"Doctor," Jack cried out as he watched the Doctor fall. The sickening thud of the Doctor's head hitting the ground was loud in the quiet darkness and within seconds Jack was on his knees beside the Doctor. He put the back of his hand to the Doctor's mouth thankful that he could still feel the Time Lord's cool breath against his skin. At least that was something but it still didn't explain what had caused the Doctor to stumble before finally collapsing. The Doctor's face wasn't pressed into the ground so he didn't try to move him as he turned to the Doctor's injured arm. Even in the darkness of the planet, he could see that the Doctor's sleeve was soaked in blood and his fingers were sticky. Removing the soaked bandage, he found that the cut was deeper than he originally thought. A quick check revealed that the first cut went to the bone while the second was long and deep.
The Doctor was losing a lot of blood from the wound and he had no way to suture the gashes. Taking out one of Carys's nappies, he ripped it into several pieces. He used a couple of the pieces to pack the deeper of the wounds then tied a strip tightly over the top. He was going to have to watch the Doctor to make sure he didn't lose circulation in his arm but it would help to stop the bleeding. He had worked quickly but was concerned that the Doctor had failed to come around while he tended to him. He checked the Doctor's neck and spine but found no injuries. Turning him, he found a sizeable lump on the Doctor's head from where he had failed to stop his head from hitting the ground.
He looked back towards the village but it was impossible to tell how far away it was as he had no way of knowing how long they had been running for. One thing he knew for sure, though, was that he couldn't wait for the Doctor to wake and be ready to move. He took the Doctor's pack and stuffed almost everything in it into his own. He had been trying to figure out how to tell the Doctor that he had only managed to get a small bag of rice, some stripes of dried meat and some more raisins and apples for their journey before he was interrupted. Now he was slightly thankful as he could carry everything in one bag while leaving the nappies in the other. He put the bag on to his back and then put the lighter bag back onto the Doctor. He then took the Doctor's blanket and put the Doctor onto it. He was able to lift it slightly and walk as he drug the Doctor with him. It was harder and slow going but at least he could get his family to safety.
The deserted landscape of Hades stretched on for unknown miles ahead of him and he had no way of knowing if or when they would find the next village. He couldn't think about that at the moment he just had to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping the Doctor and Carys alive. There was nothing to see on Hades and no animals making noise. It was eerily quiet except for the crunching of the ground beneath his feet as he walked with the sound of the blanket dragging behind him. Carys began to whimper at one point causing him to pause for a moment so that he could bring her to his chest. She calmed back down quickly after that leaving him once more to his thoughts.
One more step, he told himself after a while. One more and then he could rest but each time he forced himself to take another. The Doctor moaned behind him and occasionally would whimper or cry out in his sleep. The first time Jack had stopped to check on him but after that, he just kept going hoping the Doctor would alert him when he was finally awake. Jack hoped silently that the Doctor would survive long enough to be treated as his body was now burning up with fever and Jack had no way to cool him besides leaving him exposed to the cold air of the planet.
"Jack," The Doctor whimpered after awhile. Jack ignored the whimper as he kept walking. The Doctor opened his eyes a crack, seeing that the darkness of Hades surrounded them. His head was pounding, he felt hot and his arm was burning painfully. He was also thirstier than he had ever been since getting in this body. "Jack, water."
"Hold on a second Doctor," Jack told him as he realized that the Doctor was actually awake. Breaking his stride, he carefully put the Doctor on the ground making sure not to hit his head against it again. He took off his own pack before kneeling down next to the Doctor. Digging in the pack, he found a bottle of water pulling it out. He opened the bottle and then helped the Doctor to lift his head so that he could take a drink.
"How long have we been gone?" The Doctor wondered as he took another sip.
"I don't know. I haven't seen any signs of people or the plane since we left the village and it has been a little slow going for the last little while," Jack told him.
"I can walk now," The Doctor informed Jack.
"No, you can't, sweetheart. You're burning up with fever and haven't woken since collapsing on the ground however far back" Jack told him. He kissed the Doctor on the head then helped him to take another drink. Jack wasn't able to check his pupil response in the darkness and had no way of knowing how severe the concussion he was positive the Doctor had was. He was just thankful that the bleeding had seemed to stop and he was able to loosen the bandage on his arm in order to restore full circulation. The Doctor whimpered as his arm was moved and Jack watched as his eyes fluttered before closing again. Jack was positive he had passed out again but he couldn't do anything for the Doctor at the moment but get him to safety.
The journey seemed even harder now. His legs and arms both felt numb as he continued to walk towards what he hoped was help. The Doctor was sleeping more peacefully now that he had a drink of water and Jack hoped that he was feeling better for it. He couldn't worry about that now though. He had to just contrate on moving forward. He told himself that he would take another ten steps and then he could rest. He didn't though as he continued forward. Every time it got too hard or seemed too far, he would tell himself another ten steps and then he would carry on. Eventually, though he reached a point that he had to rest. If he continued on, he would end up collapsing as well and then he was going to be no use to anybody. He just needed to find somewhere safe that he could keep an eye out for danger from and a short time later he finally found it.
It was a small group of rocks, much like the ones he had rested with the Doctor at on the first night with the men from the village. Then he had also not known where they were going. He just walked knowing it was somewhere new and that he would still be with the Doctor when he got there. As carefully as possible he laid the Doctor next to the rocks. He then took Carys off of his chest and laid her beside him, with her blanket protecting her from the harsh ground. Rolling the Doctor gently onto his side, Jack unwrapped his arm again to look at the cuts.
"Oh, Doc," Jack whispered. The Doctor's arm was hot to the touch and the cuts were still bleeding slowly. He desperately needed stitches and at the very least antibiotics. Jack removed the bandages from inside the wound. Taking a fresh nappy, he ripped it into pieces wetting one of the strips with water. He then poured a little bit of water on to the cut. The Doctor screamed in pain, trying to move away from Jack.
"Stop," the Doctor whimpered as he squirmed.
"I know it hurts sweetheart, but I have to clean it," Jack apologized as he continued to clean the wound. He continued to make gentle shushing noises as he cleaned the knife wounds the best he could. He repacked the wound then wrapped another clean bandage around it. He then allowed the Doctor to roll onto his back again. The Doctor stared up at him with sad eyes.
"Water?" He wondered again. Jack helped him to take a drink.
"Do you want any bread?" Jack questioned as he broke himself off a portion. The Doctor made a gagging noise as he closed his eyes. His breathing evened out once more as he drifted off back to sleep now that his arm was no longer being messed with. Jack picked up Carys and held her close to his chest as he finished eating. She ate hungrily and once she was finished he changed her nappy. With his family tended to, he made the decision to rest for a few hours. He laid down on his side, putting her between him and the Doctor. His back was to the world and in front of him was his family and the rocks. He closed his eyes to rest for a moment, but soon he joined the Doctor in sleep.