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

Chapter 16 The Kindness of Strangers

Toby slammed the ambulance doors shut and hunched his shoulders against the cold wind driving a chill straight into his bones. The rain pelting against him made the thought of hitting the lights less than pleasant. Going code blue during a storm always upped the potential for an accident. A slow run, however, increased the likelihood his passenger would wake up in a panic. Toby preferred a patient come unglued in the safe confines of an exam room, not in the back of an ambulance where he could cause an accident. As the medic slid into the driver's seat and fastened his seatbelt, he had a bad feeling that the guy in the back was going to come very unglued. When Trey thumped the divider signalling that it was okay to pull out, he hit the siren's switch and pulled away from the café.

Tonight, fortune shined. The rain stopped as he rolled through the first intersection. In the absence of thunder, the siren wail cut through the evening as the ambulance made its way toward the hospital. The few cars on the road gave way to the ambulance rolling through the few stoplights. Seven minutes after leaving the café, Toby turned the sirens off and pulled the ambulance into the emergency bay. He opened the back door and blew a harsh breath at the sight their patient still dozing patient clutching Nan's hand. He flashed an apologetic smile when she shivered at the blast of cold air.

A portly, middle-aged man with a stethoscope hanging around his neck appeared and held his hand out to her. "Hi, I'm Jack Wilson," he said with a broad smile whilst helping her step down.

"Hel--" she started. Before the word formed, a staff member ushered her aside and a medical team swarmed the stretcher. The loss of contact and sudden jostling roused Thete from his drugged stupor and as he reached for her hand, the strangers rolled him away.

"No, don't," he said, his slurred voice barely audible above voices ordering people out of the way.

"It's all right, Thete. I'm right here. We're at the hospital now," she said, managing to stay one step behind. A nurse in green scrubs stopped and whirled, preventing her from following. "Are you family, ma'am?"

"I'm what he has ... yes," she answered with an anxious eye on the disappearing stretcher. "I'm Nan Carson, and I'm not leaving him."

"We need to assess him, Mrs Carson. We'll call you back as soon as we have him settled."

"No, you don't understand," Nan repeated with a little more force trying to step around the nurse. "I am not leaving him." She heard Thete's voice grow more frantic.

"Jeb," the nurse looked at the security guard, "take her to admitting." With that, the cocky nurse was gone, leaving Nan to stare in shock at her disappearing back.

"This is a mistake, Jeb; you don't understand!" she argued as the man guided her toward admitting. "He's terrified of people, especially people in uniforms. I promised him I'd stay with him."

"Sorry, ma'am." The guard just gave her a practised smile of support.

Nan pulled back at the sight of the police car pulling in behind the empty ambulance. "He can't see them. They'll scare the hell out of him. Please -- listen to me," she begged as the officers disappeared inside.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, we'll just get his information and I'll see about getting you back as soon as possible," he answered as he grabbed her firmly by the elbow and guided her into admitting.

The sight and smells of this place gagged Nan. A rush of memories flooded back, threatening to overwhelm her. A woman appeared, clipboard in hand. The clerk flashed a smile and started asking questions in a tone that still haunted her dreams. Halfway through line one, Nan's head snapped sideways when a terrified scream cut through the waiting area of the small emergency room. The clipboard clattered on the tile floor as she ran, barreling past startled staff members and police officers, heading straight for the wild cries coming from deeper in the unit. Hank called her name as he rushed in the front door, but she didn't listen. The ER doors slammed shut behind her. She slid to a stop behind a crowd watching a spectacle unfold inside a glass-enclosed cubicle.