Home » The Archives » Chapter 7 » Trouble Under the Hood
| Re: Trouble Under the Hood [message #1909 is a reply to message #1908] |
Sat, 28 July 2012 19:09   |
Lillehafrue
Messages: 478
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northeastern USA
Karma:
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TB Pilot
Evil Genius |
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From: FrankieCTB2 Sent: 5/27/2006 1:51 PM
Tracy Island, July 18th.
As mornings go on Tracy Island, this one was turning out to be a pretty normal one. The weather had been cooler, so Gordon was griping about not being able to get his usual early morning laps swum. He was almost to the point of annoying two of his elder brothers.
"If it had been just a few degrees warmer at 5 a.m., I could've at least got 5 laps in! This is ridiculous! This body needs to be kept in shape guys!" he complained, rubbing his abs for emphasis.
Two sets of eyes rolled simultaneously. "For the tenth time, Gords, give it a rest!" Scott growled. He had been enjoying his newspaper and magazine while sitting in the lounge and listening to Virgil's soft melody wafting from the piano.
Gordon ignored him and paced over to Virgil, who suddenly became much more serious about what he was playing and averted his eyes to the sheets of music in front of him.
"Virge, you understand, don'tcha?" No reply came. "Virge? Are you even listening to me?"
The chestnut-topped head came up and Virgil stared at his sibling. "Yes, Gordon. I'm listening. Scott and are both listening. We've been listening for the past 15 minutes!"
Gordon noticed the increase in decibels as Virgil spoke, and decided with a huff that shutting up might be advantageous at this point. "Fine!" He replied. He then slumped down on the couch opposite Scott and tried to find a nautical magazine in the pile that was strewn over the nearby coffee table.
Scott looked up from the article he'd been reading. It was about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and possible new discoveries for treating it in certain cases. "Gords?" he asked.
The redhead looked up. "What? I didn't say anything!"
Scott sighed impatiently. "I know that, dork, I was going to ask you something about Elise."
At the mention of the pilot's name, Virgil stopped playing and now gave his attention to his brothers.
For a second, Gordon was thrown by Scott's statement. "What about Elise? She's okay, isn't she?"
"I think she will be, but I wanted to ask you about when you with her in New York. You accidentally came across Dad's chopper, didn't you?"
Gordon nodded. "Yeah, that was a shocker, I'll tell ya."
"What was her reaction to it?" Scott inquired.
"I thought you knew; why are you asking now?" Gordon now seemed more confused about where the conversation was going.
Scott shared the article he'd been reading with Gordon and Virgil, who'd now left his piano and was seated in a chair near Gordon.
"Ah, I see." Gordon said, now understanding. "She freaked Scott. I mean the girl almost flipped out on me."
"Define 'flipped out', Gordon!" Virgil asked, a little impatient with Gordon and his choice of words.
"Relax, will ya! She panicked, almost started to hyperventilate. I tried to calm her without frightening her more, but at one point it was like I wasn't even there. She was re-living the crash, I think." Scott nodded, understanding.
"Isn't that how she was in New Hampshire, Scott?" This came from Virgil, who was now concerned.
"Yeah, like I told you when we got back, her fear was incredible. I was shaken myself, having to re-live that night up there, but Elise was terrified." Scott looked at both of his brothers and spoke again "It wasn't just the crash, guys; her terror is real."
"What are you getting at, Scott?" Virgil asked worriedly.
"She's terrified of dying," came Scott's quiet reply.
"We've all gone through that! Every time we're out on a rescue!" Gordon stated. Scott and Virgil looked at him as if they were about to throttle him. "Now what?" the redhead asked.
"It's not the dying, it's dying ALONE. Elise watched her parents die alone; she barely survived, and was alone. She's had no real family to speak of. When she and Dad went down, she thought he was... well, dead." Scott found himself struggling to say it, even now, but he continued on. "She was alone in the chopper, miles from anywhere, no communication and was terrified of dying."
"She told you all this?" Virgil asked.
Scott looked into worried brown eyes. "No, Virge. Not exactly anyway. She'd said it out loud, but it was Mom who figured it out, that being alone and dying alone was Elise's real fear. She may still have a lot of healing to do, but now that we know what the fear is, we can help her."
Gordon had been listening intently and had come to his own conclusions about the information Scott had shared. "So, you're telling us that the fear is not the actual water, like we thought, but dying alone in it?" he asked.
"Or alone anyplace else, I guess." Virgil added.
Gordon continued, "If that's the case, then I can get her training with me in the water! Ah man, if only I'd known that this morning! If the water had been..."
"GORDON!" his brothers exclaimed.
Whatever else they were going to say was cut short by the wailing of the klaxon. The emergency signal sounded throughout the island. "Here we go," Virgil stated.
98% pure evil...and loving every minute of it.
 
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