Sarah was shaking too, but all over, and with anger. "NO! He's not going to spend one minute here if I can help it. May I use your phone please?"
"Miss Smith," Officer Davis started, "I'm not sure we can let you do this. You don't know this man, and I'm not comfortable leaving you alone with him like this."
"I am perfectly capable of handling myself in any situation, thank you. Now, I'd like to use the phone please. If that's an inconvenience, I'll simply go outside and use the one there. But I warn you, I'm not letting John out of my sight, so you two constables will have to come with us."
Sister sighed and turned her phone so that Sarah could use it.
John watched as she dialed. He could see where Davis was coming from, but he knew he wouldn't hurt a fly, and it felt good to have someone really fighting for him.
Sarah dialed and waited. She had to admit, it just felt so right to be fighting for a good cause again. She realized in the few seconds while the phone was ringing that she didn't just miss the Doctor, she missed the adventure too. It was always so much fun to be fighting by his side. She was never afraid as long as she knew he was with her. Together, nothing could beat them.
"UNIT HQ, how may I direct your call?"
Sarah snapped out of daydreaming and used her most serious voice. She spoke load and clear to let everyone in the room know that she wasn't going to brook anyone trying to go over her head. "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart please. Yes, you can tell him it's Sarah Jane Smith." She flashed a 'so there' look at the three so-called 'authorities' in the room. She'd show them, and oh, just wait and see what she was going to write about this. Them and their sectioning... "Hello Brigadier. Yes, I'm fine, but I really need your help with a problem I'm having at the moment."
The Brigadier sighed. "Typical. What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?"
"No trouble at all, Brigadier," she said sweetly. "I need you to arrange for me to be given legal guardianship of someone as quickly as possible. Do you think you and UNIT are up to the challenge?"
"Well, of course we can, Miss Smith, you know that. But that's a bit of an odd request. Have you found an errant child?"
"No, Harry and I found a man with a head injury on my front steps and he's lost his memory. I want to take care of him until he's recovered, but the so-called 'authorities' at St. George's and the two constables that are here with me now are saying I can't take him home with me without the proper paperwork. So what I want to know is, how long do you think it will take you to fix this mess for me, Brigadier?"
"You say Doctor Sullivan is aware of this, is he?"
"Yes, he can fill you in on what happened if you like. I'm going to give him a call as soon as you arrange everything here for me."
"Then you'll be having Doctor Sullivan accompany you home and he'll be staying with you as well," the Brigadier said matter-of-factly.
Sarah knew better than to argue with the Brig, especially when he was giving her what she wanted. "Of course he will, but I warn you, I haven't asked him yet, so he doesn't know about it. I promise though, as soon as it's settled on this end, I'll give him a ring." She smiled and winked at John.
"I'll hold you to that, Miss Smith." He got the particulars from her. "All right, I'll make a few calls and messenger the paperwork over to you."
"Thank you so much, Brigadier. I knew I could count on you." Sarah hung up and smiled with satisfaction. She took John's hand and held it as she sat back and waited calmly for the courier to arrive.
John smiled in spite of himself. She was a force to be reckoned with, all right.
In less than an hour a UNIT soldier showed up and delivered the papers personally into the Sister's hand.
"Thank you so much Mister Benton," Sarah grinned at him when he was done.
Warrant Officer Benton smiled at her. "My pleasure, Miss Smith, as always. Is this Mister Doe?" He held a hand out to John, who shook it. "Very nice to meet you."
"And you," John said.
"And the Brigadier wanted me to make sure you called Doctor Sullivan," he continued.
Sarah could barely keep herself from laughing. "Oh, I'll call him right away Mr. Benton. I have to, he's our ride home. Better yet, why don't you give us a ride back to my place? You have to pass by there anyway and if it's alright with you, I can use your RT to call him."
"I'm sure the Brigadier wouldn't mind that," Benton said, smiling. "Of course."
The sister opened up the packet on her desk and examined the paperwork. Then she handed it to Officer Davis and looked over at the two men as if to say, 'are you both going to allow this?'
Officer Davis looked over the paperwork, smiled quietly, then showed it to Clifford, pointing to a particular item. Clifford looked less then pleased, but Davis smiled. "Everything seems to be in order, Sister, so we'll all be on our way. Thanks so much for making your services available, but thankfully we won't be needing them today." He helped John to his feet. "Miss Smith, we'll escort you and Mister Doe back to the car and wait while you contact Doctor Sullivan."
"Isn't this lovely, John? We have Mr. Benton to take us home, and these two very kind constables to escort us to the jeep." There was a somewhat satisfied gleam in Sarah's eyes.
John wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he decided to just go with it. "Yes, very nice, thank you," he said. "Thank you, Sister."
Sister shook his hand, but while she was smiling, he could see the scowl in her eyes. "Good luck, Mister Doe. If we can be of service to you at any time, please let us know."
"No offense, Sister," John said, still shaking her hand, "but I hope I never see you again."
She smiled sadly, as though she expected him back within the week. "So do I."
Sarah reached her hand out and tried not to be too smug. "Yes, thank you Sister and good bye. I can promise you that you won't be seeing John again."
"We're always here, Miss Smith," Sister said, and showed them out.
Sarah turned to her as they headed towards the door. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't ever forget you're here." Having had the last word she put her hand on John's arm and allowed the two constables to see them to Mr. Benton's jeep.
"All right, then," Davis said, sitting on the hood of the Jeep. "I believe you had a call to make," he told Sarah.
Having gotten her own way, Sarah was in a good mood. She decided that Officer Davis was a decent sort of man and that she liked him. She smiled at him as she got into the jeep. "I certainly do," she said turning to Mr. Benton. "May I have your RT please?"
Benton handed it to her and she called Harry. She wasn't the least surprised when he said yes and he even offered to bring over an extra pair of pajamas for John to wear.
"There it is," said Sarah as she handed the RT back to Benton. "Thank you gentlemen for all your kind attentions."
"You're very welcome, Miss Smith," Davis said, handing her a card. "If there's anything else we can do for you, or if John here remembers anything, please let us know. We had two investigators out looking around your house, but with all this rain... At any rate, if anyone is looking for you, John, we'll be sure to call right away."
"Thank you, sir," John said.
The rain had finally stopped, and Harry was standing on the stoop waiting for them by the time they got back. The Brigadier had grilled him thoroughly on the situation before initiating any paperwork, and he was tired. But somehow he felt better when Sarah Jane waved to him and smiled, and he realized that he hadn't seen her smile like that since before she had come back from traveling with the Doctor.
But as glad as he was to see her smile, he found himself wondering why. He had some thoughts about the reasons, and he wasn't sure he approved of any of them.
He decided to let it go for now. After all, he was planning on spending the next few days at her house for the express purpose of making sure nothing untoward was going to happen, so for now, at least, there was nothing to worry about. He waved as Sarah said goodbye to Benton and led John over to the door. "And how's the patient feeling?" he asked.
"A little silly, but very grateful. You should have seen her, Harry," John beamed. "She was wonderful."
Harry put his arm on John's shoulder as if he were an old school chum. He looked over and smiled at Sarah Jane. "I'm sure she was. I did warn you about it old chap, but now that you've seen it for yourself, you know what she's like in action. I know I'd never want her upset with me, that's for certain."
"Nor me," John said. "Definitely not." He looked at Harry incredulously. "Did you know they were going to section me?"
Now that was alarming, Harry thought. "Why were they going to do that?" he asked Sarah as she came over to them, all levity gone.
"They were going to do it just because he can't remember anything." She set her jaw in anger. "They're heartless and cruel, the whole lot of them. I'm telling you Harry, I'm going to start investigating them for a series of articles I'm planning on writing about their entire system. You should have seen what that place was like."
John was quiet as she related the horrors of the hostel to Harry as she put her key in the door and led him into the house. Her description was particularly vivid, and he found himself getting nervous just thinking about it. He stepped inside and let her lead him to the couch, still talking.
Sarah plumped up the cushions for John and let him settle in. "Would you like another blanket or more pillows, John?"
The couch was soft and comfortable, and as he lay back on it, his shoes hanging over the edge, it seemed to almost swallow him whole, the cool cloth of the couch like a salve on his nerves. "Honestly, I'm really tired," he yawned. "I think I'd just like to get some sleep, if that's all right."
"That's fine John. Harry, I trust you can follow the instructions we got from the hospital," she laughed as she handed him the discharge papers. "I'm going to go out for a while and do some grocery shopping. Any requests for food?"
John heard her, but as if from a long way away. Something about food. He realized he hadn't eaten at all, and a little part of his brain was trying to tell him he was starving, but he could barely keep his eyes open. He motioned for Sarah to come closer so he could hear her, but when she did, he'd forgotten what he wanted. He put a hand out, missing her shoulder completely, then mumbled "Thank you for everything," and fell asleep.
"Well," Harry said, "so much for pajamas." He navigated weak resistance to check John's pupils. "Just asleep. It's normal."
"Good, please keep an eye on him and make yourself at home, I'll be back shortly. Oh, and Harry?"
Harry looked hard at her. She seemed confident, really confident, for the first time in a long time. "Yes, Sarah?"
"Thank you for being such a good friend, it means more than I can say." She grabbed her jacket and slipped it over one arm, leaned over and kissed Harry on the cheek. "I just want you to know that you're appreciated." She finished putting her coat on and grabbed her car keys off the mantle. "I know what kind of food you like, Doctor Sullivan and, I promise to stock up on your favorite biscuits as well," she smiled warmly at him.
Harry smiled back at her and watched her go, then wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Idly munching a Jammie Dodger, he stared at John's gently snoring form draped over the couch. "Who are you, John Doe, and why exactly did you wash up on Sarah Jane's doorstep?"