For the first few hours, the Doctor slept peacefully against Jack's side. It was several hours in, though, that he became restless in his sleep. During that time, he tossed and turned several times groaning and mumbling to himself while never fully waking up. Martha watched on as the Doctor threw a leg over Jack's body before pushing himself up on to his chest. He shifted until he was practically laying completely on Jack in an effort to get more comfortable. Jack didn't stop nor assist him as he squirmed. Instead, he just moved the oxygen mask so that the Doctor was still benefiting from it while continuing to hold his lover.
"Do you have to put up with this every night?" Martha questioned at one point as the Doctor buried his head against Jack's neck trying to avoid the cool air blowing on his face. Martha clipped an oxygen reader to his finger as Jack laughed softly.
"I told you I wanted my own bed," Jack complained half-heartedly as he pretended to pout. In reality, he loved the fact the Time Lord cuddled and laid on him while sleeping. It was when the Doctor had nightmares that it became a problem. Jack had already dealt with the Doctor lashing out more than once as he hit and kicked in his sleep. Jack forgave him for the bruises and scratches, though, as how could he be mad at the Doctor for trying to defend himself from what was scaring him. He just hoped that the Doctor would forgive him as well if he ever became violent in his sleep.
With the Doctor calm again, Jack lay there trapped beneath him until he settled down. His oxygen levels were still lower than normal so Jack moved him so that he could be provided with the mask again. He complained half-heartedly as Jack eased him off his chest, cuddling him close. With Jack's arms holding him tightly, he drifted back off into a deeper sleep and remained that way for the rest of the night. It was over seven hours from the time of his collapse before the Doctor finally began to wake. Jack could feel the stirrings of the Time Lord's mind waking up within his own. It was a strange feeling to get used to and the first time he felt it, it had confused him. He wasn't sure how he could be waking up when he was already awake. It was until he heard the Doctor groan that he realized it was the Doctor's mind that he was feeling. He ran his hand through the Doctor's hair comfortingly.
"Martha we are going to need a cup of tea here soon," Jack whispered to her. She nodded not questioning how he knew that the Doctor was waking up as she went to make the tea. A short time after she left the room, the Doctor sniffled several times scrunching his nose at the cool air. He rubbed his face against Jack's chest as he reached out to bat the oxygen mask away. Missing the first time, he tried again knocking it to the floor. With the dreaded thing gone, he pulled on Jack's arm to move it closer to his body, smacked his lips. "I guess you don't need that anymore?"
"No," The Doctor answered softly. "I don't like it."
"I know you don't sweethearts but it was helping you to breathe last night," Jack explained to him. The Doctor opened his eyes to look up at his lover. The first thing he realized was that he wasn't in his bedroom like he thought, but in the medi-bay. He furrowed his brow as he tried to figure out what happened. The last thing he remembered clearly was running in his garden with Osiris beside him. He vaguely could see Martha poking and prodding him, except that she had done that so many times in the past that he couldn't be sure it was from last night.
"Did I have another seizure?" The Doctor asked his voice flat and defeated sounding.
"No, I can assure you that you didn't have another seizure. You did however collapse because you thought that you were ready to run several miles while your body is still recovering," Jack chastised him gently.
"I like running," the Doctor answered.
"I know you do," Jack replied.
"And while you are allowed to run as much as you want, I would refrain from pushing yourself to keep running after you have already collapsed once," Martha informed him as she entered the medi-bay. The Doctor turned to glare at her, but she had a cup of tea as well as a banana in her hand. He still was grumpy with her as he excepted his morning cup. "I know you want your life to be back to normal Doctor, except you are still recovering from the damage that you caused it. While I can help you to manage the seizures and get your strength back, I can only help you if you listen to me."
"I'm trying to listen to you," The Doctor snipped irritably. He wanted to throw the cup of tea at her. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that as much as he wanted to throw it, he wanted to drink it more.
"I know you are. And so to reward you for your effort, I am going to allow you to take Jack on a short trip in a few days." A smile spread across his face as hope filled his eyes as she spoke. "I will allow this trip to be in the TARIS on two conditions."
"Which is?" The Doctor questioned, the hope in his eyes gone as quickly as it appeared.
"One, you stay in bed and rest today. And two, you are only gone for a couple of hours, both my time and yours. I also ask that you go somewhere that is relatively peaceful and try not to run for your life," Martha replied. The hope was back in the Doctor's eyes as he nodded.
"Alright," he agreed the conditions were easy enough. He really didn't feel like moving much today anyways and as long as Jack was allowed to lay with him, he could stay in bed today. He could use the time to plan where he wanted to take his lover as he had so many ideas. The white beaches of Chora would be a good place to relax. Or he could take him to Tigadra, not to return Osiris but to purchase food that was good for him. They could even go to the shining star of the Third Moon, so Jack could see his heritage. The possibilities were endless. He sipped his tea happily and snacked on his banana as he thought. He didn't even argue as he was given his new daily pill known as tri-teta. It was a more advanced version of the first pill, except this one focused specifically on the energy stored in the brain and not the entire body. The Doctor took it as he wondered how many more pills they would have to try before his body responded the way they wanted it to.
He was completely lost in his thoughts when he felt Jack trying to slip out of the bed. He clung to him confused for a moment until he saw a familiar looking man standing in the door of the medi-bay. Letting go of Jack, he gave him a soft kiss on the lips before turning onto his side. He called Osiris up to him and Osiris flopped against him without complaint. Pulling the blankets up, he curled up underneath them using Osiris as a heater since Jack had to leave the room during their sessions. Osiris didn't mind as he was getting a chest scratching out of the deal as he laid sprawled on his side against the Doctor's chest and stomach.
"If I would have known that we were having a lazy day today, I would have worn my pajamas," Ian commented as he took his seat next to the bed.
"Martha is making me relax today. If you would like, though, I am sure that the TARDIS can provide you a pair of pajamas that would fit you," The Doctor commented. Ian laughed.
"Maybe another time," Ian responded. They talked for a little while about the trip that the Doctor was planning on taking in the next few days, but what Ian really wanted to know was how the Doctor's relationship with Jack was going. They had already discussed the bond that the two of them shared and Ian had agreed with Jack that the Doctor should have gotten his permission first. It made Ian worried that Jack was going to push the Doctor away so he was trying to monitor how they were doing without forcing the Doctor to talk about it every session.
"Now, this bond that you two share is sort of like a marriage," Ian stated. The Doctor shook his head no.
"It is closer than a marriage. In my culture, you can be bonded to someone without being married and you can be married without being bonded. I have been married before but I never bonded with any of my wives," The Doctor admitted to Ian. His very first marriage had been an arranged marriage and he had never really loved his wife. He had only married her to make his father happy. It hadn't worked as his father still looked down on him as being a bad Time Lord. In the end, he had spent many unhappy years with her before finally running away.
"I was married once too," Ian stated leaning back in his chair. He didn't wait for the Doctor to ask what happened as he knew the question would never come. "We were married for ten years before we got divorced after I found out that she was cheating on me with the pool boy,"
"I'm sorry," the Doctor told him sounding genuinely sorry that his marriage didn't work out.
"Don't be. I should have seen it coming years before we actually got divorced. I mean we didn't even have a pool," Ian exclaimed. Rather than laugh, the Doctor smiled tiredly at him. Rather than continue to focus on Jack, he continued discussing marriage asking if the Doctor had ever had children with any of his wives. The Doctor, though, didn't want to discuss children and his mood quickly went from tolerant to grumpy. Mumbling something in Gallifreyan, he pulled the blanket up over his head and proceeded to ignore Ian the rest of the hour. If there was one thing he didn't like talking about, it was the children he lost on Gallifrey that day. Without even thinking about it, he slowly began to count.