Chapter 13 – Beating Hearts

Flashback…

"No!" the bandit screamed, thrashing around, trying desperately to get away from the Oncoming Storm. "No! Please!"

The Doctor's hand tightened around the bandit's neck, his face still impassive.

"Doctor!" Jack tried yelling again, but to no effect. The Time Lord was as though in a trance.

"I can… I can…" The bandit was choking and struggling. "I can save 'er! Please!" He gasped down air, fear written over every millimetre of his face. "I got this thing!" the bandit said quickly, struggling to reach into his pocket. The Doctor's eyes suddenly narrowed, releasing his grip slightly on the bandit's neck. The bandit gasped down air, tears rolling down his face as he bought out a small glass phial, a hint of golden liquid akin to honey residing in the bottom. He held it out to the Doctor.

"What's that?" Jack asked.

"It's holy liquid or summat, it cures people 'n stuff!"

The Doctor held the bandit in place with his right hand, taking the phial into his left and staring at it for a long moment.

"Make 'er drink it!" the bandit squeaked. "We used it after the firs' raid, on our bes' fighters! They got healed!"

Jack looked towards the Doctor, daring to rest a hand on his shoulder still holding up the bandit. "They healed really fast," he said. "Too fast. We still had people fightin' for their lives in the church when they attacked."

The Doctor didn't move for a moment. He stared at the phial as everyone remained silent around him, terrified of what would happen next. The bandit's breathing got more and more rasped as he tensed up, waiting to die. Jack watched the Doctor carefully, studying his face for any hint as to what he would do. Silently he willed his friend to recognise what he was doing, to stop before he went too far…

Suddenly the Doctor let go of the bandit, cradling the liquid in both hands as the other man fell to the floor, gasping and holding his throat. The Doctor turned and bounded over to Rose, dropping beside her and taking her into both arms, holding onto her tightly. One handed he popped the top of the phial and pressed it to Rose's lips, tipping it so the honey-like liquid run down and into her mouth. The Doctor replugged the phial and dropped it on the ground on his right, holding the young woman's body to his as if trying to channel his energy to her. He sniffed as he felt the tears run down his cheeks, not used to displaying his emotions so openly in front of people.

For a few moments, nothing happened. The Doctor screwed his eyes shut, fists tightening on the material of her coat as he held her, willing with all of his might…

"Doctor," came a muffled voice from somewhere in his chest. "You're squishin' my nose."


Father Jace was beside Donna in a flash, kneeling down next to the Doctor and reaching into his herb pouch, scrabbling quickly for something inside. Donna kept her eyes on the Doctor, pressing her fingers to his bloodstained neck to search for a pulse… yes! There came a deadly slow but rhythmical throbbing against her fingertips – he was clinging on.

But her joy soon dissipated as she leant forward, hearing quiet squeaks of troubled breathing through the severed airway. He was still bleeding profusely, and within moments the squeaking stopped.

He'd stop breathing.

Desperately Donna tried to think of things the Doctor had told her about his anatomy, a reassurance that he had a biological backup plan for an injury like this… but she couldn't think. If that was to do with shock or the fact she probably hadn't been listening at the time she didn't know.

Finally Father Jace found what he was looking for – a small glass bottle with a screw cap, containing golden liquid as thin as water. He unscrewed it and gently pushed Donna aside, taking the Doctor's head in his palm and pressing the bottle to the Time Lord's lips, tipping it just enough for a tiny trickle to drop into his mouth. Donna watched with apprehension, seconds silently ticking away into the dust.

What happened next was so subtle that Donna almost missed it.

The lacerated skin of his skin slowly but surely began to knit back together, the blooded cut shrinking slowly back to a thin scar… The blood was still spilt from the infliction but now it was no longer bleeding, leaving a thin, 4-inch long scar around his throat before it stopped. Donna swallowed, confused and shocked at what she was seeing, regaining enough of her composure to reach out a hand to hover over his mouth and check he was breathing.

He wasn't.

"C'mon, Doctor…"

Instantly she started CPR, aware she was receiving some very strange looks from bystanders. She pumped both of his hearts ten times, before pinching his nose and opening his mouth, breathing life into him twice, reverting back to chest compressions. After a few moments he took in a breath and began to cough chestily, turning over onto his side with his hand on his throat. Donna sighed with relief as the villagers gasped around her, two people moving forward.

"Doctor," she said gently, resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He continued to cough, and Donna was not surprised to see specks of bright red blood appearing on the barren floor. When he was done he rolled back over and closed his eyes, head lolling to the side as he passed out once more. Donna quickly checked his hearts – only one beating. She hadn't really expected both, under the circumstances.

She turned to Father Jace, eyes wide and demanding. "What the bloody hell was that?" she wanted to know.

"Holy water," Father Jace replied, observing as the two villagers carefully shifted the Time Lord onto a blanket.

"That's the holiest water I've seen, mate!" Donna said, rounding on him with hands on hips. "Where'd you get it?"

Father Jace's eyes seemed to glaze over as a small smile appeared on his face, reminiscing. "Five years ago," he stated, as if it explained everything.

Donna didn't have a chance to reply to this as suddenly the Doctor began to cough uncontrollably, almost sounding like he was going to bring up a lung. He lurched wildly with each chesty cough before he finally made a choking sound and collapsed back down like a rag doll, an eerie silence following. Donna ran over to him and rested her hand on his chest – but she couldn't feel a soft thudding against her palm.

She cursed under her breath, restarting CPR until he kicked back into life. She wasn't about to let him die. For one thing, Donna didn't have a clue how to operate the TARDIS and she didn't fancy being stuck in 1259 AD for the rest of her life.

The TARDIS… where was the TARDIS? If… when, Donna hastily corrected herself, the Doctor woke up, he'd have to give her a point in the right direction. No doubt he'd need medical attention from a slightly more advanced age than the village had to offer, even if they did have suspicious all-healing sacred water.

His heart stopped four times en route back to the village, and each time Donna started it again she wondered more and more if she was doing the right thing.

Flashback…

Rose was thankful that the Doctor had managed to locate some pain relievers in his extensive pockets for the throbbing she could feel in her skull. She couldn't remember ever feeling a headache as bad as this one – not even Shareen's girls' nights out came close.

It had hurt too much to stand up, so the Doctor had carried her over to the stretcher he had previously been occupying and had made sure she was comfortable there. She couldn't make sense of what they were saying but the tone of the Doctor's smooth voice had been enough to reassure her everything was fine.

She must have gone to sleep for a while, because she'd closed her eyes for just one second, and when she opened them it was night. She looked up to see the Doctor sitting next to her, seemingly lost in thought as he stared at the midnight sky above. The light of the moon shone down through the trees onto his face, making him look exhausted yet handsome at the same time. She reached up a hand to touch his cheek and he blinked in surprise, looking down at her and smiling.

"How you feeling?" he asked lowly, resting his fingers on her neck.

"Like I got hit by a bowling ball."

The Doctor smiled gently. "Not that far off," was all he said, looking hesitant as he reached out to the right side of her head. She felt his cool fingers touch her skin, tentative; as if he was afraid it would hurt her.

"Does this hurt?" he asked. She frowned.

"No. Should it?"

"Yes." He continued to feel around her skull, grimacing as he worked. "A little scarring. That's permanent, I'm afraid."

"What happened?" she asked, reaching up to feel what he was feeling.

"What do you remember?"

Rose thought about this for a moment. "I pushed you out the way of something, then I turned 'round and then…" she trailed off, before managing to reinstate herself. "How did you save me?"

"I didn't, it was the bandit."

Rose frowned. "How…"

"I think," the Doctor interrupted, touching her head again. "Nanogenes."

Rose's frowned deepened even more. "What? From where?"

"That crashed vessel we found," the Doctor said. "The medical box was missing. Let's assume the alien, whoever they are, stagger off from their ship to the stream where they drop the medical pack, which springs open and the nanogene tube tumbles out and smashes on a rock. All the nanogenes are released into the stream. Further down the river, the bandits are collecting drinking water…"

"They got the nanogene water?"

He nodded. "They give it to the sick and begin to notice the powerful healing changes the water brings. Excited, they try it on fractures and lacerations to gain incredible instant results. Before you know it, a perfectly fit fighting force."

"And that's what you used on me?"

The Doctor nodded. "Not concentrated enough for full recovery…" He raised a smile. "…But good enough to bring you back."

"But the technology is completely out of its age…"

He nodded. "That's why we're heading to the bandit camp to get the rest of this nanogene infused water." He inclined with his head towards the left, Rose following to find a bandit lying snoring on the forest floor near Jack and the dying camp fire. "He's taking us." He let go of her head again and gave a gentle smile. "You should get some sleep."

"Stay with me?"

He grinned. "'Course." He pulled himself onto the makeshift stretcher with her, lying down and putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on his chest; precisely over his right heart so she could listen to the comforting beat as she drifted away into sleep.