15Chaptah TWO! I got a 'Molto Bene' from my consultant, so here it is! The next chapter will be a little lighter, but Gwen will find out about another of the *ahem* many deaths that Jack went through. So...*waves hands in the direction of the story* here you go!
When Jack came around, he was on the bed in the med bay. He didn't have any motivation to look around; he knew what the med bay looked like. Instead, he just stared at the ceiling, listening to the familiar hum of machinery.
He heard footsteps outside in the hall. Three sets.
"Listen, I'm going home." That was Gwen, "I trust you to handle this, especially now that he's here. Call me if you need to restrain him."
Another female voice laughed outside the door.
"Okay. I'll remember that." It was Martha.
As the blurred memories of his escape came back to him, he recalled that Martha had been there. And so had the Doctor. The Doctor, who never even so much as stopped by for coffee, had rescued him. Where the hell had that come from?
"Come on, Ianto, if he's awake, I'm going to need your help."
"Yes, ma'am." Ianto replied.
Ever-respectful Ianto, Jack mused, almost smiling.
"Oh, good. Looks like you'll be of some use." Martha said, seeing Jack was finally awake. "Sleeping Beauty has finally come around."
"And 'hello' to you, too." Jack replied. "That was an awfully unprofessional greeting, Martha Jones. I thought you were a doctor."
"I am." Martha said, suddenly professional. "I'm sorry, that was a bit rude, wasn't it?"
Jack watched Martha bustle around, putting a tray together. He saw bandages, and antiseptic wipes, and gauze, and - this made him laugh a little - band-aids.
"Band-aids? Really?" He asked, flippantly.
"Not all your injuries are so big that I need to use gauze." Martha replied, raising an eyebrow.
Jack went back to looking over the tray. He didn't see any needles. Good. That was good.
"Right, the first order of business, I've got to set these bones back in place before they start to heal incorrectly." Martha said, "It's gonna hurt, so I'll give you a mild sedative, and-"
Martha cut herself off when she saw Jack's terrified face.
"What?" She looked confused and worried. "What's wrong?"
"Uh..." Jack shook his head, trying to clear it. "N-nothing, just... No needles. Please."
Something in Jack's tone made Martha comply. The tremor when he'd said nothing was wrong and the way he'd said 'please' as though he, Jack Harkness, was begging. She put the syringe back on the tray.
"Okay, we can work around that. Ianto, go get a belt, please." She said quietly before sitting on the edge of the bed and putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. He flinched at the touch.
"Jack... What happened?"
Jack closed his eyes, the memory weighing on his chest like a ton of bricks.
Jack could see the needle out of the corner of his eye, long and dripping with whatever drug he was going to be injected with next. The last one had burned like fire in his veins. The one before that was a hallucinogen, showing him all his worst fears. He'd seen all of his crew die. He'd seen the Doctor die. Somthing he knew was impossible. But it frightened him nonetheless because he knew that if the Doctor got cut out of the picture, the earth was doomed. And the one before that? He couldn't remember. It had been going on so long. The new drug started coursing through him like ice, giving him a prickling feeling in his fingers and toes. He was going numb. Everything around him was rocking and spinning, making him sick.
"Goodnight, Jack. See you in a few hours." His captor's voice purred.
His vision started going fuzzy, and his whole body was either numb or freezing cold.
That was the fourteenth time Jack died.
Only when Jack looked up and saw Martha's eyes welling with tears did he realize that he'd recounted the experience out loud.
"Oh, my God..." She gasped, hand drawn to her mouth in horror from what she'd just heard.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Ianto's voice came from the doorway as he reappeared.
"Oh! Ah..." Martha wiped her eyes quickly and took a steadying breath. "Nothing. It's fine, just... Come here with that belt."
Ianto moved obediently to Martha's side, and handed her the belt.
"Now, Jack, I want you to bite down on this. I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt. You'll know when I've finished." Martha said, putting the belt between his teeth.
Ianto couldn't help himself. He reached forward and gripped Jack's hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
"It's going to be alright, sir." He said, quietly.
Jack nodded his appreciation to Ianto, and both of them looked towards Martha.
"Alright. I'm going to start with your legs. I'll be as quick as I can." she said, "On three. One. Two. Three!"
Jack's scream was so loud that Ianto almost let go of his hand to cover his ears but within seconds the Captain was clutching him too tightly.
The pain was intense, ripping screams from Jack's throat before he had a chance to stop them - as if he would've - and hot tears spilled from his eyes.
Martha worked her way around Jack's form, pushing, pulling, and slipping bones back into their correct place. Soon she was finished and Jack went limp on the bed, sweating and panting from the exertion.
Ianto took the belt gently from Jack's mouth - the section he'd been biting dark with saliva - and handed it back to Martha. She took it, avoiding the wet bit, and traded it for a glass of water, which Ianto helped Jack drink.
"Alright. Now that's finished, I'll just clean up a few of these cuts, and we'll call it a night, yeah?" Martha said gently.
Jack nodded. He was already tired again, and just wanted to go to sleep and forget everything that had happened to him. But he knew he'd never forget. He could remember almost every one of his deaths like it was yesterday. He'd just learned not to think about it. But in this case...he didn't have a choice.
As she worked her way around Jack's form in the opposite direction, a few of the more serious lacerations and scrapes caught Martha's eye. There were several deep cuts on both his arms, and the raw skin where the clasps had held him was clearly infected. She checked his forehead - warm, but not feverishly so - and applied a sticky blue paste to stop the infection spreading.
She had barely finished when Jack's eyes started to drift shut again.
She patted his shoulder gently, a smile darting across her face.
"Get some rest, Jack. You earned it." She said, but looking down at his peaceful form, she had to wonder if he'd even heard her.
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