"You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen," the Doctor rambled on and on.

I rolled my eyes, swinging my legs out randomly as I lounged on Amelia's bed. My legs swung out and I swung my head from side to side. I hummed in boredom.

"I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them," Amelia said, offering the Doctor an apple with a smiley face carved into it, nice and fresh.

He took it and tossed it in the air, only to catch it. "She sounds good, your mum. I'll keep it for later," he said, pocketing it.

"Aren't you going to say thanks, Doctor?" I called, causing the Doctor to wince.

"Uh, thank you, Amelia Pond," he muttered awkwardly.

"You're welcome," she whispered before turning back to the crack in her wall.

The Doctor walked over to the crack and began to touch it. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing. Where's the draught coming from?"

"Don't remind me," I said, groaning.

He rolled his eyes as he scanned the crack. He examined the readings. "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. You know what the crack is?" He gave me a worried look, which made my heart race.

"What?" Amelia asked, a bit frightened by the Doctor's expression.

"It's a crack. But I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall," he said, making my eyes widen even further.

"Where is it then?" she asked, and I could tell her worry was growing.

I stood up and walked over to her, kneeling down right next to her. I took her hand in mine and began to massage the back of her hand with my thumb. She soon wrapped her arms around me and hugged me.

"Everywhere. In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom." The Doctor brushed his fingers against the wall above the crack and below in quick succession. He, then, pressed his ear against the wall. "Sometimes, can you hear –"

"A voice," Amelia said, nodding. "Yes."

He raced over to her nightstand and grabbed a cup of water that had been sitting there. He poured the water out and used the cup to listen. After listening a bit, he frowned. "Prisoner Zero?"

"Prisoner Zero has escaped. That's what I heard. What does it mean?" she asked, still clinging to me like one would cling to a cliff in an attempt to pull themselves back up and out of the empty air.

The Doctor was silent for a moment, and I frowned. "Doctor? Doctor, what is it?"

"It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner. And you know what that means?" The Doctor looked straight at me, his green eyes meeting my own, information passing between us.

"What?" Amelia murmured, shivering in fear.

"You need a better wall," he said, stepping backwards so that he was right next to me. He looked down at me. "Trust me?"

"Always have and always will," I replied firmly, giving him no room to see it as anything but the truth.

"The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or –" The Doctor grimaced at the thought, and I stood up to take his hand in mine.

"What?" she asked, her voice shaking as her grip on my other hand tightened.

"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?" the Doctor asked, making me frown.

I whacked him in the arm. "Doctor," I hissed at him in warning.

"Yes," Amelia said, annoyed like she'd had to deal with that multiple times.

"Everything's going to be fine," he assured her, making me punch him again.

"Amelia, don't let go of my hand, no matter what," I told her, only for her to grab on to my skirt.

"I'm scared," she whispered, and I picked her up.

"Don't be," I whispered back, and she buried her face in my shoulder.

The Doctor grabbed my hand, then used the sonic screwdriver to open the crack all the way. A huge, blue eye was revealed, and the same message Amelia and the Doctor had heard played again: "Prisoner Zero has escaped. Prisoner Zero has escaped." I frowned and tugged Amelia a little closer to myself.

"What's that?" Amelia asked fearfully, her grip on me tightening.

A bolt of light shot out and seemed to attack the Doctor. He fell to the side in surprise, and the crack snapped shut. The Doctor flipped his psychic paper open and began to talk. "There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new."

"What's that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?" Amelia asked, peering over my shoulder at the Doctor.

"No, I don't think so," I replied, hiking her up on my hip. "That was probably Prisoner Zero's guard."

"Whatever it was, it sent me a message. Psychic paper. Takes a lovely little message. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.' But why tell us? Unless . . ."

My eyes widened. "You can't mean . . ."

"I do," he said grimly, his frown deepening even further.

"What? What is it?" young Amelia Pond asked, looking frantically between the two of us.

"Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here. But he couldn't have. We'd know," the Doctor said firmly, nodding his head.

I didn't bother telling him my suspicion; I didn't want to worry Amelia.

We walked into the hall, the Doctor already muttering to himself.

"It's difficult. Brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing. In the corner of my eye . . ." He began to turn around, only to have the TARDIS' cloister bell begin to ring.

My eyes widened; I knew what that sound meant, and it wasn't, by any means, good.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he shouted as he raced down the steps and out into the garden with me close behind, Amelia still balanced on my hip.

Her arms wrapped around my midsection instead of my neck, which made me quite pleased. I was having difficulty breathing because of her tight grip.

"I've got to get back in there. The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!" the Doctor shouted, yanking his jacket on.

"But it's just a box. How can a box have engines?" Amelia asked, hopping down and out of my arms.

"It's not a box. It's a time machine," the Doctor said, running to the side of the TARDIS.

"Here!" I said, tossing the Doctor my sash that I always wore no matter what.

"Thanks, Iridis!" he shouted back, catching it and tying it to a nearby branch.

"What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?" Amelia continued, frowning but still standing by me.

"Not for much longer if I can't get her stabilized. Five minute hop into the future should do it."

I scoffed at his words. It wouldn't take five minutes, not with his driving skills.

"Can I come?" Amelia asked.

I knelt down next to her and took her hand in my own. "No, sweetheart. It's not safe for you and I to go."

"You're not coming?" the Doctor asked, giving me a huge frown.

"No, someone's got to stay behind to watch over Amelia. Besides, you'll be back in five minutes, remember?" I reminded him with a wink. "Plus, you know that time can't hurt me."

After a long pause, the Doctor nodded begrudgingly, then turned to Amelia. "Give me five minutes, I'll be right back."

"People always say that," Amelia said bitterly, and I wrapped her up in a gentle hug.

"He's not people, and neither am I," I whispered in her ear softly.

"Trust me. I'm the Doctor."

With that, he jumped into the TARDIS, shouting "Geronimo!" as he fell. There was a huge splash, and the TARDIS dematerialized.

"Let's go get you packed, eh, Amelia?" I asked her, standing and taking her hand.

She nodded, and we both ran into her house.

Later on . . .

"Jayde, are you coming?"

I turned around to see Dr. Ramsden with Rory about to enter the coma ward. "Yes, of course. I'll just be a minute."

"All right," Dr. Ramsden said, nodding.

She walked into the ward, but Rory lingered, looking at me. He waited until I nodded, assuring him I would be right there. After a moment of hesitation, he returned my nod and walked inside the ward as well.

I turned back to the clipboard and tucked a strand of my auburn hair behind my ear. I sighed and set the clipboard down on the counter and walked into the coma ward. My heels clicked against the linoleum, and the sound rang through the room.

"So. They all called out at once, that's what you're saying? All of them. All the coma patients. You do understand that these people are all comatose, don't you? They can't speak," Dr. Ramsden was saying when I entered. She turned to me. "Ah, Jayden, do you think you could help explain to Rory, here, that these coma patients couldn't have called out?"

I nodded.

"Yes, Dr. Ramsden," Rory said like she hadn't spoken at all.

"How is that possible, Rory?" I asked him quietly.

"I don't know," he replied, turning to me.

"Then why are you wasting my time?" Dr. Ramsden asked angrily. "And why are you wasting Jayde's time?"

"Because they called for you, Dr. Ramsden," Rory said, before he turned to me. "As well as for you, Jayde, or at least I think so."

"Me," Dr. Ramsden and I said incredulously in unison.

"Doctor, Iridis."

My mouth dropped open. How did they know my name?

"Doctor, Iridis. Doctor, Iridis."

Dr. Ramsden's mouth fell open.

"Doctor, Iridis. Doctor, Iridis."

"What?" I whispered softly.

"Doctor, Iridis. Doctor, Iridis. Doctor, Iridis."

Dr. Ramsden began to rush over to check the patients' charts, but I turned to Rory.

"I've got to go, Rory. Tell Dr. Ramsden I'm taking time off," I said, giving him a hesitant smile.

"Okay, Jayde."

When I began to leave, he reached out and grabbed my wrist.

"Wait."

"Yes?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"What is your real name? Jayde isn't really your name, is it?"

After a moment of hesitation, I nodded. "My name is Iridis, Iridis Culver."

With that, I ran out of the room.