[Realm of the Muse 1.92.3b] Response
Breathing.
His discarded umbrella was collecting mud as the rain began to fall harder. The Doctor had pulled Ace under a large tree, trying to prop her up against the stump as his muddied hands feverishly groped for a pulse. Her skin was slick, too, and errant Gallifreyan curses left his lips as he pressed his fingers to her wrist.
A flicker of hope crossed his face for a fleeting moment, but just to be certain, he pressed his ear at the hollow of her throat, searching for the sound that would anchor him once more.
"Professor?" Came her quiet voice.
Immediately, the Doctor pulled away, distracting himself by brushing a clump of mud out of Ace's hair.
"Yessss?"
"What were you doin'?" Ace started to push herself up from the ground.
"Nothing of consequence. Just ensuring your ribs were intact, your vital organs where they should be."
The Doctor grabbed her arm, helping her to stand. He looked around to be sure they had a clear escape route, taking the opportunity it afforded him to expunge the unnerving images assaulting his mind mere minutes ago.
Ace had been knocked unconscious for a few minutes, she had never stopped breathing. And yet, his mind, cruel to the last, added scenarios to that, each one far worse than the preceding.
"Oh, yeah, nothin' at all."
"You're breathing," he replied nonchalantly, over his shoulder.
"Yeah, Professor, 's usually what people do to keep goin'."
And others of us are sustained by the lives that continue around us.
The Doctor turned back around, slipping his coat off to drape it around Ace, whose breath was hanging like a small ghost in the space between them. She tried to refuse at first, but he put his hands on her shoulders, keeping his coat there.
"Receive oxygen, expel carbon dioxide, yes, yes, very efficient, the human body."
One breath.
Two breath.
Three breath.
"Whatever you say, Professor."
The Doctor drew in a breath deeply, then, whispering to the back of her head, "Ace, try to keep it that way. I much prefer your body functioning as it should, to the inert form I observed not five minutes ago."
"Do my best," she smiled softly at him as he came around to stand in front of her.
His eyes, which were as the vestiges of night holding the secrets of every hour, bore into hers. "Our lives are not simply our own. We have importance to others, and our absence would echo with crippling effect."
"Professor--"
The Doctor smiled quickly, tapping Ace's nose done as he picked up his brolly from the mud.
"It's time we were heading home."
Ace shrugged and nodded, walking beside him with a pensive look to her eyes. The Doctor threw surreptitious sidelong glances at her, ensuring himself she was, in fact, still inhaling and exhaling as any healthy, living person would.
One breath.
Two breath.
Three breath.
"You know, it's one of my favorite sounds."
"What?"
"A heartbeat."
Such an inherent process, so disgustingly taken for granted, could cease for just a second and stall hearts in its wake.
His discarded umbrella was collecting mud as the rain began to fall harder. The Doctor had pulled Ace under a large tree, trying to prop her up against the stump as his muddied hands feverishly groped for a pulse. Her skin was slick, too, and errant Gallifreyan curses left his lips as he pressed his fingers to her wrist.
A flicker of hope crossed his face for a fleeting moment, but just to be certain, he pressed his ear at the hollow of her throat, searching for the sound that would anchor him once more.
"Professor?" Came her quiet voice.
Immediately, the Doctor pulled away, distracting himself by brushing a clump of mud out of Ace's hair.
"Yessss?"
"What were you doin'?" Ace started to push herself up from the ground.
"Nothing of consequence. Just ensuring your ribs were intact, your vital organs where they should be."
The Doctor grabbed her arm, helping her to stand. He looked around to be sure they had a clear escape route, taking the opportunity it afforded him to expunge the unnerving images assaulting his mind mere minutes ago.
Ace had been knocked unconscious for a few minutes, she had never stopped breathing. And yet, his mind, cruel to the last, added scenarios to that, each one far worse than the preceding.
"Oh, yeah, nothin' at all."
"You're breathing," he replied nonchalantly, over his shoulder.
"Yeah, Professor, 's usually what people do to keep goin'."
And others of us are sustained by the lives that continue around us.
The Doctor turned back around, slipping his coat off to drape it around Ace, whose breath was hanging like a small ghost in the space between them. She tried to refuse at first, but he put his hands on her shoulders, keeping his coat there.
"Receive oxygen, expel carbon dioxide, yes, yes, very efficient, the human body."
One breath.
Two breath.
Three breath.
"Whatever you say, Professor."
The Doctor drew in a breath deeply, then, whispering to the back of her head, "Ace, try to keep it that way. I much prefer your body functioning as it should, to the inert form I observed not five minutes ago."
"Do my best," she smiled softly at him as he came around to stand in front of her.
His eyes, which were as the vestiges of night holding the secrets of every hour, bore into hers. "Our lives are not simply our own. We have importance to others, and our absence would echo with crippling effect."
"Professor--"
The Doctor smiled quickly, tapping Ace's nose done as he picked up his brolly from the mud.
"It's time we were heading home."
Ace shrugged and nodded, walking beside him with a pensive look to her eyes. The Doctor threw surreptitious sidelong glances at her, ensuring himself she was, in fact, still inhaling and exhaling as any healthy, living person would.
One breath.
Two breath.
Three breath.
"You know, it's one of my favorite sounds."
"What?"
"A heartbeat."
Such an inherent process, so disgustingly taken for granted, could cease for just a second and stall hearts in its wake.