The Game- Chapter 6- Broken Flowers
Chapter 6
Broken Flowers
Rose was a mess, covered in various cuts and bruises from the earlier training session. Her eyebrow was beginning to close, but long claw marks marked her arm, and blood showed through the torn back of her prison garments. Her wrists and ankles were chafed and weeping from her restraints, and the Medic gave silent thanks that she was still out cold.
He checked over her injuries, shaking his head as he did so. His dark eyes flicked over to the guards hovering at his shoulder, watching to make sure he didn't do more than what was required. "Went a bit over the top with the 'training' this time?" he commented, as his eyes passed over the claw marks and torn garments. "The blow to her temple is what's keeping her out.”
"She needs the discipline." A guard who'd accompanied them growled, glaring at Rose.
"Hmm...it would seem." The Medic murmured. He plucked a small bottle that was reminiscent of smelling salts, uncorked it and waved it under Rose's nose.
Rose groaned and slapped, unseeing, at the bottle. The movement startled her guard, who moved to 'discipline' her. The Medic moved swiftly in between the human and the guard, being sure to make it look non-intentional. "Do you mind? I thought the idea was to wake her?" He shook his head, ears flapping around as he did so, and continued to check her injuries - treating the harsher ones as he went. "Any chance of giving me some space to work?"
The guard grunted but backed down. At the sound of the door swishing closed, Rose struggled painfully upright.
"The offworlder that came in today...did you treat him?" Her tone was urgent.
"Strange question to ask upon waking."
Rose's tone was soft. "Please tell me?"
He sighed but gave a small nod. "Yes."
"What was he?"
"Unknown, more tests will have to be ordered to decide" he replied flatly, continuing to treat her injuries.
"Order the new tests now...please?"
The Medic shook his head. "Male and female prey are not permitted to be treated together."
"Find him..." Rose let out a shaky sigh "...and I'll go to the Visier, you can have that honor...I need to speak with him! Please If I'm not mad he can fix things."
The Medic sighed, "I will try...but it will have to be brief. I can..." he glanced warily towards the door and lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "...make out that the paperwork got mixed up. But you won't have long...and," he turned meaningful eyes upon her, "don't expect much speaking on his part."
"Thank you..,you're a good...whatever the hell..."
"Please, do not mention this ever again" he said, even as he moved over to the computer terminal and sent out an order, over the communication system to bring the unknown offworlder for further testing.
"Who'm I gonna tell? I'm not even going to get past this cycle doc...am I?" At the sound of the door Rose dropped back into 'unconsciousness', even as the guard hauled The Doctor back into the room.
"Put him over there" The Medic said, pointing to the bed next to Rose's. He was glad of the interruption so that he was spared the act of telling the human she was guaranteed to die during the next cycle of The Game.
The Doctor struggled in the guards grip, not making it easy for them to drag him over to the bed. "Let...go."
Rose shoved herself up on the bed, offering little resistance other than a quick glance at the medic, when a heavy blow from the guard knocked her back down.
"You can go" the Medic said, waving the guard away. "He is too drugged up to be any problem and the human female is in no condition to risk anything. I need no interruptions while performing the tests on the Unknown," he added in a firmer tone.
The guard glared at the Medic, but left. Rose waited until the heavy footsteps moved away, before rising and moving to the other patient's side. Her emotions felt messy and heavy. "Tell me it's you?" Her voice shook and a note of pleading entered it. "Please?"
The Doctor's eyes met her own warily, his pupils slightly more dilated than they should be. The muscle in his jaw flexed and he shook his head. "S'not real...not here..." he muttered, dropping his gaze to his hands.
Rose looked at him, her heart breaking as he spoke. "Burning up a sun....Please...I need you...We need you"
The Doctor shook his head again and looked expectantly at the Medic.
"She's real, I can't tell you if she's who you think she is" The Medic said softly.
The Doctor frowned and turned his head to look back at the blonde human girl. "Ro...Rose?" he asked hesitantly, still not entirely sure he could trust what he saw or heard.
"It is you isn't it?"
He nodded hesitantly, although the confusion and skepticism never left his face.
Rose continued to stare at him, taking him in, before throwing herself at him. "I told them...I told them you'd come" She held him close, her tears running into the fabric of his suit.
The Doctor sat there, blinking in confusion but didn't pull away from her embrace. "How?" The only word he could manage to breathe out, but so much was put into that one word. The real question being, how was she here when she was supposed to be trapped in a parallel universe?
"I don't know....after...I was searching for you, and when I found you, it was like losing you again, so I tried to get home, ended up on an outpost, they caught me...80 days...And it all hurt, so much." She was unable to pull the breath to explain.
His frown deepened and he tried to shift position to stare at her, but found that she was holding on tight so he stilled again. "Found...me?" What did she mean by that? She had found him...found him when?
"I got home, you were leaving, with someone...else"
"What! When?" he shook his head, trying to figure out what she meant. "Where?"
Our reality..."she tilted her head so she didn't have to look at him, so that he didn't have to see the pain in her eyes. "You had a hatbox"
He winced, a pained expression passing across his face and he closed his eyes briefly. "Don..na."
"So you didn't need me... they still did...You'd forgotten me..."
"Never" he breathed out softly, finally extracting himself from her grasp. He shook his head and dropped it into his hands, the reminder of Donna bringing the still fresh guilt over the red-headed woman's death into his mind again.
Rose let a bitter breath from her nose. "And now here...I tried...I can't leave without them" She turned to the Medic "Can you get me to the archive?"
The Medic looked startled at being addressed suddenly. "I...why would I do that?"
"My weapons, my communicator...I can help...I have to try" Rose turned to The Doctor. "We can get them out of here alive."
"Can't...save...every..." The Doctor let out a small cough, not looking up from his own hands. "...one."
The Medic cocked his head to one side, glancing from Rose to the Doctor and back again. "Many have said they can help...all fail."
Rose's eyes hardened and pain hit her again at the Doctor's response. "They weren't me...and would you even try to save me, or am I statistic too? Do I really have nothing left?"
"I..." The Doctor frowned, raising confused slightly glazed eyes to look at her before dropping his gaze back to his hands. "...want...to.." he murmured softly.
The Medic glanced over at the Doctor with sad eyes, before turning to face Rose. He lowered his voice so only she could here. "When he was first in here...before he was given the tonics...he was talking about stopping this....about it explaining why he was here." It was clear that the Dianarian didn't understand what he was saying but thought that it would help the situation. Or at least stop the human from being angry at the Unknown.
Rose smiled slightly and wrapped the Doctors long hands in her own. "I never ever gave up on you...you were always with me...and that's the Doctor I know and I love. Love!" She looked at him steadily.
The Doctor's eyes flicked briefly to hers, frowning slightly but he didn't utter a response.
"At first, I was only going to give him a tonic to quiet him" the Medic said softly, "hearing him talk...I chose not to" he shook his head, looking at the Doctor with slight annoyance and disappointment. "One of the guards found out and...gave him a very strong hallucinogen. I also gave him the quietening tonic. I had no choice." He added, hoping the human would realise that was why the Unknown was talking the way he was and why he seemed confused.
"He doesn't know I'm me?"
"Probably not."
"Oh..." She drew a deep shaking breath. "Then I'm alone on this. Get me to the Archive."
"I will try...but I can only get you in and out...I will not accompany you." The latter part of the sentence he stated firmly. He then indicated the Doctor. "He seemed most insistent on getting his...coat...back" he added, clearly bemused by this.
Rose grinned briefly, but the movement made her wince. She turned to the Doctor and raised her hand to his cheek. "Come back to me..." She looked at the Medic. "Let me take him with me?"
The Medic spared the Doctor a sympathetic look, noting the dilated pupils and the ever present confusion upon his face as Rose touched his cheek. "I can not....if I do not complete the tests on him..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence. "I can only do some many things." He reached into his pocket and fished out a key-card, holding it out for her to take. "This will get you into the archive...it will also allow you to use the back corridors that the medics use, so we don't run into guards escorting new arrivals."
"Thank you...Keep him safe for me?"
"I will try." He glanced back over at the Doctor and sighed. "I don't know why, but, he seems like he could do something about this," he said softly, a puzzled expression crossing his face. "That's why I'd decided to only gave him a quietening tonic...to keep him lucid but also...he seemed like he would talk himself into trouble."
Rose chuckled and grabbed the key card "He always does...it's part of the reason I love him." She moved to the Doctor and kissed him quickly, before shifting to the back door "Tell him...think of something heroic, tell him I said that..." Her fierce face softened a little and she slipped through the door.
"Good luck Human" The Medic murmured after her, before turning his attention to the Doctor - who was currently frowning, his hand touching the spot where Rose had kissed him.
"How are you feeling, Unknown?" The Medic asked kindly.
"Con...fused," the Doctor answered, frowning whilst staring at the door 'Rose' had left through.
"Prisoner 5416-3 is attempting to save the world"
"Sounds...like...Rose.." he muttered, still staring at the door. After a beat he shook his head violently and ran a hand through his hair.
"They don't get names"
"Not just...numbers," the Doctor said firmly, being sure to look straight into the Dianaran's eyes.
The Medic avoided the intense gaze and ducked the subject. "I'll keep you here try and get that hallucinogen out of your system."
The Doctor nodded. "Thank...you."
"I sort of borrowed something..." The Medics' tone was a little ashamed and a little scared. He handed the Doctor his Sonic Screwdriver carefully, holding it as one might a phial of some dangerous chemical. "The guards were afraid of it"
Instantly, the Doctor's face lit up and a grin spread quickly across his face. "Oh! That's....that's..." His face fell briefly as he failed to get the words out. Letting out a small sigh, he held out his hand with a slightly pleading expression. "Please?"
"Not until the drugs are gone...sleep...wait for 5416" The Medic chided gently.
The Doctor retracted his hand with a sigh, nodding but it was clear he wasn't happy about his Sonic Screwdriver being kept from him. His expression changed to one of suspicion. "Guards...said...tests?"
"To find out what you are, they aren't comfortable I'm afraid" The Medic explained sadly.
The Doctor quirked an eyebrow, his expression darkening once more. "Not...a...choice hmm?" he asked, although it was clearing more of a statement than an actual question.
The Medic shook his head and avoided his patients gaze as he fiddled with various implements, some innocuous looking, some, vicious, plain and simple.
"How nice." Was the sarcastic response, as the Doctor rolled his eyes. He'd let the Medic perform his tests...even though he was pretty certain that they would still find him as 'unknown' in the Dianarians' minds. Hopefully they wouldn't be too bad.
The Medic levelled an instrument at the Doctors head, and sighed. "I, unlike many, do not take joy in it."