The hunger was sated and the energy returned to flow through her small body. Only then Sarah was aware of what she was doing: to absorb the life of her beloved.

"Doctor!" She exclaimed, horrified by her own act.

"Sarah ... you look better, my dear," he said weakly, but smiling.

The girl took a handkerchief from her trousers pocket and put it on the wound in his neck, stopping the bleeding.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't want," the journalist apologized.

"Quiet. Are you better?"

"I am. How are you?" she asked, but whatever he said nothing would release her of the guilt she felt.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," he answered, gently caressing her cheek.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Too well, in fact."

Neither Sarah nor the Doctor had realized of the presence of Lady Juun. The woman had stealthily come in the cell and had grabbed the weakened Doctor from behind, lifting him from the floor without he could resist the surprisingly strong woman.

"Release him!" Sarah shouted, wanting to get up to separate the lady of the Time Lord, but with a quick movement of her hand the whole body of the young girl was paralyzed.

"You have fully recovered and yet he is still alive. It should not be like that," said Lady Juun.

"Sometimes miracles happen," the Doctor said with a grin.

"Don't try to fool me, Doctor. Thaddeus heard you say you're a Time Lord, and Isbor is not unaware of that word." The woman's hand ran from one side to another the gallifreyan's bare chest. "Two hearts, the ability to regenerate body and an amount of energy higher than in an ordinary human."

"Don't think about me as if I were a sandwich," the Time Lord said, offended.

"A sandwich? Oh, no, nothing like that. You are a delicacy fit for kings, and I'm the queen of this house." Lady Juun bit voraciously the neck of the Doctor, who this time didn't hide the pain that it caused him and cried out before the helpless eyes of Sarah Jane.

"Enough! Stop it! You'll kill him!" the girl cried.

When the woman was satiated she released the time traveller, who fell to the floor exhausted. Sarah was freed from her paralysis and ran to help her partner, who was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"See? He is alive. He has enough energy to feed both of us. May he rest today, I'll be back tomorrow." She left the cell and went back upstairs.

"Sarah ..." he said in a whisper. He had no strength to speak louder.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I am," he answered, getting up. "Everything is spinning around, right?"

"No," she said.

"Then I'm dizzy." He lay down on the floor again. The young journalist caressed his brown curls gently. "Sarah ... I felt nothing when she touched me ..."

"Oh, well," she said.

"No, I don't mean that ... You'll see, when you touch me I can feel the warmth of your skin ... if you're happy, nervous, scared ... In short, I can feel the life in you. I didn't feel anything like that in her ..."

"What you're insinuating is something creepy."

"Well, now I cannot be a hundred percent sure ... but what I know is that we have to get the prisoners of the pantry out of here." He tried to get up again, but Sarah stopped him.

"Now you should rest," she said.

"No time to lose ... I must save them ... I must save you."

"Look at yourself, you can hardly speak. Right now you are not in condition to help anyone. Get some rest, recover strength." The girl's words were now an order.

"All right ... fifteen minutes, no more."

"OK." She smiled. "Rest quiet, I won't separate myself from you."

He smiled back and closed his eyes.