The hospital could easily be mistaken for a resort, Jack noted. The vast, rolling expanse of land the white building was situated on looked like something out of a tourist handbook. There were vast green fields as far as the eye could see with solitary trees peppering them. Not a sign of civilisation in sight. There was even a pond with ducks swimming on it. Well, they were what looked like ducks but probably weren't. This wasn't Earth, which was something Jack had only found out when he'd had to explain the sudden appearance of a blue box bearing five passengers, three of which were unconscious and in serious need of medical attention to the hospital staff they'd materialised in front of.
He looked over his shoulder at the TARDIS. It was still sitting where Jack had landed her, which was at the side of the hospital where the patients, who were allowed to roam freely, couldn't muck around with her. Jack had no idea how he'd managed to get her there without crashing but he reckoned the TARDIS had helped him out a bit with that one. He'd ask the Doctor later. Whenever the Doctor woke up that was…
The last time Jack had seen the Doctor awake, albeit barely coherent, was when he was being held back, really supported, by two of his captors. Jack and the others had fought long and fought hard. They'd taken out most of the hoard but, when their options and all their back up plans had been used, they found that they were still outnumbered. The enemy was almost as stubborn as they were and it was that almost that they relied on.
It was Rose who had suggested a charge, one final stand to take back what was theirs. It was a foolish plan. Any sensible person would have surrendered. When it came to the Doctor, however, none of them could be described as sensible. Companions appeared to be chosen at random but the Doctor did not hand out TARDIS keys like party favours. He only chose the best and all of them would stand by him until the last.
"It will surprise 'em at least," Rose had shrugged.
"And we'll probably all get killed!" Donna had argued.
"Probably," Rose had agreed. She'd looked at Jack then, resignation and determination mixed in a face that was older than Jack remembered it.
"You sure that's a bright idea?" he'd asked her. It had been an unnecessary question. He had known very well what she was suggesting and why.
"It's either that or we surrender ourselves," she'd sighed, giving an explanation where one really wasn't needed. Probably for the benefit of Martha and Donna, who had only known her for a few short hours. "I don't want to give up. I don't want to surrender-"
"You want to go down fighting," Martha had finished for her. Jack remembered regarding Martha Jones with both surprise and pride. She'd reached for a shotgun and had reloaded it methodically, her jaw already set. "I'm with you." Simple guns had already proven to be slow going, but they did get the job done eventually. "Might as well cause as much of a mess as we can," Martha had added with her eyes fixed on Rose, who had returned the gaze and nodded in appreciation.
"Well if you're going to do this I might as well go down with you," Donna had griped. The complaining was just for show, Jack had known this and so had the others. She had taken the gun Martha tossed her and gripped it tight.
Then they had waited. There had even been an air of impatience amongst them. Jack remembered the way Donna had fidgeted with the safety on her gun, the way Martha had looked at nothing for longer than a second and the way that Rose had seemed to be staring a hole into the space between her feet. The standard threats against both them and the Doctor were yelled, but no real attention was paid to them until the air had echoed with a bone chilling shriek that was all too recognisable. Rose had displayed no reaction save for a slight twinge in her shoulders. Donna had almost rushed out right then but Martha had held her tight, her own face had been expressionless.
"To the last." They were the last words that Jack remembered Rose speaking and they had not been forming a question.
"To the last," they had echoed. No good byes had been said; it had all been done with their eyes.
The mighty yell that had first broken the silence was Donna's, who ran out first. Jack, Martha and Rose had fanned out behind her shouting their own battle cries. Everything had been a blur then. Gunshots, laser blasts, screams, grunts, wails, roars and explosions. At the end of it all, the enemy had fled in terror and only Jack and Martha had been standing.
Martha had been bruised and bloody, looking like the walking dead, but she had remained on her feet. Defiance had radiated in everything from the way she held herself to the shadows in her eyes
Jack had, of course, been unscathed but he was holding the unconscious and battered Doctor in his arms.
Rose had been sprawled out on the floor at Jack's feet. She'd managed to drag the Doctor to safety despite a gaping bullet wound in her side and her left leg being so mangled that Jack was still at a wonder as to how she'd managed it. One final shot through her shoulder, however, had been too much for her and she'd fallen to the floor senseless.
Donna had given everything she'd had and then some, but she had ended lying unconscious before Jack and Martha. Her fists, Jack remembered, had still been clenched in determination. Not even Donna's hard-headedness would have her still standing after being thrown, headfirst, into the wall at break-neck speed.
They were all alive, Jack reminded himself, and would all recover. The TARDIS had had the good sense to send them to an isolated planet where privacy was respected above all else. No questions would be asked of them and they would not be discussed when they left again.
"Hey." Jack had not heard Martha approach. He turned to see her smiling slightly, as good a sign as any. As the only specialist on the planet of human anatomy she'd been instrumental to assisting the Indranese doctors with the treatment of Donna and Rose. Martha knew a little of Time Lord biology and between her and what the other doctors had found in the archives they were able to grant the same quality of care to him.
"Donna's doing loads better," she reported. "She's complaining viciously that there's no cable in her room."
Jack smirked. Donna had suffered some spinal damage and was currently confined to her bed. It was more of a precaution than anything else but she was not making things easy for the staff. "They're trying to broaden their intergalactic reception," Martha continued, a smirk spread across her own face. "But it seems all she wants is iEastenders/i."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Typical," he replied with an amused snort. He waited expectantly for news of how Rose and the Doctor were fairing. He did not have to wait long
"Rose's operation was success," Martha informed him with a noticeable bounce in her voice. "She'll be a bit weak for awhile yet but there will be no lasting damage."
Jack breathed out a sigh of relief at that. There had been some worry whether Rose would be able to keep the leg let alone use it again. "And the Doctor?" he asked carefully.
"Sleeping."
That was nothing new. The Doctor had done nothing but sleep since they'd arrived here three days ago. He paused as he realised that Martha had said 'sleeping' and not 'still comatose'. "Real sleep?" he asked warily.
Martha smiled and nodded so eagerly that Jack thought he head was going to roll off her shoulders. "He woke up for about a minute. I tried to fill him in on what had happened but he dropped off right after I told him where he was."
The only logical response that Jack could formulate in response to all of this good news was to pull Martha into his arms and hug her as tight as he could. Martha reciprocated just as enthusiastically. She had been with Donna, Rose and the Doctor through every step of their treatment. She'd spoken for Rose when the others had wanted to cut the leg off. She'd stood by Donna when fears of brain damage and paralysis had scared them. She'd not given up on the Doctor when he'd fallen into a coma that everyone had been convinced that he'd never awake from. All three would be just fine because of her and no one was more thrilled that everything would be alright.
Eventually Jack released her from the embrace, planted a kiss on her cheek and took her by the hand. "How about we go see how Donna's fairing without Earth television?"
Martha laughed and led him back to the hospital.