Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the characters.
Chapter 10: A proper family.
The TARDIS screamed and hissed in anguish as the Doctor commanded her to do something that she was against whole-heartedly. Clara continued to thrash in pain on the ground in front of them. There was something genuinely wrong with her. They either had to get the baby out of her, or she would suffer a grave deal more before her death. The Doctor quarreled with himself about how to safely take the baby out of her without killing either one of them. The baby could not have wanted to kill her mother; she probably had sensed something was wrong. She must have sensed that her father was dead, or that Clara was with the wrong man. The TARDIS does seem to affect baby's ability to acknowledge situations even before their birth, after all.
"Doctor" Clara whimpered, almost out of breath. She was visibly panting, like she needed someone to comfort her, like she needed to be relieved of all of her pain. He had no idea what to do. A woman who he might actually love may be dying in front of him and he could do nothing about it, he could just comfort her and watch. He thought to himself silently, about how he could help her. The only thing he could think of was the Earth people and how they could be able to help. However, if it was an alien child the Doctor's would know immediately. Clara was in pain though, and if he did not act on it soon, something bad would inevitably happen.
Without another moment of thought, Clara was in the Doctor's arms and out of the TARDIS. Running up and down the streets of London hysterically, he finally found a hospital. Praying that Clara's child was a normal human being and not a time lord like himself, he pushed open the doors of the hospital and got Clara inside. Running up to the front desk, he began to talk incoherently about what he had witnessed in the past few hours. Within minutes, the hospital had taken Clara out of the Doctor's care and placed her in a room for expecting mothers. The Doctor, as usual, had no idea what was going on.
Pacing up and down the hallways of the maternity ward, he found himself growing impatient as the cries of newborn babies sounded all around him. The maternity ward was completely full and the Doctor wondered how it could be possible that so many women were having babies at the same time. After what seemed like hours of just pacing around the corridors, he finally found a bench and decided to wait for any word on Clara's health from there.
The Doctor stared at the clock in amazement of how slow it was turning. Minute after minute, the Doctor sat and stared in awe of how little time actually passed. Angrily, he got up and glanced down each of the hallways surrounding him. Trying to remember which hallway Clara was down, he leapt up and ran to his left. Luckily, he reached Clara's room just as a Doctor was about to go in.
"Excuse me, sir!" he screamed trying to get the surgeon's attention.
The surgeon paused and glanced at the Doctor before responding, "Yes…"
"Clara Oswald is your patient, correct?" he said, out of breath.
"Well, she is in this room." He responded coldly.
The Doctor spat out questions in reply, "Can I go and see her? Is her baby okay? Is she okay?"
"Whoa, slow down boy" the surgeon chuckled, "Everything went fine. You may see her in a moment."
The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when the surgeon mentioned that Clara was okay. He wanted to be able to hold her, to love her, to cry with her, to help her through the unexpected delivery of the child. He wanted to be her rock, the person who was always there for her and her child whenever she needed him. He wanted her and the child to be safe in his care for as long as he lived. He loved every part of her, and he could not wait until he got the chance to tell her. His face lit up as he thought of how she would respond to him wanting to make her family his. How her face would brighten and her body would relax and she would know that she was at home whenever she was with him. He would be her Doctor.
Just as the final thoughts escaped his mind, the surgeon returned with a smirk as he turned to the Doctor. The surgeon held the door open for him, and before he could even say anything the Doctor burst through the doors. Careful not to startle Clara, he approached her bedside gracefully. Clara was fast asleep under a bundle of warm blankets. Although the Doctor did not want to wake her, he desperately wanted to hold her in his arms. Thinking about the consequences he would have faced if he woke her, he decided to avoid her wrath and pull a chair next to her and simply hold her hand. The baby was safe and she was safe, and that was all that mattered to him.
A few hours later, Clara's eyes began to flutter awake. The Doctor, though waiting patiently, nearly jumped up and down at the sight. He had spent more time waiting today than he would have liked, but was glad to have Clara with him.
"Hello, Doctor" she whispered as she let out a sigh.
"Ah, look who's awake!" the Doctor laughed playfully.
"Yeah, that was a bit rough" she admitted drowsily.
"I can only imagine" he said sympathetically.
"I can't believe I didn't know I was pregnant" she groaned, "the signs were all there, however, it couldn't have been nine months" she looked panicked.
"Clara, shhh" he said trying to calm her, "Everything will be alright. The baby is in an incubator now."
"AN INCUBATOR" Clara screamed, hoping the baby was okay.
"Clara, go back to sleep. I will go see the baby…" he cooed, while slowly stroking Clara's hair.
After a few minutes, Clara had calmed down. He approached the surgeon who was doing routine check in's on Clara with questions about the baby. After many, "How many months" and, "Is he okays", the surgeon admitted that the baby would be fine after several weeks in the incubator.
"The baby is three months premature" the surgeon explained, "but that does not mean that he will be sick for the rest of his life. He simply needs to grow a bit more, and then we can send him on his way with his mother".
The Doctor sighed as he realized he would be able to bring Clara back some good news. After all, he thought to himself, she needed good news especially after the day she had just experienced. He smiled a little bit before realizing that the surgeon was continuing to talk.
"Clara, on the other hand" he paused, "Can go home as soon as she feels up to it".
The Doctor practically leapt for joy when he realized that his Clara could come back to the TARDIS with him as soon as she felt better. He would be able to take care of her and plan for the baby's arrival. They could be a proper family after all!
A/N: Well, it's been 2 months. I can't really say anything but that I'm really sorry and college has simply gotten in the way of my free time. Luckily, I have a break in a week so I hope this fic will be finished up by then. If you read this, thanks for keeping with it. You are all wonderful.
