Ch 19
Soon the pair made it to the river. The water looked dark, deep, and wide, rushing by noisily. The spray coming up from it was stingingly cold. River pressed her face against the Doctor's shoulder to avoid the spray.
He took a silent breath which he held for a moment before releasing it and speaking, "I'm afraid we're going to have to swim it."
Her face drained of color, but she nodded anyway.
"We can rest here until you're ready, if you need." He offered, putting away his sonic. The space around them darkened without the little green light.
"No, let's go." She shook her head, "I don't want to risk them finding us."
"Alright." He held her tightly to him as he began to ease them to into the water. River sucked in a breath in response to the chill of the water.
In a moment they were treading to keep their heads above the water. The current was already pushing them along, into the darkness of wherever it lead. Water rushed around their heads, sloshing them roughly. The Doctor was still hanging on tightly to River's hand, not wanting them to be pushed apart by the currents. It was so dark he was afraid he might lose her if he let go.
Every so often, their heads slipped under or got drenched with a wave and water would fill their mouths. River would come back up, coughing and sputtering while the Doctor tried to call out to her to make sure she was alright.
The rushing of the water was too loud for them to hear each other very well; all they had to know they were still both okay was her hand in his, thought that was getting hard to go by due to the numbing effect of the freezing river.
They continued to be rushed down the river. A particularly rough patched caused River's hand to slip from her husband's grasp, her head going under again.
"River!" He cried out for her, grasping around for her hand. His hearts were pounding painfully against his bones, both from trying to keep warm and from not knowing where River was. He took a deep breath and went under, sweeping his arms out in a wide girth with the hopes of finding her.
River was only a few paces ahead of him, within his reach. His hand ran into her and he quickly latched on and started dragging her up. As soon as her head broke the surface she was coughing, trying to get all the water out of her lungs.
He held her close, treading water for the both of them so she could focus on breathing. She coughed until her lungs were finally clear, spitting up water and clutching onto him.
"That's it. Just keep breathing." He was trying to get his own hearts under control. She nodded, taking in air, pressing her nose to his cheek. "You scared me." He kissed her temple.
"Sorry." She whispered, still panting a bit, "My mind… it just went blank for a moment."
"Not your fault." He murmured, shivering. He kept a better hold on her as they swam with the current for what felt like hours, being pushed along with the freezing water.
Eventually, there came a light from the direction they were being pushed in. It wasn't bright, but certainly more than the blackness of the tunnel they were in.
The river opened up even more, spilling out into a shrubland environment with tall, sandy hills. It was night, but the moon felt as bright as sunlight after the darkness.
The Doctor started to push them towards the bank. River helped him swim there, clutching onto the land once it was in reach. They hauled themselves onto the straw-like, grass covered ground, lying there panting and shivering.
There was a cold breeze, which only made them colder. River huddled close to her husband in hope of pooling the little body heat she had with him. He wrapped his arms around her, both of them trembling.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, curling into his warmth.
"For what?" He asked quietly.
"I-" She stopped, rolling away from him and throwing up into the river. He rubbed her back in a soothing manner. She fell back onto the grass once she was done, relaxing.
"Better?"
"A bit." She breathed.
"Better out than in." He murmured.
She nodded, closing her eyes, "Where are we?"
"Few kilometers walk from where we're staying. Definitely a ways out of the capital."
"We have somewhere to stay?" She breathed.
"More or less. It's shelter at the least."
She nodded, rather relieved to hear that they wouldn't be sleeping in the cold.
"Can you walk?" He asked.
"I th-think so." She nodded, trying to get up, though her legs gave out from under her.
"I can carry you." He murmured.
She shook her head, "It's not fair."
"I'm not particularly concerned about fairness right now." He huffed. She attempted to stand again. "River..." He put his arms out to held steady her. "Just let me carry you."
She finally gave in, letting him lift her up. He held her close to his center, starting up the tall hill.
She ended up falling asleep in his arms, her body too drained to stay awake and alert any longer. The walked was a twice as long as he'd said it'd be, which made him glad that she was able to rest for it.
Eventually, he came upon the small, wooden barn he'd been looking for. He brought her inside. The place smelled dusty and as old as the planet (or at the very least as old as the Doctor). It was full of hay bales, things hidden under tarps, an old tire, and a bed- the latter of which was in a low elevated section of the flimsy structure.
He placed River on the small bed, removing her wet clothes, and taking one of the tarps to use as a blanket for her.
"Doctor..." She groaned quietly, eyes opening slightly at the movements.
"I'm here." He whispered.
"The baby..." She whispered, reaching for his hand.
"It's alright. You're safe now." It wasn't entirely true, but she was disoriented enough for his words to be passable.
"Stay." She breathed, "It's so cold."
"Of course." He took off his wet clothes, then squeezed into the small bed with her. The mattress may have been dreadfully lumpy, but at least they'd warm up soon.
She nuzzled against him, her whole body shaking from the cold. He wrapped his arms around her. "Sleep, love." She trembled against him, closing her eyes and trying to rest. He did the same.
-x-
Morning brought golden light filtering through the poorly constructed walls. River's breathing was wheezy and forced, though she slept through it.
The Doctor woke up before her, limbs tangled with hers. He wiggled an arm free to brush some curls from her face. Her forehead was rather hot and she leaned into his touch. He felt her skin, eyebrows furrowing. "Oh, River, you're burning up." He whispered.
She stirred, eyes opening to look at him.
"Morning." He whispered.
"Hi." She responded hoarsely.
"You've got a fever." He informed her.
"I'm so cold." She whispered.
At that moment, the barn door opened.
River sucked in a breath, shrinking into the bed, suddenly much more awake. The Doctor turned to look at who'd entered.
It was an old woman, muttering about her annoyance about cloister bells. She folded up one of the tarps before spotting them. "You, up there! You're not supposed to be there! I've just put all that back. It's for the boys, if any of them ever want to come..."
"What do we do?" River whispered to her husband.
"It's alright. I know her." He murmured, turning to meet eyes with the other Timelady.
The older woman silenced herself. "You."
"I think I'm going to be sick." River breathed, her face paling.
The Doctor scurried out of bed in nothing but his pants, grabbing a bucket that'd been lying on the ground and rushing it back to her. She threw up into the bucket immediately, her body shaking with the effort. He rubbed her back.
"Do you have medicine?" The Doctor asked the old woman. "My wife is sick."
The woman frowned slightly, "I will have to look. Do you know what's wrong?"
"I think she's got a lung infection."
"A lung infection..." The woman repeated thoughtfully, "I believe I have something."
"Thank you." He smiled weakly.
The woman turned to go retrieve the medicine. The Doctor started putting on his clothes, which were dry now from being out overnight. River was mumbling about a baby again.
He wiped sweat from her forehead. "There's no baby, River. You're dreaming again."
She whimpered, pressing her face to his palm, "Our baby."
"Our children are safe. They're away from here." He smoothed his thumb over her cheek.
She shook her head, "Baby."
"It's alright. You're going to be alright." He held her face in his hands.
The woman returned with medicine an soup for River. He rose for a moment, going to take the things from the woman and bring them to River. He put his hand beneath his wife's head, lifting it up enough so she could sip the soup. "Here, drink."
River sipped the soup gratefully.
"That's it." He smiled weakly. She pulled away once she was finished, a bit of soap running down her chin. He wiped it away, handing her the pills. "Take these."
She normally would have fought him on taking the medicine, but she was too tired, taking them without protest.
He kissed her forehead. "Go back to sleep, now. I'm going to talk with Milva."
"No, stay." She protested quietly, reaching out to hold his sleeve. He resigned and nodded, gesturing for the other woman to come over so he could stay by River's side.
Milva drew closer to him, appearing a bit hesitant to be around River.
"Do you know of the Matrix prophecy involving the Hybrid?" He asked. Milva nodded, eyes flicking between him and River. "Tell me what you know."
"The Hybrid is believed to be a creature that is the halves of two great warrior races. They believe a Time Lord and a Dalek... though no one knows for sure. Some have begun to think that the Hybrid is not one person, but a pair, working together."
"A pair." He repeated to himself. That part was new to him. "Misleading name, if it is."
"Well, I believe that the Hybrid is still one person, but perhaps the other half of the pair drives the Hybrid to break the rules of time..." The woman watched the Doctor closely.
"Don't look at me like that." He muttered, staring at River. River had fallen back to sleep by now, her forehead and neck sparking with sweat.
"Doctor..." Milva murmured, "You must be careful."
"In what sense?"
"In the sense that not everyone will be willing to protect you. People will alert the High Council of your whereabouts if you do not take caution. They will use this woman against you when given the chance."
"You'd best not tell anyone we're here, then."
She sighed, "You cannot hide here forever. They'll be looking for you."
"I know." He sighed. "River's in no position to be moved, though. And I don't have a good plan yet." He added.
She nodded, "I'll bring some soup for you. Do you need anything else?"
"Another blanket, if it's not too much." He said, remembering River's complaints about the cold.
She nodded again, going to get the soup and blanket for him. The Doctor turned his attention back to River, finding a rag to wipe down her skin with.
River opened her eyes again, looking up at him.
"We're going to figure this out." He whispered.
She nodded, "Sorry..."
"Not your fault." He shook his head.
"I didn't tell you..." She whispered.
"Tell me what, River?"
"The baby..." She murmured.
"It's alright." He smiled weakly, going along with what she was saying again. She shook her head, repeating herself. "Would it make you feel better if I did a scan with the sonic?" He offered.
She squeezed his hand, not giving him an answer. He pulled his sonic after a moment doing a quick scan anyways. He looked at the results and frowned. "That can't be right..."
"Doctor..." She breathed.
He did the scan again, but the results didn't change. "I don't understand. It was only supposed to be a memory."
"I'm sorry..." She whispered again.
"You were trying to tell me." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "I thought it was a memory."
"I'm so sorry."
"It's... not your fault." He whispered, taking her hand. It felt quite like his fault, in fact. He'd made her go in that bloody frigid river without knowing the damage it would do.
She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. "Should have told you sooner."
"How long did you know?"
"Right after you left." She closed her eyes, "I was going to tell you, then you changed and..." She stopped as it took quite an effort to speak.
"I'm going to fix this. You're both going to make it out of this."
"They know..." She whispered.
"They?" He asked before his brain figured it out. The High Council. They'd scanned her.
"It's my fault." She whispered, "Should have fought harder."
"The Timelords are a very powerful people. I'm afraid it takes at least a pair to have a fighting chance against them."
She let out a pained groan, squeezing his hand.
"What is it?" He fretted.
"Cramps." She murmured through clenched teeth.
"They look like a little more than cramps..."
Her grip on his hand released and the pain on her face melted away, "I don't know what it is." She admitted.
"Could just be a reaction from all that you've been through." He wanted to believe that the effects of the electroshock would've been healed with him giving her regeneration energy, but he knew there was no guarantee of that.
She nodded, "W-What are we going to do?"
Milva re-entered the barn with soup and extra blankets as promised.
He stared at his wife. "I don't know."
Milva looked between the two, noting a change, "Is there something wrong?"
"I think we've got to move sooner than anticipated." He told her. "We need somewhere with more technology than this. Where do you keep getting everything from?"
"There is a small town, but there is not too much technology. The Capital is where the high-tech innovations are."
"You had the medicine-" He paused. "Em, was that safe for pregnant women?"
"I don't believe so." She frowned, looking at River.
His stomach twisted. "We need to get to that town."
"Doctor, it's not safe for either of you there. I cannot guarantee that the people there will help you."
"I don't need their help. I need more medicine. Or a TARDIS if any of you happen to have one."
"Like I said, most of the valuable technology is in the Capital, but I will take you to the town."
"No, just tell me where it is. I need you to stay here with River."
"It is a short walk north along the river. You cannot miss it."
He nodded, looking at River. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She nodded, looking drained again, eyes half closed. "Take care of her." He told Milva, and then he was out the door at a running.
The town was quite close, visible in the distance as soon as he stepped foot out of the barn. He was sprinting towards it, not wasting time. He'd be damned if he was going to let River loose this baby, already guilt ridden for this whole mess.