"You. Where do you think you're going?" Clara turned around in frustration as she held one of her boots in her hand. 'Damn, the Doctor woke up.' She was so close to leaving.
"School?" She glanced at the clock as she shrugged. "I'm up extra early to compensate for my slow pace."
"No." He dragged her away from the door. "You're staying. You're not well. Clara, this is not a race to see how long you can last in that hell-"
"Stop right there before I get more offended and decide to slap you." She silenced him. "Doctor, I don't want to be treated like a cancer patient. Yes, it has turned my world upside down, but I still want to do normal stuff. I probably won't be able to do what I'm doing right now when I start chemo, so I want to continue doing it until I really can't do it. I'll promise I'll stop if it's starting to become unbearable."
The Doctor placed his hand on his chin, submerged in deep thought – trying to devise a plan to not let her go. It was largely not for Clara's sake, but his – as the thought of having Clara out of sight frightened him. Then, he inwardly smiled thinking of the perfect plan.
Clara crossed her arms. "Besides, you're not my dad. You can't tell me what to do."
"But I could tell Dave. I mean, knowing you, you haven't told him anything. I am right, aren't I?" He crossed his arms to mirror her.
"Ooh, blackmailing now, are we?" Clara raised her eyebrows. But if dad does find out, it would be catastrophic. She cleared her throat. "Please, just let me go to work." She changed her tone, pleading with her puppy dog eyes.
The Doctor gave in. Those eyes were irresistible. "Fine. But if you are feeling even remotely sick, you're coming straight home. Okay? Also, I'm not risking you going to school by yourself. Come on, in the TARDIS," he clicked his finger and the doors opened by themselves.
"Okay, DAD," she rolled her eyes and sarcastically added as she jumped into the TARDIS.
When Clara jumped out (the Doctor's permanent parking spot in the school now was the caretaker's office) he embarrassingly waved from the TARDIS. "Have fun at school!" Clara rolled her eyes again. She knew he was doing that intentionally, probably to put her off from going to work. But to hell with it if she was going to fall for his plan.
Clara was teaching when she received the reminder text. 'Reminder: your first chemotherapy is scheduled for tomorrow.' Her heart froze in fear. She took silent deep breaths in and out.
"Miss, you alright?" a student asked with a concerned look, seeing her pale face.
"Yep, I'm fine. Sorry, I was getting off track. Anyone need help?" she cleared her throat and gave them a fake smile.
When the bell rang for lunch, Clara caught Ian, the headmaster, who was just about to leave his office.
"Oh, Ian! Sorry, to interrupt you, but I need to speak to you about something," Clara said, breathlessly.
"Clara! I've been meaning to speak to you too!" Ian dropped his bag and offered her to sit down. "I just got a message from an old friend of mine," he smiled. "You've come to ask for some time off, right?" Clara opened her mouth to speak, but Ian went on anyway. "-I understand. I used to have trouble as well. You know, with teaching and all. Well, I was technically kidnapped by him, but that was his way of showing affection back then," he laughed.
Clara stood up from her seat, "W-what did the Doctor tell you?" 'Well, there goes your secret about being the Doctor's companion,' her inner voice chastised her.
Clara was shattered that the Doctor had contacted Ian. She knew that he used to travel with him a very long time ago, and that was the reason she got the job at the school. But that didn't excuse him from blabbing her secrets to others.
"That you need some time off because you're travelling with him," he said, plainly, with a shrug of the shoulder.
Clara's eyes grew large fear. She still wanted to come to school to teach. She couldn't lose her normal life just like that. "Ah, uh… well, not really. I mean-"
"Well, take as much time off as you want." He gave her a sincere smile.
"I'm sorry?" Clara's eyes widened as she gazed into his kind, old eyes. That was definitely not the response nor the reaction she was expecting from him.
"You will always be welcomed back to school when you want to come back. I don't mind at all. I understand that travelling with the Doctor is the greatest thing ever and when he leaves, you'll start missing the golden days." He nodded. "Tell him I said hi, and most of all, have fun."
Clara sat there stunned. Ian was said to be one of the best headmasters in the country, and she now understood why. He was hard-working and a kind, not to mention compassionate.
"Thank you, Ian. Thank you for understanding." Clara firmly shook his hand, so touched by what he'd told her. Ian turned the handshake to a gentle hug.
"You be careful out there. Not that you're not. And take care of the Doctor. He may seem strong, but inside, he's the complete opposite," Clara could see Ian was speaking from experience.
When school was over, Clara took a bundle of students' work and headed to the caretaker's office again. There, she saw the Doctor talking to Atif.
"- at least you had fun in the dream. No need to be angry with me! I only replaced you for a week. I didn't do anything wron- Ah, Clara!" both Atif and the Doctor turned around to see Clara in a bemused state. Her eyes darted from Atif to the Doctor, asking for an explanation from both of them.
"You look beautiful today, Clara." Atif seemed to have forgotten that the Doctor was there. The Doctor looked at him with disgust and annoyance.
'Ah. Atif is such a flirt.' She thought with a smirk. As she was just about to reply, the Doctor grabbed her hand.
"Okay, we're leaving." The Doctor quickly opened the TARDIS, pulled Clara in, and dematerialised.
Clara giggled. "You really can't stand someone flirting, can't you? Oh, come here, you adorable-" She hugged him as tight as she can, and again, he squirmed inside her grasp. In the end, he gave up and hugged back. "Thank you by the way, for the talk you've had with Ian," Clara added.
"Did I?" He scoured his memory for an Ian. "Oh! Your headmaster! Oh yes, lovely man. I didn't talk to him. I sent him a letter. I can't do follow ups. Too much of a hassle." He shrugged. That was obviously a lie to make him look 'cooler' in front of Clara – he kept tabs on every companion he's had. There was a room for each of them and their life's journey.
"Pfft. Are you going to stop visiting completely when you stop travelling with me as well?" Clara obviously had meant it as a joke. For the Doctor, however, it became apparent that the 'cool' lie had gone horribly wrong. The Doctor denied his statement.
"No, no. Never. I mean, I will always keep tabs on you, until the end."
"What, until I die of cancer?" Clara had no intention of that statement slipping out of her mouth. The Doctor didn't speak, only sadness filled his eyes. "I- I didn't mean… Oh my stars, I'm so sorry, Doctor. I don't know where that came from." She covered her mouth in embarrassment and guilt.
There was a terrible silence in the TARDIS that Clara was obliged to break.
She cleared her throat. "So, anyway…. what happened back there? Why was Atif so angry?" Clara changed topic, hoping he would catch on.
"Oh, nothing. He was angry that I hypnotised him ages ago. He told me that he missed his relative's funeral or whatever." The Doctor scoffed. "Funerals are stupid. He should be grateful that I made him miss that idiotic thing."
"Well, for many people, that is when they say their final good byes. It's an important day for tying knots, Doctor." Clara informed him. "No wonder Atif was so mad at you." As Clara glanced over, she saw Doctor's bandaged knuckles.
"Doctor, where did you get those from?" she pointed. "Did you wrestle some Daleks or punch Zygons or something?" She snickered.
"Oh, these? They're nothing." He quickly hid his hands behind the back. "Anyway, back to your house for you. You have a big day tomorrow," he ushered her off to bed.
Clara had completely forgotten about what was going to happen tomorrow. Her smile disappeared. She was scared for what was coming, but more scared of the small bumps that had noticeably grown larger. Then, one question popped into her mind.
If the Doctor has the TARDIS, couldn't he just cure her with the medicine from the future?
The thought dispersed as she fell asleep.
A few hours earlier
While Clara was teaching, the Doctor was busy running full scans on Clara. 'Stage IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma, blood platelet level: low, life expectancy…' He quickly turned it off. There were pictures of cancerous cells inside Clara's body, especially concentrated near her neck. Then, he ran every simulation possible on what could go wrong. The first…. The second… the third…. His eyes widened as he continued the simulation. Mouth wide open, he stumbled backwards and shook his head.
"No." He ran his hand through his hair. "No, you can't!" he punched the monitor in an outburst of rage, and the impact had smashed the screen. He breathed harshly in supressed anger as blood trickled down from his knuckles. The results of the scan had printed on a long sheet of paper underneath the console. The Doctor slowly took it out.
'Likelihood of progression to terminal cancer: 99.8%'
The Doctor angrily crumpled the results and threw it against the TARDIS wall. He punched the console over and over until he broke down on the spot. He had to save her, in any cost.
The TARDIS landed and the Doctor paused in front of the open door. He grimly looked at a small cottage lit with a gentle flame in the middle of a forest. She was the only hope he had.
"I will offer you whatever you want in exchange for your help to save my friend." The Doctor was actually kneeling on the ground begging the woman. "I- I need a cure. She's died for me so many times and I could never repay her. She's going to die and there's no way to help her." Silent tears broke out.
"I-I'm sorry, Doctor. You know how difficult it is to treat a cancer this bad. Let alone a human from the 21st century. We can't just administer any old cure to a patient – humans have evolved, Doctor. There's no need for cold medicine or HIV cure anymore. My cure worked not because of me, but because of evolution. Your friend doesn't have the capacity to-"
"Just try. Try with your best shot." The Doctor pleaded.
The woman pondered deeply on the spot. "Thinking of the treatment of her time, I might have a thing for her. It's not a definite cure, and it will assist in her healing process." The woman showed him the vial of chemical. The Doctor stared at the woman in shock.
"This is cruel," he shook his head in dismay. "This could kill her. Are you sure that's the only chemical you think will work?" He sighed and ran his hand over his face.
She nodded. "A possibility of a cure. I can't tell you if it will actually work or not. It's this or nothing."
He held it at eye level. He determinedly nodded.
"I'll take it."
A/N A huge huge HUGE thanks to TheBigCat for being such a wonderful beta reader :)