Thanks for reviewing, dear readers. I'm having such fun writing this story, and your comments just make it that little bit more rewarding. Many thanks, and a big slice of cake (gluten-free for certain special people) to you all.
And now, another chapter pour vous. A bientot!
Gordon walked slowly to the bedside, glancing from the form of his motionless brother to the family doctor, who sat perched on the edge of the mattress, peering up at the overhead bio-monitors. After a moment's pause, Thomas turned his head towards him and smiled, his green eyes soft and reassuring. Gordon returned the gesture, his tired facial muscles straining with the effort. For the first time in a long while, he just didn't feel like smiling.
"Did he wake up?" he asked, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb the slumbering teenager.
Thomas nodded, making no move to get up off the bed. "A couple of hours ago."
Crossing his arms over his chest and absently rubbing his hands up and down the bare skin, almost as though he were cold, Gordon studied his brother's slack features. He felt the heavy block of cold worry that had been residing in his chest for what felt like years begin working its way up into his throat as he looked at the boy. He took in the sheen of sweat that covered the pock-marked face, two dark pink splotches - evidence of the boy's fever - standing out high in his cheeks against the pallor of the rest of his skin. And it all made his stomach twist.
"How is he?"
Thomas carefully draped a wet washcloth across the Alan's forehead, brushing the hair aside with the back of his fingers. "Better," he replied softly. "His temp's down by half a degree and he's growing more lucid by the hour. Things are looking up."
The aquanaut dropped into the chair at the bedside, dragging a hand down his face as he sighed wearily. It had been over three days since Alan had gone AWOL, and still he burned with a fever that would not abate. At first, they'd all hung around the infirmary, hoping that Alan would wake up and show some sign of recovery. But eventually, one by one, Thomas had made them leave to get some sleep.
Even Jeff - very much against his will - had been forced to retire to his own bed last night. He'd been using the second infirmary bed the previous two evenings, but his concern for Alan had constantly had him returning to his son's bedside after only an hour or two's rest. When Jeff had looked ready to drop, Thomas had adamantly refused to take 'no' for an answer and had ordered him to bed.
Gordon grinned. The family friend was probably the softest guy on the planet, but 'Dr. Palmar' was a force to be reckoned with. Only he could send Jeff to his room and get away with it.
Thomas and Virgil had been taking turns monitoring the kid day and night, waiting patiently for the teenager's fever to break. Gordon wasn't sure how he'd managed to do it, but the senior doctor had pulled some strings and wangled his way out of his duties at Brookfield Hospital for another three days. Apparently, it helped to have friends in high places – very high places, if what he'd overheard of Thomas' telecomm conversation was anything to go by.
Gordon sighed, reaching out to pick at a loose thread along the edge of the light blanket that covered his brother's lanky body. Damn, he's getting so tall now. The kid was normally so lively, it was difficult to see him like this. And Gordon considered himself to be an optimistic kinda guy – in fact, often overly so – but he was so exhausted, it was hard to see a bright side to his brother's current situation.
I guess there is one perk. He's never gonna get chickenpox again. But still, on the scale of things, that's not much to be thankful for, is it? 'Cause knowing Alan's luck, he'll just come down with shingles in ten years or so. Poor kid.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Gordon leaned back in the chair and sighed, looking around the room in an attempt to find a temporary distraction. He didn't like to dwell on the present, especially if circumstances were grim. His eyes eventually returned to Thomas, whose gentle ministrations had not ceased. Feeling the younger man's eyes on him, the doctor glanced up.
"You okay?"
Gordon was quick to force a smile to his face. "Yeah. Just tired."
Thomas raised an eyebrow. "I haven't seen you crack a real smile since this whole thing started. Now, if it were anybody else, that would be fine. But this is you. And I know you, kid. Hell, I changed your diapers-"
"Tom, c'mon," the younger man groaned, grimacing in embarrassment.
"-so I can tell when something's up," he finished. The doctor nodded his head emphatically, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied the redhead intently. "You're not okay. And I'm not just referring to the situation with you brother, that's to be expected. There's something else. And it's eatin' at you, I can tell."
"Look, it's nothing," Gordon mumbled. "I'm just worried about Alan."
Thomas shook his head. "It's more than that. In a situation like this, you're usually dashing back and forth between the infirmary and the pool, burning up all your worry in the water. It's how you distract yourself. I should know, you've only been doing it since you were old enough to swim without supervision. And the fact that you haven't put a toe in the pool since Alan's fever spiked – not even once – has me worried. It has your brothers worried, too."
Gordon shook his head. "Tom, I'm fine. I just...I was gonna go swimming this morning, anyway. After breakfast."
"Good." Thomas leaned forwards, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. "And Gordon? None of this is your fault. Blaming yourself doesn't make Alan any better. And the kid's gonna kick your butt if he ever finds out. It's bad enough with Scott and Virgil holding themselves responsible without you beating yourself up over it, too."
The aquanaut shook his head, a genuine smile tugging at his mouth. "Nothing gets passed you, does it?"
Thomas beamed. "Not a chocolate drop. I remember this one time when you were three, and you decided to-"
The soft 'hiss' of the infirmary doors halted the conversation just in time, and Gordon heaved a sigh of relief as Thomas' attention shifted to the tall blond who had just entered the room.
"Hey, John," the doctor greeted, his voice soft and warm. "Sleep well?"
The astronomer shook his head and flashed a brief smile. "Nope. But that's only to be expected considering the circumstances, right?"
Thomas stood to his feet and clapped him on the shoulder. "Gonna go grab us some coffee. Keep an eye on things for me, will ya? Call me if something looks off – well....more off than it does at the moment. Don't wake Virge. Poor guy's barely sleeping as it is."
John nodded. "Got it."
"Wait a sec," Gordon looked between the two men, an incredulous frown forming on his face, "he tells you that he's not sleeping well, and that's all hunky dory; but when I skip my morning swim, it's suddenly front page news in the Tracy household? Am I missing something here?"
"He's a logical creature, Gordon," Thomas explained simply, his eyes twinkling as he headed towards the exit. "Irrational guilt isn't something he's particularly susceptible to. I can trust him not to beat himself up over this. Well....at least not to the same extent as the others."
John glanced from the doctor to his brother and back again. "I'm flattered that you have such unwavering confidence in me, Tom," he began. "But was 'creature' really necessary?"
Thomas grinned, pausing just inside the doorway. "Aw, I'm sorry, Johnny. Never mind, Gordon'll kiss it better."
As the doors hissed shut behind him, John grabbed a stool from nearby and dragged it up to the side of the bed opposite Gordon, smiling softly as he shook his head in amusement. The younger Tracy watched him, almost envious of the calm that seemed to radiate from his brother's form. John leant over to brush the damp bangs away from the washcloth that covered the teenager's forehead, his eyes filling with warmth as Alan stirred slightly, shifting his head a little to the side before stilling once again.
The silence stretched out between them. Damn, but Gordon hated silences.
He kicked off his shoes, scooting as far back in the chair as he could go and carefully crossing his legs, both feet coming to rest on the opposite knee. Leaning his elbows against his thighs, he propped his head up in his hands and sighed wearily.
John glanced up from Alan's face, the corner of his mouth twitching into another smile as he eyed his brother's current position.
"Are you planning on meditating?"
Gordon shrugged. "It's an option I'm considering. Got nothing better to do."
"You could swim," John suggested innocently, his shoulders jerking in a half-hearted shrug. "You know, I haven't actually seen you-"
"John." The redhead rolled his eyes. "Heard it already. You're gonna have to wake up a little earlier if you wanna tackle the pep talks before Tom gets in there."
The blond raised an eyebrow. "How'd he find out?"
"Dude, the guy's psychic," Gordon replied. "Almost as psychic as you."
John smiled again, but it was a little more forced this time. He reached to flip the washcloth over gently, allowing the cooler side to rest against his brother's brow. The persistent blond bangs fell stubbornly back into place and John's brown crinkled just a little before he swept them aside with the back of his fingers.
Gordon pulled a face. The first sign of real annoyance that John had shown in....oh, ever such a long time, and it was directed towards his younger sibling's hair. Sometimes, his brother was weird.
"Well, I wasn't psychic enough to realise how sick the kid really was," John murmured suddenly, breaking the short silence that had fallen between them again. His eyes clouded over a little and his shook his head, running a hand through his own short blond hair as he sighed.
"Hey," Gordon argued gently, "there was no way you could've stopped this from happening, even if you had known how bad it was gonna be. Which, quite frankly, would've been a whole new level of Jedi. You can't tell the future, John."
The older Tracy leaned forwards, shaking his head. "Yeah, I know that. But maybe I shouldn't have kept quiet for so long about....ah, never mind."
"Never mind about what?" Gordon cocked his head to the side curiously, allowing his legs to uncoil, slowly straightening the limbs and feeling his knee joints crack.
John glanced towards him for a moment, down at Alan, then over to the door before sighing again. "Hey, what's the use? I've already told Virge anyway, the cat's outta the bag."
Another pause. Gordon grew impatient.
"Johnny, what?"
The blond's eyes widened emphatically as he pressed a finger to his lips, nodding his head towards Alan as the teenager stirred. Gordon froze, guilt battling with hope in his chest as he sort-of-but-not-really-because-the-kid-needed-to-sleep urged his brother to wake up. After a tense moment, Alan merely smacked his dry lips together softly and bunched up a fistful of blanket, shifting to the side on the mattress before settling down again and releasing a long exhale through his nostrils.
Gordon sighed. "Sorry."
John sent him a look of long-suffering. "No wonder you used to get banned from the library at school."
"It's not my fault if I have a tendency to read aloud," Gordon defended, being careful this time to keep his voice as low as possible. "Anyway, you're going off topic on purpose. Are you gonna tell me or not?"
The astronomer sent Alan one last look, before leaning forwards with his elbows on the bed and running both hands slowly through his hair.
"You know when I flew the kid home from Wharton's?" When Gordon nodded in confirmation, he continued, "He'd been acting funny all afternoon. Just overly quiet, a little less energetic than he'd usually be. Not our Alan, you know? And then he started getting headaches – pretty early on, I think. Definitely when we were in the restaurant; the kid kept his eyes down the whole time, so I guess the lights didn't help much. Anyway, I had a gut feeling that something was wrong – something more serious than simple fatigue – but I know what it's like to have somebody pandering over you when you're not feeling one-hundred percent, so I just gave the kid a couple of Tylenol and told him to grab some shut-eye."
Gordon inclined his head again, slower this time. "That's what I would've done." The younger man paused, reconsidering. "Heck, that's better than I would've done. At least you didn't make fun of the kid."
John squirmed. "That's just it..."
Gordon's mouth dropped open. "You? You actually teased him?"
"Well..." John rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I kinda....laughed at him the next morning. He was so drowsy and uncoordinated – I thought it was just from lack of sleep – and he smacked himself in the face when I threw him a Hershey's bar." He grinned at the memory, than frowned and shook his head. "I'm doing it again."
The younger man rolled his eyes. "John, the world's definition of 'teasing' differs greatly from yours. You weren't making fun of him, not really. You just laughed. It's not like you deliberately went out of your way to tease him. There's a difference, trust me."
John looked up at him briefly, gave a half-smile, then sighed and straightened up. "Yeah, well, I still feel bad about it. If I'd known it was the start of something so serious..."
"Then you probably still would've laughed," Gordon interjected, smiling himself. "It's a human response, John."
The older man raised an eyebrow again. "Since when have you admitted to me being human?"
The redhead grinned at that. "My mistake," he chuckled. "You're still a-"
"Nnn."
Gordon broke off, his amusement vanishing in an instant as he leant closer to his younger brother. Alan rolled his head to the side, the washcloth falling onto the pillow as his face scrunched up into a frown.
"Al?" John called softly, his full attention now focused on the youngest Tracy.
The teenager grunted again, wincing as he blinked up at his older siblings. He sucked in a deep breath, shifting his gaze from one brother to the other for a long moment, his frown deepening.
"Wha'?"
Delighted to hear the young blond speak – even if the weak croak was but a shadow of his stereotypically loud and energetic teenage voice – Gordon beamed.
"Hey, sleeping beauty awakens. How's it hangin'?"
Alan groaned, grimacing as he smacked his cracked lips together. He tried to croak out something else, but seemed unable to produce anything beyond a painfully dry squeak. John grabbed a glass of water from the bedside table – Gordon thanked the stars that Thomas was as forward-thinking as that – and carefully helped his brother to take a sip. Alan allowed his head to sink back against the pillow, licking at his newly moistened lips and swallowing a couple of times, before shifting his gaze lazily towards his copper-haired sibling.
"Gords....not so loud, 'kay?" he slurred, slowly raising a hand to his face and weakly rubbing at his eyes.
Gordon's smile merely widened. "You got it."
"I know I got it," Alan mumbled, shaking his head from side to side in an attempt to clear it. "That's the problem."
John grinned. "Now that's the Alan I know and love."
Alan smiled back sleepily. He wasn't sure what he'd done, why his tongue felt so thick or how long he'd been lying in bed – because his legs seemed to have cemented themselves to the mattress – but he wasn't too bothered at the moment. It was nice to make his brothers smile.
-TBTBTB-
"I really don't know how to explain it," Thomas remarked, peering at the readings on the monitor. The assembled Tracy clan either stood or sat nearby, glancing between the doctor and their youngest family member, who was sitting upright in bed for the first time in days.
"I do," Scott remarked, leaning over to ruffle Alan's hair. "He's a fighter. Wasn't gonna let a chicken get the best of him."
Alan grinned tiredly, carefully sipping at a glass of water. "I'll keep that in mind the next time you act like a hen, Scotty."
Scott just chuckled with the rest of them, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall. "This chicken's hard to beat, kid."
"Still," Thomas continued, pressing a button on the screen to view the graphs displaying Alan's vitals over the past few hours, "It's not the first time it's happened. I've seen patients with fevers high enough to boil their brains suddenly take a sharp turn and cool down just as rapidly as they heated up. Admittedly, it's very rarely a viral-induced fever, but it's still possible. What can I say? You're an interesting case, kid."
"Yeah, you freak of nature, you," Gordon teased, still beaming. "Always have to make everything dramatic, doncha? Can't just be a normal little brother."
"Not with you around," Alan murmured, smiling as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the pile of pillows behind him.
Virgil's brow twitched. "You feeling tired?"
"Mm," Alan grunted, in a way that his brothers guessed meant a confirmation of some sort. "Nothin' new there." He shifted uncomfortably, rubbing at his chest through his t-shirt. "And I still itch."
"Well, you're looking a little better," Jeff informed the teen, tilting his son's head towards him so that he could peer into his face. "They've begun to scab over pretty rapidly."
John nodded his head in agreement. "A couple more weeks and you'll be looking your usual handsome self."
Alan snorted. "Are you sure John's not coming down with something? I think that was actually a compliment."
Scott played along, pressing his hand against John's forehead. "Now you mention it," he murmured, looking vaguely worried. "He does feel a little warm."
Gordon grinned. "I know what'll help with that."
John looked between them, slowly pushing his chair back. "If you mean what I think you mean, then the answer is no."
"I'm not asking for your permission, John," Gordon argued lightly, his eyes glinting. "Where would be the fun in that? But you see, me and Scotty have to find a way to release our pent-up emotions. I thought you encouraged the use of our creativity. Throwing you in the pool is far better than fighting amongst ourselves. Wouldn't you agree, Tom?"
The doctor nodded, his face sincere. "Absolutely. You've said it time and time again, John, it's not good to hold in one's feelings. Eventually, you need to find some kinda outlet. I think it's great that Scott and Gordon are together on this; it displays a great sense of unity." He sighed heavily, looking towards the other Tracy sons and wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. "I'm so proud of you, boys."
"John," Alan murmured, prying one eyelid open and gazing at his older blond brother. "I'd take the hint and leg it while you still can. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere....at least that's what I want the others to believe."
"Right." John leapt to his feet. Pointing a finger at Alan, he used his hardest stare to emphasise his point. "Stay, boy."
Alan's lips twitched. "Woof."
Then John was off, Scott and Gordon sprinting across the infirmary after him. However, when they reached the door, they skidded to a halt, necks craning around the doorframe to peer down the corridor beyond. Once John's fleeing footsteps had faded into silence, they both snorted in amusement, shaking their heads. Then, turning to face each other, they shook hands calmly and nodded in mutual understanding, before returning to their positions beside Alan's bed.
The teenager raised an eyebrow. "You're cruel, d'you know that?"
Scott shrugged. "Consider it our way of celebrating your victory in defeating the fever."
"It's hardly defeated," Alan huffed, pressing a hand against his warm cheek and frowning.
"Well, you're not singing about yellow submarines anymore, so you've definitely beaten it on one level," Gordon reasoned cheerfully.
At Alan's look of horror, Jeff chuckled, shaking his head and sending his second youngest a reproachful look. Glancing back down at the teenager, he smiled. "Your brother's only teasing, son."
Thomas set down his data-pad and perched in John's vacated chair. "How much do you remember, kiddo?"
"About the past few days?" Alan asked, rubbing at his neck. He stopped when his father tugged on his arm, clenching the blanket tightly between his hands in an attempt to resist the urge to scratch. "Not much. It's all kinda blurry. I remember weird little things, like...like looking at the window and loving how cold it was. And hearing the infirmary doors open. And I remember getting wet somehow." His brow crinkled and he looked up at his assembled family. "Did I go outside, or was that all just part of my imagination?"
"Nope," Gordon replied, a little less cheerfully. "You did a runner, Sprout. Scared the sh-...hell outta us."
The teenager blushed. "Sorry."
"It's not your fault, son," Jeff soothed, squeezing his shoulder briefly.
"But why?" Alan murmured, shaking his head. "Why would I even want to go outside?"
"Something about shadows," Scott replied, watching his brother carefully for any sign of recognition in the younger Tracy's eyes. "You said the shadows were in the house, that they were killing everybody. You were running from them. Some twisted logic in that brain of yours made you think that the best place to hide was out in the open."
Alan raised an incredulous eyebrow, glancing between his siblings. "You're not even kidding, are you?"
Virgil shook his head. "Nope."
"And I was actually being serious about the shadow thing?"
Scott let out a humourless laugh. "Trust me, Sprout, you were serious. Serious enough to stand in the rain for heaven knows how long before I found you. Shadows don't like the rain, you see."
A grin tugged at the boy's mouth. "Is that so?"
"Well, that's what you said." Scott shrugged, his eyes twinkling. "And you seemed pretty sure of the fact, so..."
Alan held up a hand. "This feels weird."
Virgil leaned forwards, concerned. "What feels weird? You nauseous?"
"No," the teenager snorted, gently batting Virgil's hand away as the medic tried to feel his forehead. "Hearing about all the stuff I did and not being able to remember doing it. I was really out of it, wasn't I?"
"Mm-hmm," Thomas agreed, leaning over so that he could check the IV line that sat in the crook of Alan's arm. "Fever's mess with your mind, no doubt about that."
"Totally. I mean, who in their right mind would snog a deckchair?"
All heads turned towards Gordon and the aquanaut shrank back in the face of four identical glares – well....perhaps Tom's was a little less stern, and the slight upward turn at the corner of his mouth somewhat ruined the effect. Alan, who had initially looked worried, saw their expressions and sighed in relief, before pinning his brother with a glare of his own.
The redhead shrugged, spreading his hands. "What?"
"Gordon, leave him alone," Scott warned.
"It's fine," Alan murmured, eyes drooping again as he patted his brother's arm tiredly. "He's just jealous because the deckchair likes me more than him."
Jeff chuckled, warmth and relief rising up in him as he pushed Alan's fringe back from his forehead. "It's good to have you back, kiddo. I've definitely gone greyer these past few days. You've really gotta stop doing this to me, son, there's only so much your old man can take."
Alan waved a hand lazily. "Ah, you're not that old."
"Uh-oh," Virgil murmured, sharing a worried look with his older brother. "I think the fever's spiking again."
Jeff elbowed him lightly, smiling. "Silence, boy."
"Is there anything else you remember?" Tom pressed, perching on the end of Alan's mattress and fiddling with his stethoscope absently. "Anything at all?"
"Not really," Alan admitted. "It's all kinda clumped together. I'm still struggling to believe that I've been out of it for three days. Not much time seemed to pass, you know? It all could've happened this morning. I think I caught little bits of conversations at the beginning, but not much made sense until later on. And I remember..."
He paused for a moment and Scott nudged him gently. "What? What is it?"
Alan frowned, eyes glinting dangerously as he glared into the blankets. "Janice."
The assembled men exchanged concerned looks. Jeff eventually broke the silence with a tentative, "Janice? Who's Janice?"
A slow, evil smile spread across the teenager's face.
"I'm glad you asked that, Dad."
-TBTBTB-
John wandered down the main corridor, softly humming to himself. It had been well over an hour since he'd fled – no, not fled, made a logical evacuation from – the infirmary. Clearly his brothers weren't coming for him after all. And although he was tempted to return to his youngest sibling's side, he knew that Alan had enough company already. He'd visit the kid later, when the others were less likely to flock.
His stomach rumbled and he paused, turning around on the spot and looking back down the corridor towards the door that lead to the dining room. Man, he was hungry. He'd skipped breakfast, hoping to see Alan before his other siblings awoke, but then the teenager's fever had dropped and he'd been too elated at the sudden change to think about food since then. But that had been hours ago and now his stomach was complaining about the lack of sustenance.
Onaha's gonna kill me for leaving it this long. Ah well. Can't be helped, I guess.
As he began walking back towards the doorway, he heard the sound of footfalls behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the family doctor heading and smiled warmly, for Thomas to catch up.
They fell into step with one another and John sighed a weary but cheerful, "Hey, Tom."
"Hey, Janice."
John's heart flipped and he sucked in a sharp breath, coming to a sudden stop. No. No way. The kid couldn't have....he was...
"John?" Thomas glanced back at him, brow crinkling in concern. "Everything alright?"
"What? Oh, yeah, everything's fine."
The doctor smiled. "I was just gonna grab a cup of coffee, you want some?"
The astronomer nodded, regaining his outward calm. "Sure, thanks." Tom calls me 'Jocelyn' all the time, this is no different. Janice is a perfectly normal nickname - well, normal for Tom. It's got nothing to do with....with that.
Feeling a little better, John continued on his way to the kitchen, stepping into the dining room and heading across to the door that lead to the kitchen. He was surprised to see Virgil and Scott heading the other way, strolling lazily towards him with their hands in their pockets. Weird.
"Hey," he greeted softly, smiling.
Scott nodded once. "Janice."
Virgil slapped him on the shoulder. "Janice."
John froze as they brushed passed. There was a long pause as he stared at the empty doorway, blinking in surprise, mouth agape and eyes wide. Then the sound of howling laughter was heard from both the corridor and the kitchen and he raised a hand, dragging it slowly down his face as he shook his head. His shoulders drooped and he huffed out a sigh of forlorn resignation.
He was never going to live this down.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. :)
So things are starting to wind down now. But there's always room for teasing. *grins*
Review, s'il vous plait!
xoxox