Chapter 27
Aaron lay on the bed, asleep. Her face was bruised, her hair was a mess, her chest was covered in bandages and she was missing her metal prosthetic leg.
Jack sat in a chair next to her, and listened to Theta.
"The chest wound is deep and there was some kind of poison in it, so the healing process will be slow, and the bruising on her face will go down within a few days. Her leg isn't that simple though, I have to figure out how to fix the prosthetic." Jack kept staring at Aaron, one hand on her arm, the other constantly running through his hair.
"Jack, are you listening to me? Jack?"
He finally turned away from Aaron.
"Yeah Doc, I heard you. How bad was the damage?"
He knew it was bad, but when he saw that even Theta had to sit down, he knew this wasn't just going to be bad. This was going to kill him.
"I managed to remove the prosthetic without harming any nerves, but the prosthetic, that's another story. She might not be able to walk again."
"Why cant you just let the nanites give her a new leg?" Rose asked from beside Theta.
"Because if he did, I would have to kill him." A tired voice came from the bed. Jack turned to Aaron and smiled.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself."
"How do you feel?"
"Like I just got hit by a train."
Jack frowned, "Are you in any pain?"
Aaron nodded, "Only a little."
"A little to much," Theta said. "We need to let her rest."
After much arguing, Theta and Rose managed to convince Jack to leave. On their way out, Aaron called for him.
"What is it?"
"There was nothing you could do Jack."
"Yeah, nothing I can do, just like back on the planet."
"Jack, I'm sure you did everything humanly possible"
"Yeah? Well obviously it wasn't enough, was it!" Jack snapped back, his face red. Aaron winced at the yelling.
"Jackā¦"
"Aaron, if I had been there, if I was the one in the back, I would have protected you. I would've taken it myself if I had to. It's my fault you got injured. Its my fault you were in that situation in the first place." Aaron took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Maybe so Jack, but no one, not even me, is going to think you did anything wrong." Jack sighed. "Go get some rest, I'm not going anywhere." Jack reluctantly agreed.
Jack walked slowly through the halls of the TARDIS, barely aware of where he was going. He finally arrived at his room, and stripped off his clothes, stained with mud, and blood. Her blood. He fell onto his bed, and waited for sleep. Maybe he would wake up tomorrow and this would all be a dream.
Maybe.
