An: A hospital is a good place to set various dilemmas. - Aminatta Forna
The roar of an outboard motor was a foreign sound to Jenny but the sight of a small boat racing towards them was a welcome one. She had never before appreciated quite how heavy clothes could be, particularly combined with her sword and her Silurian. There were four people on board, peculiar puffed up waistcoats on over their clothes. One was steering, another was bent over, barely visible and two were sitting, one each side. One of them waved in reply to Jack's desperate shout.
The one steering killed the engine and the boat drifted alongside them. One of them threw a round orange ring at Jenny. It floated, and she grabbed hold.
"Her first!" Jack pointed at Vastra and two people reached over and grabbed a hold, hauling her swiftly into the boat. Jenny clung with both hands to the ring which was hauled aboard with her along with it. Water streamed off her into the bottom of the boat where Vastra lay, unmoving, her human façade white, lips blue. The person who'd been bent over in the boat was attending to her, trying to feel for a pulse. Jack joined them with a grunt, flopping against the side of the boat.
"Radio in and get them to call for an ambulance." he said, after looking at Vastra's face. The man held up a large black rectangle to his face and barked an order.
"An ambulance?" Jenny grabbed Jack's arm, nearly toppling him into the bottom of the boat as the person steering started the engine once more and sped towards the shore.
"It'll take us to the hospital." He reassured her.
"Are you mad?" Jenny hissed.
"She's hypothermic. She needs hospital treatment." Jack replied firmly. The boat slowed to pick up Karen, still swimming balefully.
"And when they find out?" Jenny raised her eyebrows meaningfully under the distraction of Karen's arrival into the boat.
"Is it better that she dies? I don't have a first clue about…how she works. But this is not good." Jack gestured at the still Silurian.
"Can't you get Torchwood? Doesn't that have doctors?" Jenny asked desperately.
"And what do you think they'll do to her?! This isn't the Torchwood from here, a small unit, mainly forgotten about. And it isn't the Torchwood from your time either, still setting up, able to reason with." Jack argued back quietly, glancing at the other four people in the boat. And Karen who was frowning. Jenny didn't think that kidnapping their agents and riding into their base and waving swords particularly counted as reasoning with them, but she was silent. This was a Torchwood after a hundred years, with the support of the Queen. She could imagine why Jack was concerned.
"Your time?" Karen whispered at Jenny, breaking her from her brief reverie.
"Shh! My point being we don't really have a choice. And you all need to go to hospital too." Jack pointed between Jenny and Karen.
"What about you?" Jenny, more on autopilot than anything. Fear was gripping her more than the cold was.
"Strong constitution." Jack fobbed her off.
Jenny slumped in the bottom of the boat, miserable in her sopping clothes, trying to think of any way out that didn't involve hospitals and coming up with nothing. She'd never seen Vastra in such a bad state before. She leant over the prone Silurian and whispered "I won't let them take you. I promise."
The sound of the siren made her wince as the ambulance approached where they were waiting on the docks. Vastra was loaded onto a trolley and Jenny followed it, hauling herself into the back after the paramedics. They gave her one glance and told her to sit on the seat and strap herself in.
"Jenny…" Jack called as the doors slammed behind her and the ambulance set off.
It was fast, much faster than the car had been, and the sirens rarely cut out their wailing. Jenny watched in silence as the paramedic checked Vastra over, attaching clips and wires, reading monitors that pinged and dinged, a look of fierce concentration on her face.
"We need to get her out of these clothes." The paramedic muttered to herself, cutting them away and covering Vastra with a blanket. Jenny collected Vastra's sword as it was unceremoniously dumped on the floor. She'd been in many strange situations before but this one was beating spectral hounds in the basement.
It seemed no time at all that they pulled up outside a large building and Vastra was being unloaded, pushed along on a trolley through wide white corridors. Jenny followed, still dripping water everywhere. A nurse grabbed at her and was shoved heedlessly to one side.
"You can't go in there. They'll do the best they can for her. Come on." Another nurse appeared to help her colleague.
Jenny didn't bother replying, merely drew her sword. They backed away hastily and let her pass, calling out for security. She followed Vastra's trolley into a room with small bays, separated by curtains. The paramedic was reeling off information to a group of people who were gathered around Vastra. None of it sounded good. The paramedic turned to leave and noticed Jenny stood there, sword drawn.
"You can't take the device on her wrist off." Jenny managed to say. Her mind was beginning to fog from the cold. The sword in her hands was wavering in front of her eyes as she felt herself shivering uncontrollably.
"We're going to do the best we can for her, but you need to leave now. You need treatment yourself." Two nurses came up to her from behind, followed by a tall man in black clothes.
"You can't take it off." Jenny fought the dizziness, her sword dropping. There were tears on her face, she could feel them, startling and warm. Someone grabbed the sword from her hands, she felt people grab her by the arms as she sagged forward, and she thought she heard a cry of surprise but there was nothing she could do now. Her final thought before unconsciousness claimed her was that she had failed Vastra.
It was dark. She'd opened her eyes and there was only a little light, from glowing machines and through a window in the door. She wasn't wearing her clothes but an uncomfortable gown. Silvery sheets covered her. She struggled upright, feeling nauseous. There was someone sat in the chair beside her bed, asleep and snoring gently. It was Jack and a pang of relief at familiarity shot through her.
"Jack." she swung herself out of bed and shook him awake. "Jack!"
"Jenny!" He swept her up in a huge bear hug.
"Where…"
"Vastra's fine. She…they um…realised. Obviously. But it's fine. She's fine." Jack laughed a little nervously.
"What happened?!"
"Well obviously you caused quite a stir with the swords." Jack tutted. "Don't worry, I've got them both safe."
"Jack!" Jenny snapped at him.
"I brought you some clothes." He reached down to a bag by the side of his chair. "I hate hospital gowns. Figured you would as well."
She glowered at him but snatched them gratefully.
"As I was saying, Vastra is safe. I uh…there was a bit of a shock. But she's safe."
"They're not gonna lock her up?" Jenny frowned as she tugged on a pair of jeans.
"No but they are…very interested."
"Who's they?"
"Well the nurses obviously. They wanted to ring people. I dissuaded them. Well Torchwood did. It's all under wraps." Jack shrugged with a smile.
"Torchwood." Jenny froze in unfolding a jumper.
"I rang them, they got in touch with sleeper agents within certain industries. The hospital is on a lock down. Contagious skin disease is the official story."
"It's not a disease, it's just her skin!"
"I know! I know." Jack held up his hands in surrender. "The uh…the Queen got involved."
"Queen Victoria?"
"No, no. Elizabeth in this era. Apparently certain stories got handed down through the generations." Jack grinned. "And it's amazing what a phone call from the Queen can achieve, even in this day and age."
Jenny stood silently for a moment. "I want to see her."
"They'll want to do tests on you too, to make sure you're all right…" Jack watched Jenny march towards the door. "…but that can wait." He jogged after her.
Jenny didn't need Jack to point out the door that led to Vastra. Two burly men, dressed in grey, brown and green uniforms stood either side, holding guns with practised ease. They spotted Jack and saluted. One of them held the door open for Jenny, staring at her blankly. It was as if they'd been expecting her. Part of Jenny's mind wondered precisely what those handed down stories had contained. For the moment, she ignored him and orders he might have been given and walked through. The room was hot, almost muggy with heat that emanated from glowing orange tubes in metal boxes. She picked her way through to the bed. Light shone off the Silurian's scales, which were now a healthier pale green. She was covered in blankets and silver sheets, still attached to the steadily bipping monitors by means of wires that ran down under the blankets.
Jenny reached out a hand and was shocked to find it trembling, as badly as it had done from cold. Her whole body was. Her clenched teeth were chattering.
"Jenny!" Jack was suddenly beside her, turning her round and holding her up by the arms. "It's okay. She's okay. It's all just medical equipment, it's just to monitor her. They…we…we don't know anything about Silurians. What the normal pulse rate is or normal temperature."
"She didn't tell you?"
"Do you know?"
"She hasn't woken up yet?" Jenny knocked Jack's hands away and turned back to Vastra. It wasn't really a question. "Where's her clothes? She won't…she won't like being in a gown. Not like that." Jenny spun back round. "Get her some clothes!"
Jack took a step back, recovered, nodded and left in silence, the look in Jenny's eyes forbidding any argument or comment.
Jenny carefully climbed into the bed with Vastra, curling up at her side underneath the blankets. "This is like our first April. When you got all cold. Remember?" Jenny whispered to her. "You got drunk and then I came home from work to find you on the floor. And we curled up together like cats in front of the fire. Near lost me job for stayin' home to nurse you. Got such a wallop. You ain't gonna take three days to get better, now are you? I don't care what Jack sez. We gotta go home. Somehow. Gotta find the Marquis and go home. Where we're safe. Sort of. Safer than 'ere." Jenny thought about their life in Victorian London. "Sort of." She sighed.
By the time Jack had returned with clothes for Vastra, Jenny was already asleep. He placed them on a chair by the bed and left them, guarded by the two men, still staring stoically at anyone who came near them.
Jenny woke up hot and sweating under the blankets. Someone had come in and turned down the heaters, but it was still baking. She felt Vastra wriggle next to her as she sat up, being careful not to let the cocoon of blankets fall open too far. She placed a hand on the Silurian's head crest scales and was relieved to find them warm.
"Water…" Vastra croaked softly.
Jenny looked about her and found someone had already placed a jug and glasses on the bed side cabinet. It was tepid, just as well, Jenny thought, cold water would have chilled Vastra's stomach. Jenny reached over and poured a glass before urging Vastra to sit up a little, keeping the blankets tucked around her neck.
"I'm not a youngling to need such care." Vastra looked at Jenny out the corner of her eye as the young woman held the glass to Vastra's lips.
"Small sips." Jenny ignored her, trickling water into Vastra's mouth.
"Well, what are we to do?" Vastra asked, once she'd drank the entire glass. "I notice that I am no longer wearing that reprehensible device and that there are two men standing guard at the door. Have we been captured?"
"They're just there to keep people away." Jenny shrugged. "I think. Jack should be coming back later. He brought you clothes. Thought you wouldn't like wearing the gown once you came to."
"Mm." Vastra hummed and snuggled back up against Jenny. Getting dressed would involve getting out of the bed. Out of the warmth.
"We can't escape with you wearing it at any rate. And you'll probably be warmer in clothes." Jenny shifted away, sliding off the bed. She was glad to see her hands no longer shook. She felt calm. She was hungry though. She drank a glass of water herself, but it did little to fill her stomach up. She held out a pair of trousers to a baleful Silurian who was glaring at her from half-lidded eyes. "I want to go home." Jenny said simply.
With a soft sigh, Vastra got up and dressed.
"Jack's got our swords. We'll have to find him first." Jenny informed her when she was done, wrapped in a high collared woollen jumper, jogging bottoms and trainers, a garishly coloured jacket clashing with Vastra's scales. Jenny studied the ensemble critically. Without Jack's device Vastra still stood out. Even more so with that jacket.
"First we have to get past the guards." Vastra reminded her. "But that shouldn't be a worry."
"No eating them." Jenny told her sternly as they walked over to the doors.
"Of course not." Vastra replied, in a tone most unreassuring.
Jenny flung the doors open at Vastra's gesture and the Silurian smiled as the two men turned around in surprise. Her tongue snapped out at first one, then the other and they dropped to the floor.
Jenny stared, first at them and then at Vastra.
"A Silurian's tongue can be coated in a mild poison intended to stun its victims, so it can kill and eat them at leisure." Vastra grinned arrogantly.
"An' you din't think to tell me before you…" Jenny stopped abruptly, flushing bright red. She scowled at Vastra who dropped her smile and looked suitably apologetic.
"I have full control over it." She protested. "And I would never use it on you."
"That's very comforting to know." Jenny said acidly, stepping over the fallen men and glancing up and down the corridor.
"Jenny!" Vastra grabbed her arm and she looked at her. "Never. It never even occurred to me to tell you before now."
"Well from now on you're gonna tell me everything. Everything about Silurians. Starting with average heartbeat and body temperature. And what happens when you get sick." Jenny took her hand and pulled her out into the corridor.
Vastra remembered she'd promised Jenny that she'd teach Jenny about Silurian physiology, what seemed an age ago now.
"A normal heartrate would be about 40 beats per minutes. Resting, I suppose it could drop to as low as 30. My body temperature would be about the same as yours, internally. 35 to 37 degrees, optimally."
Jenny pulled her flat against the wall behind a door as two nurses strode down the corridor they were about to emerge onto. "That's all bloody wonderful. Mind writing it down for me after we get out of here?" she whispered.
"I don't see why we don't just wait here for Jack."
"You weren't saying that when you was knocking them guards out!"
"That was before I realised how cold it was out here." Vastra sniffed, huddling closer to Jenny.
With a long-suffering sigh, Jenny checked the coast was clear and tugged Vastra along again. She found a door that said stairs and pushed it open, furtively scouting ahead and then beckoning for Vastra to follow her. They made their way down past large signs with numbers on them all the way to the ground floor without incident. The reception area not crowded but was still full of people. Jenny bit her lip, watching through a small pane of glass.
She turned to Vastra. "Pull the neck up." She tugged the long stretchy neck of the jumper Vastra was wearing up and over the Silurian's nose.
"Won't this make me even more conspicuous?" Vastra asked, voice muffled by the material, as Jenny found a hood in the collar of the jacket and pulled it up and over Vastra's head.
"Just keep yer head down." Jenny ordered her. Taking a deep breath she pushed the door open. She was about to hold Vastra's hand and then remembered herself, shoving her own in her pockets and casually striding across the floor. Vastra followed, gaining more than a few odd looks for her deeply suspicious outfit. However, she was staring intently at Jenny's feet and didn't see them.
Jenny heaved a sigh of relief as they passed through the main door and out onto the pavement. It was cut off by the sight of a long black car sitting ominously at the kerb in the drop off area. An upright person in a suit who had been stood by the side of it strode over to meet them.
"Come with me if you want to live."
"I told you we should've just waited for Jack." Vastra looked pointedly at Jenny.
An: It was in 1887 that St John's Ambulance (as in the sticker on the front of the TARDIS) Brigade was created in London. Before then it was private ambulances if you had the money to pay. Three cheers for the NHS.
