Title: Tell Me What You See
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: When a stain on the wall is more than a stain, The Doctor and Donna must battle a creature that lives off imagination. Also appearing are Sylvia Noble and Wilfred Mott. Takes place after Midnight and before Turn Left, this fic is my tribute to all those wonderfully creepy Steven Moffat scripts. Many thanks to sapphire_child for the beta.
Word Count: 5,944
Disclaimer: Doctor Who is not mine but mind you I wouldn't say no to David Tennant.
She didn't want to come, he reminded himself. It had been her husband's suggestion. Dr. Ferguson had been a clinical psychologist for nearly twenty years now and rarely did he meet patients who had come of their own accord. It was more often a spouse, a parent, a friend who had recommended they seek help. As a result, they were often reluctant, not willing to open up and talk about why they're really there. That was all right, he was normally fine with letting a patient consume an hour talking about the weather and the news and every other insignificant thing until they felt comfortable. But there were also times when he knew a patient needed a little push.
Enid Harris was just such a patient. A fifty four year old housewife, Enid was here for anxiety, according to her husband who brought her here each week. But after three months of visits Dr. Ferguson knew more about the woman's neighbours than he did about the woman who sat in front of him. She had nightmares, her husband had told the psychologist, she worried constantly, but he wasn't quite sure about what. So this week Dr. Ferguson decided to take a different approach, and as an appreciator of the classics, he thought he'd try a bit of free association.
His plan was to begin with some standard inkblot pictures, abstract designs on paper that would encourage Mrs. Harris to speak freely and help him to understand her deeper thoughts.
"Now Mrs. Harris," he began, "I'm going to show you this picture, and I would like you to tell me what you see."
Enid looked at the splash of blue ink on the page, the collection of dots and lines that were concentrated in the centre and then spread outwards randomly. She blinked several times. Feeling her skin crawl she scratched absently at her arms.
"I see...well, it looks a bit like...a nest of spiders," she said.
As soon as the words were out of her mouth the page appeared to quiver. Enid remained transfixed on the inkblots as they began to move, and then the ghostly pale images of spiders crawled off the page. Dr. Ferguson looked down in response to the wide eyed expression of terror from his patient, and dropped the paper in surprise. Misty white spiders were now scuttling out from the inkblot by the dozen and making their way over to poor Mrs. Harris, frozen in fear on the couch. She screamed and made as if to brush them away, but they appeared to have no corporeal substance and were immovable. The spiders quickly covered her, reaching her head and entering her eyes, ears and her screaming mouth.
All Dr. Ferguson could do was look on in horror and disbelief until finally, Enid Harris fell dead to the floor.
~*~
Donna Noble knew a visit home wasn't going to be easy but she had wanted to see her granddad so badly. She hadn't been back since that awful incident with the Sontarans and the ATMOS gas and since that trip home had turned into a right disaster, Donna thought that a proper visit was in order. They had been to the universe and back in the meantime and for a while she thought the Doctor would never want to return to London, always chasing down the next adventure. But then they visited the planet Midnight, and all that had changed. Suddenly the Doctor was keen to go somewhere quiet. He wasn't even put off by the fact that it was all a bit domestic. He just seemed to understand Donna's need to reconnect with her family. She hardly even had to convince him, and besides, if he were to admit it the Doctor had a bit of a soft spot for old Wilf. So the TARDIS was powered up and it was back to Chiswick they went.
Sylvia Noble was pleased to see her daughter on first glance but her expression tightened when she spotted the Doctor at her side. She still didn't trust that man and she had no idea where they got off to when they disappeared. All she did know was that where ever that Doctor went, trouble always seemed to follow. She was spared the effort of feigning pleasure at the sight of them when her father came up behind her and quickly ushered them both in with smiles, laughs and open arms.
"Donna!" cried Wilfred, pushing past Sylvia. "Doctor!" Embracing his granddaughter warmly, he did the same to the Doctor before turning breathlessly to his daughter. "What are you doing just standing there? Come on, come inside you two..."
He barely allowed them a chance to catch their breaths before he began making tea and asking them all about where they'd been. In his excitement he had forgotten that Sylvia still didn't know that the Doctor and her daughter travelled through space and time, but he soon collected himself after he was rewarded with some benign tales about a resort they had visited. The Doctor gave Wilf a surreptitious wink and promised to fill him in later.
The tea hadn't even yet gone cold in the pot when Donna's mother, unable to help herself, started in with the gentle recriminations.
"Travelling is all very well and good," she told her daughter, "but sooner or later you need to get your head out of the clouds."
The Doctor sat politely but noticed as Donna's eyes glazed over, steeling herself for the familiar assault.
"What," replied Donna, eyes to the ceiling, "I need to return to the exciting life of a temp?"
"Don't you get cheeky with me lady, I mean start paying more attention to the real world around you," Sylvia explained. She picked up a newspaper and dropped it in front of Donna. "Read the paper for once in your life for starters, and I don't just mean the celebrity page."
Donna shrugged and unfolded the paper, if for no other reason but to silence her mother. She was staring at it unfocused for a minute or two when the Doctor reached over and snatched it from her hands.
"Oi!" she exclaimed in surprise, "Manners!"
The Doctor ignored her, and instead had put on his glasses and began reading an article, eyebrows raised.
"Ooh, that's interesting...," he mused.
"What's interesting?" Donna demanded, trying to snatch a glance at what he was reading.
"It says here they found a woman dead with her brain missing."
"Missing? What you mean missing?" asked Donna. "How can a brain go missing?"
"I don't know," said the Doctor, reading. "There was no blood, no sign of trauma. She died in her therapist's office. But when they did an autopsy they found her entire brain had been removed."
Donna became interested for the first time. She leaned closer and spoke quietly, "Sound like anyone you know? Alien?"
"Could be," he replied, "I don't know any human that could manage that."
Donna sighed and finished her tea. "And here I was hoping for a quiet visit."
~*~
The man stood staring at the large rust coloured water stain on the stone wall that ran along the side street in front of a row of houses. He had been there for ten minutes, hands deep in his pockets. He stepped back, considering from every angle, deep in thought. His gaze was so intense that he soon attracted the attention of others passing by.
"What's that then?" asked an elderly lady.
The man didn't reply at first, he just kept staring at the indeterminate shape. So the woman joined him and soon they were joined by two more, asking the same question.
"I don't know," replied the first man finally, "but it looks to me like the Virgin Mary."
"You're pulling my leg," said another younger man, "where? I can't see."
"There," he said, awed, tracing the outline with his finger, "don't you see it? It's a blessed miracle that's what it is."
As the group focused, they gasped as one by one they saw it too. It was a sign from the heavens, a spiritual message from the next world. All at once they felt comforted and inspired.
"Yes, he's right. I see it," a woman exclaimed, and then another agreed, and another.
All eyes in the small crowed went wide as an ethereal image of a veiled young woman emerged from the mark reaching out with open arms to envelope them all in a loving embrace of eternal salvation. Smiling, they all moved in. Once in its grasp, they were overcome and fell one by one onto the pavement, expressions of bliss still on their faces.
~*~
The Doctor and Donna, eager to escape the icy cold scrutiny of Sylvia Noble for a bit, went off down the Chiswick High Road with the excuse of some shopping. It wasn't a complete lie, Donna had complained that with all the running they do, she'd worn out her trainers, and could do with a new pair.
"So," said the Doctor as they strolled along, "are you glad to be back?"
Donna smiled tightly and rolled her eyes, "Mothers. I've travelled to the edge of the universe and back, but five minutes in her company and I'm nothing but a worthless temp again."
"Oh now, Donna, it's not as bad as all that," he protested.
"No you're right," she conceded. "Coming back to it after all I've seen, it makes me feel like I'm a bit above it all, her complaints seem so insignificant now. Still, it's good to check in, make sure they're getting on all right without me. I really did miss them."
The Doctor didn't reply but instead glanced restlessly at the shop windows they passed, pretending to be interested in a floral display. Donna had noticed before whenever the subject of family came up the Doctor seemed to almost visibly shut down, veering away from sensitive subjects. They walked on in silence for a bit. Donna didn't dare ask him any more questions about his family, the one he had lost, that he had mentioned to her just once only very briefly. Though she may have been away, there was something reassuring about knowing that your family were always there to come home to, something to anchor you to a normal life and a place you called home. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to lose everyone you had ever known and cared about, and that cared for you. The Doctor had no anchor; he was quite literally adrift in time and space. The closest thing he had to family was his travelling companions.
She was about to suggest a cafe for some lunch when she suddenly realised she was alone. She looked up to see that they had reached a corner and the Doctor had run off down a side street. He was headed to where a crowd was formed around what appeared from a distance to be a pile of bodies.
"Oi!" yelled Donna after him, "I told you, no more running until I've got my shoes!"
But he wasn't listening so off Donna went in tow. When she caught up with him the Doctor was already flashing his psychic paper at the unsuspecting crowd. Four people lay on the sidewalk, staring up at nothing.
The Doctor pushed his way into the circle, wallet raised, "Detective Inspector Smith. Right, move along you lot. Everything under control. Nothing to see here."
The crowd quickly dispersed leaving the Doctor and Donna to examine the scene in peace. The Doctor crouched down beside the bodies and began to scan them with the sonic screwdriver.
"What happened to them," asked Donna, "it's like they all had heart attacks or something."
"No," said the Doctor as he listened to the whirr of the instrument. He switched it off and frowned. "It can't be," he muttered.
"What can't be," said Donna, feeling a small lurch in her stomach. "Don't tell me their brains are missing."
He looked up at her, expressionless.
"What?" Donna demanded.
"You told me not to tell you," he said.
"Someone took their brains?" she said in disbelief, "What, all of them?"
"Yes, all of them," said the Doctor, looking down at the bodies again and rubbing his chin. "There's nothing, no energy signature, nothing. Even dead there should be an indication of mass, that's there's something physically there but there's nothing, the heads are just empty shells."
He raised the sonic and began scanning the immediate area.
Donna looked around nervously, "We'd better get out of here before the police come. They'll think we had something to do with it."
The Doctor was still concentrating on the scan, unconcerned.
"Do you feel that?" he asked her suddenly.
"What?" she asked.
He wiggled his fingers in the air as he tried to describe it. "Sort of like a... low level energy field, or an echo of one anyway. Something's been here."
"Well obviously," Donna retorted. "I didn't need to be an alien to know that, not with a pile of dead bodies at my feet."
He turned his attention to the wall behind them. "It's stronger here, but it's fading away."
Donna stepped back to give him room. As she did she considered the wall from a distance and an odd feeling gripped her.
"Look at that," she exclaimed.
"At what?" said the Doctor absently, turning off the sonic and sniffing the wall, the tip of his nose brushing up against the stone.
"Stop doing that and just step back and look!" she said, exasperated.
He stood up and went beside her. "What am I meant to be looking at?" he asked.
"That watermark on the stone," she explained, as though it were obvious.
She fully expected the Doctor to notice right away, but when he just stood there in silence, she tried again.
"Well don't you see it, it's like...," she started and then stopped, suddenly feeling silly. That feeling that had overtaken her just a moment ago had vanished. She shook her head, "I don't know, for a second there I thought it looked like something familiar but now it's just a ruddy old stain."
The Doctor looked at Donna for a moment with concern and then put his glasses on and returned his sights to the wall. "I don't see anything," he declared, "it's just moisture."
"Nah, forget it," said Donna, with a dismissive wave, "I must be out of my mind. Next I'll turn into one of those daft people that see Winston Churchill's profile in a burnt crisp."
As she finished speaking they heard the sound of sirens in the near distance. They took that as their cue to leave and they hurried out of sight.
~*~
Later that night, they were back at Donna's house, watching a report about the mysterious bodies on the news.
"Could it be some sort of serial killer d'you think?" asked Sylvia as they listened, "I mean, who could do a thing like that?"
"Well it's a good job the Doctor's here," said Wilf. "What do you make of this, Doctor?"
"I'd like to know why things like this only seem to happen when he's around," muttered Sylvia.
"Now love, don't start," said Wilf.
But the Doctor was impervious to their bickering. He was sitting at the end of the couch, feet up, lost in thought. The news reporter didn't know anything he hadn't already worked out. But they were both missing something. He stared at the flowered pattern on the lounge wallpaper until the images lost their focus and blurred.
The woman in the psychologist's office... the people in the street... What could they have in common, he wondered. He recalled the energy signature, and how Donna's attention had been caught by the stain on the wall.
Stains... marks... pictures...
inkblots?
No, could that be it? Had they all seen something?
Like an epiphany the wallpaper pattern seemed to move and take shape before his eyes as optical illusions did. Suddenly the flowers came together to form a subtle pattern. It appeared to be a face if you tilted your head and looked at it just right; the kind you imagine but know isn't really there. But there's always that doubt, that nagging feeling that what you're looking at is real, and it's watching you back.
The Doctor sprang up, sonic in hand and began to scan the wall. Sylvia yelped in surprise.
"What on earth is he doing?" asked Sylvia.
"Doctor," Donna asked, getting up to join him, "what is it, what's there?"
"It's the same energy signature," he told her, still scanning. "It's here. Maybe it latched on to us in the street and hitched a ride, I don't know, but it's here."
"How did you know?" Donna asked.
"The wallpaper pattern," he explained, talking very quickly, "you mentioned it earlier, about the stain on the wall today. I didn't see it then but... You know how you can sometimes imagine pictures of objects in stains on the ceiling, cracks in plaster, abstract paintings, clouds..."
"Burnt crisps?" supplied Donna, "Yeah."
"I think that's where it hides," the Doctor said, "in the images."
Donna looked more closely at the wallpaper, wary. "Then why hasn't it attacked us?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe it's dormant, and it needs something to wake it up. That woman in the psychologist's office, she could have been looking at inkblots, talking about them, describing what she saw..."
"And those people in the street," said Donna, "it's like they were hanging about that stain on the wall, talking to one another, looking at it."
"That's it!" he cried, picking up speed again as his brain worked a million miles per minute, "Donna you're brilliant! The images, they were just a trigger, but without help they're trapped, harmless, until the people verbalised it, describing what they saw and that brought it to life. Ooooh, the power of words, Donna! I've always said so. Opening a window in the mind that allowed the creature to enter and make off with the brain. Powered by the imagination."
The Doctor and Donna just stared at each other for a moment, warm in the afterglow of their revelation, knowing they were one step closer to stopping this thing from harming anyone else.
The moment was broken by Donna's mother, returning from the kitchen with a mug of tea. "Honestly," Sylvia began, "I don't know what you two are on about. Are you saying that those poor people who died simply looked at a picture and unleashed a monster? I mean, people do that all the time." She turned to a spot on the wall where the Doctor had been scanning just beside Donna to demonstrate. "See the bit there where the wallpaper's torn, why that's been that way since we moved in and I've always rather thought it looked like a lion. Look, there it is..."
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!" cried the Doctor, but he was too late.
The words were out of her mouth and the spot on the wall rippled and let loose a mighty roar. The Doctor grabbed for Sylvia first, pulling her back, assuming the creature would make for the one who spoke of it, but instead it simply went for the nearest body, which was Donna's.
A ghostly image of a lion grew and leapt from the wall, knocking Donna back to the floor, flailing and screaming. The Doctor was on her in an instant.
"Get off her!" He screamed as he adjusted the sonic screwdriver to match the energy frequency.
Donna continued to struggle, unable to breathe as the mist engulfed her body and Sylvia and Wilf watched on in helpless panic. The Doctor hit the right frequency and suddenly the lion vanished like smoke directly inside Donna's head. All at once she fell still and her eyes flew open.
"What is it?" Wilf asked, near tears, "Is she dead? Did that thing take her brain?"
"She's all right for now," said the Doctor, keeping the sonic hovering over Donna's blank face, "I'm holding it."
"Well get rid of it!" ordered Sylvia.
"I need to talk to it first," growled the Doctor. He then addressed the creature inside Donna and asked, "Who are you? Designate your species!"
Donna continued to stare off into space but her mouth moved to form words, as though she were a ventriloquist's dummy. Speaking in a voice that was clearly not hers, she replied, "We are the Muse and we require your minds."
"But you're killing these people," the Doctor argued, "You need to stop."
"We require your minds or we will die," the Muse replied.
"Stop this," the Doctor repeated, "leave this woman alone and I promise you I can help."
"We do not desire your help," it said. "We have what we need."
"What is it you need," the Doctor asked. "Creativity? Imagination? I can get you what you need. You don't have to hurt anyone."
The Muse paused as though considering. The Doctor felt hopeful but then a cold chill came over him as it said, "You are different."
Yes I am, the Doctor thought, taken slightly aback, but probably best not to let on. "What do you say to my offer?" he said instead.
"You possess a mind that is greater than we have ever seen. You could truly save us all. We desire you."
All at once the Doctor lost control and the form rose up out of Donna and into the air. Eyes wide, the Doctor fell back and scrambled away from the cloud, resetting the sonic to a frequency that would disperse it. For several agonising seconds he felt the force of it pressing against the sonic field before dissipating in a puff of smoke. He caught his breath quickly and then returned to Donna who was beginning to stir. He helped her sit up.
"Donna, are you all right?" he asked her.
"Yeah, what happened?" she asked, "I heard this sound like a lion's roar and next thing I woke up here."
Smiling, the Doctor gave her a hand up and then stepped back to allow a worried Wilf and Sylvia to embrace her.
"What's that for?" asked Donna, confused, "I'm fine."
Sylvia was apologising to Donna and Wilf was now pumping the Doctor's hand in gratitude. Once the excitement was over the Doctor sat down with Donna to fill her in on all he had learned.
~*~
Donna found she was overcome with exhaustion after a short while and the Doctor suggested she get some sleep while he went back to the TARDIS to work on a solution to the problem of the Muse. Donna wanted to join him there but she couldn't keep her eyes open. So she went to bed and was up early the next morning to find the Doctor still working. She rarely saw him sleep so she imagined he had been at it all night, though you wouldn't know to look at him. He was as alert and focused as ever.
He looked up and smiled when he saw her enter the TARDIS.
"Ah. Feeling better?" he asked her.
"Yeah, thanks," she said, "Any luck?"
"Oh yes," he said, hunched over the console again. "Nearly there."
"So these Muse things are taking people's brains for their imaginations?" Donna asked, "Why can't they just help themselves to a bit, why take the whole brain?"
"They must need to process it somehow," said the Doctor as he worked. "The brain is like a waterlogged sponge, soaked with memories, ideas, thoughts. Extracting them is a bit like squeezing juice from an orange, once they're done there's very little left."
"Why the pictures then," asked Donna, "Can't they just attack anyone they find?"
"No," the Doctor answered. "You worked out that bit with the crowd in the street. You have to let it in. Your mind is like a computer in more ways than one, you've got protections, barriers, firewalls. The Muse have no access to it without authorisation. But when a person taps into their imagination, they open a door that allows their ideas to escape and lets the Muse inside."
"Yesterday, you said it wants you now," she said quietly.
The Doctor ignored her, working furiously at his computer screen.
"Doctor," she said louder.
He stopped and looked at her. "I'm going to give the Muse the thing it needs."
"No, you're not," she began, suddenly fearful.
He grinned. "A library card."
Donna blinked, sure she had misheard. "What?"
The Doctor explained with a smug smile, "I'm going to give it unlimited access to the largest repository of ideas in the universe."
"The Library," said Donna, realising with a sigh of relief. "Of course! For a moment there I thought you were going to give them your own brain."
The Doctor's grin faded and he quickly turned back to his console.
"Doctor," said Donna, alarmed again. "You're not, are you? Tell me, how exactly are you going to give them this information?"
He turned back to her, his expression grim, "I need to interface with them directly to make the transfer."
Donna stepped back, eyes wide. "You're mad. You can't! You said it knows you're different. It wants your mind! Do you know what it could do with a Time Lord's brain?"
He stepped closer to her and took her by the shoulders. "It won't," he assured her. "I won't let it. But it's the only way. I'm strong enough to resist them just long enough to connect them to the library database, and then it should let me go."
"Should?" Donna laughed an empty hollow sound, "It should let you go?"
"Once it sees what The Library has to offer it won't want me anymore," the Doctor said, and then added quietly, "I hope."
"What if it's greedy?" Donna argued. "What if it wants it all, The Library and you?"
"Its killing people Donna, I have to try," he said. "But you're right. It's a huge risk. That's why I'm going to need your help."
He took out his sonic screwdriver and adjusted the settings, holding it out to her. "This is set to the same frequency that sent them off earlier," he explained. "I'll have the Library database access codes and all the information they need in my head. You need to give me time to transfer the information to them first, that's important. But if they're not satisfied, if they still won't let me go, hit them with this."
Donna took the sonic from him with trembling hands. "How will I know when it's done, will they talk to me? What if I'm too late?" she asked, with a thousand more questions running through her head. "I don't know if I can do this."
"Of course you can. I trust you, Donna," he replied. "You'll just have to trust your instincts. I would say use your imagination, but... don't."
~*~
The Doctor and Donna returned to the house. Entering silently, they were off to locate the Muse's latest hotspot. Donna saw her grandfather in the kitchen, waiting for her. She was relieved to learn that her mother had gone off grocery shopping. Despite the Doctor's act of heroism the night before, Sylvia was still suspicious of him and likely would not have taken kindly to what they were about to do. Donna smiled at her granddad and followed the Doctor into the lounge. They each took a wall and started scanning up and down visually, examining cracks and stains for patterns. Although he could have used the sonic to locate the energy field the Muse used, the Doctor had given it to Donna set to disperse them and he might not have time to change it back for her if he used it to find them as well. So they were left with the less technological and slightly more tedious method of I Spy.
Wilf watched them. "Wouldn't they be where they were before?" he asked, "In that...thing that attacked Donna?"
"Nah," said The Doctor as he worked, "that spot's like a burnt out bulb now, energy's gone. They have to find a new one each time. Each new burst of inspiration opens another door."
"So if you see something gramps," Donna warned him, "don't say it."
Wilf suddenly appeared quite nervous. "I'll just wait in the kitchen," he announced and was gone.
Donna and the Doctor were left alone to study the walls. Donna sighed in frustration after twenty minutes. She was getting nowhere by looking up close so she stepped back like she'd done with the wall, trying to get a new perspective on the patterns that the flowers formed. She found the images were easier to conjure when she allowed the print to blur, like one of those magic eye pictures.
After a few more minutes, she said, "I think I've got one."
"Where?" the Doctor asked. Donna pointed and outlined a small area of the wall with her finger. "Are you sure," he asked again, squinting, "I don't see anything."
Donna looked harder to be certain, but in her mind the image was clear. "Yeah," Donna said. "You ready?"
The Doctor nodded and moved in front of her, keeping Donna out of the line of fire. Donna removed the sonic screwdriver from her pocket and held it in her hand by her side.
"Right," he said. "Tell me what you see."
Donna took a deep breath, pointed over the Doctor's shoulder and said, "Right there, between those two flower clusters, I see a clown's face."
The maniacal laughter was sharp and hideous but at least Donna knew it had worked. She held the sonic screwdriver out and squeezed it to keep her hand from shaking, her thumb hovering above the button at the ready. The clown's wide painted smile opened up, emerged from the wall and appeared to swallow the Doctor's entire head and upper body. The Doctor, enveloped by the white mist, let out a strangled sound, stiffened and then fought as he transferred the data files of The Library to the creature. It was like hand feeding a wild beast, the Doctor trying to give it the information without letting it take his arm off in the process.
Donna watched and waited, heart pounding, stomach aching over the Doctor's struggle. She hoped to God that she would know if it were about to take his brain, that she might notice some sort of change to this disturbing sight. If she used the sonic too early, the Muse, unsatisfied, would go on attacking people, taking what it wants and they might never stop it. On the other hand if she waited too long, even a second too long, it would finish its meal and go on to its next course, feasting on the Doctor's immense alien mind like a tempting dessert.
Donna grimaced. While she didn't recall it being painful when the creature had been in her, this seemed altogether different. With her, the Doctor had been keeping the Muse at bay to communicate with it, and Donna had been relaxed and helpless. Here the Doctor was all on his own, exposed, yet resisting in apparent agony, eyes shut tight, shaking all over as though he were being electrocuted while the clown's laugh grew louder, more insane.
He didn't tell me how long this would take, Donna realised desperately, I can't bear this.
"Doctor, what do I do?" she whispered, terrified, knowing no advice would be forthcoming.
She was on her own and the Doctor needed her. But still she saw no change. After five minutes the clown was still feasting and Donna suddenly thought, Enough. If I'm wrong so be it.
She raised the sonic screwdriver, took aim and pressed the button. All at once there was a painful shriek as the laughter changed to surprise and then pain. Donna kept at it, until the Muse mist rose up out of the Doctor and withdrew back into the wall. The Doctor crumpled to the floor.
Oh my God, Donna thought, dropping down beside him, I was too late.
The Doctor was pale, unconscious and didn't appear to be breathing. Donna felt the now warm sonic in her hand and wondered how she could use it to see if his brain was still intact. She didn't allow herself to think about what she would do if he were dead. She knew she couldn't allow the authorities to get their hands on his body. It hadn't occurred to her before but the reminder that he was an alien now chilled her. But more than that, he was her friend, he had trusted her, and she'd let him down.
But there was no time for self pity. Donna came back to attention and considered the Doctor again. Then she almost slapped herself. She may not have been able to see inside his head but she could easily determine if he was still alive. She leaned down and placed her ear against his chest to listen to his hearts.
They were beating. Both of them.
She cried out elated, sat up and grabbed the lapels of his jacket, shaking him. All at once she felt as though she needed him to be there for her now.
"Doctor!" she called, "Doctor, wake up! Please!"
"Stop it," he complained, moaning, eyes still shut like he was having a bad dream. "What are you doing?"
Donna laughed tearfully as she yanked the Doctor upright and hugged him tightly. He seemed disoriented at first but she soon felt him hug her back and that made her cry even harder.
"Oof...Steady on!" he said to her, pulling back and smiling, surprised at her reaction.
"I thought that I..." Donna started and then stopped. "What happened?" she asked instead, wiping her eyes. "Are you all right?"
The Doctor nodded, looking exhausted but happy. "The Muse are gone," he declared. "Off to do some reading."
~*~
"Do you have to leave again so soon?" asked Wilf, shaking the Doctor's hand.
The visit over, the crisis sorted, and before long the Doctor and Donna declared that it was time to go. They stood at the door making their goodbyes.
"Ah, you know me Wilf, never in one place too long," said the Doctor.
"Just like our Donna," Wilf replied.
"Maybe someday we'll have a quiet visit," said Donna, hugging her granddad and her mother in turn.
"Just don't make it too long until the next time," Sylvia said. "I mean it. And use that phone of yours too."
"I will," she promised, before turning back to Wilf. "And don't worry gramps, the next time I see you, I'll have loads of new stories to tell you."
"I bet you will," said Wilf. "Off you go then you two, go have some adventures for old grandad."
They waved goodbye one last time and walked off towards the TARDIS. They walked in silence until the blue box appeared in view parked around the corner.
"Donna, did I mention you were brilliant?" he asked her suddenly.
"I don't believe you did," she said, feeling pleased.
"Well you were," he said. "And thank you. Your timing was perfect. Remember, always trust those instincts."
Donna smiled. "So where to now, Spaceman?"
He thought for a moment, and then spoke as he unlocked the TARDIS door and stepped back to allow her inside. "Have I ever taken you to the planet Shan Shen? Wonderful marketplace there... Well, more like a bazaar really. A bizarre bazaar, that's it. Reminds me a bit of Earth's China..."