Home » The Archives » Chapter 9 » Regrouping and Recouperation
| Re: Regrouping and Recouperation [message #231 is a reply to message #230] |
Mon, 23 July 2012 15:27   |
artisticrainey
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Field Commander
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Monday afternoon, August 13.
Anna had spent the morning talking to Jeff, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of the family about Tyler. After lunch she spent an hour talking to Dianne. She kept getting the feeling people were hiding something, but she was used to that. Most families had something they didn't want to talk about. She didn't feel any menace or that they were hiding anything bad, and she trusted her instincts on that. Now she decided it was time to see what Tyler felt. She found Jeff in his office. "I would like to meet Tyler now. This will be more of a 'get to know you' visit but I do want it in a formal setting. Where would be a good place? Would your office work or would it be too intimidating?"
"My study might be better. He's in and out of there all the time, and it's more private." Jeff thought for a moment. "The schoolroom might also work."
"No, not the schoolroom. I don't want to make him associate the school room with something upsetting. I don't want to use the sick room for the same reason. And if I use your wife's office, he might feel I was trying to take his mother's place. Your study might be best. Formal but not intimidating. Somewhere he feels safe."
"All right, I'll find him and bring him up here. But I will be staying with him for this."
"Good. I want you in here for my first talk with Tyler. This won't be keeping you from something important?"
"Right now Tyler is the most important thing."
He cares enough to put aside his company and anything else. Good. He really does see Tyler as his son, not a just stepson or an encumbrance. And he's not just doing this for Dianne's sake.
Jeff noticed Gordon in the lounge. "Gordon, can you find Tyler and bring him here? I think he's still in his bedroom."
"Sure, Dad." Gordon gave Anna a quick look. She nodded back at him. He headed towards the bedrooms.
"I also want to meet with John later."
"To ask him about quitting NASA?" Jeff sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
Anna gave him a look, then grinned slightly. "Partly. But Gordon said John is the adult son closest to Tyler. I want his impressions of what's happening with Tyler, see if he's noticed anything we've missed. You say the problems started after the tsunami?"
"And John was home then." Jeff frowned. "How important is it that you meet him face to face? He's away on family business right now. I can set up a call, but it would take a couple of days to get him physically back here."
"Lets see how things go with Tyler first." Just then the door opened and Tyler walked through. Jeff gestured for him to sit in the chair next to him. "Tyler, I want you to meet Anna Hanson. She's a friend of your mom's."
"Are you a doctor too?" He looked at her, inquiringly.
"No, I'm a counselor. I talk to people who just had something bad happen to them and help them through it."
His face immediately clouded up. "Mom called a shrink about me." He scowled.
"Tyler! That is not polite!"
Anna waved Jeff to silence. "Considering some of the shrinks out there, I don't blame him. No, Tyler, I'm not actually here just about you. I'm here mostly for your mother."
"But you're not a doctor?"
"No, I work with firefighters and police who have been hurt while at work." Tyler darted a surprised look at his dad. Anna continued, "I'm here to see she doesn't need to worry about anything while she recovers. I'd like to talk to you and your dad about how to do that."
"Well, Dad's with her almost all the time. And Grandma Emily, Grandma Lisa and Kyrano are taking care of everything."
"Oh good. Someone other than your dad is doing the cooking. In my experience, dads usually aren't very good cooks when mom is sick. The kids tend to eat a lot of pizza and macaroni and cheese."
"I like macaroni and cheese," Tyler said indignantly. "It's my favorite!"
"I like it too. It's just not so good when you have it every night." Anna thought for a second and decided on a sideways approach. She turned toward Jeff. "What do the doctors say about her? Will she be ok?"
Jeff knew that Anna already knew what Dianne's prognosis was. He didn't know what she was up to but decided to play along. "She's going to be ok, but it will be a while before she's back to normal."
"Are you worried about her?" Anna's voice remained calm, as if she were only mildly interested in the answer.
"Yes, of course I'm worried about her. I know she'll be ok but..." He shrugged.
Anna turned back to Tyler. "Tyler, when your dad was sick last spring, how much did your mom worry about him?"
"A lot, I guess. She stayed in New York instead of coming back to get us. Scott and Grandma Lisa flew us to New York."
"And how soon did you get to see him?"
"When they let him out of the ICU. He wanted to see us but they wouldn't let us in the ICU."
"They wouldn't let me see my dad when he was in the ICU either. Were you the very first people to get to see him?" Anna's matter-of-fact tone seemed to relax Tyler a bit.
"Mom, Scott and Grandma Emily saw him first."
"But they could be in the ICU." She turned toward Jeff. "Mr. Tracy, why did you want to see Tyler and your other kids as soon as you could?"
"Because I missed them." Jeff hesitated. "And because I was worried about them and wanted to be sure they were ok."
"Did seeing them help? Even if you were still scared?"
Tyler jumped up. "My Dad's not scared. He's the bravest man in the whole world! He'd never be scared!"
Jeff was beginning to see where she was going with all this. "Of course I was scared, Tyler. I was scared I would die; I was scared I might not be able to walk again." Jeff hesitated. "I was afraid your mom might not love me anymore." Well, that hadn't been it exactly, but he wasn't going to go into that right now. Anna's mouth twitched, as if she knew exactly what he had been afraid of.
He went on. "Tyler, a brave man isn't someone who is never scared. A brave man is someone who goes ahead even though he's scared. Ask Scott. I know he's been scared sometimes."
"Scott's never scared! He's always in charge!" Tyler started to add something then hesitated and looked at his dad. Did this lady know about IR? He wasn't sure.
Anna noticed the hesitation and spoke up. "Everybody is afraid when something like this happens. It's ok to be scared, Tyler. What I'm here to do is help your mom deal with the things she's scared of." She crouched forward in her chair a bit so she was looking into Tyler's eyes. "And the biggest thing she's scared of is that you might be angry at her. Or," Anna's voice became very gentle, "she's afraid you might not love her any more."
Tyler looked like he was in shock. "She thinks I don't love her? Is that why she's going to leave? Like Daddy did?" A tear started to run down his cheek.
Anna turned to Jeff. "You left?"
"I think he means his biological father. He died 5 years ago in the Greenville Customs office bombing."
"I was mad at him and I didn't give him a hug and he went away and didn't come back. He must've thought I didn't love him either." Tyler was obviously trying not to cry.
"And last spring your second dad went away and got hurt and almost didn't come back. And now your mom went away and came back hurt." Tyler was shaking now. Anna continued, "And in a way, John is going away too. Everyone's leaving you and getting hurt."
Jeff went over and picked up his youngest son. Tyler buried his head in Jeff's chest and sobbed. Jeff held him close and stroked his hair. "Shh, shh, Tyler. I'm not going to leave you and neither is your mom." He rocked him gently and looked at Anna.
"Just let him cry. He needs that now. Is there somewhere I can get a damp washcloth and some water?"
"Ask Gordon. He's probably still out there." Jeff nodded toward the lounge.
Anna moved to the door and saw Gordon in the lounge reading a magazine. "Gordon." He looked up. "Could you get me a glass of water and a damp wash cloth? " He nodded and headed toward the kitchen. She came back to sit down next to Tyler and Jeff. "I didn't expect this to happen so soon. I didn't want to push him too hard."
"It's been a tough year for him. Maybe more than we realized."
Tyler's tears had wound down. Gordon came in with a damp washcloth and a bottle of water and handed both to Jeff. Jeff wiped Tyler's face then made him drink some water. Gordon leaned back against the wall but didn't leave. After a long drink, Tyler sagged against his father's chest.
"A young child, or for that matter any kid, thinks he is the center of the universe. Everything happens because of him. If someone dies or is hurt, it's his fault. Tyler, you have no idea how many firemen's kids have told me it was their fault the roof fell on their dad. Or policemen's kids who think the man who shot their parent did it because they were bad and God is mad at them. Sometimes even grown police officers feel that way. That's why they come and talk to me. I'll tell you what I tell them."
"The scariest thing in the world is watching when your parent, or anyone you love, is hurt. It's normal to feel it's your fault. But that's not true. Can you make a storm like the one that blew your dad's helijet down?"
"No."
"Can you blow up a building?"
Tyler blinked. "I could ask Brains how to."
"Were you driving the car when your mom had her accident?"
Headshake. "I'm too small to drive yet. 'Cept my bike."
"Is there anyone who is mad at you? Or do you think God is?"
"Kat's mad at me. I don't like her." Tyler snuggled a bit closer to his dad.
"Kat? Is she the one making goo-goo eyes at John?"
Tyler nodded. Jeff looked at Tyler in surprise but held his tongue. Anna continued, "Was she driving when your mom was hurt?"
Tyler looked at his dad again. "No. She was somewhere else."
"So, she couldn't have hurt your mom because of anything you did. Is anyone else mad at you?"
Tyler shook his head.
"Jeff, are you mad at Tyler?"
"Hmm, let me think. No, he hasn't pushed anyone in the pool recently. He's eating his vegetables, mostly. And his school work's been ok. No, I'm not mad at him right now. In fact, I hardly ever am." Jeff looked down at him and grinned.
"I don't think God is mad at you for anything. If you want, I can ask him about it." A snort came from Jeff at this. Tyler looked up at him.
Anna continued. "So your Mom's accident is not your fault. But it's ok to feel scared. It's even ok to be angry. What's not ok is to pretend you're ok when you're not." She looked at Jeff. "I'm surprised you didn't go through this after your first wife died."
Jeff sighed. "I think the boys did to a certain extent. I know I blamed myself. But I was pretty out of it for a while. I buried myself in my work. I don't think I let myself feel anything for a year. The boys' grandmother might have dealt with something like this. I know the pastor of our church spent a lot of time with her and the boys. She went to her own pastor for grief counseling after my dad died."
"Dad?"
"Yes, Tyler?"
"Did you blame yourself when your dad died?"
"I didn't blame myself for his death. I did blame myself for not spending more time with him. Come to think about it, I was angry at myself over that."
"Did you blame yourself when," Tyler hesitated, "John's first mom died?"
"For a long time I did. I don't anymore." He sighed. "But it took me a long time to stop feeling angry that she'd died."
After that, they both were quiet for a while. When she felt enough time had passed for both of them to recover, Anna spoke up. "Tyler, do you remember what I said about your mom? How I was here to help her?"
"Yeah."
"She is really worried about you. I don't think right now is the best time to tell her about all this. We can tell her later. But right now we need to show her you are all right. Do you think you could go see her and tell her what you've been up to? Can you think of a funny thing that happened? Did you go swimming yesterday?" Tyler nodded. "Did you splash anyone?" Tyler gave a quick head shake. He was beginning to look more interested. "Hm, too bad. Swimming is no fun if you don't splash someone." Tyler grinned at this. So did Gordon, still watching from the doorway, unnoticed by Jeff and Tyler. "Did someone get a big surprise yesterday? Something exciting to tell your mom about?" Tyler shook his head again.
"Hmm, your mom already knows about Gordon's latest joke, so we can't tell your mom about that." Jeff looked down at his son thoughtfully.
"Should we ask him to play another one?" Tyler was beginning to look interested.
"I don't think I really want to give Gordon any encouragement. He gets into enough trouble without any help."
A "Rats!" came from the door. Gordon looked like he was pouting. "I never get to have any fun." He looked at Tyler and grinned. Tyler grinned back, a little uncertainly.
An unholy gleam came into Jeff's eyes. "You know Tyler, Mrs. Hanson wanted to know why John quit the space program. Why don't we show her?"
Tyler looked at him in surprise. "She doesn't know about...?"
"No, your mom didn't get a chance to tell her. So why don't we show her what I gave John to make him willing to leave NASA." A grin slowly grew on Tyler's face to match the one on his father's.
Anna looked at both of them quizzically. "You gave him something that made him quit?"
"Yeah. But he won't mind us showing you part of it." Tyler jumped out of his dad's lap and ran to the door. "Come on, follow me." He raced out the door.
Anna looked at Jeff, inquiringly. Jeff was trying to keep a straight face.
Gordon didn't even try. "I'll come with you."
Anna looked at both of them. She knew something was up but had no idea what. Jeff gestured for her to precede them down to the elevators where Tyler was waiting impatiently. To her surprise, Jeff pressed his hand against something she couldn't see and a second elevator appeared. They took it down a level to a monorail car. Tyler ran ahead, grinning.
"What is down here?" All three of the Tracys grinned. I don't feel any menace, but they are definitely up to something. They're more amused than anything.
"A short cut to the hangers," Jeff answered. "Also the waste treatment plant, the power plant, the water desalination equipment, the boat pen... and a few other things we've been working on."
"That young man is enjoying this entirely too much. And so are you two." Anna began to think she might be in trouble. "The last time my family looked like you three do, they'd planned a surprise party for my fiftieth birthday. Complete with black balloons and a male stripper."
Jeff tried to look innocent. He didn't manage it very well. "Oh, I don't think you need to worry about any balloons here," he said as he ushered her into the waiting car. "It's just a quick look at something we've been working on." He pressed the buttons to send the car on its way.
She looked at all three of them. "You all look entirely too innocent." She shook her head. "I don't trust any of you for a second." Gordon put on his best 'I am sweet and innocent' look and Tyler was practically bouncing in anticipation. Whatever this is, it's distracted him enough to calm him down.
The monorail car came out from a short tunnel. "Why don't you just turn around and see what we've got?" Jeff's tone was highly amused.
Anna looked at him and raised an eyebrow. She turned around to look out the window behind her.
There was something big and red in front of her. As the monorail car continued to move, she could see support struts going down to what looked like thrusters. And the big white letters spelling "Thunderbird 3" on the side.
"Oh." She stood there for a second. Then she took a deep breath and let it out. Then a second. And a third. "Yes, I think that would be a good excuse for leaving NASA."
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"Mom, you should have seen her. She looked like she couldn't move. She kept opening her mouth like a fish!" Tyler was sitting on his mother's bed. He was already in his pj's but wanted to tell her about his big surprise. "Then she looked at Dad and said, 'I hope it has a telescope.' Dad told here that it didn't, there was one on Thunderbird 5 for John. That's what he used to discover the Tracy Quasar!" Tyler was trying hard not to bounce in excitement. His grandma Lisa watched from the door. She'd already heard this, twice.
His mother laughed. "And what did she say then?"
Jeff answered. "She looked at me and said 'Company business, huh.'" He grinned. "I told her, 'No, this is family business. Tracy Industries just finances things.'"
"She was pretty quiet during dinner for some reason." Tyler smirked. "I can't wait to see how she looks when Thunderbird 1 launches through the swimming pool!"
Dianne laughed. "Hopefully, I'll be up by then. I want to watch her reaction, too. Now off to bed with you. I need my sleep even more than you right now. Can I get a good night hug?"
"Sure. Do you want me to tuck you in, too?" Tyler hugged his mom gently.
"No, I get to do that," Jeff interrupted. "Now shoo. I'll stop by and check on you later."
Tyler grabbed his Grandma Lisa's hand. "Okay. See you tomorrow." Lisa and he walked down toward his room.
Jeff sat down next to his wife. "You were right. She is just what we need."
"I gather the initial session went well? He likes her?"
"The initial session was hell. Tyler broke down. Apparently he's been hiding his feelings since his first dad died."
"What!!"
"Calm down, love. Anna was surprised it happened so fast. She told me later that he must have been close to breaking down. She wants to see him every day this week and once a week after that. Sometimes with you and me there. She also wants to him to talk with John about how he felt when Lucy died." Jeff paused for a second.
"She also wants to talk to Mom about how the boys handled it. I wasn't there for them much."
"Jefferson Tracy, don't you go feeling guilty. I have enough to worry about with Tyler." Dianne glared at him.
"I wouldn't dare. She said she'd talk both of us later about the other kids."
"My mom might know better than me." Dianne signed. "I sure missed it with Tyler."
"Now who's feeling guilty? Hypocrite." He hesitated. "I want to talk to her about Callie and Elise tomorrow. I need to fill her in, especially about the Hood."
"I don't want to just hand over my files on either of them. In fact, I can't tell her anything more than I already have without their permission. I can talk to her for a bit in the morning and give her some information. You can introduce her to Brains and Tin-Tin in the afternoon." She looked up at him coyly. "Now what was that about tucking me in?"
Post by susanmartha on 1/14/2007
  
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