He came back a few minutes later, arms full of various gadgets and first-aid supplies. He pulled out a canister with a tiny needle on the end.
"It's just a sedative," he told Lena. "Knock you out temporarily so you can rest and not have to feel anything for a while. I would just nudge your mind into sleeping, but since you already probably have a concussion I don't want to accidentally scramble you brain anymore that it already might be. That all right with you?" he asked.
"Yeah," Lena replied. It would be a relief, honestly. She was all too happy to agree.
"This'll hurt for a moment, but it's not nearly as bad as what you're used to with your doctors and their needles," he told her, holding it up to her neck. He pressed a small button and Lena winced momentarily, rubbing the spot as he pulled back.
"Bit like a bee sting, but it doesn't hurt for as long," she commented, already sounding groggy. Her eyelids drooped.
"Yep," the Doctor said, popping the "p." "It's fast-acting, so you should..." He trailed off as he saw she was already asleep. With a small smile, he shook his head and said, "You're quite a puzzle, but that's all right. Once you're feeling better, we can try to figure out how you got here, and if we can get you home. Though maybe we can go on a few adventures before that. Wouldn't want you to miss out on seeing something neat, like the banana groves where that factory used to be. You know, that one that Jack's vortex manipulator came from. Wonder how much you know about Jack? Probably a lot. There was that one time with the depressed robot—what was his name...Marvin!—and Jack had gone and made it mad because he said..." the Doctor continued to ramble to Lena as he took care of her injuries, all the while wondering just how in the world he was going to fix things this time. Another universe! He shook his head. It was supposed to be impossible, but here she was, defying all the rules. With a small smile, he brushed her hair to the side before standing and dimming the lights.
In the hallway, the Doctor paused and looked back at her, sleeping deeply. "Have a good rest, Lena. See you when you wake up." Then he closed the door.
Lena woke up feeling incredibly comfortable. Nothing hurt at all. She didn't even have the slight stiffness she normally got when she first woke up in the morning. She opened her eyes and saw an unfamiliar room, which confused her momentarily until she heard a quiet thrumming and realized she was on the Tardis.
What a weird concept.
She sat up, marveling at how comfortable the temperature was—not too hot, not to cold. The Tardis must have had some kind of awesome climate control. She walked over to a door and opened it, discovering an enormous bathroom. She quickly pulled off her beat-up clothes from the day before and started a very hot shower running. As she washed, she examined her perfectly smooth skin. The Doctor had done a great job. No cuts, no scrapes, no bruises. She wasn't even sore where her broken ribs had been.
After drying off, she braided her hair loosely and snatched a robe from the hook the Tardis had so nicely placed by the bedroom door. "Uh, hi," she said, looking at the ceiling. "Um, good morning...how're you this morning?"
She felt strange talking to the Tardis, but suddenly she was almost bowled over by the sheer force of the wave of contentment that washed over her. "Whoa," she said, a bit breathlessly. "Hi!" Suddenly Lena's face lit up. "HA! She yelled, punching the air. I knew it! I knew you could do that. It was too good to just be head cannon, and besides, how else were all the companions supposed to understand your sentience so well?" The Tardis hummed in her mind, and Lena smiled. "Would you mind showing me the way to the wardrobe?" The Tardis blinked the lights and the door swung open of its own accord. Lena stepped through...straight into the wardrobe room.
She blinked and looked around. "Wow," she said, patting the nearest coral strut. "Thanks! You're the best." She felt the Tardis mentally nuzzle her as she wandered off among the endless racks of clothing.
An uncertain amount of time and clothing items later, she emerged into the hallway in jeans, trainers (just like the Doctor's, only lime green), and an Avengers T-shirt. The Tardis nudged her in the right direction and within minutes Lena was in the console room, where all that could be seen of the Doctor were his feet, sticking out from under the console.
"Doctor?" Lena said tentatively. There was a sudden thud and an unintelligible swear, and then the Doctor dragged himself out from under the grating, rubbing his head. Lena winced. "Sorry!"
"Nah, it's fine," the Doctor said as he stood. "Happens all the time, sadly." He absentmindedly flicked a few switches before turning to Lena. "So..." he drawled. "What's on your mind?"
"Have you figured out how I got here?"
The Doctor sighed. "No. I've come up with an enormous amount of theories, but not a single one has panned out. However..." he paused. "The Tardis seems to know what's going on much more than I do, and she's assured me that however you got here it's not a problem."
"So we don't have to worry about the multiverse collapsing or anything?"
"Right. But there's something else, too. The Tardis was apparently able to grab some information from your universe when you came through. She essentially made a copy of all the data on the internet from your present to about six or seven years in the future. And...I was able to find out what happened to your parents and even your out of town siblings."
"You did?"
The Doctor nodded, a serious look on his face. "Yeah. You sure you want to know?"
Lena bit her lip. Something about the way the Doctor was looking at her told her that she might not want to. But they were her family, and she had to. It was only right. "Yes. What happened?"
The Doctor silently slid the swinging screen over to her.
I hope this chapter wasn't too boring! If you have anything you want me to do (or not do), let me know. Remember, reviews make authors happy... ;)
Stay awesome!
~Starlight