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Chapter 7 - The Last Morning on Plenitude

The Doctor, Pete and Shakes used a transport beam to a small café on the other side of town. It was a small, greasy place. Pete's eyes became huge as he saw some of the other species walking around there. It was a tiny place, so everyone had to slide in and out carefully. The Doctor looked back and saw the look on Pete's face. He laughed at him and rolled his eyes. He grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"Come on, Pete. Stay with us. We'll make sure you don't step on anyone." The Doctor teased. He wasn't watching where he was walking and ran into a huge, hairy creature that was at least four meters tall. "Oh, wow! Or get stepped on."

He quickly spoke to the hairy creature in a strange language. The creature seemed to laugh and patted the Doctor on the head.

Shakes laughed at him. "She fancied you!"

Pete laughed. "We can't take him anywhere!"

The Doctor sat down quickly in a booth. Pete sat next to him. Shakes slid in across from them. A waitress came over. She was a small, red creature with eyes as big as tea saucers. She was only a half a meter high, and rode a small oval platform.

The Doctor held up his finger, "Tea, Pete?"

Pete looked surprised. "They have that here?"

Shakes laughed, "Get him a Fuzzy. See if he likes that!"

The Doctor smiled, "Yeah! Let's all get one! Great idea."

The Doctor turned to the waitress and ordered three of the strange drink. She smiled and flew off.

Pete looked at the Doctor. "So, we have to go back to the hospital and what?"

"I'll be with you. Don't worry. I'll be there to translate again and keep an eye on everything. You will have another brain scan done. Then, a panel of doctors look at everything to determine if you are alright or not. I'll be extremely surprised if they say anything is wrong. But, if we have to come back, Summus can bring us now."

Shakes smiled, "It's not a problem. I'm happy to do it."

Pete nodded, "Thank you, Shakes. Or do you prefer, Summus? I know Doc calls you that."

Shakes shrugged his shoulders, "Either is fine."

The waitress brought back three tall drinks. They looked like green sodas, but glowed. Pete looked the Doctor and Shakes. "What the hell is this?"

The Doctor put a straw in his. "Oh, you'll love it! I wish I could take it back and let Rose try it."

They all sipped it at the same time. They all stopped and looked at one another. The Doctor and Shakes watched Pete closely.

Pete looked at them. "What?"

The Doctor smiled, "Give it a bit. Hang on."

Pete's eyes were taken over with tears. Goosebumps formed all over his body. He shivered all over. "Jesus! What in the hell?"

Both the Doctor and Shakes laughed at him. The Doctor wiped tears from his own eyes and covered his face. "Oh wow! That's way worse than I remember! Damn."

Shakes wiped the sweat off of his head with a napkin. "Damn! That's worse than those sour sweets you had us eating. Woo!"

Pete's eyes still watered. He laughed, "What the hell?"

The Doctor laughed at him as he heard Rose in his head. 'What are you eating?'

The Doctor gritted his teeth. "Opps. I woke up Sleeping Beauty drinking that."

'Sorry, sweetheart. We were tormenting your Dad. It was hilarious. Sorry.'

He felt her laugh, 'It's alright. How are things there? Any luck getting home?'

'Don't worry about that. We're working on something. Pete has his last meetings with the doctors here and we'll be on our way home. Not sure completely when we'll be there though. How did you sleep?'

'Better than I have in the last few days. I can tell you haven't slept.'

He tossed up his hands in surprise. 'How can you tell that?'

He felt her laugh, 'Oh, there are a lot of things I can tell about you now. You don't even realize.'

He rubbed his face, 'Oh, that's scary.'

Pete smiled at him, "Tell her I said hi. That's just odd."

The Doctor smiled at Pete. "Alright."

'Pete says to tell you hi. He thinks we are odd.' The Doctor told her.

Pete spoke to Shakes. "This is the strangest drink ever. I think I'd rather have something else."

Shakes laughed and ordered Pete something similar to tea.

The Doctor drummed his hands on the table. "Sorry about that. Rose said to tell you, Pete, that's she happy you are feeling better and looks forward to seeing us all."

Pete smiled as the other drink was delivered. "Ah, more normal."

The Doctor smiled at him, "Don't ask what it's made of. You won't like it."

Shakes laughed, "Oh, that's mean. Wow!"

Pete looked up at the Doctor. "Really? What is it?"

The Doctor laughed, "Nothing. Just herbs like tea from Earth. I was just teasing you."

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Four cat doctors, the Doctor and Pete met in a small room with a round table. Just as the Doctor predicted, the panel of doctors agreed that Pete had recovered completely.

Pete's brain scans looked completely normal, according to the Doctor. The hospital of Plenitude wasn't very familiar with the human brain, so they had to rely on the Doctor's help.

The Doctor explained to Pete, "They are all thrilled everything worked out. They want to write about you in their journals. Would that be alright?"

Pete smiled, "Sure."

The Doctor explained to the panel that is alright. One of the cat doctors spoke for a while to the Doctor. The Doctor turned and explained to Pete, "They are offering me a job here. I had to explain that I couldn't take it because I'm needed back where we are from."

Pete nodded, "Quite right, you are."

The cat doctors spoke again. The Doctor turned and explained to Pete. "Okay, they said that you should be careful and let me know if you see any bright lights that are unexplained, have headaches, or your hair falls completely out."

"The hell? My hair?" Pete asked.

The Doctor shook his head, "It's rare. Don't worry."

Pete tossed up his hands. "My God. I hope you are kidding me."

The Doctor laughed at him. "Oh, this is fun. Yes, I'm kidding. You're fine."

The cat doctors seemed to laugh at the Doctor teasing Pete. "We're all done here. I've thanked them for you, Pete."

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They packed everything back into the bigger on the inside suitcase, which now had three cuts in the front of it from the knife demonstration. As Pete and the Doctor walked through the space hanger, Pete looked over at all of the ships in awe.

He sighed. "Wow. I don't know how you could have ever given this up, Doc'."

The Doctor looked back at him and looked around the hanger. "Honestly, I didn't have a lot of choice. And even if I did, Rose is worth it. Besides, I'll be back in space again soon. It's too big for me to leave alone. Rose loves it, too."

Pete smiled, "I hope I'm around, too. This has been amazing."

The Doctor smiled and pat Pete on the shoulder, "Not to worry. You have a pretty good Doctor, Pete! You'll be fine for many years. What until you see this ship! It's like a ummm…. Maserati! See, I'm speaking your language now."

"Maserati. That's what Tony drives. You sound like him." Pete laughed at the Doctor.

The Doctor lead him to the Hamlet. It was the biggest and brightest ship in the hanger. Pete's mouth dropped, "Holy shit! This is Shakes' ship?"

The Doctor laughed, "Summus the Quauhtin is a Legend. I guess I've never told you that, huh?"

Pete shook his head, "Nah, I would have remembered that! Brain damage and all."

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