Chapter 27 - Repercussions
The Master and the Doctor were currently in separate rooms of the recently installed Torchwood medical area, having been comatose since the moment they had arrived six hours ago. They had both stopped breathing, slipping into – what Martha had suspected to be – healing comas. Rose had only agreed to be torn from the Doctor's side after an hour to have some food, and consequently explain what had gone on.
So she'd told the entire ordeal from start to finish, and thankfully Leah had stayed with her father so Rose could tell it truly for what it had been. Several times during it she had to stop to try and stifle her tears, but every time she couldn't hold them in. But they were all safe now... weren't they? After the yelling the Doctor had given him would the Shadow Proclamation come back?
Martha had insisted on scanning both her and Leah to check for any damage, and while Leah was perfectly healthy, Rose's plight became apparent. Somehow the Proclamation had speeded up her pregnancy, and she had advanced from 7 weeks gestation to 29 weeks in only two months. The baby seemed fine, but Martha knew Rose had to know the truth. Advancing the pregnancy may have done untold damage to the baby boy, but there was no telling the full extent of any damage done until he came out.
The Doctor was sitting by a very bright River Lethe, gazing out at its watery depths. It was now a place that only existed in his memories – just another place burnt with his home planet. He recalled how he and Koschei used to play here, skipping lessons to run through the fields, making up games, just enjoying life.
No, he'd never ask for it back in exchange for what he had now, but that wasn't to say he didn't miss that time of his life. It was a time when life was simple; a time when everything was about fun. There hadn't been the fate of a world on his shoulders every week, he hadn't known death, sorrow and rage on a daily basis, a time when the word 'Dalek' was a sound he made whilst clearing his nose.
Oh, if only little Theta had known what he would have to endure in his life. Every little nuance of life as a wanderer, a renegade, a warrior, an assassin, a murderer. If he had known, maybe when he had faced the untempered schism he might have run away a little further.
"Hello, Theta," a voice cut through his thoughts, and he looked up to find Koschei standing there, looking as he had all those years ago.
"Koschei?" the Doctor asked, confused. "Am I dead?"
"No," Koschei said, taking a seat next to him beside the river. "You're just in a healing coma."
The Doctor mused on what that meant. "Retreating to a nice, safe, painless place in my mind," he summarised.
"Glad to be a part of that," Koschei replied, grinning. "But you know... I don't exist anymore."
"I know," the Doctor replied sadly, looking at the ground. "You aren't who the Master is now. Koschei never came back, it was just the façade of a guilty man."
Koschei nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm dead, you know that, Thete."
The Doctor sniffed slightly, wiping at his eyes. "I miss you, Koschei."
Koschei rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know."
For a moment they just sat together, the both of them looking out over the bumbling river. After a few seconds Koschei got to his feet. "You're about to wake up, my cue to leave."
"Will I ever see you again?" the Doctor asked.
Koschei shook his head. "No. I'm sorry. Goodbye, Thete. Look after your family."
The Doctor nodded. "I will. Goodbye, Koschei."
"Bye," Koschei said, waving a farewell hand over his shoulder before he walked off and disappeared in a cloud of nothingness.
The Master had been awake for three hours now and all evidence of Koschei seemed to have vanished, while the Doctor showed no signs of stirring. As the Master half-walked, half-dragged himself into the Doctor's room at 6pm, the tortured Time Lord was still comatose.
He looked awful – injured, weak and ill. But to the Master, he looked more... defenceless.
He gazed down at the battered Doctor, staring at the tubes going into him, connecting to several machines around him. Then he saw the plug in the wall, powering the machines. He considered it for a moment, reaching forward to rest his hand on it making ready to pull, staring at the Doctor...
But he didn't even twitch.
The Master frowned. "This is too easy. You're no fun like this," he muttered. "You'd better live."
He took his hand off of the plug.
"What are you doing?" a voice suddenly demanded from the doorway.
The Master looked up. "Ah, girly and blonde-girly," he greeted.
"Get away from him," Rose spat as she as Martha strode forward to stand next to the Doctor.
"Oh so I save his life, your life and save little Doctor spawn one and two's lives and that's still not enough to get in your good books. I'm so sad. Boo-hoo," he said insincerely.
"He saved your life too," Martha pointed out, checking the Doctor was still breathing well.
"Regrettably," the Master added.
Rose stroked back the Doctor's hair, kissing him lightly on the lips as she took his hand and held on tightly. She looked up at the Master, her face instantly turning from compassion to hate in the drop of a hat. "You're pathetic," she spat. "He's worth a million times what you are. I don't care what he says, because he'd be so against me sayin' that. You don't even deserve to know him. You might have saved our lives but that wasn't out of compassion, you did it because you wanted to make him like you so next time you can bring him straight back down again. I can't believe you'd do this to him after what he went through for you in the Time Academy."
The Master looked slightly uncomfortable. "You know?"
"Of course I know," Rose said rudely. "He's told me everythin', because he loves me and I love him, and he trusts me. Not that you'd have a clue what that means."
"And that is what makes him weak."
"No, it makes him stronger. He can tell me anythin', he knows that, and takin' that weight off of his mind has made him happier and as far away as possible from being you, because you're weak and pathetic. I'll stand you being here for as long as he's happy with it, because I trust his judgement, but I still don't like you and I never will. Just look at what you've done to him," she said, gesturing to the Doctor's broken body. "But you know what? You might've broken his body but he's still fine inside. You've failed."
The Master didn't even have the opportunity to reply to this as the Doctor suddenly groaned, blinking open his eyes, staring up at Rose.
"Rose?" he croaked.
"Oh, Our Lord awakens," the Master said insincerely with an uncaring wave of his hand, shuffling out the door.
Rose ignored him. "How are you feeling? Okay?"
"Yeah," he murmured. "London Marathon's tomorrow, isn't it? Might enter that."
Rose smiled and kissed him, squeezing his hand. It warmed her heart and negated most of her worries to see him looking a little better. Almost like things seemed completely normal.
"Do you need more painkillers?" Martha asked.
"No, comfortably numb, thank you," he replied quietly. "How bad am I?"
Martha steeled herself for her reply, trying to make it more clinical than emotional. "I've stitched up the worst of your cuts, put cooling gel on your burns and you're on drips for malnutrition and dehydration. I managed to find some blood bags of yours in the TARDIS so you're on that too. I used the osteo-regenerator on you for your broken bones so no getting out of this bed for 48 hours and no saving the universe for at least two weeks."
"Yes, Dr. Jones," the Doctor replied tiredly.
"And as a doctor... I have to ask," she began, slightly nervous. "Do you need any sort of... counselling?"
To her utter surprise, he burst out laughing. "900 years of sticking my nose into other people's lives, it's not like this hasn't happened to me before. I'm fine. I don't even remember half of it anyway."
She nodded, spreading a supportive smile.
"How's Leah?" he asked.
"I scanned her earlier for any physical damage, she's fine," Martha told him.
"Where is she?" the Doctor asked, noticing she wasn't in the room.
"She got a stomach ache earlier, so I gave her a hot water bottle, chicken soup and put her to bed. She made me sit with her until she fell asleep," Rose said, laughing. "She'll be mad if she wakes up and I'm not there."
"Good," he murmured with a smile. "And how's the Master?"
"All right," Rose muttered.
The Doctor noted her tone. "He's awake, then."
Martha jumped in before Rose could say another word on the subject. "He's healing fast, moving around at least. I think he's too proud to take the painkillers I offer him, though."
"Yeah, sounds like him," the Doctor croaked. "I really need to pee."
"I'll leave that to your wife," Martha said, smiling at Rose. "Call me if you need anything that doesn't involve your penis."
"Will do," the Doctor replied tiredly as Martha left and Rose fetched a hand-held urinal from the nearby drawers, setting to work. "I need a haircut," he noted, reaching up to grasp his hair, pulling it in front of his eyes.
"And a shave," Rose added. "Do you want me to do a makeover tomorrow?"
"Why does that sound like you want to crimp my hair and curl my eyelashes?" he wondered.
Rose grinned. "Offer's there."
"I'll take it," he replied, smiling as she slipped the urinal under the covers. His eyes flickered to her pregnant belly, and instinctively reached out to press a hand against it. She looked at him as he looked at her questioningly.
She took a breath. "Martha scanned me earlier. The Shadow Proclamation did something... I've gone from 7 weeks to 29 weeks in two months."
The Doctor bit his lip, running his hand through his hair.
Rose swallowed, looking at his expression. "... Don't make that face."
The Doctor blinked, snapping out of it. "What face?"
"The 'well we could be dead by 5 o'clock if I don't figure this out' face."
He snorted with laughter. "Sorry."
There was a paused as she retrieved the urinal, cleaning up before moving back to the bed to sit beside him. "Do... Do you think he's okay?"
The Doctor paused, thinking for a moment. "Can't really tell until he's born. He'll probably be fine."
She gazed at him. He was serious.
"Besides," he continued. "Whatever damage has been done, we can handle it."
She nodded, and leant forward to kiss him as she clasped his hand in hers for a moment, just feeling it there. The shape, the feel, the warmth. "... I thought I'd never see or talk to you again."
He offered a wan smile. "So did I."
"But what you said to Martha..." She paused for a moment. "... Are you really okay?"
"No," he replied quietly.
She kissed him again, hugging his head and throwing love through the bond. "When you feel a bit better, we can talk about everythin' that happened."
"I'd like that."
She kissed him again. "You should get some sleep."
He yawned. "Yeah. And you need to go back to Leah before she wakes up."
She smiled, squeezing his hand. "Good night."
"Nighty night," he replied tiredly, closing his eyes. For a moment Rose remained where she was, just watching him. Then she rose from her chair, and left.