" Doctor! " A faint voice could be heard yelling, echoing from a faraway place. The darkness, it was so… cold, so bleak. This cannot be… it cannot end this way. I must… " Doctor, please! Wake up! Don't leave me! " The same voice echoed, " Open your eyes… look at me! " The doctor did as he was told, slowly, lifting the lead weights that had become his eyelids and forcing them to focus on the object in front of him. He could not see whoever it was in front of him clearly, his vision just barely making out figures. A face… a face was leaning in to him, coming closer. He could make out the face, and it was so sad. The doctor stared into the eyes of the face, seeing them clearly enough, and could feel hot tears begin to surface and fall out of the corners of his eyes.
" N-no doctor. Don't cry… it's alright. It's… a-alright! " A hand, so warm and soft to the touch, gently caressed his cheek. His vision becoming bleary once more, his eyes failing him, his body yearning to go to sleep. A tear, not his own, fell onto his face. He focused once more, wanting to see those eyes again, wanting to know if this figure was crying.
" D…don't cry… Malissa, " The doctor shut his eyes, focusing the rest of his energy to his hand, lifting it to comfort the figure, the face, to stop the eyes from crying, " I… I will… be fine. I… I promise. "
" Doctor, you have made me so many promises- "
" And… I haven't broken… any yet… have I? " Those sad eyes filled with tears once more as the face shook from side to side in affirmation.
" You… you told me something, when we first met… you told me that when you are about to die… you don't really die. You turn into another person. Is this… is this true? Will you still be the doctor? Will I lose you? " The doctor forced a smile and found the figures hand, holding it gently.
" I didn't… tell you that… story yet? I… I thought I had… " The smile wavered, then faded as the burning began. It started with his hands, through his fingertips, running up his arm and squeezing his hearts. His hearts… beating so rapidly, yet so slowly at once, four rhythmic beats, pulsing, then fading, every beat another wave of pain through his body, another second closer to this body dying.
" Doctor, come on, you can't leave me like this! What you have.. it's only a cut! You can't die from a cut! You are better than that, doctor… " The last word was choked by a sob. The burning was streaming easily up his throat, through his face, burning his eyes.
" D-doctor! You're… you're glowing! " Was all the doctor heard before all senses became obsolete. He could hear nothing, see nothing, but feel the burning… burning, through his body, in every cell, throughout his being. With the last of his might, the doctor yelled, as loud as he could.
" RUN! GET AWAY FROM ME! " And the burning exploded, erupted into an undying flame, consuming his entire being, destroying all that he was, and reforming into something new, something unknown. Then, the world became dark. If only for a moment or for an eternity, the doctor could not tell, but, when the doctor opened his eyes, the outside world was dark and the burning was gone. He sat up, looking around, then found that face once more.