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“Oi! Oi, what are you doing?”
The Doctor flinched, then couldn’t quite stop a hiss of pain as he hugged his left arm to himself. It seemed Donna’s eyes had adjusted to the near-darkness they’d been plunged into. He’d been hoping to get a little further up the walls of the earthen trap before she noticed.
“Are you totally bonkers?” She continued, struggling over the uneven ground toward him. “You’re hurt!”
“So what if I broke my arm?” He posed rhetorically. “I’m still doing it. If we’re here when the Praltids come to collect from their traps, we’ll have more than a fracture to worry about.”
“Yeah, and if you fall again you’ll break your neck next,” she snapped, grabbing hold of the back of his coat and heaving him away from the footholds and handhold he’d only just managed to grasp.
“Donna, someone’s got to get back up to the surface and find a rope or something to lower down—”
“Yeah, and that someone’s gonna be me if anyone.” She shoved a finger against his lips before he could even open his mouth to protest. “Look you’re only hurt cos you were protecting me. It’s only right.”
He took hold of her hand with his right since it was easier to move that arm and laced their fingers together. “You don’t have to make it up to me. I protect you because I care about you.” He’d shield her from a hundred-thousand more falls if it kept her safe. Well, safe as she ever could be on one of their adventures.
“And you don’t think I do the same?”
He could imagine the steady gaze she was fixing him with even if he couldn’t quite make it out in the dark. And of course she was right. The Doctor let out a sigh.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you up there alone.”
“I’ll be quick as I can, promise. No way I’m letting you become alien chow.”
He had to smile at that, and wider still when she leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth.
“Just sit tight.”
Before she could draw fully away, the Doctor snagged her hand again.
“Take this.” He let her go in order to reach into his pocket and passed her the sonic, which fortunately hadn’t also broken in the fall.
She thumbed the switch once, allowing him to get a glimpse at her assured look. “Back before you miss me.”
He shook his head. “Not possible.”
Donna was moving away from him, but he still heard her laugh. “Prawn. You bump your head on the way down, too?”
“Nope.” The Doctor settled down on a rock sitting at the bottom of the trap they’d been caught in and listened as the sounds of Donna climbing grew further and further away. She was simply amazing when she put her mind to it; in any other situation he was sure she’d swear up and down she’d never be able to make it up to the top due to this or that perceived flaw in herself, yet here she was taking it straight on just to spare him further pain. Now how was that for brilliant?
He tried examining the break in the time he had to wait. There was no open wound, and the Doctor was fairly certain it was a closed fracture. That would be simple enough to heal, especially once he had access to the TARDIS.
True to her word, though, Donna didn’t leave him to puzzle over it for long. Above him, he heard a hissed, “Spaceman!” And then he was blinking up into the light of a few torches. She’d brought help, then. How did she not think she was clever?
The help was needed since they basically had to heave him out of the Praltid-made pit. Their new friends also made sure to guide them in a safe path across the hunting field. He and Donna made their excuses after that, refusing the offer of first aid as graciously as they could. The Doctor wasn’t exactly eager to submit to field medicine less reliable than the TARDIS’.
“Safe journey for you and your husband,” the leader of the group spoke to Donna.
Perhaps if they weren’t as tired or sore they would have corrected the slight error. As it was, the Doctor merely shrugged with his good shoulder, then draped the arm over Donna’s. “Thanks.”
“We wouldn’t have made it without you.” She gave a wave goodbye for them both, then wrapped her arm around his waist and turned them in the direction of the ship to get moving.
Once they managed to reach home and had gotten his arm fixed up to the best of the med bay’s ability, she did make it up to him. He admittedly enjoyed it a little too much to put up a fuss.