Chapter seven: Agony And Agonizing News

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Rose's point of view (She's around two and a half months pregnant)

Pain. It rushed through my veins, boiling my blood and searing my insides. Everything was fuzzy, but I could just make out Mum and Dad standing at the foot of my bed, watching as my nurse, Molly, was trying to figure out what was happening.

"Rose." Her voice was calm and collected, as though nothing was happening. "I need you to tell me where it hurts." My screams filled the room once more, and once they faded away, the room was deadly silent.

"Everywhere." My voice was barely a whisper, worn away by my shrieking. She pulled out her phone, typing a short message

"I've called for doctors from Torchwood to come and help. I really don't know what to do, and even if I did, I wouldn't have the proper equipment."

"Isn't there anything that you could do? Can't you help to take the pain away?" Mum shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously, chewing at one of her nails.

"The only thing I can do, is inject something that causes anesthesia. You'd be knocked out, and wouldn't feel anything." 

"Do it." I croaked, desperate for the fire in my veins to cease its rampant attack on my body.

"Wait. What about any complications?" Dad paced around the room, hands clasping each other.

"It seems unlikely that anything could go wrong. I'm afraid it will take a while for the doctors to get here. This seems like the only thing to help her."

"Alright then." He responded. Molly readied the needle, and looked at me.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked. Another bout of immense pain shot through me, and I bit on the inside of my cheek, turning my screams to whimpers. The metallic tang of blood stained my tongue, and I nodded. I didn't feel the needle break my skin, only the darkness claiming me, and my eyelids closing a few moments later.



"...Unsafe...Killing her...Serious consequences...Best for her...Only hope of surviving..."
Snippets of conversation floated through my mind, a weight slowly lifting from my whole body. My eyes finally opened, showing the distraught image of my mother sobbing against my fathers chest, a doctor standing in front of them. There was now no natural light in the room, only the dull yellow glow from the lamp across the room. I tried to sit up, but some kind of machine next to me started beeping and whirring. Heads turned in my direction.

"Oh Rose!" My Mum cried, rushing over to my side. She took both of my cold hands into her warm ones, the only words escaping her lips muffled apologies. 

"What's wrong? Whats happening?" I propped myself up on two pillows, ignoring the twinges sent down my back each time I moved. 

"She shouldn't be awake so soon. Give her some space." A stern looking man with dark grey hair and glasses walked over to my bedside, clipboard in hand. "Miss Tyler." He cleared his throat. "As you know, the conditions of your pregnancy are unlike anything we've ever seen before, which makes it so hard for us to understand what's going on. I'm afraid it's much worse than we feared. Your body isn't strong enough to carry the child. The nonhuman characteristics of it are incompatible with your body, so it's damaging you. What I'm attempting to say, is that the child is killing you, burning away the human cells in your body, and we don't know why, or how to stop it. The child is too strong for you. You wouldn't be able to carry the baby to full term and survive. The only way for you to live, would be to terminate the pregnancy." I sat there, unable to comprehend what had just been said. Mum was crying, and so was Dad.

"No." The doctor stared at me, eyebrows raised. "No. I promised myself that I would always put this baby first, and I will. As you said, you've never seen anything like this before, so who are you to say that I won't survive?"

"But Rose! He said it's burning you away, that it's slowly killing you and-"

"No." I said, and my Dad fell silent. "I don't care what happens to me. I won't kill this child on the off chance that I won't make it. If I die, then so be it, but I won't murder another person to save myself. Whatever happens to me happens, and I know that you two only want the best for me. Just please, try, try and understand what saying, even if you don't agree. This baby is the last thing that I have left of him, the man I love, and I'm willing to take the risk to have some part of him in my life again."

"Miss Tyler, please take into consideration the high likelihood that you will not survive this."

"I have, and my decision still the same."

"Very well then. Mr and Mrs Tyler, if I could speak to you outside for a moment." Dad nodded, and followed the doctor outside, and Mum gave my hands a small squeeze, before heading outside. Once I was alone, the barrier fell down, and the tears broke through. My already broken heart was now shattered. I wasn't going to take back my decision, but it still killed me even so, to know that the last piece of hope I had was blown away, like a single leaf in a storm. I placed my hands on my stomach, my sobs becoming louder and louder.

"I promise you, that no matter what, I will always try and protect you, and I'm gonna try my hardest to be there for you when you're born. But I want you to know, that if I don't make it, I will always be with you, even if it's in spirit rather than person. No matter whether you're brought up my me, or by your granny, you'll be told about all of the adventures your father and I had together, travelling throughout time and space. I'll fill a book, with some of my favorite trips, and I'll try to describe the amazing man I fell in love with as best as I can. I'm not very smart, or very good at anything really, but your daddy, he made me feel special, and important. We helped so many people together, and he made me a better person. I just hope that I get to meet you myself, and talk to you with my own voice, instead of messy handwriting on sheets of paper. I will always love you, and you will always be in my heart, no matter where I am." I couldn't continue, as the overwhelming sobs took control of me. 

No point of view

"I'm sorry Mrs Tyler, but I'm afraid that there is nothing more that we can do. The only way to save her, would be to abort the baby, but if she doesn't want that, then we can do nothing."Jackie's thought were racing around her head, and she was trying so hard to try and find a solution; but if the professional doctors couldn't do it, then how could she. The only person who really had a clue was stuck in their old Universe. Jackie wondered whether the Doctor was as lonely and heartbroken without Rose as she was without him.

"I don't know what to do." Pete sighed in exasperation. Then it dawned on Jackie. If the only man who could help her was the Doctor, then they'd have to find a way to get to him; send a message or send someone through to the other Universe.

"I do." Pete and the Torchwood doctor looked at her in shock. "What?!" she questioned. "I can have an idea y'know. We need to find a way to get through to the other Universe, even if it's just a message.  The Doctor is the only other Space lord or whatever he's called, so he's the only one who knows what's going on."

"It's a Timelord Jacks," Pete corrected, "not a... space lord."

"Whatever." She glared at her husband. "Would it be possible?" she turned to the doctor.

"It's worth a try, but even if it does work, and if there is a way, it's going to take some time." Jackie gave him a small smile, and for the first time since they'd arrived back at Pete's estate, she had genuine hope...


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