Chapter 3 unspoken words
As romana opened the door the light given from Mr Smiths screen illuminated the room. She closed the door quietly and sat on the computer chair. Mr Smith sensed her presence.
"Why up so late romana?" he asked her. For a moment she sat and fiddled with the pen then looked up,
"I couldn't sleep; Luke's mattress is a little bumpy" she said quietly.
"I don't think that's all though, do you still worry about what the doctor will think?" asked Mr Smith quietly. She looked at the big computer then back down again.
"I guess so" she said. Then she pulled the watch out of her pocket and looked at it carefully.
"That looks like it could do with a makeover" said Mr Smith.
"Yes it could but the technology inside is too complex for any old human to fix" romana said with a sigh.
"No one said anything about a super computer not having a go though" said the computer.
"You mean you can fix it?" romana said excitedly. "Just place it in here and it will be as good as new" Mr Smith said. Then as he finished speaking a small compartment underneath the keyboard opened. Romana got up and placed the watch in the compartment, then it shut and the watch was gone.
"It will take some time but I should be able to heal most of the damage" he said.
"Thank you so much" she said and then went back to bed.
As she got back into bed she heard a stirring noise outside. As she pulled back the curtain nothing but the blasts of February winds could be heard or seen. That morning she woke up early and looked out the window and saw nothing yet again. Was she imagining things? While Sarah – Jane and Martha were still asleep she crept up to the attic again and poked her head round the door. Mr Smith sensed her presence and opened.
"Back so soon?" he said as if he would have been smiling.
"Just checking" she said with a smile back. Suddenly something came from his keyboard. As the steam poured out romana reached out her hand to grab the thing inside Mr Smith. This thing looked like something out of the future. The screen had a metal framing while the rest was touch screen, once activated the screen popped out to reveal a hologramic display. The strap was also sleek black leather and came with a working buckle.
"I think you did more than just a few tweaks" she said holding the watch up to the light from the lonely window.
"Do you like it?" he said.
"Like it, I love it" she said trying to hug it.
"Good!" a voice came from a dark corner in the room. Out stepped a man with his long fringe flicked to the side and smiled proud of his bow tie. Romana's smile reached her ears as her eyes laid upon the doctor. She ran up to him and through her arms around him. He was just as happy to see her as he returned the hug.
"The doctor arrived last night when I called him, to help with the watch" said Mr Smith disturbing the peace.
"Hold on a minute, you called him?" romana asked confused letting go of the doctor,
"Did you tell him?" said romana in a more worried tone.
"Tell me what?" the doctor asked confused.
"No I thought I'd let you tell him, doctor romana has something to tell you" said Mr Smith.
"Tell me what?" the doctor demanded.
"I'm suffering from regeneration transfer" said romana in a quiet voice.
"What, how?" he asked.
"On the ship, with the family, I poisoned them with regeneration energy so I could blow up the ship, but I forgot I was holding you, and then when I nearly died and the regeneration process was taking it's time, John touched me and then I changed, so now all the DNA is mixed up, all I'm experiencing is memory spasms, nothing else" romana explained, her olive green eyes burned with the hurtful truth she just shared, her hearts felt as if they had spilled all of her darkest secrets in one go.
Expecting the worst the romana clenched her fists and stared blankly at something unknown. But the doctor just simply smiled at her and dragged her towards his body. Wrapped in his arms, romana felt the world around her drop and everything felt like it was tranquil. Suddenly the door opened and Sarah walked through in her slippers and pyjamas. She held a cup of tea in her hand and her eyes looked swelled with tiredness. Her hair was unbrushed and her hands were scrunched up so tight the handle of the mug nearly broke.
"What's with all the noise?" she asked. The doctor and romana glanced at the door to see the tired lady.
"Doctor, so nice to see you and all, but what are you doing here?" she asked.
"Ah Sarah – Jane nice to see you too, Mr Smith called about romana's watch and also to hear the truth" he finished bluntly. Sarah's face dropped and she took a sip of her tea.
"Well at least you know now, romana's found it hard over the last couple of days, John took it the hardest, and he probably thinks that this is his fault" Sarah explained when she'd done.
"Wait so you told Rose as well? But how did you even connect through to their world, I sealed it back up?" the doctor exclaimed. Romana and Sarah looked at each other while the doctor awaited an answer.
"We can't explain Mr Smith just somehow tapped through and we ended up connecting with Pete Tyler's laptop webcam!" explained romana. When dropping the silence Mr Smith said,
"I was able to connect with the time vortex manipulator as it has a void free pass programmed in the system".
"What, of cause they did, the Tharil probably would let me go any were of the universe as long as I was away from the war!" romana thought out loud. Everyone looked her way as she finished her loud thought, she glanced back wondering what they were staring at her for?
"What war romana? Are the humans attacking again?" the doctor shouted across the room.
"No, it's much worse than that!" she said quietly.
In romana's bedroom Martha awoke from a decent nights slumber. She looked around the murky coloured room and got up to draw the curtains. As she peered outside she saw the low sun faintly through the clouds and smack in front of the house she saw a giant blue box.
"Doctor" she whispered faintly and smiled to herself. She opened the bedroom door and heard voices coming from up the attic stairs. She walked the creaky stairs and opened the door. The room was silent and although the door squeaked no one seemed to notice her come in the room. Mr Smith's screen changed and Rose's face popped up.
"Hey" she said quietly. She was on her own and she'd taken the laptop out of the office into her bedroom.
"How do you feel?" Rose directed at romana.
"Fine for the moment, but the question is how has John has taken it?" romana asked.
"He still blames himself, he hates himself for it, but he'll come round" said Rose hopefully. Suddenly at the mansion the bedroom door opened behind Rose and in walked a brown haired figure with a glum look on his face. John came and sat on the bed next to her. He gave her a quick glance and then carried on looking at the floor.
"She's on the video chat if you want to talk" Rose said quietly. John's neck didn't move an inch as if it was locked and his lips were zipped. Romana came away from the camera and lifted her wrist to her face. Making full use of the upgrades she pressed the hologramic screen and opened a time hole directed for parallel earth. Martha followed her out but by the time she reached romana's spot she only caught the last glimpse of a closing wormhole.
Rose said her goodbyes over the laptop and closed it placing it on the bed. She turned her attention to John who was still sat in the same position.
"What is with you, she's said she's fine, and yet you still sit here and do nothing" she shouted. From down stairs Jackie looked up from the television and pulled a face, Pete didn't even move from his paper.
"How long are you going to be like this?" she shouted. John did nothing but stare at the floor. As rose was about to exit the room a voice from above came from the corner. A slender tone whispered,
"He'll be like it until he sees for himself!", for the first time john looked up as the glum look dropped and he stared at the one who had made him feel like this in the first place. Romana walked out of the darkened corner with a smirk and wide eyes. Rose closed the door again and went over to the bed. John stood up and walked over to romana; he grabbed her arms and glared until their eyes met.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" he sobbed and grasped romana's arms tighter until they went purple.
"You don't have to be so apologetic, I've told you once and I'll tell you again, I'm fine" romana assured.
The attic went chaotic as Martha had just reported romana's disappearance.
"Why would she just vanish like that?" asked Sarah.
"The bigger question is where has she gone?" questioned Martha.
"I can track her using the transmitter I put in the watch, so if she ever decides to go wondering on days like today then we can see where she is!" exclaimed the doctor. Mr Smith pulled up a channel where a small light appeared to flash in one place.
"Her location seems to be off the grid but I identified it as a parallel galaxy across the void" explained Mr Smith. Romana's wrist began to bleep as John slackened his grip. She glanced at the watch as the same light appeared on the display.
"What's that thing?" asked rose.
"It's the vortex manipulator, it's been tricked out because I kind of broke it" romana beamed.
"So why is it flashing?" asked John.
"No they wouldn't!" exclaimed romana,
"They've installed a tracking device!" Rose and John looked at each other and back at romana.
"What!" they said together. As rose and john looked at romana expecting an answer but she wondered around the room with her hand on her chin resting on her other arm giving a thinking look. Suddenly the door to the bedroom burst open and without even giving a glance the doctor walked in the room. Romana put down her arms and opened her mouth at the stranger that had just walked in the room with no notice.
"Can't I go anywhere without you following me?" said romana gormlessly.
"Answer to that question no I want to know where you are at all times, now" he pointed at john and then Jackie who was stood at the bedroom door
"You lighten up and you how about a nice cup of tea while we are here!". Jackie gave a shocked look and then went to the kitchen. As they all proceeded down the stairs romana paused and looked deep into her memory. Everyone realised that she had stopped and turned to face her.
"Romana!" the doctor panicked. But she couldn't hear him, she was deep in though.
Romana had been inside the doctor's memory before, but this time it was different. The other times it was like staring at a screen and watching a video playback. But this time she could feel the air on her face and the dampness of the humid atmosphere. But something else was making the other side of her face feel warm. As she turned towards the heat her eyes caught the sight of a burning pile of logs. A man stood next to them with a torch and no smile upon his face. Instead he was sad and frightened. When she focused on his face she could see the similarity to someone she knew. Wait, it was John, no wait the doctor she thought. His long brown coat waved in the faint breeze as the fire roared lighting his face in all different shades of yellow. As she turned to the fire she saw something wrapped in white sheets as it burned away. When she focused her eyes she recognised the silhouette of a body. But who was it. Then the heat started to fade away. The doctor and the fire seemed to get further away until it disappeared completely and she was back on the main staircase at Tyler manner. She was surrounded by all her friends as the doctor had his hands on her face and as soon as she battered an eyelid he squeezed her tightly up against his body.