Chapter Fourteen

They drove further down until Ianto found a McDonalds.

"Do you wanna go through the drive through?" Ianto asked.

"No, let's go in, I need to use the bathroom," Rain said.

"Why didn't you do that when we were back in the park?" Jack said.

"Because I didn't feel like catching a million diseases from the dirty toilet seat, that's why?" she said as he chuckled.

"And what makes you think McDonalds's toilet seat will be cleaner?" Jack asked.

"Because I know that they have people there that clean it every few hours," she said as Ianto parked in a parking space near the door.

They opened the doors and all of them got out while Ianto pocketed the keys. He slid out of the car seat and stretched his back, letting out a groan while he did. Everyone went past him into the restaurant. Tara was behind all of them and as she was going in, she looked back at Ianto who was closing the car door. Then something caught her eye and she stopped, frowning in a puzzled silence. Ianto stopped when he got to her side.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I think something's wrong with that lady over there," Tara said, pointing past him. "She looks sick."

Ianto looked where she was pointing and saw a young black lady dressed in tattered clothes. She was sitting on a bench, slumped over. She was wearing long black trousers, a white short-sleeved t-shirt and dirty converse tennis shoes. Her short black hair was plastered to her face and her eyes were slightly glazed. There was sweat running down her forehead as she sat out in the broiling sun. Ianto and Tara walked over to her.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" Ianto said when they reached her.

The woman slowly lifted her head. She nodded but Ianto could tell that she wasn't fine in the least. He put a hand on her shoulder.

" Are you feeling dizzy?" he asked her.

" A little," she admitted.

He took in the condition of her clothes.

"Are you homeless?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Been walkin'," she muttered. "Just tired."

"Do you want something to drink?" Ianto asked.

She nodded. Ianto reached in and pulled out a five dollar bill.

"Tara, run inside and get her a cup of water and a sandwich for me to give to her, will you?"

Tara nodded, took the money and ran inside.

"What's your name?" Ianto asked her.

"Juliet."

"Hi, I'm Ianto. Listen, come over here with me. You can sit in our people carrier and I'll run the air conditioning so you can cool off, okay?"

"I don't wanna be a bother."

"You're not a bother," he said, holding up his hand. "I think you have the beginnings of heat exhaustion and I want you to get out of the hot sun before it turns into heat stroke. So follow me, okay?"

Juliet nodded and groaned as she slowly got to her feet. Ianto gave her a look of concern when he noticed her hobbling with a pained face.

"How long have you been walking?" he asked, holding her arm.

"Half the night and most of the day," she said wearily. "The only shelter that's open is one where they make you sleep on chairs and I can't do that because I have a bad back so I've been trying to find this place I've heard about that's north of here in the suburbs."

"Do you have the address?" Ianto asked.

She nodded.

"Well, we'll take you there. I don't want you out in this hot sun, you'll die before too long," he said, unlocking the door.

He reached in and unlocked the sliding door just as the Doctor came back outside with Tara. Tara handed Juliet a cheeseburger and a small cup of ice water.

"Thank ya, baby," she said, smiling.

The Doctor bent down next to Ianto and smiled warmly.

"Hi, my name's the Doctor."

"You're a doctor?"

He nodded.

"Yes, I am. Are you alright?"

Juliet glanced at Ianto who nodded encouragingly. She told the Doctor and Tara what was wrong with her while the Doctor removed a small white first aid kit from his pocket. He pulled out a tiny ear thermometer and took her temperature.

"99.5," yes, you're definitely overheated," he said to her.

He stared at the heavy clothes.

"Is this the only set of clothes you own?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Well, we'll take you somewhere and get you something more appropriate for summer," he said to her.

"You don't have to, Sir."

"I know but you can't walk around in this heat in these heavy clothes, you're burning up now and you're gonna collapse soon," he said. "Don't worry; we do this sort of thing all the time. Just go ahead and eat and if you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at your feet."

He untied her shoes and took them off, ignoring the pungent odor of her socks. He slipped them off and shoved them inside her shoes. Gently, he lifted up her feet and winced when he saw the cracked skin and calluses and blisters on and between her toes. He cursed silently, his hearts going out to this woman. Ianto and Tara watched as he pulled out the tissue rejuvenator. While he was doing that, Ianto felt someone watching him and looked over at the front door. Madison and Rain were standing with the door open watching what was going on. Ianto walked over to them when he noticed the puzzled looks on their faces and explained everything to them and to Rose, Jack and Alan who came up behind them with their drinks in cardboard holders. They glanced at Juliet and looked at each other and went back inside with Ianto following behind them. Tara knelt down beside her father who was debating whether or not to use the alien technology on Juliet's feet.

"Listen, Juliet, I have a way to heal your feet up completely, okay? It's something I invented so don't be surprised if your feet turn out good as new when I'm through."

Juliet nodded and he started using the rejuvenator on her feet, getting rid of every callous, blister and crack that he could find.

I'll have to use this on her ankles too, he thought to Tara. See how swollen they are from all the walking she's done?

I'm glad I noticed her, Daddy, she thought back.

Me too. I don't think she would have lasted much longer in this heat, he thought.

Rain came outside holding a small sack and a large Coke in her hands.

"Here, Baby, here's your drink," she said, handing Tara the Coke.

She gave the bag to Juliet.

"Here's another cheeseburger and some fries and an apple pie for you," she said.

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"Rain, I'm Rain, this is my husband, the Doctor, and this is my daughter, Tara," she said.

Juliet nodded hello and Rain squeezed her shoulder before bending down beside her husband.

"Oh God," she said, staring at her feet.

"Yeah, I'm healing them up now. I wanna take her shopping as well so she can get some summer clothes."

"Good," Rain said.

The Doctor finished healing her right foot and examined it. Satisfied it was completely healed; he put the rejuvenator against her right ankle and made the swelling go down. Once that was done, he started on her left foot. Meanwhile, everyone else came back out with drinks and some more food for Juliet. Rose got into the van and arranged the food in the back so someone was able to sit back there and give Juliet some room. While she was doing that, Rain arranged the vent so the air conditioning was blowing right on Juliet and took her temperature again.

"99 degrees," she said to the Doctor.

"Good, it was 99.5 ten minutes ago, it's going down," he said to her.

"Are you feeling lightheaded?" Rain asked her.

"Not anymore," Juliet replied.

"Do you think you'll be alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?" Rain asked.

"No, I think I'll be alright now, thanks."

Rain nodded. Alan came up beside her and handed Juliet a medium Coke.

"Hi, I'm Alan, I'm his twin brother," he said, indicating the Doctor. "I got you this. Try to eat and drink as much as you can so we can get your blood sugar back up, yeah?"

Juliet nodded. Alan took the empty water cup from her and threw it away while the Doctor finished working on her foot and started on her ankle. Once he was finished, he helped Juliet to her feet and asked her to walk around for him. He smiled when she walked with no problem. His smile widened when he saw her ear to ear grin.

"Thank you so much, doctor…"

"It's just the Doctor. It's a nickname others have given me," he said. "And you're welcome. We're not from Detroit as you may have guessed. We're driving around, seeing the sights. If you don't mind, you're welcome to join us. We'll get you to where you need to be, of course, but I wanna make sure you're well and truly alright before we part company, is that okay?"

Juliet nodded.

"Brilliant. Nice to meet you. And the rest of the family…this is Jack, Madison and this is Rose."

"Hi," they all said in unison.

Juliet smiled and waved. The Doctor helped her inside and Rain and Tara sat down beside her. Alan got in the driver's side and Rose got in beside him. The Doctor, Madison and Ianto got in behind Juliet, Rain and Tara and Jack got in the back.

"Ohoho, I'm sitting here with the burgers," he said, rubbing his hands.

"Oi, leave those burgers alone!" the Doctor said as everyone laughed.

They closed the doors.

"Right, first off, let's find a clothing shop so we can get some new clothes for our new friend," he said to everyone.