To Call Our Own (3/36)

[amberfocus]

Chapter Three:  Naya

Rose had fallen asleep in the infirmary chair again and Jack and Donna had gone to bed. The soft whisper of her name woke her. “Rose?”

“Hello,” she said, blinking rapidly to clear her eyes.

“Hello,” the Doctor said back with a soft smile.

“You slept for a long time.” He reached out and touched her forehead, smoothing away the worry lines there.

“Healing takes a lot out of me. What’s happened?” The Doctor let his hand move down to cup the side of her face and she moved into it, turning her head slightly to kiss his palm, before he let is slip back to his side.

“We’ve got the cure put together and we’ve got our first trial right over there.” Rose nodded across the room.

“Who?” he asked.

“Naya. Silvenn and Martra are dead. Naya helped Jack escape but she was in the first stage of plague.”

“You’re sure she was in the first stage?” the Doctor’s voice was worried.

“Yes. She had lesions, but none of them had blistered or burst.” He sighed with relief at her words.

“And what of Travenn?” And his voice had gone cold.

“I don’t know.”

“He’s immune.” The melodic voice of Naya came from behind Rose. She turned to look at the young girl who was rising from her cot. “My father’s immune,” she repeated coming to stand on the far side of the Doctor.

“Your lesions look better,” Rose said.

“Your cure is working then.”

“Naya, can you tell us what happened?” the Doctor asked.

“From the beginning?” He nodded. “There was a war. Well, it’s Dirindia so there’s always a war, it seems,” she sighed. “It was my father’s fault. We were on the edge of peace with the Dirsans. I had gone with the ambassador of Rindin as a sign of good faith. My mother’s idea.” Naya frowned as she spoke of Martra. “And it was a good one.

“I met with their king Madon and his son, prince Tiron. They were good people, Doctor, and as weary of the war as my mother was. ‘We war out of habit,’ Madon told me. He asked me, me mind you, what my opinion was of this empty war and I told him I would do anything to live with peace amongst our peoples.”

“He asked me if I would marry his son to form a familial bond between the Dirsans and the Rindi. Tiron was a good man, he was kind and he was intelligent and he treated all persons as if they had value. I had no objection to marrying the man, nor to having children with him to cement the loyalties between us. He was a far better man than who my father had planned to marry me off to and my life would have been much easier with the Dirsans.”

Naya took in a deep breath, trying not to let a tiny sob escape when she exhaled. “My father agreed to the pact and the treaty, but he wanted to meet the prince first. So Tiron and the ambassador of Dirsa came back with us. When we got home, my father threw Tiron in a cell and infected Dalys, the ambassador, with this plague the medical men found in the archives. He watched as Dalys died a most horrible and painful death. Then he sent the body back to Dirsa.”

She shuddered. “Within days ten percent of their population was infected. Within a week 25 percent had been infected with a fifteen percent kill rate. And then plague hit us. By the end of the first month Dirsa had lost thirty percent of its population and we had lost ten. We had medicine that could slow the spread of the plague, but no cure. I helped Tiron escape to the mountains, but I never heard from him again. I do not know if he escaped unaffected, and since I became so, he may have contracted it as well. I fear he is simply dead.”

“My mother is dead, my brother is dead, the ambassador is dead and my father made sure there was a vaccine for him and those he did not wish dead to survive. He did not give it to me or anyone in my family except my eldest brother Vandarian. Vand is sick at heart. It was he who helped me to free Tiron, he who stole back the tool to release Jack, and he who gave me access to the horses at night to leave Rindin. He is a good man, my brother. He would have agreed to peace.” She trailed off, her eyes blinking back tears she would not permit to fall.

“My brother told me of the final ingredient to the cure, the stalactite in the Pavorial Mountains, and we need to get the cure to the Dirsans. They are innocent in this. We have to save them. And then if there is enough left over, we need to help my people.”

“That explains a lot,” the Doctor said. “We’ll leave for Dirsa in the morning. For now, you must try to get some more sleep, let the cure run its course.”

“I will, Doctor.” Naya returned to her cot and the Doctor turned his eyes back to Rose.

“And how are you doing, love?” he asked her. “Are you taking care of yourself or just everyone else?”

“I’ve eaten and I’ve slept,” Rose said running her hand over her face. “And now that you seem through the worst of it, I’ll sleep better.” She stood up and took a look under the dressing on his leg. “That’s healing nicely. You may not even have a scar.” Her hand went self-consciously to her right collar bone, fingering her own scar.

“You know I can fix that if it still bothers you,” the Doctor said noting the gesture.

“No,” Rose said shaking her head. “Souvenir of the old days, that’s all. Battle scar.”

Rose looked down at her watch. “Time to run you through the tissue regenerator again.” He watched as she set everything up, flipped the appropriate switches, and made sure the light beam focused on the correct area.

“When did you learn that?”

“When you were out. Jack taught me how. I think we all need to know how to run the equipment in here now. As it was, Donna had to stitch you up until we got back to Jack. Which someone ought to teach me how to do. If you’re incapacitated and Jack’s not around, I need to be able to do this.” Rose gave him an unyielding look and he nodded.

“Was planning on it, love. We’ve just been so busy since you got back and then the baby…” He smiled as his thoughts wandered off for a moment.

“The baby is exactly why I need to know,” she said seriously. “Now, are you in pain?”

“No. My system’s kicked in already and the repairs are well on their way. I shouldn’t need anymore now. How long has Jack been asleep for?” the Doctor wanted to know.

“Since the last scan. About four hours.”

“He should have had enough then. Why don’t you wake him to come stay in the infirmary and watch over Naya and me and you go get some decent rest in a real bed?” the Doctor asked gently.

“You know, you have a bad habit of trying to get rid of me when the going gets tough,” she said shaking her head no at him. “Besides,” she added when he began to protest, “I’ve gotten used to sleeping in that bed with you. I don’t think I can do it without you.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I can sleep here just fine,” she said.

The Doctor gave in, reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss the knuckles. “As long as the baby is okay, I guess you can sleep wherever you want.”

“Thanks,” said Rose with a smile. “I intend to. And that is going to be wherever you are, so just get used to it. You gave me quite a scare today and I’m not leaving you.”

The Doctor smiled. His wife was as stubborn today as the day he first met her, and he wouldn’t change that for anything.

Ch. 4:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/64362.html