John became aware of the sounds of the ocean in his ears.

That's odd. I'm on Thunderbird Five... Aren't I? Can't be the sea. Must be something else, like... Gas escaping?

Then he became aware of a bright light piercing his eyelids.

What's happened to Five?

John knew that the protective coating on Thunderbird Five's windows' must have failed, letting the full fury of the sun's rays enter his bedroom. This wasn't good.

UV... UV danger! I'll be overexposed...! Must get out of sun...

But he didn't seem to be able to move.

Must call home!

His head was hurting and something was holding him down. He needed to find out what.

Slowly, hesitantly, he opened his eyes.

I'm not in Thunderbird Five.

Tracy Island...?

I'm home...

Home...?

In the infirmary...?

He looked over his oxygen mask and down the bed. His right foot was raised and bandaged with his pale toes poking above the blanket. Feeling somewhat detached from the digits, he tried wriggling them.

His toes wriggled back.

"They're still attached..."

Scott? Bypassing their father, John shifted his gaze to his brother.

"...But it was touch and go for a while."

Still attached? Touch and go? John didn't have the energy to ask for more information now. Ask later.

Moving with the efficiency that characterised his movements when he was in medical mode, Brains picked up John's wrist and checked his pulse. He nodded and smiled. "Good."

Good? Don't feel good.

"You're going to be all right, John." Brains placed the arm back on the bedclothes. "I'll be in the, ah, room next door... Don't tire him out," he added as he left the room.

John watched him depart. Tire who out?

"Come, my daughter, we will give the Tracys some peace."

"I'm so glad that you are going to be all right, John. You had us all worried."

John saw that Tin-Tin gave him a little wave as she and Kyrano disappeared out through the door.

What's happened?

A movement off to one side of his field of vision made him return his focus to his older brother.

What's your problem?

Scott was wriggling in his chair. As John watched he reached a bandaged hand behind as if he wanted to scratch his back before a glare from their grandmother made him stop with a guilty grimace.

Must ask about that too.

Feeling a little more alive and wanting to know who else was sitting at his bedside, John rolled his head to the left. Several pairs of hands reached out to stop him as his head made contact with the pillow and the unexpected blast of pain caused him to suck in his breath.

"Careful, Son," Jeff cautioned from the foot of the bed. "You've got a few stitches there."

Stitches? Why?

As the pain subsided John felt more alert and he noticed the multicoloured bruising to the skin around his father's eye. He tried to point at the injury. Were you hurt when I was?

Jeff saw the hand twitch and the direction of his son's gaze. "You're looking at this?" He lightly touched his face. "I walked into a door."

Walked into a door? Sure that there was more to this story, John frowned. File that in the memory banks for later too.

Grandma reached out to him and placed her hand on his. "Don't worry about it now, Honey. We'll explain when you're feeling better."

Good. Now... Who else is here? Determined not to repeat his mistake of last time, John rolled his head the other way. Much to his relief, instead of intensifying, the pain lessened. Gordon and Alan...

Alan?

"Virgil's manning Thunderbird Five," Gordon offered, as if he'd read his brother's thoughts. "He's gonna be pleased to know that you're awake. He's only been there a little over 24 hours and he's already desperate to come home. He's pining for his piano."

John felt his eyebrows draw closer together as he frowned. Why's Virgil up there? Why not Scott...

Jeff shifted so he was in his injured son's line of sight. "Brains was concerned that Scott and I might suffer from secondary drowning..."

Drowning?

"...so we were grounded..."

Are you okay?

"...So far we seem to have come through unscathed."

Unscathed? John's gaze drifted back to his father's black eye. Unscathed from what?

"...Brains, naturally, is looking after you, so that only left Gordon and Virgil to go and get Alan."

Alan. He must have been frantic... All those stars...

"The original plan was to leave Gordon up there," Scott added, and John, taking care not to move his head more than necessary, looked back at him. "But we hated to think what state your 'bird would be in by the time you returned."

John heard an indignant: "Hey!" Good choice.

He felt Grandma touch his hand again. "How are you feeling now, Honey?"

Better now. John managed a weak smile and raised his thumb as a visual signal.

She smiled. "That's good. You'll have to tell us what happened to you later..."

If I can remember...

"...And Alan can tell you his story. He's got quite a tale to tell... Although I think you already know a lot of it."

I think... I think there was a bottle in the water... I went to get it...

John looked back at his youngest sibling. He'd noted Alan's pale complexion and wide eyes. Whatever had happened to him seemed to have upset this brother more than the others. He tried raising his hand and Alan grasped it. "You gave me a fright."

I'm okay. Feeling his hand being squeezed John did his best to squeeze back. He opened his mouth to speak, but could only utter a hoarse croak.

Alan leant closer. "What's that, John?"

John had another attempt. "Y' log lige seena gosd," he whispered; his breath fogging up his oxygen mask.

"I look like I've seen a ghost?"

John managed a nod as the rest of the family shared relieved glances.

"I can't have," Alan stated. "You're not dead."

"'N've got no plans to be." John watched as Alan's face exploded into a delighted smile and knew that, finally, Alan had awoken from his Halloween nightmare.

The end.