A soldier, then, Doris thought. She could see that, even in the man's unconscious state in his closely cropped hair, his severe jaw and the tortured expression on his face even as he slept.
"What kind of war?" Alistair asked, noting all the same characteristics his wife had and a few more only a fellow soldier would see.
A war across all of time and space, the screen in front of him read. The words began to flicker by faster and the air grew more agitated. A war that threatened everything. A war costlier than any that has ever been, will ever be. A war fought by the Time Lords for the past, the present and the future. A war from which we two are the only survivors, it finished and they could practically taste the sorrow in the air.
"The Time Lords...?" Alistair began.
All dead. And their TARDISes with them, the screen read. "You see before you the Last of the Time Lords."
"I'm sorry," Doris whispered.
Your words of solace are noted and appreciated, DorisLethbridgeStewart. Briefly, Doris felt as though her words had, indeed, been warmly appreciated.
"How are we to help?" Alistair asked, his eyes flickering back to the immobile man in the bed.
I have seen in his memories of you that you are a soldier, BrigadierGeneralAlistairLeth bridgeStewart, and that you are honored and respected by him. Alistair's stoic expression faltered for a moment, taking in that sliver of information. He needs someone, several someones in fact, to help him heal, Doris and Alistair read off the monitor.
"Heal?" he asked. "He looks fine to me," Alistair said, dreading the TARDIS's response.
You are aware, as am I, that not all the wounds of war manifest themselves physically, the TARIDS said on the screen, and they felt the seriousness of the words hanging around them.
When neither human spoke again for a moment, the screen flickered and read, He has already tried to kill himself four times since his regeneration. They have been unsuccessful attempts, mostly due to the sheer tenacity of Time's hold on him. This last time, however, he almost managed, it read, sadly. Doris suddenly shivered, feeling vicariously what it was like to watch a friend self-destruct.
What did you do, old friend? Alistair asked, turning his attention once more to the Time Lord whose cold hand his wife was currently clutching.
He attempted to overdose on aspirin, the screen read once Alistair looked up again.
"Aspirin?" Alistair, asked, genuinely surprised. Surely a millenium old alien could find something more deadly to kill himself with than aspirin.
Aspirin is one of the most deadly and toxic poisons known to a Time Lord, the screen read quickly. It would not only have killed him but also prevented his regeneration, which was his intention. He did not merely want to die. He wanted to die for good. The air was once again heavy with remorse and regret.
"How did you save him?" Doris asked quietly, tracing the Time Lord's palm with her hand.
I did about the only thing I could do, the TARDIS responded, the words appearing slowly on the screen.
Doris and Alistair stared at the blinking cursor until more words appeared.
I turned him into a human, it read.
-
Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart prided himself on being a steady man. Unflappable, unsurprisable, solid.
The Doctor somehow always managed to circumvent that.
"You what?" he asked, once his jaw had decided to begin working once more.
I turned him into a human, the screen read once more. Once human, his biology rather efficiently, if rather messily, expunged the aspirin from his system and I then forced him into a healing coma which is what you see at the moment, the screen continued. I have been replacing his memories and setting up a credible backstory for his human counterpart.
"So he is just a human now and he doesn't even know who he is?" Alistair queried, growing a little angry in defense of the helpless man.
His human-ness is only temporary, the screen flashed quickly as if the TARDIS were trying to explain itself. All of his Time Lord essence and memories are stored in that pocket watch, it continued, an arrow flashing toward the intricate pocket watch sitting on the medical tray next to the bed. Doris reached a hand out toward it but the lights in the room suddenly flashed red and they felt a negative impulse wash over them. I would not touch it at the moment, DorisLethbridgeStewart, the screen flashed. He will not harm you but his Time Lord essence is currently awake and...not happy. The air changed and the TARDIS seemed guilty but determined.
He will thank me one day, I hope, but right now he cannot see past his guilt and sorrow to any future, much less a future of his own. The words appeared on the screen slowly, letter by letter as if drawn out from their owner with great pain.
"What do you need us to do?" Alistair asked after a long pause and a meaningful glance from his wife who had yet to let go of the large, calloused hand she had been holding.
I need your help doing what I cannot: helping to set him up with a normal, human life until he has healed and offering love and support to help him become who he once was. It will not be easy. The TARDIS's request hung heavy in the air until Alistair nodded briefly once and Doris squeezed the unresponsive palm. It then changed to light and happy, thankful and relieved.
Excellent. Thank you, DorisLethbridgeStewart and BrigadierGeneralAlistairLeth bridgeStewart. The Doctor always chooses his friends well. Now I believe he has a bank account with UNIT still which should suffice to set him up with a flat...
Doris stopped reading the screen, letting her husband and the TARDIS figure out how to set up his fake human life. She merely considered the unconscious man lying in front of her. She had seen him do many remarkable things, be many remarkable things and help a remarkable amount of people. If she could pay him back even one small amount for all the love he had shown this world and countless others like it, she would, they would.
The Universe needed the Doctor but, for now at least, the Doctor needed them.