If you've met the Doctor, then you're lucky. If you've travelled with him, then you're very lucky. And if you're looking for him, just go find trouble. He's always in the middle of it. Not because he's caused it – although most of time it's the case – but because he's there to help.
I'm lucky; I met him. It was probably one of the best days of my life and one of the weirdest too. I wasn't exactly used to all the aliens and the stuff they kept babbling about. The Doctor was a weird man too. He was always excited while I was frightened. He would open his mouth and talk nonstop, and he would always impress me. I often wondered how a man could be that clever. Until I realised he wasn't exactly a man, which was even more impressive.
Unfortunately, something went wrong at the end of the day and I was forced to leave him. I just couldn't travel with him anymore. I would never blame him though and I can't complain because unlike you would think, he still visits me. Well… He used to anyway. If you've met him, you know how he is. He stops coming for you after a while when he realises you won't travel with him anymore. It's inevitable.
What happened that day was mind-blowing. If someone told me what I am about to tell, I wouldn't believe them for a second.
It was on Christmas day, year 2008. I was gone shopping in London, The Doctor ran past me when I was putting all my bags in the car. It was so strange to see a man running through the streets as if his life depended on it. He kept looking over his shoulder but really, there was nothing there. I found myself following him, and then eventually just ask him what he was doing. He ended up quickly telling me what was going on, but all he managed to do was to make me utterly confused and also wonder if he was sane. He told me he was being chased by invisible creatures and no one could see them, not even him. He was only able to tell whereabouts they were thanks to the noises they make and the stuff they sometimes hit when it's on their way. I had no other choice but to believe him when I could indeed see stuff being pushed away by some invisible force. People started to run everywhere, screaming and locking themselves up in their homes. In only a few seconds, the whole city went mad. The Doctor said he needed my help and that there was a portal near the center of London which those creatures used, to jump from one world to another. He had tried to close it but the creatures knew what he wanted to do, so they chased him through the entire city. Someone else needed to try… And I made it my job. It was basically a race through the city for both of us and even though it was exhausting, he never missed a chance to make me smile, laugh or even just roll my eyes. He was basically a child in an adult's body. He gave me a device; he called it a sonic screwdriver… It didn't look like a screwdriver at all. He told me to use it to deactivate the machine which held the portal open. And once we were close enough to the portal, I sneaked towards it. I looked back at the Doctor who was still hiding until a diversion was needed. He made quick movements with his hands, showing me exactly what I had to do. And either the screwdriver was defective, or I was just bad at handling it. But it worked in the end, and the creatures apparently all got sucked in as the portal slowly closed. At least, that's what we thought.
There was one creature left and we only realised it once it got extremely mad and grabbed the doctor by the collar of his tweed jacket. It climbed up a skyscraper, holding the Doctor probably with its tail. But as we couldn't see the actual creature, that scene looked very awkward. It was struggling to climb up for some reason. But at least I got enough time to run into the building and take the lift, guessing they were going on top of the skyscraper. I took a broom along the way… and I got there on time; The Doctor was trying to talk to the creature, asking it to let him go but I supposed he knew it was not going to work. The creature was going to throw him off the building, it was obvious. It was holding onto an antenna. I don't know what I was thinking, maybe I was trying to be heroic or just trying to save the Doctor's live… But I screamed and ran straight towards the invisible creature and the Doctor, holding the broom with my two hands. It was supposed to hit the creature, but maybe I shouldn't have screamed, then I would've still had the element of surprise because the invisible monster blocked the broom with its hand or whatever it had. It took it from my hands, broke it in two and in no time, thrust the sharp end of the broom into my stomach. I gasped and heard the Doctor yell my name. I fell down and couldn't concentrate on anything else but the pain. I tried to calm down but everything became blurry. The Doctor was still trying to break away, he looked hysterical. Dying is nothing like you could imagine. Your life does not flash before your eyes, you do not think about your family or friends, you're too busy dying for that. All I wished for was the pain to stop, and it seemed like the only possible way for that to happen was to close my eyes and drift to sleep and never wake up. But not yet.
I don't know what gave me the strength but I got up and neither of them even noticed me. I stumbled, fell over a few times but I got there in the end. I knew it was over for me. So I held the stick that was still in me with one hand, trying to stop it from moving as it was making me feel even worse. I picked up the other half and this time 'ran' towards them quietly. And the creature growled, which meant I hurt it with the other half of the broom. It loosened his grip on the Doctor and he managed to break away. As we were on the edge of the roof, I pushed the creature, not actually thinking it was enough to push it off the building but it somehow was. The Doctor grabbed my arm right before I fell too. But I had no more strength. My legs were too weak. I lost my balance and the Doctor held me in his arms, laying me down carefully on the ground. He tapped my cheek, but it was too late. I just had the time to smile and say "Don't blame yourself." before leaving him for good.
I am Eleanor Gray. I died on the 25th of December, 2008 and what I regret the most is that I didn't have enough time to get to know this incredible man.