STORIES

TWENTYNINE

Something woke her up. A soft sound or the slightest of movements. She opened her eyes only to see The Doctor standing over her, his soft, soulful gaze unhurriedly taking in her face.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi. How are you feeling?"

She tenderly repositioned herself a little on the crèche. "Um, not so good I guess."

"Yeah, I figured."

"What happened?"

He shrugged. "Apparently you passed out. I actually didn't see it."

"Oh dear."

"Yes, right. Oh dear, indeed. Well… welcome to the club." He smiled at her, his eyes dancing.

"Ah! You too, then?"

"Yes. Again, apparently… Although from what I understand, I didn't shock Jack when I hit the floor nearly as much as you did."

"Hmm…"

"So, congratulations!"

"Thanks."

"Well, yeah, perhaps I need to identify and deploy an alternative attention-grabbing tactic. Maybe tantrums? Or sulking? I think our dashing Captain is getting tired of picking me up off the ground. In fact, this time he didn't even bother. He waited until your ship did it for him."

She laughed but then her laugh morphed into a weak cough.

His eyes became serious. "What happened to you?"

"I was captured."

"Captured?"

"By some nefarious people."

"Ah. Looks like you put up quite a fight."

She closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds then opened them again. He was still there. She was pretty sure it wasn't a dream although she felt… strange. On the cusp of a hallucination. "I actually don't remember it. I don't remember getting most of these injuries. I just remember the epilogue of the story, when I was rescued, but even that is more than a little fuzzy. The doctor," she smiled wanly, "or rather my physician told me that maybe I would never remember what happened, and that perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing to not remember it."

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully. "I can see that. Nefarious people you say?"

"Yes, some people we – John and I – had been trying to help."

"That'll teach you," he smiled grimly. "No good deed goes unpunished! So what was the problem? They weren't appreciative?"

She winced at the memory. "We sort of fucked things up. Our intentions were good, but Time got away from us."

"Ah, Time!"

"Yes, Time. The great enemy… The great ally… We botched it, Doctor."

"Well… but if your intentions…"

She shook her head. "Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions, it is walled and roofed with them, as Huxley said. No, Doctor, we made a mess of things. Still…"

"Still, that was no justification for them doing this to you, Wil. You know that. What they did to you bothers the hell out of me; I can only imagine how Jack reacted when he saw you. You look…" he shook his head and smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes, "pretty badly beaten up."

"I know. And I am. But it's nothing terribly serious – a few bumps and bruises, a mild concussion, a couple of cracked ribs, a broken arm, and a little minor internal damage. Nothing that won't heal. Nothing to worry about…" The length of the list and the onset of silent tears belied her last assertion.

"Do you mind if I sit down next to you?" he asked softly. She shook her head and tried to smile as she shifted to make room for him. A jolt of pain shook her and she gasped.

He studied her face with deep concern as he sat and gently took her hand in his. "Wil, I have something important to tell you."

She blinked, "What? What is it? Am I going to die?"

"No, you're not dying. But Wil, you've lost the baby."

"The what?"

"The child, Wil. You've lost the child you were carrying."

She was dead silent, inert, her face expressionless, despite the fact that her universe had just imploded.

His eyes flashed, "Don't play games with me. It doesn't suit you. Did John know?"

She shook her head as she began to quietly weep. "I never told him. I didn't have the chance. I'd only just realized it myself a day or two before. I wasn't even totally sure, yet."

He studied her sadly. "You took a terrible risk, not only with yourself, but with a defenseless unborn child. Two incredibly valuable, unique, precious individuals. Wil… I know it's an understatement but you need to be more careful."

"Oh, look who's talking! You and that energy cell! You really need to stop doing that, you know."

"Is this conversation about me? I didn't think it was about me."

She closed her eyes and he let her cry for several minutes as he sat holding her hand.

Eventually he wrapped his arms around her until she quieted.

"Don't be angry with me," she hiccupped.

He leaned back and looked into her eyes. "Oh, I'm not angry with you, Wil. That's not my place. And I'm not here to teach you morality. It's just… well, who's going to tell you these things if I don't? John? Jack?" He shook his head sadly, "In a way, I feel responsible for you."

She made a low choking sound that in the due course of time he realized was laughter.

The Doctor nodded toward his crèche, "Um, I'm going to go back to over there now."

She closed her eyes and did not sleep.