With breakfast finished, Martha went ahead of the Doctor and Jack to warn Alice that her father was coming to help. While she still didn't want to see her father or have him see Steven, she was slowly beginning to accept that he was only trying to help his grandson. A part of her also understood that he had no choice but to use Steven to stop the 456. She couldn't forgive him, though, for nearly killing her son, not yet. She took Steven's hand in her own, squeezing it gently. A smile crossed her face as she felt Steven's fingers flex in her hand.
"Steven, can you hear me?" Alice questioned softly.
"Mum," Steven moaned. His eyes remained closed as he rolled his head towards the side towards her voice.
"Yes, sweetheart, it's mummy," Alice nearly cried hearing him speak. She brought his hand up to her mouth kissing his fingers.
"I don't feel good," He whimpered. Alice reached out gently stroking the hair back from his forehead.
"I know, baby," she cooed. Martha stepped forward from where she had been standing watching their interaction. She was happy to hear that Steven was more awake and more aware this time. He was speaking to his mother in complete sentences but she was worried about how limp he remained on the bed.
"Steven, my name is doctor Martha Jones. I would really like it if you could open your eyes for me," Martha told him, concerned by the way that he kept his eyes closed.
"No," Steven moaned as he ignored her request.
"Is your head hurting you, Steven?" Martha questioned. She moved up closer to his head, pulling her penlight out of her pocket as she walked.
"Mum," Steven whined again. Martha reached down gently using her fingers to open Steven's eye. The only thing she accomplished was making him mad. He groaned loudly as he lifted his own hand trying to knock her hand away. "Stop it."
"It's alright, Steven, she is only trying to help. Though, I agree with you. Getting a light shined in your eyes is a nasty thing when you are trying to sleep," The Doctor commented as he came into the room with Jack by his side. Jack paused in the doorway, overwhelmed by the fact that Steven was awake. The Doctor gave Jack's hand a gentle tug and Jack stumbled forwards a few steps. Releasing his hand, the Doctor moved closer to the bed.
"Who?" Steven asked sounding confused by the voice. All of the strange voices in the room, with the bright lights, were quickly becoming overwhelming. His hearts visibly sped up while his breath came in shorter, shallower gasp. He tensed, his hand tightening around his mother's in his fear.
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor answered. Reaching out he pressed his fingers softly against Steven's forehead. "Rest now. You'll feel better when you wake up again." The Doctor reassured him as he pushed past Steven's weak barriers and guided him to sleep. Steven's breathing evened out as his hearts slowed back to a normal pace.
"I really wish you wouldn't have done that, I needed to know what was hurting him," Martha scolded the Doctor. She checked Steven's pupil response, happy that they responded normally. His blood oxygen levels were starting to come back up and he was once more relaxed on the bed.
"Him being afraid and then passing out isn't going to tell us anything," The Doctor answered. He moved over to the cupboard opening. Digging through it a moment, he mumbled under his breath before slamming the cupboard shut. No one commented as he strolled across the room going out the door.
"What was that about?" Martha asked Jack. Jack shrugged. Finally, finding his legs again he moved slowly towards Steven's bed. It had been nice to hear his voice again, even if it was soft and scratchy. He wanted to hold Steven's hand but it was obvious that Alice wasn't going to let him as she held her son's hand tightly in her own. Instead, he stood next to the bed placing a hand on Steven's leg as he looked at the sleeping child.
"I'm sorry, Alice," Jack whispered. He couldn't remember how many times he had apologized to his daughter but he would continue to apologize every day until she forgave him.
"I know," Alice responded not looking at her father. "I can't forgive you, though, dad not yet."
"I understand. I'm sorry I hurt him, Alice. I wish every day that I could go back in time and change what happened but I can't," Jack told her. He dared to look over at her. She was staring at her son as she spoke. She had unshed tears in her eyes once more and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. Jack started to turn back to look at Steven as the door to the room opened once more and the Doctor bounded in.
"Found it," He announced happily. Jack wiped away his own tears as he turned to look at his lover.
"What did you find?" Jack questioned. The Doctor held up a small device. The device looked like a diabetic's blood sugar monitor. Jack narrowed his eyes in confusion at the device. "Is he having a problem with his blood sugar."
"Is he?" The Doctor looked just as confused for a moment as he turned to look at Martha. She shook her head no and the Doctor smiled again as he looked back at Jack.
"Then why do you have a blood sugar monitor?" Jack wondered.
"I converted it to be able to measure my energy levels. I am going to use it to test the energy levels in Steven's body so that we can determine the best time to give him another transfer," the Doctor explained. Moving towards the bed, he pulled a clean needle out of his pocket. He took Steven's hand in his pricking the little boy's finger. He placed a drop of the blood on the monitor. Laying Steven's hand back on the bed, he waited a moment for the reader to return the measurments. When the reader finally beeped, he furrowed his brow in concern. Picking Steven's hand back up, he took another drop of blood. The reading was the same. "Steven's body has already absorbed and used most of the energy that it was provided. He needs another transfer now if he is going to continue to use the energy to heal."
"How is that possible?" Martha wondered.
"I don't know," The Doctor whispered. Normally he liked not knowing things. It kept him on his toes and gave him a reason to spend hours in his library researching the answer. This was not one of those times. Steven's body should not have been able to use the energy he received as effectively as it had. He was going to have to find out why, but first, he needed to help Jack provide his grandson with energy. Taking Jack's hands in his own, he guided Jack's hands to Steven's temples. It was easier this time to transfer the energy into Steven's body as this time Jack knew what to expect. When the transfer was complete, the Doctor took another blood sample before rushing out of the room leaving Jack with Alice and Martha. Jack stared at the two women for just a moment before deciding that he didn't want to be there. His only other choice was to spend time with Mickey or alone. Wondering what two player games Mickey had brought, Jack went to go find the young man.