Author's Notes: Lindisfarne (and Holy Island) is a real place, and descriptions of the castle, priory and general orientation of the island are based on memory and a bit of research. However, while I visited the island once in the past, I do not know any of the inhabitants. All characters appearing in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Disclaimer: This story takes place within the Doctor Who universe. This story is a way of re-interpreting concepts and ideas already present in Doctor Who. All Doctor Who characters within belong to the BBC. All other characters are fictitious. This story is for fun and for sharing, but not for profit.
Chapter 5: Over the Cliff
Golden eddies of light wafted over Ten's face and hands, startlingly bright in the darkness of late evening.
'Oh, please!' sobbed Rose. 'Please regenerate. Don't die!'
But no streams of energy shot forth. Wisps simply curled calmly over him and then, gently, moved by the small breeze, began to drift up into the night.
'Doctor?' Rose bent over him, cupping her hand to his cheek. It felt warm. Then, with a start, she once again frantically pressed her fingers to his neck, pressing here and there to find his pulse. Finally her fingertips found the spot. A pulse beat steadily-a little fast, but normally. She moved her hand to his mouth and nose and there it was, the gentle stirring of regular breathing.
'Thank you, thank you,' she cried and promptly the tears came. She bowed her head over until it gently touched Ten's chest. She sobbed freely.
A touch to her hand brought her out of her outpouring of relief. She raised her head.
'Doctor?'
His eyes were open, looking back and forth at her and at his raised hand which still glowed slightly. The last of the energy faded and his hand returned to being a shadow against the dark blue of the night sky.
'I regenerated?' he whispered, his eyes wide. 'I ch...changed?'
'No, you didn't.' Rose took his hand between her own. It was cool, but not more so than his usual body temperature. 'Well, maybe, but... it sort of... stopped.'
'Stopped?' He shifted and immediately cried out.
'Don't move!' Alarmed, Rose put her hands on his shoulders. He was breathing erratically. 'We don't know what's changed and what hasn't.'
'Check,' he ground out between gritted teeth.
Hastily, Rose rolled back one side of the blankets. While Ten's back was still arched over the rock, the degree didn't seem as extreme. She covered that side again and reached across to uncover his left leg. It no longer lay at a peculiar angle. Carefully moving the stiff cloth of the jeans upward, she saw that blood still covered his calf and gashes marred his skin.
Tucking the blankets securely around him again, she moved up to his head. Gingerly, holding her breath, she inched her fingers up the back of his neck, through his hair and to where the curve of his skull met the layer of seaweed and rock. Bone felt solid, reassuring.
'I don't know... not really,' she said, 'but I think...I think you did regenerate... a little. You look better.'
He laughed then, a short, hoarse bark immediately followed by a sharp intake of breath. 'I wish I felt better. I... I can feel... everything now.' He gritted his teeth.
'George has gone to get Doctor Smith,' Rose soothed. She took up his hand again and he clutched at her fingers, nearly crushing them. 'I wish I could do something.' She looked around her, again to no avail. 'Do you have your sonic screwdriver with you? Can it do something for the pain?'
'You brilliant...! Pain, no, but scanning.'
She wormed an arm under the blankets and the v-neck of his jumper. His chest rose and fell jerkily under her forearm. Her fingers closed around the screwdriver which lay in the shirt pocket and she brought it out.
'Setting 3A,' he whispered.
The screwdriver whirred as Rose swept it up and down his body. After a moment, she brought it up and held it in front of his face. He peered at it and then sighed in relief.
'The bones've been fixed. Bruising though. Muscles too. Ohh, that's gonna hurt.' He gulped for air and spoke again. 'No other internal injuries. Tendons, ligaments also healed. Exterior a mess, but that just needs time.'
'But you're going to be okay?' she pressed.
'I think so.' He smiled wearily up at her.
She clasped his hand, screwdriver and all, and shut her eyes tightly. 'Thank you,' she whispered over and over, rocking back and forth. 'Thank you!'
She felt her hand being dragged downwards and then being touched to his lips. He kissed her clenched fingers. She opened her eyes.
'Keep the screwdriver for now,' he murmured.
Rose nodded and she slipped it into her pocket. 'I don't know how long George will be,' she said softly. 'Is there anything I can do? I hate to see you like this.'
'Just... move me off that rock. If you can.'
'I don't want to,' she whispered. 'What if...'
'My spine isn't broken now,' he reminded her. 'It'll hurt, but better than lying like this!'
Rose looked on either side of Ten. 'There's enough room on the sand to your right,' she said at last. She picked up a small rock and tossed it away from them. 'Not much, and it's damp, but it should do.' She pulled the blankets off him and laid them on the sand.
He made a motion as if to use his arms to lever himself upward but gave up immediately. 'I'm sorry. I'm... I can't help you. I need you to lift me. Make me sit up and then pull me over.'
Rose knelt on the sand and wound her arms around him, under his armpits. Her cheek rested against his, and she whispered in his ear. 'Ready? One, two, three, go.' She took a deep breath and pulled him upward.
His howl of pain nearly made her drop him, but she gritted her teeth. Even though he was slim, and she was only holding his upper body, he was heavy. With her left hand supporting his head, she inched backwards on her knees. He managed to take a little weight off her arms by leaning on his own behind him, but he couldn't do much. He panted in her ear, and she could feel his jaw clenched tightly.
She pulled and suddenly he slid sideways on his bottom to the edge of the rocks. The movement jolted him and he cried out again. 'Nearly there,' she gasped. Her arms felt as if they were going to break under the strain. She pulled again. He slid over the rocks and his bottom landed on the sand. He howled again. 'Down,' she whispered. It was all she had breath for. She laid him back down as gently as she could. She shifted his legs into alignment and then covered him as best she could with the edges of the blankets.
'Thank you,' he said, his panting having slowed enough to speak. 'Thank you.'
She slumped over the very rock Ten had just left. 'You're welcome.' She breathed deeply. 'Anything else?'
'Just kiss me,' he whispered. 'Please.'
She laughed through sudden tears. 'You silly goof.' But she obliged and, softly, caressingly, touched her lips to his.
'Thank you,' he murmured against her mouth. 'I'm so sorry. I think I've ruined the evening.' He turned his head a little to meet her a little more fully, but gasped as the muscles in his back and neck spasmed.
Rose withdrew. 'When are you going to learn not to move?'
'Sorry,' he said meekly.
Rose steadied his head firmly between her hands. 'Wait-you still see the Time Vortex, yeah?'
'Yeah.'
'I know how you can lose yourself in it. Do that again. Let it distract you. Maybe it'll help.'
'I'll try,' he whispered. 'Thank you.'
They fell silent then, Rose slowly stroking Ten's hair. He obediently didn't try to move any further, though his breathing was ragged from the pain. His eyes were open, but now they gazed as if to some far off place. Slowly his breathing evened.
They stayed like that for some time. All was still, and Rose shifted so that she could lean a little more comfortably against the boulder. She still stroked his hair, but her outstretched arm began to feel sore again. The breeze began to chill her.
Mercifully, the sound of a car soon came to them. The crunch of tyres against the gravel above the cliff sounded loud, and Rose looked up. The sound of doors opening and slamming came next and suddenly a powerful torch shone downward, dazzling her. She blinked against the sudden glare.
'There they are,' George shouted.
Another car came to a screeching halt. More voices came through a growing commotion. A rope suddenly fell, uncoiling its way down the slope and cliff. Soon after, a wiry young man, one whom Rose did not recognize, swiftly descended.
'Hi!' he said on reaching the bottom. 'How's he doing?'
'He's alive,' Rose said, 'but in a lot of pain.'
'The others are coming the slower way.'
Rose looked up and saw two figures making their way over the rocks.
'Ready,' the man shouted upwards. He turned to look at Rose. 'I'm Greg, by the way.'
A moment later, a narrow emergency stretcher was lowered down. The man caught the edges of the board, bringing it down to rest by Ten's side. Ten himself didn't seem to notice, his face still slack and eyes seeing nothing. Another rope was lowered, bringing down a nylon-wrapped package which Greg caught in turn.
George and Doctor Smith arrived a moment later, both puffing heavily. The doctor knelt and Rose moved away, giving him room. Greg knelt to the side unwrapping emergency equipment from the package.
'Doctor,' Smith said loudly. Ten did not respond. Smith shook Ten's shoulder a little and shouted. 'Doctor, can you hear me?'
'Don't!' said Rose urgently. 'He's-'
Ten came to with a start. His back arched as all the sensation rushed back in and he screamed. After the initial shock, the reaction subsided and he stared at the doctor, trembling.
'Bloody hell,' breathed George.
'Where does it hurt?' Smith asked urgently.
'Everywhere,' was Ten's succinct response.
'Anywhere in particular?'
'Back and head,' Ten whispered. 'Left leg.'
'All right,' said Smith. 'I'm going to check you for injuries. Do you understand?'
'Yeah,' Ten said. He closed his eyes.
Smith took out his stethoscope while Greg gently pulled edges of the blankets down. Smith immediately began to rapidly assess Ten. Drawing the blankets fully aside, he pressed his hands over Ten's body, much as Rose had done, only swifter and more confidently. Through all of this, George and Greg shone torches, illuminating Ten clearly. The powerful torch still shone down over the cliff. Clearly there were more people above on the path.
At last Smith covered Ten again with the blankets and sat back on his heels. 'I don't see any signs of spinal injury.'
'There has to be,' objected George. 'He was lying across a rock when I left him. Bent. He...he even said he couldn't feel anything.'
'There's no rock there now,' Smith pointed out reasonably.
'Uh, I, er, moved him,' said Rose.
Smith stared at her. 'That was dangerous.'
'He asked me to,' she objected. 'He can feel his legs now. Maybe he was in kind of a shock.' She could feel the screwdriver tucked in her pocket, and she touched it surreptitiously.
Smith pondered this for a moment and then suddenly swept the blankets away from his patient. Greg, as if taking this as some kind of cue, jumped up and began to arrange fresh, clean blankets over the stretcher.
'He may still be in shock,' said Smith. 'Which is why I think we should risk moving him as soon as possible and getting him off that wet sand. George, his upper legs. Greg, his trunk. Rose, can you help with his feet?'
Rose nodded and moved to her position as the doctor knelt as best he could amongst the rocks behind Ten's head.
Smith spoke. 'Doctor, listen to me. You others, also. All of you. All right. We're going to move you to the stretcher. Do you understand?'
'Yes,' whispered Ten.
'It's probably going to hurt. I'm sorry. But this is what's going to happen.' Smith looked at each of the others in turn. 'On my word, you are going to roll him towards you and hold him. Then, again on my word, you rise to your knees. Then we'll move him to the stretcher. But you wait each time for my signal. We do everything together. Understand?'
They nodded.
'Ready, go.'
They rolled him towards themselves. Rose made sure his feet stayed together. She wrapped her arms around his lower legs and, on Smith's next cue, she lifted them as she rose to her knees. She could hear Ten groaning. His head and shoulders were supported in Smith's arms.
'The stretcher!'
They all shuffled forwards and, at last, lowered him onto the blanket-covered board. As soon as Ten lay fully on the stretcher, Greg moved down to kneel at his feet and took off his shoes.
'Don't lose them,' protested Ten weakly, and Greg silently handed the Converse to Rose. He began to wrap the edges of the blankets around Ten's feet and legs.
'We won't,' she promised. She watched as Smith and Greg finished wrapping Ten. Then they wove straps through the holes down the sides of the stretcher, flung the ends across Ten's body and buckled them firmly in place.
Smith moved back to squat beside Ten's shoulders. 'I know you don't think you have any spinal injury, and heaven knows I don't see any sign of it, but I'm not taking any further risks. Not from that fall you took.' He brought out a roll of strong tape from his pocket, and Greg handed him two rolled up towels. 'Just... going... to put these... either side of your head.' He talked as he worked. 'And then I'm going to...' He pulled out a length of tape from its roller and, as Greg brushed Ten's fringe away, lowered the middle of the length onto his forehead. After affixing the ends of the tape firmly to the stretcher, he leaned back. 'There.'
Ten almost crossed his eyes looking at the tape. 'You... you taped me!' he said, a note of disbelief in his voice. 'I've never been taped before. In all the years, decades, centuries... Tape?'
'Consider it a character-building experience,' said Greg.
'What happens now?' asked Rose. She shivered. Greg took the drier of the two original blankets, stood up and draped it over her shoulders. Rose clutched the edges thankfully with one hand and drew them together. She still held the Converse in her other.
'We wait,' said George. He took something out of the packages and walked away from them towards the water. Soon a sudden, piercingly bright, rushing flame appeared-then another one.
'Flares,' explained Greg.
'I've phoned for air rescue from the mainland,' said Smith. 'They will find us here. Twenty minutes, maybe. It will be quicker than trying to get him up that ledge or over the rocks. Luckily, the tide's on its way out. Besides, he needs a hospital. Not my little office.'
'Thank you,' said Rose fervently. She knelt by Ten's side, in the spot Greg had vacated. Ten's gaze followed her. 'How do you feel? Any better?'
'Not really,' he murmured. 'This board's hard. The sand was softer. Well, soft and damp. Well... soft, damp and cold. And pebbles. Pebbles are hard. I don't like pebbles. No pebbles.'
'So, what you're saying is-the board's better,' she teased softly.
'Yeah,' he answered. 'All trussed up like a mummy.'
She put his shoes down and stroked his hair. She looked up and saw everyone watching her. 'Can you give him something for the pain?'
'I'm sorry,' said Smith. 'They told me not to.'
'Why? Who?'
Smith looked up at Greg and George. 'Could you give us a little privacy, gents?'
Greg nodded and moved off. George looked slightly mutinous, but then he followed.
'It's to do with the Doctor being a chimera,' Smith told her in a low voice.
'A... a what?'
'Chimera. It's rare. Incredibly rare, but sometimes people are born with two sets of genes. Different parts of his body exhibit different properties. I'm told that the Doctor also has complex allergies to medicine. I've been instructed not to administer any drugs of any kind.'
'So that's how Martha explained it,' murmured Ten.
'Chimera?' she asked him.
'You know,' he said. 'Donna... hand...all that...'
Her expression cleared. 'Yeah.' She nodded. 'Got it.' She stroked his hair again. 'Can you do that... that meditation thing again?'
'Yeah,' he whispered.
And, as Rose continued to gently stroke his hair, and Smith quietly watched in wonder, Ten's face relaxed and his eyes became unfocused. And they waited.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
UNIT's helicopter came 15 minutes later, the downdraft setting the water rippling and Rose's hair flying. Even with the tide out, the pilot clearly chose to land as close to the cliff as he dared to avoid the wet sand and mud.
There was a stir among the villagers and with George when they realized that the helicopter was not the usual Royal Air Force SAR. However, the military personnel did not heed them and they clustered around Ten. Rose sat nearby as the paramedics worked over him, checking vital statistics, inserting an IV, fitting a more secure neck brace and holding a breather mask to his face.
During all of this, Ten remained in his Time Vortex trance. The paramedics were initially concerned with his lack of response, but this time Rose, bolstered by Dr. Smith, managed to explain it as a defence mechanism. Clearly they were well versed in UNIT's knowledge of the Doctor and so they accepted this new information from Rose at face value and did not try to rouse him.
Within minutes, Ten was transferred on board. Before she too climbed aboard, Rose clasped Doctor Smith's hands. 'Thank you,' she said fervently. She then scrambled up into the helicopter, pulled up by one of the marines. Inside, Ten's stretcher was secured against the curving wall of the helicopter and she found a perch by his head but out of the way of the paramedics.
After what seemed an interminable wait on the shore, the flight to Newcastle seemed short and calm although Rose knew that it must have been another thirty minutes. However, when they landed, it seemed to her as if everything exploded into action. The hatch in the side of the helicopter was pulled open even before the rotors above had stopped whirling and barked orders and shouting filled the interior. Before she knew it, Ten was carried out, stretcher and all, strapped to a trolley and whisked off into a building.
'Wait,' she cried and scrambled out. It was dark, but bright lights shone down on the helipad. She tried to run after Ten but a soldier stood in her way. 'Get out of my way,' she cried, trying to dodge to the side.
He grasped her by her arms. 'I'm sorry, miss, but you can't go with him.'
'I've got to,' she shouted. 'You don't understand-'
'Yes, we do,' he said firmly, still holding her back. 'He's in good hands. They've been briefed and know all about his needs.'
'Not all of them,' she shot back and struggled.
'I'm sorry, miss, but I have my orders. If there's anything you need me to pass on, I'll gladly do so. In the meantime, you'll need to follow me.'
He let go of one of her arms, but he kept his hand firmly around her upper right. It was clear that he would stop her again if she tried to escape. As they too passed through the doors, they were joined by two more soldiers who fell into step with them. Rose gave up then, especially when the interior proved to be a labyrinth of corridors. She had no idea which way Ten had been taken.
After much twisting and turning and rounding of corners, they finally arrived at a door. Upon walking through, Rose found herself in a large hospital room with one empty bed. She turned to the soldier in confusion.
'I don't need-'
'This is for the Doctor when he has been stabilized. We've added a cot for you.'
Rose walked around the bed and found the low cot against the wall, parallel to the higher bed. It was already made up.
'Thank you,' she said. 'But I need to see-'
'The Doctor will be brought in as soon as he is able,' the soldier said kindly, but with a note of finality. 'I suggest you get what rest you can. Is there anything you need? Pyjamas, drink, food?'
'Nothing,' she said shortly. However, as the door closed with a click, she regretted not asking for water. At least there'd be a chance to ask about the Doctor if someone were to return to the room. She crossed over to the door and put an ear to the crack. There was no sound outside. Cautiously, she turned the knob, but it was locked.
Trembling, she sat down on the cot. Alone, with nothing to do but wait, she suddenly found energy draining from her. She didn't even know the time, but thought that it must be in the middle of the night by now.
'Just a little longer,' she whispered to herself. 'Wait for him to return.' She tried to think of strategies for getting answers about the Doctor, or ways to escape from the room in case UNIT had lied about bringing him back to her after stabilizing him, but the more she tried to marshal her thoughts, the more she felt confused and muddled. The recent events were catching up to her. Her eyelids began to droop and she struggled to keep them open. Finally, almost against her will, she fell sideways onto the bed, her head hitting soft pillows. Even before she registered that she hadn't taken off her shoes, exhaustion overtook her and she knew no more.
To be continued
