"She said 'Doctor'."
Those final three words, which had peaked the Doctor's interest, making him sit up sharply, now froze him, shocking him and the others into a deathly silence. There was no doubt in their minds that the child was calling for a man that she should not know about.
"Are you sure?" The Doctor asked, his question breaking the silence like an angry accusation. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"I'm sure. I'm positive!" Jackie replied, opening her mouth to say more, but the Doctor continued on.
"There is not way she could have meant one of the medical staff? Or wanted an actual doctor?"
"I'm absolutely sure!" Jackie argued, her voice beginning to bristle at the accusing tones. "She definitely was not referring to the staff." She lowered her voice, as if apologetic. "It's just...odd...is all..."
"It's alright mum." Rose assured Jackie, scooting over to sit by her mother. "It's all very, very weird." Glancing over at the Doctor, Rose watched as he hung his head, pressing his hands behind his neck. She knew he was thinking hard, trying to understand and it work it all out. "Don't worry, mum..." Rose then had another thought. "Has...she hasn't said anything else...has she?"
"No. An' thank goodness for small miracles, because once was plenty enough for me. It's creepy, Rose. That girl...So alone, for so long...It can't do a persona any good. All she has in this world are those nurses and doctors---"
"The girl." The Doctor demanded, jumping up and startling the other three. "Does she scream in agony?"
"What---" Jackie was agape, confusion shining on her face at this sudden macabre-like question. Her hesitation seemed to only infuriate and agitate the Doctor's sudden mood. He began to pace furiously.
"Does she scream...when you---well, not you you," He interrupted himself, correcting the grammar error before quickly charging ahead. "When whoever performs a...umah...an X-ray, a cat scan, an MRI, a whatever! Does she scream and writhe in pain and unbearable suffering?" The silence returned, hanging in the air over their heads like a guillotine's blade. Rose looked on in startled astonishment and confusion as the Doctor continued to loom over her mother.
"...yes..." Jackie finally realized, answering meekly. At her response, the Doctor jerkily wrenched away from the group, dashing for the door and leaving with a bang. Jackie, Rose, and Mickey stared at one another, then jumped up to go after him. Just as Rose opened the door; they stopped sharply at the sight of the Doctor, standing directly in their way, obviously about to open the door himself.
"Right...which way then?" He asked lightly.
The car ride to the hospital was an uncomfortable tomb of silence. Rose rode shotgun next to her mother, leaving Mickey in the back with the Doctor. They sat in stony silence, watching the dark gray-drenched landscape slide and glide past like ghosts in a river. The storm seemed to be coming to a head, but refused to rain. As the car approached the hospital, the looming clouds seemed like an ominous sign, making Rose shiver and draw her arms closer. There it was. As Jackie parked the car, the Doctor caught a glimpse of the main gate's sign.
The Albion Hospital.
Trickles of crowds floated down the corridors of Albion Hospital. Doctors, patients, nurses, loved ones; all mingling in a confusing knot, each in their own distinctive garbs, each trying to fight the tide of depression that seemed to fill the hospital's hallways like a flood. The Doctor followed Jackie without protest, something Rose took to heart as an apocalyptic sign that whatever was going on, it was extremely serious. Thunder echoed her thoughts, rumbling and shaking the windows like an earthquake in the sky. She shivered again.
"Here. Room 112." Jackie said, pausing to knock, then opened the door. The trio followed her in, all on baited breath. What they saw confused the hell out of the Doctor.