Good chapter, good chapter! I really like this one :D
On a side note, I'm making Torchwood Chess for my DT coursework! it's gonna be awesome :P
Chapter 8
And the heavens were rolling
Like a wheel on a track
And our sky was unfolding
And it'll never fold back
Sky blue and black
That day, the sky grew heavy with dark clouds - angry bruises on the horizons as rain fell unchecked over Cardiff, running in a translucent layer across the windows of the hospital ward. The sound of the rain pummelling the glass made Jack smile. Ianto loved the rain. He loved to watch and listen to it. Jack had lost track of the amount of times he'd had to pull him indoors before he froze to death.
Jack watched as Owen walked over to them, coming to check Ianto again. He'd been signed on as one of his doctors now and everyone acknowledged that he was the primary care giver.
"I bloody hate the rain…" Owen said with a dark look on his face as he pulled down the covers and lifted Ianto's gown. Seeing as this was going to be happening on a regular basis, Jack had insisted on Ianto wearing pyjama trousers as well, knowing that the young man would be mortified if Owen had a free show - even if he was his doctor.
As most of the hospital staff thought Ianto would remain in his 'coma', they hadn't protested too much, something which Jack resented immediately.
"I don't know, it's kind of…" Jack trailed off in shock at the sight that greeted him. Owen too had frozen in horror as he turned to look at Ianto's torso.
The pale skin was a mass of thin blue and black bruises, bleeding out from two particular places like ink spills. One spread out from the bullet wound, the deep purple colour running out in blotchy tendrils. The second spread out from his heart, spreading from one side to the other, down to meet the first mass and up to the base of his neck and his shoulder.
Jack's heart had started beating double, blood rushing in his ears and curses running through his mind, wishing a slow and painful death on John Hart. He was the only person Jack could think to blame this on.
*
"Did you have to? Jack's going to go spare…" Ianto groaned at the sight of his 'torso'. Through scans, the Doctor had pinpointed the places on his 'body' where the link with his real body were strongest. There were only two left now.
"Come on, Ianto. Do you want to go home or not?" The Doctor said with a wry grin, raising an eyebrow in amusement at the sight of the spidery bruises spreading from the injections he was giving the young man.
He'd managed to create a solution that would strengthen the bonds even more and therefore make the use of energy even more efficient when he located a better source for their second try. The solution had to be injected into the most susceptible parts. Four had been located and there were two more left to do.
Ianto took a deep breath and nodded, closing his eyes and concentrating on the links in his chest and stomach as the Doctor came closer to him, another syringe in his hands. Even if this was a simple manifestation of his psyche, it hurt like hell.
He did as the Doctor instructed and concentrated on imagining a rope like entity linking his soul to his body, ignoring the feeling of fear that the impending pain brought. He was just imagining his body in the hospital bed when he felt the needle pierce his temple, hearing the popping as it punctured his 'skull' and the Doctor injected straight into his brain.
He cried out in pain and he felt himself hurtle along the line, through the darkness.
*
"We need to run scans, Jack." Owen said half heartedly. "I need him back at the Hub to run scans on-"
He was interrupted by a sharp gasp and several jagged, pained breaths from Ianto's now animated body. Jack was staring at him in horror, Owen was just confused and Ianto looked plain livid.
"I'm going to… kill him…" He snarled, his voice trailing away as his body seemed to drain of energy as suddenly as it had been flooded with it. But another growl of pain and his back was arching off the bed, eyes screwed up in agony, head snapped back as if he'd been punched straight on.
"Shit…" He whispered as his body went limp and his brainwaves died back down, face smoothing out once more, fists unclenching and his heart monitor settling down from it's brief spell of erratic bleeping.
"What the hell was that?" Owen asked angrily, looking at Jack in confusion. Jack didn't seem to know anymore than him, his face set in a mixture of confusion and loneliness that made Owen take pity on him. "He's not in any pain, not any more… Jack, don't worry."
Jack shot him a withering look and set about tidying Ianto up from his half slump off the bed, working with gentle hands and soft touches as he brushed his hair out of his eyes and frowned in confusion, his mind working at a hundred miles an hour to process possible implications of Ianto's little show.
*
"Ianto, come on, stay with me, wake up." The Doctor was gently encouraging him to wake up from where he'd slumped off the chair, landing in a pile on the floor. His head was killing him. Whereas the two injections to his torso had been reasonably bearable, the last two to his brain had been nearly intolerable.
Ianto couldn't summon up the energy to even open his eyes. He tried to talk, but it came out as nothing more than a blur of noise. He soon decided that it wasn't worth the effort. He heard the TARDIS purr sympathetically and the Doctor mutter.
"I know, I know… But Jack needs him, he needs to go home." There was silence and he heaved Ianto to his feet and hoisted him over his shoulder. It's lucky, Ianto thought smugly, that I haven't been eating much since Jack left, I've lost a fair bit of weight. "Shh! Jack can't come either, he has to stay in Cardiff… No, that's not why… Yes, I offered… Shh!"
The Doctor tutted and carried Ianto back through to the bedroom he'd slept in the night before. He was going to do his damnedest to keep this soul alive and healthy – it was the least he owed Jack. He removed the suit jacket, tie and shoes that Ianto was wearing and tucked him under the covers.
A man after my own heart, he thought with a grin as he realised that Ianto's soul's natural image was that of Ianto in a suit and tie. Next stop, find an energy source… hopefully.