I do not own Doctor Who.
Donna was going to kill the Doctor. At least if she lived long enough to see him again. The blast- which the Doctor and Jack had assured her wouldn't reach the upper floors- and that they would meet her there and he could do some Time Lord trick to call the TARDIS- had in fact reached the fifth floor and thrown her from the hallway into this cozy little office.
It had also impaled a piece of metal into her right thigh, which she had pulled out at first sight- she knew it was a bad idea but it had been a moment of panic- and she was losing blood at an alarming rate.
Too be fair she did know that this was always a risk that came with the travel, but she hated to go out like this. The only comfort was that the building was empty, aside from the gigantic slugs- which had a name, and the Doctor had told her it at least twenty times, but she had refused to learn because she was taking a stand- and there was no one else to suffer.
As long as Jack and the Doctor were okay, she could find a way to be at peace. Sort of.
It was at the sound of footsteps that she pulled herself up into a sitting position, and saw, barely, a young girl enter the room. She had her left arm drawn to her body, but the right one was shifting debris that she found to be in her way.
She looked shocked, though she had just had a building blow up around her, and didn't notice Donna at first. Her hair was dark, though it was probably accentuated by the blast.
When she did her Donna, only a few steps from her now, she looked down at her leg, her eyes going wide. She didn't speak though, just looked around the room. She ran to a desk and opened drawers quickly, seemingly forcing her left arm to participate, and pulled out a ruler.
Donna wasn't sure where she found the long strip of fabric but she returned to Donnas' side, squatting down, still without speaking. And for once Donna had nothing to say. The girl reached under her leg, wrapping the fabric around from the back, the strain of moving her left arm was written across her face, but she didn't hesitate.
She laid the ruler against her leg, and somehow got the ruler and the fabric to twist around until it was resting against her leg firmly, making a very effective tourniquet.
When she was finished, the girl fell back, and settled on the floor.
"Thanks," Donna spoke softly for the first time.
They apparently weren't completely alone in this building, but that had probably just saved her life.
The girl looked at her clearly for the first time, her eyes a deep green and her smile wide and kind. "You're welcome."
Her voice was soft, and American, and just a little southern. Had they gone to America? Her head was a little fuzzy but she was still fairly certain that the Doctor hadn't actually told them where they were going. Just spouted off facts about what the plan was. That was so him.
"Are you okay?" Donna asked her; though there wasn't much she could do for her. The Doctor should be coming shortly, if things went according to plan downstairs.
The girl nodded, "Sure, just give me a minute, I'll figure out how to get you out of here."
"I have a friend; he will get us out of here. He was downstairs."
"Assuming he survived," the girl told her with an easy intelligence. The Doctor would like this one. "The stairway was destroyed."
"He'll find a way," Donna told her with confidence. She trusted him completely.
The girl nodded slowly. "Okay, well I should still look around. Plan B."
She started to rise, but faltered and Donna shook her head. "He's coming I promise. Listen, I'm Donna, and my friends are going to help us both okay? So what's your name?"
"Anna," the girl responded. "Anna Stone."
It was then that the Doctor and Jack bustled in, both looking ruffled but uninjured. The Doctor didn't notice Anna at first, seeing Donnas' injury and squatting down beside her. Jack was looking at Anna though.
The Doctor was looking over the tourniquet with an odd look on his face. "I'm sorry Donna, we really didn't think the blast would reach this far. But we got them all. Tried to get them to surrender, why doesn't anyone ever just surrender, but they wouldn't."
He took a breath, "How did you do this, then?"
"Doctor," Jack finally spoke. "I think she had some help."
Anna was sitting there quietly waiting on someone to speak to her. If Donna got to spend some time with her, she hoped she did, she would help her to speak up a little. The Doctor finally looked at her, and then back at Donna, then back to Anna.
He moved from Donna to kneel in front of Anna, who gave him a smile. "You did that?"
Anna gave a one arm shrug, "Yeah, she was bleeding, must have nicked an artery. Should be fine now, long as she gets some real medical care."
"Thank you," he told her sincerely. "Are you okay? We thought the building was clear, it's nearly midnight, I'm very sorry."
"I'm okay," Anna told him. "I'm not exactly supposed to be here, so kind of my fault."
He seemed to notice that she was holding her arm, and he reached out for it. She gave him a wary look.
"You can trust him," Donna told her.
Anna let him take it and he felt it gently. "Broken, but I can get it sorted."
He stood then, and motioned for Jack to move closer to where Anna was sitting. He pulled out his sonic, Donna assumed her was finding the right setting, and with the familiar sound, the TARDIS filled the space in front of them.
"Come on then," the Doctor instructed.
Jack was kneeling near Donna and despite her protest he lifted her and carried her into the TARDIS. The Doctor reached out for Anna but she stood on her own, until she wobbled. The Doctor slid his arm around her back and walked her into the TARDIS.
She looked up as they entered, and he thought that this probably wasn't the best time for a bigger on the inside moment, but if she needed it who was he to deny her. She had just saved his best friends life.
"Odd," she told him.
He nodded. "Yes, it is. And I'll be happy to explain, but we should get your arm taken care of, and I'll see to Donna."
"Sure," she agreed, letting him lead her to the med-bay.
Donna watched them from her bed, Jack beginning to set up the machines for the Doctor. She thought about teasing him about becoming the Doctor's nurse, but she was entranced by the Doctor and Anna.
He was looking at her carefully, with an odd smile she had never seen before. And she thought that maybe they would be seeing a bit more of Anna.