Up a Tree p.8
Amy and Rory burst back into the great hall with the Doctor drooping between them.
"We need help here!" Rory yelled.
A crowd of concerned citizens that had followed them jammed the doorway. Sondherson and Jake were still at the bar, Emma had joined them.
"Doctor!" Sondherson was the first to see them, he jerked upright from his morning tankard, startled to see the man looking so much worse in so short a time.
Emma bustled over, "We've got to get him to the infirmary!" she declared, reaching forward to take his weight from Amy.
The Doctor fought off their hands, and stumbled to the bar, forcing himself upright. His breath was coming so fast and loud that it whistled in the shocked silence.
"I need ginger beer," he gasped out. Jake looked at him in stunned shock.
"This is no time for a drink, Doctor," Sondherson said, grabbing his arm. "You need medical help."
"I need ginger beer," the Doctor said, trying to glare sternly through his swollen cheeks, shaking off Sondherson's hand and turning back to Jake.
"I don't know what that is," Jake said helplessly, obviously eager to help but not knowing how.
The Doctor's breathing was becoming increasingly labored, shorter... "Then something fermented or carbonated," he forced out between breaths. "And nuts, salty nuts, any kind..." he waved a weak hand, showing it didn't matter, then slapped it back to the bar, leaning weakly, the bar was rough under his swollen hand.
Emma walked over and grabbed him from behind, she picked him up. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but this is no time for a last binge. We have to get you to the doctor."
The Doctor flailed and slapped at her ineffectually, facing away from her. "Ponds!" The word should have been a yell, but it had no breath behind it, coming out as a weak gasp.
It galvanized Amy and Rory. They jumped forward. Amy grabbed Emma by the ear, digging her nails in and twisting viciously, drawing blood. "Drop him!"
Emma shrieked and instinctively dropped the Doctor. Rory caught him. Amy danced back from Emma's backhanded swipe. The Doctor struggled up and lurched for the bar. "Ginger beer!" he yelled, using up all his air, he collapsed against the bar, barely staying on his feet.
"Stop trying to help him!" Amy yelled desperately. "Just give him what he needs!"
"Please," Rory said softly, green eyes terrified but pleading. Jake nodded and reached under the bar, he pulled out a bowl full of nuts and twirled it across the bar, he turned and pulled a quick pint from a cask on a rack behind the bar. He plopped it down on the counter in front of the Doctor.
The Doctor had already shoved a handful of nuts in his mouth, he picked up the pint and sloshed the frothy liquid into his mouth, splashing it over his chin. Rory didn't know how he was swallowing, but apparently he forced it down somehow.
He couldn't hear him breathing. Rory's heart pounded painfully in his chest. He looked over and saw Amy crying.
"Rory," the Doctor croaked out painfully. "Hit me."
"What?" Rory said, appalled. "You're sick, I can't do that!"
"Rory..." the Doctor said, eyes pleading with him, sagging against the bar, visibly fading. His chest wasn't moving. Rory dithered, hands moving helplessly.
"Oh, for God's sake!" Amy shouted. She grabbed the Doctor's shoulder, pulled him around, and punched him solidly across the jaw. Everyone gasped.
The Doctor spun, hitting the bar.
He stiffened, turned and threw his head back with a roar. A black cloud of greasy smoke burst out of his mouth, his whole body went rigid, as if he was forcing the roiling black air out.
It seemed to go on forever. The locals gasped and stepped back with superstitious fear. After what felt like forever but couldn't have been more than a few seconds, the Doctor relaxed and slumped forward, taking a step to catch his balance. He started breathing again, deep heavy breaths that showed his airway was clear again.
Rory slumped with relief. The Doctor looked up and Rory saw the redness and swelling on his face receding. The "mosquito bites" disappeared as he watched.
The Doctor stood up straighter and adjusted his lapels. He ran a hand through his hair, then wiped a hand over his mouth, brushing off nut crumbs. "Sorry about that," he said in his normal voice. "Bit of a close call there." Within minutes he looked like his normal, bony, pale self.
Amy gave a sort of muffled scream and engulfed him in a fierce hug that almost knocked him over.
"Hey, hey, it's all right," he said, patting her back. He pushed her away slightly to look in her face and saw the teartracks still glistening on her cheeks. He hugged her back to him tightly. She shoved her face in his neck. He held her tightly, rubbing her back and gave Rory a helpless look over her shoulder.
"What the hell was that?" Sondherson said, speaking for everyone in the hall.
Amy gave the Doctor's shoulder a slap at the question, as if she wanted to know too. Then she pushed back and wiped her face off, she turned and looked at all the shocked faces around them.
"The Doctor's not human," she explained. She looked at Emma with her bloody ear. "I'm sorry. But your medicine would only have killed him," she apologized.
She turned to Sondherson. "Our transport pod, and all his medical equipment, got knocked out of the tree by the storm. So he had to find a different way." Sondherson nodded, understanding about the Tardis, if not the cure.
"What did you do?" Rory asked, asking what was on everybody's mind.
The Doctor, a bit surprised to be the focus of so many eyes, just waved a hand. "Detox. A little trick my race picked up a long time ago. Mostly college kids." He saw the way people were looking sideways at each other. "Oh don't worry, I've spent most of my life among humans, it's only a few chemical differences really. No need to be alarmed."
"Yeah, well don't do that again!" Rory said, slapping him on the back. Most of the crowd seemed to be reassured by Rory's casual attitude and handling of the "alien."
The Doctor shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Next time I won't let my self get bit by a glowbug," he said, kicking at an imaginary pebble on the wooden floor.
There were laughs from the crowd at that childish mistake and it started to disperse. Sondherson waited until they were gone before asking, "What about you two, are you human?"
"Us?" Rory waggled a finger between him an Amy. "Yeah, we're as human as you get. We just travel with him."
Sondherson nodded. "Good. At least our medical aid will work on you if, god forbid, we need it. Now, Amy," he reached behind him and picked up the last pair of boots on the table, he handed them to her. "I think these will work better than the one's you're wearing. Give you better purchase for treewalking." He nodded down at her shoes.
She accepted them and sat down to put them on. "Thanks."
The Doctor noticed Emma wiping at her bloody ear. "Emma! Here, let me look." He took her chin in his hand and turned her head, looking at the bleeding slash in her ear. "How did that happen?"
"Me, I'm afraid," Amy said from her perch on the bench. "I'm sorry, Emma, but I couldn't let you..."
Emma waved it off. "I understand. Still hurts, mind. But I understand why you did it. Wouldn't want to tangle with you in a fight, that's for sure."
Amy gave her a grimacing smile.
"Hold still," the Doctor said. He took out his sonic screwdriver and waved it over her ear, buzzing. The skin plumped up, then seamed back together. Healing cleanly, leaving only a thin pink line. He took a clean towel off the bar and wiped off the rest of the blood. "There you go, good as new."
Emma rubbed her ear then looked down at the sonic screwdriver. "Why didn't you use that on yourself?" she asked.
He shrugged and slipped it back in his pocket. "Doesn't work on poison."
Cindy came up, looking very frightened, and examined her grandma's ear. Emma crouched down so she could see it, then gave the girl a reassuring hug.
The Doctor smiled, ran a hand over the child's curls then turned and clapped his hands. "Right," he said, catching Sondherson's attention. "About the Tardis."
"Your friend said it fell out of the tree?" Sondherson said, nodding at Rory. He and Amy were sitting at the table still a bit shakey, drinking a hot morning beverage and eating the breakfast rolls Jake had provided.
"Yes, blown out by last night's storm no doubt," the Doctor said.
"No doubt." Sondherson replied. "If it fell that far, it's likely to be destroyed."
"Nah," the Doctor said. "She's specially reinforced. She'll have survived the fall, we just have to go get her."
"I can't let you go traipsing into the forest alone, Doctor, it's too dangerous." Before the Doctor could start to protest Sondherson held up a hand. "But if you're all right now, we have a safari leaving tomorrow. They can detour to the area where your pod should have landed. Can you transfer it back up here when you find it?"
"Sure, that should be no problem." He distinctly ignored Rory's dubious look.
"Fine. That'll save you all the climb back up. I don't think Erik is going to want you going on his hunt," Sondherson said.
"Ah, quite," the Doctor said.
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