promised him some of her homemade cookies, which caused Virgil to pale a little. She left soon after, and the two sat in silence.
They didn't talk much as the hours passed on, Grandma Tracy brought them some lunch, which was edible, and then left them with a deck of cards. Kayo had to help him organize his cards in his one good hand, without looking at them, and also play the cards. Several times Virgil tried to grab a card with his splint hand, only to realize at the last second it wasn't going to work. Kayo laughed and reached out to grab the card he wanted to lay down. They played several games, and the day had dragged on to evening when another of the brothers decided to wake up.
Scott had groaned loudly which caused Virgil and Kayo to jump at the sound. Kayo spun around to go to Scott's side, but then stopped and turned to face Virgil again, "You stay right there," She ordered. Virgil frowned but hiked himself higher in his bed to get a better look at his older brother. "EOS, let Brains and Grandma Tracy know Scott's awake."
"They have been informed," EOS replied and then mumbled, "I don't see why those two can wake up and not John."
"He's just not ready yet, EOS," Virgil replied feeling sorry for the young AI.
"I know," She replied and then her presence disappeared from the infirmary.
"Gotta find Kayo," Scott mumbled as he tried to open his eyes but the light was too bright above him.
"I'm right here, Scott. I'm fine," Kayo grabbed his hand and leaned over his bed so that she blocked the light from the ceiling. He slowly blinked and looked up at Kayo as if it had been the first time he'd ever seen her.
"You're safe?" He asked as he reached up and touched her cheek, "I thought you were in the sub."
"No, I wasn't in the sub," Kayo replied as she felt a couple of tears start to run down her cheek.
"You should have stayed with your bird," Scott scolded and Kayo couldn't help but laugh.
"Well, he's feeling okay," Virgil commented as Brains entered the room. He looked him over really good first and then started to go through Virgil's checklist.
"What is the last thing you remember?" Brains asked as he checked Scott's eyes, pleased that they were contracting and dilating well.
"We were on a submarine, I thought that Kayo might be on board, and then there was water… wait Gordon," Scott went to pop up from his bed, but Kayo and Brains once again worked together to hold him down.
"Gordon is fine," Kayo assured him, "Black eyes not withstanding,"
"Yeah, pissed one of our captors off," Scott grimaced.
"H…how did he hurt his hand?" Brains asked.
"His hand? What happened," Scott once again went to rise, but Kayo and Brains refused to let him.
"Okay, that happened after you passed out then," Brains nodded and then raised his bed up so he could see the rest of the room. It was then that he caught sight of his next brother and the others in the room.
"Oh, Virgil, I'm sorry," Scott frowned looking over at him.
"You better be," Virgil frowned holding up his hand for him to see, "You owe me big time."
"I should have went up with Alan, and you should have gone looking for Kayo."
"No, you should have went to bed and sent Gordon with Alan."
"And then who would have gone with you to find Kayo?"
"Who said anyone needed to go with me?"
"I had Gordon and we barely made it out of there!"
"Yeah, thanks to Gordon! It doesn't look like you were of any help!"
"Oh, I'm sure you did a lot up there, probably puking your brains out the entire time."
"Yes, Yes I was, and I was still able to get BOTH of my brother's back to Thunderbird 3 and back to Earth… not entire sure how I did that, but I did!"
"Both of you STOP!" Kayo yelled, "You should be happy that you're okay, not arguing about who is at fault."
"Kayo's right," Scott sighed breaking his gaze with Virgil.
"Thank goodness, I was trying to get some sleep over here," A voice announced. They all turned to look at Gordon who had a sheepish grin on his otherwise bruised face.
"How long have you been awake?" Virgil growled as he threw a pillow at his younger brother.
"Ow, watch the nose," Gordon exclaimed throwing the pillow back at Virgil, "Long enough, and Scott owes me too."
"And why is that," Scott asked his defenses raised again.
"You were a walking zombie the entire time!" Gordon frowned sitting up in bed, "If you hadn't gone off trying to find Kayo… glad to see your okay by the way… then you wouldn't have been knocked out, i wouldn't have had to drag your bloody body back to Thunderbird 4, slice my hand trying to fix the stupid thruster on Thunderbird 2 and get us home by myself!" Virgil smiled satisfied that his assumption of Scott's condition was correct while Scott just started at his little brother. "Seriously, Scott, why did you think it was okay to hail a group of pirates to see if they'd seen Kayo?"
"I didn't make you," Scott tried to argue, but Gordon shot him down.
"I tried to tell you it wasn't a good idea, but you insisted saying that we were a rescue organization, we didn't care what they were doing."
"I was worried about Kayo!" Scott yelled back.
"So was I," Gordon exclaimed slamming his hands down on his bed wincing, "I had to pretend I was Virgil to get you to sleep that little bit you did when we were locked in the sub."
"Gordon, I…"
"No, Scott," Gordon continued, his breathing starting to get labored as tears began to run freely, "You push yourself too hard, you don't know your own limits and that caused us… caused me trouble!"
"G…Gordon, you need to s…settle down," Brains was by his side, trying to get the fish to lay down again. He did hesitantly, and curled up on his side, his injured hand cradled in his stomach.
"I was so worried," He sobbed, "I was worried about Kayo, I was worried about you, and I didn't know if I'd be able to get us out of there." Scott had leaned forward as he argued, but at this last burst from Gordon he collapsed back into his bed, his face blank in horror at what he had made his brother go through. He was always trying to protect them, make sure that they were okay first before himself. He had completely failed this time, and not only Gordon, but all of them. He watched as Brains fiddled with Gordon's hand, laying a bloody bandage on the bed next to his feet and replacing it with a clean one. Brains then hung up another unit of blood, and checked the monitors.
"Scott Tracy," Everyone turned to the voice and saw Grandma Tracy in the doorway, "I know that look on your face and don't you even start to blame yourself."
"But, if…" Scott started, but she strode over to his bed and took a shoulder into each hand looking down at him.
"What did your father tell you about blaming yourself? Hmm?"
"He said it was wasted effort," Scott replied softly, "That I would make mistakes, that I may inadvertently put my brother's in danger, but what was important were the steps I took to fix the problem, not the time to place blame."
"Exactly. You all made it back safely. Learn from this, and don't waste your time blaming yourself or anyone else," She nodded satisfied with his answer. Then she pulled him to her and gave him a hug, "I'm glad your safe, and here, and awake."
"Thank you, Grandma," Scott buried his face in her shoulder and cried. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until Grandma Tracy finally pulled herself away and turned to her little fish.
"Gordon," She sat down on the bed next to him, pulling him up so she could hug him as well, "You did good. I'm proud of you." They all realized that she had been in the doorway the entire time listening to everything that had happened. Gordon just hugged her back and released the last of the stress and worry he had been holding in until then. Once Gordon was done, she released him and turned to the three, "I hope there won't be a repeat of this when those two finally wake up?"
"No, I think we got it out of our system," Virgil replied, giving Scott a weary smile, which was returned.
"Good," Grandma Tracy turned to face Kayo who had just stood frozen in the middle of the argument unsure what to do, but was not able to say what she had planned when EOS' blue ring appeared on the monitor.
"Is John awake yet?" She asked yet again.
"NO!" Four of the conscious occupants of the room exclaimed and then started laughing at the looks from Scott and Gordon.
"Don't worry, you guys can join us next time," Virgil laughed, "She pops in at least once a half hour to ask."
"Can't blame her," Scott nodded looking over at the last of his brothers who still slept soundly.
"As I was saying," Grandma smiled herself and walked over to Kayo, "Come help me in the kitchen. It's about time for dinner, and I don't want to make them more ill than they they already are." She then dragged Kayo out of the room as the three Tracy's watched in amazement.
"Did she just admit that she can't cook?" Gordon asked as Brains helped him to raise the head of the bed so he could see his brother's better.
"That's what it sounded like to me," Virgil confirmed.
"She's been trying really hard to follow the instructions," Brains confirmed, "She realized she didn't want your last meal to be something horrible she made you eat." The room laughed at that and the tension eased among the brothers. However, their minds were still on the two at the end of the room, wondering just when they may wake up.