It's like a scene out of a movie.
The happy, smiling couple, holding their daughter for the first time.
Friends and family are all in the room.
Smiles and laughter all around.
This is the day our lives changed.
The mother was preoccupied with her new daughter, fussing and smiling down at the little girl.
Anne, they called her. Anne Elizabeth.
The mother asked to be alone with her child for a moment, and after some protests and shuffling about, the others eventually had left the room. None of them noticed the large blue police box around the corner in the hall, not one.
Mere minutes after everyone had left, a man came into the room.
He was tall and skinny, with spiked up brown hair sticking up every which way, wearing a brown pinstriped suit, and of all things, converse shoes. He had eyes that you couldn't help but trust, and- though she thought her eyes were deceiving her- a golden glow slowly making its way up his arms.
Before she could ask any of the many questions flying through her mind, he cut her off and spoke.
"Listen closely, I haven't got much time. Most times when people say that it's an exaggeration, but really. I've only got minutes." He paused to study the glow rising off his arms.
The mother took the opportunity to talk. "What do you think you're doing? What do you mean by not much time? WHO ARE YOU?"
He smiled. "I'm dying, that's why I haven't got much time. Maybe ten minutes at the most. I'm here to give you something. My name is The Doctor, nothing else, just that. Please don't ask questions, I need you to listen to me! Your daughter, she's amazing. She's one of a kind, really. But, that means she's in danger. Believe me, I wouldn't be here if it was nothing serious."
The mother sneered at him "Who do you think you are? You just waltz in here and tell me these stupid lies... Don't make me call a nurse to kick you out!"
"No, there's no time for that, don't do that. Just take this. Give it to her. Please." He looked at the clock. Eight minutes.
The woman's look of anger did not waver. "Well, you sure as hell doesn't look like you're dying. Get out, now."
The Doctor shook his head. "I really am dying. I know, there's no way you'll ever believe me, but-" His speech was cut off by uncontrollable coughing. It sounded genuine, there's no way someone could fake that level of coughing. "Please. It'll only take a minute to hear what I have to say." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the clock again. Seven minutes.
The mother was silent, clutching her whimpering daughter tight. The golden glow was surrounding him, almost to his shoulders now and growing brighter by the second. She silently hit the 'call nurse' button on her bedside. She then turned it to mute, the nurses could now hear the conversation without being heard by anyone in this room.
"Just... Take this. Give it to her when she's older, if she had it now she'd probably eat it, you know how babies are." The Doctor held out a silver necklace. It was cheap, a small metal police box charm on a chain. It could have been bought at a gift shop for less than five dollars. "It looks like nothing. I know, it does. But believe me, it's very important." He paused. "You think I'm insane, that's why you hit the call button. Yes, I saw that. I'm not worried though, I've got friends that work here. So, that's no real problem to me." He turned a bit towards the speaker. "Hi Martha, say hi to Mickey and everyone for me." Turning back to the mother, he resumed speaking. "You trust Martha, right? I would hope so, she's been your doctor the past nine months. Now, Martha, I'm going to unmute the microphone. I need you to tell this woman just how much she should trust me, okay? Don't waste time talking to me, there isn't time for that."
He reached into his coat and pointed a silver and blue object at the speaker, and immediately put it away again. He then started up another round of coughing, nearly doubling over from the force of the fit. "Doctor? What's wrong with you then? What's all that coughing about?"
"Nothing, Martha, don't worry about me. Just tell her!"
The mother looked confused. "I thought you just said you were dying? That surely isn't fine."
"DYING?" The female doctor's loud voice echoed throughout the room. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Martha, I'll talk to you later. Just, please, do what I said!"
The mother spoke into the phone. 'Martha? What's going on, what does he mean?"
"Well, whatever he's said, I can guarantee is true. No matter how much you don't want it to be, just please, listen to him. He can help you. Believe me, he is… amazing. I swear, on anything you want me to, that you can trust him. I'll even swear on my own life."
The new mother had never heard her doctor this passionate about something. In the nine months they had known each other, there didn't seem to be anything that interested Martha, she seemed to be just going through the motions. Whatever had made her this excited must be worth it. She looked up, to see the strange man, the Doctor, still there.
"Okay" she whispered. "What do I have to do?"
Three minutes.
That's all it took, three minutes.
Three minutes for her life to be turned upside-down, three minutes and she knew everything.
She knew who the Doctor was. She knew how he knew Martha. She knew what was happening to him.
She knew what her daughter was.
And it terrified her. Yes, terrified. Like any other mother, she knew that her child was special. Every child was.
Perhaps, this one a bit more than most.
His last words echoed in her head.
"When I come back, I won't look the same. But when I do, remember this word- so you know it's me."
She carried that word with her as she held on to her now-crying daughter and watched the police box disappear.