A/N: Hello all! Hope you are all well! Apologies for not updating this fic in a loong time... I had been updating my Christmas fic "Under the Mistletoe" and now things are getting a bit harder since I will be having my exams in 2 weeks' time!

Hope this long chapter makes the wait worthwhile! Enjoy.

P.S. - TW: detailed injuries are described in this chapter (blood, pain, burns...). In case anyone does not enjoy reading these, I suggest you skip this chapter. The next chapter should be less heavy on the pain and injuries.

He threaded softly through the corridor. They should be the only ones on this part of the ship... They had parked in a remote part of the spaceship, after all.

The time lord looked at the limp form of the human he carried in his arms. Hang on, Clara. Just a little longer.

Another turn. Ever closer to his time machine. "She's going to be alright." He breathed to himself as he walked through the cold corridors. Of course, she was going to be alright, it was his Clara; his impossible human. She was bound to be alright. He had promised it to himself... and to her.

...

Another turn. Just two last turns and 3 more corridors... and this fight would be over. They would be in the safest place in the Universe.

...

His thought process was interrupted by a loud alarm. He heard regular beeps very close to him. The Doctor looked down at Clara's collar, noticing that a green light had started beeping to the sound. The time lord swore under his breathe. He didn't have the time to remove the collar. So he decided to make a run for it. He ran faster, even if his dying heart was shooting pain signals as his body required more oxygen. But he did not let it slow hi down or distract him.

He had to get Clara to the TARDIS.

Just a few moments away...

.

"There they are!" He heard from behind him. They shot at the Doctor, who took a bend, luckily missing them.

The TARDIS was so close... He could feel the artron energy pulling them towards his vessel.

More came running after them. More shots fired. At the last bend, the Doctor let out a groan as two laser beams hit him in the back and shoulder. He slowed down slightly, groaning in pain as he felt Clara's weight worsening the pain, struggling to hold her up.

But he had to run; always choosing Clara over himself. The girl who had saved him infinite times; it was his turn to save her, even if it was his fault that he had placed her in this mess.

He sighed in relief when he saw his time machine, running towards her as she opened the doors, welcoming them to safety.

The TARDIS groaned as soon as the Doctor slammed the door behind him. "I don't want to talk about it right now. Just take off!" His voice boomed through the console room as he dashed to the stairs opposite to the door. The machine felt frightened, so much so that she automated take off to Crista nebula. It was one of the most peaceful areas in the Universe where neither she, nor the Doctor, nor the virtually unconsious human limp within his arms were in any sort of danger.

The time lord was limping down the stairs when he heard a faint whimper. Clara's head had slipped off his shoulder, hanging over his arm. "I'm sorry. I'll get you to medbay soon, Clara." He whispered, trying his best to lean her head on his shoulder again without stopping from getting her to the safest place on the TARDIS.

He laid her on the medbay table. It was cold and hard...

She groaned as the Doctor tried to remove her hair from in front of her face. "It's alright, Clara. It's the Doctor. We're in the TARDIS." He started unbuttoning her shirt before sticking small electrodes to her chest and temples. He tapped onto the monitor which scanned the virtually unconsious girl. Her heart was still working fine at least, even multiple shocks. And her brain waves seemed good except for them being understandibly elevated due to the overwhelming pain she was feeling.

The Doctor bit his bottom lip to stop himself from crying.

Burns from the shock,

a mild bleed in her right eye from the electricity*

Irreparable forearm fracture... Far too broken to be fixed with any available theraputic machine in the Universe.

The list went on...

.

His analysis was soon interrupted as he felt a stab-like pain in his left heart. The Doctor grunted. He was going to take care of Clara. He had to make sure she is safe before he takes care of himself. Besides, his time lord physiology could handle one heart. Yet another groan from Clara. Her eyes slipped open, pupils dilated in pain. But the Doctor swallowed hard to suppress the pain he felt when he saw a red dot next to her brown iris of her right eye *.

Of course, the bleed in her eye.

The injury would be undoubtly uncomfortable but hopefully it would resolve on its own... maybe with the help of some miracle eye drops from Handaz.

The Doctor moved closer to her but she still couldn't quite see how battered and bruised he looked. "I'll just remove the collar, ok? Bare with me. It'll be over soon." Her eyes slipped back shut. She felt his rough thumb wiping off the tears trickling down the corner of her eye, leaning only slightly to his touch.

The Doctor soniced the collar. It clicked, opening it. Clara hissed as she felt the metal getting stripped off her slightly burnt neck skin as well as the short needles which had implanted in her neck by the collar.

No... He couldn't get himself to do it.

Not when she was conscious, anyway.

.

The Doctor lowered his sonic onto the surgery table next to him. His lower lip trembled; her broken eyes pierced his soul. "I'm sorry, Clara." The time lord said as he brought his fingers to her temples. He could hear her thoughts through the contact. Please, just do it, Doctor. The Gallifreyan needed to get her out of the misery fast. He telepathically commanded her mind to slumber, to which her eyes rolled backward and body went limp. The Doctor released his breath which he didn't know he was holding. She shouldn't be in pain now. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before returning to the tesk at hand. As he was about to remove the collar, a hologram appeared on the other side of the table facing him. It was Clara, wearing a white summer dress and her hair falling to her shoulders. The Doctor rolled his eyes, turning to the monitor to check her stats for the umpteenth time.

How dare she use Clara's form to nag him? Yes, he did listen to Clara, especially when she nagged him, but he wasn't going to listen from his old time machine.

Especially when his companion's health was at stake.

"Doctor, she's stable. You have to take care of yourself!" Clara's voice... how he loved it. But his Clara was unconscious in front of him, the battered and bruised facade hiding the beauty underneath.

"I can manage." He tried to calm down as he stroked her forehead, before delicately removed the collar. It revealed a slightly burnt imprint of the collar as well as two tiny shallow needle holes where electrodes had been inserted.

"You have to take care of yourself to be able to take care of her, Doctor. You are no use to her dead."

The Doctor's fingers wrapped wound the bloodied collar. "She is my priority." He gritted his teeth before turning to the hologram. His eyes were filled with tears as he saw her so perfect in front of him. "You are my priority, Clara." The Doctor placed the collar on the surgical table, looking hastily around to see what should be done next.

The hologram Clara looked away. The TARDIS felt very uneasy. He was getting too attached to Clara. She had warned him, and he didn't heed her. Now it was too late to go back.

The Doctor hissed. A sharper pain through his heart. He could feel sweat starting to form on his temple. His body was not coping enough with the strain of having one heart, adding the fact that he was stressed, guilty, and angry.

"Doctor?" He heard hologram Clara speak.

"Not another word!" He was angry at the universe. This should have been him. Not her. "Can you at least help so we can get this over and done with?" He said between gritted teeth. He dabbed the wounds with alcohol swabs before treating it with fast healing cream and wrapping her neck in gauzes.

"Bring me the drops from Handaz." Hologram Clara looked to the table next to them, making the drop bottle materialise next to the column. His breathing was heavier and was seeing everything in double vision.

"You won't be able to cure the human without first restarting your heart."

"Fine." He spat. "Where is the machine?"

He took one last look at his companion's face before noticing the machine the hologran showed him. Her beautiful face still had the trail of blood from the nosebleed. She looked so pale.

His eyes burned.

No no no... He shouldn't cry. It won't help.

"Stay right here." He said to the TARDIS. She knew he wanted her to watch over Clara. The Doctor limped to the defibrillator next to the opposite bed. The TARDIS had already tuned it on and charged it. He placed 2 electrodes on the left side of his chest. An automated voice spoke loudly "Shock in 3, 2..." Come on, damn it. "1..." The Doctor whimpered. "Left heartrate restored." He sighed, before ripping off the electrodes and limping back to Clara.

.

"Any change?" He asked the hologram as he tapped on the monitor a few times to get her live vitals and every aspect of her health. He frantically sxrolled through the neverending list.

"No change." The image stated. "And she's unconscious and stable, if that's what you want to know." But immediately regretted saying that; the TARDIS was being too mean to the Doctor. Maybe even... jealous... "She isn't in pain." She said calmly.

He nodded before sniffing and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand before wrapping his scratched bony fingers around hers. The inside of most of her fingers were burnt, most probably whilst trying to remove the collar. The Doctor let out an involuntary whimper, letting tears trickle down her eyes.

Why... Why did it have to happen? It should have been him.

Clara's frail skin was no match to their electric shocks. Not that his was... But his past experiences and, not to mention, time lord physique (stronger skin, faster healing jada jada jada) would have certainly helped him resist the torture as it had done many times in the past.

Clara was resiliant. The Impossible Girl.

But still... only human.

.

He let out a shaky breathe as one of his hands left hers and took the swabs to clean her wounds, before taking the ointment yet again. His hand fell on the gauses again, cutting smaller strands, wrapping it around each finger, securing it with medical grade tape. All was done absent mindedly.

He prayed to any soul listening to him that Clara was not feeling any pain, was not listening to his cries, was not hearing his thoughts...

The time lord choked a sob. "It's not your fault, Doctor." Clara's kind voice filled the room. "You tried your best to protect her. I'm sure she understands."

"She was in so much pain..." He breathed as he wrapped the pinky finger. The time lord couldn't stop hearing her screams... Those screams of agony kept on filling his head. It all kept repeating itself... Putting companions in danger. Placing people in danger.

Why did he never learn?!

His thoughts were yet again interrupted by the figure. "Now your job is to help her heal. Make her as comfortable as possible. I will provide anything you should need." He looked at the hologram. Clara's comforting eyes bore through him. His companion understood him when everyone refused to. His lips curled in a small sad smile.

"Thank you." He breathed.

The splitting image of Clara Oswald bore a wide smile, before the hologram ceased to exist.

The time lord gently brought her right hand knuckles to his dry lips. His companion didn't deserve all of this pain. Not after what she had done to him... To his sanity. Not after all the good she has done to the Universe. He wanted to show her the endless beauties of space; but a rose is not without its thorns. He is a time lord, but he is not infallible. And those mistakes cost others their safety, their happiness, their lives even.

He wasn't ready to lose his fragile yet impossible companion.

She deserved so. much. better.

Better than a daft old man like himself.

He glanced yet again at her face as he placed her hand on her stomach. She hadn't moved in any way. The blood trail from her nose... Still there. The time lord had just noticed the various bruises which had blossomed on her face. He'll deal with those later. The most important thing at that moment was to sort out any injuries which have caused -and might still be causing her - pain.

He took a look at ehr left forearm to see the extent of the damage. The Doctor let out a shaky sigh. "I know you're going to be furious with me, Clara. But I have a duty of care to fulfil."

The Time Lord closed his eyes...

A/N: * (the eye bleed) just wanted to clarify... I thought about this to make it a bit whumpier. If I didn't explain it well enough (I am sorry), it's when a blood vessel in the eye breaks and there would be blood on the white part of the eye, normally due to stress and strain. I had just learnt that from med school and decided to add it, especially seeing the type of torture they forced. In case you're interested to see how it looks, google 'subconjunctival haemorrhage' . Nonetheless, proceed with caution. Some images you may find are highly disturbing. But do not worry about Clara... she only had a very mild bleed and not as bad as many of the images one might find!

I truly hope everyone has enjoyed this chapter! I would appreciate any feedback and/ or comments for your end; it would mean the world to me and gives me the motivation to keep updating (even though I should apologize from now if I start missing updates since really important exams are coming up, but I promise I will continue uploading when I have the chance to complete chapters).

Stay safe all and wishing all the best xxxx Take care xxxxx