He has to be fine! He has to!
"D-Doctor?" I stumbled, voice quivering.
He was groaning loudly and clutching his chest right over one of his hearts.
"What have you done?" I shouted at the older man.
Shock covered his face and the gun hung limply at his side.
"I— I didn't want to hurt him… but, Carol… my Carol." He whispered. "I need her."
I gave him a disgusted look and turned all of my attention back to the Doctor.
"Doctor, tell me what to do! How do I help you?"
"You can't," he said.
"No, no, no…" my words were so quiet, panic overwhelming me. "There has to be something. You can't regenerate yet, I'm not ready for Matt Smith!"
"No, really. There is nothing you can do," his teeth were gritted and he gave me a meaningful look.
When I glanced down at the area of his chest he was clutching I noticed something.
There wasn't any blood.
When I met his eyes again the Doctor winked. Relief flooded through me and I almost made a smart remark before he elbowed me.
"Distract him," the Doctor mouthed, and the feigned unconsciousness.
"You've killed him," I told the widow as I stood up.
"I—I—"
"That's just one more tally to your list of fatalities today. You have no idea what you have put this city through! The things I saw…"
"I have to get to Carol. I can't— it's supposed to be Carol and Edwin, forever."
"How do you think Carol would feel about all of those people you essentially killed to bring her here? Will that please her? Do you think she'll actually be proud of you?" I asked, slowly walking a circle around him.
He turned unconsciously, following me, and let the Doctor's body out of his line of sight.
"She'll understand, I'll make her," Edwin said, and resolution seemed to settle over him once again. "I want you to go now."
He tightened his grip on the gun in his limp hand.
"No, I'm not leaving my friend."
"He's dead, no need for you to join him."
Edwin raised the gun again, this time aiming at me.
"Wait! You… you could get him back. W-when you go to get Carol."
Behind him, the Doctor quietly stood up and approached the dimensional manipulator's controls.
Edwin let out a derisive snort of laughter.
"You're quite the hypocrite for being so damned judgmental. Why should I save him?"
"He is the best man I have ever known, and the bravest. He deserves so much more than— than this," my voice cracked, and I realized that I wasn't faking the sentiment.
The widow's brow creased.
"You care for him, don't you? And I don't mean as a friend."
I wanted to argue, and point out that I really hardly knew the Doctor, but doing so would only raise questions.
"I—yes. I care for him a great deal. I don't know where I would be without him. He has… brightened my whole life. Made me believe in things I never thought possible. He is amazing, and you can save him."
Edwin let the gun droop a little.
"I don't know. It's going to be tricky enough to just save—"
Behind him, the Doctor twisted knobs and flipped switches with ease, causing the machine to grow silent.
Edwin flipped around at the loss of noise, swinging the gun back up. Without giving it a second thought I charged him and tackled him to the floor. The gun went sliding across the tiles and landed at the Doctor's feet. He quickly bent down to scoop the weapon up and dismantled it smoothly, tossing parts all over the room.
"Well, now that we have that settled, what do we do with you?" the Doctor asked, looking down at Edwin.
Edwin shoved me aside and sat up, giving the Doctor a deadly glare.
"You had better kill me, because as soon as you leave I'll turn that machine right back on."
The Doctor gave him a considering look and nodded.
"Right you are. So, maybe…"
The Doctor turned back to the machine, fiddled with the controls once more, and then withdrew his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the large glass cylinder. The cylinder exploded, sending glass shards everywhere. The three metal rods went shooting out at high speed, one lodging into the wall.
"That will slow you down."
"No! No!"
Edwin launched off of the ground, much quicker then you would imagine for a man of his age, and hurled himself at the Doctor. He slipped on a shard of glass from the cylinder and fell forward.
The Doctor reflexively moved out of the way of his attacker, and Edwin fell towards the wall, landing on the metal post jutting from it.
My hands flew up and covered my face as I gasped.
The post had impaled him.
Edwin was dead.
The Doctor looked on in shock.
"I didn't mean for that to happen," he whispered, guilt marring his features.
"It was an accident," I told him. "I know you didn't plan that."
He studied the body for another moment and then, as I had seen him do on so many episodes, he tucked his feelings and guilt away.
"We should get out of here. I need to get back to the TARDIS."
"What happened? Did you fix it, what the machine did?" I asked.
"I patched it. I reversed most of the effects, so the Ibachi have been sent back where they belong. It will be fixed permanently after I return through the door. This universe will be completely sealed off again."
"Oh," I said sadly.
"Let's hurry. I'd like to ask you some questions when we get back."
The Doctor waved towards the door and signaled me ahead of him.
I don't think he realized I glanced back to check on him, and noticed the tear trailing down his cheek as he looked on Edwin's body.