OH HOLY NIGHT
Ianto carefully made his way up to the autopsy bay two folded white sheets draped over his left arm a bowl of water in his hands. Once down the steps he placed the items on the work bench, Owen for once had actually tidied it, and turned to his task.
The dead child lying on the table had fallen through the Rift, alone and injured. It had happened some seven hours previously and Owen had battled to save the girl's life to no effect. Her death had been painful and frightening and she had squeezed Ianto's hand so tightly that two of his fingers had been dislocated. Ianto had let her hold on, whispering assurances, singing softly and ensuring that her journey to the other side had not been a lonely one.
Owen had tried everything he knew to help and then to relieve her pain but he had been met with failure and had eventually stepped away and left Ianto to comfort her final two hours. All Owen could think of was how grateful he was that Tosh and Gwen were at home doing Christmas away from all this and where the hell was Jack when you needed him?
He hoped the girls would never know how loudly someone in pain could scream.
He sighed, he didn't realise that Ianto could sing and the melody haunted him more than the screaming. Ianto's demeanour had not wavered for a moment throughout the entire ordeal. He had gently coerced her name, date of birth, planet of origin as he softly spoke Welsh fairytales and told of magical kingdoms in the hopes that it would help in a way medicine could not. The girl had been as alien as she was human, her physiology unresponsive to the salves that Owen had pumped into her body, she looked a lot like Tosh. Owen had watched in silence as she had clung to Ianto with her fierce, sad gaze. Tears had streaked down her oval face and Ianto had wiped them away and smiled reassuringly.
Owen paced the length and breadth of the Hub and until finally the cries had stopped. He raced back to the autopsy bay to find Ianto sitting on the exam couch with the girl bundled in his arms, frozen in some kind of macabre tableau. He stood on the upper level and watched as Ianto reverently lay her body down and then he carefully straightened out his clothes before standing erect beside the bed one tiny hand grasped in both of his. Owen was certain he shouldn't be hearing what came next.
"I know she's not from here, but whatever has befallen her is not her fault, please look after her and if there is any way for you to reunite her with her family, please find it. I'd hate to think she'd be alone. Her name is Asha Annana Hinu, she was born on Uishi Colony, it's a long from here in every way, but you have a big heart and a very big heaven, so please do this for me. I promise to make it up to you."
When Ianto turned away Owen saw shaking hands and water glistening on the younger man's cheeks. Ianto hitched a breath and looked up, his professional mask already in place.
"Did you want to do a post mortem?"
Owen shook his head. "Nah mate, she's suffered enough." He replied quietly.
Ianto nodded, clearly appreciating the decision. "I'll just get some things to prep her for the morgue then."
xx
Jack came into the Hub to find Owen sitting working at Gwen's terminal. He shrugged off his coat and hung it up.
"What are you doing here?"
Owen finally looked up from his report and Jack sucked in a breath at the look on his face.
"Where the fuck have you been?" He hissed.
Jack frowned. "Out, I asked first......"
"There was a Rift alert Ianto and I dealt with it, but we couldn't get hold of you, your phone was off and quite frankly you could have been able to help...... too late now of course. I hope she was worth it." Owen kept his gaze firmly fixed on his computer terminal. "I'd give Ianto a bit of space if I were you."
Of course that was like waving the proverbial red rag. "Where is he?"
Owen pointed and glared at Jack. "Don't go rushing in there, I mean it Jack. He's had a rough day."
Jack sighed, he'd also had a rough day and had planned on forgetting about it in Ianto's bed. He stomped of in the direction of Owen's domain but stopped dead in his tracks at the top of the stairs.
Ianto was lovingly wrapping a child into a winding sheet and talking quietly as he worked....
"...... We have a flying dinosaur called Myfanwy, she's really quite friendly once you get to know her so I've brought you a cuddly version so you can hold her if you get scared. I'm sorry the morgue isn't a very nice place to keep you and I will find somewhere better very soon, I promise. I always keep my promises Asha. I've recorded everything and I'll make sure it is saved so that one day maybe your family will find out what happened to you and have closure. I know they will miss you so much....."
A small soft toy was enfolded in the wrappings and finally when Ianto was done he kissed her forehead before covering her face. "I'm so sorry we couldn't help you, couldn't save you. I've said a prayer and I hope God is listening tonight so you'll be safe and won't hurt anymore."
His task done Ianto carefully lifted the body onto the dumbwaiter and pushed the drawer into the wall so that the lift lowered the corpse to the lower levels. Ianto turned to meet her down there and assign her to a drawer. He unrolled his sleeves and did up his cuffs and then pulled on his Jacket before making for the steps. Suddenly he noticed Jack standing there staring at him and Ianto pushed past him without a word and headed down to the morgue.
Jack let him go, aware that he had missed something terrible. It was Christmas Day for crying out loud, all he had wanted was a couple of hours with his daughter and grandson and Alice had practically slammed the door in his face. Jack had run into the arms of old discrete friend of his after that, his phone switched off and abandoned on the back seat of Ianto's car, which he had borrowed without asking. Jack sighed wondering just how much worse this day was going to get. He retreated to his office, ignoring Owen's snort of disgust as he went. Once at his desk Jack called up the CCTV logs for the last few hours and did a fast forward through the footage to get the general idea.
Shit.
Ianto closed door number 0867 and locked it with a personal code. He would give her decent burial as soon as he could find a suitable spot, part of him wondering if it really mattered but in the end he decided it did, if only to help himself get over what had happened. An over whelming sense of failure flooded over him and Ianto felt dirty and old with it. He retreated to the locker rooms to wash the day away from his body, before going home. He reflected on the irony that the previous Christmas he had been nursing Jack, and the one before that Lisa, or what was left of her...... He'd failed her too. The shower was not in the least helpful and his hand ached intensely, blue and black blossoming across his knuckles. The strapping would need to be replaced. Finally re-suited he made his way back up to the Hub and over to Owen.
"Could you re do this please, sorry I got the last lot wet."
Owen got straight to his feet and led Ianto back down the tiled steps and sat him down in a chair. The first thing he did was offer up a glass of water and two white tablets.
"Pain killers."
Ianto took them and handed back the empty glass. Owen set to work and Ianto sat there, stony and silent.
"You did good Ianto."
Ianto didn't seem to notice much.
"I mean helping her like that, I know if I'm gonna go out like that, I'd like to think that someone would do that for me."
"She died Owen."
Owen finished up, double checking his work before releasing Ianto's hand.
"I know. Sometimes that is the way it goes. It's the worst part about being a doctor. You did something really amazing Ianto, you held a complete stranger in your arms and made sure she didn't die alone and terrified."
"She was scared."
Owen shook his head. "She was in pain Ianto, but I don't think she was scared, towards the end."
Ianto looked down at his bandaged hand. "I couldn't stop her dying."
"Neither could I and that's my Job. You did good, I promise you." Owen squeezed his shoulder.
"Look mate, you got any festive plans?"
Ianto shook his head.
"Me either, why don't you come back to mine and help me out with an 18 year old malt from the medicine cabinet."
Ianto blinked up at him and tried to smile. He finally nodded. "Yeah, ok. I just need a minute to talk to Jack."
Owen nodded. "Don't get waylaid."
xx
Jack glanced up from the book he was reading and sighed at the defeated look on Ianto's face.
"You feeling any better?"
Ianto shook his head as he stepped forwards, his face assuming that deadly calm mask that Jack had learnt to fear over recent months.
"I'm only going to say this once Jack. Don't you ever leave your phone switched off again, there was a reasonable chance that you may have been able help this evening, even remotely, with your knowledge of what's out there. You take so much of our lives, the very least you can do is answer your phone. I know something has happened to you today that has hurt you deeply. I don't know what because you never fucking tell me anything, but quite frankly tonight I find that I don't give a shit........ I'm going home now. I shall be in first thing in the morning and unless the world really is ending I do not want to know." He turned and talked out of the office closing the door behind him.
Jack watched a few minutes later as Ianto and Owen, bundled in coats and scarves left the Hub for the night. Merry fucking Christmas indeed.
Later that night Jack let himself into Ianto's sparsely furnished flat to find it empty. Jack parked himself on the couch and waited for him to come home.
