Doctor, I Need You!

Part 6: Baby Girl Smith

The Doctor sat in the back of the car as Rose drove to the hospital as quickly as she legally could. He kept his eyes on Sarah Jane at all times, but she didn’t notice. Every so often Sarah would let out a tortured scream of pain and grasp at her stomach.

The Doctor and Rose had been keeping an eye on Sarah Jane throughout her pregnancy; they just went the quick route. Once he had even used the physic paper to get into one of her ultrasound scans. But now The Doctor was just scared, but nowhere near as scared as he knew Sarah Jane must be! She had been facing giving birth to a baby alone that she didn’t know how she got pregnant with, that’s why The Doctor had decided to be there for her, he couldn’t let her have this child alone. Not only that but he needed to know if it was his or if one of the people the alien had killed was the father.

Sarah Jane’s screams were very frequent by the time they arrived at the hospital and The Doctor and Rose had to hurry. They each put an arm around her back to help support her as she looked like she was ready to collapse to the ground. As soon as they got through the doors Rose grabbed a wheelchair which Sarah collapsed into instantly.

“Just breath miss, you’ll be alright.” The Doctor said, pretending he didn’t know her. It was the best way.

He pushed the wheelchair and followed Rose who seemed to have some sort of idea where they were going. The Doctor hadn’t a clue.  Eventually they found their way to the maternity ward.

“Excuse me, this woman is in labor.” Rose said to the first person that walked past her. The woman took Sarah’s wheelchair and wheeled her in the direction she had just come from.

“Are you her birthing partners?” The woman asked.

“Yes.” The Doctor said instantly. He had expected Sarah to argue about this but she didn’t say a word, this just showed how vulnerable and terrified she felt.

The pair of them accompanied Sarah Jane into a private room.

“Who are you?” She asked as she struggled onto the bed.

“My name is John, John Smith.” The Doctor said.

“Of course it is.” Sarah said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

“What’s wrong with that?” The Doctor asked, though he obviously already knew the answer.

“I had a friend who was called John Smith, well sometimes anyway.” She said. Before Sarah could start trying to connect the dots she let out another blood curdling scream.

“Ok love what’s your name?” A Doctor asked as he walked into the room.

“Sarah Jane.” She gasped.

“Ok Sarah Jane, it looks like you are nearly ready to have this baby.” He said.

“I can’t!” She cried through the pain.

“Don’t worry Sarah, I’m here.” The Doctor said. Sarah Jane looked at him strangely for a moment when he called her Sarah but she shrugged it off.

“Thank you!” She said, instinctively gripping his hand. The Doctor squeezed her hand tightly as she got ready to give birth.

The Doctor was so glad he was there for Sarah Jane during the birth, but it was also agonizing for him to watch. He hated seeing her in so much pain but at least she didn’t have to go through it alone. It was all worth it though because at the end of all that pain there was a baby. She was absolutely perfect. She already had thin wisps of brown hair on her head and she had large chocolate brown eyes, she looked just like her mum.

It was nice to see Sarah Jane relax and the radiant smile return to her face. But nothing compared to when her little girl was placed in her arms for the first time. Her whole face lit up when her daughter looked up and her and happy tears started rolling down her cheek. The Doctor started to head for the door when Sarah Jane stopped him.

“Thank you John, thank you for everything.” She said.

“It’s not a problem Sarah.” He replied, fighting back the tears that were threatening to escape his eyes.

“Please stay for a while, you did so much for us.” Sarah Jane said with a smile. So The Doctor stayed with them for a while. He was happy just looking at the two of them together, because he knew Sarah Jane was finally happy without him, she had a baby now.

“Come and visit us sometime, it would mean a lot to me.” She said to him.

“Of course I will Sarah.” He said, and then he left the room. But The Doctor wasn’t planning on leaving the hospital, not quite yet anyway, he needed to see that baby properly for himself.

He and Rose waited beside the room where they looked after all the babies while they were away from their mothers and waited for them to bring in Sarah’s daughter.

Eventually a midwife walked into the room carrying a baby girl and placed her in a cot that said ‘Baby Girl Smith’. The Doctor instantly went into the room with Rose.

“Excuse me sir, are you family?” A midwife asked as they came in.

“Yes, I’m her uncle.” The Doctor lied, but this was fine by the midwife who accepted that and left them to it.

The Doctor took a stethoscope out of his jacket pocket and placed the buds in his ears. He put it to the little girls chest to hear the soft thumping of her heart, but there was only the one beat.

“One heart.” The Doctor said, putting the stethoscope away again.

“Does that mean she isn’t yours?” Rose asked.

“Not necessarily. The baby would be part human and part Time Lord, but it might only have the one heart and still be my baby.” He said. There hadn’t been many cases of human/Time Lord babies but he had heard a few stories, and they were all different. One of them had two hearts but couldn’t regenerate and he aged normally, one had one heart, couldn’t regenerate but lived until an unnaturally old age.

“Well is there any way to find out for sure?” Rose asked him.

“If I take an example of her DNA we could analysis it in the Tardis.” The Doctor replied. He grabbed a cotton bud from a table on the far side of the room and wiped it on the inside if the baby’s mouth gently. When he was finished he wrapped it up in a tissue and put it safely in his pocket.

“Ok Doctor lets go.” Rose said, walking out the door. The Doctor delayed though to pick up the little girl. It felt amazing holding her in his arms and he could have sworn she smiled just then for him.

“I hope you’re mine.” He whispered before kissing her on the forehead and putting her back in her cot. Then The Doctor was gone again.