This is my first fanfiction on this website… reviews would definitely be appreciated! One shot.

Karissa sat in her hospital bed, thinking over a story her mum had told her as a child.

The story was a strange one but as a child Karissa had no sense to realize it. Karissa often imagined the story in her own way after her mother left, as if her mother were setting a context or a setting and the rest could be handed over to her.

Karissa closed her eyes tight and imagined it the way her mother used to tell her.

The man had a million faces and a million names, but you'd recognize him in an instant if he showed up at your door.

Often times, Karissa imagined him to be blond, and sometimes she imagined him in silly hats with silly brown or black hair. As a child, he'd always been blond for some reason, and she'd always imagined him in a dark black suit with a bright red tie. As her mother had always told her, he toted around his big, mysterious blue box and he always chose the best of companions, never quite leaving them until they left him.

A lonely man he was, which made him so easy to imagine in her head. Karissa often imagined the poor man more broken than she was, so she could finally be the one for someone to look up to instead of down upon. Sometimes, however, he was the one who reached for her hand and softly whispered, "fancy a trip?".

More often than not, they would travel to other universes. Karissa found the past drab and found that in order to truly make the events real she needed to research the past. However, universes were up to her sole imagination, taking the form of whatever mold she preferred.

Sometimes when they traveled trouble would arise, as mother always said it did, and they could save an entire universe and still have time for tea.

Lately, however, the man appeared to her in a blue suit and brown hair, a silly smile plastered across his face. He had his big blue... what was it called? Right! A TARDIS. He had his big blue TARDIS with him at all times, as though the thing itself was one of his famous companions.

As Karissa opened her eyes, hearing the hospital door creak open, she let out a smile as her eyes were still half open.

"Karissa? This man is here to see you. Says he's a friend of your mums," she said, smiling down at the girl, then leaving. As Karissa looked around the room for man, her eyes stopped upon a familiar face. She tried not to jump to conclusions, but before she could finish her thoughts she whispered something.

"Doctor?" her feeble lips croaked, the man smiling at the mention.

"Ah yes, you've heard of me. Although I didn't quite think your mum would remember me as well as she did, bless her heart," the man said, looking down at the girl with a wide open smile.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked, sitting up in her bed to stare in astonishment at the man she'd dreamt of for the past month as she was trapped in her hospital bed.

"I came to see you of course! Mum told me you were a little sick," he said, sitting in the chair next to her.

"You know my mum?" Karissa asked, rubbing her eyes as she tried to open them completely.

"Martha Jones," he said, sighing happily, "Do I know her. Her and I traveled for a time." He looked over at Karissa and frowned a little, masking it quickly.

"How are you?" he asked, looking at her with concern.

"Best I've been in a while," she replied, barely able to contain her grin. He grinned back, letting out a small laugh. It was silent for a moment, when the man took her hand and looked her in the eye.

"What would your mum say to one trip in the TARDIS?" he asked, moving his eyebrows in an attempt to make her laugh.

"You brought 'er?" Karissa asked, looking around the room.

"I most certainly did! Bring that 'ole girl everywhere, she can't stand to be alone," he said, sighing. Karissa looked around her, then looked back at the man she'd known her whole life as "the Doctor"; because she'd recognize that sad, wonderful face on anyone.

"Maybe one trip?" she asked, earning herself a laugh from the man. She giggled along with him as he took her hand and she could feel her legs moving for the first time in weeks. Suddenly, she could use them again.

She tried to stand, but wobbled unsurely as she hit the ground. The man quickly grabbed her as she nearly hit the ground, then swooped her up like a kitten and carried her towards the door that would lead out of the hospital.

As he carried her, Karissa could feel her heart, beating quickly and warmly, for the first time in many months. The man carried her gently, as though she were a baby, to his beloved TARDIS, and once she stepped foot in the there she jumped from his hands and ran her hands along all the controls. Each control was as she'd imagined it, strange and mysterious. The design so much bigger on the inside and so beautiful. She squealed with delight as she waited for the man to close the door.

He looked at her with a sad smile, then it vanished and he laughed his laugh, just as she had imagined it.

"Well, Karissa Leigh Jones..." he asked, running towards the controls and flipping, turning, and twisting them individually, "If you could go anywhere in the world, anytime, anyplace..." he paused a moment, turning and leaning on his console.

"Where would you like to go?" he asked. Karissa looked around her, then back at the Doctor.

"Anywhere. Anywhere but here," she said, grinning bigger than she had in a very long time. The Doctor smiled, looking at her as though she was his own, and then turning back towards his controls.

"Alright, I know just the place!" he exclaimed as the TARDIS began making a strange noise and set into motion. He looked at her again, his left lip turned up.

"You'll love it, I know you will."