The Oncoming Darkness

The Doctor listened to the options presented to him by Charity, one of which he did not think about, the other he currently pondered. "They are sentient, last time i ran into them on a library planet they were upset because their forests were destroyed to create books..their pores hidden deep within the pages. With this bunch though they were sent through a time fissure..a rapture in time that for a split second allowed them to slip through. No telling where they came from...they are probably just scared out of their minds" The Doctor rationalized, thinking out loud with his words, "Last time i was able to communicate with them they needed a host...something to talk through. So unless we are planning on tossing someone into a space su-". His sentence was halted by a sudden realization, a light bulb flickering off in his head.

Turning to Charity, The Doctor grinned, quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her forehead, "Charity you're brilliant!" he proclaimed, "They may not have space suits but they have suits for the water! And what comes in a suit? A communications device! If they can communicate though that maybe..just maybe if we're really lucky we could work something out with them!". The people around them began to take interest in the duo's conversation, their eyes and ears perking up at The Doctors sudden burst of excitement and louder voice.

Charity listened to the Doctor answer her questions about the V. N. She wondered how they'd come through the rupture in time, as he put it, but felt bad for them, hearing him say they were probably scared, just like all the people here. She hoped that they could help them get someplace safe, without any other people getting hurt.

Then she was surprised when the Doctor suddenly announced she was a genius, and stared after him with a confused expression for a moment, giving a light laugh. She grinned, hearing his talk about the diving suit, and began catching onto the idea.
"Where do they keep those though?" She asked. "Can the Vashta Nerada use them?" She wasn't sure how hard it would be, but hopefully this would work!

The Doctor turned to the surrounding survivors for the answer, his eyes wide with excitement and adrenaline filling his veins, "Who here knows where the diving suits are stored?" he asked. Some looked completely confused, some stared off in the distance as if The Doctor had never addressed them. The man from the couple, however, rose to the calling, "They keep them in emergency storage, located just under the bridge. You should be able to reach the second floor through the stairs if the lift isn't working". "Good! Brilliant!" The Doctor proclaimed, bringing out his sonic screwdriver and flipping it he turned to Charity, "So! All we have to do is get to that storage unit, bring out a suit and bring it back. Hopefully we can work something out with them..or there's always plan B".

Exhaling, The Doctor activated his sonic screwdriver and shined it down at the floor outside the light circle. Initially the light from the screwdriver penetrated the darkness but after a second a shadow loomed over it and engulfed the light. The Doctor jumped back, his two steps bringing him back into the safety of the light just in time. His eyes were wide as he watched the shadow turn towards the stalk of the lamp, it's shiny silver exterior slowly turning back as the shadow began to crawl up. Thinking on his toes, The Doctor quickly adjusted his sonic screwdriver, twisting it and holding it up to his ear until he found the right frequency. By the time he had done so, the shadow was almost half way up the stalk; BZZZZZZZ The Doctor activated his screwdriver over the shadow with a thrust of his arm. The shadow quickly retreated, falling off the stalk and back into the surrounding darkness; The Doctor was left speechless and breathless as he stood up straight and lowered his screwdriver.

Charity smiled as they began to make some progress with the plan. Then the smile faded fast when the Doctor nearly got attacked. She was instantly concerned, and glanced to make sure no one else was near the edge of the circle of light.
"Are you ok?" She asked the Doctor, worried. She watched the shadow creep up the stalk of the lamp, and shivered a bit at the thought that these things could do that. She stared out into the darkness. Was it just her imagination or was it a lot thicker than before?

She paused, looking out at the darkness, addressing the things out there,
"Please, we only want to help you be able to get home." She had no idea if they could understand her but she thought it was worth a try. "We can't help you unless you let us. I don't know if you can understand me, but if you can, please listen. We don't mean you any harm. We don't know what's happened but we'll try everything we can to help you get back home, if you'll just let us try." She glanced at the Doctor and gave a small shrug, unsure if that was going to work or not, but who knows? She felt sure that the Vashta Nerada were just as frightened as themselves were, and maybe she could convince them to let them pass if they could understand that they were trying to help them.

The Doctor breathed heavily, staring down at the darkness in front of him; his mind running at full speed to try and think of a possible solution. He paid no mind to Charity when she looked to him, his mind was too focused on the issue at hand and the severity of it. Suddenly the darkness seemed to part, the difference becoming more apparent from before Charity spoke and after. The Doctors eyes widened with intrigue as he cautiously approached the outer rim of the light circle.

BZZZZZZZ The sonic screwdriver hovered over the darkness and unlike the last attempt the light stayed. Looking back to Charity The Doctor smiled, with a slight chuckle, amazed at what he saw. It seemed as though Charity's words had made an impact and fell not unto def ears. The Vashta Nerada had listened to her, for the moment at least and allowed The Doctor to take a first step outside of the light circle and into the light provided by the screwdriver.

One step after another, The Doctor walked out from the circle and towards the nearest door only hesitating to look back to Charity and the others. "Charity! Keep talking to them, they seem to like you" He called back to her, "See if you can get some food for you guys, i will try and get a suit so we can communicate with them better. I will try to contact you when i have the suit". Turning back around, he stopped for a moment then turned back to her and the group, "Be safe Chare...the TARDIS needs you after all so she will be expecting you to come back" he smiled then made his way to the door. As easy as he approached the door, he made it through and disappeared from sight, "Alright..i need you guys to work with me. I'm going to find a suit so we can talk better.." he spoke to the darkness around him, "Blimey..i've really gone mad, talking to shadows now. First time for everything i suppose" he mumbled.

Having been holding her breath, wondering if her attempt at speaking to the Vashta Nerada would work, Charity breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw them react in a manner that suggested that they were going to let the Doctor pass. She smiled back at him, feeling pleased that she had been of some help in a situation where she didn't know what else to do.

Watching the Doctor start into the darkness, she couldn't help feeling anxious again. Some of the people in their group started to speak up saying that it was probably a trick and that he shouldn't go, but she turned a stern look on them.
"Hush. Let's have no more talk of that. They've granted him passage so that he can help them, if you keep on with your mistrusting statements they may just change their minds." She frowned. "They may hear your talk and think that is how all people are.. and we want them to know that we keep our promises, don't we?" She huffed a little and turned to watch into the darkness, waiting for the Doctor to return.

Despite her words, defending the VN, she couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of concern for her friend, out there in the midst of the dangerous shadows. But she had to believe they weren't evil. They wouldn't lure someone who wanted to help them out into their midst to kill them. She told herself to ignore the paranoid people's words, and trust that the VN were going to keep their end of the deal. They wanted help, after all, so what would it profit them to kill the very ones who wanted to help?
"Please don't hurt anyone else.." She asked, directing it out into the shadows. "I don't know how many others are on board this ship but no one means you any harm, so please.. remain peaceful. We're going to do our best to return you to your home." She added, promising.

The Doctor carefully stepped through the hallway, keeping his eyes fixed on the light that shined from his sonic screwdriver. All seemed to go well, despite The Doctors prediction, Can't believe they would just allow me to pass through...are they really that scared? he thought. Suddenly a door swung open next to him, a man running out frantically. His eyes wide with fear and sweat dripping down from his face as he ran past The Doctor, nearly running him over in the process. "No!" The Doctor managed to blurt out but to no avail, the man continued to run towards the door until letting out a short sharp scream before disappearing into the darkness. "He meant you no harm!" The Doctor yelled, fury growing inside of him sourced from what he had just seen, "Why kill him?!".

Silence permeated the hallway along with a cool breeze that sent a shiver down The Doctor's spine and smacked his attention back to where it needed to be. He didn't know why the VN decided to kill the man, nor did it ultimately matter in the end. There were lives that needed saving, and at this moment The Doctor was the only one that could do it or so he thought...

Suddenly the darkness around his feet slowly began to close in; the light from the sonic screwdriver could no longer hold back the shadows. The Doctor quickly became scared, he was trapped without much hope for survival in the middle of a dark hallway with hungry Vashta Narada. Bolting, The Doctor hoped for the best; aiming for the door he ran as fast as he could What made them suddenly so mad? Why the sudden change?...Were they baiting me?

Charity waited anxiously for the Doctor to return. She paced around within the small area of light, wondering how long it would take to get to the place where the diving suits were stored, and unsure whether it was taking him a long time or not. What would she do if he didn't come back? She began trying to think of what she could possibly do from here, to help the Doctor wherever he currently was. She couldn't help worrying about her friend at least a little bit. She didn't like being left behind, unable to know what was going on. But she understood he would rather she stay here.. probably for her own safety but personally she thought she was probably best served here with the people, keeping them from doing anything stupid.

"Where are you from?" She murmured into the darkness, stopping to stare out at it. Were they out there? All around them, perhaps. She wondered what exactly these things looked like, and whether they had families and things like that. That sparked an idea, and she wasn't sure if it would work but.. every living thing had a natural instinct to protect its young, right? Some creatures felt that toward their mates as well. She spoke into the darkness surrounding them. "Do you have others, left behind perhaps? If you do.. I bet you miss them.. I've got brothers, and a mother. And they'd really miss me if they never saw me again.. I'm sure some of you must have someone like that.. someone who misses you, and you miss them." She said, sympathy in her voice. "I hope we'll be able to get you all back home, so you can be reunited with your families, if that's the case." She hoped they were listening, and that her words were helping in some way. She had no idea what else she could possibly do, but hoped that the Doctor was having success with his mission.

The Doctor ran; ran like his life depended, because it did. The light from the sonic screwdriver flashed back and forth as he ran and weaved from side to side, trying to dodge any incoming lashes from the V.N. His eyes danced around all visible objects around him, attempting to locate where the shadows were and if they were keeping up with him; all the while, in the back of his mind he kept a mental note of where he was opposed to the bridge. It wasn't far now, just a few more turns and through a hallway and The Doctor would be home free, but what was the plan now? Were the V.N attacking Charity and the group? Or was it just him? There was no way of telling, The Doctor had no choice but to revert back to his original plan. Instead of grabbing the diving suits, his eyes and attention would focus on the controls and shield stability.

The shadows around Charity and the group slowly began their approach, trying not to alert the young woman as she spoke to them. Their stomachs grumbled in hunger and eyes locked on their prey, the time to strike was at hand. In one huge leap, they attacked one of the light posts causing it to fall over and crash. The glass shattered and flew as it spread across the lobby floor, allowing for a path for the darkness to creep, for the shadows to lurk and for the V.N to draw closer to their prey.

The Doctor slammed into the bridge door, following the momentum of leaping over a shadow in the hallway to reach his destination. The door stopped for a moment then opened automatically and closed shut behind The Doctor. Sweat dripped from his brow as he walked into the bridge and located the controls he needed to; on the way to the controls his eyes landed on the diving suit they needed to communicate with the V.N. He stopped, hovering over the controls as he stared at the suit in deep thought, Could be a waste of time...or save lives...there's no way of telling. If they are attacking me they might be already attacking Charity. I..i can't risk it. Shaking his head, The Doctor shoved the thought out of his mind as he deactivated the shields surrounding the ship; allowing the surrounding ocean water to begin crashing in. Alarms roared and red lights shined over head, ALERT! ALERT! WATER PRESSURE RISING, ACTIVATING LIFE BOATS .

The time for negotiating had passed..the time for running for their lives..had begun.

Charity paced around slightly, anxious and worried about the Doctor, but to anyone watching her it would only seem as if she were patrolling the area. What was going on with the Doctor? She wished they'd established a way to communicate, so she'd know what was going on. Why didn't she find a comm device to keep in contact with him? Feeling slightly frustrated with herself for not thinking of it, she didn't notice the shadows starting to close in a bit.

The crash from the lamp, however, snapped her to attention as all around her screamed in surprise and fear. She backed up hastily and stared at the path of darkness. Her breathing quickened as she saw this. They had to have done that intentionally. Why? Were they going to attack? It would seem so. They were becoming hostile again. But why? She had thought for sure that they would want help getting back home. She refrained from chewing her nails, and tried to think of anything she could possibly say to the Vashta Nerada. She felt a sinking feeling of sadness that her attempt at appealing to them, and to their good side, had failed.

"Everyone stay close together, in the middle of the light." She ordered the group, 'shepherding' them back together as tightly as she could, and as far away from the darkness as she could get them. She, herself, stayed near the group but paced around the outer edges of the rest, watching the darkness as it attempted to move in closer. Taking a deep breath, she drew her blaster and adjusted a setting on it, then pointed out to the edge of darkness. "Stay back, I'm warning you." She spoke in a level, authoritative tone. Having no idea whether a blaster shot would even phase them, and also having no desire to harm anyone, she didn't yet fire but hoped they would heed her warning.

Then she heard alarms going off. She glanced up quickly and looked around; what did that mean? She felt a chill down her back as she realized what was happening. Something must have happened.. the Doctor must have done that. Were they attacking him? That had to be it.. he had intended to get the suit, to help them, so something must have happened to change that plan. She felt even more sad, but also worried. She looked at the group of people, worried they might start panicking.
"What's going on? What's happening?" Someone cried out nervously. Charity thought fast for an answer. She had to try and keep them calm, and keep them from getting panicky and stupid.
"Don't panic, everything will be alright, just stay away from the shadows." She assured them with a smile; although it was a worried smile. "My guess is that he's had to resort to plan B.. it's a shame plan A didn't work out, but.. he knows what he's doing." She promised, while hoping that he really did know what he was doing...

The Doctor bolted; ran as fast as he could, leaping over puddles of water and covering his head from sparks and shot from the systems above. Countless gallons of water poured into the ship, causing it to tilt and fall to the side and hit the ocean floor; the impact sent The Doctor into the wall of the hallway with an echoing thud. "Agh!!" The Doctor grunted as he rolled through the impact and continued to run down the hallway, I have to get back to Charity..i have to get back to those people!. That thought drove The Doctor to run harder, push farther until he had reached the door leading into the main lobby.

Peeping through the window,as he waited for the door to open, he saw Charity trying to herd the people back from the ever hungry V.N. "Come on, come on!!" The Doctor, impatiently waiting for the door to open; when it did he leap out, "Charity!! Move!!". Protruding his arm outwards, The Doctor activated his sonic screwdriver on the nearest lamp causing it to grow brighter and brighter the closer he got to the group. Smoke began to slither up from the light until it became almost blinding, the V.N scurrying back into the darkness for safety just as The Doctor entered the circle and lowered his screwdriver.

One breath. That was all The Doctor managed, along with an exhale before the sound of crashing water whispered in his ear and immediately caused his gears to crank again. Looking over to Charity, he grabbed her hand tightly, "I need you to stay close" he told her, "Everyone! Follow me and don't look back!!". The hallway door creaked with the pressure of the mounting water as The Doctor began leading the group out of the lobby, and towards a life boat located on the side of the ship with a running start. The ceiling also began making groaning noises, weighing heavily down from the water that swirled around it; droplets began falling down on the group. "We can make it. We just need to get to the life boat and ride it up to the surface..see if we can call for help from there" The Doctor spoke aloud to Charity as he ran, "Goal is to get everyone we can into the life boat..including yourself. If i need to i can get the TARDIS but i want them and you safe first and foremost".

Charity was both relieved and alarmed when the Doctor ran back into the room. Before she could ask what was happening, he was urging them all to move quickly. She didn't stop to ask questions, and immediately prepared the group to his follow orders, trusting that the Doctor had a really good reason for it. Relieved for the Doctor causing the light to get brighter, she pushed the people along, herding them like sheep to come along with them toward the life boat, a sort of submarine pod made to withstand the pressure this deep underwater. She hoped it would be big enough to contain them all.

"What if they follow us?" She whispered to the Doctor, eyes a little wide due to the scary situation they were in. Before she could get an answer she noticed someone that was trying to back away, complaining of being afraid of tight spaces. She grabbed him and pushed him toward the boat.
"It'll only be for a short time.. which do you prefer? Staying in this ship that's full of Vashta Nerada, and sinking? Or getting in a little boat to get to safety?" She asked hastily, leaving him little choice but to go into the boat, though he continued to complain.

She got into the boat after all the others were in, and looked back at the Doctor, and down the hall. How long before the water crushed the ship? The boat was somewhat cramped by now but it could hold a couple more people, she believed. She just hoped there weren't any more survivors trapped in the ship, but she didn't think they'd have time to go searching for anyone, now. Hopefully they were all here.
"How are you going to get the Tardis back?" She asked the Doctor in concern while waiting to let him get into the boat after her. She also hoped he'd know how to drive this thing.. or pilot it, or whatever you call it.

The Doctor rushed the group inside of the life boat, it's doors hissing upon as they approached it, his eyes trailing behind him to keep a mental check of where the water had reached. Hearing Charity's voice, he was pulled back into the goal at hand, "Sorry? Yes! The TARDIS, i'm going to get her. I need you to stay with them, the boat runs on an auto pilot system. It will get you back to main land".

Without any further words, The Doctor nearly began bolting back towards the TARDIS and back into the ship but stopped himself as he turned back around to Charity and embraced her in a hug. Pulling back from the hug, The Doctor smiled and handed her his sonic, "Now you be safe, got it?! You're a better leader for them than i am...besides i can't leave without my house". Chuckling slightly, he nodded then without further hesitation ran back into the perils of the sinking ship.

Thinking back to where had left the TARDIS, The Doctor bolted through the hallways; sparks flew out of their sockets as water constantly rushed in. The remaining shields of the ship quickly began to falter and give way to the endless weight of the water. Various sea creatures hurled into the ship, flopping from side to side, desperately trying to get back to bigger puddles of water. Time was ticking for The Doctor as he tried to find the TARDIS, it was run or drown and he knew it.

Charity widened her eyes as she heard what the Doctor was going to do.
"What? No.. you can't.." She didn't get to finish because he was taking off almost immediately. "Doctor.. be careful." She called after him. She bit her nails and watched him vanish into the depths of the sinking ship. What if he didn't survive? He could get killed before he made it to the Tardis. With the Vashta Nerada loose.. who knows what might happen to him. She was very worried but she remembered that she had to get these people to safety. She just hoped she'd be able to do that.

Climbing into the lifeboat, she let the door close and stared for a moment out through the window, hoping that the Doctor would survive. She took a deep breath and turned to the controls of the thing, hesitating. She had no idea what to do here, but she also thought it a bad idea to let the people know that. Ignoring the complaining and murmuring of the passengers, she sat down at the controls.. about the only place left for anyone to sit. She took hold of the wheel and hoped that was all she needed to steer this thing up to the surface.

Puddles of water splashes beneath his shoes as gushes of water poured through the openings in the ship shield. Time was ticking for The Doctor and his trek to locate his TARDIS; already the ship was beginning to tilt from the ever growing weight of water. The Doctor turned the edge of a corner and entered into the main lobby, his motion brought to a sudden halt by a falling support beam that nearly severed him in half. The Doctor fell back with a thud; his eyes wide as he tried to control his breathing and regain his state of mind. The never ending drops of water, pounding The Doctors face, aided in calling the Time Lord back to the moment at hand; with a shake of the head he stood back up and scanned the area with his eyes.

"Should be this way.." The Doctor mumbled, reaching to grab his sonic but to only come up empty, "That's right..gave it to Charity. Well that makes things interesting". Glancing between right and left, The Doctor weighed his options then made his decision; turning left and across the lobby towards the back of the ship. Upon reaching the adjacent hallway, however, The Doctor ran into yet another problem. The ship took a huge lung to the right, flinging The Doctor across the lobby and smacking the metal wall. The breath flung out of The Doctor, this time nearly bringing him to unconsciousness as he lay still on the corner of the floor and wall.

Struggling, The Doctor lifted up his head and tried to pull himself up but fell back down; water rushing across the floor of the lobby smacking him in the face as he fell down. His vision began to give way, blurriness and double vision set in, making the situation even more difficult. Doctor...Doctor...get up. Go! Run! A voice called out to him, echoing in his subconscious and stirring a fire inside of him and giving him the much needed shot of adrenaline. Standing up and taking a moment to regain his balance, and sight, The Doctor paused then locked his eyes on a door that had been pried off it's hinges. There stood the TARDIS, it's blue light calling The Doctor to the end of the hallway; a grin emerging on his face as he ran to it.

"Please be ok.." Charity mumbled under her breath, fearing for the Doctor. "Please don't drown.. don't get eaten.." She worried that the Vashta Nerada would get him before he could get to the Tardis. Or, maybe he'd drown first. Or, what if he got to the Tardis safely and the V.N. followed him in and... No, she pushed those thoughts deep into the back of her mind, trying her best not to think about those things. "He'll be ok." She mumbled to herself, taking a deep breath. She gripped the wheel thing of the lifeboat but had no idea where she was steering.

After a moment she looked over the various controls, trying to find a way to turn on a headlight, or open up the view port or something like that. She was nervous about pushing buttons at random without knowing what they did, and tried to see if anything was labeled. There; a button labeled window. Feeling relieved, she pushed the button and watched a little anxiously as the view port slowly opened to reveal.. darkness.
"Now.. for a light." She continued her search for a few moments before she tried a switch that looked promising.

A beam of light shot ahead of the boat, illuminating a sheer cliff wall looming up ahead of the boat. Several of the passengers screamed at the sight of it, as it looked like they were about to crash. Charity winced as she hastily began trying to steer the boat away, trying to ignore the panicking passengers. It was a challenge, remaining calm or at least appearing to remain calm when everyone else was panicking and screaming. She wasn't totally sure HOW to steer the boat, but it seemed like at the last possible moment, she managed to pull hard enough on the wheel to pull the ship upward. They all let out a sigh of relief and Charity kept the boat pointed upward. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long for them to reach the surface, now.

The Doctor fell onto the control console, his body slung over it as he struggled to regain some balance and recover from his fall. Grinding his teeth, he grabbed the scanner and yanked it over, "Ugh..alright, Charity...let's get them out of here. What do you say?" he mumbled. As best he could, The Doctor activated the console controls and locked the TARDIS onto the life boats location and pulled down the main lever. His vision dwindled and kept fading in and out as he waited for the TARDIS to appear in front of the life boat, "Come on..just a little bit more Doctor. Come on.." he tried to reinvigorate himself.

Just before unconsciousness welcomed back The Doctor into its grip, the familiar sounds of a successful materialization brought him back into the realm of reality. Lifting himself up, with both hands on the controls, The Doctor activated the necessary controls and lock a gravitational beam from the TARDIS to the life boat. "The SS TARDIS to little life boat. This is the captain speaking, i will be accompanying you on today's voyage. So sit back and relax, you will be home shortly" The Doctor spoke into the sound system; the TARDIS linking the two ships as it began to lead the life boat through the rock faces.

With civilization in sight, and the twin suns becoming more and more apparent through the darkness of the water, The Doctor fell back into the grip of unconsciousness. The TARDIS guided the life boat across the top of the water, once emerging from it towards a nearby dock; once the life boat was near enough it ascended and released the gravity lock. Materializing nearby the dock, the TARDIS rested and waited for further instruction from it's pilot, who snored on it's control console.

Charity held onto the steering thing, keeping them going upward. She hoped there wouldn't be anymore obstacles, and also hoped that it wouldn't be hard to stop. Where were the brakes on this thing, anyway? She had no idea but she figured she would be able to get them to the shore and then maybe it would slow down on its own. If not, she could run it aground and hope that the beach or whatever there was there, would slow them to a stop. Except, wait, the Doctor had said this whole planet was covered in water, like the one in her world named Aquoshillon.

She felt a bit of mild concern about this but then again, if there wasn't any land and it was all ocean on the surface, then that meant there wasn't likely to be anything to collide with. That was good, at least. She smiled, somewhat relieved and comforted by that thought.

Then about ten times the relief flooded through her as she saw the Tardis, and she was even more thrilled to hear the Doctor's voice calling to them. She breathed a sigh of relief and sat back, smiling and very glad that he had survived and made it to the Tardis. She let the Tardis guide the boat. She smiled at the other survivors. "Everything will be ok now." She assured them.

Once they had been released from the Tardis' pull, Charity was able to navigate the boat into the dock; she hit against the dock a bit hard, jarring everyone in the boat, but once she had it secure, she searched around for a way to open the hatch on the life boat. She climbed out and then helped everyone out of the boat first, then after making sure that everyone was safely out of the boat, she turned and watched them wander off to find a way off the planet or whatever their plans were. She smiled, feeling better now that she was sure that everyone was going to be ok and that they should be able to get to their homes alright.

Inhaling deeply, she breathed in the sea air and smiled, thinking a bit about her older brother who was in the Imperial Navy. She hoped that he was alright. Turning to the Tardis again, she smiled and hurried toward it, eagerly entering the ship and turning to greet the Doctor in happiness that he had survived. Then her joy quickly turned to worry when she saw him passed out on the console. Eyes widening, she ran over to him.
"Doctor!" She laid a hand on his shoulder and shook gently, hoping that might wake him. "Doctor.. please, wake up." What if he was badly injured and she had no way of knowing? She forced herself to try and stay calm, and continued to try and get him to wake up, while anxiously wondering what she should do if he didn't.