Calista sighed deeply at the sweet smell of the late spring air as she drove down the road along side the river. The trees were in full bloom preparing to bear the summers fruit. She grabbed the knob of her car to roll down her window, careful not to shift her position too much and swerve on the road. Her Ford Galaxie purred softly as she sped down the road. Suddenly she glanced to the river on her right to see a body floating in the river stuck on the branch of a fallen tree.
"Oh shit." she whispered as she carefully pulled over to the side of the road. Stepping out of her car she took off her shoes and jacket, steeling herself before jumping into the river. The current of the river was weak; thankfully all of the winters snow had already gone out to the sea for the season. She grabbed onto the branch that held onto the body, a man it seemed. His wavy hair was damp and plastered to his face hiding his eyes. His clothes were tattered and torn like he'd been to hell and back before he'd even gotten into the river.
Calista held onto the branch with both hands, trying to think of a way to bring him back to shore without both of them getting swept further down the river. She looked at the tree that had fallen into the river. It had come from the opposite bank of where she'd parked her car and unfortunately it didn't come over to the other side. However it did come close enough to the opposite bank that if they could get to the top branches of the fallen tree she should have no trouble pulling him to the bank from there.
"You're lucky I noticed you." She muttered before pulling herself onto the tree, "You better be grateful."
She grabbed onto the unconscious man pulling him onto the tree with her.
"Alright," she sighed, "Now..." She laid on her belly one leg on either side of the tree as she pulled him onto her back. She looped his arms around her neck crawling up the tree closer to the top. She could tell he was still alive from the fluttering of his heart against her back. But what worried her was the speed which his heart beat, it seemed to be twice as fast as the normal human being.
'I hope he doesn't have a heart condition.' she thought to herself as she grabbed onto his hands keeping him on her back as she lowered herself into the water. The water was only waist high; she realized once she came off the tree. She shifted him on her back slightly as she piggy back carried him back to her car.
She laid him down on the ground to check if he was breathing, he wasn't.
"Shit." She opened his mouth checking for anything that was obviously preventing him from breathing. Seeing nothing she began chest compression. After five or six compressions he suddenly started coughing up water. She helped him roll onto his side as his eyes opened.
"Where am I..." he wheezed as he looked up at her.
"Ummmm... I'm not really sure..." she said sheepishly, "Next to some river in Oregon, but that's all I can tell you. I decided to go exploring and wasn't paying attention to the map. Do you know your name?"
"Doctor..."
"Doctor what?"
"Just the Doctor..." he said as he began coughing again.
"Shit, you probably have amnesia, or else your delusional. Here I'll get you a towel." she said after helping him sit up leaning against her blue car. She stood up and opened the trunk. She grabbed a tan bag with the letters U.S.M.C. on them. She sat back down next to him opening the bag. She pulled out two towels one she put around him the other for herself.
"What's the last thing you remember?" She asked as she looked back into her bag.
"Bright, golden lights."
"Near death experience?" she asked handing him a nutrition bar, eating one herself.
He shook his head before looking at her his emerald green eyes murky and dazed, "Yea... something like that."
"Do you have any I.D. on you?"
"No..."
She sighed, "Well, I should take you to a hospital, I suppose?" She said helping him into the passenger seat of her car.
"No! NO hospitals!"
She looked at him confused, "Why not? I just found you not breathing in the river with no clue how long you were there or how long you hadn't been breathing. I was able to revive you on my own surprisingly but that was just pure luck. God only knows what else is wrong."
"I'm, not normal..." he said softly.
"Right, so... do you not remember your name?"
He looked at her confused, "Of course I do. I'm the Doctor."
"Yea. Doctor what?"
"Just the Doctor."
Calista sighed as she pulled her car from the side of the road, "Yep, sorry. I'm gonna have to take you to the hospital."
"What? Why?"
"Because you think your a Timelord with a police box that flies through space and time."
"How did you know that?"
Calista grabbed her T.A.R.D.I.S. Wallet, "Huge Doctor Who fan. This baby here." she tapped her dash board, "Is named Tardis after the Doctor's ship."
"Oh, well, she'll be happy to hear that... when I find her."
"And this is why I'm taking you to a hospital."
"What? No please you can't. I just regenerated. Hell, I don't even know the kind of person I am yet."
Calista glanced at him. His eyes were wide, frightened, and incredibly sincere. She sighed, "Prove it."
"Huh?"
"Prove you're the Doctor."
"oh..." the man felt around his pocket pulling out what appeared to be a pen with a green light on the end. He pressed a button aiming it at her car radio. The car filled with the sound of the Beatles as her C.D. Player started up, "Ah! So were in... 19...69?70?"
"Nope. Way off, 2017. Looks like you don't even know what year it is."
The Doctor looked at her confused, "Really? But... the car... the music."
"Classic car. Bought her used from an older gentlemen who gave me a good price for her. My parent's are in their sixties so I was kinda raised on classic music. When most little girls were listening to their older sisters Back Street Boys CD's I was listening to my parents' Beatles tapes."
Calista glanced at the Doctor once more, "Also..." she reached down into her leather book bag pulling out a replica Sonic Screwdriver, "I can do that too." She pointed it at the radio pushing a button and causing the radio to turn off.
The Doctor looked at her wide eyed and confused.
"Universal Remote."
"Oh..." He looked down biting his lip nervously.
Calista sighed as she watched him, "I guess there is one thing I can check for..."
The Doctor watched her confused as they drove into town. She slowed down pulling into a parking lot of a restaurant.
"OK..." She said getting out of the car to open his door. She knelt in front of him pulling a stethoscope from her bag.
"Why do you have that?"
"Studying medicine at the college. If you're really the Doctor you'll have two hearts."
"You really do know your stuff, don't you?"
She nodded quietly as she put the ear buds into her ears and pressed the knob against his chest. She listened for his heart where she'd normally find it. She nodded to herself pleased as she heard it's healthy steady beat. Then she moved the knob over to where a Timelords second heart would be. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked up at him, "You... You actually are the Doctor..." she whispered.
"In the flesh."
Calista leaned back landing on her butt with a thump, "Well... I guess I'mma have to help you find the T.A.R.D.I.S rather than a hospital huh..."
"That would be nice." The Doctor looked up grabbing his almost dry hair and pulling a lock down where he could see, "Yes! I'm a ginger!" he beamed.
Calista burst into laughter as she heard that. He looked down at her in confusion. "What's so funny?"
"It's just, in the show you're always frustrated when you regenerate that you're not a ginger. I didn't think the real Doctor would actually care."
"Show?"
"Yea... in this dimension, Doctor Who is a show."
"You know about dimensions?"
"Of course I know about dimensions." she snapped, her laughter suddenly gone, "I'm not a moron thank you."
"Right... sorry..." he said looking down sheepishly, "But what makes you say in THIS dimension I'm a show."
"Eh, I'm assuming, honestly. To my knowledge there has never been a part of the show where you've broken the fourth wall to the degree of showing that Doctor Who was a show so I'm guessing that the show in my reality and/or dimension is just us peeking in on your dimension."
The Doctor nodded, "That sounds reasonable."
"Still... if the show is accurate that means we have a problem..."
"Oh?"
"Yea... It was hell for you closing the rift between dimensions when you were the tenth Doctor... I would imagine it would be just as bad for this one... other than... well, never mind."
"Other than what?"
Calista stood up, "Don't worry about it. It's not important."
The Doctor looked up at her with puppy like eyes. She looked into his begging eyes as they watched her from between the locks of his shaggy crimson hair. She sighed softly and answered quietly.
"It won't be as hard because... you won't have to deal with getting separated from Rose."
His eyes widened as he leaned back in shock, "How do you..."
"Like I said... Here... Doctor Who is a show." she sat down at his feet leaning against his shins as she pulled out her phone, "Look." she opened an app on her phone and typed in "Doctor Who S1E1" before picking a video and handing it to him. He watched as the first episode of modern Doctor Who played. She watched him as his expressions changed from shock to surprise to nostalgia as he watched the ninth Doctor and Rose go on their first adventure.
He handed back her phone, "So... I'm guessing you thought I was just an actor or an actor look-a-like who lost track of who they were... themselves or their role..."
"Not exactly. We haven't had a Doctor who looked like you yet."
"Oh..."
"So... Any clue where the T.A.R.D.I.S. is? I'll drive you to her before I head home."
"I think she's here to pick me up actually." He gestured ahead of them to the police box that materialized in front of them.
"Ah so you reprogrammed her to be able to fly herself to you when necessary huh?"
"Yes..." The Doctor helped her up as he stood up himself, "Thank you for saving me." he said before walking over to his ship.
The T.A.R.D.I.S. hummed with delight in his mind as he walked over to her. At the last moment, before Calista got in her car, he turned to her and asked, "Come with me?"
