CHAPTER 38

FORGIVE ME

Mission Day 53 - continued

Jason seemed oblivious to the Doctor's torment, his concentration fixed on the scan and keeping the molecular field stable. His scan alerted him that the Time Lord was having difficulty breathing, and then he suddenly stopped breathing altogether. Jason paused, discovering the molecular field had paralyzed the Doctor's lungs. He pulled it away, and was relieved to hear the whimpered gasps in response. He closed his eyes, wincing in pain as the same time. Steeling himself to go on, he gritted his teeth and reached in further, feeling the Time Lord's body go rigid and hearing his cry of torment in response.

In a barely audible whisper, Jason said, "Hang on, Doctor, hang on, all…most…" Finally, he touched the object of his search. "Got it!" he breathed triumphantly, feeling his friend's body go limp as he lost consciousness.

The Alterran slowly extracted his arm and it returned to its human appearance. He shook it and then hugged it against his body, wincing in pain as he did so. That was an incredibly unpleasant experience, he thought darkly. After a moment, he looked at the small bloody object in his palm, a satisfied smile coming to his face.

Jason turned to the limp figure beside him and smiled affectionately. Lifting the Doctor's head, he pulled the cloth from between his teeth, seeing he had actually bitten through several layers of the fabric. He gently brushed the sweat soaked hair from his face. "Forgive me, old friend," he said softly. A moment later, he was back in his true form.

oOo

The image suddenly froze. "Have you forgiven him, Doctor?" Fitzhugh practically demanded.

The Doctor was completely thrown by this question. "What?"

"I'm sure the court would be interested in learning if you have indeed forgiven his highness for this…violation of your person. You say your view of the facts was wrong, yet at the time, you believed he meant to kill you. That you were afraid for you very life."

"I have already agreed with you on those points," the Doctor replied sharply.

"Then pray, tell us, Doctor—"

"That will be quite enough, Fitzhugh," Eustis broke in sharply. "I remind you again, the Doctor is not the focus of this trial."

"So there," Jason said under his breath as the prosecutor bowed and returned to his seat.

oOo

Jason gently brushed the sweat soaked hair from the Doctor's face. "Forgive me, old friend," he said softly. A moment later, he was back in his true form. He removed the Time Lord's restraints, gently entwining his body to keep him from dropping to the floor. He carried the limp form across the room and carefully placed him on the slab protruding from the wall.

Jason went to retrieve the cloak he had left at the computer, returning to his human form at the same time. He threw the cloak over his arm, pulling out the medical bag from which he had taken the pillbox. As he turned back, he idly glanced up from his bag. He did a double take when he saw the Doctor's body glowing slightly. "Oh no, you don't," he said between his teeth, taking a vial from the bag as he practically flew across the room. He held the glass against the Time Lord's neck, allowing the medication to be absorbed directly into his system. The glow faded immediately.

The Prince suddenly realized he was holding his breath. He slid to the floor beside the slab and exhaled, leaning his head against the Doctor's body, a sigh of relief escaping him. A shudder shook his body and he looked up as if suddenly coming awake. This was the last gasp of the conversion rush as it dissipated. He stood up, covering the Doctor's naked form with the cloak. He then pulled a chair beside the slab and sat down, taking his friend's hand. He watched the exceptionally pale figure closely, scanning him continuously.

"Come on, come on, you stubborn Gallifreyan, stabilize!" the Alterran Healer encouraged quietly. After a few minutes, he gave a satisfied grunt and placed the Doctor's arm back under the covering. Thus assured there would not be a repeat performance, he turned his attention to the pacemaker he had just extracted. He cleaned the blood from its surface and then pulled out a jeweler's glass to inspect its inner workings more closely. When he did, he caught his breath. "You've been activated!" he gasped, looking at the unconscious Time Lord in shock. "No wonder you almost regenerated."

oOo

The Doctor was back on his feet. "Regardless of what I may or may not have thought at the time, anyone who would stop a premature regeneration is not out to harm anyone."

Eustis gave an exasperated sigh. "Doctor, you're not making sense."

"I'm trying to say that it's obvious Prince Jason wasn't trying to kill me," the Doctor replied.

"Just torture you." Fitzhugh said tauntingly. "His highness could have given himself this conversion rush simply as a means of tormenting you further. The request for trust and forgiveness a taunt rather than an appeal."

"If that were the case his attitude and body language would've changed as soon as I was unconscious," the Doctor retorted.

"Gentlemen," Eustis reproved sharply, "rather than resort to wild speculation might I suggest that you direct your questions to Prince Jason. He is, after all, the one who is supposed to be testifying," he reproved sharply. "Do either of you have anything relevant to ask his highness?"

Jason thought that they looked like a couple of contrite children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. He had to fight to keep from laughing.

"Yes, I have a question," the Doctor replied suddenly, and then stunned everyone in the room when he asked, "Your highness, was the operation of removing the pacemaker a painful one?"

There was a collective gasp of surprise from the gallery, and Jason's mouth dropped open in shock. The prosecutor looked over at the equally stunned Inquisitor. Finally, everyone's attention turned to the Prince as he slowly rose to his feet. Before he could answer, the Doctor said quickly, "Aside from the fact that it was obviously painful for me, was it painful for you?"

Jason scowled, wondering where his friend was going with this. "Um…yes, it was."

"And you knew this beforehand?"

"Yes. Keeping a molecular field stable for longer than a few seconds is...well, it hurts a lot."

"Did you know this as a Healer or from past experience?" the Doctor pressed on.

"Past experience."

"You've done it before?"

"Yes," Jason replied, adding bluntly, "And it hurt like hell."

"Yet, knowing this in advance, you still chose to perform this operation despite the harm it would bring to yourself."

"I wasn't the one whose life was in danger, you were."

"Weren't you in danger from the conversion rush?" the Time Lord asked mildly.

"No. I can utilize the energy from that any one of a dozen ways," Jason replied tersely.

"And it couldn't've waited?" the Doctor asked in a disapproving tone that he knew would set the Alterran off.

"Waited?" Jason retorted sharply. "And risk its being activated? I wasn't about to leave that thing where it was just because I might find it painful for a few minutes. You could've died! That's all I cared about." Seeing his friend's eye flicker, he suddenly realized the Doctor had led him into this admission with conspicuous ease. He closed his eyes and gave an annoyed sigh, making a mental note to get even with his friend for this as some point in the future. If he had a future, that is.

"Thank you, your highness. No further questions," the Doctor said mildly, giving Jason an apologetic look at the same time.