Touch The Sky: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 3]

Words Unspoken

Words Unspoken

(Interlude—Recognizable dialogue from 'Journey's End' )

A/N: Well it only took me six years to write it but I've been waiting for this scene for approximately forever and it was very satisfying to finally get it done.

"Of all the ridiculous, idiotic, self-destructive—"

Despite the silence of the TARDIS, Mallory knew the words she muttered were heard only by herself. By contrast, the sharp gasp she cut herself off with echoed through the console room, drawing three identically concerned looks.

"I'm fine," she got out after a painfully breathless moment, then put a hand to her back. Half a dozen physical ailments that had been easy ignore until just then seemed to hit her all at once, leaving her shoulders slumped as it became an incredible effort to even stand up straight.

"Mal?" Matt finally seemed to snap out of the quiet spell he'd been in for quite a while now, giving the barest brush of her fingertips over her elbow.

"I'm—" she started to reassure him, but the words came out as little more than a croak from her too-dry mouth. Before she could manage to form words again, another wave of pain wracked over her. "—not fine," she finally managed.

Matt's grip changed, hand wrapping fully around her upper arm and a spark of panic coming to his eyes. "The baby?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. That wasn't Braxton-Hicks.

Whatever emotional fallout was left from Rose's departure seemed to fall to the back burner as the Doctor stepped around the console, leaving Donna at the controls. "Look at me," he said to Mallory, who glanced up sharply to meet his eyes. "Plenty of things could cause the onset of premature labor," he seemed to murmur almost to himself. "Stress, trauma, dehydration... best get you looked at just in case." He raised his voice. "Donna?"

"On it, Spaceman," the ginger woman answered, flicking one final lever before stepping away from the console. "Come on, Mallory."

It was only after the other three left that the Doctor finally let his shoulders slump.

~~~

Mallory might as well have been a spirit floating in a corner of the room for all the attachment she felt to her current situation. It felt like half a year had passed since she'd dressed herself in a bigger-on-the-inside shirt that morning—before Shan Shen, before the Daleks, before the second Doctor.

Now, the scent of antiseptic bit into her nose as she blinked against the too-bright white of the TARDIS infirmary. When she opened her eyes again, Donna was riffling through plastic cabinets with clinical efficiency that seemed startlingly uncharacteristic of her, while Matt was absently chewing a knuckle with unconscious, endearing concern.

The prick of an IV brought her back to reality with unceremonious abruptness. "Like the Doctor said," Donna explained crisply. "Dehydration causing the levels of oxytocin in the blood to rise and bringing on early labor."

Before Mallory could say anything, Matt interjected, "Will she—they—be okay?"

A beat passed before Donna nodded. "It's likely we caught it early enough to stop it. Even if not, there's an excellent chance of—" She cut herself off with a click of her jaw.

Mallory leaned back against the pillows and shut her eyes, the unfinished sentence ringing in her ears. An excellent chance of survival, she meant. Despite the fact she had another month until considered full-term. A spike of worry went through her, the likes of which she didn't think she'd felt since she'd first learned she was pregnant.