You Reap What You Sow (34&35 of 45)

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Chapter Thirty-four:  Five Minutes on a Stopwatch

The heart monitor’s line went flat and Jack started the stopwatch with a flick of his thumb. The scream from the conference room made the Doctor’s head whip around, and he felt the link with his son flare into life as the baby shrieked out his pain and despair. He sensed, too, the tiny life growing in his wife’s body as it struggled and writhed within her womb.

“I need you here, Doctor!” Owen said sharply as the Doctor stepped away from Donna.

“I’ll check on it,” said Gwen.

“Ten seconds,” said Jack, his eyes flicking away from the watch and following the retreating figure of Gwen as she made her way up the stairs. He glanced back at the faces of Owen, Martha, and the Doctor, then down at Donna’s, reposed peacefully, as if in sleep.

But it isn’t sleep, is it? Jack thought. She’s dead. We’ve killed Donna. Owen better have been right about this. Donna’s the sort to haunt me from the afterlife for letting him do this.

“Twenty seconds,” said Jack.

The Doctor’s face was a cold still mask but his eyes belied his inner turmoil. Jack had known the Doctor long enough to read what was going on and he knew the Time Lord was second guessing himself. That argument with Rose had shaken his confidence. It had shaken Jack’s, too. Rose had just been so sure, too sure that it would go wrong. What if she’d been right? If she had been the Doctor would never forgive himself for being wrong.

“Thirty seconds,” Jack told them.

And will I be able to forgive myself if this goes wrong? Jack wondered. I mean, I know it was Owen’s idea and Martha backed it up but I’m the leader. I okayed it. I said they could take it to the Doctor and let him make the final decision. If this doesn’t work, I bear some of the responsibility, too. This is Donna. It’s not just some person who walked in off the street. She’s my friend. She and I are bond parents together for Dare. Can I do that alone? I never thought I’d have to.

“Forty seconds,” called out Jack.

He glanced up to the top of the stairs and saw Gwen rattling the door knob and pushing against the door with her shoulder. He frowned. Has Rose locked herself in? Why would she do that? She couldn’t be that angry, could she? But no. He saw the door give just a little bit. Then it held. It held with just a small gap, the light from the room behind it shining through. Vaguely he could hear Gwen calling out Rose’s name.

“Sixty seconds,” he called out realizing he’d just let his attention wander for too long. With a last glance up at Gwen he turned his attention firmly back on the bed.

Owen stood to one side, paddles at the ready, while Martha manned the machine that would bring Donna’s life back. The Doctor checked and double checked the leads, making sure that everything was as it was supposed to be. The machine that monitored the heart rate was still wailing out its flat note, the one that the civilized world over signaled death.

“Eighty seconds,” said Jack, realizing again that his mind was wandering. He had to focus. There were forty seconds left to go and if he didn’t do this right they wouldn’t start shocking her heart at the right moment and that could mean her life really was over. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the stopwatch, trying to keep all other thoughts from his head. But the one that kept infringing was the one that Rose might be right and that they were really killing Donna. And there would be no bringing her back.

“One hundred seconds,” Jack told the others and Owen moved to put the paddles in place. The Doctor held up a syringe of epinephrine and prepared to stab it down into Donna’s heart. All eyes focused on Jack.

“One hundred ten seconds,” he told them. He paused, swallowed hard, glanced at Donna’s pale face and unmoving chest and then back at the watch. “One fifteen, one sixteen, one seventeen, one eighteen, one nineteen, one twenty.”

The Doctor stabbed the needle down, shooting the drug into Donna’s heart and quickly moved out of the way when he was done. Martha triggered the electricity and Donna’s body rose up under the paddles in Owen’s hands. The Doctor looked at the heart rate monitor. “Nothing,” he said.

Martha waited for the machine to cycle down and then rev up again. “Clear,” she called out and Owen lowered the paddles again, Donna’s body jerking upwards.

“Again,” the Doctor cried out.

“Three minutes, Doctor!” Jack said, a touch of panic creeping into his voice.

Again they shocked Donna’s heart and again they were unsuccessful. Jack turned his head to look up at the stairs, frowning at Gwen. Then suddenly the door gave and Gwen fell into the room. He turned his attention back to the scene before him.

“Again!” shouted the Doctor. “Again, again, again!” he hollered when Owen hesitated.

They set the machine up another time and let the electricity flow. No response. “Where’s that other syringe of epinephrine?” the Doctor demanded.

“Doctor, we can’t give her more, it could…” Owen trailed off. He knew better than to finish the sentence but the words hung in the air. It could kill her. Only she was already dead. He handed the second syringe to the Doctor and he plunged it into Donna’s heart.

“One more time.”

“Doctor, it’s been four minutes. Her brain--.”

“I said one more time!” the Doctor shouted desperately. Against their better judgment, Owen and Martha followed his order. To no avail. The heart monitor remained flat, it’s single tone a mocking reminder that Donna was no longer among the living.

“I’m calling it,” Owen said.

“No!” screamed the Doctor. “NO! Again!”

“It’s been four and a half minutes, Doctor,” Jack said quietly, his hand coming down on the Doctor’s shoulder. The Doctor pushed him away and then shoved Owen as well, his arms reaching down and pulling the body of his friend into his arms. He cradled her upper body against him.

“No, Donna, no! You can’t die. You’re too stubborn to die! Come back. Come back!” His voice cracked.

“Doctor, she’s gone,” Martha said gently. “She’s gone. It didn’t work.”

“Go away!” the Doctor screamed.

Silence filled the room and then a strange humming. Jack turned around and looked up the stairs and saw the doorway to the conference room awash with golden light and from the center of it Rose descended. Her steps were slow and measured and the darkness retreated under her forward movement.

Wind whipped through the hub, Rose’s hair shining and gold billowing back from her head. Her eyes were full of golden fire and a memory of something he had never seen but had felt down to his core once before, shot to life within him.

She advanced, step by step, with agonizing slowness. The Doctor, finally becoming aware of something outside his grief for Donna, turned his head to look at Rose. An expression of horror came over him. “Rose, no! The baby!”

She looked at him for a moment, barely seeing him, then gave a small, wistful smile before turning her gaze to Donna. “I bring life,” she said in a gentle, childlike voice. She waved her hand slowly in front of her and the light rushed towards Donna. Donna began to glow golden and after a moment she gasped in air and sat up, her eyes flying open.

Then the golden light pulled back and whirled around Rose like a tornado and slowly she pulled her arms into her body, her hands resting protectively over her abdomen, and the golden fire was drawn back within her. Gently, as if invisible arms had caught her and slowed her fall, Rose’s body crumpled to the ground.


Chapter Thirty-five:  A Life Borrowed

“You killed me!” Donna roared at the Doctor. “What the hell do you think you were playing at?”

“I…” the Doctor began looking back and forth between the revived Donna and the unconscious Rose.

“Oh, go to her,” Donna waved him towards Rose, her voice still furious, “But don’t think you’re getting out of explaining this one, alien boy! You freaking killed me!”

The Doctor went down on his knees and felt for a pulse at Rose’s throat. She was still glowing faintly yellow and when he checked for breath sounds Rose exhaled a faint golden light that slowly dissipated as it floated upwards.

A moment later Gwen was down the stairs, a screaming Dare in her arms. Rose stirred at the sound of her son. “I can’t get him to stop crying,” Gwen said. “I’ve tried everything.”

The Doctor reached his arms upwards and she handed the baby down to him. “His connection with his mum must have severed when Rose did…what she did. Shh, Dare, it’s all right. Look, Mummy’s right here. It’s all right.”

He placed Dare’s little hand against Rose’s temple and the baby’s cries cut off with a sound that was half cough, half hiccup. “See? Mummy’s going to be just fine.”

“Get this stuff off me,” Donna commanded. As Owen reached to pull the leads off her body, she growled, “Martha can do it. It’s bad enough you got to ogle my goodies while I was out, you can just keep your hands to yourself now I’m awake.”

“Donna, I’m a professional--.”

“Professional womanizer. Just shut it.” Owen rolled his eyes and stepped away to see if he could be any help with Rose.

“How is she?” Owen asked, bending down next to the Doctor. He glanced over at Owen and then grabbed his stethoscope, handing Dare to Owen. The young man looked extremely ill at ease as he tried to find a comfortable position to put the child in.

“Both hearts are beating,” the Doctor said. “Left one’s a little fast.” He moved the stethoscope to Rose’s abdomen and Rose moved under his hand.

“What are you doing?” Jack asked.

“Rose is pregnant.”

“Already?” Owen frowned. “That’s not healthy, Doctor, not even--.”

“Time Lord physiology is different.”

“Rose isn’t a Time Lord. She’s half human and half something else, and that’s not a smart idea for any species I’ve met that’s even vaguely humanoid.”

“I don’t need a lecture, Owen. Now shut it so I can hear the baby’s heartbeat.” He paused for awhile, moving the stethoscope over Rose’s abdomen. “It’s not clear. Do you have a Doppler?”

“Yeah.” Owen looked at Martha. “You know where it’s at?” She nodded and hurried to retrieve it. She plugged it in and then handed it to the Doctor.

“What’s going on?” mumbled Rose trying to sit up. The Doctor pushed her back down.

“Stay down, Rose.” Rose gave a little cough and a little more Vortex energy came out on the exhale.

“Doctor?” she asked confused and a little scared. “Did I do it? Did I save Donna?”

“I’m fine, Rose,” Donna called to her.

“Good. Then what am I doing on the floor, Doctor? Let me up.” She tried to rise but again he held her in place.

“Just a minute,” he said. She felt something press against her abdomen and then the loud noise of her baby’s heartbeat filled the room. “It’s too slow,” he said. “I don’t like that.” His hand slipped across her stomach and he was startled to hear a second thub thump, also very slow.

“Twins?” asked Owen.

“No,” said the Doctor grimly. “We did a holo. Like a sonogram but three dimensional. There’s only one baby.”

“So it’s two hearts like you and Rose, then. Two hearts beating, that’s good news isn’t it? Why do you look so grim?” Gwen asked.

“The baby should only have one heart. We don’t…I mean, my people, we don’t have two hearts until after we regenerate for the first time.”

Rose coughed again and again she expelled Vortex energy. “What are you saying, Doctor?”

“The fetus, the baby, Cassi…the energy you channeled to save Donna’s life. It came from Cassi. She’s…she’s regenerated, Rose. She’s lost one of her lives.” He couldn’t meet her eyes.

“No, no it couldn’t be,” Rose protested. “It was Rose Plus or even Bad Wolf I channeled. It had to be.”

“You’re regurgitating Vortex energy, Rose. Like I did when I had regeneration sickness. And the heartbeats are slow like mine were. That’s not Rose Plus. That’s Cassi.

Rose stared at the Doctor, horrified. “You can’t blame yourself,” the Doctor said. “You couldn’t know.”

Rose’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t blame myself, Doctor,” she said sharply, pushing him away from her and standing up. “I’m not even close to blaming myself. Because if you’d have taken two minutes to listen to me instead of being so sure your way was the only way, Donna wouldn’t have been in jeopardy and I wouldn’t have had to call on my…powers to save her life. No, I don’t blame myself for this. I blame you.” She retrieved her son from Owen, turned her back on her stricken husband and went into the TARDIS, the doors slamming hard behind her.

“She didn’t mean that,” said Martha, reaching out to put a reassuring hand on the Doctor’s shoulder. “She’s upset, scared, confused. She didn’t know what she was saying.” He stood up, shrugging off Martha’s gesture of comfort.

“What she was saying was the truth, though, wasn’t it, Doctor?” Donna asked from the bed. “I heard your argument, even if I couldn’t wake up. You wouldn’t listen to her. She knew it was wrong, killing me, and you wouldn’t listen to her. And it all went wrong and she had to save the day. And I’ll bet you’ve never thought to tell her that tapping into Vortex energy would go through the baby that way, that it was dangerous while she was pregnant. She’s never had to do it while she was pregnant before, so how could she know the outcome?”

“Donna, that’s not helping,” Martha said harshly as she flashed an angry look at her friend.

“Someone’s got to say it,” Donna said angrily, picking up steam. “You, Doctor, you always think you’re right, see? And this was a big thing, my life. My life! And you just took it in your hands and decided to play God. Only you guessed wrong this time. You got it so wrong and there wasn’t going to be any coming back for dear old Donna. So Rose had to come along and clean up the mess. Again! And then you have the nerve, the nerve to imply that what happened to that unborn child was her fault?”

“I did not! I said she couldn’t blame herself!”

“I doubt it even occurred to Rose to think that she should until you said it! You can be such a bloody idiot sometimes!”

“Well, if that’s what you think of me, Donna,” he said coldly, “Then I shall leave you here in Torchwood’s capable hands.” He turned and strode towards the TARDIS.

“Doctor, don’t be a git!” Donna hollered after him. He didn’t even pause. He slammed through the doors of his ship, ignoring the reproving hum, and slapped his hand down hard on button Epsilon.

Donna and the rest of the Torchwood team watched in shock as the TARDIS disappeared. 

Ch. 36&37:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/94311.html