Hope (Part 12)

[amythest_n_ice]

Here we go, to save anyone the trouble of tracking me down and lynching me, the next chapter. 

http://amythest-n-ice.livejournal.com/40244.html
Link to Part 11
http://amythest-n-ice.livejournal.com/44901.html
Link to Part 13
************************************
The Doctor sat beside the medical couch, watching over the still figure lying there, the swell of his stomach under a sensor net that monitored the baby, whilst a second series of monitors kept check of Jack’s condition. Two hours after Jack had collapsed, he had finally convinced Ianto to go to bed and get some rest while he watched over Jack. There was a soft sigh, and Jack shifted against the couch, his eyes opening slowly.

 

“Jack,” the Doctor said, relieved. He stood up, gripping Jack’s hand lightly as he leaned over the bed.

 

“What happened?” Jack asked, registering that he was in the medical bay.

 

“You collapsed a few hours ago, you’ve had Ianto and I worried,” he said.

 

Jack’s eyes widened in alarm, and one of the monitors he was hooked to started to chime a warning.

 

“The baby?” he demanded.

 

“The baby is fine, you have to calm down. You collapsed because your blood pressure was very high. It went down while you were still unconscious, but it was still above normal. You need to be calm Jack, if your blood pressure doesn’t stabilize fully in the next 24 hours; I’m going to have to deliver the baby. Even if it does stabilize, you’re going to be confined to medical until you’re ready to deliver. I’m not taking any chances with your lives.”

 

Jack took a deep breath, trying to settle his racing heart, relaxing in a rush when he felt the press of a foot from inside his body, the tiny movement of his child reassuring him more than the Doctor’s words that the child was all right within him.

 

“Ok?” the Doctor asked as the monitor stopped chiming.

 

“Yes, as long as you’re sure the baby is all right, I’m fine,” Jack said with a forced smile.

 

“Good. Take it easy, ok Jack? I’ve been looking for somewhere we can land, until the baby is born, I’m going to step it up, and get us down. I don’t want to risk us hitting a problem in the vortex if I need to deliver the baby in a hurry. The TARDIS will relay any problems to me, but if you want me, call me. Ok?” the Doctor asked.

 

Jack nodded, smiling slightly as the Doctor leaned down to press a light, chaste kiss to his lips.

 

“Get some rest,” the Doctor ordered, dimming the lights as he left the room.

 

Jack closed his eyes, allowing the fast beat of the baby’s heart monitor and the slower counterpoint of his own, lull him to sleep.

 

The next time he woke up, the lights were at daytime levels, and it was Ianto leaning over him.

 

“Hey, Yan,” he said, making Ianto smile down at him.

 

“Hey. You scared us last night, you know.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“Just, don’t do it again, ok? I brought you some breakfast, just cereal; the Doctor doesn’t want you to have anything too heavy today.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Ianto hit the switch to raise the head of the bed enough for Jack to sit up and eat his cereal, and when he was done, he put the bowl aside.

 

“Do you want anything?” Ianto asked.

 

“Like?”

 

“Something to do, a book, or a DVD or something.”

 

“No, thanks, I’m good. Just keep me company?”

 

“Of course,” Ianto said, pulling up the chair beside the bed.

 

**

The Doctor looked up as Martha wandered into the console room.

 

“Morning,” he said.

 

“Morning. Are you setting us a destination?” she asked, seeing the section of the console he was at.

 

“Yep. I found a nice, quiet, safe planet for us to land on for the next couple of months, until Jack has the baby,” he said, he hesitated, and then looked up at her.

 

“I know we’ve been kind of ignoring you lately Martha, and now we’re heading for the middle of nowhere. If you want to go and visit your family, I can detour to Earth before we head for Martos.”

 

She said nothing for a long moment, considering jumping at the chance. It would give her a chance to sound out the prospects she had been thinking of, and if she was settled at something when they came back, she would have a good excuse to bow out gracefully, and she would still have her chance to see the new baby. Taking a deep breath, she looked at him and pasted a smile on her face.

 

“I’d appreciate that, thanks. Mum complained she never sees me when I phoned her recently.”

 

“How long after we drop you off do you want us to come back and pick you up? When we leave Martos, we can come back at any time you want us to.”

 

“Why don’t you give me the same amount of time as you’re gone? That will stop my mum moaning, and if I’ve had enough after a fortnight or whatever, I can always ring you and ask you to get me sooner.”

 

“Ok, well you go and pack, and phone your mum to let her know you’re coming or whatever. Twenty minutes to Earth.”

 

“Right, I should let Jack and Ianto know I’m leaving for a while. Do you know where they are?”

 

She saw the Doctor’s shoulders hunch slightly and wondered at the reason for that and the slightly guilty expression that flitted across his face.

 

“Jack’s in medical so that I can monitor him and the baby. Ianto’s probably keeping him company. Um, I meant to tell you when you got up, but I got a bit distracted.”

 

“In medical? What happened?” she demanded, instantly starting to reconsider her decision to go to Earth.

 

“He collapsed last night, his blood pressure was up. He’s fine this morning; I just want to keep an eye on him. Nothing to worry about Martha.”

 

“Ok, I’ll go and get packed and say goodbye to them then,” she said.

 

Martha went to her room, packing as much of her stuff as she could into one medium sized bag, she didn’t want to make it obvious she didn’t plan on coming back in case she changed her mind. She left a quick message on her mum’s answer phone to say she was coming for a visit, and then headed down to medical.

 

She put her bag down just inside the door, and went over the bed, moving to the opposite side to where Ianto sat.

 

“Are you going somewhere?” Ianto asked, eyeing the bag.

 

“I’m going to visit my mum for a while; the Doctor said he’d take me if I wanted, while you guys go somewhere safe, and quiet, for Jack to have the baby. I jumped at the chance to stop my mum moaning she never sees me. I think she really just wants to make sure I’m still in one piece after….you know…..that year,” she said, glancing a little guiltily at Jack.

 

“Good, you should reassure her that you’re fine,” Jack said, squeezing her hand lightly.

 

He had shoved most thoughts of that year out of his mind, the only permanent reminder the child he was carrying, which was also one of the few positive things. New life out of all that pain, misery and torture, even if it had taken until very late in the pregnancy for everything to come together perfectly. He knew that for Francine Jones, it must be a hell of a lot harder to forget about, her perspective was far too human, and Martha had gone straight back into the TARDIS without giving her family much chance to see she was ok.

 

“Thanks. You take care of yourself Jack, I don’t want to come back and hear that anything happened to you or the baby.”

 

He smiled, and allowed her to carefully hug him. She moved around the bed to Ianto, pulling him into a hug and accepting a light kiss on the cheek.

 

“Have a good time,” he said.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Come on, I’ll carry that bag to the console room for you. Back in a couple of minutes Jack.”

 

Ianto picked up the bag and led the way out of the medical bay. Out in the corridor he paused and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small notebook and a pen. Putting the bag down for a moment, he scrawled a number on the paper.

 

“This is Torchwood 3’s phone number, if you have any problems, or need help for any reason before we get back, call them. They may even contact you when they realize you’re back on Earth, assuming that you’re able to get in touch with the Doctor. They, um, tend to accidentally nearly destroy the world every so often, and without Jack there to check them, well, who knows when they might need help.”

 

“Thanks,” she said, relieved. Without knowing, Ianto had given her the solution to one of her problems, getting in touch with Torchwood.

 

“Good luck,” he said, handing her bag back just outside the console room and turning back in the direction of medical.

 

Maybe he had known what he was about, giving her the number then, she mused as she stepped into the console room, shoving the paper in her pocket.

 

“Ah, good, just in time. We’re landing, in the back garden of your mum’s house.”

 

“Great, thanks,” she said, hefting her bag and moving to the doors, waiting for them to open.

 

tbc

 

See, I can finish a chapter without a cliffhanger, occasionally.