"Hey? You alright?"
The Doctor slowly awoke to find himself lying on the side of a dusty road. How had he gotten there? His head was all fuzzy, memories clouded..he was somewhere else before, wasn't he? Staring up from where he lay prone in the dirt, he registered a blurry impression of a face before it resolved into focus. A ruggedly good looking man stood over him, looking down. The man appeared to be in his early thirties, with reddish-brown hair worn in a spiky, almost faux hawk style. He was dressed in a grey and blue jersey-style t-shirt, faded jeans, and weather-worn work boots.
"Where am I?", asked the Doctor. The Doctor was startled a bit, that wasn't his voice was it? Gone was the slight Scottish burr he was used to, for some reason it sounded more like a an Irish brogue. Had he regenerated again? If so, how? Why? what happened to him? His mind was foggy, memories jumbled up. Some kind of post-regenerative haze? Again? The Doctor found himself startled by the higher timbre of his voice, bit squeakey wasnt it? Always did want to sing like Ricky Vali. Focus..focus..moving in..one thing at time..
The Doctor sprung up from his prone position, now fully awake. Ah shorter now, Been awhile since he was short. Could take some geting used to. Clothes felt a looser now.
"Clara said to look after you", chirped a voice from behind him, startling him from his thoughts. Whirling around, the Doctor noticed a young woman leaning against a battered red truck. She was slim, and pretty in her late 20s. She had pale skin, with hazel eyes and wavy golden blond hair in a messy asymmetrical bob.
"What did you say?", asked a befuddled Doctor.
The woman pushed off the truck to step toward him, her hands stuffed into the pockets of the biker jacket she wore over paint-splattered overalls, a green crop top, black and white striped stockings, and scuffed, haphazardly-tied combat boots.
"Clara said to look after you.", the girl repeated, "She said you might be abit upset or something."
His new acquaintances were definitely American, judging by their accents. Was he in America? How did he get there? Wait..wait. Focus, Doctor..focus. The girl..the girl had said something important. Something about someone had asked them to look after him. The name, she had mentioned a name..what was it again?
"Clara?", asked the Doctor. That was it! Now why did he know that name? It felt somehow familiar and important, but when he tried to put a face to the name, it slipped through his grasp like sand. More blurs. So frustrating.
