kore_logs | Saving the Dead

Entry tags:

Saving the Dead

Who: Martha, the Doctor, Mina, Balthazar, Donna
When: Day 110
What: The earthquake struck during the day when Mina is asleep. Continued from here
Where: Mina's house
Warnings: None

The Doctor was surrounded by some of the most trusted people he knew here in the Cape. Martha and Donna had just shown up minutes after Balthazar and he circled the house.

"Mina is up there." He nods towards her house, which looked like there was some damage, but perhaps not horribly significant. Or so he hoped. However, the structure did not look stable at all, and he was too concerned how exposed she was to the sun, and not to mention whether or not this was catastrophic to her.

It ate at his insides knowing this, and knowing she had helped him so often, it was time for the Doctor to be there for Mina.

"I don't know how stable the structure is, but if we can find her, and find enough blankets..." He swallows, hoping for the best.

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In the Doctor's absence, Mina let out a long, painful sigh. It was just too strange to be fussed over. She much preferred to be the one doing the fussing. Kore never seemed to tire of finding ways to pull the rug out from under her.

"What happened?" she asked Martha softly. "I have a feeling that I'm more likely to get an answer in English from you, darling." She did call everyone darling. "Just an earthquake? Has Maggie mysteriously turned up at the epicenter yet?"

That girl was becoming troublesome.

Martha watched the Doctor go with a small ache. She was being selfish. He was from a different time. A later time. She didn't even know if she had stayed with him or not when it was all over. But to go from Rose to Mina, it still stung a little.

She looked back down at Mina when the other woman asked a question.

"I don't actually know what happened. I was in the clinic when the shaking started. And then I've been back and forth helping people. I didn't even know there was someone named Maggie here. I assumed it was a scientist run experiment."

"No one really knows what's going on." The Doctor commented as he rearranged the contents on a nearby table. "Well, I don't know that for certain. I haven't really investigated it." For obviously reasons.

Looking over to Mina, "Why do you say Maggie?" He didn't care much for this girl, with those horrid dreams and confusion that set off.

"Every time there's an earthquake, she seems to be in the thick of it." Mina winced a little, shifting to try to make herself more comfortable, but it seemed that no such position existed. "I remember the first earthquake. Hadn't been here more than a few weeks. The epicenter was the diner. One of the Winchester boys--can't keep track of them--and I ended up digging Maggie out of the rubble."

Something else to investigate, she supposed. But that had been a fairly fruitless endeavor before. Mina was beginning to suspect it was some kind of distraction.

It was what she would do.

But there would be time to think about that later. Now, she needed to figure out the most efficient way to fix herself. Without wasting too much blood, time, or supplies. "Martha, dear," she said, deciding the first, logical course of action was setting bones. "I want you to press down on my fourth vertebrosternal rib. Try to feel it into place as much as possible. And Doctor, don't bother with any needles. No sense in wasting them. We can do this the old-fashioned way."

Martha listened to the discussion about Maggie, but left it alone when Mina gave her directions.

She found the rib easily enough. "Ready?" she asked, pushing the rib back to it's approximate position before getting an answer.

The Doctor leans against a table, hands curled around the edge of the table thinking about what Mina had said. "What's this girl's history? She's been involved with the earthquakes before? Those shared dreams..." It was starting to be far more complicated than it a girl should be.

He pondered the implications as Martha assisted Mina.

Mina let out a cry of pain like someone being stretched on the rack. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she was over-reacting, but at the moment, she felt she was entitled. After all, she'd woken up kidnapped with a couple broken ribs and an aggravated burn.

She flashed a savage smile up at Martha. "This is what medicine was always like when I was alive," she croaked.

Turning her head to the Doctor, she added, "The blood now, dear."

Martha grimaced. "I'm aware of what medicine is like without all the fancy stuff we have. War zones don't give you much of a choice.

She reached out for the blood the Doctor had brought. Her blood really. It probably would have been easier for her to just allow Mina to drink from a vein. Or artery. But Martha wasn't fully comfortable with the idea of vampires yet to allow Mina to drink from her. So a blood bag of Martha Jones' O+ it was.

As she handed the pint over to Mina, she wondered if the other woman would be able to trace the blood back to her.

The Doctor manages to cut open the bag using the scissors he picked up from the clinic.

"I also brought pain medicine, if you need it." It might have been morphine, but he didn't bother reading the vials closely. He handed the open bag to Mina with an anxious smile.

Mina took the blood, giving the Doctor a particularly suspicious look and praying to whatever gods could hear her in Kore that he hadn't done something stupid, like put pain medication into the blood. That would certainly give the two of them a show.

Reluctantly, she allowed her face to change. Kindred didn't manifest in the way that vampires did in popular fiction. Her face didn't transform, nothing new appeared, save for her fangs which were, of course, rather predictable. But what did change was the atmosphere around her. Mina took on the air of a predator. There was something intangibly fearsome about her.

They called it 'the Beast.'

Trying to be as tidy as possible, she started to drink out of the bag. She was a little bit less precise than normal. A little blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. But all in all, not quite as bad. Within a few seconds, Martha would start to actually feel the splintered ends of Mina's rib knitting back together.

The fear was palpable. Martha stayed where she was through sheer will, but it was difficult. Mina was terrifying.

And then her bones started knitting together. It was all so strange.

The Doctor's head tilted out of curiosity of Mina's change. Funny, he didn't really remember that the night he had her feed from him, but it wasn't like he was exactly focusing on that.

"The other bag too?" He was ready to slice it open for her, given it wasn't taking her long to drink them.

As Mina finished up the first bag, she felt some relief. Still another broken rib to contend with, but at least it was hurting less now.

She gave the Doctor a nod, trying to focus on Martha in a way that wasn't threatening. A difficult task to accomplish when the Beast was out, but she found that it always helped to let her eyes drift. Soft focus. Like they did in the cinema.

"Two ribs down," she told the younger woman. "Same routine."

Martha nodded dumbly and moved her hands down to the next two ribs. "OK. I'm ready when you are."

Her voice is steady. Whatever she feels, she's not going to let it affect her.

She is a little peeved the Doctor took both pints of blood though. She had just freshly donated the one pint the morning before. Damn.

He didn't know any better, and could probably see her logic in being peeved with him, most certainly, but also knew Martha wasn't going to be a live donor, either.

Crouching down, the Doctor watches, "Notice anything different?" He watches closly, trying to observe to see if her skin was improving.

The pressure from Martha wasn't as bad this time. Mina was able to handle it without making too much of a fuss. It still hurt, but less. And she wondered if that was because her body was prepared or because her mind was trying to protect her.

It hardly mattered.

Concentrating, she sent a flood of blood down into her rib. The ends knitted together, the fracture repairing itself. She smiled absently, giving Martha a bit of a nod. "That should do it," she said. "There's nothing that can be done about the burns. They'll take time."

Martha nods right back and takes her hands away.

"That's a useful skill, the healing. Does it only work on internal wounds then?"

The fact that she couldn't do anything about the burns was troublesome to Martha. But at least Mina would be able to walk.

Squatting down in front of them, The Doctor watches both curiously, but had most of his attention on Mina. "How do you feel?" He's curious to touch her face, but holds back knowing her skin was sensitive right now.

At least she was alive, and he could breath a sigh of relief on that.

Gingerly, Mina sat up. She rested a hand, lightly, on her side. But it was unnecessary. Just a bit of a reflex, really. She was fine.

Aside from the damn burns, of course.

"It works on internal and external injuries," she told Martha, pleased by the younger woman's continually impressive curiosity. "But sunlight is a particular matter. There are three kinds of damage a Kindred can take. Bashing. Which is little more than being hit with something, including bullets. Lethal. Which is being cut with something, something that would normally kill a human. Aggravated. Supernatural damage from things like sunlight, fire, the teeth and claws of magical creatures."

Goodness, she sounded like some sort of professor.

"Needless to say," she added dryly, her fingertips probing the burns on her face, "I'll be playing the part of some Gaston Leroux antagonist for some time."

Martha's mostly ignoring the Doctor's complete interest in Mina. In fact, maybe she should avoid him entirely for a few days. Until she sorted out her feelings. Except it's hard to avoid someone on an island.

Luckily, what Mina is telling her is just enough out of her realm that it's very easy to ignore the Doctor.

"So the Aggravated damage, that's something you have to take the slow path for."

"I'm sure if we dug around somewhere, we could find a mask for you." He offers a smile and stands back up to his full height, but not without pressing a hand to Martha's shoulder.

"Thank you, Martha." There was nothing but gratitude and relief in his words. He gave a squeeze to her shoulder to emphasis his meaning.

"The slow path," Mina repeated thoughtfully. "Interesting turn of phrase. I rather like--"

She cut herself off, looking up at the Doctor. Her sea-storm eyes narrowed and the only real indication that she wasn't actually furious was the fact that her skin wasn't sparkling. "Are you saying something's wrong with my face?" she asked tartly.

Mina chucked the scratchy blanket at his head. She rolled her eyes at Martha. "I suppose, if we've a long night of housecalls ahead of us, I'll probably need trousers. But you and I should talk more. Someone else ought to know these things about Kindred health."

"I have a night of house calls. You need to get better. Otherwise he's going to be even more of a pain in the arse than he already is," she replies, jerking a thumb in the Doctor's direction.

"You're welcome, Doctor," she adds, catching his eyes to confirm what she's already pretty sure of. And there it is... Martha turns her attention back to Mina.

"You're the worst case I've had so far. A number of people have agreed to call on me should someone need me. Everything's under control. You take the time to heal."

"Gaston Leroux! The Phantom of the Opera! Y'know, the ma..." He quiets at Martha's words, "Oi! I'm not a pain in the arse!"

He legitimately was concerned about Mina and perhaps not being able to pull her out of her house. It was most certainly comforting that he was able to.

"Be safe, Martha. And if you need help, don't hesitate to call, yeah?"

"He is a pain in the arse," Mina said to Martha, although it was rather affectionately. For someone who was rarely fussed over in the last two centuries, Mina was rather starting to enjoy the attention.

Of course, Mina could be a right pain herself.

She started to stand up, taking care to look out for any unanticipated burns. Fortunately, there weren't any under her shirt, so the discomfort was minimal. "And I'm going with you, Martha," she added.

Saving the Dead

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