Hermione smiled at the Doctor for a moment until the memories started to invade again. Then, just as her smile turned sad, she made a slight movement that also caused her to suddenly grimace in pain. Apparently, she had spent too much time being still, both while the Doctor was in her memories and while she was sleeping afterwards. That long period of inactivity had allowed her muscles to gain even more soreness as the day wore on.
The Doctor with his usual keen observation skills noticed her change of mood and the small moment of pain. Therefore, he stood up immediately to reprogram the DR to its Muscle Stimulation mode while he thought about the memories he had seen of her in that battle. She had fought very hard, but she had also done so much more than that. He had seen her throw spell after spell all while she maneuvered away from the ones thrown at her. She had also jumped, spun, kneeled, ran, and even carried some of the wounded away from the main arena of fighting. Therefore, it was no surprise that she hurt everywhere. In fact, it was a wonder that the damage was not much worse than it actually was!
"Now," he said with a reassuring smile, "we need to take care of those sore muscles before they get even worse. If we wait until tomorrow, then you will probably be barely able to move at all! Therefore, let's get the MS running. Then you can have a hot bath, dinner, and a good night's sleep. How does that sound?" he asked with his own brand of inexplicable manic excitement.
Hermione could not help but to smile again at his enthusiasm – especially since she knew that he was trying to be cheerful for her sake. "That sounds brilliant, Doctor," she answered truthfully, even though her tone was still a bit subdued.
"Okay then!" the Doctor answered cheerfully and Hermione could not help but to respond with a small smile of her own when he flashed a grin at her again before he continued to explain. "This will feel a lot like a massage. However, instead of hands, it uses pulse technology to stimulate the muscle tissue. Afterwards, a hot bath will relax those same muscles and the soreness will basically disappear. You should be able to sleep like a baby all night long – especially with a little pain reliever in a hypospray." The Doctor paused and looked at her a little sheepishly as he added a caveat to his original statement. "You are going to have to undress completely for this part, though…so that the MS can run over the entire length of your body. It will be fast, though. Running the MS over both your front and your back will take only a fraction of the time that the DR took." He paused to make sure that she understood before he nodded and continued. "Now, I am going over there to prepare your hypospray. Go ahead and undress. Then lie on your back and use the blanket to cover yourself while I show you how to use the controls." He stopped to give her a reassuring smile. "Just shout out when you are ready." Then he turned his back to give her some privacy, but not before Hermione caught a glimpse of his face. She thought that the embarrassed look that he tried to hide was completely adorable on him.
Consequently, she pushed her bad memories back down into a deep place for the time being, as she did what he asked. However, her thoughts soon took a surprisingly mutinous turn as she briefly considered not using the cover blanket at all. She wondered how the Doctor would react if he saw her without it when he turned around. Would he continue to be professional and clinical…or would his shell finally crack a bit at the sight of her naked body? Those thoughts led to other ones and she finally started to wonder just how alien he was. Did he even do things like that? His uneasiness suggested that he did, but she could just be reading too much into his reaction. After all, she did not really have enough experience to be an accurate judge on such matters – especially since she had only ever been with one man in that way before.
Then she finally realized what she was doing and shook her head. I am being ridiculous! Why am I even thinking about this right now? She yanked up the blanket to cover herself as she suddenly became horrified at her private thoughts. She could not do that to the Doctor! He had been too good of a friend to her just for her to ruin it all and make things awkward between them in a moment of impetuous behavior. At any rate, it just did not matter if she was attracted to him or not – especially since she had already determined that it was the worst possible time to consider anything more than friendship with the man – even if he wanted it too. In fact, she was sure that her recent tragedies must be affecting her common sense. Therefore, she took a moment to calm herself down and made sure she was completely covered before she called out to him that she was ready.
For his part, the Doctor had been very careful not to think about what she was doing while his back was turned. He was determined to be professional about this situation - no matter what. However, once he turned to face her, he saw her lying back on the bed with her amazing hair fanned out around her. He felt his heart rates speed up at the sight and that was even before he saw the gentle swells of her breasts above the top of the blanket that she had pulled up almost to her armpits. He cursed himself for the very physical reaction that he had at that moment. "I'm not some stupid ape that can't control his hormones!" he told himself firmly as he tried to will away that particular problem before she noticed. Fortunately, it was underneath the line of sight from the elevated bed, so he was safe. He was ashamed of his behavior, though. The amazing woman was hurt and had just relived the worst moments of her life and here he was… wanting her! He shook his head, as if that would clear his inappropriate thoughts. Then he cleared his throat, as well, and started to explain how to use the MS.
He enlarged the size of the MS and slightly curved the shape, so that it would semi-drape over her, without actually touching her. Then, when she pushed the correct sequence of controls (which he proceeded to show her) the MS would travel from her neck to her toes, providing energizing pulses as it went. Then when it stopped, she could reset it, and turn her body over onto the other side. The MS would then travel up her body in the opposite direction until it reached her neck again. Then she could turn it off, put on her dressing gown, and head for her room to take her bath. After he was sure that she understood what to do, he applied the pain-relieving hypospray to her newly healed arm and then headed for the door. At the threshold he stopped and softly said, "Don't forget to take off your blanket before you start!" Then, after a quick smile, he was gone.
Hermione could not help but to return his smile even after he had left the room. He was such a gentleman, though. Too much of one, actually, she thought ruefully despite her recent decision regarding him. As she thought about the attractive alien, she pushed off her blanket and ran the MS. The whole process felt a bit odd, like a deep muscle tickle. However, she could definitely tell a difference by the time she was finished. Most of the soreness was gone, but she felt like everything was tingling under her skin. That was a side effect that she had not expected. Muscle stimulator, indeed! The thought of sinking into a hot bath was suddenly even more attractive and she wondered, with a blush, if she could convince the TARDIS to add a multiple setting shower head attachment for her since she was positive that she would be bathing alone…unfortunately!
"What is wrong with me? I normally can control myself better than this!" she muttered under her breath as she donned her dressing gown. She only hoped that she would not run into the Doctor before she got to her room. She was not positive that he was safe from her at the moment and she did not want to ruin the close friendship that was developing between them by jumping him in a corridor!
She was suddenly distracted by a thought. Wouldn't Ginny just laugh at that, at me, all in a physical tizzy over a man? And an older man at that! She always thought that I would do better with someone like Remus, Sirius, or even Snape than I would with someone our age! She didn't even think that Viktor was old enough for me! Hermione thought with a bit of amusement, until the hard, cold reality of the truth suddenly set in again. How could I have possibly forgotten – even if just for a minute? she thought, thoroughly ashamed of herself. Everyone that she had just thought about was gone! She then discovered that the memory of her dear friends' deaths was a much more effective solution for her problem than a cold shower could ever have been. Therefore, it was with a subdued libido, and an even more subdued spirit, that she made her way back to her room. She was grateful not to encounter the Doctor along the way, after all, but it was definitely not for the same reason as before.
After he left the infirmary, the Doctor kept himself busy by putting together a meal in the galley. He knew that Hermione would be very hungry by the time she was finished with the MS and her bath. That was usually one of the major effects of the muscle stimulator. He then stopped in his tracks when he suddenly remembered what the other common side effect was. She was also going to be quite stimulated by the time that she was done!He gulped hard and tried to keep his thoughts off of what that would mean, of what she might want to do. What if she comes to me? he thought, half-hopeful and half-regretful at the idea. I'll have to turn her down. I wouldn't take advantage of the situation – no matter how much I might want to…
He shook his head sharply to clear it. No, he did not think Hermione would do that. She was too good of a person to just use him and she could not possibly want him in any other way besides friendship, anyway. At any rate, if she did decide to stay with him and the TARDIS, things might become...awkward...if he tried for anything else. Therefore, he would just stay here, out of the way, in the galley…just in case.