The locked door was smashed open with a loud bang.
Ianto's shoulder ached from the brutal impact of breaking down the door. They had tried knocking and shouting initially, but it had been futile. The door had been locked from the inside. When Ianto entered the room, he rushed forward and yanked Keris away from Jack. She struggled to free herself, her eyes dazed and confused, but Ianto's arms were tightly wrapped around her body.
Nurse Richards had followed him into the room, clearly shocked by one of her most trusted nurses' wild behaviour.
"Would you please open the window?" Ianto spoke over Keris's pleading to let him go. Despite his lower status, Nurse Richards obeyed his request at once.
While Ianto tried to calm Keris, Nurse Richards regained control of herself and focused on Jack, buttoning his nightgown and pulling the duvet up to his chin.
"I am shocked," Nurse Richards said flatly to Keris with open disgust. "I've never expected such unruly behaviour!"
The nurse's stern voice brought the young woman back to her senses, and she stopped struggling. As she leaned against Ianto, tears welled up in her eyes. He slowly loosened his grip around her waist and sat her on a chair. Keris was a picture of misery, sitting there with her hands in her lap and tears streaming down her cheeks as she cried.
Ianto was angry with himself. He should have returned earlier. His search for Nurse Richards had taken longer than expected. At least his concern had led her to check on Nurse Clarke and her patient immediately.
Ianto didn't want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't decided to intervene.
The following day, Ianto ran into Keris on his way to the kitchen. When Ianto asked how she was feeling, she looked at him, puzzled.
"Doctor Winslow said I had some sort of stress-related breakdown last night," she shook her head, disappointed."I don't remember anything; it's very strange. He said I'm not up to the required task." she sighed, a sad expression on her face, and made her way to the day room to begin her work shift.
A hormonal breakdown would be a better description, Ianto thought uneasily. He couldn't believe Jack's 51st-century pheromones could wreak such havoc. He'd experienced them often enough in the past but never as intensely as this.
Obviously, it was much harder for these women to deal with the emotional turmoil caused by their out-of-control hormones. Especially in a repressed decade like the 1950s. Not that it was any excuse for their behaviour.
Now that Keris had been relieved of her duties, Ianto assumed Lynn would be next in line. He must admit that the young woman had grown on him since he started working at the hospital. They got along well, and he felt like they connected. Nothing suggested she would fare any better than the two women who had gone before her. Ianto couldn't help but worry.
Much to his surprise, he was called to Nurse Richards's office shortly after breakfast.
"Good morning, Nurse Jones," the Chief Nurse greeted him as he entered the room.
Lynn Hopkins stood in the hallway, watching as Ianto was called into Nurse Richards' office.
She was angry.
She was supposed to be the next. The hierarchy should matter, but she was overlooked as if her hard work and dedication to the hospital meant nothing.
Ianto had been here for about two weeks? Two weeks! It was ridiculous. Whatever the reasons the other two nurses had failed, she was confident she could have done an excellent job.
Besides the fact that he was a man, what qualified Ianto to do a better job than her? It certainly wasn't his experience or professional training. Lynn huffed. Most of all, she was disappointed in herself. She had allowed herself to like him. He was unlike any other man she had ever met. They had gotten along so well. She'd even allowed herself to believe they could be more than colleagues.
And now he walked right over her, robbing her of the chance to be in Nurse Richards' good graces—selfish jerk.
The claws of disappointment dug deep into her heart. She felt her eyes burn as she stared at the now-closed door. You're not going to cry, Nurse Hopkins! she scolded herself. Defiantly she held her head high, turned around and walked back into the day room. She planned to bury the rest of her day at work.
Chief Nurse Richards had summoned Ianto to her office to inform him of his new responsibilities regarding Jack Harkness.
"I appreciate you bringing Nurse Clarke's strange behaviour to my attention. It saddens me that neither Nurse Edwards nor she were able to handle their responsibilities," she expressed her disappointment.
"I am horrified by what happened," Ianto said in agreement.
"Quite rightly you should," sighed Nurse Richards. "They're both good nurses, but some men have a negative influence on innocent women. It wouldn't make sense to waste another and another. That's why I would like to give you the responsibility from now on."
"Is it true that he's immortal?" Ianto asked, putting as much awe into his voice as possible.
"It seems so. A true freak of nature. Doctor Winslow is eager to learn more. He is a coriphae in the field of psychology and surgery and he has started to conduct a wide range of experiments. If you ask me, I think immortality is a gift from the devil. Nurse Edwards agrees with me," Glynis Richards shrugged.
She nervously pinned a stray strand of hair in her bun. She was more stressed by the situation than she wanted to admit.
"We shouldn't waste any more time," she said, looking at the wall clock, "so I'll bring you to Mr Harkness' room and familiarise you with your duties."
When Ianto was finally alone with Jack, he double-checked his vitals and the medications on the small medicine trolley beside the bed. He was so relieved that circumstances worked in his favour and had finally led him here. For a moment, he observed Jack's exhausted features. He could only begin to imagine what he had to endure since they'd arrived at the asylum.
After the incident with Keris, all further appointments with the Doctor were postponed, and even more sedatives were administered. It would take hours to awaken him, and Ianto knew he couldn't wait that long. There was also the possibility that the pheromones were causing havoc due to the sedatives wearing off. Ianto wasn't ready to deal with anything like that again anytime soon. He wracked his brain, but there seemed to be only one solution. The one he hated the most. Killing Jack. It would snap him out of this deep sleep immediately.
Ianto sighed and reached for Jack's pillow. He took a moment to collect himself before placing the soft fabric over Jack's face and pressing down. Ianto hoped Jack wouldn't feel anything because of the tranquillisers. After a few minutes, Ianto removed the pillow and checked his pulse. Jack was dead.
Ianto slumped next to him on the bed. Then he took one hand in both of his and waited.
Much to Ianto's relief, Jack revived only five minutes later. Disoriented, he looked around until his gaze was drawn to Ianto's thumb, gently stroking his hand.
"Ianto?" Jack asked, confused, and looked up at him, wide-eyed. "Ianto, what are you doing here?"
Ianto had had occasional contact with Jack recently, but only when he was sedated. He clearly could not remember any of it. Jack managed with some difficulty to prop himself up on his elbows. Why was Ianto wearing a light blue nursing uniform?
The young man looked at him with a relieved expression. He tapped his chest tag with a smirk. "According to this name tag, I'm Nurse Jones and I work for Westwood Mental Asylum."
"What? Why?" Ianto didn't make any sense.
The young man exasperatedly rolled his eyes. "I'm here to rescue you, Jack!"
Jack looked at him, still confused. Then he rattled at his leather cuffs and remembered grudgingly that he desperately needed rescuing. Exhausted, he sank back onto the bed.
"I'm glad you're here," Jack said, his voice laced with desperation.
Without wasting another word, Ianto leaned down and captured Jack's lips for the searing kiss he longed for.