Later that morning, I helped Rose carry her bags down to the TARDIS. I had to, because Jackie wasn't going to help. She may have accepted that Rose was leaving, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.
"Are you sure you won't wait a day for little miss to get over her hangover?" Jackie asked, gesturing to me. I huffed (in exasperation, not because of the bag and four flights of stairs).
"Jackie," I sighed. "I'm fine. I'm good to go."
"That's not fair," MIckey complained from across the way. I shrugged in his general direction. Honestly, I also had no idea how I was fine, but I wasn't about to complain.
"Have you got everything?" Jackie asked as soon as we got to the TARDIS doors.
"I've got everything, don't worry," Rose insisted for maybe the millionth time.
"Be careful," Jackie said, hugging her daughter. "Both of you." She gave me a look over Ros's shoulder.
"Rose, if I didn't know any better, I'd say your mom was trying to adopt me," I teased, slipping inside the TARDIS before Jackie could respond.
The Doctor was moving about the console with less manic energy than usual, which would have been a bad sign if I couldn't feel his grin from the door. I dropped Rose's bag behind a coral strut.
"So," the Doctor drawled, not looking up from what he was doing. "Onward and upward?"
"All of time and space," Rose added, climbing into the TARDIS and closing the doors behind her.
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends," I finished, walking to the middle of the console room. Quoting Shakespeare might have been a little over dramatic, but with the promise of adventure on the horizon, I was feeling a little over dramatic.
"So where are we going?" Rose asked. The TARDIS began to shake, like she did when taking off.
"Further than we've ever gone before," the Doctor answered, proof that he never got less enigmatic, regardless of which regeneration he was on.
"Is that distance-wise or time-wise?" I asked, physically incapable of not being cheeky.
"Both," the Doctor said confidently. "I think."
We landed with a thunk, and I ran outside before the others had even moved. The TARDIS had materialised across the river from a massive city. Flying cars zoomed by, looking like some strange combination between a flat Hotwheels car and a helicopter drone. The city itself gleamed silver in the sunlight, all curving designs they probably called 'ultra-modern' or some other nonsense.
The TARDIS doors creaked open behind me. I turned to see Rose walk out, running her hand through her hair and looking amazed. I wondered if she'd thought she wouldn't get to see something like this again. The Doctor walked out behind her, looking mildly annoyed at the wind, but otherwise just as happy as Rose and I were.
"It's the year five billion and twenty-three," the Doctor explained. "We're in the galaxy M87, and this?" He looked around for a bit. "This is New Earth."
"That's just-" Rose started. "That's just-"
"Not bad," the Doctor agreed. "Not bad at all." I laughed, giddy with new air my lungs, and collapsed onto the grass.
"That's amazing," Rose breathed. "I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet-" Rose jumped a few times to emphasis her point. The Doctor watched her fondly. "-different sky. What's that smell?" The Doctor bent down and plucked a few blades of grass.
"Apple grass," he informed us.
"Apple grass," Rose said slowly, like it was an obvious answer we had missed.
"Apple grass!" I cheered, rolling over and burying my face in the grass. It smelled exactly like I'd always expected, crisp and sweet.
"Having fun down there?" the Doctor asked. As an answer, I rolled a little way down the hill we were on. Just because I was legally a human adult didn't mean I had to act like one.
"It's beautiful," Rose observed. I hummed my agreement and stood back up. "Oh, I love this," she continued. Rose grabbed the Doctor's arm, smiling. "Can I just say, travelling with you, I love it."
"Me too," the Doctor said, smiling back. God, those two were going to be the death of me. "Come on." The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and started running. With an eye roll only the TARDIS could see, I followed them.
When I caught up with them, the Doctor was laying his coat out. He and Rose both laid down on it. I tumbled to the ground next to the Doctor, perfectly content to lay on the sun-warmed grass. If it wasn't so windy, and a bit cloudy, I'd have called it idyllic. I took a deep breath. We'd only been still for eight days and I'd missed this so much. 18 years and 8 months on the slow path, you'd think it would take longer for TARDIS life to become normal.
"So," the Doctor started. "The year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted."
"That was our first date," Rose said in my general direction, although I'm sure the line had been more to flirt with the Doctor than inform me.
"We had chips," the Doctor said fondly. Rose giggled. "So anyway," the Doctor continued. "Planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then find this place." He sat up. "Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in."
"What's the city called?" Rose asked, gesturing.
"New New York," the Doctor answered.
"Oh, come on," Rose dismissed.
"It is!" the Doctor insisted, laughing. "It's the city of New New York. Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." Rose just stared at him, smiling. "What?"
"You're so different," she said.
"New New Doctor," he said plainly. Rose accepted that with a smile.
"Well-" I snapped my mouth shut, as soon as I'd said it, entirely too uncertain with the Doctor's and my new friendship to make the joke.
Too late, it seemed, since Rose propped herself higher up on her elbow to look over the Doctor at me. The Doctor turned to look as well, and gave me a tiny nod. "St-strictly speaking," I said, still nervous this would be going too far. "He's the ninth Doctor since the original, which makes him a new new new new new new new new new Doctor." I had to count the nine 'news' on my fingers, which made the Doctor chuckle. I stuck my tongue out at him.
Rose smacked the Doctor's shoulder, which made him pout and turn to her. "What was that for?" he asked.
"You've changed like that nine times and didn't tell me." Rose sat straight up. "Hold on, how do you know?" I sat up too.
"The TARDIS," I lied easily and instantly. Oh, my words to Rose were really coming back to haunt me. So much lying. "She has exactly two telepaths to communicate with, and she can't very well brag about her pilot to her pilot." I smirked. "I mean, imagine the ego he'd have." Rose turned her head quickly to hide her laugh in her hand.
"Oi!" the Doctor protested, on principle.
"Can we go and visit New New York," Rose asked through her laughter. "So good they named it twice?"
"Well," the Doctor said, standing. Rose and I stood with him. "I thought we might go there first." He nodded at two curved skyscrapers standing apart from the city and on our side of the river. My good mood faded quickly. Right, I had Plans™ for today.
"Why, what is it?" Rose asked before I could remember I wasn't supposed to know.
"Some sort of hospital," the Doctor answered. "Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals. I got this." He pulled the physic paper out of the pocket of his redonned coat. "A message on the psychic paper." Ward 26 Please Come flashed across twice before the Doctor snapped the wallet shut again. "Someone wants to see me."
"And I thought we were just sightseeing," Rose said, trying and failing to sound annoyed. "Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes."
"I don't get the joke," I mumbled to myself. Luckily the wind was loud enough that the Doctor didn't hear me say that, or I'm sure the walk to the hospital would have included a long lecture on English idioms.
...
"Bit rich coming from you," Rose teased as we walked in the doors.
"I can't help it," the Doctor protested. "I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps." The reception area was big and well lit, which just made it seem bigger. It was white and sterile and I hated it too.
"I agree with the Doctor," I admitted. "It's too much like there's nothing. Like they're trying to pretend people were never here and never will be." We walked right by the check in desks. No one questioned us. The Doctor didn't even need to get the Physic paper out.
"I think it looks smart," Rose argued. "Not exactly NHS."
"Our privatized hospital's over in the states have more plants," I said. I spun to take in the whole room. Really, it was colorless in here. I would never send a loved one to this place.
"No shop," the Doctor announced. "I like the little shop."
"Especially this far from the city. How are people supposed to bring their loved ones dollar store chocolates?" I asked.
"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything," Rose said, ignoring both of us.
"The human race moves on, but so do the viruses," the Doctor explained. "It's an ongoing war."
"And constantly discovering new places, there'd always be new diseases," I remarked. The Doctor turned, walking backwards toward the elevators and smiled. "Right?" I asked, suddenly flustered. I was not used to this whole 'the Last of the Time Lords is being nice to me' situation.
A nun passed with her face exposed. Rose stared, following the woman as she walked away. "They're cats," Rose said, pointing.
"Now, don't stare," the Doctor scolded. "Think what you look like to them, all pink and yellow." I glanced back simply for the joy of seeing Rose's 'exCUSE ME!' expression. The Doctor didn't seem to notice, lending some credence to my 'Ten is the densest dumbass alive' theory.
"That's where I'd put the shop," the Doctor said, pointing behind Rose to the disturbingly white wall. "Right there." The Doctor walked toward the elevators without waiting for either of us.
I'd thought about this. Yes, I could prevent Rose getting possessed by Cassandra, but there wasn't really a point. Rose got a headache from it, but she would be fine in the long run. And I was certain Cassandra needed to be in Rose's head to understand it was her time. If I didn't just let Rose go, it wasn't that none of us would end up possessed, it was that one of us would end up possessed at the worst possible time. Better to face the problem head on that have it chase after us.
At least, that's what I made myself think as I jogged after the Doctor and let Rose stew in her shock.
"Ward 26, thanks!" the Doctor said as soon as we were past the elevator doors
"Hold on!" Rose called, running toward the elevator. The doors closed on her face.
"We're already moving!" I shouted back through the doors.
"It's all right, there's another lift!" we heard Rose shout back.
"Ward 26," the Doctor said. "And watch out for the disinfectant."
"Watch out for what?" Rose asked. Already we could barely hear her. Clearly, by the year 5 Billion and 23, human being had perfected express elevators.
"The disinfectant!" the Doctor tried again.
"The wh-?"
"The disi- Oh, you'll find out," the Doctor muttered. I giggled. "What?"
"Just imagining the look on Rose's face," I said.
"Commence stage one disinfection," the overhead voice said. That was out only warning before the spray turned on. I shrieked, because that water was freezing. The Doctor laughed, then started coughing when that got water in his mouth. Stage two shot us with what felt like Talcum powder, but dissolved immediately in the water. When the dryers turned on, the Doctor tried talking again.
"You deserved that," he said. He lifted his coat to make sure it got dry. I started wringing out the bottom of my shirt.
"That's fair," I agreed.
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open, and the Doctor and I strolled out, both with our hands in our pockets. With a start, I wondered if I'd picked that little tick up from Ten in the first place. I'd been doing it since I was little… When had this episode aired?
While I contemplated just how much of my personality was based in this show (Did I get my cheeky attitude from Jack? From Donna? AMY?) my legs turned themselves on autopilot and I followed the Doctor to a smaller reception desk. I sort of paid attention to the Doctor asking for help finding Ward 26, and the receptionist calling one of the Sisters over to help us.
"Nice place," the Doctor said casually. I blinked. Oh, we were in the ward already. "No shop, downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one. Just a shop, so people can…"
"Shop?" I offered. The Doctor looked slightly sheepish.
"I didn't want to say 'shop' again," he said. The nurse who was helping us removed her veil.
"The hospital is a place of healing," she said as if we were very stupid.
"A shop does some people the world of good," the Doctor argued. I raised an eyebrow at him. Maybe it had changed with Ten, but to say Nine had not been a fan of shopping would have been a grave understatement.
"Not me," the Doctor corrected. "Other people." We started walking again, the Doctor taking note of each patient, looking for whoever might have called us here. It was taking a significant amount of my willpower not to just run to the end of the room.
"The Sisters of Plentitude take a lifelong vow to help and to mend," the Sister guiding us said. This time, she sounded like we had offended her, instead of just being stupid.
The Doctor stopped at one of the patients, staring.
"Excuse me!" a woman said, stepping to block the man. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."
"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" the Doctor asked, ignoring the woman.
"I'm dying, sir," the Duke answered. "A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this." The Doctor shot me a look, asking. I didn't answer.
"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance," the woman hissed.
"Frau Clovis!" the Duke cried. The woman dashed over and clutched his hand. "I'm so weak."
"Sister Jatt," the woman hissed again, this time addressing the Sister. "A little privacy, please." With a nod, Jatt started to lead us away again.
"He'll be up and about in no time," she assured.
"I doubt it," the Doctor said bluntly. "Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for oh..." He ran a hand through his hair, thinking. "A thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue."
"Have faith in the Sisterhood," Jatt said as gently as she could while in attack mode. I shivered, remembering how little regard for life the Sister actually had. It was a wonder she wasn't more angry with us.
"But is there no one here you recognise?" Jatt asked. "It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient." The Doctor's eyes drifted over to where mine had been focused since entering the room, a slow smile making its way onto his face.
"No," he said. "I think I've found him."
We walked over to the corner, by a huge window. The view was amazing, I'm sure, but I couldn't take my eyes of the face in a container by the window. The Face of Boe carried none of Jack Harkness's defining physical features, except, perhaps, his chin. Yet it was so easy for me to see my friend in the Face. Maybe it was telepathy, that I could just feel his familiar presence buzzing on the edge of my conscious. How could the Doctor not feel it?
"Novice Hame, if I can leave these two in your care?" Jatt asked. Hame nodded, and Jatt turned to leave.
"Oh, I think our friend got lost," the Doctor said. "Rose Tyler. Could you ask at reception?"
"Certainly, sir," Jatt said as she left.
"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep," Sister Hame said, apropos of nothing. "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you a friend, or?"
Yes, I didn't say. I'm the friend that couldn't save him. A few tears welled in my eyes before I could think to stop them.
The Doctor shook his head. "We met just the once, on Platform One…Katelyn?"
I schooled my face to neutrality, even though I knew it was too late. The Doctor had noticed, but he didn't have to know why. He didn't have to know this was Captain Jack Harkness. He didn't have to know I knew one of my best friends was dying in front of me. He didn't have to know I was worried Jack would hate me when he woke up. He could just think I knew something in the future, something the Face of Boe would do.
I was so bad at this. I would have made a terrible secret agent.
"What's wrong with him?" I asked. The Doctor looked away from me, knowing that was my way of saying I wasn't going to answer him.
"I'm so sorry," Hame said, genuine in her grief. "I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying."
"Of what?" the Doctor asked.
"Old age. The one thing we can't cure," Hame said sadly. "He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions, although that's impossible." She finished speaking quickly and looked away, as if afraid we might judge her for believing stories.
"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor said. "I like impossible." We both crouched down. The Doctor placed one hand on the glass, but I placed both of mine and rested my forehead. It was warm. "I'm here," the Doctor said. "I look a bit different, but it's me, It's the Doctor."
I'm here, I projected. I'm here and I'm so, so sorry.
The Face of Boe stirred slightly, before settling into a deeper sleep.
...
After waiting for the Face of Boe to wake up for a few minutes, the Doctor left to get some water. I could almost hear him thinking, all that waiting to leave London, and I'm just standing here in our first adventure. I only heard him leave, because I kept my forehead resting against the glass.
"That's very kind," I heard Hame say. I turned to see the Doctor was back, handing the Sister a cup of water. "There's no need." By the time he came back, I'd pulled a stool over to the window and was curled up it, staring out at the city.
"You're the one working," he said, handing me the other cup. I smile as a thank you.
"There's not much to do," Hame protested. "Just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company." Hame smiled softly. "I can hear him singing, sometimes, in my mind. Such ancient songs." My own face twitched toward a smile. Ancient didn't mean elegant, and if he hadn't sung 'Fat Bottomed Girls' at least once, then it wasn't really Jack Harkness in there.
"Are we the only visitors?" the Doctor asked.
No," Hame answered gently. I startled and looked at her. That was new. "A woman used to come to see him quite frequently." The only new woman here was me, unless Thirteen had come to visit for some new reason. But, if it was me, why didn't Hame recognize me? "It's been a while since her last visit, however." Oh, maybe I was old, wrinkled and gray. Maybe I'd died, and that's why I hadn't come back. "She was wonderful company," Hame continued, still wearing a soft smile. "It cheered him up immensely whenever she came, but-"
The Sister's smile vanished. "The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago," she said. "He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old." The Doctor smiled to himself.
"There's all sorts of superstitions around him," Hame continued, growing more excited with each word. "One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret, that he will speak those words only to one like himself."
"What does that mean?" the Doctor asked.
"It's just a story," Hame dismissed.
"Tell me the rest," the Doctor insisted.
"It's said he'll talk to a wanderer," Hame said. The Doctor stood taller. It was a movement so minute, I'm sure only Rose or I could have noticed it. "To the man without a home. The lonely God." Ah, and there was the switch in his eyes, the switch from 'just the Doctor' to 'the Last of the Time Lords'.
He hesitated, just staring at the Face for a few moments, before gesturing to me. "Come on. It's been too long. We need to find a phone." The Doctor walked away without waiting for me.
"I have a phone," I reminded him, digging in my pocket for the properly 2018 Smartphone I'd found on my desk the morning after our refuel in Cardiff. I clicked Rose's name and handed the phone to the Doctor, who put the call on speaker phone and held it between us. It rang for a few moments, before the line clicked a connection.
"Rose, where are you?" the Doctor asked. There was a pause on the other end of the line while Cassandra-Rose tried to figure out her accent.
Fuck. And there was that guilt again. I'd made the decision to let this happen, and here I was, blaming myself for not stopping it. Wonder who I got that from, I thought sarcastically.
"Ah," Cassandra tried, not sounding a bit like Rose Tyler. "Wotcha."
"Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?" the Doctor asked, apparently not noticing anything out of the ordinary. I sighed quietly. Some more fuel to the 'Ten is a dumbass' fire.
"I'm on my way, governor," Cassandra-Rose answered. Dear god, this is how my friend and I did cockney accents in Elementary School, and we were American. "I shall proceed up the apples and pears."
"You'll never guess. I'm with the Face of Boe," the Doctor said, sounding more delighted than the situation really called for. "Remember him?"
Cassandra-Rose chuckled, a grating, forced laugh. "Of course I do," she lied. "That big old…boat race." I heard the top pop off a bottle of champagne, and exchanged a confused look with the Doctor. He looked over my shoulder to where the Duke of Manhattan had been dying.
"We'd better go. See you in a minute." The Doctor handed me my phone back, and we walked over to the Duke's bed. He was beaming and laughing, like he just won the lottery… or survived a debilitating disease.
"Those two!" the Duke declared as soon as he saw us. "They're my good luck charms. Come in! Don't be shy."
"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract," Clovis said. We nodded like that was a perfectly normal thing to think we were going to assume.
"Winch me up," the Duke said. Clovis pushed a button, and the Duke was upright. "Look at me. No sign of infection."
"Champagne, sir, ma'am?" a waiter asked.
"No, thanks," we said at the same time.
"You had Petrifold Regression, right?" the Doctor asked.
"'Had' being the operative word," the Duke said. "Past tense. Completely cured."
"But that's impossible," the Doctor said, staring like he might find some sign of stone if he looked hard enough.
"It's not possible to fight it off naturally?" I asked, since Rose wasn't here to ask the questions.
"Primitive species would accuse us of magic," a sudden cat-nun said behind us. "But it's merely the tender application of science." I didn't like the look in her eyes.
"How on Earth did you cure him?" the Doctor asked.
"How on New Earth, you might say," the Sister deflected.
"What's in that solution?" the Doctor asked again.
"A simple remedy," the Sister deflected again.
"Shouldn't be a trade secret then," I pressed.
"I'm sorry," she said, not sounding very sorry. "Patient confidentiality. I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."
"Katelyn Laurin," I introduced. "This is the Doctor."
"I think you'll find that we're the doctors here," Casp said, almost like a threat.
"Matron Casp," said a suddenly appearing Sister Jatt. "You're needed in Intensive Care."
"If you would excuse me." The Sisters walked away; the Doctor and I watched them go.
"It's happened again," Jatt whispered. "One of the patients is conscious."
"Well, we can't have that," Casp whispered back.
...
I'd been no use to the Doctor as he paced around, so I positioned myself outside of the door and waited for Cassandra. She walked out of the elevator and breezed right past me, not even sparing me a glance. If I hadn't already known she wasn't Rose, that would have told me.
"There you are," I heard the Doctor say. I took a deep breath and followed Cassandra. "Come and look at this patient." We walked over to red-skinned humanoid, suspended in the air. "Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced," the Doctor said in a tone Rose and I recognized easily. The 'this is in the wrong time' tone.
"And this one," the Doctor continued. We walked over to a man as white as his hospital gown. The man did not look amused. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine. "I need to find a terminal," the Doctor whispered. We left the room.
"I saw one by the drinking fountain," I said, leading the way.
"Good job," the Doctor praised. "I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?"
"I can't Adam and Eve it," Cassandra said in a poor imitation of confusion. The Doctor blinked like he'd been smacked, looking back and forth between Rose and me. I gave him a 'finally' look, and kept walking toward the terminal.
"What's, what's. what's with the voice?" the Doctor stuttered.
"Oh, I don't know," Cassandra-Rose said primply. "Just larking about. New Earth, new me." Cassandra-Rose looked the Doctor up and down in a way I would have encouraged if she were Rose, and felt a bit sick watching since she was Cassadnra.
"Well, I can talk," the Doctor said nervously. "New New Doctor.
"Mmm," Cassandra hummed. "Aren't you just."
I turned away. It was all fine and good to watch that kiss on repeat and giggle when those two were fictional characters, but now they were real, and they were my friends. You can root for people to get into a relationship, but watching them makeout was another thing entirely. Another, very creepy thing.
...
"Nope, nothing odd," the Doctor said casually, having recovered from Not-Rose's kiss with speed and grace. "Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry. No sign of a shop. They should have a shop."
"It's missing something," I said, just to take the wind out of Cassandra's sails. "Earlier, Sister Jatt said something about Intensive Care." I gestured to the screen and pointedly didn't look at Cassandra-Rose's scowl.
"Oo, good catch," the Doctor praised. His praise was genuine, and that's when I remembered he didn't know I knew the outcome to this specific adventure. Oh, he was NOT going to be happy when he found out.
"Why would they hide a whole department?" Cassandra-Rose said, loudly. "It's got to be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame." The Doctor gave me a look to tell me he'd finally caught on. I nodded toward the computer screen.
"What if the sub-frame's locked?" the Doctor tried.
"Try the installation protocol," Cassandra said like he was stupid for even asking.
"Yeah. 'Course. Sorry," the Doctor said as calmly as he could. He shot me another look and, oh, there was the Oncoming Storm. "Hold on." He scanned the sonic over the terminal's screen for a few moments, and then the whole wall slid down to reveal a corridor. Cassandra looked unbearably smug, and stroud forward into the hallway.
"Intensive Care," the Doctor said slowly. "Certainly looks intensive." He fell into step with me, Cassandra marching ahead of us. "That's not Rose," the Doctor whispered.
"It's Rose's body," I whispered back. The Doctor tensed even more next to me.
"So, you know what's going on," he pressed as we kept walking.
"She'll be fine, Doctor," I promised. "I would have done something otherwise." The Doctor said nothing to that, simply pushed ahead, walking in front of me.
Did he not believe me? Hadn't I proved I would protect them? What more could I do?
Casandra lead us down a few flights of stairs, and into a huge octogonal room. The whole place was a sickly green, so different from the facade upstairs. Every pathway was lined with nine cells, and there were more floors than I could count at a glance. There must have been thousands.
The Doctor opened a random cell on along our path. The man inside had more boils than skin and looked so in pain. If it was this horrible to look at, how much more was it to live it?
"That's disgusting," Cassandra hissed. I glared at her. "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," the Doctor whispered. He shook his head, closed the door, and moved to the next cell. There was a young woman in that one, probably only a few years older than I was. Atleast, she looked a little older than me, but who knew. Maybe she was only a day old. My heart ached for her, for everyone in this room.
"What disease is that?" Cassandra asked, sounding and looking disgusted.
"All of them," the Doctor growled. "Every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything."
"What about us? Are we safe?" Cassandra asked.
"The air's sterile," the Doctor said. He grabbed the hand I hadn't even realized I'd been reaching toward the woman. "Just don't touch them." He closed the door, and, still holding my hand, walked over to the railing on the other side of where we were standing.
"How many patients are there?" Cassandra asked, her tone more condescending than anything.
"They're not patients," the Doctor corrected.
"But they're sick," Cassandra reminded us, as if we could possibly forget.
"They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats," the Doctor spit. He was getting angrier with each word and I had half a mind to follow him. Anger felt better then pity right now, and it would accomplish more. "No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm." The Doctor pushed off the railing and started walking toward where we'd come in again.
"Why don't they just die?" Cassandra asked with so little compassion I had to stop looking at her. The Doctor stopped walking, scowling at the cell that held the woman from earlier.
"Plague carriers," he said. "The last to go."
"It's for the greater cause," said Novice Hame. We all turned to look at her.
"The greater cause?" I snapped. "How much pain have you caused in the name of the 'greater cause'?"
"When you took your vows, did you agree to this?" the Doctor added.
"The Sisterhood has sworn to help," Hame said, not sounding very convinced by her own words.
"What, by killing?" the Doctor shouted.
"But they're not real people." Hame said with an air of relief. That's when I realized she had simply been fed those lies. I doubt she'd ever seen the flesh before. "They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."
"How do you know?" I challenged. Hame closed her eyes.
"What's the turnover, hmm?" the Doctor pressed. "Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousands? For how many years? How many!" The Doctor was nearly shaking with rage, but whether it was for the people around him or the increasingly un-Rose-like Rose, I couldn't say.
"Mankind needed us," Hame defended. "They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are." A ghost of a smile drifted onto Hame's face. "Flesh."
"These people are alive," the Doctor insisted, pointing to the young woman.
"But think of those Humans out there, healthy and happy, because of us," Hame said.
"Are you trading lives now, Hame?" I asked. "What makes those people more alive than the people in here?
"If they live because of this, then life is worthless," the Doctor agreed.
The ghost smile vanished off Hame's face. "But who are you to decide that?" she asked.
"I'm the Doctor," he answered, advancing a few steps. "And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me."
Very 'Lonely God' of you, I would have said if I hated the Doctor.
"Just to confirm," Cassandra said, stepping forward. The Doctor turned and only very nearly didn't glare at her. I didn't stop myself. "None of the humans in the city actually know about this?"
Hame spoke slowly. "We thought it best not-"
"Hold on," the Doctor interrupted, unable to deal with not-Rose any longer. "I can understand the bodies." His voice cracked slightly. "I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand: What have you done to Rose?"
Cassandra's face said 'oh shit' rather clearly. Hame was confused. "I don't know what you mean," she said honestly.
"And I'm being very, very calm," the Doctor said. Hame almost looked frightened. "You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, I want it reversed."
"We haven't done anything," Hame insisted.
"I'm perfectly fine," Cassandra lied.
"These people are dying," the Doctor said. "And Rose would care."
Cassandra scoffed, giving up on her ruse. "All right, clever clogs." She spun the Doctor around. No one seemed more shocked than him at that. "Smarty pants." Cassandra pulled the Doctor's tie out of his jacket. "Lady-killer." She pulled him down, closer to her face.
My hands twitched to pull Cassandra away from the Doctor. He refused to meet her eyes, looking over her shoulder to me.
"What's happened to her?" the Doctor asked. I opened my mouth, but Cassanadrs answered.
"I knew something was going on in this hospital," Cassandra explained, still fiddling with the Doctor's tie. "But I needed this body and your mind to find it out."
"Who are you?" the Doctor asked, looking down at Cassandra. She pulled him down and leaned up to whisper in his ear. I couldn't hear her, but I knew what she said. The last human.
"Cassandra?" the Doctor asked out loud.
"Wake up and smell the perfume." Cassandra spritzed a vial of something in his face, and the Doctor passed out. I ran forward and only just managed to keep his head from hitting the wall.
"Hame, get the Matron," I said calmly. A shaken Hame wasted no time in running off.
Cassandra made a frustrated noise, pulled on a power cable, and set off the alarms.
Cassandra turned to me next. I held up my hands. "You just ruin all the fun, don't you?"
"Wait!" I cried. "Wait. There's something-" I paused. My natural instinct to protect my friends at all costs reared up before I could remember my plan for the day. I was supposed to just leave it. But I hadn't taken into account how hard it would be to watch Cassandra pilot Rose's body. I hadn't taken into account the Doctors anger. I hadn't taken into account how much it hurt to see these people suffering.
I hadn't wanted Cassandra in my head, because of the other things in my head. My memories, for example. Oh well. I guess I'd just have to trust my shields. I usually did.
"Get out of Rose. Take me instead."
Cassandra scoffed. "And why would I do that?"
"Because...I'm volunteering," I offered. "I won't be fighting against you. And, trust me, the Doctor will not fight for me as hard as he'll fight for Rose." I did not mention that he'd still fight hard enough, because that was not the sort of thing one said when negotiating.
Cassandra considered this. "Well, when you put it that way." Rose's body exhaled pink mist in my direction, and I passed out.
...
Rose woke up to a splitting headache and the Doctor yelling "let me out!" They were in a…cell of some kind? That wasn't too unusual, but the fact that the Doctor was forced to stand and she was shoved in by his feet was unusual. And why was everything green?
"Aren't you lucky there was a spare?" Katelyn said on the other side of the door. What was she doing out there?
"Katelyn?" the Doctor asked. He looked down to where Rose was and groaned.
"Doctor, what's going on?" Rose asked.
"Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you two," Katelyn said. "And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about…" Katelyn checked her watch. "Three minutes left. Enjoy."
"Just let Katelyn go, Cassandra," the Doctor said.
"Cassandra?" Rose asked. Oh, that's what that had been going on with the pink mist.
"I will," Cassandra said cheerily. "As soon as I've found someone younger, and less common, then I'll junk her with the waste. Now hushabye. It's showtime."
Someone must have spoken on the other side of the door, because Katelyn-Cassandra turned away.
"Rose," the Doctor whispered. "Can you stand up?"
"I think so." It took some maneuvering and a fair bit of awkward bumping, but Rose got to her feet. She tried leaning on the cell door to see what was happening on the other side, but all she could see was Katelyn-Cassandra talking.
"Rose," the Doctor said. Rose turned back around. "I need you to get the sonic. Inside breast pocket." Rose didn't get a chance to try.
"Chip?" Katelyn-Cassandra shouted suddenly. "Plan B."
Rose could just see Chip pull a lever, and then all the door flew open. Rose ran out immediately, the Doctor right behind her. All along the hallway, dazed, diseased people were emerging from the other cells and advancing on two of the cat nuns.
"What've you done?" the Doctor yelled.
"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up," Cassandra dismissed. 'See you!" Then she was running.
"Don't touch them!" the Doctor commanded. He grabbed Rose's hand. "Whatever you do, don't touch!" He ran after Cassandra, pulling Rose along behind him. Halfway down the next hallway, the doors started sparking and flying open. Ahead, Cassandra screamed as she ran.
"Oh, my God," Cassandra breathed, stopping and staring over the rails. Rose turned. Every cell was opening, more of those people coming out.
"What the hell have you done?" the Doctor demanded.
"It wasn't me," Cassandra whined.
"One touch and you get every disease in the world," the Doctor said. "And I want that body safe, Cassandra." He looked around. "We've got to go down." He started moving, pulling Rose by her hand.
"But there's thousands of them!" Cassandra whined again.
"Run!" the Doctor shouted. "Down!"
"This building is under quarantine," an overhead voice announced.
They kept running down and down, until they reached a door. Cassandra burst through first, and Rose recognized this as the basement Cassandra had been hiding in. Cassandra ran over and tried to call a lift. Rose couldn't blame her. She also didn't much fancy running up all the stairs they'd just run down.
"No, the lifts have closed down," the Doctor said, looking around to find another way to go. "That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving."
"This way!" Cassandra shouted, running with confidence down a second corridor. Rose and the Doctor followed closely on her heels, but Chip was starting to slow down.
They ran by a corner and Chip got cut off. The Doctor stopped running.
"Don't let them touch you!" he shouted.
Cassandra came back and grabbed Rose's and the Doctor's arms. "Leave him!" she said. "He's just a clone thing. He's only got a half life. Come on!"
"Mistress!" Chip called.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "I can't let her escape." Rose hesitated a moment longer, but there was nothing she could do.
They ran until the Doctor found a door to slam and lock behind them. Cassandra ran across the room, opened a door, screamed, and slammed it shut again.
"We're trapped!" she squeaked. "What am I going to do?"
"Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body," the Doctor commanded. "That psychograft-" He pointed at the thing Rose remembered Cassandra calling a physcograft earlier. "is banned on every civilised planet. You're compressing Katelyn to death."
"But I've got nowhere to go," Cassandra growled. "And she volunteered!" The Doctor made a frustrated noise. Oh, Rose was going to smack her when they saved her. Righteous little self-sacrificing-
"Not my problem," the Doctor said. Rose nodded her agreement. "You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out." Cassandra did not get out, instead straightening her posture and looking rather smug, a look that didn't really work on Katelyn's face. The Doctor raised the sonic, like it was a weapon. "Give her back."
Cassandra sighed. "God, she must be stupid. She said you didn't care about her. Fine. You asked for it." Cassandra take a deep breath and blew pink mist toward the Doctor.
"Cassandra, you bitch, get back here!" Katelyn screamed before Cassandra had even made it to the Doctor. Rose walked over and smacked Katelyn.
"OW! Rose, what the fuck?" Katelyn rubbed her cheek.
"Stop throwing yourself into danger!" Rose demanded.
"Oh, your really one to talk miss jeopardy fri-"
"Oh, my," said the Doctor's voice. Boht girls turned to look at him. "This is different."
"Cassandra?" Rose asked. She (he?) was holding herself wrong, standing too primly and holding her hands in front of her chest.
"Goodness me, I'm a man," Cassandra said, sounding delighted. "Yum. So many parts. And hardly used." Rose tried not to think about 'hardly'. Cassandra's face contorted and she started shimmying weirdly. "Oh, oh, two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!"
"Get out of him," Rose demanded.
"Go back into me," Katelyn offered. Rose almost slapped her again.
"Oo, he's slim," Cassandra observed. "And a little bit foxy." Cassadra raised the Doctor's eyebrows "You've thought so too, Rose. I've been inside your head. And you, poor dear." Cassandra turned the Doctor's eyes on Katelyn. "I could look," she offered. "See if he really fears you as much as you think."
The back door that Cassandra had checked burst open. A crowd of diseased people shambled in. "What do we do? What would he do?" Cassandra demanded, in a panic. "The Doctor, what the hell would he do?"
"Ladder," Rose whispered. She'd seen one earlier… there! "We've got to get up." She started making a break for it, but Cassandra pushed her back.
"Out of the way, blondie!"
Cassandra practically jumped onto the ladder and started climbing. Rose hesitated just long enough to make sure Katelyn got on behind her, then started climbing.
They were about half-way up before Rose even tried to speak. "If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something."
"Yap, yap, yap," Cassandra complained. "God, it was tedious inside your head. Hormone city."
"We're going to die if-" Rose was cut off by Katelyn screaming. She turned and looked down. One of the nuns had grabbed Katelyn's ankle.
"Get off!" Katelyn shouted, adjusting her hands to get a better grip, since one of her legs was airborne.
"All our good work," the nun hissed. "All that healing. The good name of the Sisterhood. You have destroyed everything."
"Go and play with a ball of string," Cassandra sighed.
"Everywhere, disease," the nun continued. "This is the human world. Sickness!" Suddenly, the nun gasped then groaned. Katelyn swung her foot down. With a crunch, the nun released her leg and fell, screaming.
"Move!" Katelyn shouted. Rose could just see some sick people on the ladder below her.
They all scrambled to climb higher as quickly as possible. Rose's arms were starting to get tired.
The door at the top of the ladder wouldn't open.
"Now what do we do?" Cassandra whined. Katelyn groaned under Rose.
"Use the sonic screwdriver!" Rose yelled.
Cassandra dug in the Doctor's breast pocket and pulled the sonic out, holding it like it would burn her. "You mean this thing?"
"Yes, I mean that thing," Rose sighed. Cassandra scowled at the sonic.
"Well, I don't know how," Cassandra whined. Rose wanted to smack her now. The Doctor would forgive her. "That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts."
"Cassandra, go back into me," Katelyn called. Rose opened her mouth to argue, and Katelyn shouted over her. "The Doctor knows what to do!"
"Hold on tight," Cassandra sneered. The mist flew right past Rose and into Katelyn.
"Oh, my least favorite," Cassandra mumbled. "Open it!" Rose looked up. The Doctor was pointing the sonic again.
"Not 'til you get out of her," the Doctor growled. In most cases, Rose would be with him. But right now, clinging to the rungs of a shaky ladder being chased by one-touch-kills, she thought this could wait for the other side of the door.
"Open the door!" Rose shouted.
"Katelyn could die!" the Doctor shouted. As if Rose hadn't already figured that out.
"Oh, I am so going to regret that," Cassandra whispered. Rose turned her head to look, and watched the pink mist go from Katelyn to the diseased woman on her heels.
"Oh, sweet Lord," Cassandra said. "I look disgusting."
The Doctor opened the doors immediately and jumped in. When Rose got to the top, he helped her off the ladder and reached for Katelyn.
"We're going to have a talk about volunteering," The Doctor said. Katelyn rolled her eyes.
"Rose already slapped me for it," was all Katelyn got to say before pink mist surrounded her head and she slid forward and down the wall.
...
The Doctor soniced the door locked again, seething. "That was your last warning, Cassandra!"
"Inside her head," Cassandra breathed, and for a second she sounded so like Katelyn he thought he'd hallucinated Cassandra getting through the door. "They're so alone. They keep reaching out, just to hold us. All their lives and they've never been touched." She paused, breathing hard. "Is that what you wanted me to see?" Cassandra said to no one
Had Katelyn managed to communicate with Cassandra? While maintaining her shields? Her telepathy amazed him. He'd only ever known one other telepath like her, and-
Nope. No brain. Not now. Other things to focus on.
Rose had already helped Cassandra to her feet (or to Katelyn's feet, rather), when there was a bang on the door they'd come through.
"Come on."
The Doctor soniced the other door open and walked right back into Ward 26. He spared the Face of Boe only a glance to see he was still sleeping. Then Frau Clovis was lunging at them with a metal stool. The Doctor threw his arms in front of him and stood in front of the girls.
"We're safe! We're safe!" the Doctor shouted, still working on reflex. "We're clean! We're clean!"
"Show me your skin," Clovis demanded.
"Look, clean," he repeated.
"Definitely clean," Rose agreed.
"If we'd been touched, we'd be dead," the Doctor said, just in case these people hadn't figured that out already. Clovis put the stool down. "So how's it going up here? What's the status?"
"There's nothing but silence from the other wards," Clovis explained. "I think we're the only ones left."
"Would the quarantine block communications?" Rose asked. The Doctor relaxed slightly. Rose Tyler, always seeing what he missed.
"It should," he answered.
"It must be," Clovis said. "Because I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad." The Doctor shook his head.
"You can't do that," he said. "If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine."
"I am not dying in here," Clovis growled.
"You can't let those sick people out!" Rose argued. "How many people are in the city?"
"Rose is right," the Doctor said. "Turn that off!"
"Not if it gets me out," Clovis spit.
"All right, fine," the Doctor sighed. "So we have to stop you lot as well. Suits me. Rose, Novice Hame, everyone! Excuse me, your Grace. Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!"
The humans all scrambled to obey, which was a nice change. Everyone grabbed a few IV bags. The Doctor found a long piece of rope, which he wrapped around his neck and started hooking the bags to. He ran over to the cascade and grabbed one of the gears.
"How's that?" the Doctor asked, hooking the last bag on. "Will that do?"
"Yes?" Rose said with the manic kind of hopefulness the Doctor was feeling himself.
"Cassandra, stay here," the Doctor command as he walked over to the lifts. She followed, because of course she did.
The Doctor opened the lift.
"You said the lifts aren't working," Rose reminded him.
"Not moving," he said, sticking his head in. "Different thing." The Doctor backed up to the end of the hallway. "Here we go." He took a running start, ignoring Cassadnra's indignation, and jumped onto the lift cable.
"Doctor!" Rose cried, running almost in the doors.
"We're going down!" he mumbled around the sonic in his teeth. He snapped the gear on the cable and turned as best he could to Rose. "Come on!" With a wild laugh, Rose launched herself into the lift shaft, grabbing onto the Doctor and holding tight.
The Doctor turned one last time to see Cassandra retreating back into Ward 26. Good.
"'S been a while since it was just the two of us," Rose teased. The Doctor smiled, even if she couldn't see it.
"Going down!" The Doctor loosened the gear ever-so-slightly, and they were falling. Rose screamed, and he screamed with her.
When they were about a floor from the actual lift, the Doctor started closing the gear again. They slowed to a stop and jumped off onto the roof of the lift.
"That was fun," Rose said.
"We should do it again," the Doctor agreed. "When I say so, take hold of that lever."
"OK," Rose said, already with her hands on it. "What are you doing?"
"I'm cooking up a cocktail," the Doctor said. "I know a bit about medicine myself." He ripped open the drip bags with his teeth and poured the contents of each into the tank on top of the lift.
"Is that the tank for the disinfectant?" Rose asked.
"Yup!" The Doctor poured the last bag in. The solution was starting to bubble. "Now, that lever's going to resist. But keep it in position. Hold onto it with everything you've got." The Doctor swung the emergency access door open. Rose nodded. "I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in."
He dropped down into the lift proper and soniced the doors open. As if drawn by the sound, all the people in the lobby started shuffling toward the lift.
"I'm in here! Come on!" the Doctor called.
"Be careful!" Rose shouted.
"Come and get me," the Doctor repeated. "Come on!" Now that Cassandra had said it, the Doctor could see the lost look in these people's eyes. They'd never meant anyone any harm.
"Commence stage one disinfection," the lift announced. The new cure came pouring out into the lift. The Doctor was soaked immediately, but he couldn't care less. The first of the new humans joined him, and also got soaked. "All they want to do is pass it on," the Doctor said to himself. "Pass it on!" He heard Rose's giddy laugh above him, as she figured out what he'd done.
The disinfected and soaking wet humans went out and touched the others.
Rose's face appeared in the emergency door, and was quickly replaced with her legs. The Doctor helped Rose down, and they walked hand in hand out of the lift.
"Was that enough for all of them?" Rose asked. The Doctor nodded.
A random one of the woman came up and hugged him. The Doctor hugged her back, because these people needed to learn love. "That's right. Hey, there we go, sweetheart." He spotted a random man, and pushed to woman in his direction "Go to him. Go on, that's it.
"It's a new subspecies, Rose," the Doctor cheered. "A brand new form of life. New humans! Look at them. Look! Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes, but completely, completely alive. The human race just keeps on going, keeps on changing. Life will out!"
...
The Doctor and Rose made their way back up to Ward 26 via a staircase even the Doctor thought was a bit excessive. What with all the Sister's being arrested, and everyone else booking it as soon as they could. There were only two people left (Well, one person and one… face.)
Cassandra was sitting on the ground, her head in her hands.
"Cassandra?" the Doctor asked. She looked up, grimacing, and the Doctor realized Cassandra was not in control right now.
"Oh, thank god," Katelyn sighed. Her posture relaxed, then snapped back to completely stiff.
"You bitch!" Cassandra cried. She caught sight of the Doctor and Rose and groaned. "Great. There goes that escape plan." Cassandra glared at the Doctor. "I don't know why you keep her. She much more trouble than she's worth."
Neither the Doctor nor Rose was willing to grace that with a response, so they walked past Cassandra.
"Is that?" Rose gasped
"You were supposed to be dying," the Doctor said to the now awake Face of Boe.
There are better things to do today, the Face of Boe thought at them. Dying can wait. Cassandra groaned, but Rose shushed her before she could say anything. I had grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew.
"There are legends, you know," the Doctor prompted, crouching down. "Saying that you're millions of years old." And that was old. Not even a Time Lord had lived to that age.
There are? The Face of Boe laughed. That would be impossible.
"Wouldn't it just," the Doctor laughed back. "I got the impression there was something you wanted to tell me."
A great secret, the Face agreed.
"So the legend says," the Doctor pressed.
It can wait, the Face said casually.
"Oh, does it have to?" the Doctor didn't whine.
We shall meet again, Doctor, the Face of Boe promised. For the third time, for the last time, and the truth shall be told. Until that day. He disappeared in a beam.
"What?" Rose asked.
"That is enigmatic," the Doctor said, impressed. "That, that is, that is textbook enigmatic." With a sigh, he stood up and faced Cassandra. "And now for you."
"But everything's happy," she protested, backing toward the door. "Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me?"
"You've lived long enough, Cassandra," Rose argued. "Leave Katelyn alone." Cassadnra let out an unconvincing sob.
"I don't want to die."
"No one does," the Doctor said.
"Help me," Cassandra begged.
"We can't," the Doctor refused.
"Mistress!" Chip cried, running into the room. The Doctor's eyes widened. He was a bit shocked to see the man had survived.
"Oh, you're alive!" Cassandra gasped, sounding actually, selflessly glad. What was Katelyn doing in there?
"I kept myself safe for you, mistress," Chip said, grinning. Cassandra narrowed Katelyn's eyes.
"A body," she realized. "And not just that, a volunteer. A proper one, who won't try to undermine me every minute."
"Don't you dare," the Doctor said. "He's got a life of his own!"
"But I worship the mistress," Chip shouted, raising his voice for the first time, possibly in his life. "I welcome her."
"You can't, Cassandra, you-" The Doctor didn't even get to finish speaking before the pink mist that was Cassandra floated from Katelyn to Chip.
Katelyn collapsed instantly, and the Doctor only just managed to catch her. She was out cold, probably from all the strain she'd been putting on herself. The Doctor lowered her the rest of the way to the ground.
"Oh, sweet Lord," Cassandra said. "I'm a walking doodle."
"You can't stay in there. I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair," the Doctor said. "I can take you to the city. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done."
"Well, that would be rather dramatic," Cassandra drawled. "Possibly my finest hour, and certainly my finest hat, but I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip is only a half-life, and he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last-" Cassnadra fell to her knees, the Doctor and Rose only barely keeping her even there.
"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked redundantly.
"I'm fine. I'm dying, but that's fine," Cassandra laughed. What had Katelyn done?
"I can take you to the city," the Doctor started again.
"No, you won't," Cassandra refused. "Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me any more. You're right, Doctor. It's time to die-" Cassandra's voice cut off. The Doctor understood. Facing your own death was terrifying, He should know. He'd done it nine times now. "And that's good," Cassandra breathed.
"Come on," the Doctor offered. "There's one last thing I can do."
...
I don't know how long I was out, but when I came to, I was back in my bedroom on the TARDIS. My head was pounding, and all I really wanted to do was go back to sleep. Before I had the chance to roll over and try to get back to sleep, my door creaked open.
I shoved my face into my pillow, hoping whoever it was would think I was asleep and leave. No such luck.
"I know you're awake, Katelyn," the Doctor said. I groaned, unwilling to try speech. "Sit up. I've got something for your head." Reluctantly, I rolled over and sat with my back on my pillows. The Doctor handed me a pill and a glass of water, which went down easier than I was expecting. Holding my consciousness over Cassandra's had been hard, and had affected me in ways I hadn't anticipated.
The Doctor didn't leave, so I sat up straighter against the pillows. I couldn't really sit up without them. "You shouldn't keep throwing yourself in harms way like that," the Doctor said. I leaned further into my pillows and closed my eyes.
"You didn't believe me. I had to prove I wasn't lying." I shrugged. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal." The Doctor didn't say anything for a while, but it hurt less to have my eyes closed, so I didn't look.
"Last time you switched places with Rose, you were expecting to die," the Doctor reminded me. I picked up a pillow that was next to me and screamed into it.
"God, I'm so bad at this," I said into the pillow. "I don't ever remember being this bad at communicating. I'm sorry I didn't explain better, but I can't just tell you what's going to happen, and I didn't plan for you asking."
The Doctor sighed. "I shouldn't ask," he admitted. "And when I do, I should trust your honesty."
"Thanks," I yawned. "Glad we had this talk. Please fuck off and let me sleep." The Doctor didn't say anything, but I could hear him chuckling as he left the room.
(A/N: Hoo boy, that was a long one. Also, not much Katelyn pov, which is always a bit difficult to me.
Heads up for next week, I really fucked up a couple of my fingers while coking the other day, and typing is a bit hard. Next week's chapter might be a bit late, but it shouldn't be too late. Hopefully.
Thanks again for reading. Comments give me endless validation)