Chapter 53
Martha had switched off her mobile phone and handed it in at the desk as she entered the secure medical facility. She walked through the metal detector and then collected the medical bag that had been searched by a security guard on reception.
"You'll find him in cubicle 12, Doctor Jones."
"Thank you."
The cubicles were on one side of a long corridor and Martha could tell from the armed guard outside, exactly which one Ianto was being held in. She tried to rein in her feelings; she had to give the impression of total professionalism if she was going to be able to help him. As she approached the guard who was watching the CCTV image of the occupant of the cubicle, she stood to attention in her black UNIT uniform, over which she had donned a white coat.
She flashed her identity tag to the guard who quickly fed in a sequence of numbers into the key pad and then pushed open the door for her. From the doorway she could see that Ianto was sitting on the edge of the hospital cot, his head bowed forward, hands in lap and completely naked.
Martha's eyes widened and she unleashed her anger on the guard.
"Why isn't he dressed? What the hell happened to his clothes?"
"Strip search ma'am. Standard procedure to locate concealed weapons or suicide devices. His clothes were taken away for checking for any hidden mechanisms. We had strict instructions not to take any chances."
Martha felt the fury building up and could only imagine what Jack would say if he found out what they had subjected Ianto to.
"Mr Jones is my patient now, so you can go fetch me a set of scrubs for him. And while you're at it go to the canteen and bring back some sandwiches and a cup of tea."
"I shouldn't leave my post, ma'am."
"You'll follow my orders or answer to Colonel Mace. Is that clear?" Martha spoke sternly, using the full force of the authority she knew she had.
"Yes ma'am."
Martha didn't wait to see him leave, she put the lock on the latch and quickly walked straight into the cell. The room was tiled floor to ceiling with white tiles to make it easier to hose down. There was a hospital cot against one wall, a plain plastic chair and at one end a toilet and wash basin. The room was brightly lit by halogen bulbs set deep in the ceiling along with cameras and monitoring equipment. It was austere and unwelcoming, but at least it was clean.
"Ianto? Are you OK?" Martha whispered urgently. She knew what the strip search would have entailed and felt mortified on Ianto's behalf. She knew him to be a man of quiet dignity and that procedure would have left him feeling both violated and humiliated.
"Sore. Cold. And ever so slightly embarrassed." He spoke the honest truth softly. He was grateful to see Martha, yet that made him feel even more self–conscious. "But it's good to see a friendly face."
"Yeah, well the last time I saw you, you were dressed in a suit. Hang on a moment I'll grab a gown, try to preserve your dignity at least."
Martha returned with a thin cotton gown that Ianto slipped on and tied about his waist. Although it didn't do much to warm him up, he was glad not to feel quite so exposed in front of Martha. He couldn't help but think that if it were Jack in this situation he wouldn't have cared less about sitting there stark naked.
Whilst Martha was waiting for the guard to return she decided to make a start with the medical exam. She took a clipboard from her bag and started to fill in details on the form provided.
"Right Mr Jones, I've got details of a number of injuries that Dr Harper sent over for me to monitor. I think I'll run some blood tests as well. Of course that will mean I'll need to keep you here overnight to wait for the results. OK?" Martha winked as she dipped into her bag for a sterile syringe and a number of vials.
The guard returned with a set of blue scrubs and a tray of food as Martha was filling in the labels on the vials of blood.
"Thank you, that will be all. I'll knock on the door when I am finished in here."
"Don't you want me to stay with you?" The guard flashed a glare at Ianto.
"No, soldier. I can take care of myself and I don't think I'm in any danger. Don't worry, I'll call if I need your assistance."
Martha let loose a sigh of relief as the guard left them unattended, she had been worried that he might have insisted on being present. She took out a small device from her bag that looked like an electronic sphygmamometer for measuring blood pressure, and placed it on the mattress next to Ianto.
"Right then, let's check the stitches and dressings on the wounds on your back and ear." Martha referred to the list on her check sheet and then looked up and tilted her head to one side. "Meanwhile, you can tell me what the hell is going on."
"Um, you want me to tell you everything? Here?" Ianto rolled his eyes upwards at the ceiling meaningfully.
"No worries," Martha pointed at the electronic device next to his leg. "That creates sonic interference, makes it seem as if the sound recording is defective, so as long as I actually inspect your injuries we're OK to talk. Just don't face the top right hand corner of the cell when you're speaking. Camera position - and UNIT employ lip readers."
Martha got Ianto to slip the hospital gown off his arms, so that she could check his back. She peeled away the stained dressing from the knife wound he'd sustained a few days ago, frowning as she did so. The events of the past few days had not helped it heal as it should have done.
"Looks like you've pulled a few stitches. I'm going to spray it with a local anaesthetic and then put a few more proper stitches in. Talk to me while I do that."
Martha was facing the camera in the ceiling as she worked on Ianto's side, which allowed him to fill her in with the details of their encounters with the Torchwood London renegades and what they had dealt with in the caves in the Brecon Beacons. He then told her about the threats made by Gates and the deal that UNIT had made with Torchwood. Her eyes widened as she tried to take in the fact that Jack would agree to this and as Ianto rushed on to explain why he had insisted on going along with it, she squeezed his hand, realising that he was doing this out of loyalty to Jack. That man didn't know how lucky he was, she thought, but if she got the chance she would put him right.
Martha nodded occasionally and spoke a few words of encouragement as she worked on Ianto's side and then progressed to the damage to his ear. Checking sutures and changing dressings with meticulous attention to detail, she prompted Ianto for more information in such a way that it appeared as if she was merely asking about his injuries.
"Right then, all finished, why don't you get those scrubs on and then grab a sandwich and have some of that tea. I'm sorry to say it will probably taste disgusting, but you need to avoid becoming dehydrated."
"Thank you."
Martha sat back in the chair and discretely wrote up her notes and observations while Ianto got dressed. She only once glanced up and her eyebrows shot up her forehead as she saw him from behind, bending over to pull the trousers over his bare feet. She bit her lip and smiled to herself, if she had ever speculated about the reason Jack was physically attracted to Ianto, she didn't have to wonder any more.
"Whoa… I mean, when you've …um…done that I'll check that arm and then I'll have to leave."
"Are you OK, Martha? You look a bit flushed." Ianto turned as he carefully pulled the cotton top over his head. He was sure he'd heard a sharp intake of breath a moment ago and was concerned.
"I'm fine, just a bit warm, that's all." Martha attempted to smile ingenuously, she could hardly tell him the real reason the temperature in the room seemed to have gone up in the last few minutes. "Get back up on the bed and hold your injured arm out, will you ?" Taking hold of his arm, she focused her attention on removing the dressing carefully, avoiding looking Ianto in the face.
"Owen said this should heal up OK, as long as I kept it clean and dry."
"Did he use the skin regenerator? It's done a nice job, we could do with that going into mass production, think what it could do for burns units."
"That's what Owen says."
"How is he?"
"About the same, considering his condition." Ianto was not going to risk discussing Owen's status – even if Martha assured him that no sound would be picked up by the monitors.
"I can imagine."
Standing up to collect her equipment, Martha put her hand on Ianto's knee. She wished there was some way she could do more to make sure he'd be well looked after, but knew that she had limited parameters that she could work within.
"They can't transfer you to the main detention centre without me signing you off first. I'll delay that as long as I can." She whispered in his ear as she made out that she was checking the bite marks one last time.
"Thank you." Ianto got off the bed to crouch down and pick up the empty tray from the floor, and as he did so he made a request of Martha. "Please call Jack. Let him know I'll be OK. Tell him … tell him I remember what he said, he'll understand."
As Ianto stood up and placed the tray on the chair that Martha had vacated she was sure she noticed his eyes shining brighter. She smiled at him and nodded to let him know she'd heard what he'd said.
"You're welcome. Like I said, you'll have to stay here until I get the results of these blood tests and I won't be able to get those until tomorrow sometime. I'll be back in the morning to check for infection and make sure you're fit to travel."
There were more than twenty missed calls on her phone and several text messages, each more panicked sounding than the last.
"Jack?"
"Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you for the last two hours! Is Ianto OK? What's happened?"
"Calm down, Jack. If I ever had any doubt about your feelings for Ianto, I certainly don't now. He's alright for now, he's in a secure unit at the medical centre. I've taken blood samples for testing, which will mean he has to stay overnight there and they can't take him until tomorrow at the earliest."
"Thank God for that. You've seen him then?"
"Yes, I checked his injuries and took some blood, like I just told you. There were no injuries other than the ones that Owen told me about. But … they did give him a full body search on arrival, so I hope there wasn't anything for them to find."
"Bastards!" hissed Jack. "They didn't hurt him did they?"
"Only his dignity – there wasn't anything was there?"
"No, Martha, nothing. No tracking devices or concealed weapons. How was he?"
"He told me what's going on. He's coping… well how I'd expect him to – quietly and like it's his duty. He's been through a rough time by the looks of things, Jack. You'd better be working on a way to get him out of this. Because if you're not you'll have me to answer to."
"You too?" Jack smiled as he added another female to the list of 'defenders of Ianto'.
"Yes, me too. I've been there you know, where Ianto is. I know what it's like to be prepared to give up everything for someone I loved so much-"
"I know what you're saying, Martha, but it's not the same." Jack knew she was comparing her feelings for the Doctor with Ianto's for him, and he recognised the similarities in undying loyalty and self sacrifice, but the difference was that his heart didn't belong to someone else.
"Jack, he had a message for you, Ianto wanted me to tell you that he'd be OK and that he remembered what you'd told him. Does that make sense? He said you'd understand."
"Yes." Jack sighed thinking he knew what Ianto was referring to. "I told him to remember that I'd always come after him."
"I hope to God you do, Jack. You'd better have a plan and you've got to move fast. I can't delay his transfer by much and once anyone is admitted to the main detention centre it can take weeks just to get access to them."
"I know Martha, trust me I know." Jack rubbed the deep crease that seemed to have settled in the centre of his brow. Owen and Martha between them had bought time, but their efforts wouldn't be worth a damn if he couldn't come up with a way to get Ianto freed.
