Untitled: Part 1

Synopsis: Paul and Nora have been happily married for fifteen years. They have a nice home, good jobs and three sons. But one day, more than seventeen years after his first marriage ended, Paul discovers that his first wife and him have a daughter. She is a girl on the verge of high school graduation and womanhood. Paul and Nora must come to terms with this new addition to the family.

Paul read and re-read the email several times.  He pulled up the picture that was attached to the email.  He stared at the picture for several moments.  His mind was in a whirl.  He couldn't believe what he was reading.

Finally he printed the email and the picture, logged out of his account and shut down his computer.  Paul grabbed his coat and left work early.  He made up a poor excuse to his boss about his wife, Nora, being sick and needing him at home.

*******************

Nora was home, but she was not sick.  In fact, she was quite happy.  Her morning part-time job at the library had gone well.  A book she had put on hold had finally arrived.  The pork chops for that night's dinner was thawing, the last load of laundry was in the dryer and the dishes were loaded into the dish-washer.  She was ready to dive into her book.

Nora had two hours before the kids started getting home from school.  She fixed herself a cup of herbal tea, flipped on some quiet music and settled herself into her favorite chair.  The chair was old, over sized and extremely comfortable to sit in, although, it was hard to get out of.  The cushions were sinking in from years of use.  It was Nora's special place.  Paul had bought her the soft chair back when their first baby had been born.  She had spent many hours, sitting in that chair, nursing and snuggling all three of her children.

Nora took a sip of her tea, settled into the chair and opened her library book - a murder mystery.  It was her favorite author's latest novel.  She slowly sipped the tea as she read.  The characters were introduced, each of them seemed to have dark secrets.  The stage was set for the murder.

There was a click at the front door.  Nora's head popped up.  She heard the door open and then close.  Nobody was suppose to be coming home right now. She held completely still, listening.  Her heart was pounding

"Nora, I'm home!" Paul's voice called out to her from the front room.

Nora let out the breath she was holding.  She chuckled to herself.  The book had just gotten intense.  The murder was about to happen.  She was a little jumpy.

"Nora?" Paul called out.

"In here!" Nora struggled to get out of the soft chair.  She got up and went to the front room.  Paul was taking off his coat.  He hung it over a kitchen chair.  Nora walked up to Paul and kissed him, "Hello dear.  What brings your home so early?"  When he didn't answer right away, Nora looked into his face.  She could tell something was wrong.  "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm not."  Paul pulled her into a hug.

"What's wrong then? You seem upset."

Paul looked around the room.  "Are the kids home?" he asked.

"No.  Not for another hour and a half," Nora answered.  She was getting a little concerned.

Paul sat down on the couch with a sigh.  Nora sat down next to him, but turned herself to face him.  She put her hands on his knee.  "What's wrong?" she asked.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before answering her.  "Nora," he said, "you were so young when we married."

Nora chuckled nervously.  "Young?  Not that young.  I was twenty five."

"Much younger that me," Paul said.

"You know your age has never made a bit of difference to me," said Nora.  She gave his knee a light squeeze.  It was true.  Paul was nine years her senior.  He had been thirty four when they had married.  Her parents had worried that he was so much older and several friends had voiced their concerns, but it had never mattered to Nora.

Most of the time Nora felt much older than Paul.  He ran five miles every morning and was in perfect health and when he had turned 50 on his most recent birthday, Nora though he looked better than he did when they were married.  She, on the other hand, had not managed to stay in such great shape.  She had been pregnant and given birth three times.  During her last pregnancy, she had put on more weight than she had with the first two.  Now eight years later she had shed all but 20 pounds.  They were stubborn and they were not coming off.  Nora decided to accept the extra weight as a pregnancy battle wound, like her stretchmarks.  Really, Nora knew how blessed she was to have those extra pounds and stretchmarks due to pregnancy.  She had several friends who couldn't have children and wanted them.

Paul's sigh drew Nora back from her thoughts.  "I know you've never cared about our age difference and for that I'm thankful."  He paused.

Nora was watching his face with intensity.  He had something big on his mind.  She knew she just needed to be patient.  He would tell her whatever was on his mind in his own time.

PART 2

A new story with no name

This story doesn't have a name yet.  It is certainly a work in progress.  It is the first time I've tried to write an adult fiction, meaning a non-children's story.  I don't know if it is any good and I will be adding to it and changing it as I go along. 

Synopsis:  Paul and Nora have been happily married for fifteen years.  They have a nice home, good jobs and three sons.  But one day, more than seventeen years after his first marriage ended, Paul discovers that his first wife and him have a daughter.  She is a girl on the verge of high school graduation and womanhood.  Paul and Nora must come to terms with this new addition to the family.

Disclaimer:  The story is my own and it is a rough work in progress.

Comments are welcome.

Part 1

Merry and the Doctor: all chapters

Welcome to "Merry and the Doctor," a Doctor Who fanfic.

Introduction: Merry felt nothing but dispair after her husband and children died from a mysterious illness. Then a man in a green Edwardian velvet coat, who called himself The Doctor, arrived on Merry's doorstep with a promise to help her.  He takes her to a planet where the people are dying of the same illness that killed her own family. Merry and the Doctor race against time to find the cure before more people die.

Disclaimer: Doctor Who, the Doctor and the TARDIS are not mine.  They belong to the BBC, but the rest of the characters and the story are my own original creations.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8

Thank you for reading.  Feel free to leave comments.  Like?  Didn't like?  Spelling mistakes? 

Merry and the Doctor Ch 8 End

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They went back to the TARDIS.  Merry sat in a soft, high-backed chair near the center console during the journey back to her house on Earth.  She let the Doctor work his magic on the controls and concentrate on flying the ship.  When he announced they had arrived home, Merry hopped out of the chair and opened the TARDIS doors.

            “Wow!  You parked it in the living room!” she called back over her shoulder to the Doctor, who was still standing at the controls.

            “I hope that’s alright,” he called back to her.  “Did I break anything?”

            “No.  I’m very impressed, Doctor.”  She stepped out of the blue box and ran down the hall to her bedroom.  “I won’t be long,” she called.  Merry pulled out a suitcase and started throwing clothes into it.  When she had all the clothes she wanted, she carried her suit case to the kitchen.  She carefully began wrapping her tea set in her clothes.  The Doctor watched her.  He was quite amused.

            “You’re taking your tea set?” he asked.

            “Of course.  I can’t go live on Weyk and have them think I’m uncivilized.”  Merry laughed.  “Besides Doctor, they will always remind me of you and how you changed my life forever, over tea.”

            The Doctor laughed.  “Can I help you with anything?” he asked.

            “Yeah, can you get the bag of ginger from the fridge?  It’s in the bottom drawer.” Merry continued wrapping the tea set and placing it gently into her suitcase.

            The Doctor opened the refrigerator and pulled out a large bag of fresh ginger root.  “You really do like ginger, don’t you?”

            “Yes,” Merry agreed.  She opened her spice cupboard and pulled out two more large bottles of ginger powder.  She put it all into her suitcase.  She next went to the wall and took down several pictures: a photo of her and Peter on the day they got married and the picture of the family on the twins first birthday.  She went into the twin’s bedroom next.  She took a favorite toy from each of her children, a small photo album, plus one extra doll that she would give to Stjarna.  She put all of this into her suitcase and zipped it up.

            “Are you ready?” the Doctor asked.

            “Almost Doctor.  The suitcase is ready, but I have one more thing to do.  I’m sorry this is taking so long,” Merry called as she walked from one room to the next.

            “Relax, Merry,” the Doctor chuckled.  “You’re not taking long at all.”

            “But I want to get back before the children are done eating,” Merry said.

            “Merry, I guess I haven’t told you yet, but the TARDIS is a time machine as well as a spaceship.”

            Merry looked around the corner at him.  “What?  You’ve had a time machine all this time and you didn’t tell me?  Can you take me back to before Peter died so I can give him ginger?”

            “No Merry, I can’t.  I can’t go back in your personal time stream.  What’s done is done.  We can’t change it.”  He walked over to Merry and laid his hands on her arms.  “What it does mean is I can get you back to Weyk before the children are done eating their dinner.  Stjarna will never know you went away.”  He looked earnestly at Merry.  “You do understand, don’t you?”

            “Yes, I understand,” Merry’s head dropped.

            “I’m sorry,” the Doctor said.

            “It’s alright,” Merry sniffed.  “I understand and it’s OK.  I just have one more thing I need to do and then I’ll be ready to go.”

            “Take your time,” the Doctor said. “I’ll put your suitcase into the TARDIS.”

            Merry sat down at the table and began to write a letter.  It took her longer than she expected, but the Doctor was patient with her.  When she was done, she took the letter out to her mailbox. 

            “It’s a letter to my cousin, Tim,” she explained.  “He’s been in the Navy for years and will be retiring soon.  I’m giving him the house.  He can either keep it or sell it and use the money for his own place.  It’s his now.”

            “Are you ready then?” the Doctor asked.

            Merry picked up a potted plant off the porch.  “Yes, I am now.”  Merry was smiling.

            “What’s with the plant?” the Doctor asked.

            “It’s a ginger plant.  I’ll offer it to the Mayor to replace the one I dug up.”

            The Doctor smiled.  “You are remarkable.”

            Merry took one final look around the house and then she followed the Doctor into the TARDIS.

            He was already at the controls and flipping witches.  Merry set the plant down next to her suitcase.  She went over to the high-backed chair again, sat down and watched the Doctor as he put the TARDIS into flight.

            “Doctor, how do you keep track of your own personal time on a time machine?” Merry asked.

            “It isn’t easy,” the Doctor laughed, “so the TARDIS keeps track of it for me.”

            “You speak of this craft as if it was a close, personal friend,” Merry said.

            “Well, it is,” the Doctor said.  “The TARDIS and I have been traveling together for over six hundred years.”

            “Six hundred years?  You mean to tell me you are six hundred years old?”  Merry asked.

            “No, I’m quite a bit older than that,” the Doctor blushed.  “I’m over eight hundred years old, but the TARDIS and I have been travelling the universe together for six hundred.  Give or take a few hundred years,” the Doctor smiled his half grin.

            “My, my,” Merry said, “your race lives for a long time.”

            “We can, yes.”

            “Well Doctor, I must say, that for being eight hundred years old, you look great.”

            “Thank you,” the Doctor said.  “Do you know how I manage to stay so young?”
            Merry stood up and walked over to him at the console.  “How?” she asked.

            “By believing in the impossible.”

            Merry laughed.  The Doctor did too.

            The journey back to Weyk wasn’t long.  The Doctor parked the TARDIS right outside the school.  He picked up Merry’s suitcase and she picked up the potted ginger plant.  Before stepping out, Merry turned back at the looked at the TARDIS console.

            “Thank you TARDIS!” she called.  “Take good care of him.”

            A single spark flew off the TARDIS console.

            “Incredible!” the Doctor said.

            Merry laughed and stepped out of the blue box and into the evening air.  They walked back to the classroom that was Stjarna’s.  Merry and the Doctor were surprised to see the Mayor and Deputy Gweri in the classroom.

            “There you are Doctor,” the Mayor said.  “I was hoping to find you.  I want to apologize.  I had a lap of bad judgment and I’m not proud of my actions or behavior.”

            “It’s not to me whom you owe an apology,” the Doctor said.

            “You are right,” the Mayor looked to Merry.  “Madame, I wish to apologize to you.  My behavior has been inexcusable.  You made an honest, brave offer with your life and I took advantage of it.  I am deeply sorry.”

            Merry smiled.  She stepped up to the Mayor and held out her potted ginger.  “Mayor, I accept your apology.  As a peace offering, I bring you a new inciver plant to replace the one I dug up from your city garden.”

            “Thank you,” the Mayor said.  He took the plant from Merry.  “What can we offer you in return?”

            “I wish to stay here.  I want to adopt Stjarna and live here among your people,” Merry answered.

            “It is a request we will gladly grant.  You are welcome here Merry, Citizen of Weyk.”

            The voices of the children could be heard coming down the hall.  The door of the room opened and the children came in.  Stjarna ran to Merry.  Merry scooped the child into her arms and kissed her.   “You’re mine now, Stjarna and we are going to be very happy together.”

 

*************

            The Doctor stood in front of the TARDIS.  Merry was holding Stjarna, who was holding the doll that Merry had brought for her from Earth.

            “When I first met you, what, three days ago?” Merry started, “You told me you would help me find peace and closure.  I didn’t think that was possible.  But you did it.  You helped me to believe in the impossible.  You helped me see I was strong and that my life was still worth living.  You have brought me peace and joy.  How can I ever thank you?”

            “Help rebuild this world, Merry.” The Doctor smiled.  “Take care of Stjarna and be happy.”

            Merry’s eyes filled with tears again, but not the tears of loss and despair that she had felt so often.  These were tears of joy.  Merry pulled the handkerchief out of her pocket and began to dab her eyes.

            “Oh, this is yours Doctor.  I’m afraid it is rather messy.”  Merry held up the handkerchief.

            “No worries,” the Doctor said.  He took the handkerchief from Merry.  Merry was sad to part with it.  She had come to love its soft texture and the calming smell of the Doctor that it carried.

            The Doctor reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a fresh handkerchief.  He gave it to Merry. “Something to remember me by.”

            Merry took the silky handkerchief and held it up to her face.  “Thank you,” she said.

            “Best wishes to you,” the Doctor said.  He pulled Merry and Stjarna into a hug.  They hugged him back.

Merry kissed the Doctor on the cheek.  “Take care,” she whispered in his ear.  They pulled away from each other.  Merry took several steps back and watched the Doctor as he walked into the TARDIS and closed the door.  Moments later Merry heard the engines on the TARDIS start to hum.  She and Stjarna watched as the TARDIS dematerialized. They waved.  When the blue box was out of sight Merry wiped away a tear. 

 

She looked at Stjarna and hugged her tight.  “Come on, dear.  Let’s go home.”

Merry and the Doctor Ch 7

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When the Doctor woke up he could tell immediately that he felt better.  He wasn’t one to need much sleep.  In fact he got by very well on nothing more than a few hours a week, but he had slept most of the last day and a half away.  It was an odd feeling.  He noticed Merry was still sitting in the chair next to his bed.  She was learning forward and her head was resting on the bed next to his chest.  She was sleeping.  The Doctor tried to move without disturbing her, but as soon as he began to move, she woke up.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Better.  Much better,” he answered.

Merry rubbed the sleep from her eyes.  She was holding the Doctor’s handkerchief in her hand.  She stuffed it back into her pocket.  The Doctor sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

“Can you get me my waistcoat?” he asked.

Merry went to the coat rack where his things were neatly hung.  She got the silver waistcoat and cravat and handed it to him.  He slipped the waistcoat on and buttoned it up.  Then he tied the cravat around his neck and tucked it into the waistcoat.  Merry handed him his shoes.  He put them on and stood up.  No dizziness this time.  He could tell the illness was gone.  Merry had saved him.

She was smiling and holding his coat.  She helped him put it on.  He gently pushed her back down into her chair and he brought up another one and sat it down in front of her.  He took her hands in his.

“Are you alright?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” said Merry brightly, “and no.”  Her voice dropped.  “Doctor, I’m so happy you are well and I’m so happy that everyone who was sick is getting better.  It is amazing and I’m glad to have had a hand in it.”  She took a deep breath, “But Doctor, I spent most of last night in a jail cell.”

The Doctor interrupted her, “I’m so sorry about that.  You should never have been put in there.”  It was obvious to Merry that he was quite mad about that.

She smiled.  “No Doctor, I’m not upset by that.  I understood that I broke one of their laws and I was willing to die for it if it meant saving everyone else and I knew it would.  But all that time in the cell gave me a lot of time to think.  I thought about Peter, Liam and Ailish. I had the cure in my house while they were sick!  I have lots of ginger in my home.  It is my favorite spice, my favorite tea, my favorite fragrance.  I could have saved them.  I had the cure in my home all the time.  I could have saved them!”

“You didn’t know,” the Doctor said.

“I drink ginger tea every day.  That is why I never got sick.  My daily dose of ginger prevented me from getting sick.  Peter hated ginger tea and never drank it and the twins were so young, I hadn’t given them any yet.  If I had known that I had the cure in my hands every day, I would have forced Peter to take it and given it to my babies.”

Merry pulled the handkerchief out again.  It was getting very wet from the regular use it had been getting since the Doctor first handed it to her less than two days ago.

“Merry, you didn’t know.  You can’t beat yourself up like that.  You had ginger every day and it was available to Peter.  He only had to drink it once in a while.  It would have pleased you and it would have protected him, but he chose not to.  As a matter of fact, I chose not to as well.”

Merry looked at the Doctor.  She was puzzled.

“Do you remember our delightful tea party in your yard?” he asked.  Merry nodded.  “You offered me ginger tea, remember?  And I turned it down.  You could have saved me right then and there, but it was my choice not to accept it,” he paused thoughtfully for a moment.  “Now, you mustn’t be upset any longer.  You saved a city.  You saved an entire civilization!  Think of the thousands of people who owe you their lives.  Myself included.”

Merry smiled shyly.

“Do you remember the message that the Weyk visitors in the spaceship left Peter and that you memorized?” the Doctor asked.  Merry nodded.  “Remember how they said they were searching for the Healer and we took it to mean me, the Doctor?  I was wrong about that translation.  They meant you.  You are the Healer that they were seeking.  You are a nurse and healer from Earth.  They needed you.”  The Doctor smiled at Merry.  She hugged him. 

“Have you seen Stjarna today?” the Doctor asked brightly.

“No.  I dropped her back off at the school last night.  Then I went to the gardens, found the sacred plant, dug it up, got thrown in jail, released from jail and then sat by your side until 10 minutes ago.  I’m afraid I’ve been rather busy,” Merry answered with a little smile.

“Well then, should we go find her?” The Doctor stood up and offered Merry his elbow.  She took it and they walked out together.  The sun was starting to set on the horizon.  The Doctor and Merry walked to the school.  It wasn’t far and they both felt like a little exercise after having spent so much of the last day cooped up.

When they entered the school, Merry noticed there was more laughter and chatting among the children.  Merry walked to the door of Stjarna’s room and she opened it up.  Stjarna squealed in delight and ran to Merry.

Merry scooped the child into her arms and hugged her tight.  The Doctor noticed another child in the corner of the room crying.  He walked up to the child, sat down on the floor in front of him and spoke to him in a quiet whisper.  The child climbed into the Doctor’s lap and stopped crying.  The Doctor cuddled the child and whispered to him.

Merry went over to them and sat down on the floor next to the Doctor.  Stjarna settled herself in Merry’s lap.

The Doctor patted the child’s head as he spoke to Merry. “His name is Beltreb. He told me his father died.  He misses his father.”

            “He has not allowed me or any of the other caretakers to comfort him,” the caretaker came over to where the Doctor and Merry sat.  “I’m surprised he has allowed you to hold him.”

            Merry smiled, “Sometimes only a daddy will do.  Beltreb may not know you, but he can tell that you are a kind father-type person and that is what he needs right now.”  She started playing with Stjarna’s hair. “These poor children.  So many of them are so young.   They don’t understand why they can’t go home or see their parents.”

            “They are so lonely and looking for someone to love them that they will take it from anyone, even a stranger, like me.” The Doctor said quietly.  He laid his head on the child’s.  He looked sad.  Memories from long ago stirred in his mind and he recalled his own children, holding them, playing with them and singing them songs.

            As if Merry could read the Doctor’s thoughts, she began singing.  She had dug deep into her own memories and recalled a lullaby that she had learned in college.  She sang it quietly to the Stjarna and Beltreb.  The Doctor was surprised to see other children come and sit with them while Merry sang.  He was even more surprised when he realized the words she was singing wasn’t being translated by the TARDIS.  She was actually singing to them in a language similar to their own.

            By the time Merry had finished her song, she had two children sitting in her lap and the Doctor had two more children leaning up against his arms.

            “Sing it again, Merry,” he said.  Merry did and the children sat quietly to listen.  Even the room’s caretaker came over and sat with the children.  When Merry was done, the caretaker stood up and quietly announced to the children it was time to go eat.  All the children jumped up and ran to the door and waited for the caretaker to lead them out.  When they had left, Merry and the Doctor stood up.

            “Doctor,” said Merry, “I want to stay here.”

            “Stay here?  You don’t want to go home?” he asked.

            Merry shook her head.  “No, there is nothing for me there.  But here, this building is filled with children who don’t have parents.  And I’m a parent with no children.”

            “Merry, you can’t adopt all of these children,” the Doctor said.

            Merry smiled.  “I know that, but I can help them.  Maybe they would let me have Stjarna and I can help to care for the others until adoptive parents can be found.  I’ve got no one back on Earth, but here is different.  I’ve got Stjarna.”

            The Doctor studied Merry’s face.  Her smile was real.  He could tell how attached to the small child she had become.  The Doctor was fond of the child as well.  He realized how much Stjarna and Merry needed each other.

            “Merry,” he mused, “how did you know that song?  You sang to the children in a language that was almost their own.”

            “Was it not their language?” Merry asked.

            “Not quite, but it was very close and they probably understood it.  How did you know that song?” the Doctor asked.

            Merry smiled shyly.  “This is going to sound silly, Doctor, I know, but years ago, when I first started school at the university, I had wanted to study Indo-European language and history.  I took classes in Indo-European history, grammar and language structure, and etymology.  I loved my classes and everything I learned, but after two years, I realized I could never make a living doing that, so I switched to nursing.

            “I started to realize after arriving here that I was recognizing words, but I couldn’t figure out why.  Then last night when I had those long hours in the cell, I started to comprehend why the language seemed so familiar.  It is similar to Proto-Indo-European!  Now Doctor, tell me why these people speak a dialect of sorts of my own language’s Mother tongue.”

            “The universe is full of mysteries,” the Doctor chuckled.  “Sometimes I go out into the universe to solve mysteries, but there are many that remain a mystery.  This is probably one of those mysteries of the universe that we must simply accept.  Two civilizations, two species, two planets, tens of thousands of years apart, one base language.”  The Doctor smiled.  “So you want to stay?”

            “Yes,” Merry answered.  There was no hesitation in her reply. 

            “The TARDIS translation will remain with you for a short time after I leave, but it will fade away and you will have to learn the language, although that doesn’t seem like it will be a problem for you,” the Doctor said.

            “No, I don’t think it will be,” Merry smiled.  “I do have one favor to ask of you, though.”

            “Yes?”

            “Will you take me back to my home on Earth?  I want to get a few things and I have one loose end I want to tie up.  Then, if you would, bring me back here.  I mean, can you do all that?”  Merry felt a little uneasy asking for so much from the Doctor.

            “Of course I can,” the Doctor said.  “Come one, I can have you back here before the children are done with dinner.”

CHAPTER 8

Merry and the Doctor Ch 6

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            The Doctor woke suddenly.  A loud commotion in the hall was what woke him.  He still felt tired and heavy, but his mine was clearer.  He lay in bed and listened to the voices and footsteps as they approached him.  The door burst open with two loud crashes and seconds later the curtain that surrounded the Doctor’s bed was thrown back.

            The Doctor watched as a man approached the bed.  The man looked familiar.

            “You can’t do this,” one of the other men shouted.

            The man who approached the Doctor’s bed turned at looked at the man who had just spoken, “What can’t I do?  Cure him?  I’m a healer, it’s what I do.”  He turned back to the Doctor, “It’s good to see you awake, Doctor.  We almost lost you.  Can you sit up?  I’ve got your medicine for you.”

            The Doctor struggled to get up.  The man held out his hand and helped to pull the Doctor into a sitting position.  There was no nausea this time, but the Doctor was quite dizzy.  The man held a thin, round, white disc in his hands.  It had a pungent, familiar smell.  The man put the white smelly thing into the Doctor’s mouth.

            The taste was incredibly powerful and the Doctor choked on it.

            “I know, it tastes strange and is hard to swallow, but it works,” the man said.

            The Doctor closed his eyes and swallowed hard.  Once it had gone down, the Doctor immediately felt a little better.  His brain finally registered the taste, “Ginger?”

            “It is,” the man said, “also known as inciver.”

            The Doctor’s eyes got wide.  He looked around.  There were four Weyk men in the room with him.  “Where’s Merry?” he asked.

            The men exchanged glances with each other.  The one who had spoken earlier shook his head.

            “Where is she?” the Doctor yelled.

            “Doctor, my name is Doru.  I’ve been working with Merry since you took ill.”

            The Doctor’s eyes narrowed, “Then where is she?”  His voice was deep and dark.

            “She has been put into the cell, by the Mayor,” Doru answered.

            The Doctor flung the sheet off of himself and threw his legs over the side of the bed.  He stood up and felt a wave of dizziness.  He grabbed the bed and steadied himself until his head cleared.

            Doru stepped forward and took the Doctor’s arm, trying to help support him.  “Doctor, you are too weak.  You need to rest.”

The Doctor threw off Doru’s grip.   “I’m well enough to go find Merry.”  The Doctor was still holding onto the bed.  “What happened?  Why is she in the cell?”  He was taking in deep breaths, trying to get control of his spinning head.

The man who spoke first stepped closer to the Doctor.  In a pompous tone he announced to the Doctor, “She dug up the inciver plant from the city gardens.”

“That’s all?” the Doctor said.  He stared at the man.  His eyes were like ice.

The man shrunk back from the Doctor’s gaze, but his tone was still pompous, “The penalty for digging up the sacred plant is death.”

“Death?” the Doctor yelled.  “Take me to her!”

The Doctor followed Doru out the door and down the hall.  He was having a hard time keeping his balance and his socked feet slipped on the floor. “Explain to me what happened, Doru.”

Doru kept walking, but he slowed his pace so the weak Doctor could keep up with him.  “Merry worked out that the inciver plant that we were searching for was the root of a plant.  That plant is unfortunately for her, our sacred plant.  It is forbidden for anyone to even touch it, much less dig it up.  She made a deal with the mayor that if she dug up the plant and it was inciver and cured our sick, that she would be forgiven of her crime and set free, but if it was not the right plant or failed to cure the plague that she would be willing to pay the penalty and be put to death.”

“What?” the Doctor cried.  “Has it worked?  It worked on me.  Has the plant been administered to anyone else?”

“Yes, many people now,” Doru answered.

“And?” the Doctor asked, “Has it worked?”

Doru smiled.  “It has.  The people are getting better.  No one has died in the last three hours.”

The Doctor grabbed Doru’s coat with tremendous strength for so weak a man, and spun him around to face the Doctor.  “Then why is Merry still in the cell?”

“Because the Mayor’s an idiot,” Doru answered.  “Believe me Doctor; I’m on your side.  Come on, we are going to bust Merry out of there.”

The Doctor was exhausted, but determined to help Merry.  They walked out into the bright sunshine of the day.  “How long was I out for?” he asked.

“About 12 hours.  You almost didn’t survive the first hour.  But Merry, when she realized that the inciver is what they call ginger on Earth, she had some with her.  It was a tiny amount of it in powder form.  She gave it to you, in what were probably your final breaths, and immediately, you began to get better.  It wasn’t enough to cure you, but it was enough to stop the illness from killing you.  She saved your life Doctor.”

“And every other citizen of this city,” the Doctor added.

They took a carriage to the security cell facility.  The Doctor noticed more people on the street than there had been the day before.  “The people are out again,” he said.

Doru smiled.  “Yes.  Within an hour of Merry’s digging up the inciver, we had enough prepared that a team of healers were able to go to every household and administered the remedy.  The people are better already.”

When they arrived, the Doctor climbed down.  He could feel his own strength coming back to him.  They walked into the building, but a guard was waiting for them.

“I’m sorry, but you cannot go back,” the guard said.

The Doctor took a step forward, “Let me in.”

“Mayor’s orders,” the guard stuck out his arm and pushed the Doctor in the shoulder.  “No one is allowed to see the Human.”

“Then let me see the Mayor,” the Doctor said.  He was quickly losing his patience.  The guard pulled out a communicator and spoke into it.

The Doctor pulled Doru aside.  “Listen, I’m not feeling so well.  Is there a restroom around here?”

Doru looked at the guard, who pointed to a door at the far end of the room.  The Doctor staggered towards it and pushed the door open.  He stepped in, but he didn’t let the door close completely.  He watched the guard through the opening.  As soon as the guard and Doru had turned their backs to the door, the Doctor slipped out and ran as fast as he could in his socked feet.  By the time he reached the end of the corridor, he was breathing hard and his hearts were pounding in his chest.  The sickness had been a nasty one.  It had sapped every bit of his energy.

He moved on as fast as he was able without feeling the urge to pass out.  He made his way down a flight of stairs and into the holding cell area.  The hall was clear as far as he could make out.  Quietly he moved to the first door and peeked in through the door’s tiny window.  It wasn’t Merry.  He moved to the next one.  Not Merry.  He was about to peek into the window of the third door when he heard voices behind him.  The Doctor ran down the hall and slipped under the hall warden’s desk, which thankfully, was empty.

The guard from the front hall and Doru turned the corner and started to walk down the hall towards where the Doctor was hiding.

“When I find him,” the guard was growling, “he will be sorry he ever came here.”

“I think he already is,” came Doru’s snide remark.  “If you had just helped us, he wouldn’t be missing and you wouldn’t be in trouble.”

“My orders were not to let anyone in.”

They stopped quite close to where the Doctor was hiding.  The Doctor was sure the pounding of his hearts would give him away.

“Well, she’s alone.  He hasn’t found her yet.  Let’s go check the other floors,” the guard said.  The Doctor listened as their footsteps went back down the hall and then disappeared.  He peeked up from behind the desk. The coast was clear.  He hurried over to the area where the guard had been standing.  He looked into a cell door window and saw Merry, sitting in a chair; her face berried in the handkerchief he had given her.  She was alive.

The Doctor reached for his sonic screwdriver and realized he wasn’t wearing his coat.  He had gotten out of bed and left so quickly that he hadn’t noticed he wasn’t wearing his coat or even his waistcoat.  His white shirt was only halfway buttoned and was something of a mess with half of it being untucked.    No shoes, no coat and no sonic screwdriver.  He felt cold.

Voices came from the end of the hall again.  This time he would meet them.  He quickly tucked in the shirt half that was hanging out.  He stood his full height and waited calmly.

“There you are Doctor!” Doru shouted.  Doru was accompanied by the guard and the Mayor.

“Mayor,” the Doctor said calmly, “what is the meaning of keeping this lady locked up in a cell?”  His eyes were cold.  “From what I can tell, she saved your people and you’ve got her locked up like a criminal.”

“Doctor, she broke a law,” the Mayor’s voice was stern.  “It is my duty to make sure the laws of the land are obeyed otherwise we would have chaos.”

“Let’s see, if I were to go out into your city and I asked all the people whose lives were just saved by the sacred plant, what do you think they will say was more important?  The life of a plant or their own lives and the lives of their family members?  I’ll give you a hint.  They don’t care about a silly law regarding a plant,” the Doctor said.

The Mayor stood still and speechless.

“Now, let her go,” the Doctor demanded.

For several moments nobody moved.  Then, without taking his eyes off the Doctor, the Mayor said, “Open the door.”

The guard typed a code into the panel by the door and the door swung open.  Merry ran out and embraced the Doctor.

“You’re OK!” she said.  “I’m so glad you are alright.”

“I am thanks to you,” the Doctor said. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.  I was so worried about you.”  They hugged for a few moments longer before she pulled away and looked him in the face.  “You look tired, Doctor.”

He smiled.  “I am.”

Doru stepped forward, “Come with me,” he said. “I’ll take you back to the hospital.  You can get your things and rest.”

Merry went to Doru and hugged him too.  “Thank you, Doru.”

“Why do you thank me Merry?”  Doru asked.  “I didn’t protect you when you needed it most.”

“I know and I’m very upset with you for that,” Merry smiled, “but without you, we never would have saved the Doctor’s life.”

Doru smiled.  “We saved more than the Doctor’s life.”

“Do you mean it worked?”  Merry jumped excitedly.

“It did.  The people are getting well,” Doru said.

Merry hugged Doru again, “Oh, I’m so happy!”

The Doctor watched Doru and Merry.  He was glad to see Merry so genuinely happy.  They walked past the Mayor and the guard without a second look and out into the sunshine.  When they got back to the hospital, the last thing the Doctor wanted to do was go back to bed, but he knew he needed the rest in order to get better.  Merry tucked him in and then pulled up a chair to sit alongside him.  She took his hand into hers and she stroked it for a few moments.

“Just sleep now Doctor,” she whispered.  “Just sleep.”

The Doctor closed his eyes, relaxed his body and sleep took him.

CHAPTER 7