CHAPTER 6: MIRACLE SIX (Part 2)
"What do you mean she's dying?" The Doctor asked, his face white and his voice carefully controlled.
"There were complications during the birth… It was a difficult delivery. In addition to severe blood loss, she went into cardiac arrest. Her doctors were able to revive her, but she hasn't regained consciousness. Her heart rate is erratic, her breathing is shallow, and, frankly, her doctors don't know what to do." Peter replied quietly.
The Doctor nearly felt his own hearts stop at the words cardiac arrest, still he masked his emotions to focus on the problem at hand. "And the child?" The Doctor queried.
"Doing better than the mother at the moment. Good lungs, if the crying is any indication, and strong heart beats…"
Donna leaned over to Jack, "Guess you were right about the whole Time Puppy thing, then." But, Jack shushed her with a quick finger to his lips. His face was clouded with concern. She was his Rose, too, his precious Rose, and she couldn't die. Not now that they'd crossed the void, not now that they'd found her.
Ignoring Donna, the Doctor, suddenly suspicious as to the case of Rose's unconsciousness, inquired, "Is the baby with Rose?"
"No. He's being monitored separately. The doctors thought…"
The Doctor interrupted, "Have the baby brought back into Rose's room right away. And if your medical team has Rose hooked up to anything, anything at all, they need to disconnect her." Pete looked as though he might protest but the Doctor anticipated it. "You once told me you believed I could save your world, and I did. I'm telling you now that I will do everything in my power to save Rose, but you need to do exactly what I say exactly when I say it." He turned to face his companions, "That goes for the rest of you as well, understood?" His three companions nodded their compliance, Martha trying to give him a small smile of encouragement.
The elevator stopped, and Pete gestured that the group should exit. He quickly got on his radio and told Jake to execute the Doctor's orders. Then, as they walked through the security tunnel, he explained its origin, a distraction from the reality that his daughter was upstairs fading fast and that the best chance they had of saving her was walking beside him. "I had this built after the Cybermen incident when I was having the rest of the mansion restored. Don't really know why as I wasn't planning on keeping it at the time, what with Jacks gone. I was planning to sell. But I never did get around to doing it. Guess I'm thankful for that now…" He petered off. They'd reached a staircase, and Pete began to ascend.
"How is Jackie?" The Doctor questioned, his demeanor much calmer now that he was getting nearer and nearer to Rose with each step.
"A bit distraught at the moment," Pete answered honestly. The group reached the main floor. Pete led them down a hallway to the entryway and the mansion's main staircase.
"Yeah, I figured that." The Doctor continued. "And I'm preparing to be slapped even now. But, I meant, well, other than Rose, how is she doing?"
"If you mean is she happy she chose to stay with me, then I hope so." He paused. "We have another daughter, Renny." Pete's face lit up at this. "She's seven months old and quite a handful."
"Hmmm," the Doctor considered, "So it's been 13 months since Norway?"
"Yes."
"And how long since the void closed?"
"A year and a half. Why?" Pete asked curiously, "How long has it been for you?"
The Doctor's face was thoughtful and sad. "A bit longer than that."
They'd arrived at the top of the second flight of stairs and were now clustered around a closed door. The Doctor's heart rate accelerated. His Rose was on the other side of this door, and she was dying. And all because he'd left her, abandoned her, in a universe of stupid apes. If he'd been here when the child had been born… He just hoped that he wasn't too late, and that his idea would still work.
Pete seemed to be waiting for him to say something, but, for one of the very few times in this incarnation, he had no words. He nodded to Pete, and the man opened the door.
And suddenly there she was, his Rose. She was lying in a hospital bed, robed in a white hospital gown, and swathed in a jumble of blankets. Her face was pale and damp with sweat. Some mascara smudges lingered on her cheeks. It was all the Doctor could do not to run to her side and sweep her up in his arms, but he knew that would only exacerbate her condition, that he was in fact the only person in the room at the moment that couldn't touch her. It was nigh unbearable.
Jack, on the other hand, had no such qualms and upon entering the room, he immediately rushed to his friend. He did hesitate, however, on seeing that the Doctor was hanging back and his gaze seemed to ask the Time Lord for permission. The Doctor responded to the unasked question, "Yes, Jack. You can touch her." Then he added sternly, "Just be gentle." Hearing this, Jack sat down carefully on the bed and gingerly took her hand in his own, murmuring to her softly.
Donna and Martha hung back a bit, neither knowing quite what to make of the situation nor what to do. Both women were curious about the mysterious woman in the bed before them. After all, she clearly held a place of nearly mythic proportions in the hearts and minds of both Jack and the Doctor. Martha was especially surprised to see her obvious frailty, and she whispered to Donna, "The way the Doctor talks about her, I was expecting her to be, I don't know," she shrugged through a lame pause, "Different, I guess. Superhuman even. But, she isn't, is she? She's just an ordinary human girl. Lord, she looks even younger than me…."
"Shhh." Donna returned gently, squeezing Donna's hand. "She is ordinary, and that's the point, isn't it? His love makes her extraordinary, and her love makes him more human." She pointed to the Doctor who was gazing at Rose with unconcealed adoration. "Look." She smiled kindly at the Doctor's expression, and added a cryptic. "I knew it." But, in her mind Donna was remembering the Doctor that she had first known, the one who had just lost Rose, and she knew that she'd been right in thinking that it was Rose that kept her Doctor from his darkness.
There were several medical monitors nearby that had all clearly just been disconnected. However, Rose was still connected to an IV. Upon seeing this, the Doctor turned to the man and woman standing somewhat sheepishly to his right and posed darkly, "Why is that IV still in? I specifically said to disconnect her from everything." Then, he turned to his companion and asked, "Martha?"
She nodded and crossed to the bed. Expertly, she removed the IV drip, and then she began to assess Rose's condition for herself. From what she could see, Rose was in dire straights. She studied the fluids that she'd just disconnected and prayed that the Doctor knew what he was doing.
The male doctor squared his shoulders, clearly unimpressed with this odd man walking in out of the blue and trying to order them all around. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but Miss Tyler…"
Upon hearing the young doctor's voice, Jack turned his attention from Rose for the first time since entering the room, "Owen?"
Owen looked nonplussed at the interruption and attempted to continue to put the intruder "Doctor" in his place, but the Doctor ignored him. Instead, he turned to his friend and asked, "One of yours?"
Jack looked at Owen and then at Tosh. "Yep. Both of 'em actually. Hi Tosh!" He said with a friendly grin and a waggish wink. "Though seeing as this pair haven't had the benefit of my leadership, I can't promise you what you're dealing with."
Dr. Sato blushed at the strange man's attentions and asked shyly, "Do I know you?"
Jack offered her one of his sexiest grins, "No such luck, Tosh. But, an alternate you has the privilege..."
"Flirting." The Doctor interrupted.
"Habit." Jack quipped. "Though, I suppose in this situation, it may be a bit much." He added seriously, "After all, she's a colleague, sort of."
The door to the room opened, drawing everyone's attention. It was Jackie Tyler carrying a wailing baby in her arms. Seeing them all, Jackie could hardly hide her relief. "Oh, Doctor," she cried out crossing swiftly towards him, "How I prayed that you would come!"
"Well, that is unexpected," The Doctor replied, stepping back evasively. "Jackie, don't bring the baby any closer to me."
Jackie gave him a puzzled and slightly affronted look. "What you don't even want to see your son?" She continued to advance on him.
"Jackie, trust me." The Doctor pleaded. "Bring him to Rose. If you bring him to me now, Rose will die."
"What?" Half the room asked in surprised unison.
"Explanations later," he promised. "Jackie, just bring the baby to Rose. Lay him on her chest."
Jackie nodded and, though she didn't know what the Doctor was planning on doing, she brought her grandson to her sleeping daughter. Jack stood up to allow Jackie his seat, and she carefully took it. Gently, she cradled the baby in Rose's unconscious arms and, leaning into her, helped her hold him close. The baby, who had been screaming, immediately calmed. "Here now, love." Jackie cooed, "It's your baby Rose. Rosie, honey, it's your son."
Several minutes passed, with no one in the room daring to move. Finally, Jack looked at the Doctor. "Doc?" he began tentatively, "What's…"
The Doctor shook his head authoritatively to stop the question. He was watching the bed as though his life depended on the outcome of the drama occurring there. Which, of course, he realized, in so many ways it did.
Martha, who was sitting on the opposite side of the bed from Jackie, was hoping for a miracle, but so far she had seen no changes in the girl's condition. She looked at the three generations of Tylers sitting beside her with abashed curiosity. She saw love and fear and hope mingled together and running over. She felt like an intruder, not just in this moment, but almost like she'd been intruding in their story for the last two years…
Her maudlin thoughts were interrupted. A burst of golden life escaped from the baby's mouth, and Jackie gasped. "Doctor," Martha said anxiously, rising to her feet.
But the Doctor had already seen it, and they could all hear him audibly begging the universe, "Please be enough. Please be enough."
The golden wisp rose up above the group on the bed, hovering over them like a medieval illustration of an angel, and then, quite abruptly, it descended and surrounded Rose Tyler, seeping through her skin.
"Please." The Doctor's voice resounded throughout the room. "Oh, Please."
And then a small, feeble voice that even in weakness was filled with a melodious undercurrent of laughter answered, "Doctor?"
0o0o0o0o0
A/N—Thank you for your continued support with this story. For those of you who are having difficulty following the plot, the chapters aren't in chronological order. The miracles should help with the chronology… Sorry if it's confusing. It's where my mind is going though so I figured that I would follow along. Also, this one may not be proofed as well as usual. I was just in a hurry to post, you know. Hopefully the errors won't be too glaring or dreadful (you know, if there are errors). Please review.