Heart and Home

By The Lady Razorsharp

They would later kick themselves for missing the signs. They agreed that they should have known something was wrong when Grandma got up from the couch and moved slowly toward the steps, her feet plodding as if the soles of her Uggs were weighted down with lead.

"I'm not feeling very well," she announced to the group collected in the living room. Scott, seated at the desk, looked up from his book, and Gordon and Alan turned from the movie they were watching to glance up at her in concern.

"You all right, Grandma?" asked Alan, but she waved him off.

"I'm just tired. I'll see you all in the morning." She plodded up a few more steps, then stopped at the top, breathing hard.

At this, Virgil turned from his easel just in time to see his grandmother tip backwards. Brush and palette landed on the floor, bright streaks making an abstract pattern that would later remain as traces in the finish, unable to be fully scrubbed away.

"Grandma!" Virgil shouted, running toward the stricken matriarch, but Kayo was there first, having come downstairs just in time to see Grandma's face go ashen and her eyes roll back in her head. Virgil was at her side in a moment as Kayo caught Grandma's slight weight and gently lowered her to the boards.

Gordon was in motion, grabbing a pillow off the couch and racing to slide it under Grandma's head. Alan tore off the blanket that had been wrapped around him and hurled it at Virgil, who spread it gently over Grandma's small frame.

To Scott, the last few moments had gone by in slow motion, but as the rest of the family raced to help his grandmother, time began to move in its regular order, and one hand shot out to slam the distress button on the desk. Instantly, John's ghostly form appeared over the coffee table, alarm in every inch of his frame.

"John!" Scott shouted. "Alert Memorial Hospital in Auckland. Something's wrong with Grandma; she just collapsed here in the living room!"

Without a word, John set to his work, and Scott hurried over to the tense group around Grandma. He pulled Gordon and Alan back to allow Virgil to continue monitoring her. Kayo retrieved Grandma's glasses from where they'd fallen and slipped them into her pocket, then knelt and stroked the iron gray strands back from Grandma's face. Scott's throat closed up to see how still his grandmother was, how fragile she looked. When had that happened, he wondered. She was always so strong; had they been leaning on her too much?

Alan was trying valiantly not to break down weeping, while Gordon sat mutely beside him, clutching Grandma's hand in his. As Scott watched, Gordon raised the wrinkled hand to his lips and kissed it, then cradled the work-worn fingers to his cheek in wordless entreaty.

It took a few tries, but Scott finally got the words out. "Virgil, how is she?"

His brother's face was set in stone, the amber eyes as dark as a desert sandstorm. "Pulse is thready, but at least she's got one. Her breathing is labored and shallow. I don't think she's got a fever; she's cold and clammy." He glanced up at Scott, his mouth set in a hard line. "I think she's had a heart attack. They'll know for sure once we get her to Auckland."

"Let's do it," Scott gritted. "I can take over while you get Thunderbird 2 up and running."

Virgil glanced at Kayo, who nodded. "I'll stay here," she assured him. "Tell us when you're on the pad and we'll get her out to you. Go."

With a shaky sigh, Virgil got to his feet. He took one last long look at his grandmother, then ran for his load chute as Scott slid into his place beside Grandma.

"Don't go, Grandma," Alan sobbed, and Scott felt tears begin to roll down his own cheeks as he silently echoed Alan's words.

It was so funny, Ruth decided, how things went. She'd never thought too much about her own death; too much living to do to worry about it, she'd always said. When her own mortality reached out for her, it wasn't a surprise-after all, it would be her turn someday-but merely as if someone had tapped her on the shoulder and startled her. There was no pain, no fear, just a stumble, a momentary lapse, and then-

Well, she hadn't gone anywhere, she was still in the room with the kids, but there was a commotion and a clamor that she just couldn't understand floating somewhere above her head. She looked around to reorient herself, and that's when she saw the figure standing near the portraits on the back wall.

A woman. A redheaded woman, small and slight and wearing a lovely dress of pure white that brought out the fire in her waist-length hair. She was barefoot, her toes pressed against the teak boards, and she was reaching out to touch Scott's portrait when Ruth's voice stopped her.

"Lucy?"

Lucille Tracy turned at the sound, and a smile broke out on her pretty face, lighting her sea-green eyes with pleasure. "Mom!" She ran light-footed around the curve and into Ruth's arms, hugging hard. Ruth held her daughter-in-law, breathing in the scent of her hair, cheek pressed against that of the younger woman.

"Oh, Lucy," Ruth whispered. "It is so good to see you, sweetheart." Lucy's absence was an ache she had lived with for so long that she'd forgotten it was there, but now it was well and truly gone, notable for its absence. "I have missed you so much."

Lucy stepped back to survey her husband's mother with love in her eyes. "I've missed you too, Mom." She smiled. "You can't stay, though."

"Oh." Ruth turned back to where the kids knelt around her still form. "So I guess this isn't it, huh?"

"No, not for a while yet." Lucy grinned. "Oh, Mom. I'm so proud of them. You've done such a good job with them." She walked over to where Scott knelt, silent tears streaming down his face. "My handsome boy," she murmured. "So strong and brave." She turned to Kayo, who sat oblivious to Lucy's soft stroke of her dark head. "The daughter I always wanted."

"You'd adore her, Lucy," Ruth agreed. "Kyrano raised her right."

At the name of her husband's bodyguard and friend, Lucy nodded. "He's a good man-if a little mysterious," she said with a wink. "And oh, my little guppy! Look how he's grown!" Lucy's fingers slid through Gordon's hair, though her son never stirred. "When he had his accident, I told him that he couldn't come with me. Oh, he was so disappointed, but I'm glad he decided to stay."

Ruth gaped at her daughter-in-law. "I remember him saying something about that," she murmured. "He said you told him to look after Jeff." The question bubbled out of her before she could stop it. "And Jeff-"

Lucy shook her head, a smile playing about her mouth. "No. He'll tell you himself before long what happened."

"I suppose I won't remember to tell the boys," Ruth said wryly, but Lucy just smiled and turned to Alan.

"Oh, my star baby," she whispered into his ear, slipping her arms around his neck. "Precious boy. You're so grown up."

"They all are," said Ruth, and suddenly they were standing next to John, watching him work the commsphere as Earth sailed peacefully below them. "Every time I see this face, I miss you all the more," Ruth told Lucy.

"I know." Lucy leaned in and gave John a kiss on his cheek, but the sentinel of Thunderbird Five worked on. "Keep following your dream, John," she whispered.

In the blink of an eye, Ruth found herself seated in Thunderbird Two next to Virgil, while Lucy hugged her stalwart middle child from behind. "I've watched you be strong for them," Lucy told him, though he kept his eyes and hands on the console. "Let someone be strong for you sometimes, my love." She turned to Ruth with a wicked grin. "Great-Grandma."

A laugh spluttered from Ruth. "What? Don't tell me-"

"Well, like I said, she's the daughter I always wanted." Lucy nodded toward Virgil. "It'll just take him to make it official."

"Virgil and Kayo?" Ruth chuckled. "Never saw that coming."

Lucy laughed. "Neither will he, for a while."

They were back in the living room then, and they stood arm in arm, pride stirring in both of them as Scott bore Ruth's body up in his strong arms and carried her gently to the door. They stayed where they were as the children were met by Virgil, who took Ruth from his brother and disappeared into the big green machine. Kayo followed close behind them, but Gordon and Alan stayed behind, Gordon's arm wrapped around Alan's shoulders, as the doors began to close.

"I have to go now, Lucy," Ruth told her, giving her a final hug. "I'll see you soon."

"Not too soon," Lucy replied, and then-

The thrum of Thunderbird Two's engines were rumbling like rolls of captive thunder all through her tired body, and with a herculean effort, Ruth opened her eyes to see Scott and Kayo bending over her. Kayo reached into a pocket and retrieved an object, and the world came into focus.

"Grandma," Scott breathed. "We thought we'd lost you."

"I'm here," she replied, a little surprised at how weak her own voice sounded. There was something she had to tell him, something she needed to remember-

Kayo saw it first. "What is it, Grandma?"

Ruth took a breath, pulling in the slightly medicinal-tasting oxygen from the mask over her face. "I…" Darn it, if she could just remember…

Scott squeezed her hand. "It's okay. Tell us later. Right now, just concentrate on getting better."

She could do that, she thought, and settled back into the safety of her family's embrace.

-end-