The Noble Path
.
Previously, in chapter six...
Setting out at least a dozen glass slides across the flat surface, Donna watched as he began typing quickly on a keyboard in the middle of the counter. The Time Lord then picked up her bottle of moisturizer and dabbed some of it's content on one of them, then squeezed a little more out into a tube which extended from the first of three computer screens. He then grabbed her concealer and did the same thing; the only difference was a small glob of it went into the second computer's tube. Repeating his actions with the third computer using her wrinkle reducing cream, he then slid the slides across the counter to the right, stopping in front of a microscope that resembled those used long ago in her biology class in school.
As the computers began beeping and apparently processing her wonder creams, the Doctor slipped on his glasses and began studying the slides beneath the microscope, one by one.
"This has to work, Donna," he spoke, knowing full well she couldn't hear him. "It simply has to."
.
Chapter Seven:
The Mad Scientist
.
There was a pen and clipboard with paper beside the microscope, and as the Doctor looked at the samples he'd taken, he wrote down the information he learned from each. He repeated the process until he'd gone through all sixteen of the tubes and jars he'd gathered from Donna's bathroom. There had been no time to ask her which she'd used prior to their outing, and he doubted she'd even remember.
Once his work was completed, the Time Lord began talking.
"I need to go back to Spragtar and get a sample of the rhu-rhu root. It should only take a few minutes. Will you be all right waiting here?" he asked loudly, rubbing his hands together with excitement as he turned toward Donna.
She was fast asleep, slouching slightly in the padded chair. The Time Lord looked at her, letting the false hope she couldn't see fade from his features.
Quietly, he left her where she was rather than disturb her.
OoO
Returning just as quickly as he'd left, the Doctor reached into his left pocket, extracting the rhu-rhu root he'd retrieved. Walking over to a computer that sat unused on the counter against the back wall, he pulled away the plastic covering it and touched the screen, instantly bringing it online with the others. He placed some pieces of the plant into the tube which extended from the right of its screen then turned around, waiting on the results.
He stared at Donna for an undeterminded amount of time, focusing only on the exhalations of each breath she took. Her time was running out.
The Doctor felt a shiver of panic begin at his lower spine and draw up to the back of his neck like ice.
He was scared. Scared that even if he found the cause of her rapid aging, he would fail to find the cure in time.
How could he tell Sylvia that her only child was dead? How would he ever begin to explain it? And what about Wilf? He visibly swallowed, his eyes closing at the thought of telling the dear old man that his smart, courageous granddaughter died because he - the mighty Time Lord - had neglected to save her.
The Doctor opened his eyes and found his weary companion watching him.
"I know I'm done for now if you're prayin'."
"You're not dying and I wasn't praying," he spoke gruffly, turning around to observe the master computer. Watching the machine would not make it work any faster, but at least he didn't have to see the easy acceptance of such a grisly fate in Donna's eyes.
The Time Lord was just turning to face her again when a bell chimed from the computer. He spun back around, reading the findings on the screen. When he turned back toward Donna, he was smiling.
"Well aren't you just the cat that ate the canary," she grinned.
He smiled broadly. "Actually, I may just be the canary that cured the cat!"
The Doctor turned back to print the results as he typed in a few more tests to be run. As soon as the printer was done, he grabbed up the papers then pulled a stool over in front of her, smiling all the while.
"The collagen in your make up, combined with the rhu rhu plant's chemical structure, caused a massive aging compound that reversed its effects," he said a bit cockily.
"You mean that stuff really works?" she asked with surprise.
The Doctor stared at her for a moment. "Are you telling me that you've used those concoctions every single day without believing they actually would?"
"It's not so much that I didn't believe they'd do what they claimed, I just hoped they would. Plus, they all moisturize, and that is good."
"Humans," he muttered under his breath.
"Martians," Donna muttered under hers. She stared at him a few seconds. "Well?"
"Well what?" He looked at her curiously.
"What're you waitin' for?"
"Oh." He jumped up from his seat. "Right! Yes! I'm on it," he grinned before turning away from her.
OoO
Donna was again asleep when the Time Lord completed his tasks and turned to tell her the news. He held the filled hypo in his left hand as he scratched his scalp with his right, observing her resting.
He was going to have to wake her. No way he'd just inject Donna with the ingredients and risk his own bodily harm as she flailed about in surprise.
The Doctor reached over on the counter and retrieved a tin tray with his right hand and stood there for a moment, thinking. Even now at an estimated ninety-two years old, she was still a force to be reckoned with. This would be for her own good, really. If he were near when she awoke and somehow hurt him, how would be able to help her further?
Decision made, he threw the metal so that it landed flat just beside her on the floor for maximum effect. It worked perfectly. The loud noise woke her instantly, and as her arms swung out to strike anything near, she hit nothing.
Both hands on her chest, Donna breathed heavily from her scare. "What the hell was that?" she yelled as best she could.
"Time to wake up!" the Doctor spoke loud and cheerfully. He waved the hypo in his hand like a magic wand. "I've created a cure to stop your aging!"
"Just give it to me then. I'm not gettin' any younger, if you hadn't noticed."
It wasn't the surprised hopefulness that he'd hoped for, but it would do.
OoO
To be continued...
OoO
