lostwolf | The Persephone Problem

They made it nearly two miles before Rose’s energy began to wan seriously. She stumbled, thrusting a hand out against the wall to prevent herself from falling. The leather jacket that had felt so comforting was beginning to feel impossibly heavy, her chest felt tight and uncomfortable and the world was spinning. She needed to sit down. She felt the Doctor’s hands tense against her shoulders; she desperately didn’t want to disappoint him but she needed to rest. If she kept going like this was she liable to lead them into the chasm.

‘Doctor, can we stop for a bit. I’m feeling a bit dizzy.’

‘Of course. It’s probably hunger. Come on, we’ll have a something to eat.’

Her throat closed at the prospect of food but she realised he was probably right, it was over a day since she’d eaten anything more substantial than an apple and after her bout of vomiting her stomach was an empty void.

She lowered herself down the wall, feeling its chilled support against her body as a relief. Her limbs were trembling and the rock was the only thing that kept her from collapsing completely. Leaning against the wall she gradually ate the apple and biscuits the Doctor handed her, exhausted tears leaking slowly and silently down her cheeks. Never in her life had she felt so tired, so impossibly weary or so terribly alone. Her body was growing numb, despite the cosiness of the Doctor’s jacket.

She sighed, pulling the jacket more tightly around her. She wanted comfort, but the only person she wanted it from was the one person she could not confess her need to. He needed her to be strong, capable, worthy of him; she could not and would not let him down. She was just feeling sorry for herself. It was the monotony of their surroundings, the unending tedium of their walk, that left her with too much time to dwell. Her sense of weakness and exhaustion was growing into something more in her mind because there was nothing to distract her. If she could just find something else to concentrate on then she would be fine. She snuggled into the Doctor’s leather jacket, dipping her nose beneath the collar and inhaling the delicious and soothing scent of him that lingered on the fabric. It was almost as good as a hug. Almost. Closing her eyes she pretended, just for a moment, that he was wearing his jacket and that it was his body she could smell and his arms that were heavy around her rather than just the leather. Tears pricked her eyes once more and she forced them open, pushing her head back out through the neck of the jacket into the chilly air.

Reluctantly, she took one more bite of her apple before lobbing it over the side of the path and onto the gorge below. Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the trembling in her arms and then legs as they were forced to support her. Pressing a palm tight against the wall she heaved in several breaths then several more, fast on their heels, as the first few failed to help. Finally, she straightened, forcing her head up and her eyes to contemplate the path before her. Not too much further, she told herself, desperately willing it to be true.

‘Come on, then.’ She said to the Doctor, her voice small and forced, despite her best efforts.

He rose silently to his feet and they resumed their walk.

Walking behind Rose the Doctor listened to her shallow breathing, feeling her elevated temperature, her overly quick pulse, the constant tremor in her limbs and the frequent small shakes of her head as she struggled to maintain her focus. They had at least ten miles before them and he seriously doubted Rose was capable of more than two of them. He knew he’d underestimated her before, he’d never have believed she could make it this far, but for all her valiant will and determination, her body was slowly betraying her and it was only a matter of time before it failed her completely.

It was therefore with resignation rather than surprise that he felt her pull away from him, that he heard her flinging herself to her knees and, with painful sounding force, expel the meagre meal he had forced her to consume.

‘I guess food was a bad idea,’ he quipped, hoping to raise her flagging spirits. When she didn’t even acknowledge him he tuned himself more closely to her. She was gasping. Damn it, was she crying? And then he heard, beneath the gasps, the thunder of her straining heart and realised something was terribly wrong.

‘Rose?’ He dropped to his knees, reaching out, finding shuddering flesh. He shuffled toward her, realising her chest was heaving desperately; she was struggling to breathe. He pressed a hand flat to her back, finding inadequate breath sounds on her left side. Her broken rib must have nicked her lung when she jumped the gap earlier and now air was entering her pleural cavity, partially collapsing her lung. In her panic, she was making the situation worse, hyperventilating. He pulled her against him roughly, pulling her into his chest, clamping her in place with his thighs and cupping his hands over her nose and mouth, forcing her to bring her breathing under control. As he brought her hyperventilation under control, he removed his hands. Her breathing was still pained and shallow but at present the situation was not life threatening and she was not yet hypoxic.

He held her close. She was in no fit state to walk now. Any further aggravation of her injury could lead to a tension pneumothorax and if that happened she could die within minutes and there would be nothing he could do. He had nothing with him with which to treat her.

He was forced from his thoughts by Rose’s quiet voice.

‘I’m not going to get out of here, am I?’

He arched his head backwards, his blank stare cast towards the heavens, the pain in his chest almost unbearable.

‘I will get you out of here, Rose, but you have to promise to try.’ His voice was strangled, the hands on her arms gripping her tightly, painfully, as if he could tether her to life, to him.

‘I am trying. I’m just …’ She paused, catching her breath, ‘I don’t feel well. Not just this … breathing thing … I’m dizzy and I can hardly feel … I’m getting numb and it’s really hard to … stay awake.’ She stopped, gasping, exhausted by her attempt at speech. The Doctor gathered her into his arms, pulling her close to him as fiercely as he dared.

‘The poison Adelphos gave you is still in your system. It’s hurting you, but as soon as we reach the surface we’ll get the antidote and you will be fine. You just have to stay with me until we get out of here.’

Rose closed her eyes, resting her head tiredly against his shoulder.

‘Rose? Do you understand me? You have to stay awake. I know you’re tired and sick, but if you give up now you’ll die.’

‘I can’t walk anymore, Doctor.’

‘I know.’ He rose to his feet, Rose cradled in his arms, head towards the wall. He shifted her so she was sitting almost upright against him and moved so that his shoulder hit against the rock.

‘I’m going to carry you. If I keep my arm against the wall we should be safe. I just need you to warn me if the path is getting uneven or shallow. Can you do that?’

She nodded, ‘I’ll try.’

‘Good girl!’ He resisted the urge to squeeze her, instead brushing his lips against the top of her head. Pressing his arm against the rock, forcing down the fear at stepping forward with no clear idea where his foot would fall, he moved. He could do this. He would do this. He was beginning to think that, for Rose, he could and would do anything.

Chapter 15

Lostwolf Fiction

The Persephone Problem - Chapter 14

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