Disclaimer
Thunderbirds and all the characters etc. belong to Gerry Anderson and Working Title films, I'm just borrowing them.
A/N - Duh, duh, duh…! Here we are – the final chapter! (And one of the longest I think too!) I've had great fun writing this story, and I've really appreciated all your input and responses, even if I don't always get round to answering them.
Now, back to the less interesting notes – I apologise if I get any of the medical details in this chapter wrong, as I am not a doctor, and I don't think I'd be a very good one either. I'm just trying to describe what is happening the way I see it.
Enjoy reading the ending of the story, and I just hope that you've had as much fun reading it as I have writing it!
Accidents
Chapter 19 – Sunset
"Looks like you've been busy in here too." John said as he was helped into the medical area in the Tracy house by Scott and Alan. "Who arranged all this anyway?"
"Gordon" Both Scott and Alan said at the same time. John looked between the two of them suspiciously.
"Guys, is that your way of telling me to watch my step, or am I just imagining things?"
"Oh, I don't think even Gordon would play tricks on an invalid." John glared at Scott for calling him that. "He'll just wait until you've recovered and then hit you with twice as many."
"Great"
"Sit down. Dad will go nuts if we let you hurt yourself any more than you already are." Alan said quickly, pushing John gently onto the bed. "Virgil's gone off in Thunderbird 2 to get one of International Rescue's agents who is a trained doctor, but until he gets back you're stuck with us."
"Are you sure you don't want me to give you some painkillers? I'm afraid this is going to hurt."
"I'm sure doctor. This headache is bad enough already without using drugs."
"Alright. It's your choice. Are you ready?"
John nodded and looked away from the doctor and towards Scott who was sitting on the other side of the bed holding his hand. Scott had been there the entire time the doctor had been examining his injuries. Jeff was hovering behind the doctor, wanting to be able to do something to help but trying to stay out of the way.
The doctor also nodded and pulled the piece of shrapnel out of John's left forearm as smoothly as possible, causing him to try to muffle a scream and lurch forward. Scott gently pushed his brother back against the headboard, still gripping his hand.
"OK John, its out. You can relax."
"Thank you"
"You don't need to thank me. Just try to get some rest now. I'll be right outside if you need anything."
John nodded and let Scott help him lie down in the bed. Jeff watched the 2 brothers together before following the doctor out the door.
"Doctor, will he be all right?" Jeff asked when they were safely out of earshot.
"He's probably going to need physiotherapy to regain full use of his left hand and I wouldn't advise him trying to get out of bed for the next couple of weeks, but other than that, he should make a full recovery. He's a strong young man Mr Tracy, I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Thanks Dave, for coming out here like this."
"Think nothing of it. Anything for International Rescue."
"Hello Scott. How's John?" Virgil asked from his position on the sun-bed by the pool. Scott knew he would find his brothers out here. 'There was no better way to try to get away from your worries than a good swim' Gordon would always say. No matter what the reason, they always came out here when they were worried.
"He's sleeping. I think everything that's happened finally caught up with him."
"I'm not surprised. He's been through a lot the last 2 weeks" Gordon said, pulling himself out of the water and sitting on the edge of the pool to hear what the others were saying.
"I can't believe that it's only been 10 days since the missile hit. It felt like forever." Alan murmured, remembering how long it felt that they had been held captive.
"I know." There was a long pause, where each of the 4 brothers was lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Virgil broke the silence.
"I still can't believe we thought he was dead. He's our brother. Why did we give up on him so quickly?"
"I've been thinking the same thing" Scott started, sitting down on an empty sun-bed. "But we should be thinking about what to do now that he's back."
"I still feel terrible about it though." Alan said, and then started repeating the things that had happened in the previous week. "First the bio-transmitter said he was dead. Well, we can explain that one. His watch was damaged. Then Brains showed us that picture of him just lying there. I know what I thought after that. And then we were told about the system overload and that it could blow up the entire ship!"
"Which is why he'll understand what we thought." Scott said quickly, going over to his youngest brother. "We just have to be there for him."
"Do we know how he survived that anyway? From the way Brains was talking it was rather an impossible scenario."
"No. I haven't had time to ask him that yet."
"That will be one very interesting conversation I think."
"Oh yeah, definitely."
About a week later:
"Feeling any better?" Virgil asked, bringing in two trays of lunch and setting them down on the table. "I thought I would have lunch with you. Keep you company."
"Thanks Virgil. I appreciate it. And yes, I am feeling better. Headache's finally gone."
"Good." Virgil sat down in the chair by the bed and handed John the tray. He took it awkwardly in his right hand, his left still in a sling by his side. "I don't want you trying anything though. The doctor said you should stay in bed for at least another week."
"I know. I'm not going anywhere. Wouldn't mind a book to read. Gets rather boring stuck in here."
"I'll see what I can do."
"What's everyone else doing at the moment?"
"Well, I think Alan and Brains were planning to go up to Thunderbird 5 to see what repairs are needed. Don't worry…" he added, seeing John's face. "There will still be plenty for you to do once you're up and about. Brains said he thinks it is going to take at least a month to sort everything out. I'm not sure what the others are doing. I haven't seen Scott or Gordon all morning."
"Oh, they're around somewhere. But there is one thing I don't understand."
"What's that?"
"No one's asked me to explain anything yet. Scott let it slip that he wanted to ask when we were on our way back in the Thunderbirds."
"We were waiting until you were ready, but if you want to tell me then…"
"Alright. Where do you want me to start?"
"Brains managed to tap into Thunderbird 5's computer system briefly, but it showed an overload in the environmental system. It was saying that it would blow the ship within about 3 hours. How did you stop it?"
"I didn't. It took me over 4 hours before I realised there was nothing I could do to stop the overload. I could only slow it down."
"Then how…?"
"I jettisoned the entire control system into space. It wasn't very comfortable, but it didn't blow up either."
"We had no way to know."
"I know you didn't. I heard Scott's message over the radio."
"You did? Were you…angry at us for giving up on you like that?"
"Of course not! I know it was hard on you too. It just made me even more determined to get the communication system fixed."
"Then I'm guessing you used Thunderbird 3 to get back down to earth?" Virgil suggested
"Yes. I used the remote piloting system that Brains put in a while back to get Thunderbird 3 into space once I found out it had been fixed. Then when I got to Tracy Island everyone was unconscious and I heard the ransom message on the television. I left the note for dad and then flew Thunderbird 1 over to NASA as fast as I could. I bumped into Lady Penelope and Parker in FAB 2 on the way and the rest you know."
"And to think that was all done by a dead man. Strange really"
"Hey, don't blame it all on me! It wasn't my fault you all jumped to the wrong conclusion."
"And I'm certainly glad we were wrong. None of us wanted to think you were dead." Scott said from the doorway, having overheard the end of their conversation.
"Hi Scott."
"Hi guys. John, I just came to tell you that Thunderbird 3 is ready for launch. Alan asked if there was anything you wanted him to check out."
"I can't think of anything, but tell them to wear warm clothing. The environmental systems have been offline for a long time, so it'll be pretty cold by now."
"I'll make sure I tell them"
"Thanks"
Another two weeks later:
"Dad, have you seen John?"
"No I haven't Gordon. Since he was allowed out of bed he's been doing his best to stay out."
"I noticed. How many places can there be around here to hide in a wheelchair?"
"Probably a lot more than we think. Don't worry, he's around here somewhere."
"I just hope he hasn't tried to ditch the wheelchair and go off on his own. Gordon muttered, clearly not intending for Jeff to hear him."
"Gordon, I know he didn't like the idea of using the wheelchair, but he wouldn't go that far."
"OK. I'll go and have another look around. Maybe I just missed him."
"John, what are you doing in Brains' lab?" Scott asked, surprised. Seeing John bent over a computer screen from his wheelchair, absolutely surrounded by far too technical-looking stuff wasn't what he was expecting to find. Then again, it is John. He's always been a bit of a workaholic. Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.
"Oh, hello Scott. I'm just going over some of the information that Alan and Brains sent down this morning from Thunderbird 5. It's still going to take us several weeks to get her operational again."
"I thought dad told you take it easy, and I don't think that includes going through tons of technical readouts."
"Dad told me not to do anything stressful, and I'm not. I'm still in this thing aren't I? Much as I don't want to be…" the last bit was barely a whisper, but Scott still just about heard the frustration behind the words.
"Hey, brother, you know it is for your own good…"
"Yeah, I know. It's just so damn frustrating! I don't like just having to sit here and not be able to do anything."
"Well, what do you want to do? You know we'll do our best to help you."
"Err, OK, there is something, but…hang on" his attention was pulled back to the computer he had been working at. "What's this?"
"What?"
"An image has been stored in the files. These folders are mainly just system diagnostics. Maybe it was saved in the wrong place."
"Open it up."
John's hands moved over the keyboard, having to go more slowly than usual as his left hand was still a bit shaky. A very familiar picture of the Thunderbird 5 consoles appeared on the screen.
"Ah, that." Scott gasped. John just looked at him, puzzled.
"When did you get this?" he asked, staring at the blue figure on the screen that was obviously him.
Scott sighed, but then started to explain. "Almost immediately after the missile hit, dad told Brains to try and get a visual from inside Thunderbird 5. The link-up burned out after about a second. That's all we got."
"I'm sorry."
"For what? None of this was your fault. You did it to save lives."
"I'm still sorry that I put you through all that…"
"No, you did your best, and we understand. More than that, we're proud of you." Scott quickly pulled John into a large hug, doing his best to be careful of his injuries. John's voice was muffled as he answered.
"Thanks Scott"
Scott pulled back, before trying to lighten the mood. "Now, back to what we were talking about a minute ago. What do you want to do?"
"I know where I'd like to go, but I know that I'd never be able to get up there."
"Where?"
"A place up in the rocks that I used to go to…to think, to be alone. There is a beautiful view of the shoreline, and I always found it really relaxing, but it's a long climb up. I'd never make it in this wheelchair."
"If that's where you want to go, then come on, let's go. Virgil, Gordon and I will help you. After all, what is family for?"
"So this is where you always used to disappear off to when we were younger. It was worth the climb just for the view." Gordon said quietly, looking out over the ocean. It hadn't taken Scott much persuading to get the other 2 brothers to come.
"I know. It's wonderful. But the climb back down won't be."
"Don't think about that. Let's stay up here and enjoy the sunset. It's a pity that Alan's not here with us so we can all be together."
"Yeah, and later we can try to nag dad to get out the jet and land it up here so we don't have to climb down again."
"I'd like to hear you try to do that!"
THE END!
I'm still thinking about maybe doing a sequel, but even if I do, it'll probably be quite a while before I start it. Any ideas you have are greatly appreciated, and I will try to use them!