A Healing Sleep

Ziggy

Donna carefully set the tray with its burden of afternoon tea down on the small table beside the Doctor's bed. She checked the bedcovers, frowning in disappointment when she realized her patient hadn't moved, then settled for stroking his dark hair tenderly before she sat down in the hard-backed chair positioned bedside.

Donna fixed her tea the way she liked it, then picked up a biscuit. She only managed a half-hearted nibble before returning it to the tray. She reached out again to touch his hair which, despite everything, still stuck out at all angles.

"Come on, Doctor!" she urged. She leaned back a little, touching the compress that covered his injured shoulder. "You can stop scaring me, now." She shuddered. It was-- unnatural --to see the Doctor so still for so long.

She picked up his limp left hand and just held it. "You're gonna be all right. You hear me, spaceman? You're gonna be just fine."

The Doctor continued to sleep, seemingly oblivious to the care bestowed on him.

A tear slipped from Donna's eye as she remembered: the attack from nowhere, the Doctor pushing her out of the way of the huge—thing—that had quickly zeroed in on them, his agony-filled scream as the creature bit down on his right shoulder. Donna had stood, transfixed, for a moment before picking up a thick stick and bashing the creature on the head. Howling, it released the Time Lord, then disappeared as quickly as it had come.

The Doctor had nearly fallen to his knees. Donna rushed to his side, but he was forcing himself to remain upright, trying to act all nonchalant and indestructible. Donna would have none of it, casually pointing out his bloodied shoulder through the shreds of several layers of clothes.

"This is my favorite coat!" the Doctor stated indignantly when he saw the large rips.

Donna couldn't help rolling her eyes as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, pressing it against the bleeding wound. Without another word, she turned him around and led him back towards the TARDIS. She picked up his right hand, placed it over the makeshift bandage, then tucked her arm around his waist to help steady him. (Geez, was he skinny!)

"I'm fine, Donna, really," he'd insisted, turning dull eyes her way. It hadn't been much of a protest as he'd made no attempts to pull away.

She ignored his objection. "Just a little bit further, mate," she encouraged, taking his increasing weight as his steps began to falter. His hair, which seemed to match his moods at times, sagged limply as if wet. She managed to get him into the timeship and to a room with a bed (thank goodness for a TARDIS on the ball!) before he dropped, unconscious, to the floor.

Now she sat and worried, hoping that whatever was in that creature's icky saliva, it wasn't poisonous to Time Lords. It had been bad enough cleaning the gunk off the Doctor's shoulder, after stripping him to his shorts and hauling his skinny butt into bed with him unhelpfully oblivious. She squeezed his hand, then reached over to pick up her cup of tea. The tea, however, had long since gone cold. She made a face at it, then placed it back on the tray with the barely touched biscuits.

After a few more minutes of staring at the Doctor's still form and silently begging him to come around (his hair seemed to have recovered from the ordeal, how come he hadn't yet?), she sighed heavily. Sitting around doing nothing wasn't going to get any job done. Rising to her feet, she reached for the tray to return it to the kitchen when she heard a soft sound. Automatically, her attention fell on her friend; she thought she caught the barest movement of his eyelids.

Donna leaned over, brushing aside a stray lock of his hair. "Doctor?"

Then it came, a mere whisper of sound: "Donna."

She took his hand, squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm here," she answered calmly, though all she wanted to do was dance around like her Gramps when he was excited.

The Doctor's eyes cracked open; he gave her a small smile.

She returned his smile. "Welcome back, sunshine." When he just stared at her, she added, "How do you feel?"

"All right," he answered, sounding tired.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I think so. There was a beast of some sort--"

"You pushed me out of the way, took the attack that should have gotten me."

The Doctor blinked. "I remember, yes."

Donna smiled tenderly, trying to hide her worry. This wasn't like the Doctor at all, just lying in bed like this. Usually he was up and about, recovered swiftly and ready to tackle the next adventure. "Can I get you anything?"

"Some tea would be nice, maybe some of those banana cakes you have stashed away?"

Something niggled at the back of Donna's mind, but she pushed it aside. She nodded. "Sure, anything. I'll just be a minute." She picked up the tray, headed for the kitchen.

After setting the kettle to boil, she hurried to her room. She went into her walk-in closet and, tucked in the back on a shelf, she found a box of banana nut snack cakes she kept hidden from a certain Time Lord. Hidden, because he would eat them all in one sitting if she allowed it. And, if she was feeling particularly mischievous, she would have one or two with her afternoon tea, teasing the Doctor by telling him how good they were, but not letting him have any or only a small bite. She'd considered his pouty puppy eyes payback for all the times he seemed to enjoy himself a little too much at her expense.

Donna finished making the tea, then reloaded the tray and started back to the Doctor's room. She found herself pausing in the doorway as she spied what was going on in the room: the Time Lord was still on the bed, the covers tucked about him except for his exposed arms and shoulders, but now his head rested against propped-up pillows, as he casually fiddled with his sonic screwdriver. The compress was no longer in sight, though what looked to Donna like a half-healed scar adorned his bare right shoulder.

He seemed unaware of her appearance until he held the screwdriver up to his nose, sighted down the barrel and angled it around the room. He froze when he spotted her, his brown eyes going wide like a deer caught in the headlights of a motor vehicle. Quickly, he tucked his arms, and the sonic device, under the duvet, scrunching himself into the mattress.

"Oi, what the hell is this?" Donna demanded, her demeanor going from concern to angry as hell in less than a fraction of a second.

"Just resting?" The Doctor stated unconvincingly. He swallowed nervously.

"Resting? Don't mess with me, mate! You and I both know that thing was in your coat pocket, which happens to be across the room!" She jerked her chin towards the long, brown coat that hung innocently over the back of a chair, along with the rest of his semi-tattered clothes.

She crossed the room to set the tea tray down, then rounded on him. "I'm worried sick about you, afraid you might actually die, and you were just faking? You won't be faking by the time I'm through with you!"

"It wasn't like that--"

"Oh? What was it, then?"

"I was hurt, and I dropped into a healing coma to counteract the poison from that creature's bite, but when I woke I, well, you were so concerned about me, talking to me and being nice and all... I was tucked in all snug and warm and I felt like... well, I liked it. I figured once I got up we'd be back to being all adventure and excitement and my chance would be lost."

"Your chance would be lost?" Donna asked, anger giving way to confusion. Before the Doctor could answer, she added, her expression changing to one of understanding, "Wait, you 'liked it'? You liked being taken care of, is that what you're tellin' me?"

Realizing the redhead wasn't hitting-mad at him anymore, the Time Lord relaxed a little. "It's not often I have somebody taking care of me like this, serving me tea and banana nut cakes in bed." He glanced longingly at the tea tray and the items on it.

Donna couldn't help smiling at his wistful expression.

"And tell me, honestly," he continued, "would you have offered to make me tea in bed if I was doing fine?"

"I would figure you could get it yourself."

"Exactly!" He bestowed her with his patented puppy dog look. "So, how 'bout it? A little tea in bed? I did save your life, afterall."

"That you did, time boy." Donna sat down next to the bed, fixing the Doctor's tea the way he liked it as he sat up, propping his pillows further behind him. She carefully handed him the cup and saucer, then held out one of the coveted banana cakes. Before he could take it, however, she held it out of his reach. "Next time you want one of these, spaceman, just ask. No need for all the dramatics, okay? I get enough of that just traveling with you."

"You'd never share with me before," he pointed out.

Donna felt a twinge of guilt, but stated, "Because I know you and you would have eaten 'em all in one sitting!"

"No way!" The Doctor remarked, pouting. "Two sittings, maybe, but not one."

She lowered her hand, allowing him to snatch the cake. "Yeah, that sounds like you." She waited until he'd taken a big bite of the treat before leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"Wha--?" he spluttered, eyeing her as she reached for her own cup of tea.

"For saving my life," the redhead smiled. "And you're right, you do deserve a nice, relaxing cuppa in bed once in awhile. The universe owes it to ya."

The Doctor swallowed his mouthful of cake, then smiled. "But only if you're here to share it with me."

Donna returned his smile. Holding up her cup of tea, she toasted, "To the Time Lord and the Best Temp in Chiswick. Defenders of the Universe. Allons-y!"

"Allons-y !" The Doctor returned with a smile. He took another bite of cake, reaching out at the same time to grab another one.

Donna just shook her head before taking a sip of her tea.

10/18/09

Response to the doctor_donna drabble challenge prompt, "sleep"