amberfocus | Body Language (2/4)

amberfocus

Title: Body Language
Author:

amberfocus
Betas:

amyo67,

jeprdyfrndly
Series: Bodies in Motion
Characters/Pairings: Nine/Rose, Jack
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Rating: Adult
Summary: An idyllic summer day on the planet Janesta is shattered when the Doctor is injured in an explosion.
A/N: Written for the second round of the

storm_and_wolf ficathon. The picture prompt will be posted in the relevant chapter. This is the fourth entry to my Bodies in Motion series, but stands alone fine without having read those. Dedicated to

lostwolfchats as a belated birthday gift. Sorry ch. 2 is so late. Recovering from knee surgery is taking far longer than I expected.

Ch. 1: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/304213.html

Chapter Two

“It’s okay,” Rose said forcing down the panic she suddenly felt. “They fixed my hearing. They can fix your eyes.” She shifted against him to look at the medic. “Can’t you?”

There was a long silence. “Medicines like Ocsontin work best when given within the first hour of damage,” the medic finally said. “He was trapped under there for a few hours. I can’t be sure it’ll help and even if it does, there’s no guarantee it will fully restore his vision. The eyes are much more sensitive than the ear drums.”

“I was looking directly at the bomb when it exploded, Rose,” the Doctor said.

“How come your ears weren’t affected?” Jack asked.

“Sound waves travel slower than light waves. I’ve got a protective inner flap inside the ear canal that slammed itself shut when the first burst of light hit me in anticipation of the noise. It’s instinctive. I’m sure that’s what saved them,” the Doctor said.

“Well, give him the medicine,” Rose said impatiently to the medic. “What are you waiting for? You said the sooner he had it the better his chances are.”

“I don’t need their medicine, Rose. Just get me back to the TARDIS. The equipment in her infirmary will make short work of my injuries,” the Doctor said stubbornly.

“And who’s going to operate it, then?” Rose asked him. “If you’ve forgotten, everything in there is labeled in Gallifreyan, which I can’t read! And you haven’t taught me how to use anything more basic than the medicine dispenser and the dermal regenerator.”

“Jack can—,” the Doctor began.

“Jack can what?” Jack asked. “A few piloting lessons, with you overseeing everything, does not mean I understand more than a handful of the symbols. Everything I’ve learned in the console room has been by rote and muscle memory. And I was already a pilot. I know a fair bit about flying a ship. That doesn’t translate to the equipment in a medical bay. No way, Doc. You’re going to have to go to their hospital and hope that what they have works with your physiology.”

“It works on most humanoids,” the medic said.

“I’m not most humanoids,” the Doctor muttered under his breath.

“Give him the medication for his eyes,” Rose repeated. “Why are you hesitating?”

“The formulation for the eyes is a bit unstable. We don’t take it out with us on field runs. They have it at the main hospital. We need to get him there, so if the two of you will please step aside…”

Rose and Jack scrambled out of the way and watched as three strong, burly men lifted the Doctor onto the gurney. The Doctor’s curse of pain had Rose hurrying immediately to his side and grasping at his hand. The Doctor’s fingers curled reflexively about hers and the tension in his body seemed to ease.

“I’m afraid there’s only room in the transport vehicle for one of your friends to accompany you, and only family will be allowed to stay with you in the hospital,” the medic said as the gurney was carried to the ambulance. She turned to Rose. “Is he your father?” she guessed.

“Rose is me wife,” the Doctor muttered, a wince of pain and his offense at being considered her dad hiding any deception the other woman might have noticed.

“And Jack is his nephew,” Rose added quickly, forcing down her surprise at the Doctor’s lie enough to elaborate on it, deciding that the difference in their looks would be more believably explained by that than by saying Jack was his brother. It was clear the Doctor wanted her by his side and she was pretty sure he’d want Jack there as well. The reassuring squeeze and release of pressure on her hand affirmed it for her. “We are his family.”

“Very well, then you may ride in the ambulance and his nephew will have to follow along behind. Main hospital is a half a kilometer to the west down that road.” She pointed. “You can’t miss it.”

The Doctor was situated and Rose climbed in beside him, finding his hand once again. She tried not to tremble against him. He needed her to be strong and she had to believe that he would be healed. The Doctor blinded permanently was not an outcome he would cope with well.

The ride was uncomfortable as they left the bomb site, the ambulance travelling over much of the rubble with its large, tank style treads. The Doctor grimaced in pain, his entire body going rigid until the ride finally evened out. She murmured sympathetic words of comfort to him, wishing she could lay down with him and cuddle against him, but with his injured ribs and lung that wasn’t an option.

Finally they arrived at the big hospital building and Rose was pushed to the side as the medical personnel did their jobs, hustling the Doctor into the emergency ward so they could patch up and inflate his lung and deal with the rest of his injuries. Rose occupied her mind filling out paperwork to the best of her ability. The Doctor had offered up his sonic paper to be used as an insurance card and fortunately they seemed to accept what she wrote down as normal for their planetary care system. Jack arrived shortly after that and she immediately went to him, holding onto him tightly until they were finally allowed to go back to see the Doctor.

“Try not to flinch. This medicine is in rare supply and we can’t afford to waste a drop.” The Doctor steeled himself and stared sightlessly upwards as the gentle but firm voice of the nurse came from his left side. He felt the soothing drop hit his eyeball and then closed the eye carefully. The nurse repeated the process on the right eye. “Now keep your eyes shut and roll them around to spread the medication,” the woman instructed. When he had done what he was told she said, “Now open your eyes.”

He blinked a few times. “I think it’s working,” he said. “I can discern light.”

“That’s all?” the nurse wanted to know. She sounded upset.

“It’s an improvement,” said the Doctor.

“Yes, but…it should have restored your vision completely. Too much time has passed. I’m afraid the damage to your optic nerve is permanent. This is the best it’ll ever be.”

Rose let out a small cry of denial and the Doctor reached out for her. He hadn’t known she was there. His hand flailed against her side and she quickly grabbed hold of it. “I’m fine, Rose,” he said. “Tough old man, me. I won’t let a little thing like blindness keep me down.” He hoped the false cheer in his voice sounded genuine to her because it certainly didn’t to him. “Besides, there’s still the TARDIS. I might be able to figure something out.” He started to sit up. “Just get me back there and we’ll see what we can do.”

He felt firm hands pressing against his chest and turned to glare sightlessly in that direction. “You’re not going anywhere,” the nurse told him. “We need to keep you here for observation for the next few days. Your injuries are serious and you need to rest.”

The Doctor plopped back down against the bed. “Can I be alone with my family now?” he asked petulantly.

“For a little while, and then you need to sleep. I’ve given you a mild sedative. Are you sure I can’t give you anything for the pain?” she asked.

“I’m allergic to most human narcotics,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”

The nurse said, “All right then. I’ll leave you alone for a bit, but I will be back to make sure you get your rest. Sleep is the best thing for you.” He heard her footsteps retreating.

“Is she gone?” he asked a moment later.

“Yeah,” Rose said.

“Is Jack here with you?”

“I’m here, Doctor.”

“Do you think you can pilot the TARDIS on your own and bring her here?” he asked.

“I don’t know, Doc,” Jack said.

“It’s just a small jump through space. No time travel involved, no intergalactic journeys. It should be relatively simple.”

“Simple for you, yeah,” he said.

“Rose can help. She knows enough that between the two of you you ought to be able to handle a short trip.”

“You have a lot of faith in us, Doctor,” Rose said.

“Yeah, well, I only take the best. Jack, you’re empathic enough you might be able to talk to the ship, get her to understand what I need. Rose, she likes you. I know you can do it. Besides, it’s either you bring the ship to me or you break me out of here. Now go on.”

“I don’t want to leave you when you’re like this,” Rose said.

“I need to be on me own for a bit anyway.” The small sound of hurt she made had him tugging her down so he could cradle her face with his hand. He could feel the tracks of tears wet against her cheek. “It’s easier for me to instigate a healing trance without any distractions, without people around to split my focus. By the time you get back with the TARDIS I should be able to finish mending the cracked ribs. They’ve taken care of the lung and patched up the cuts, but I do need to deal with the blindness as quickly as possible before it really is permanent. Be brave for me, Rose.”

His hand slid to the back of her neck and he tugged her down until their lips met. He kissed her softly until he felt the tension leaving her. “I’m going to be okay,” he said. “I promise. I’ll find a way. Now go.”

“Doctor, I lo--.”

“I know,” he interrupted gently. He didn’t think he could bear it if the first time she said those words to him was because he was injured and she was feeling sorry for him. She hugged him carefully then took a step back. “Be careful,” he told her. “We still don’t know what was responsible for the bombing. Don’t get yourselves killed.”

“I’ll take care of her, Doc,” Jack promised.

“Before you go, give me the psychic paper,” he said. Rose fished in her pocket and then handed it over. The Doctor opened the little wallet and ran his fingers over it, concentrating fiercely before handing it back saying, “Jack, take this. This is what the monitor needs to look like to move the ship. If you can match the symbols, you should be able to land her right in this room.”

“I’ll do my best, Doc,” Jack said.

“We’ll be as quick as we can.” Rose squeezed his hand one more time and then their footsteps walked away and he was alone. He began the process of calming his biorhythms to begin the healing trance.

Rose stared at the console with a sort of mindless desperation. “Can you do it?” Rose asked Jack. She’d never seen her confident friend look so unsure of himself before. He glanced at the sonic paper, then back to the monitor.

“I think so. I have to, don’t I? He needs us to.” Jack began to move around the console, slowly inputting information for the third time.

“Do you think the TARDIS infirmary can heal him?” Rose asked.

“I hope so. I can’t even imagine what happens if she can’t,” he said.

“He’ll try to make us leave him is what,” Rose said. She crossed her arms over her chest. Jack looked up at her, frowning.

“He won’t make you leave him, Rose. You know how he feels about you.”

Rose shrugged. “Maybe he does, but…he gets it in his head sometimes that he knows best. If this doesn’t work, he’s going to send me home.”

“Well, taking you back to Earth isn’t an option if he can’t pilot. That’s beyond me, even with the psychic paper,” Jack said.

“It’s not beyond me,” Rose said with a sigh.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean back before we took you on, not too long after I was first travelling with him, we got into some trouble and I nearly lost him. After that he programmed an automatic recall to Earth, set to return about a year after I left there. He taught me how to do it. If ever anything really bad happened to him, he always wanted me to be able to get home. And if he’s permanently blinded, he’s going to want to send me away. He won’t…he doesn’t want to be a burden to me.”

“Being blind won’t make him a burden!” Jack protested.

“I know, but…I know him. He’ll think I’m wasting my life on him. He’s so stubborn. Leaving him would kill me. I wouldn’t be able to bear it.”

Jack sighed and finished his work at the keyboard. He went around the console flipping switches and turning knobs. “I think I’ve got it,” he said as he pulled the long thin handle of the bicycle pump out and pushed it back in. The sound of engines firing filled the console room, before they suddenly cut right back off.

“Damn it!” said Jack. “I was sure I had it this time.”

“It was closer than last time. Keep trying, Jack. You can do it. I know you can.” She settled back down into the jump seat, pulling her knees up under her chin. She might as well get comfortable. It was going to be a long night.

Ch. 3: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/311007.html