SLAVES OF THE SISTERHOOD
Chapter Twenty Three Rose smiled as she followed Twelve through the TARDIS corridors back towards the Med Bay. After so long and so many attempts to find a way back, here she was at last back in what she considered her true home. Granted it looked different and the corridors were metallic instead of coral but that familiar hum was there and the familiar presence in her mind that soothed her. She had missed it terribly being cut off from it in the other universe and it pained her to think that she might have to leave again temporarily. She hoped Twelve could find a solution that would allow her to keep traveling with him. When they reached the Med Bay, Twelve ushered her inside. He turned to close the door and was surprised to see Ten and Eleven standing there. "I got this," he said to them. "Rose is as much ours as she is yours, Dad," Eleven said. "We want to know if she's pregnant as well. Our younger self is watching over the Console Room and the kids so don't freak out and let us help." Twelve stepped aside, a sour look on his face as he watched them come in. Ten stopped briefly to look at his glare and then shook his head as he walked on. "Blimey, my Ninth Self was happy go lucky compared to you," he muttered as he walked over to a bed near the back of the room. The bed was near the floor and had a soft foam mattress and pillow. Fresh, crisp white sheets and pillowcases were on it along with a pale blue duvet. Rose, who had experience with the Med Bay before, sat down on it and waited for instructions. "So…blood test or scan?" Eleven said to Twelve. "Both, I believe. I want to make absolutely sure she's pregnant," Twelve said, walking over to a counter on the left side of the room. "I'll ready the scan then," Eleven said. "And I will sit with the patient and be matron," Ten said, sitting down beside Rose. "Hello, love, feeling a bit under the weather today?" he said sweetly while Rose snickered. "Poor little lamb, bit of the flu or perhaps a pregnancy, it's very hard to tell nowadays between them." "You haven't changed one bit," Rose said, playfully swatting his arm. "Well, I suppose since I'm matron that I must inform you that you might have dengue fever and we may have to amputate. That may be a wee painful so just keeping you informed." Rose snickered as Eleven rolled over a portable scanning device. "Now, this is the dewombafier here," Ten said in his sickeningly sweet voice while Eleven rolled it up to the bed. "It will hoover the womb out your navel so bit of pain there too. Remember, just keeping you informed." "Will you get up and let her lie down in the bed, you daft loon," Twelve said to Ten while he wheeled over a trolley filled with syringes, gauzes, a tourniquet and a small handheld scanner. "Remember, dearie, I will be nearby if you need a newspaper or grapes or a smack to the head. Bless," Ten said, patting her hand. Twelve rolled his eyes and shook his head while Ten gave Eleven an impish grin and took his place next to him. He told Rose to lay down and Rose lay out on the bed while Twelve put some supplies on the bed next to her arm and knelt down beside her. "Are you comfy, dearie?" Ten said, leaning over slightly towards her. "Do you need a bedpan?" "Or perhaps a puppy? Puppies are cool," Eleven added. "Nah, I'm good, thanks," Rose said, waving her hand dismissively before she relaxed and let Twelve find a vein on her arm. "I would like a cup of water though." "That'll be ten pounds plus an extra forty pounds for ice," Ten said. "And one hundred quid for a lemon." Rose laughed when Twelve shot her an exasperated look before he put a rubber tourniquet around her upper arm and tied it. He found the vein again before he took the cap off the syringe and gently eased it into her arm. "Bless her little cotton socks," Ten said, nudging Eleven when they noticed Rose wincing as the needle went in. "She's brave, that one," Eleven said, nodding. "Perhaps amputation will be easier than we thought." "Will you two shut up so she doesn't laugh and ruin this?" Twelve said over his shoulder as he eased a test tube onto the back of the syringe. "He's quite grumpy, eh?" Eleven said to Ten as Twelve drew some of Rose's blood. "Very much so," Ten said. "He must be the Sour Dour of all our lives." "Very sour dour," Eleven agreed, nodding. "If you don't shut your fu…faces," Twelve said, correcting himself. "I'm going to ram this needle in your eyes and you can go blind for the rest of your regenerations!" "Very sour dour," Ten said to Eleven, nodding. "Aye," Eleven said. Rose giggled as Twelve sighed deeply and finished drawing blood. He put a bit of gauze on the puncture and put some tape on it to hold it there. He gathered up his supplies and put his two test tubes worth of blood onto the trolley and looked at his younger selves. "Now you can scan her, Matron," he said sarcastically before he wheeled the trolley back to the counter. "Did that hurt, dearie, are you in considerable agony now?" Ten said, running over and squatting down where Twelve had been. Rose giggled and made exaggerated moaning sounds while she pointed to her arm. "Oh no, bubonic plague has set in, we must operate at once, Matron," Ten said to Eleven. "On it, um, Doctor Doctor," Eleven said. The scanner consisted of a large monitor attached to a pole that could be adjusted and raised or lowered. Eleven pushed a button on the side of the monitor and lowered it until it was even with the top of the bed. He then rolled the tripod legs until a couple of them were under the bed and turned the monitor downwards so it was parallel to the bed. He told Rose to move over slightly so he could position her under the monitor. Ten helped adjust her until the lower half of her body was under the monitor. "Now, you just relax while Doctor Doctor does his scans, love," Ten said sweetly as he took her hand in his and patted it. "Okay, Matron," Rose said, sniggering while Ten patted her hand some more. Eleven pushed a button on the side of the monitor and it turned on, lighting up his face while he stared down at it. He pushed another button and high Gallifreyan writing that said SCAN IN PROGRESS flashed on and off as the scanner looked at her insides. "Watch how you scan her, mate," Ten said to him. "If she is with child, we don't want a mutant on her hands." "Or a baby that has a time head," Eleven said as he looked at the screen. "What's a time head?" Rose said. Eleven grinned. "Something a pregnant friend told me once after she feared being pregnant in the TARDIS would affect the baby." "You had a pregnant woman in here?" Rose said. "Wow, things certainly changed after I left." "Oh…oh my," Eleven muttered. "Oh my, what?" Rose said, glancing at Ten. "You're pregnant, Rose," Twelve said, walking over to her. "I believe that's what my counterpart was just about to say."
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