Broken: A Time Lord's Story (Doctor Who Novel)

Chapter 22 Fears and Realisations

The time on the large clock on the waiting room's wall was off. Admittedly, not by much, but there was a five-minute discrepancy between the clock's so-called precise military time and Hank's watch. A watch that he knew for a fact was absolutely correct. It would seem the hospital could, at least, make sure their clocks were correct. It was a ludicrous concern, but he couldn't help it -- the inaccuracy bothered him making him wonder what else was inaccurate. He scrubbed his hand across his face and turned back to look at the worried faces of his wife and best friend, and flashed them a worried smile. Until five days ago, they didn't even know Thete existed, and now they were his scared-to-death, defacto family. Well, it wasn't exactly five days, more like four and a half, but the point stood.

He didn't bother to hide the overwhelming guilt that he felt over Thete's flashback, or the fear that followed in its wake. Sarah and Nan both knew him too well to try to convince him what happened wasn't his fault, or that he had nothing to feel guilty over. This was one of those rare times Hank just needed to stomp around until he processed events. Three hours and twenty-one minutes earlier, Thete had squeezed his hand complaining that he couldn't breathe. Minutes after that, he was sitting up, clutching his chest wide-eyed with fear, gasping for air as he spit up blood. Even upright, he couldn't breathe. Hank had never watched a person turn grey, but Thete did; right in front of him.

Hank didn't think that he would ever get the image of Thete's panic-stricken eyes, or the blaring monitor alarms out of his head. Things happened so fast after that. Kathy shoved him out of the room as the staff piled in and Berta put an oxygen mask on Thete at 100%. As they wheeled him out of the room, Wilson said something about a blood clot. Following them to the elevator was the longest walk Hank had ever taken. He hoped Thete didn't hear him begging Wilson not to let him die. The last thing the boy needed to hear was the panic Hank knew was in his voice.

The whole mess had cooled his earlier fury toward Wilson, but he was still extremely angry at the idiot psychiatrist who'd come up with the idea to leave Thete. He should have followed his gut, and never left him alone. If he'd followed his instincts, then maybe Thete wouldn't have flashed back to hell. If he hadn't flashed .... One thing was for sure, when this was over, if Thete survived, Hank swore to himself that he would do every thing humanly possible to make Thete feel safe again. The elevator buzzer interrupted his guilty reverie. All three heads turned to see Annie rush out of the elevator to join them.

"Hi, sorry that I took so long. I had to find someone to cover my shift, and then I had to ask Mom to get Emily from the daycare later. Have you heard anything?" Annie crossed the floor and hugged Sarah and Nan. Hank had already gone back to watching the clock. Three hours and twenty-six minutes ago, Thete disappeared into those same elevators.

"No, not yet," Nan answered.

"What happened? Last night he was doing so much better. He even laughed -- well giggled, but it was a start," Annie asked, her voice filled with her concern.

Hank turned around to face the young woman and realised that he was a complete idiot. Someone (no, make that he) should have told her what they had found out. "Annie, I am sorry. This happened because of me." He wasn't sure what he was apologising for, other than making a mess of things.

"Hank, that's not true," Sarah fussed.

"What are you talking about?" Annie asked.

"Doc talked to some shrink about Thete's PTSD. That -- person suggested that we should start leaving him alone every couple of hours to boost his coping skills," Hank answered derisively.

"What? Did the Psychiatrist even see Thete? How could he decide that without seeing him?"

"I never saw anyone," Hank answered. "Anyway, yesterday, Doc found out who Thete is, but he was still too out of it to tell him. We were going to tell him today, but Doc wanted me to start his lessons. The first time, he was fine, but then ... "