The next morning they found the two curled up next to each other. Ruby went over to shake them awake.
"John, wake up. Breakfast is here." She said, gently shaking his shoulder. "John? River?"
Her voice rose, and the parents came out of the side room, looking at her with confusion, and saw the two still down. The other children were sitting up, shaking slightly.
"Ruby, whats wrong?"
"John's not getting up! And neither is River!"
A nurse came in, hearing the shouting and it was time for the morning check ups anyway. She went over to John and River first. She checked their pulses. Nothing looked good. After a minute, she sighed heavily, and looked up at the parents standing- waiting. She shook her head and Jenna melted down to the floor. River's mother, Jessica, went down with her. They were sobbing and Ruby stood up, shaking.
"I'm so very sorry. John and River didn't make it."
"No. You're lying! They're just asleep! You're lying!" Ruby shouted, running out of the room, tears streaking down her face. One of the nurses who would hang out with the children caught her in the hallway, and Ruby just hugged her waist.
"Ruby?" the nurse asked.
"J-john." she whispered. "Nurse Emma...John..and River."
Shock hit the nurse's face, and a few of the nurses nearby over heard. They liked the children, especially with their story. One nearby had to get up and leave, and nurse Emma picked Ruby up and hugged her tightly.
"Shhh" She cooed gently, rubbing Ruby's back. Everyone knew it was hard on the children with the deadly disease, but they also knew it must be worse for the family. Emma set Ruby down. "Sweetie, why don't you stay here with Sydney."
Ruby nodded, moving slowly to the nurse on their right. She was another favourite nurse, and she welcomed Ruby into her arms. Emma walked backed to the children's room, she found a room of upset people and in the bed in the corner, John and River laid close together. Neither were going to awake from their slumber. She closed her eyes to fight the tears, and had to walk out. She heard Ruby talking to Sydney, through the sniffles.
"God will take good care of them, sweetie. They're safe now." Sydney said.
"Did God think they were needed up-up there more than here?"
"I don't know, hon, but they're not sick anymore. They are healthy and safe up there with him."
"But won't they miss us?" She sniffled.
"Of course they will, and they'll be watching you, making sure you're okay." Emma knelt beside the two.
"Ruby, just think of it like this. John was hurt, so was River. Their angels decided they had enough of fighting." Ruby nodded. She replied quietly.
"I've got school..." and slowly got of Sydney's lap. They sighed watching her go.
Back in the room, Ruby went up to her mom and hugged her tightly. "Mummy, school starts soon."
"Honey, you don't have to go."
"I want to" Her mom nodded, and one of the other parents offered to give her a ride. Ruby grabbed her back pack and went with them.
At school, no body knew what had happened that morning Everyone was playful as usual. A few of John's friends came up to say hi, but didn't stay long. Ruby sat in class, and didn't talk. The teacher noticed she wasn't herself, and so did others.
"Ruby?" Mrs. Johnson knelt down beside her at reading time.
"Yes Mrs. Johnson?"
"What's the matter?"
"I don't-"
"Ruby, please. I can see you're upset. You're not yourself today." Other children in her class began to glance in their direction. Ruby's eyes began to water, but she held them back.
"John.." she whispered. "My little brother.."
Mrs. Johnson had gotten an email from Ruby's mother, explaining reasons why Ruby may not be in class. She'd gotten word that John was hospitalized, and sick. Ruby never brought it up."
"Is he alright?" Ruby shook her head, tears fell as she looked up to meet her teacher's gaze.
"He-he di-died..this morning and s-so did R-river." though Ruby was quiet, the whole room heard. "We didn't finish the story..."
"The story?" her teacher began to rub her shoulders, as Ruby pulled out a large notebook and a few composition notebooks. She held the up to her teacher. Each page of each notebook was filled, front and back. "Ruby, did you write this? All of this?" Ruby nodded, every child had put their book down, and was facing their classmate and teacher.
"Ever since John went to the hospital. It started because I wanted all the kids in that room to be happy. Every time John had a seizure or some attack, the Doctor in the story would regenerate. And he had companions. The other kids in the story. The Doctor and River were just at the singing towers of derillium. River was supposed to go to the library. She died there, in the library in the story, but she was a time traveler, they were, so she lived." Ruby closed her eyes, and took out one last notebook. She hadn't given it to her teacher, because the story wasn't finished. She opened it up, it was the middle of the notebook, and began to write. Mrs. Johnson rubbed her back, and put the notebooks onto the table.
"Back to reading." She announced, leaving Ruby to write.
"Mrs. Johnson? Can we hear about the Doctor?" Samantha asked, one of Ruby's friends. Ruby looked up, putting her pencil down.
"If it's alright with Ruby." Ruby smiled a little, the first smile all day. She grabbed the first notebook and went to the story-time chair. Mrs. Johnson invited other classrooms in, as she'd read some of what Ruby had written. Ruby sat down as the kids drew in closer, and others flooded into the room. She wiped the tears from her face.
"Doctor Who?" She started. "By Ruby Smith. As a young boy, on the distant planet Gallifrey, the Doctor didn't know who he'd become, one day. He was a time lord. They had magical boxes called TARDIS's and each of them would change their shapes and looks just so they'd fit in..." She continued her story, pausing to answer a question.
"What's a TARDIS?"
"It's a shape shifter machine. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." She replied, matter-of-factly. As she read, faces lit up, and teachers were amazed. She finished what she thought would be a great ending spot for the time being. She had a few questions from the audience. A few were hard for her to answer. Ruby had to leave the room temporarily and Mrs. Johnson explained to each child, from her class and the other two classes that the story was made because of cancer patients and more. As she entered the room once more, she had one last thing to say. "John lives on...in the Doctor."
after
As Ruby grew, the Doctor became more wanted. She, under the help of some of her teachers, sent it in for publishing when she was sixteen. After quiet a few rejections, she finally made it. And in the forward she wrote.
To the kids from the hospital who made this story begin. Rose Tyler, Donna Noble, Jack Harkness, Martha Jones and her friend Mickie, Sarah-Jane Smith, Amelia Pond, Rory Williams, Clara Oswald, Nicole Vashtra, Robert Strax, Jenny Margaret. And most of all my little brother, John Smith, and River Song. Rest in peace you two.
A/N
Hello! Sorry about the late update, and finishing the story here. Thank you to the one I got the idea from, Cosmo-gyral, and thanks for reading. Have a fantastic life.
