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Scott asks some questionsShe opened her eyes again, and blinked. This time her eyelids didn't feel so heavy and she kept them up, looking around the room. The first thing she noticed was the IV bag of clear fluid that hung over her head to one side. She followed the tubing and realized it ended at a needle inserted in her hand. Leave it for now. It doesn't seem to be doing any harm. Turning her head, she saw that she was in a hospital type bed. Hospital. Hospital? That's not what I remember. I remember an Asian girl and a man with a strange name and a stutter. Brains. That was the name. Brains. Still think it's absurd. On further examination, she saw a glass, half full of water and garnished with a straw, sitting on a table next to her. Thirsty. She reached out for the glass and pulled it to herself, sliding the straw between her stiff lips. The drink wasn't as cool as it had been before, but it was still gloriously wet and she pulled on the straw until the water was gone. Then the door opened, and the Asian girl saw her and smiled. "How are you feeling, Ms. Myles?" she asked, coming and taking the glass from Lou's hand. "Let me refill this and adjust the head of the bed for you. Then we can talk." The girl was as good as her word, and soon Lou was sitting up, sipping more refreshingly cold water. "That's better," she said, pulling up a seat. "I don't know if you remember, but my name is Tin-Tin Kyrano. And you are at the home of Jefferson Tracy. You were found washed up on the beach." Lou sighed. "I do remember, I think. At least about the beach. And the island. From the time I woke up before. Where is your friend? The one with the funny name?" "He's occupied elsewhere, Ms. Myles." The door suddenly opened and a handsome young man walked in. Tin-Tin turned to greet the newcomer. Lou's eyes widened, but just for a moment. Play it cool! Don't give anything away! By the time Tin-Tin turned back, Lou's face was a study in cordial confusion. "Hello, Scott," Tin-Tin said with a smile. Relationship? Friends? Brother-sister? Or maybe more? "Scott, I'd like you to meet Ms. Lou Myles. Ms. Myles, this is Scott Tracy, oldest son of Jeff Tracy," Tin-Tin told her. He came up beside the bed, refraining from offering his hand, knowing about the IV that was stuck in her veins. "Hello, Mr. Tracy. It's nice to meet you," Lou said politely. Scott laughed. "Please, call me Scott. Mr. Tracy is my father. We've already met, Ms. Myles, though I'm sure you don't remember." Met before? Does he remember....? "My brother, Gordon, and I found you on the beach. Of course, you were in no condition then for introductions," Scott continued cordially. He doesn't remember. Interesting. "I'm sorry to have intruded on your family's privacy, Scott," Lou said contritely. "It was purely by accident that I found your island at all." Scott pulled up a chair for himself. "Ms. Myles, I've talked to your sister, Mrs. Clarendon...." Lou was surprised. "You talked to Shelly?" "Yes. You gave us her name when you woke up before. She wants to talk to you as soon as you are able, and she says get well and she'll talk to someone about the... cats?" Now Scott looked a bit confused as he tried to relay a message he didn't quite understand. Lou smiled, her cracked, sunburned lips feeling tight as they stretched. Tin-Tin saw this and got up, returning with a small pot of ointment and her hand in a medical glove. "Here, Ms. Myles. Let me put some of this on your lips. It will help." Tin-Tin reached out and smoothed some of the ointment, which smelled like coconut, on Lou's lips. Lou rubbed her lips together and found it easier to smile. "Thank you, Tin-Tin," she told the girl, who smiled back and withdrew. She turned her attention back to Scott. "Did she mention the name 'Mrs. Mason'?" "Yes, she did," Scott admitted, relieved. "That's my cat sitter. Shelly will let her know that I'm going to be late," Lou replied. "So, have you found my plane?" It was Scott's turn to look surprised. "Uh, no. We haven't. I just found out about it from your sister. I wanted to talk to you and ask you what happened. How did you know that your sister mentioned it?" "I know my sister," Lou said with a small laugh. "She is a worry wart and needs to know every detail of where I'm going and what I'm doing. She probably thought you needed all the details, too." Though I hope she didn't tell him everything.... "Well, she mentioned that you were flying a 'company plane' from Auckland to Guam. What happened between the two places?" Lou shrugged. "I'm not sure why, but my plane went down, and me with it. I had just entered a storm, a storm, mind you, that I had no idea was coming up. Suddenly, the engine sputtered and died and I dropped like a rock. I know I managed to get the nose up so that the plane skipped across the waves like a flat stone for a bit." She reached up to touch the contusion on her forehead. "I got this nice souvenir bump from banging around in the cockpit, but I managed to stay conscious and throw the life raft out and swim over to it. Then the plane sank. The storm was almost finished passing over my position, but it still dumped a lot of rain in the life raft and I bailed it all out. Later, I wished I hadn't because I didn't have anything to drink," she explained, ending with a rueful tone. "Did you put out a mayday?" Scott asked. Brains came in quietly to confer with Tin-Tin. "I think I turned on the automatic one," Lou replied after a moment of hard thinking. "I was too busy trying to keep the plane's nose up to shout out one." She sat back wearily. "I floated out there for at least a day before I saw your island in the distance and started paddling for it." Scott was about to ask some more questions when Brains came over. "S-Scott, I need to put some more, uh, burn salve on Ms. M-Myles. Can you, uh, c-come back l-later?" "Sure, Brains. Will Ms. Myles be able to join us for dinner?" Scott asked. "I-I don't see why not, as long as we c-can find her some, uh, clothing," Brains replied. "Hmm." Tin-Tin looked Lou up and down. "Perhaps a pair of your sweatpants, Scott, and one of Gordon's t-shirts would work. And one of his dressing gowns as well. I'll ask him." "And I'll let Kyrano know that we have one more for dinner," Scott said, smiling. "Then I'll come back and talk to you later, Ms. Myles." "Okay, Scott. Thank you for finding me, and taking care of me," Lou said with a weary smile. She turned to Tin-Tin and Brains. "And thank you as well for all you've done." "You're welcome," Brains said as he pulled out a tube of blue gel. Scott smiled and gave her a small salute as he left the room. Brains and Tin-Tin helped her smooth the cooling gel over her arms and legs and face, then they left her to rest. She lay back against the raised head of the bed and sighed with relief. That went better than expected. I hope Scott doesn't get too much more personal with his questions. There are some questions I just can't answer. Scott rubbed his stubbly chin as he headed back to the lounge. I think I'll ask Gordon where this plane was most likely to have gone down in relation to the island, and maybe have John try to find it with the scanners in Thunderbird Five. There's something not quite right with her story and I'd like to corroborate it, if only to satisfy my own itch. Maybe then I'll know where I've seen her before. |