The Doctor sat beside Clara's bed and watched her sleep. He did not dare to touch her in the fear of waking her. The Doctor knew her symptoms of cancer was getting worse – she was becoming paler and slimmer every day. She was even frowning from her headaches as she slept. He knew she was in a lot of pain, but did a very good job trying to hide it from him. He would never had known if it wasn't for the regular check-ups he had set the TARDIS to do whenever she was on board. He didn't tell Clara that he knew about the symptoms and that there was no use hiding it from him, because he wanted to wait until she was ready to tell him about it.

The Doctor glanced over at the bedside table, invaded by pill bottles of all sorts. The pill bottles were shaped and coloured differently, neatly organised from smallest to biggest cases. He smiled, 'Clara's control-freak tendencies are still evident,' he thought as he turned all the labels to face the same way. He momentarily paused on a purple pill bottle, and slowly took out the vial from his inside pocket. He glared at it in a mixed feeling of desperation and hopefulness.

'You don't need to do this. She's going to be in more pain than she is now, it might kill her,' his pessimistic mind nagged him. The Doctor sighed, and placed it back in his pocket. 'But it will save her, I know it will,' his optimistic voice reassured him.

The Doctor kept thinking of the probable aftermath of the treatment. The possibility of death continued to plague his mind. The uncontrollable anger at himself for not being more observant brewed inside his mind.

The Doctor stood up. He needed air. He was initially planning to wait for her to wake up. However, he realised he was in a conflicted, emotional mess, the side he preferred not to show Clara. He quickly scribbled a note and dematerialised in his TARDIS.

Clara woke up when she heard the TARDIS leave. She looked at the alarm clock and the note that said 'back in a moment – call me if you need me'. That was okay. She was fine without him… at least for now. She understood that the Doctor would have needed some air at some point, and was surprised and grateful that he could be so patient until now. She wanted some time off him as well, to prepare herself for what's to come. Knowing him, she knew he was going to come back, and if she really needed him, she could just call the TARDIS like he said on the note.

She went to the bathroom and stared at her hair. A long, last look before she lost them all. She was completely terrified. That was the part that worried her the most. Having to lose everything that defined her- her hair, her eyebrows and maybe (she hoped not) her nails.

By the time she was ready, the Doctor returned, smelling like flowers.

"Where have you been? Why do you smell like a botanic garden?" Clara smirked, leaning on the TARDIS and crossing her arms.

The Doctor smelt his jumper and gave Clara a horrified look. "Sorry. I thought it wasn't that bad. A flowering tree sneezed on me." He replied as he took his jacket off. "I'll get changed." He was worried because it seemed like Clara was bothered by the smell. In honesty, he had been looking for a particular fruit for Clara in the forest of Cheem, the planet inhabited by the tree people. He had no idea that the tree he picked the fruit from was one of the inhabitants, and allergic to Time Lords' touch. The tree had sneezed pollen all over him, making him smell like flowers. He heard an earful from the tree, and had to fulfil some favours (something about planting his young on sacred grounds) before being able to return back to Clara's flat. He wasn't even allowed to take the fruit – something about kidnapping his first born (which was ridiculous in his opinion).

Clara laughed. "Don't worry about it. It smells nice. Leave it on," she said as she skipped inside the TARDIS.

The Doctor sighed in relief. He punched in the coordinates of the hospital and waited for her to give him the 'all okay'. "We can go whenever you're ready," he told her, with a kind, gentle look.

Clara shook her head. "No, I'm not ready." She placed her hand affectionately on the TARDIS and turned around. "This is a time machine. Can we go on an adventure for the last time? Our last hurrah?"

The Doctor shook his head. Her cancer was spreading far too quickly for them to take a detour. He had to convince her to go. "Clara, you can't run from this." He reminded her. "Nor is it our last hurrah. We can travel whenever we want to." He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "The reason for chemo is because they want to stop the cancer cells. The later you leave it, the worse-"

"I know!" she angrily interrupted as she shook his hands off her shoulder. The Doctor jolted and Clara felt a guilty pang. "I know," she said with more sadness and weight. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be angry. I don't know what took over me," she looked at the floor as she spoke. Clara was devastated. The Doctor had been nothing but nice for the past few days. But all she had done was to return hateful and nasty comments. She did not deserve a friend like him. 'I'm a monster,' she thought as she ran into her room in the TARDIS.

The Doctor knew the mood swings weren't caused by her temper, but the hormones from all the medication she was forced to take. Just before approaching Clara's locked bedroom door, it automatically opened for him. He silently thanked the TARDIS knowing that it was her who knew how much Clara needed him, and that was presumably why she had unlocked the door for him. Both of his hearts broke seeing her having a breakdown. She was curled up tightly in bed, sobbing silently into the pillow. The Doctor sat down beside her and stroke her hair.

"Hey, Clara, I know you're upset because you think you're being a horrible person. But you're not. It's not your fault that you are unhappy and sad," he gently stroke the scar Clara had acquired from her lymph node biopsy. "You are doing your best in the worst of times. I don't think you're being horrible to me. In fact, whenever I see this side of you, it only reminds me how brave you are, being able to manage your life in the past few horrible weeks. To me, you're a trooper - always finding the time to smile and find happiness." He smiled, and Clara smiled back with tears.

She silently hugged him and sniffled. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear. The Doctor knew she wanted some time alone to prepare herself, so he left her in her room. Even though his hearts told him to stay with her.

The Doctor was reading a book in the console room when Clara timidly walked out of the corridor, "Okay, I'm ready," she looked at the Doctor with determination.

Clara tightly held onto the Doctor's hand as she entered the hospital. They sat down in the waiting room, where Clara's blood was drawn for a quick analysis. The Doctor watched the nurse like a hawk. He was not going to let him hurt her in any way.

"Nervous?" the nurse asked Clara, and the Doctor glared at her.

"Did you really think that that was appropriate?" he growled. The nurse avoided his gaze in fear.

"Doctor, behave." She playfully slapped him on his arm. "Sorry, he's a bit of a grump these days," she said to the nurse. In one hand, the Doctor was glad that Clara was back to the normal, chippy Clara, but on the other hand, he was scared for her. He was going to take no chance on any amateurs like him hurting Clara.

The Doctor scoffed and gruffly looked away, and the nurse silently left after getting a sample of Clara's blood.

"That was not very nice!" Clara scolded the Doctor when he had left. Clara realised that even though the Doctor was hiding it, deep down, he was equally upset about this whole ordeal.

"Yeah, well, that nurse was inappropriate," he scowled and crossed his arms. Clara laughed it over. The Doctor was being over-protective about her, as always.

"Clara?" a doctor with a clipboard called her name. The Doctor and Clara's ears perked up and they stood up. Her oncology doctor signalled them to follow, and they traced his steps anxiously to the infusion suite.

They were led to a hospital bed, with the machine already set up next to it. The nurse who had checked Clara's blood was sitting there, waiting for her to sit down. Clara was amused when the Doctor and the nurse still avoided each other's gazes. She gave a small laugh and shook her head in disbelief as she made herself comfortable in the hospital bed.

"Okay, this is going to sting," the nurse warned Clara.

Clara looked away as the nurse fixed the needles in Clara's veins. Clara hissed in the momentary pain, and the Doctor agitatedly stood up from the visitor's chair.

"You're hurting her!" He angrily shouted as he took out his sonic screwdriver.

"Doctor-" Clara gave a firm warning tone, and the Doctor sat down with a pout. "- behave." She added, with a slight strain at the end of her voice. Her arm felt like it was on fire. She closed her eyes, holding back the tears.

"You feeling okay?" the nurse asked, and Clara shook her head, controlling her breath.

"Is it supposed to sting?" Clara whispered out. With that sentence, the Doctor quickly whipped out his screwdriver and pointed at the needle.

"Well, of course it stings, because this pudding brain couldn't even locate your vein properly! See, Clara? I knew there was something off about him ever since I saw him taking your blood." His voice was so loud, everyone in the room stopped and looked at them. Clara blushed in embarrassment. That was when she realised the nurse was gone.

The nurse came in momentarily after, accompanied by the two security officers. "He's the guy I'm talking about. Can you please kick him out from the hospital? He's disrupting everyone." Clara's eyes widened in shock.

"W-wait! No, no, no. I'm so sorry he's acting like this… he's just a bit sensitive-" The Doctor was about to protest when she covered his mouth. "- this is the first day of my chemo, and I think he's more upset about it than I am. I'll make sure it won't happen again. I need him while I am undergoing chemo, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him," she explained as she looked at the security officers with pleading eyes.

The security officers gave a grunt. "Just make sure he doesn't do it again. If I hear one more complaint – he's out of here."

"Yes. I will. You got that, Doctor?" She elbowed him.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said quietly in a disgruntled voice.

The security guard left them, and the nurse carefully reinserted the needle. This time, she didn't feel any pain – just warmth from the chemicals. The nurse checked over the needles once again. "Don't be shy to tell me if anything is wrong-"

The Doctor sarcastically raised his eyebrow, "well, she would be-"

"Doctor!" Clara glared at him once again, and he looked away in annoyance. He muttered something under his breath, but Clara chose to ignore him.

She was given all the medication, and then her first ever chemotherapy started. It felt quite underwhelming, maybe because she was on all sort of drugs like steroids and anti-anxiety medicine. After a while, just sitting there became boring.

One hour… two hours… three… Clara finished the book she had brought to read, eat snacks and even stroll around the hospital garden. For the first few hours, the Doctor refused to leave her side, but after he was assured hundreds of times that Clara was fine by herself, he went for a walk outside without Clara. Clara was slightly nauseous and feeling tired and run down, but other than that, she didn't have any major problems. She looked at the bags of chemicals. It was three quarters empty. She gave a bored sigh as she tried to re-read her book, Sense and Sensibility. Being in the hospital was so boring. That was, until the Doctor came up with two mugs of tea.

"Hello, hello." He sat down on the visitor's chair beside the bed. "I brought some tea from Cheem. Finally." He offered Clara a mug.

"Edible?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Of course," he replied with a tinge of annoyance. "When did I ever give you something inedible? ...actually, don't answer that."

Clara smirked as she watched the Doctor fall into his own trap. "Ta." She smelt the sweet fruit tea as she accepted the mug. She blew over the steam and drank a few sips. The sweet, aromatic smell filled her sinus.

"Good?" he asked, intently watching.

"Mmhmm." Clara blinked hard as her eyelids grew heavy. Instantly, Clara fell asleep. The Doctor quickly took the mug from Clara's hands and caught her head before it landed hard on the pillow. He placed her gently on the bed and looked around to see if any nurses or doctors were watching. He sucked the liquid in the vial into an injector and mixed it with the cocktail of chemotherapy solution hanging on Clara's drip. He returned to his seat and placed his hands on his chin, watching Clara for any change. The Doctor held his breath as she shuddered momentarily, but he breathed out when she returned back to her peaceful sleep.

Clara was dreaming. Deep down, she knew that it was a dream, but it seemed too surreal to question herself. She was a child again, and she was running around in a field, trying to chase her mummy and daddy. She laughed as she hid behind a bush, to scare her unsuspecting dad, who was walking towards her. Suddenly, she felt something unsettling in her arm… spreading to her chest. She kneeled on the dirt and desperately called for her mummy. Nothing came out. A cloud of darkness approached, daring to swallow her. Then, Ellie found her and picked her up from the ground. She hugged her tightly and the clouds of darkness disappeared. She started whispering in Clara's ear.

"Clara, you have to stop him," her mother's voice was so familiar, yet it seemed so unnatural all the same. She was looking at her mum, but it felt like she hadn't seen her forever.

Clara curiously looked up. 'Stop who?'

There was a blinding white light, and then she was back in the grassy field again.

"Well, come on Clara! Catch me if you can!" her dad's playful voice rang out.

Clara shook her head and ran towards her dad.

She'd forgotten all about the darkness.