Seska's hearts had soared when he heard his mother's voice, and then that hope had been deflated when his mother didn't recognise him. He had to think quickly or his mother would disappear. So he played along, even though it hurt.
Something must have happened, something that was the TARDIS's doing. He had no idea what that was, but stuck in his room, he could do nothing.
But luck was on his side; he knew how to unlock the door. But it was in the console room.
He didn't want to take advantage of his mother's amnesia, but he could nothing in here.
Now all he could do was wait, wait for the door to unlock. That had been before the cries had filtered through the door.
"What are you doing!?" he yelled.
He didn't think the TARDIS would answer but he heard the whine of what sounded like the hologram projector.
He turned and the image of his mother stared back at him.
"What I must...there is no change without pain. He must choose, as you will have to choose."
The image disappeared and Seska frowned...what had the TARDIS meant by having to choose?
The question was left unanswered as with a loud shunk the door to his room opened.
He didn't hesitate.
He was grateful that the TARDIS hadn't hid the way to the console room, but his mother's cries had stopped; silence was not a good thing.
What if the cause of his mother's amnesia had been removed; he had been in a fragile mental state before they'd boarded the TARDIS.
He was approaching the console room and was passing the kitchen and stopped...since when had the kitchen had a door?
"Open it," he said, but it stayed shut. He was in no mood for this.
"Open it," he snarled.
The door clicked open and he was nearly knocked over by Ash.
"Where is he?" Ash said.
"Be calm," Seska said. "We need to be calm."
He lead Ash down the corridor to a set of double doors...again they wouldn't open, not because of the TARDIS...something was against them.
Ash pushed on it and the door moved slightly and they could see an arm.
"Mother?" Seska said.
There was no reply and Ash felt the panic he saw on Seska's face.
He pushed harder and the door moved freely; the weight was gone. The Doctor must have moved away from the door.
He cautiously opened the door and entered the console room, followed by Seska. He looked round, the Doctor wasn't in sight. Had he disappeared into another part of the TARDIS?
A noise by the ramp caught his attention; he put his hand up to tell Seska to stay. He moved slowly across the metal grating, trying to make as little noise as possible; he didn't want to spook the Doctor.
Another noise told him the Doctor was definitely still here.
He approached the railing and looked over. He could see a pair of feet sticking out from under the gantry. He carefully slipped between the railings.
The feet disappeared as he landed, so he crouched down and said softly.
"You're not very good at hide and seek."
He didn't expect an answer, so he went to his knees and crawled under.
The Doctor was squeezed into a narrow crawl space.
"Seska," he said and Seska squeezed into the small space.
Seska was still for a few moments and then he muttered. "This is not right."
He shuffled forward and placed his hands on the Doctor's head; the Doctor didn't flinch.
Several moments later he let go and once again muttered. "No."
He took out a pen torch and shone it in the Doctor's eyes and he let out a long breath.
"We need to get him to the med-bay."
"You think he'll let me move him?" Ash said.
"We must...he needs treatment."
"If we move him, won't it make him bleed more?"
"Ash, I'm not worried about his physical injuries. I'm worried about his mental state."
Ash frowned.
"She broke him...but she went too far."
He let out a growl that made the hairs on Ash's neck rise.
"I will never forgive you for this."
Ash put a hand on Seska's shoulder and said. "Let's get him out of here."
Seska nodded. "Not here."
Ash didn't argue and said. "The doors might still be locked."
"Not for long," Seska said and crawled out from under the gantry. He could hear him doing something above, but he had to turn his attention to the Doctor.
He didn't think it was going to be easy, and he didn't want to use brute force. He could only hope that the Doctor could hear him.
He risked putting a hand on the Doctor and saying.
"Doctor, we have to move. You can't stay here."
He was surprised when the Doctor looked at him; perhaps the damage wasn't as bad as Seska feared. But as he looked into the Doctor's eyes, he could see there was none of the alert amusement in them. So he took the Doctor's hand and pulled.
There was no resistance and he led the Doctor out from under the ramp.
The TARDIS door was opened; Seska must have overridden the locks.
He didn't hesitate and led the Doctor outside and faced a very surprised Ianto Jones.
Seska appeared seconds later and barked.
"I need Doctor Martha Jones...now!"
Martha had just settled on her sofa when her mobile rang. She looked at the caller ID; it was Torchwood.
"I'm tired Jack, this better important."
Her sofa and bed were forgotten as she was back in her car and was driving back towards Cardiff. She entered the Hub and found an anxious Jack waiting behind the door.
"What happened?"
Jack shook his head. "Don't know, Seska will only talk to you."
She hurried down to the small med-bay. She could see Seska and was that Ash inside.
She entered the room and wasn't surprised to find it was the Doctor lying on the bed.
There was silence as she examined the Doctor...yes there were the wounds to his shoulder and thigh, but they weren't new, just aggravated. What worried her was how motionless he was and he was still awake.
She hadn't seen a head wound that could account for it...which meant.
"Seska, has he had some kind of mental or emotional trauma?"
"The TARDIS, she was trying to make him mentally stable...but it broke him."
"Then he needs psychiatric help, not medical."
Seska shook his head. "You don't understand...yes the TARDIS went too far, but that alone wouldn't do this. My mother has chosen mesa...suicide, his m'eas...his spirit is leaving his body...if we cannot bring it back, he will die."
