The Conversation
by
BlackFury
It had been a year since San Francisco had been visited by that mysterious man known only as "The Doctor". Dr. Grace Holloway was working at Mercy Hospital. She had refused to go with him when he had asked her too. She wanted to, to just fling everything to the winds and leave but, she had patients and their families who trusted her and she simply could not abandon them.
She had a feeling that he understood but, he had been sad, she had seen that by the way his erect figure drooped when she said no. She stood in the park for the longest after his police call box faded from view and finally, she made her way back home. Now, she was in her office when the hospital administrator came in. "Dr, I was wondering if you'd like to take a working holiday?"
Grace looked up, "Doing what?" She asked. Marcus Trimbolt sat down, "You know about the Medical conference happening in London over the holidays?" Grace nodded, she had heard. Just about every Doctor who was somebody was lecturing there. Marcus smiled, "Well, how would you like to attend?" Her ears perked up. "But, I thought Doctor Lynville was going." Trimbolt smiled, "She was, until she went into labor last night."
Grace smiled. "That means I'm going?" Marcus smiled again, "Yes, in fact, she suggested it.. Do you want to go? It would mean not coming back to the States until after January fifth." Grace thought about it then, remembered what the Doctor has said before he left, "Next Christmas, take a vacation, just don't be here." Grace looked up, "When do I leave?" Marcus smiled, "You have one day to pack. The hospital's jet will take you." Grace smiled, "I'll be ready."
He let her go home early to pack and two days later, she was checking into her hotel room. She checked her schedule and saw there was a press conference later that evening. After the press conference, she walked over to the buffet table to get some coffee then, she found a table occupied by one woman, a woman with dark hair wearing a press badge.
Grace smiled, "May I join you?" The dark haired woman looked up and smiled, "Of course," she held out her hand, "Sarah Jane Smith, I'm reporting for the Sunday Times." Grace shook her hand, "I'm Dr Grace Holloway. One of my colleagues was supposed to come but, she went into labor two days ago so, I was sent here instead." Sarah Jane nodded, "Was it an imposition to your family to come here over the holidays?" Grace smiled sadly, "No, I don't have any family besides," she added almost quietly, "He said not to be in San Francisco this Christmas."
Sarah Jane's eyebrows went up, "He?" she asked. Grace smiled, "Yes, a strange little man, looked like he stepped right out of a Charles Dickens novel, frock coat, ascot, the works." Sarah Jane's eye lit up, "Answer this, did he call himself, "The Doctor"? Grace's eyes widened, "Yes, how did you know?" Sarah Jane's smile softened, "We need to talk somewhere more private." Grace nodded, "I'm staying here in this hotel, how about my room?" Sarah Jane nodded and the two women left.
Once in Grace's room, she ordered room service and sat down, "Now," she asked Sarah Jane, "You know the Doctor?" Sarah Jane smiled in rememberance, "Oh yes, I traveled with him for a long time. I first met him when he was in his third incarnation." She proceeded to tell Grace about him, his regeneration into his fourth self and their travels. Grace listened as Sarah Jane told her about Daleks, Cybermen, Zygons, beings Grace had never even imagined before.
Sarah Jane laughed, "One of the things I learned about him was the way he would, I guess you could say, tease you. I'll explain. One time, we ended up facing Sutekh, one of the ancient Egyptian Gods. Well, in order to accomplish a task, he traveled to where Sutekh was to distract him. Unfortunately, it also put him directly under Sutekh's control. His robots captured me and forced the Doctor to take them and Sutekh's pawn to Mars in the TARDIS. Once we arrived, one of the robots strangled the Doctor.
Grace, he was dead, I know it and I started crying then, something tapped the back of my head and I let out a scream. It was him! He said something about a respiratory by pass system. I was mad at him! Here I was, crying my eyes out thinking I was stuck on Mars for the rest of my life and all he says is "I'm not that easy to lose." I wanted to kill him!" Sarah Jane laughed. "The thing is, he cares, he just has some different ways of showing it. Like I mentioned earlier, I could tell when I looked at him that last time that he really didn't want to leave me but, humans weren't allowed on Gallifrey then so, he took me home."
Grace nodded, "It had to be hard for you to get back to normal after all those years. I was only with him two days and I miss him like hell. It's funny the effect he has on people. One thing I noticed though, he loves life and just loves to live. He finds joy in even the simple things." Sarah Jane nodded, "I noticed that about him, too. He would stop to admire a plant or a cloud formation at the strangest times. I mean, we could be running for our lives and he would still find time to admire something. I know what you mean about missing him. It's like a big gaping hole in your life that you have to fill somehow."
About then there was a knock and it was Room Service. The cart was wheeled in and the man left. Grace and Sarah Jane continued their talk. Finally, Sarah Jane asked about her meeting with the Doctor. Grace sighed, "I met him by almost killing him." Sarah Jane's eyebrows went up. "He had been shot and was brought to the hospital where I'm a cardiac surgeon." she proceeded to explain to Sarah Jane what had happened when he showed up in the parking garage and she had taken him to her house.
"The funny thing was that, up until that moment, I hadn't realized he was still wearing his toe tag from the morgue." Both women chuckled on that one. Grace continued, "I was listening to his left heart with my stethoscope and thought his heart beat was erratic but then, he took my hand and moved it to the right side of his chest and I could hear it, a second strong, healthy heartbeat." Sarah Jane nodded, "It was disconcerting for me too, the first time he let me listen. You expect one single, healthy heart and he has two."
Grace smiled. "He was still having memory problems," Sarah Jane nodded in understanding. "Then, crazily enough, I found him a pair of shoes that my ex boyfriend left behind when he moved out. We walked outside to the park across from my house and he began remembering things. He was as exuberent as a child. He talked about watching a metor shower when he was a child, with his father on Gallifrey."
Sarah Jane smiled, "Once, in his fourth incarnation, he told me, "What's the use of being grown up if you can't be childish once in awhile?" He really believed that and I agreed with him." Grace smiled. "He began remembering more and more until, I saw his eyes light up and he said, "I remember who I am, I'm the Doctor!" and then, he kissed me." She was quiet for a moment. "Then, he kissed me again, It was like nothing I've ever felt before but then, things changed."
Sarah Jane looked at her, "What happened?" Grace frowned, and told Sarah Jane about the Master and what he had planned to do. Sarah shuddered, "I ran into him a couple of times with the Third Doctor." Grace nodded, "He took over my mind and made me help him restrain the Doctor so he could kill him. Once he released me, the Doctor yelled for me to run. He had been showing me how to re route power to the TARDIS console."
Sarah Jane spoke softly, "I take it you were able to?" Grace smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I did. I thought surgery was difficult? It's nothing compared to rewiring that console of his." Sarah Jane laughed, "Yes, I watched him work on it more that a few times. Something was always wrong with it." Grace nodded and settled back to continue. "The screen showed we were in a temporal orbit and I ran back to tell the Doctor. I ran up the stairs, undid one of the wrist restraints and told him then..." Her voice trailed off and Sarah Jane saw confusion in those candid green eyes.
"Grace, what happened?" She asked softly. Grace smiled, "The Master was angry since his plot had been foiled and he charged us. I thought he was going after the Doctor, I was wrong. He grabbed me and threw me off the staircase to the floor below." Sarah Jane drew back with a gasp, "He...He killed you?" Grace nodded soberly, "The last two things I heard were my neck snapping and the Doctor screaming my name then, nothing."
Both women was quiet for awhile then, Sarah Jane spoke, "What happened?" Grace shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure. The next thing I remember was opening my eyes to see him kneeling next to me, and I could have sworn I saw him crying then, he smiled and said, "Hello Grace." I sat up and he hugged me for the longest then, he helped me up and said something about the TARDIS being a sentimental old thing. He never did tell me exactly what happened but said it had something to do with going back in time."
Srah Jane was thoughtful, "Probably because the TARDIS went back to before it happened and therefore that's why you're here." Grace nodded, "That's what he said. Well, anyway, he materialized in the old water park and we stepped out. The fireworks were going off and he kissed me again and asked me to come with him but, I said no." Sarah Jane raised her eyebrows on that one. "You said no?" Grace smiled, "Yes, I asked him to come with me." Sarah Jane smiled, "I'll bet that surprised him." Grace laughed, "Yes, and, he looked at me and said, "It's tempting." but, he ended up leaving. Now..." Her voice trailed off.
Sarah Jane got up, came over to Grace and hugged her, "Now, you wish you had said yes?" Grace was crying, "Yes, everything seems so wrong now. I stayed because of my patients but, what good am I to them if I can't concentrate any more? He said he understood why I said no but, I could tell, it hurt. Sarah Jane, I love him. I love him and I let him go." She buried her face in Sarah Jane's shoulder. Sarah Jane smiled, "I know, I know. He finally had to bring me home, couldn't take me to Gallifrey. It was the hardest thing he ever did, I think. I cried for days after he left and life could never be normal again."
Grace and Sarah Jane sat down, both women wiping the tears away. Grace smiled shakily, "I wonder what he's doing, where he is. Is he happy? Is he lonely?" Sarah Jane nodded, "I know, I wonder the same things all the time. I have ever since he brought me home. He's such a lonely man in so many ways and yet, he has a great capacity to love. He was married, back on Gallifrey, that much he told me. Her death was one of the reasons he left home, too many memories, he said."
Grace nodded, "You're right about one thing, Life is definitely not the same without him. I wish he'd come back for me. I'd go this time but, I don't think I'll ever get the chance." Sarah Jane smiled, "Never stop believing, Grace. if he does love you, he'll move the universe to get back to you. If that happens, tell him hello for me, ok?" Grace nodded and the two women parted company. The conference ended after three weeks and Grace went back home to San Francisco.
Sarah Jane went back to her home in Ealing. Three weeks later, she recieved an enigmatic message on her answering machine. "Sarah Jane, this is Grace Holloway, I wanted to give you a message, He says, "Hello My Sarah Jane." Sarah Jane Smith smiled, He had come back for the woman he loved and he remembered her, his former companion. She was for now and always, his Sarah Jane. She smiled.
The End