Chapter 2
"Here we go." Jackie held out the stethoscope to Rose. "Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it. Though I still say we should take them to the hospital."
"We can't Mum," Rose replied. "They'd lock him up and dissect him. If they got one drop of his blood… it could change the future of the human race." Rose donned the stethoscope. "So no! Shush!" She put the pad over one of the Doctor's hearts. She then transferred it to the other and let out a sigh of relief. "Both working."
"What do you mean both working?" Jackie's eyes widened.
"Well, he's got two hearts."
Jackie rolled her eyes and waved her daughter away, "Oh, don't be stupid."
"He has," Rose protested.
"Anything else he's got two of?" Jackie moved forward towards the side of the bed where they had laid out the Doctor.
Rose pushed her mother away, "Leave him alone!"
Jackie frowned, "Well then? What about her?"
Rose stood and went around to the other side of the bed. She was dreading this. The Doctor had changed. Was this… was this some other change? Some future change? Past? She knelt down and put the stethoscope to where the woman's heart should be. It was slightly irregular but nothing alarming. She moved the stethoscope over to where a second heart might be. Nothing. Just one. She let out a sigh of relief. That would have been just too weird.
Rose stood. "I think she's human. She's only got one."
It was then Mickey arrived and tossed a purse onto the foot of the bed. "Found this." He held up an ID card. "Name's Miriam Rasmussen. She's got a flat, but the address can't be right. Says she lives here." He handed Rose the ID. Both Jackie and Rose examined it.
"Well, she doesn't live here." Jackie gave a stiff nod.
"And, there's this." He then held up a rent payment slip. "Says Brandon Estate, but that's this address."
Rose took the slip from him. Sure enough, Brandon Estate. It was then she noticed the date. She looked up to Jackie and Mickey. "2017. She's from the future!"
"Well, what's that about?" Jackie asked. "With her livin' here." She nodded to the woman with a frown. "Where've we gone?" She then gestured to the Doctor in an accusatory manner. "No doubt he's got somethin' to do with it."
Rose shrugged. She supposed it was possible. She shifted as she handed Mickey back the rent payment slip. The thought of another person, a person that wasn't her, travelling with the Doctor, bothered her. She recalled the Doctor, her Doctor, had sent her back when he thought he was going to die. Had he sent her back? She studied the face of the woman. Who are you?
"So, do you think she travels with him then?" Mickey asked, pulling Rose from her thoughts. She frowned. Clearly, Mickey was thinking the same about the woman. "You know… like you?"
"No," Rose said rather sharply. She didn't like the idea. She turned away and gestured to the living room. "Come on then. Doesn't look like they'll be up anytime soon." It was clear Rose was finished with that line of conversation.
Mickey glanced at Jackie with a worried expression and then followed Rose into the other room.
Jackie turned and watched her daughter go, a frown on her face. She glanced back at the young woman in the bed. She had a pretty good idea what her Rose had been thinking. She was worried as well. While she knew, despite her pleas to make the Doctor promise to keep Rose safe, it wouldn't always be possible. He was the Doctor, but he was also just a man… well, alien. She knew one day, one day he might not be able to protect Rose. She knew very well he'd try his best. He had tried to send her away after all. However, the idea that this girl might have been travelling with him, travelling without her Rose, bothered her. Where exactly was her daughter in the year 2017? Why had they moved?
An hour later.
Miriam stretched and then snuggled into the warmth next to her.
Her eyes flew open when she realised her hand met with what she was sure was man's chest. Man?
Her eyes widened as she observed the man she was draped over. She froze. It was that Barty Crouch Jr. fellow! It was one of those actors from the Doctor Who television show! She scooted away from him, and as she did so, she realised she wasn't wearing any trousers. Her eyes widened. She pulled the covers up slightly and breathed a sigh of relief. She was at least wearing a sleep shirt and pants. She still had her pants on. That was good. She then examined the sleep shirt. It wasn't hers.
It wasn't until she attempted to get out of bed that she realised the man had a firm grip on her hand. She tried to pull away; however, when she did so a look of such pain crossed his face she stopped pulling. Her effort, however, soon returned as a strange golden glow drifted from his mouth and headed directly for her. Her eyes widened, "What? Get away, get away!" She swatted at it, but it didn't do any good. It enveloped her in its heat, causing her to scream in pain.
Jackie dropped a box of ornaments upon hearing a scream coming from Rose's bedroom. The strange woman was obviously awake. She hurried over to where she'd left them. Her eyes widened as she watched the girl try to pull away from the Doctor.
"Let go! Let go!" The girl cried.
When Miriam noticed Jackie at the door, she pleaded, "Help! He's… he's… there's something wrong with him. That's… that's that Barty Crouch Jr. fellow! It's wrong. He's wrong."
Jackie could see the girl was clearly hysterical. She hurried over and pulled on the Doctor's arm.
Miriam promptly fell onto the floor, but immediately jumped up and backed up against the wall upon seeing the man release another breath of golden light. She screamed once more.
Jackie's eyes widened as the light-headed directly towards the girl.
"Get away! Get away!" Miriam cried as she swatted at the golden light and moved along the wall in an attempt to get away.
"What is that?" Jackie screeched as she backed into the hall. She grabbed a magazine off a table and hurried back in, swatting at the light. It didn't seem to do any good.
Miriam soon found herself trapped in a corner. "No! No!" She then felt a strong hand grip her arm and pull her out of the room.
Jackie slammed the door to Rose's bedroom behind them.
"My God! Good Lord!" Miriam cried and turned to Jackie. "What was that? What was that light?"
"I don't-" Jackie began.
"Who are you?" Miriam's tone was accusatory. She then looked around the room frantically. It was her flat. It was her flat, but all her things were gone. All Laura's things were gone. "What happened? Where's my stuff?"
"It's okay. It will be fine." Jackie tried to calm down. She had no idea what that strange light was; however, she did know that the poor girl had somehow travelled in time.
"It's not okay. Who are you and what is Barty Crouch Jr. or whoever he is doing in my bedroom!"
Jackie blinked. Barty Crouch? Who the hell was Barty Crouch? She frowned.
Miriam tried to regulate her breathing. Despite her hysteria, she could see that the woman before her was just as confused as she was. It was then she recognised the woman. "It's you!" Miriam hardly believed what was right in front of her. This couldn't be a joke.
She turned away from the woman and looked around the room. She hurried over to a coffee table littered with all sorts of magazines and mail. She picked up a stack and began going through them. Too many different dates. She picked up a newspaper that had been tossed on a nearby chair. She looked at the date.
Jackie watched as the girl looked at the paper and then dropped onto the nearby settee.
Miriam looked up from the paper and to the older blond woman. "2006. It's December 2006. Christmas Eve."
Jackie's expression softened, and she nodded. It was clear that the girl wasn't familiar with time travel and more than likely didn't travel with the Doctor. Part of her was relieved for her Rose's sake. But what about the Tardis?
"That thing… that blue box… it was real?" Miriam asked.
"Yeah." She then moved forward slightly. "Are… are you okay. Whatever that light thing… Are you-"
"I think so," Miriam murmured. Aside from feeling slightly chilled, she felt fine. Normal. At least physically. She then caught sight of the window just behind the older woman. The upper pane was broken. "That window… that window is cracked."
Jackie frowned and turned to look at the window. What was so significant about a window? "Yeah? It's been that way for ages."
"It's cracked."
Jackie watched the colour drain from Miriam's face. She slowly stepped forward and took up the girl's hand in comfort.
"But…" Miriam said in a soft voice, "it's cracked. She looked around the room. "This is my flat… but it's not."
Jackie's eyes softened even more, and she released the girl's hand to put it on her shoulder in a motherly way.
Miriam turned and stepped away, though not enough to pull from the older woman's therapeutic touch. "Who are you?" She whispered.
"My name's Jackie. Jackie Tyler."
Miriam felt her throat tighten. She knew the name, Tyler. She knew the name Tyler was associated with that show. With that blue box. "Doctor Who." She whispered.
Jackie was confused. "You know the Doctor?"
Miriam was certain she was going mad. There was something wrong. Very wrong.
"I mean," Jackie continued, "I know he looks different. He went and changed his face."
Miriam shook her head. "He's not real." She pulled away from the older woman. "How are you real?"
"What do you mean?" Jackie asked.
"You're on the telly. You're just a show."
Jackie's face brightened slightly. "I'm on television in the future?"
Miriam blinked. The show wasn't real… she was certain… had to be. Was it possible? Oh, she'd always believe they weren't alone in the universe; but this was something entirely different. It was like the whole world had gone mad.
Miriam looked up to Jackie, "And Rose." She looked around the room. "You said… you were looking for Rose."
Jackie nodded and gave her a soft smile. "That's my daughter."
"She's on that show." She then turned back towards the room that would have been her bedroom. She nodded towards the closed door. "And who's that bloke, the man in the bed. What is he? Is he an actor?"
"Well Rose says he's the Doctor but… hey, you said he was Barty Crouch or something."
Miriam turned back to Jackie. "From Harry Potter."
"Those books about the wizarding school?" Jackie asked.
Miriam nodded. "Yeah." She nodded towards the bedroom. "He looks like the actor who plays Barty Crouch Jr. He plays the Doctor in the show. The show with you. Rose. I think that car mechanic might be in it. He looks slightly familiar. Oh yeah…" Miriam remembered, "Laura called him Rickey I think."
"Mickey," Jackie corrected her.
"Oh, I was sure it was Rickey." Miriam shrugged.
Miriam turned back to Jackie and studied her face. "You're sure, please, for my own sanity tell me the truth, you're not playing some sort of game, are you? Like you know, one of those reality shows? Candid Camera or something?"
Jackie felt horrible for the young woman. It was obvious she had no idea what had happened. She shook her head. "No. I'm afraid not."
Miriam moved to the settee and sank down into it. She looked up to Jackie. "So that man, that man in the other room is actually an alien who travels about in a blue box, through space and time, jumping around saving the world."
"Well, I suppose that's about right."
"And he changed what he looks like; he's now got the face of the Barty Crouch Jr. actor."
"I don't know about the actor, but he did change his face."
Miriam nodded and looked up at the ceiling. This was ridiculous. Completely insane. "Is there a pub nearby? A pub by the name of O'Connor's?"
Jackie blinked. "What do you want with a pub. I mean, I don't blame you, I could use a drink myself." Jackie smiled and sat down next to Miriam.
Miriam laughed, "Yeah, I could use a nice pint of Guinness, maybe two or three."
Jackie's face screwed up as though she tasted something bitter.
"I take it you're not crazy about Guinness then?"
Jackie shook her head. "Not at all. But, there is an O'Connor's."
Miriam smiled. "Richard. Richard and Thomas O'Connor."
After a moment of silence, Jackie's eyes widened, and she leant forward. "You know, I bet this is one of those parallel world things."
Miriam studied Jackie for a moment. "Parallel world."
Jackie nodded. "You know, another world nearly like this one."
Miriam supposed it was possible. She then shook her head. "It's ridiculous."
"Well think-"
"But… I suppose," Miriam interrupted, "I guess… well… I'm not sure if being in some parallel world is better than hallucinating or being in some sort of coma."
Jackie nodded towards the closed door where the Doctor was sleeping. "Well if himself wakes up… we can ask him."
Miriam nodded. "And that gold stuff." Miriam rubbed her chest. "It burned. It really burned. I thought I was going to have a heart attack."
Jackie glanced at her daughter's room. She'd go get the stethoscope; however, she didn't want to go back in that room unless necessary. "We'll ask Rose. She might know."
"Thank you, Mrs Tyler."
"Oh," Jackie waved her off, "call me Jackie. Mrs Tyler makes me feel old."
It was then Miriam realised she hadn't even introduced herself. "Oh! I forgot!" She held her hand out to the older woman. "I'm Miriam, by the way, Miriam Rasmussen."
Jackie took Miriam's hand in both of hers and gave it a squeeze. "Well, as strange as this all is, it certainly not the strangest thing that's happened since himself turned up." She gestured to the closed door of the bedroom. She gave Miriam's hand another squeeze.
Miriam was slightly startled when the woman abruptly let go of her hand and jumped off the settee. "I forgot!" She then rushed out of the room only to return seconds later.
"Here you are." She handed Miriam her purse. "You dropped this outside."
Miriam let out a sigh of relief and clutched it to her chest. It wasn't really that she'd been worried about it. She hadn't thought about it at all in fact. That being said, it was something familiar. Something most decidedly hers. "Thank you, Jackie."
Jackie nodded to it. "I hope you don't mind, we had a look through to try to figure out who you were."
Miriam nodded. "It's fine. Understandable really." Miriam released the purse onto her lap and opened it up. She gave a laugh, "Well, if this a parallel world, I doubt anything here is worth anything anyway." She pulled out her wallet and pulled out her bank card. She held it up for Jackie to see. "If there is another me running around, I doubt she'd appreciate me going and withdrawing money." She put the bank card back in her wallet. "And, that's assuming a parallel me would use the same pin." She then added, "Besides, I was 10 in 2006."
Jackie nodded. "Well, if anyone can help you out, it'll be the Doctor. As mad as he is… I reckon parallel worlds is right up his alley."
"I certainly hope so. I can't just stay around here, especially if there's another me." She then paled.
"What?" Jackie asked.
"My dad… my dad… and my parents.," Miriam whispered to the hands in her lap. She then looked up. "They might… they could be alive here."
"Oh, sweetheart." Jackie pulled the girl into her side.
"They're gone. I… never knew by biological parents back home," Miriam explained. "And dad, Rasmus, he adopted me when I was three. He died three years ago." Miriam wiped the tears from her cheek.
Jackie began smoothing the young woman's hair. Jackie couldn't help but admire it. It really was lovely. Light blond, real blond, certainly not bottled.
"I don't think I could handle it, Jackie. At least seeing my dad. He wouldn't really be my dad."
"We'll see what we can do." Jackie comforted her. "We'll see what the Doctor can do."
The melancholy moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Jackie frowned. "Oh, I hope that's not Howard." Jackie pulled away from Miriam. "I'll just be a tick."
After Jackie had left the room, Miriam's eyes travelled to the window. And, before she even realised what she was doing, she found herself standing before it, reaching to run her finger along the cracked glass. She then turned to look about the room. This was her flat. It was most definitely her flat, at least in her world. She turned back around and looked out the window.
"That's different." Miriam murmured. Even though the sun had set, she could clearly see that the street below was entirely different. She looked across the way to the cleaners and cringed. The shop looked run down, and all but the windows were covered in graffiti. Where were the eco boxes of flowers? She looked down the street. The small community playground wasn't there. "2006," she murmured. "It's 2006." She remembered the big renovation project in this area, at least in her world, hadn't started until early 2013.
That being said, if she stood back and looked out along the horizon, she was back home. Back home in her world. Her proper world.
"Miriam!" Jackie called, pulling her back into her current reality. "Could you come and help me with this?"
"Of course." Miriam headed towards the door and soon found Jackie trying to pull a large green Christmas tree through it.
"Must be from Rose," Jackie told her.
Miriam hurried to help her. Between the two of them, they made quick work of bringing it into the living room without knocking any of the ornaments off.
"She ordered you a large Christmas tree?" Miriam found that strange. She'd heard of giving someone potted trees and such, but never a large tree.
Jackie shrugged. "I never know with her anymore."
Miriam studied the new tree next to Jackie's small white one in the corner. She had to admit it was nicer. "Looks really expensive," Miriam commented.
Jackie nodded, and then an enormous smile lit her face. "Oh look! It's one of those fancy rotating trees." She crouched down to look at the base. She looked up at Miriam. "Help me switch it out then?"
Miriam smiled. "Sure."
After they'd finished taking down the smaller white tree, they tried to manoeuvre the larger tree into the corner.
"Ouch!" Miriam pulled her finger up to her mouth. She frowned at the tree. "It cut me."
"Let me see." Jackie hurried over and pulled Miriam's hand towards her to get a look.
"Must have been one of those ornament hangers." Miriam reasoned.
Jackie examined the small cut. It was surprisingly deep. "There are some band-aids and some ointment in the medicine cabinet." She then smiled at the younger woman. "You know where it is."
Miriam gave her a soft smile and headed towards the bathroom. It wasn't until she was standing in front of the mirror that she realised that for the last hour she hadn't thought about the reality of her situation. She studied her face in the mirror. "You're here." She told the mirror, "you're really here, and that's that." She turned on the sink and washed her hands.
"How about some wine?" Jackie called from the other room.
"Wine," she said under her breath. She then called out, "Sure! That'd be lovely."
She examined herself in the mirror once more. She was here, in some other world, some London that wasn't her own. She was in her flat that wasn't her flat, putting up a Christmas tree with a fictional character. She opened the cabinet and pulled down a box of band-aids. "Weird," she muttered. The band-aids were in the same place in her cupboard, in her London. Though, she supposed it was a small cupboard.
When Miriam returned to the living room, Jackie handed her a wine glass. "It's the cheap stuff, but it's the best you'll get in this flat," Jackie explained.
Miriam smiled and raised her glass to Jackie, "To cheap wine then."
"And Christmas with company from another universe," she then nodded to the bedroom, "and to the Doctor who will hopefully be able to sort it all out."
They clinked their glasses and drank.
Miriam's brows rose as she rolled the wine around her tongue and then swallowed. "It's actually quite good, full bodied and silky, really smooth." She lifted the glass to her nose. "Nice bouquet." She smiled at Jackie, "For cheap wine, you really picked a good one." She took another sip.
Jackie looked pleased with herself and took another sip of her own. She then nodded to the new tree. "What do you think?"
"Looks great. Have you tried the rotator?"
"Not yet." Jackie knelt down to look at the motor at the base of the tree. She frowned and looked up to Miriam. "Well, how's that supposed to work?" She complained.
"What?" Miriam asked and knelt down next to her.
Jackie gestured to the motor. "There's no button, crank, or place to plug it in."
Miriam leant over to get a closer look and then pulled on the cover of the box. It wouldn't budge. "I can't see where you could put a battery."
Jackie huffed and stood up. "How's that supposed to work then?"
"Was there some sort of remote?" Miriam asked. "That would make sense."
Jackie hurried to the door and looked around on the ground. "Nothing." She then returned to the living room. "Whoever Rose bought it from must have left it out, or it was misplaced by the delivery men. I'll have to have Rose call." Jackie gave a dramatic sigh and then nodded to the little motor. "A fat lot of good that will do. I suppose there's nothing to be done about it tonight."
Miriam nodded, but then knelt down once more to look at the base of the tree just in case it had been taped there or something.
"Ouch!" She pulled back her hand. "I cut myself again." She frowned at the tree. She looked around to see what she could have cut herself on but couldn't see anything sharp. "Weird."
She stood and sighed in defeat. "Well, even if it doesn't rotate it's still gorgeous."
Jackie nodded, a frown still on her face.
"Come on then," Miriam tugged on her arm, "Let's get this mess cleaned up a bit then." She nodded to the boxes of ornaments from the old tree that they'd just taken down.
A half hour later Miriam sat on the couch flipping through a gossip magazine. It was strange seeing celebrities she knew of. When she came to a section advertising the Harry Potter movie, Goblet of Fire, she was startled to see that the actor portraying Barty Crouch Jr. looked nothing like the man… the alien… in the other room. It was some guy by the name of Daniel Tanner. He was blond and had a creepy smile. She shrugged and turned the page.
Miriam tried not to eavesdrop as Jackie walked passed the living room and into the kitchen while talking to someone named Bev.
"And she just turns up, no warning, I've got nothing in. I said, Rose, if you want a Christmas dinner of meat paste, then so be it."
Miriam turned her attention back to the magazine but soon tossed it onto the coffee table. She needed more to take her mind off her predicament. She'd been fine while helping Jackie with the tree. She couldn't just sit there, and she didn't want to interrupt Jackie. She reached for the television guide. Her eyes lit up. "A Christmas Carol!" She tossed the guide back on the table, picked up the remote, and quickly switched the channel from a report about a space probe to the station broadcasting her favourite, 1970 version of A Christmas Carol. Despite the fact that it wasn't really her Christmas, she felt that it couldn't be Christmas anywhere without Albert Finney as Scrooge.
She lost herself in the movie until Jackie gave her a nudge, still on the phone. She held out a cup of tea. Miriam mouthed a "thanks" and then watched as the older woman tentatively headed towards the closed bedroom door. Miriam watched Jackie stand before the door for a moment before pushing it open and disappearing inside. Miriam didn't hear any screaming and Jackie soon returned, still chatting away. Obviously, the glowing light hadn't reappeared. Miriam watched as Jackie disappeared down the hall to where Laura's room would have been. Jackie's room. She then turned back towards where the Doctor slept. Jackie had left the door open. Miriam gulped. The sound of Albert Finney singing, "I hate people," faded into the background. She stood and then slowly, as though in a trance, walked towards the bedroom.
