Chapter Nine
"Hold on, Doctor, hold on!" the Other rasped, his throat raw from coughing out orders to the TARDIS. His fingers were wrapped so tightly around the Doctor's, he could see the white under the skin.
An oxygen mask dangled overhead, ready and anxious, jerking softly to the left or right every time the Doctor stirred in what was left of the sleep he'd drifted during the past few hours. It swung every time he moved, too- not that he did much besides wipe the Doctor's forehead and fret himself to death biting the nails of his free hand.
"Stop that, you'll get rabies…" muttered a sleepy voice from the medical bed.
The Other fell off his chair.
"I'll get white hairs from this, you wanker," he groaned, reaching to wipe more sweat from the Doctor's pale face, now blotchy with rad burns, "Is the baby showing signs?"
The Doctor shook his head, his eyes half-closed but bright in the dimmed artificial lights.
"He's… okay," the Doctor murmured, blinking sleepily for a moment. "Although I wonder if my kidneys are going to be…"
The Other looked down at the Doctor, brows furrowing in alarm.
"They going then, eh? You should induce."
The Doctor grinned up at him, squirming a little under the chilling blankets as a snake of pain wormed its way under his skin, sprouting another red blister somewhere.
"Yep. Wanna break out the fandolls and flags?"
The Other chuckled, briefly, before squeezing the Doctor's hand in his.
"I'll get the good sherry, then. And Wilf?"
The Doctor nodded, and then his eyes slid closed.
With the Doctor sleeping, the Other went out into the console room, walked out the doors, and reached round for the outside telephone. Then he dialed Wilf's number.
"Well, Dad," he sighed into the receiver when he heard the click of the answering machine, "… the Doctor's not given birth yet, but his control is slipping, and the radiation is seeping into his bones- it won't be long before the baby is affected. So I'm about to do something monumentally stupid. So go on- eat your Weetabix and forget about us. Think of your sanity."
