Back to Ankou
Thank you for the reviews
Chapter 25
Ankou, Day 18,407, 5:40 (Till he can be reunited with Clara Oswald: 555,770,800 seconds (Done: 38yrs, 14mnths, 1wk and 16hrs))
It was hard to keep on going. Even if it was for her.
He tried to just go through the motions. Lifting up the pickaxe above his head, dropping it down onto the stone in front of him and repeating. Lifting it up, dropping it down. Lifting it up, dropping it down. Lifting it, dropping it. Lifting, dropping. Lifting … lifting.
The Doctor body was screaming in protest against the movement. His arms felt heavy and his vision blurred for a moment. He stopped and rested against the axe, trying to get his bearings. He didn't know whether it was his vision making everything move or it was him swaying but it didn't seem good.
He had only fainted a few times and that was under extreme circumstances. But with his body under constant pressure since he entered the prison, these were extreme circumstances.
He wanted to close his eyes but he dare not. If he was going to faint, he would just open his eyes to blackness. He concentrated on his breathing. In through his nose, holding it for a second, out through his mouth. In through his nose, out through his mouth. In, out, in, out.
He screamed as the whip hit his back.
"Get back to work. This is your punishment." The guard snarled.
He had to find some strength from somewhere or he knew that the guard wouldn't hesitate to do it again. His thoughts moved straight to Clara, to the way she stood and looked at him when he last saw her. The smell of her dying perfume. The way her hair framed her face. He remember the way she whispered his voice when he saved her from the fire.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guard raise his arm. He found some strength and when back into the motions. Raising the axe, dropping the axe. Raising it, dropping it. Raising it, dropping it. Raising dropping.
He tried to fight the pain and tiredness. He tried to keep going on. His mind telling his body that it had to. He had to keep going.
The Doctor just watched as the axe fell out of his grip and felt his body fall towards the floor. He thought that he registered hitting the floor but he couldn't be too certain. He did, however, remember whispering Clara before he blacked out completely.
Ankou, Day 18,407, 15:40 (Till he can be reunited with Clara Oswald: 555,718,800 seconds (Done: 38yrs, 14mnths, 1wk, 1d and 6hrs))
There were a few things that concerned him when he started to regain consciousness.
The first one was that he was on a bed. Not that he was complaining at all. It was great to be on something comfortable. Just he had expected that he would have awoke to the rough floor of the caves. So it came down to one of two things. Either he had been moved as soon as he had blacked out or a considerable amount of time had passed. The Doctor didn't know which one was better.
The second thing was that his head was spinning. He could have just put it down to the amount of pain he was in but something was telling him that it was that. It was also telling him that it wasn't because he blacked out either.
That led onto the third thing of the needles stuck in his arm. What was going into his body? Was it that what was making his head spin?
He heard a door open and he immediately made his eyes open. He closed them again as the light hit them. He swore that the lights in his cell wasn't that bright.
"Patient has regained consciousness and is responsive at 15:43."
The Doctor slowly opened his eyes, taking the time to allow his eyes to adjust to the light. He was sure that this cell was brighter than his. He took in the alien beside him, holding a cup.
"I thought you would be thirsty." He said, placing the cup on his lips.
He took time to study him. He would have mistaken him for a Silurian but the difference between them was his red skin. His hands were more like claws and he had to use both hand to hold the cup. When he turned his back, the Doctor could see the outline of wings.
"Qaiteock."
"Sorry?"
"Qaiteock. That is the race I am. I could sense that you were trying to work it out. There have been no interaction between my race and you, Doctor. But I have heard your stories. I had always hoped to meet you but I wish it was under better circumstances."
"Like wise." The Doctor tried to sit up. "I didn't realise that they actually cared for us."
The Qaiteock laughed. "No they don't. You were left where you fell and a few of your fellow prisoners picked you up and brought you here. They knew I was a doctor."
His head was still spinning. "What is a doctor doing in prison? You are meant to help and care for people."
"Some found my ways … a little unethical."
The Doctor flowed the needles from his arm to the bags suspended next to him. He hissed he pulled the needles out of his arm.
"What are you doing? You need them."
He pushed his hands out the way. He lied back down. " Acetylsalicylic acid."
"What about it?"
"It is aspirin." The Doctor could feel it go around his body. "It is deadly to me. How long have I been on it?"
"I am so sorry. I didn't realise. Is there anything I can do to help?"
A recovery coma was probably the Doctor's only shot of getting over it. "No you have done enough." He spat at the Qaiteock before closing his eyes and placing his body into the coma.
Ankou, Day 18,410, 15:40 (Till he can be reunited with Clara Oswald: 555,406,800 seconds (Done: 38yrs, 14mnths, 1wk, 4d and 16hrs))
The Doctor was happier when he woke up in his own cell. The lights weren't as bright and it gave him so comfort that his body hadn't been pumped with any more drugs that he didn't know about. He would still have loved to have found out who had helped him out.
And the doctor, the Qaiteock. He would have loved to have found out more about him as well. To know where he came from so that he could go and visit his planet. He could picture what he thought it would look like. He was tied between a rocky landscape or a jungle. He didn't know why but that was what came to mind.
"Ah, you are awake."
The Doctor looked at the door as a Sontaran entered. He gave him a confused look as he sat down on the bed next to his.
"You haven't heard the news. The Zygon and Ice Warrior tried to escape but, like on the great planet of Sontar, they were killed on sight. They reign no more. I hear that you would be glad to hear that."
He did let out a sigh of relief. It would be easier now to make it back to Clara without the Zygon breathing down his neck.
"You look like you have fought on the battlefield."
The Doctor started to laugh but it ended with him coughing. "I fell like it."
"Unfortunately you aren't like me. I can endure anything. Sleep for a while. I will guard you."
He was transported back to Victorian London and Strax. He noted to himself that they should go back and see The Paternoster Gang again.
Maybe it was because they were in the same boat but he was glad that this Sontaran was going to look after him. He was glad that the end of his stay could be like the beginning.