I'm really sorry for the delay updating this. Anyway, thank you for your comments!

Paige who: you're soooo exaggerated hahaha ;)

Dragons-Twilight1992: as you wish!

JennaColpaldi: Sorry, It took me too long :S

Carolyn: Thank you!

Bloodsired: Yeah I know… I have a serious problem with cliffhangers… xD

heewon49189212: I'm glad to read that ;)

last1stnding: I love that too, so… be prepared.

Calgarry (My fantastic beta Reading!) Thank you very much!

Then something could be heard: a slight beeping from one of the machines. "Doctor?" she whispered with hope, but his whole body was still motionless. "Doctor was that you? Can you hear me?"

Some voices came from the hall outside the laboratory. "Oh God, they're coming." Quickly, she looked around the room, desperately seeking a spot to hide. "Please, please, please, there must be somewhere to…"

The sound of the footsteps was getting closer. "Oh, not again," the girl thought as she ran and crawled under his bed, just as the door opened.

Chapter 20: My Clara

Clara crouched, adopting a fetal position to avoid anybody seeing her under the bed. For the first time in her life, she was grateful to only be five feet tall.

From her position under the bed, the girl could see another person was in the room, a scientist judging by the white coat peeking just above his feet.

"Do we have the results of the biopsy?" she heard a male voice saying. In the absence of anyone else in the room, she concluded that he was talking on the phone. "No. It's too late to try that. I'm checking his vitals right now, and we have a problem."

Clara watched as the guy dropped a backpack on the floor, while beginning to manipulate the machinery connected to the Doctor. "Oh shit…this time it was less effective, his level of consciousness is starting to rise again. He may try to wake up."

Clara looked up, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. That was the words she needed to hear: Wake up.

"Yes, I know…too little and he would start to wake, too much and his heart rate fell to seemingly dangerous levels. […] What?! No way, if we double the dose of sedative, it could kill him. His cardiorespiratory system is already compromised […] Yeah, yeah… ok, you are the boss. I'll start a new dose then."

The girl wanted to get out and punch the man in the face, but instead she closed her eyes as her fist clenched angrily. It wasn't the time for that, not yet.

The man hung up the phone and went to a medical cabinet nearby. "Damn…we've run out of drips in here."

Clara saw as he opened the door of the laboratory. "Oh, where are the security gorillas when you need them?" He turned around, glaring at the sleeping form of the Doctor. "Don't you dare wake up until I return."

As soon as Clara saw him walk out the door, she rushed out of her hiding place. Without any doubt, the girl had a new clear objective in mind: she wasn't going to leave the Doctor at the mercy of that rabble, not anymore.

With the sonic screwdriver, she freed his wrists from the handcuffs that held him prisoner, and without even thinking about the medical consequences, she began to remove all the needles and wires that were connected to his body. She was so angry that hadn't even thought about how she would remove him from there. But didn't care about that, not anymore – her brain was attempting to organize their escape. The girl looked around, searching for something useful, and her gaze fell on the backpack that the scientist had left on the floor. Inside were some personal objects, and just underneath them, a gun.

Clara shook her head, and quickly grabbed some medical supplies and bandages from the cabinet and put them into the backpack. "I hope it will be enough." She put the backpack on over her shoulders.

Although she was much smaller than him, she was willing to try to pick him up when a hand grabbed her wrist. Her breath stopped in her throat.

"Doctor?" Clara said looking down at him. The first thing she could see were his eyebrows obfuscating, and then his eyes cracked open.

"Don't you dare…touch me," a terribly hoarse voice said.

"It's ok. It's me, Clara," she said, looking at his hand. The grip wasn't very hard, but she knew it was all the strength he had left. It was painful to see him so weak, but it was obvious that he was still fighting as much as he could.

"Do you really think I'm going to fall for that again? You had better change your aspect back, or I swear, I'll rip all your scales one by one"

Her hearth missed a beat. "Doctor, it's me, the real Clara."

"No, you're not!" he almost shouted angrily. "You have no right to wear her face, not hers…not hers!"

"Please, Doctor. It's just me."

His eyes wanted to believe her, she could see that, but his hand didn't release her wrist.

"Prove it. Tell me something only my Clara would know."

She bit her lower lip, wanting to repeat that was her, but she understood his doubts. In fact, it was the sensible thing to ask in that situation.

"Do you remember what you asked me, a very long time ago in Glasgow?"

"You tell me."

With her free hand, she gently stroked his wrist, avoiding touching the wounds on it. "You asked me if I was going to help you." His fingers reduced their pressure on her arm. "Two times, with different voices." She smiled, sadly, as the Doctor's fingers slid down her arm. "And I didn't answer you. I suppose it's about time."

"Clara...my Clara," he whispered, with a spark of relief in his eyes.

"Yes. I'm here. I'm going to help you. Always. You only need to ask it. But you already knew that, don't you?"

Her eye winked at him and the Time Lord smiled warmly. "My impossible girl."

She patted his arm. "Shut up. It's not the time for that. Can you move?" she asked urgently.

He looked down at his own body. "Don't know."

Firmly, she placed her arm in the back of his neck and very slowly, helped him to stand up into a sitting position. "Wow…I thought you would be heavier. You really are a skeleton man now."

The Doctor made a nasty face. "Thanks, Round Face."

"Oi! Now I know who the Tardis get her vocabulary from."

"Sorry what?"

"Nothing. Come on, now your legs."

"I'm not sure about it." Judging by the look in his eyes, he was dizzy.

Clara was extremely worried about that; she realized that he didn't even have enough strength to stay sitting upright. "Come on. Do you think I went through so many things to be here, just to find you whining and giving up? Move your Time Lord ass…now!"

He looked incredulously at her. "Are you sure you're Clara? Because I remember her being less bossy and certainly less foul-mouthed…and maybe taller."

Moving to his side, she took his arm and placed it around her shoulders. "I just need you to move your feet. I will hold your weight. Are you ready?"

"No."

"It was a rhetorical question. Let's go."

As gently as she could, she pulled him to his feet, and wound her other arm around his waist for added support.

She gritted her teeth. Not because he was too heavy, but because the wound in her shoulder protested again.

"Whoa…Clara, not so fast."

"Doctor, you didn't even walk one step yet."

"Because you are supposed to lead the way, and if I can make a point…"

"No. You can't."

"You're worse than the heartbreak ridge. And why the room is spinning? Are we in a giant washer?"

"It must be that your body is still drugged. Come on Doctor, that's it, another step."

"That explains a lot, such as why I'm numb, why I am seeing double, and that could even explain why a unicorn named Henry is following us."

"You made up the last part, right?"

He smiled. "You can ask Henry. But I warn you, he doesn't like you."

She rolled her eyes as they walked together. "You're definitely high on drugs."

When they reached the hallway, the Doctor looked around. "This is weird," he said, trying to focus his eyes. "Why is no one here?"

"You should be grateful for that."

"Of course, but it's still strange. I should know why, but my brain is still groggy."

After several minutes of walking through halls, his breath was more labored and his limbs were beginning to feel leaden. He was not sure how much longer he would be able to keep this up. Every step he took felt like he had shards of glass floating around his back, stabbing him in the spine. He didn't tell Clara, but she noticed as he leaned more and more on her.

"Hang on Doctor, you're doing great."

"Liar."

Then his feet stopped, and suddenly his legs gave up.

"Doctor!" Clara had to hold him with both arms to keep him from falling. "What's the matter?"

She saw he couldn't breathe properly. "I need…to make…a pit stop."

"What? Doctor, we can't just stop here. We need to get out. They could catch us at any moment!" She looked at his face, which was turning paler. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he said, with the face of a compulsive liar.

"Ok. I know a place to stay. Just hang on a bit more."

A few minutes later and with too much luck, they came to the old warehouse where the shapeshifter had questioned her. "It's safe here. Nobody seems to care about this place."

The Doctor couldn't stand anymore, and collapsed. Clara attempted to hold him with all her strength but the sudden weight was too much. She fell on her knees, but managed to prevent the Doctor from hitting his head.

"Ok. Easy. I got you." She put his head in her lap. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing," he said, with too much difficulty.

The girl placed her other hand against the back of his neck, slowly turning his head to look at his eyes, which were glassy and unfocused. "No. You tell me! I can't help if you don't."

He opened his mouth to speak, but his labored breathing stopped him.

With trembling hands, he took her wrist and placed her hand on the left side of his chest. Her fingers could feel his left heart beating extremely slowly under his skin. She looked at him, worried. Then he moved her hand again, to the right side of his torso. Clara could feel nothing there. She moved her hand, but she found nothing, no beating.

"Oh my God…you only have one heart working, and it's arrhythmic!"

Please, leave a comment or Henry the unicorn will be sad ;)