randomsushi | The Colony Hospital

The Doctor and Zoe get Jamie to a hospital on the planet Ghiaccio Quattro and uncover an alien plot to control the people using flu. Follows on from The Prison Beneath The Sea.

The atmosphere was tense upon the TARDIS as it flew through time and space. Inside, the Doctor stood at the controls, seemingly unaware of the sea water he was dripping all over the floor. His companion, Zoe Heriot, was busy reading all the medical texts she could find in some vain hope that she would be able to use the knowledge to treat their friend Jamie, who was lying unconscious on a bed in the room after being beaten up by the inmates of Prison Base Fourteen. Unfortunately, learning how to deliver a baby or administer the Heimlich Manoeuvre was wasted knowledge at that moment in time.

After what felt like eternity, the central column ground to a halt. The Doctor activated the scanner and gazed harshly at the screen. After a second, he began to smile. “Oh good girl,” he said fondly, patting the console. “She’s brought us just where we wanted to be.”

“A hospital?” Zoe said hopefully, looking up from the triangular bandage she was trying unsuccessfully to tie around Jamie’s broken arm.

“Yes. The hospital on Ghiaccio Quattro, to be precise. It’s an Earth colony, very peaceful, but with marvellous medical facilities,” the Doctor told her, still affectionately patting the TARDIS console.

“That’s great. Now come and help me, will you?” Zoe asked brusquely. “He’s far too heavy for me to carry alone.”

The Doctor and Zoe looped their arms around the unconscious boy and between them, they managed to drag his dead weight out of the TARDIS.

Once outside, Zoe felt like patting the TARDIS too, for she had landed them directly outside a set of double door with the words ‘Accident and Emergency’ emblazoned above them. They dragged Jamie inside, causing enough noise and commotion for the woman behind the desk to drop her novel and race to help them.

“Our friend has been attacked, he needs help,” the Doctor told her before she could say anything.

“He’s had some morphine, but nothing else,” Zoe added, stretching gratefully as a medic appeared and loaded Jamie onto a gurney.

“We’ll need some details,” the receptionist said, taking her place behind the desk once more. “Name?”

“The Doctor,” the Doctor replied. “And you?”

Zoe hit him on the arm. “She means Jamie’s name, Doctor! James Robert McCrimmon,” she said to the receptionist. The Doctor pouted and rubbed his arm.

“He’s not on file,” the receptionist said after a few seconds.

“No, he wouldn’t be. We’re travellers, you see,” the Doctor explained. “We were travelling when he was attacked. We knew you had a good hospital so we came here. It is a very lovely hospital,” he added appreciatively, looking around at the pale blue walls and soft lighting.

“Age?”

“That’s a very personal question. Er, I mean, nineteen,” the Doctor corrected hastily as Zoe glared at him.

“He has no allergies, he’s not on any medication, he has no pre-existing conditions and he had porridge for breakfast,” Zoe interrupted. “Is that enough? Can we see him now?”

The receptionist looked at the young girl’s worried face and took pity on her. “I’ll go and see what the doctors are doing, but it’s likely that it will be some time before you can see him. Maybe you’d like to go and change?”

The Doctor and Zoe glanced down at the puddle of water beneath them. “Yes, yes, I suppose we should,” the Doctor said apologetically, absent-mindedly wringing his handkerchief out on to the floor. “Come on Zoe.”

Half an hour later and dressed in clothes that didn’t drip, Zoe paced the console room, waiting for the Doctor to reappear. She was just about to write him a note and leave when he appeared in the doorway, dressed in exactly the same clothes. Zoe wondered if he’d flung them in the tumble dryer or if he really did have several identical outfits.

“Shall we go then?” he asked with a small smile. The two of them left the TARDIS and walked back into the hospital.

The receptionist glanced up at them and nodded in recognition. “Your friend is still being treated at the moment. Would you like me to fetch a doctor for you.”

The Doctor nodded. “That would be most kind of you.” He walked past the desk and sat in one of the chairs in the waiting room beyond.

Zoe followed behind him, but before she could take a seat, a doctor appeared. He coughed and smiled nervously at them. “Hi, I’m Doctor Sandhu. I’ve been dealing with your friend, James…”

“Jamie,” Zoe corrected. “Is he OK? Can we see him yet?”

“I’m afraid you can’t see him at the moment,” Doctor Sandhu said apologetically. “Our x-ray’s showed that your friend has a ruptured spleen. He’s been taken to surgery.”

Zoe gasped and clutched at the Doctor’s sleeve. The Doctor patted her hand and looked at Doctor Sandhu. “How long before we can see him?”

“Er…” Doctor Sandhu glanced at his watch. “Not too long now. As soon as he’s out of theatre, I’ll come and take you to him.”

Zoe sank into the seat next to the Doctor, looking stunned. “This is my fault, I should have gone with him,” she said weakly.

“Don’t think that,” the Doctor said sternly. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s the prisoners, not yours.”

Zoe didn’t say anything. Logically, she knew he was right. But she’d stopped blindly relying on logic a while ago and even though she knew that she wouldn’t have been able to do anything to stop it, she still couldn’t help but feel guilty about what had happened to Jamie.

To take her mind off it, she reached over and picked up a magazine.