Chapter 10: And the Family is Whole
Grandma Tracy and Kayo brought in their dinner a couple of hours later. It was simple enough, chicken noodle soup out of the can. Something Grandma Tracy couldn't mess up too much. They ate it all, considering two of them hadn't eaten in at least twenty-four hours, and then settled back in their beds napping a little. Brains, Kayo, and Grandma Tracy hadn't slept much over the past few days, so they were encouraged to go on to bed. With the three of the brothers conscious, though still a little sleepy, Brains was confident enough to let them and EOS keep watch over their two remaining brothers while they did just that. Scott and Virgil assured him that everything would be okay, and that they would wake him if anything happened.
The night was quiet, the three napped for a time, but by one o'clock they were all wide awake.
"I think we need to instigate mandatory check-ins on all members of IR," Scott suggested as they laid in the dim light of night mode in the infirmary.
"Especially Kayo?" Virgil asked.
"Especially Kayo," Gordon agreed, "Is there any way of having backup radios in the birds? It wouldn't have been near as bad if I'd had Brains in my ear during all of that."
"We'll defiantly look into it, even if they are using insecure channels, that's better than nothing," Scott nodded.
"And mandatory rest periods, regardless of who you are," Virgil frowned looking at Scott.
"I agree," Scott nodded, "And we have to keep tabs on each other, make sure we aren't pushing ourselves too hard."
"Are you saying I have permission to make you go to bed," Gordon asked his eyes twinkling.
"How about this," Virgil suggested, readjusting himself in his bed, "The younger brother has to keep their eye on their immediate older brother."
"So, Alan would watch me, I would watch John, John would watch Virgil, and Virgil would watch Scott? Then who would watch Alan?"
"I would," Scott nodded liking the idea.
"Okay, but then We don't see John a lot, how would I know if he needed to be asleep? And same with him and Virgil?"
"That is a good point. How about this, Gordon, you would watch Virgil, and we trust John to EOS," Scott suggested looking between his brothers, "EOS, what do you think about that?"
"I don't want anything else to happen to John, you can trust in me," EOS' blue halo bright in the dim room.
"I'm glad to hear it," Scott nodded. The room quieted down for a moment, while the brother's thought of other improvements needed to make sure something of this caliber would never happen again. Gordon's mind was drifting as he looked from John to Alan, and then back to John. More specifically he was looking at their heart monitors.
"Virgil, why does Alan's monitor look different than John's?" It was an innocent question, but Virgil knew the dangers and whipped around to look at Alan's monitor.
"Damn," He yelled as he pulled out his IV and jumped from bed, "He's in v-tach!" Virgil was in the nearby cupboard pulling out an AED machine, "Scott, I need your help!"
"Right," Scott tore out his own IV, jumped out of bed, and turned to Gordon, "You stay right there." Gordon nodded, he was too scared to do anything. Scott joined Virgil at Alan's bed.
"Take off his shirt, rip it off if you need to," Virgil ordered as he tried to attach the pads to the machine one handed.
"EOS, get Brains," Gordon called as he rolled up onto his knees to get a better view, "And turn on the lights."
"Brains is on his way," EOS announced as the lights became glaringly bright.
"Scott, put this one just below his shoulder," Virgil ordered as he handed him one of the pads, "Take off the label, it'll stick. This one here."
"Right, sorry," Scott did as he was told. He had had training on the machine, they all had, but it had been awhile ago, and his mind was blank with shock as he tried to follow Virgil's instructions. Virgil reached over and hit the big green button on the machine and waited for instructions.
'Searching for rhythm'
'Ventricular Tachycardia Rhythm found'
'Charging'
'Charging complete. Hit red button when all clear'
"Clear," Virgil yelled and Scott held his hands up and stepped away from the bed. Virgil pushed the red button and they could hear the thump as the machine discharged into Alan.
'Continue CPR' the machine ordered. Scott climbed up next to his brother and started pumping on his chest, while Virgil glanced from the AED machine to the monitor next to him. He reached up and un-muted the machine. A loud alarm sounded making Gordon cover his ears.
'Searching for rhythm'
'Ventricular Tachycardia Rhythm found'
'Charging'
'Charging complete. Hit red button when all clear'
"Clear," Virgil yelled again and Scott jumped off the bed his hands again in the air. Virgil pushed the red button and the thump once again echoed in the room. This time however, the heart monitor silenced and then a normal beep beep beep as Alan's heart found it's normal rhythm again.
'Normal Rhythm found' The machine announced. Virgil collapsed onto a nearby chair while Scott leaned back on the bed behind him.
"W..what is g…going on?" Brains asked running into the room out of breath.
"Alan, he went into v-tach," Virgil explained waving a hand at his youngest brother, "I think we got it though."
"Thank goodness. I… I had noticed s…something wrong earlier, but nothing h…had happened. I thought it w…was okay," Brains frowned as he walked over to Alan's bed to inspect him.
"Yeah, he had gotten shocked," Virgil frowned.
"Shocked?"
"Don't even ask, I don't know," Virgil held up his hand to stop his brother. Scott frowned but didn't continue.
"I…I think I should stay," Brains sighed as he unhooked the devise leaving the pads on just in case.
"You need your rest too Brains," Scott argued, "We were able to take care of it."
"And who i…is going to take care of you," Brains asked as he lifted Scott's arm and pointed to the trail of blood from where he had pulled out his IV.
"Oh, you I guess," Scott squirmed.
"Sorry, Brains, didn't have time to take it out properly," Virgil smiled as he provided his own arm and it's own track of blood.
"I…I won't put another one in," Brains announced wrapping a small bandage around each of their arms.
"How about me, Brains, can you take mine out too," Gordon asked still kneeling in his bed.
"Well, I suppose you as w…well," Brains smiled as Gordon beamed at him. He took his out and put a small gauze patch inside his elbow bending it, "Just hold your arm like that for a few minutes."
"Do you think we'll have to shock Alan again?" Scott asked looking concernedly at his brother.
"Hopefully not. I had to shock him in space, his heart had completely stopped up there, but then he had also run out of air. I left the AED on him and have no idea if it had shocked him again after that or not. But the fact that Brains noticed an oddity in his rhythm means that his heart wasn't beating right. Now, it looks normal so hopefully this kicked it back into it's proper rhythm," Virgil explained as he reached over and un-muted John's monitor as well, "And don't ask for more right now Scott. I'm not in the mood."
"Fine, but once everyone is awake we are have having one huge debriefing. I want to know what happen to everyone on and off the island," Scott announced as he made his way back to his own bed.
"I think that is a good i…idea," Brains nodded, "And I think you all should go to bed now."
"You should be asleep too Brains, you look like Scott did the other day."
"Gordon," Scott warned, but couldn't be too mad at him after what he had pulled.
"Someone needs to stay awake," Virgil argued as he pulled himself back into his bed.
"I'm so wired up right now, there's no way I could sleep," Gordon announced bouncing a bit on his bed. The three looked at him and shrugged.
"A…Alright, I'll sleep in here t..tonight. In case something happens," Brains agreed crawling into one of the empty beds. The lights dimmed and the three quickly dozed off the excitement draining any energy they had. Gordon remained on his knees in his bed watching as they fell asleep.
"EOS," Gordon called about an hour later.
"Yes, Gordon?"
"Shhhh," Gordon hushed her, "Are they all asleep?"
"Yes, I believe so, why?"
"I want you to stay in here and watch them for a bit. I've got something I need to do."
"You're supposed to stay in bed," EOS argued, "Scott would be upset if something happened."
"I'll be back, I just want to go grab something."
"Well, as long as you hurry," EOS finally agreed. Grinning Gordon jumped out of bed stumbling momentarily and then disappeared through the doorway. He was gone for almost a half hour, which was starting to worry EOS, so she started going through the house's security cameras to find him. He was on his way back to the infirmary carrying something quite puffy. He made his way back into the room and dropped the pile on the floor then started to sift through it, pulling a comforter out that was solid blue with a half dozen gray and red stripes long the bottom. He fluffed it out and draped it over Scott. Then he went back to the pile and pulled out a green plaid one and covered Virgil up in it. Next was a bright red one with white racing stripes that he threw over Alan, and then a dark black one that had images of the solar system on it that he threw over John. Finally he picked up a blue one that had images of a coral reef on it and threw it on his own bed.
"There. We're going to be in here for awhile, I imagine. Might as well make it more comfortable," Gordon grinned. He then pulled out a small handheld gaming device and stuck one earphone in his ear, so that he wouldn't bother anyone, but could still hear the beeping from Alan and John's monitors. Gordon sat and played his game for a while before he started to feel sleepy and eventually dozed off as well.
Kayo arrived the next morning with a tray of orange juice and oatmeal for the patients in the infirmary. She heard the steady beeping of the monitors and thought it odd, she was sure they had muted them. She stepped into the room and took a deep breath to call a good morning to them all, when she noticed someone sitting up and looking dazedly around the room.
"John," She exclaimed as she shoved the tray on the desk and ran down the length of the room to his bed. She looked up at his monitor quickly but it was showing an even steady rhythm, so she turned her attention to the man himself. "John, how are you feeling?" He blinked, looked down at her, his eyebrows knitted together.
"on…fus," He said in a questioning intonation. Kayo frowned, she didn't like that at all. She looked around the room, the others were still asleep.
"Virgil, Brains," She called as she ran over and shook the two, not bothering to wonder why Brains was there in the first place.
"Wha, Kayo, let me sleep," Virgil grumbled as she shook him agin.
"John's awake." Virgil threw his covers off and jumped out of bed for the second time in so many hours. He was by John's side, at the same time as Brains, who had woken up at her first shout.
"Hey," Virgil called getting John's attention, while Brains had pulled out his penlight and was flashing it in his eyes watching the irises contract and dilate. "What's your name?"
"On," John frowned and tried again, "J…. on…. J…ohn… John." He smiled a little proud of his accomplishment.
"How old are you?"
"T…," John frowned for a moment and then tried again, "Two, four… no… Twen Four. Twenty-four."
"Good, good," Virgil nodded continuing with his questions, "And who am I?"
"Birgil," He replied his responses coming faster and faster.
"Close enough," Virgil smiled, "Can you wiggle your toes, and fingers?" Brains had thrown the comforter aside and exposed his feet. John frowned and concentrated but slowly his appendages moved, slow at first and then steadily faster.
"Good, J…John. Good," Brains smiled. John had had a severe concussion, they hadn't wanted to mention it aloud but brain damage was a real concern for this Tracy, "Can you touch your nose?" John held out his hand, the brace giving him some difficulty and slowly brought it in to touch his nose.
"Good, now who is that," Vigil asked pointing.
"Brains," His voice was getting clearer, showing that his brain was waking up as well, and that he hopefully wouldn't have the damage they had feared. "Kayo," John continued pointing to her as she hovered just outside of his reach. "Scott, Gordon," He continued pointing to the two who had awoken at the commotion going on,"… Alan?"
"He's fine," Virgil assured him as John frowned at Alan's motionless state.
"Hey, John," Gordon yelled to get his attention away from Alan, "What is the true rotation rate of Saturn's deep interior?"
"Gordon, he's not going to be able to answer that yet," Virgil frowned looking at his younger brother who was grinning broadly as he sat crosslegged on his own bed.
"Don't know," John replied still a little slurred.
"See," Virgil snapped.
"No, Virgil," John interrupted tugging on Virgil's arm, "No one sure of rate of speed." It was a slow reply, but coherent none the less, "Gordon, I talked. I send probe, no funding." Virgil couldn't help but drop his jaw in disbelief.
"John," Scott called getting his brother's attention, "Do you remember what happened?"
"Bird 5," John frowned thinking. His mind seemed to be working, but his speech was still causing him some problems, "hacker. I woke, bird 3 shaking. I strapped, undid them. Found Alan strapped too. Thought Scott pilot, but no Virgil." John frowned at Virgil worry evident in his eyes.
"I'm fine," Virgil assured him, "What happened next?" Virgil was eager to know too, he hadn't remembered landing Thunderbird 3, but someone obviously had.
"Bird 3, re-entry, hard. I landed, Did I hit island?" John asked looking at those before him.
"You hit the antenna and then crashed on the small island to the east," Brains explained. Understanding spread across his face.
"What do you think of his speech, Brains," Scott asked getting out of his own bed and joining the group, glancing back at Gordon with a don't move look. Gordon just rolled his eyes.
"Considering that it seems as if most of his other processes are working properly, he may just need to practice some more. Just keep talking," Brain finished directing the last bit to John himself. John nodded his face stern.
"Alan?" He asked again pointing to the youngest.
"It's complicated," Virgil shook his head, "But we think he's going to be okay."
"John!" Grandma Tracy had walked in at that moment and quickly made her way down to the fourth grandson to wake. She bundled him up in a hug and didn't seem to want to let go.
"Grandma Tracy," John stuttered, "I'm… okay."
"What is wrong with his voice?" She asked concern etched over her brow.
"It's due to the h…head trauma," Brains explained a little self conscious of his own stutter, "We're hoping with p…practice he'll be back to normal eventually."
"Well, he's here, he's awake, that's what matters. Not his voice," Grandma Tracy replied with an apologetic smile toward Brains, she realized how it had sounded and felt a little guilty.
"Thunderbird 5, need to speak clearly," John argued, frowning.
"He does have a point," Virgil frowned, "Well, it will be awhile before you could go back up there anyways. You'll have time to practice."
"Hey, where did Gordon go," Scott frowned looking around the room, "And when did we get our comforters?"
"It wasn't me," Kayo shrugged as Scott looked at her for an answer.
"EOS, where is Gordon?"
"Looks like…. JOHN! You're Awake!" The AI almost screamed when she noticed him sitting up, "Why didn't anyone tell me! John are you okay, are you damaged still, do you need spare parts?" She jumped from screen to screen trying to get a good look at her best friend.
"EOS, I'm fine. I'm glad you too," John smiled as he slowly responded to her, "Please, settle."
"Hey, John," Gordon had reappeared and was back kneeling on his bed, "Catch." He threw something across the room. John was slow to raise his hand, and Virgil reached up and plucked it from the air with his good hand, glaring at Gordon.
"How was he supposed to catch that, with one arm broken and the other in a sling," Virgil asked waving his good hand at John.
"Oh, sorry, forgot," Gordon replied looking a little sheepish.
Virgil shook his head and looked down at what he had caught, his eyebrows raised, "From The Earth To The Moon, by Jules Verne." It was one of John's most treasured items, so much he would rather leave it safely on the island than take it to space with him.
"I figured he could read it to us. He needs to practice, and we need something to do," Gordon explained bouncing on his bed, his energy fully recharged.
"Sounds good to me, Scott?"
"I'm up for it if John is," Scott looked over to John.
"Give," John ordered reaching out to grab the book, forgetting that he couldn't quite grab anything at the moment. Virgil frowned a little, but opened the book and set it down on John's lap, lifting the head of the bed so that he could relax a little. Then Scott and Virgil returned to their beds, Grandma Tracy and Brains found chairs to sit in, while Kayo collected the tray she had abandoned and started passing out breakfast to the others. She then sat down and listened.
"Chapter…. One," John struggled, "The… Gun Clu..b…During …the… War of …the Rebellion,… a new… and… influ…influen…
"tial," Virgil helped when he noticed him having trouble with the sound.
"influential," John nodded smiling at his brother, "club was… esta…blish..ed in the city of Balti…more in the State of Mary…land."
They sat and listened as John struggled through the first chapter. It took a few hours, but they were all patient, just glad that he was awake and seemed to be okay. He would get better, they were all sure of it. But they were all taking glances to the last of their clan. The one that seemed to be having the most trouble coming back home.
The morning had gone on, as they listened to the tale John read to them. Eventually Grandma Tracy and Kayo departed to start cooking lunch, while Brains busied himself with taking care of the boys. He did basic checks on Scott and Virgil. Once satisfied that they were doing well, he made his way over to Gordon to inspect his hand. He had left it open, afraid that it was going to get infected, but found that the wound was clean and the skin only slightly red from the trauma. He had eventually splint the hand similar to Virgil's so that the wound wouldn't start to heal and force his hand into a curled position. However, because of the placement of the wound there was no way around having to stitch it up. He motioned Virgil over to look at it as well, while Gordon rolled his eyes and tried not to pay attention to what they were doing. Virgil agreed quietly so as not to interrupt John's reading. He was doing good and improving greatly. They pulled out the suture kit and Virgil went to work. He gave Gordon a local, and then started stitching the two halves of his hand together. Gordon grimaced, he couldn't feel the pain as the needle poked through the skin, but he could feel the pull as the two edges of skin were forced back together.
While Virgil worked on that Brains went over to Alan and inspected his open wound. It too was clean and very pretty looking as wounds went. He motioned Virgil over for his inspection once he had finished putting some skin glue over the stitches, and Virgil agreed that glueing the wound would work fine. Brains held the wound closed while Virgil applied the glue to the surface waiting for the first coat to set, and then applied another one to make sure the seam was secure. They then left him uncovered and his top up so that the second coat had time to dry.
They had just settled back down in their bed and chair when Kayo and Grandma Tracy returned with, well, more soup. No one complained and they passed it out as John neared the end of the first chapter.
"He requests, therefore, that… they will make it …convenient to attend in… accordance with the present… invitation. Very cor… cor…
"Cordially," Scott supplied this time.
"Cordially, Impey Barbicane, P.G.C." John smiled as he looked up around the room at his smiling audience, "Alan!"
"We told you…" Virgil began, but John just shook his head.
"He's waking." Everyone abandoned their lunch and rushed to Alan's bed. Even Gordon was there before Scott could even think of telling him to stay still. Alan was groaning a little trying to move, but Virgil and Gordon had their good hands on his shoulders to keep him still.
"Alan, you there," Gordon called shaking him a little.
"Alan, come on, wake up," Virgil urged.
"Jules Verne," Alan mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes. Those around him couldn't help but smile.
"Yes, Alan, Jules Verne," Virgil smiled down at his brother, tears threatening to run down his cheeks.
"Why?" Alan mumbled again as he tried to open his eyes, but the room was just too bright.
"John was reading to us," Gordon explained grinning from ear to ear.
"How are you feeling squirt," Virgil asked as he forced one of his eyes open and shined a light into it.
"Like crap," Alan replied trying to push Virgil away, "and cold."
"More details, you know the drill," Virgil couldn't help but smile as he pulled his shirt down and covered him back in his comforter.
"My head hurts, my chest hurts, my stomach hurts, my arm hurts. I'm not sure there is a place on me that doesn't hurt," Alan replied frowning at the blurry figures above him.
"Your head, what kind of hurt?"
"Throbbing."
"Brains, when was the last time he got some pain meds?"
"Oh, quite some time ago," Brains frowned and then turned to the medicine cabinet to get a dose. He handed it to Virgil who swiftly stuck the needle into Alan's IV sending the medicine quickly into his blood stream.
"There that should help," Virgil leaned back down over him, "Do you remember what happened?"
"Unfortunately," Alan grimaced as he thought back to the mission, "Is John okay?"
"Oh yeah, ask about John, not the brother who was horribly space sick," Virgil smirked, "John is fine, he just woke up a few hours ago himself."
"I knew you were fine idiot," Alan frowned, "you are standing over me after all."
"He does have a point," Scott smiled looking over at Virgil's frown.
"Alright, let's give the squirt a little bit of room to wake up," Virgil announced as he pressed the button to raise Alan's bed. Once the area was cleared Alan was able to see John looking at him with a strange smile on his face.
"John, are you okay?" Alan asked frowning.
"I'm fine," John replied in his slurred speech.
"Really?"
"I've got to practice…. speaking," John explained, "Too many hits to head." He reached up and tapped his head with his broken arm.
"Have you taken an MRI of his head yet?" Alan asked looking over at Virgil who was doing a quick check of Alan's vitals.
"I think Brains did when we first arrived. He does need another one though, it's on the agenda."
"I'm worried."
"We all are. As long as he keeps improving he should be fine. If you feel he's getting worse let us know." Alan nodded. John had moved his head to talk to Gordon who had returned to his own bed, but Alan kept his eyes on his spaced out brother.
"Alright, Alan, I do have one important question for you," Virgil had finished checking his brother out but was still standing by his bed.
"What," Alan asked looking over at him.
"The electric shock. What happened?" The room quieted down suddenly as everyone stopped to listen.
"I… I just got shocked," Alan replied not really wanting to explain his own stupidity.
"Details," Scott ordered, "You know the drill."
"Fine," Alan sighed, "I went to the main computer to see if John had finished the emergency protocols. But the computer was dead. So I uncovered the wires and tried to patch the computer through the power to the lights." Virgil had let his head fall into the palm of his good hand.
"And I'm guessing you didn't turn the electricity off first."
"There wasn't time," Alan replied defensively, "You were getting John and I knew you wouldn't last long up there."
"You know not to mess with live wires! That's the first thing they teach you!" Virgil practically yelled.
"I'm sorry," Alan would have yelled back if he had had the energy to, "I didn't know it would throw me across the room!" Virgil could only gape at him. An electrical shock bad enough to travel through his spacesuit and still send him across the room. It was no wonder his heart was messed up.
"Alan," Virgil exclaimed and then pulled his little brother to him burying his face in Alan's shoulder, "Promise me, you'll never do that again!"
Alan stiffened, shocked at his brother's behavior, but then relaxed and buried his own head in Virgil's shoulder, "I'm sorry."
"I thought I told you lot, no fighting," Grandma Tracy smiled as she made her way over to give her last grandson a smothering. Alan tried to push her away, but found himself much too weak to stop her from hugging and loving on him.
"A…all right," Brains announced calling the room to order, "I think our p…patients need a n..nap."
"Awww, I'm not tired," Gordon complained even though his eyes were drooping a bit.
"No e…exceptions," Brains shook his head as he motioned for Kayo and Grandma Tracy to make their way out.
"But I just woke up," Alan yawned.
"EOS, would you keep an eye on them," Brains asked watching the blue halo pulse on the computer screen.
"Of course," EOS replied as the lights dimmed and Brains shut the door behind him.