NOTE: I'll be using degrees Celsius, so for all my non-metric readers out there please refer to the temp chart below:
Normal human body temp in F 98.6, in C that's 37. Normal Time Lord body temp in F 59, in C 15.
Chapter Three
"What does it look like?" Rory asked as he picked through the cluttered glass storage tub on the far side of the main chamber.
"It looks like a pocket watch!" The Doctor called from inside a closet where he was searching. "What else do you think it would look like?"
"With you, honestly, it could be anything. You do run around in a space ship that looks like a Call Box."
"Good point." The Doctor admitted as he threw a golden Egyptian death mask out of the closet with a clang.
Rory continued the hunt through the myriad of old TARDIS parts, tools, gems, torn pages of instruction manuals, and other various items that the Doctor had stashed away. With all the storage hidden away in Time Lord technology, boxes that were bigger on the inside, Rory had never noticed how big a hoarding problem the Doctor had because the place always looked so neat and tidy. However there were centuries of items squirreled away in hidden storage bins that lined the main chamber.
The floor was now littered in artifacts, curios, minerals, clothing, and mostly just plain junk. At first they had been careful and somewhat systematic in their search, but as the Doctor became more desperate to find the watch they just started to haul everything out. Despite Amy's interrogation style questions while she searched the Doctor wasn't saying anything more about why this particular trinket was so important.
Rory was just about to give up on the bin he was searching when a gleam caught his eye. Peeking out from under a multi colored scarf that had to be ten feet long Rory saw the winding head of an old fashioned pocket watch. He picked up the dull silver watch and held it in his palm, it didn't seem particularly special. The Doctor had given strict orders not to open the watch when found so Rory just brought it with him up onto the console dais.
"Is this it?" Rory held up the watch.
The Doctor scrambled out of the closet that he was in, fighting against the wires and tubes that he'd become tangled in. He was still wearing his bloodstained shirt, but had long since taken off his jacket. When he caught sight of the watch he cried out in joy and raced over to join Rory. Rory noticed that the Doctor was breathing heavier than before and sweating, he couldn't ever remember seeing the Doctor sweat before.
"Rory!" The Doctor exclaimed in excitement as he skidded to a halt in front of him. "I could kiss you!"
Rory had no time to react as the Doctor suddenly made good on his promise with a full on the lips kiss. Amy chuckled at Rory's horrified reaction as she joined the boys on the dais. The Doctor snatched the ornate silver pocket watch from the still stunned Rory and held it like a dragon clutching a precious stone.
"Ugh!" Rory spat and rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. "I hate it when he does that."
"And yet you're never fast enough to get out of the way." Amy teased.
"Children please." The Doctor admonished.
The Doctor ran his fingertips over the circular inscriptions before pressing the catch that opened it. Rory and Amy held their breath, expecting something spectacular to happen. Clearly the Doctor had been expecting something to happen as well. However as far as Amy could tell it was just a pocket watch. Furrowing brow in confusion the Doctor turned the open watch over in his hands a few times before giving it a hard shake and then holding it up to his ear. He closed it and opened it a few times, but it still didn't do anything.
When it still didn't act the way he wanted it to he tossed it onto the console. Pulling his hands through his hair the Doctor turned his back on the console and sank to the floor. Sitting with his back against the panel he just stared vacantly at nothing. During the search Amy had been confident that they were going to find the key to getting everything straightened out. However now that terrible uneasiness was twisting at her stomach again. One look at Rory and she could see that he had the same problem.
Amy picked up the once precious and now discarded watch and sat down next to the Doctor. He looked over at her and forced a smile but Amy could see the hopelessness in his eyes. There was a terrifying eeriness when a creature as old as the Time Lord looked at you with an expression of weary defeat.
"Doctor, why was this so important to you?" Amy asked gently as she held up the watch. "What does it do?"
"At the moment? It tells time...nothing more." The Doctor sighed heavily. "I really thought that was going to work. I counted on that working."
"What should it have done?"
"It should have fixed me."
"What do you mean by that?" Amy pressed. "What's wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry, Amy." The Doctor reached up and affectionately brushed Amy's cheek. "I don't remember what I did wrong, but I think I made a terrible mistake."
"We all make mistakes, Doctor." Amy tried to sound light hearted. "But we can fix them...right? I mean you are a Time Lord after all."
"That's the problem. I'm n..." The Doctor stopped as he winced in pain.
"Doctor?"
"You'll be safe here," the Doctor panted as he started to lose focus "just stay in the TARDIS...she'll take care of you..."
"No, no, don't you dare talk like that." Amy admonished as her eyes brightened with tears. "You're not allowed to talk like you're dying."
"I'm sorry."
"Rory...do something."
Rory knelt down and put the back of his hand against the Doctor's forehead. "He's burning up. We need to get his temperature down."
"Amelia..."
"Doctor..."
The Doctor's eyes rolled back to white as he passed out. Rory reached down and gathered the unconscious Doctor in his arms and lifted him up off the floor. He was shocked by the amount of heat that was now radiating off his skin. Rory wasn't sure if there was anything he could do as he felt the Doctor jerk in the start of convulsions from the unnatural heat.
"Rory, what do we do? We can't let him die, we can't."
"The pool," Rory said as he headed towards the hallway "we'll get him in the water, bring his temperature down."
"The Doctor once told me that a Time Lord's internal temperature is less than half that of a humans." Amy fretted. "Something like fifteen, sixteen degrees."
"He must be closer to forty right now."
Amy knew that was dangerously high even for a human, she had no idea what the Doctor's upper limit was. Whatever it was he was past it and slipping away fast. Rory carried him as quickly as he could down the corridor to the natural pool that was in a room made to mimic a natural lake. Amy followed them in as they crashed into the cool water.
Rory waded out until he could kneel down and submerge the Doctor while still keeping his head afloat. The water seemed to have an instant positive effect and although the Doctor didn't wake he did start breathing easier. Amy touched her hand to his cheek and found it still unnaturally warm for the Doctor. Rory pressed his fingertips against the Doctor's throat to check his pulse.
"Slow and steady," Rory reported "I think he's stabilizing."
"You're thinking like a human nurse, Rory." Amy said. "His hearts always race."
"Right, damn it."
Rory shifted so that he support the Doctor in the water on his knee. Amy helped keep the Doctor's head above the water while Rory went to do a more through check of the Doctor's condition. He took a hold of the Doctor's blood stained shirt and tore it open. His original plan was to put his ear to each heart to see if they were both beating however he was instantly distracted by the sight revealed by the open shirt.
A reddish purple lattice work of interconnecting spirals and lines were splashed across the Doctor's chest and over his right ribs. The skin looked raised where the pattern lay as if it had been burned or cut there, however it didn't look fresh or irritated. It looked more like an old wound that refused to fade.
"What is that?" Amy breathed in horror.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it."
"That hasn't always been there, that just happened."
"The pattern radiates from where the stab wound would have been. It looks like scar tissue."
"The Doctor doesn't scar." Amy said confidently. "I've seen him hurt, it never leaves a mark."
"It did this time."
Over his initial shock Rory reached out and traced along one of the raised lined that marred the Doctor's chest. Gasping sharply the Doctor arched back and wailed at the top of his lungs before falling deathly calm once again. With his eyes still closed they darted under the lids as if in the midst of a dream state.
"Please...please don't do this, please stop." The Doctor whimpered delusionaly. "I promise you it will not end well for any of us."
"Easy, you're okay." Amy tried to sooth the Doctor. "You're safe."
The Doctor couldn't hear Amy's words or if he could they brought him no comfort. He started to thrash, trying escape Rory's hold. Although still weak he fought bitterly to free himself. Locked in the nightmare there was nothing Amy or Rory could do but just try and keep him from injuring himself. It didn't take long before he was near death with exhaustion.
"Listen to me." The Doctor snarled darkly. "I can't help you. What I *can* do is kill everyone on this ship..."
"Doctor..."
"Hurt me again...and I will..."
