Thank you for the reviews, guys! What's wrong with Clara, you ask? You will see. . .

Chapter 28

Even though she thought the Doctor was blowing things completely out of proportion Clara found herself at the hospital a short while later. After she had fainted this morning the Doctor wouldn't have any of her protests and insisted on a thorough check-up. With a sigh Clara had finally yielded.

After waiting for over an hour a friendly looking, female doctor had called her in and Clara thought that she probably would've waited less had Martha already been a doctor at this hospital. She was asked dozens of questions about how she was feeling, about her medical history, allergies, her menstrual cycle, genetic diseases in her family and Clara's annoyance grew with every question.

"And you said you had the flu?" the doctor looked at her after she had scribbled something down in her notes.

"Yes, last week," Clara confirmed sharply and leaned forward, "Listen, my boyfriend has a medical degree. He said I have iron deficiency – can you just check for that?"

The woman eyed her for a moment. "Well, you have some of the symptoms. Paleness, dizziness and you've complained about being tired and you're easily irritated."

"I am not easily irritated," Clara spat until she realized that she actually was. She quickly bit down on her lips, "Sorry."

The doctor smiled kindly at her. "We will take the test. Iron deficiency is quite common with women for the simple reason that we lose blood every single month. If we don't compensate that through our diet it can happen but it's also easily treated. But I would like to run a few other tests as well just to exclude other possibilities if that's alright with you?"

"Will it take long?"

"Not at all. We're just going to take your blood and your urine, I'll examine you and we'll have the results in about an hour," the woman explained.

"Fine then," Clara rolled her eyes, "It's not like my boyfriend will let me leave otherwise."

The doctor smiled. "You seem to have a good man there."

Finally Clara smiled back, if only weakly. "Too good sometimes."

Clara let them do all the tests the doctor thought were necessary even though she hated every second of it, thinking them all to be utterly pointless. She was fine. The Doctor was right. She only needed rest and to change her diet.

"How did it go?" the Doctor jumped up from his seat as soon as she walked back into the waiting area.

Clara only shrugged. "They took blood and examined me as if I had a diamond hidden somewhere on my body."

"Good," the Doctor concluded and closed his arms around her as soon as she had reached him. She felt him kiss her hair. "Won't take too long until we get the results, right?"

"They said an hour," Clara explained.

She heard the Doctor take a deep breath right before he released her from the embrace and came to look at her. "Alright. Do you want to go for a little walk? There's a small park behind the hospital. Or do you want to go downstairs and get a cup of tea and a snack?"

Clara considered it for a moment. "Cup of tea sounds nice. Let's do that."

The Doctor took her hand as they walked down the stairs and eventually settled on a spot in the small hospital cafeteria. Now that her nausea from earlier had abated Clara felt slightly hungry and ordered a piece of cake to go with her tea and she noticed how relieved the Doctor looked when he saw her eat it. He reached across the table to hold her hand a couple of time and Clara was suddenly so, so grateful to have him. The doctor she had spoken to earlier had been right – he was a good man, maybe even the best. Not every man would accompany his girlfriend to the hospital and stay just to wait for the results of a few simple tests.

"Sorry for being a bit grumpy the last few days," she said after a moment. Clara hadn't really treated him nicely and she knew it.

"It's okay," the Doctor reassured her, "You're unwell. That must be annoying after a while."

"There was no need to take it out on you though."

The way he smiled at her suddenly made Clara think he was going to tell her that he loved her but then she thought better of it. He was the Doctor and she wouldn't hear these words from him – she had known that right from the beginning. Just because they were now in a committed relationship didn't mean that his initial attitude had changed. And she'd be damned to say the words only to get nothing in return.

"We should probably go back to the waiting area," the Doctor suggested after they had finished their food and drink and Clara agreed.

They waited longer than an hour and Clara was beginning to feel restless – and she wasn't the only one. The Doctor was jiggling his leg in the chair next to her, already earning a few disdainful looks from the old man sitting two chairs away from them.

"Doctor-"

"This shouldn't take so long," he growled.

"I know," Clara breathed, "But it is and if you don't sit still soon you'll be needing a doctor, too, cause someone will punch you. And maybe that someone will be me."

The Doctor turned to look at her and all of a sudden started to chuckle. Clara snorted and suppressed a laugh.

"Miss Clara Oswald?"

"That would be me," Clara muttered and rose from her chair. Before she left she turned towards the Doctor one more time. "I'll be right back."

The receptionist led her back into the consultation room where the friendly doctor was already waiting for her, a smile on her face. That was a good sign Clara concluded as she sat down.

"So, have you determined what's wrong with me?" she asked, exhaling sharply. She could tell from the doctor's expression that it couldn't be bad and a feeling of relief had already settled over her.

"First of all," the doctor began, "Your boyfriend was right. You do have an iron deficiency and I will give you a list of foods you should include in your diet to make up for that but there is no need to worry at all. That is quite normal for your current state."

Clara frowned at the woman. "My current state?"

The smile on the doctor's face widened. "Congratulations, Miss Oswald. Our tests have revealed that you are pregnant."

It seemed that for a moment Clara's heart had stopped. Or she had fainted again and was dreaming. Or she had heard the woman wrong. She wasn't pregnant. She couldn't be pregnant.

"No," was all she replied after a moment of hesitation.

"Yes, Miss Oswald, we're quite sure."

"What do you mean quite sure? Is-, erm, is that a I could potentially be or am I really. . . pregnant?"

Still the woman smiled kindly. "You're surprised, I understand that. The thought of carrying a child and giving birth can be overwhelming and frightening at first but-"

"No," Clara repeated. There was so much in her head that she wanted to say, so many feelings she wanted to express, but they all kept coming back to the one two-letter-word. No.

"Are you okay?" the doctor asked her, now seeming genuinely concerned.

"No," Clara shook her head. She was shaking now and no matter how hard she tried to get herself under control, she couldn't. She was panicking, "I can't be pregnant. My boyfriend doesn't want children."

The words came bubbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"He said so from the beginning. Right when we met," Clara blurted out, "We were so careful. We always used protection. I'm on the pill. I can't be pregnant."

She hadn't even realized that she had started crying but now the tears came streaming over her face and she felt nauseous again. The Doctor had told her right from the beginning. No relationship. No children. And even though he had eventually changed his mind about the first part he still had suggested to her to start taking the pill after they had been sleeping together for a few weeks. He didn't want children. How could this have happened? How was she going to tell him? How would he react?

Clara was startled when she suddenly felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and the doctor was handing her a tissue. She thanked her and attempted to wipe her tears away but that didn't stop them from coming.

The woman sat down in the chair next to Clara, holding her hand and she still had that smile on her face that had somehow lost its calming effect on Clara. She was about to ruin the Doctor's life with these news.

"Don't worry too much," the woman told her in a calm manner, "I know it's a shock and you'll need time to get used to the idea but no matter what you think, it's not the end of the world. You told me your boyfriend has come here with you and he's still waiting outside. I don't know many men who would do that for a simple blood test. He is obviously a kind and good man and he must love you a great deal. When you tell him about the child I'm sure he will be just fine with it after the initial shock."

Clara looked up into the doctor's eyes, her mind utterly blank.

"Would you like a glass a water?"

After a moment Clara nodded and sank back into the chair while she felt as if her whole world was collapsing around her.