ONE

Martha Jones' eyes opened upon a white and silver, sterile world. Shiny tails of light formed tendrils upon the ceiling and something cold pressed against the back of her hand. She tried to look, but she was unable to move.

"Oh God," she whispered. The last thing she remembered was being trapped in a small chamber inside Torchwood with citizens of the planet Kaf Celape. They had managed to convince the Torchwood team that they were a benevolent race, but Martha had suspected the worst when one of them grabbed her around the neck and gagged her, then began dragging her down into Torchwood's lower region.

And now she was in an altogether different place, surrounded not by brown brick, but by steel and tile, instruments and screens. She felt sure she had been knocked pretty well unconscious because she was having trouble keeping her eyes open, and her general grogginess could bring down a planet. But the question was, which planet was she on? Had they taken her back to Kaf Celape or was she still on Earth? How would she get in touch with Jack and the others?

Slowly, the swirling above dissipated into jagged black spots against a white background. A grid around them came into focus. Martha was finally able to move her hand into her line of vision. She had three needles stuck in the veins of her right hand, all attached to IVs. She looked up and saw that one of the IVs was a simple glucose drip. The others, she could not identify.

Upon looking round, she realised she was in a hospital. It looked normal enough – Styrofoam acoustic ceiling tiles, IV drips, metal railings on the side of her bed, but she was still sceptical. She needed to assess where she was, what had happened to her...

And then the mad beeping began. Some kind of heart or brainwave monitor had come to life. Well, blimey, her awakening was attracting attention.

"Doctor, she's awake! Doctor! Did you hear me?" she heard a familiar voice yell. It was Jack's voice! She fell back on the bed with relief – somehow, she'd been found and rescued. Jack and – dare she believe it? – the Doctor were here to greet her awakening.

She closed her eyes and smiled. She heard rapid footsteps getting closer. She opened her eyes, and Jack's face appeared above her. "Oh, thank God," he sighed, and smiled. "Doctor, hurry!"

Another face appeared on the other side of her. Another familiar face – handsome, unshaven with dark hair and a worried expression.

She did a double take. She blinked several times, and groaned the word, "Tom?"

Tom blinked back and looked at Jack quizzically. "Er, yes, my name is Tom. Martha, how are you feeling?"

She grabbed on to each of the men and sat up. "I'm... oh, I'm knackered," she said. "But so glad to see you!" She threw her arms around Tom's neck.

She turned. "Jack, how did you find me?"

The two men looked at each other strangely. In lieu of an answer, Jack said, "Um, Martha, I think maybe you should take a little more time..."

"No no, I'm fine," she insisted, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Jack stepped back away from her, watching with fascination. She pulled the IV needles out of her hand and threw them aside. When she stood, she swooned a bit, but Jack caught her and helped her sit down on the bed.

"Martha, you still need to rest," Tom said, coming round to kneel in front of her. He shined a light in her eyes, and she tried to push him away.

"Tom, what are you doing?"

He was exasperated. "Martha, please sit still, I need to check your pupils. You are not fit to be up on your feet and kicking yet, so please stay put."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. She allowed Tom to check her pupils, and smiled at him lovingly as he did so. Her initial shock at not seeing the Doctor was abated by her fiancé's clear desire to check on her well-being.

Tom shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Well, everything seems to be fine. But I mean it – you stay in bed. I'll get a nurse to call your family." With that, Tom left the room unceremoniously.

Jack sat down in a chair across the room and smiled at her. "Good to see you, Martha Jones."

"What the hell was that?" she asked him, pointing to the door where Tom had just exited.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he was so... businesslike with me. So professional, like I'm his patient or something!"

"Um, you are his patient."

"Okay. But I'm more than that." She looked at her left hand. "Where's my ring?"

"Of course, but he does have other patients to attend to."

She sighed. She stared at him. Something was wrong. Jack was dressed in a light blue and white checked button-up shirt, tucked into a pair of jeans. On his feet, he wore Nike trainers. "Jack, what are you wearing?"

He smiled again and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Martha, I'm sure it's just a by-product of what's happened to you, but my name is not Jack."

She laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. What are you talking about?"

"I'm John," he said, leaning forward to shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

She laughed again. "Oh you are kidding. Now you're John? Okay. Who am I then?" She crossed her arms defensively and waited for a response with amusement.

"You're Martha Jones," he said, leaning back once again. "I work with Dr. Ellis sometimes in cases like this – I'm here to help you."

"Who's Dr. Ellis?" she wanted to know.

John laughed. "You called him Tom."

"No way," Martha protested. "His name is Milligan. Tom Milligan – I know that much."

John was concerned now. He leaned forward once again. "Martha, I think some damage has been done in the time you've been away from us. You are convinced of certain things, almost like you've got a wire crossed somewhere, but don't worry. Part of my job is to help you sort through that."

She blinked exaggeratedly at him. "What the hell are you on about?"

"Martha," he said gently. "You've been in a coma for three years. Something similar happened to me a few years back, and since then, I've been working with Dr. Ellis to help re-assimilate long-term coma patients."

She went cold. Something was seriously wrong. The Kaf Celape had done something to Jack and to Tom...

She stood up. "Okay Jack, listen to me," she said. She took both of his hands. "We are going to get out of this. We'll work out what's happened and everything will be back to normal. We just have to find the Doctor. He has my mobile – I know how to get hold of him, we just have to get to a phone."

The man sitting across from her, whatever his name was, he helped her sit back down again. "You're absolutely right – with the help of the doctor, we will sort it out. Now, please sleep. We will wake you when your family arrives."

She looked at him with something resembling fear. She allowed him to push her into a lying position and to pull blankets up over her legs and stomach. Whatever was going on, Jack either was hypnotised or he wasn't talking. She always thought she could trust him, and maybe she could... but that meant that he was trying to keep her quiet, keep something under wraps.

All right, so be it. I will wait for his cue.