Friday (continued)

Donna braked sharply as she heard the scrape of metal against the pavement.

"Sorry! It's like I've forgotten how to drive. It's the movement, I suppose, after..." She stopped, remembering who she was talking to. How much did Alice know about the Doctor? She couldn't remember much of that hazy afternoon when they'd been introduced.

"All the travelling?" Alice asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah." Donna opened the door and stepped quickly out of the car. Alice was one of her best friends and she deserved to know why Donna kept disappearing for weeks and months on end but it was a conversation to be had at a quieter time, and definitely, in a quieter place.

Nerys' long driveway was populated cars and people. She'd always enjoyed a fuss, Donna thought, it was almost inevitable that the baby's arrival would be a great excuse for a large get-together

As if reading her thoughts, Alice laughed slightly.

"This is very Nerys, isn't it? A few people say they'll call to see the baby; she turns it into a garden party!"

"Yeah. But at least the weather calmed down." Donna tried to return her smile as they approached the house. She couldn't quite explain it but after her travels, it was situations like this that seemed surreal to her. People, situations, places she'd known her life...they were the things that seemed out of place. Or maybe it was her. Maybe she didn't belong with any of them anymore. She pushed the thought out of her head.

Somewhere inside the house, there was the sound of raised voices.

"Off to a good start then," Donna muttered as she pressed her finger on the bell.

"Here's the rain again," Alice said, as the first drops began to fall. She knocked sharply on the front door.

Inside the house, there was the sound of running footsteps.

"Come on! We're getting drenched!" Alice called.

The door was pulled open and Nerys stood in front of them.

"Nerys?"

Donna managed to stop herself from stepping backwards at the sight of her friend. Nerys' face was pale, her make-up in streaks along her face and her eyes bright with unshed tears. She stared at Donna and Alice as if she'd never seen them before.

"Nerys, what's wrong?" Donna asked. Alice put an arm around her.

"Tough morning?" she asked gently.

Nerys' eyes searched her face as if looking for clues.

"Donna?" she whispered finally.

"What's wrong?" Donna asked, her voice sounding sharper than she'd intended.

"The baby," Nerys whispered.

"Is she ok?"

"She..." Nerys' voice shook with a quiet desperation that was almost as frightening as her ravaged face. "She's gone."

"Gone?" Alice whispered.

Donna started to speak but Nerys' mother appeared behind them. She put an arm around her shoulders and seeing Donna and Alice, smiled warmly at them.

"It's alright, darling," she said, "the baby's right here. You know that." She turned her daughter in towards her shoulder and mouthed to them over her bent head.

"She's not very well."

Donna tried to speak but found she could think of absolutely nothing to say. Alice offered a shaky smile to Nerys' mother who looked drawn and tired.

"It's nice to see you, Tina," she said.

"Come in!" Still guiding Nerys, she led them into the hallway.

"Go and wash your face, darling, and you can have a nice chat with your friends," she said.

Nerys said nothing but turned and climbed the stairs. As soon as she was out of sight, Tina's smile faded and she sank heavily into a chair.

"I've had to cancel most of the guests," she said, "I tried to leave in anyone who might be good for her. She's in a right state."

"What did she mean, the baby's gone?" Alice asked.

"She's...well, very depressed, I suppose. But it's started so suddenly. She was fine until yesterday. She thinks the baby's been swapped."

"What, in the hospital?"

"No! Since last night! She refuses to go near her. Says it's not Ellie, that Ellie's been taken away and a strange baby left in her place. I can't do a thing with her."

Donna sat opposite her, "that's awful. She was so happy. Last time I spoke to her..."

"See what you can do," Tina said, "I've tried, Philip's tried. She won't listen to us. If you can talk her into going to the doctor, maybe she'll go with you." Her voice shook.

Donna reached into her pocket for her phone. She should ring the Doctor, tell him that she wouldn't be ready to leave for a few days. She certainly couldn't leave Nerys at a time like this.

"I'll just..." she started to say but stopped when she saw Nerys in the doorway, clutching a white bundle in her arms.

"Good girl!" Her mother stood up. "Come on, sit down and show Ellie off to the girls! They're dying to see her!"

Without a word, Nerys sat down and Donna and Alice crouched beside her, gazing into the tiny sleeping face against her arm.

"Nerys, she's beautiful," Donna said.

"You can hold her," Nerys said, her voice expressionless as she stood and handed the baby carefully to Donna.

"Thanks," Donna said uncertainly, as she sat. Alice rubbed the baby's cheek.

"Hello Ellie," she said.

"Don't call her that!" Nerys said sharply, "she's not Ellie!"

"Oh Nerys..."

"No! I'm showing her to you and I'm showing you this. This is Ellie." Nerys pulled a photograph out of her pocket and handed it to them.

"See? That's my Ellie."

"Nerys." Alice sounded like she was afraid to put too much expression into her voice. "This is the same baby. See? Ellie's right here."

"Donna?" Nerys stared at her, as if issuing a challenge.

Donna reached over the baby for her friend's hand. "Nerys, I know you're upset and we'll stay as long as you want. But everything's ok. This is your baby. She's beautiful and she looks like you. She looks like her sisters..."

For a horrible second, she thought Nerys would hit her and she tightened her hold on the sleeping child. But almost as quickly, her whole body seemed to sag, whether with exhaustion or sheer defeat she couldn't tell.

"Donna?" Tina put her head around the door, "someone's here for you, love."

"What?" Donna started to hand the baby to Alice but before she could move, the door was pushed open and the Doctor walked uncertainly in.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "she insisted I come in." He looked, as always, completely out of place in the colourful domesticity of their surroundings. He also looked as if she was trying to suppress a smile as he took in the sight of Donna holding the baby.

"Hello Alice! And you must be Nerys?" His smile faded slightly at the sight of her tear-stained face. "You have a beautiful new arrival!"

"Come outside with me," Donna said quickly, managing to hand the baby over to Alice who gave her a helpless look.

"No, wait." Nerys marched over to the Doctor with her photograph. "You have a look. Everyone else has. This is my baby. That one," she nodded at the bundle on Alice's lap, "isn't a bit like her. I can't understand why no one can see it!""

"Nerys, honestly..." Alice began.

"No, I can't either," the Doctor murmured.

"What?" Nerys and Alice turned stunned faces to him in one movement.

"It's not the same baby," the Doctor said, as if this fact was perfectly obviously.

"Do you think this is some sort of joke?" Alice said, her voice thunderous.

"If you're saying that you don't know where the baby in the photo is, then no. I wouldn't say it's remotely funny."

Nerys gave a little sob.

"The baby in the photo is this baby right here!" Alice spluttered.

"No, it isn't," the Doctor replied.

Nerys stared at him, tears running down her cheeks.

"You believe me?" she whispered.

He nodded solemnly.

"Don't listen to him, Nerys," Alice said, "I'm going to get your mother, ok?"

As the sound of her footsteps disappeared down the hallway, the Doctor turned to Donna.

"So?" he said lightly. "What do you think?"

Donna stared at Nerys who looked as if she was keeping herself upright by sheer force of will.

"If you say the baby's different, then the baby's different," she said to both of them.

Nerys sagged slightly in her chair.

"When did you first notice?" the Doctor asked.

"This morning," Nerys said shakily, "when we were up in the night, everything was fine. She was feeding, crying, everything normal. And then...I woke up early, went into her and..." Her voice broke.

"She was different?"

"It wasn't her. I saw it straight away. Her eyes were different. She didn't recognise me."

"Nerys, she's three weeks old." Tina stood in her doorway. Two pink spots flushed in each cheek and from memory, Donna knew this wasn't a good sign.

"I asked you here to help her," she said accusingly to Donna and then turned to the Doctor.

"Whoever you are, I want you to leave. Now. Upsetting my daughter when she's already upset enough! If you think you're being clever, well, you can go and be clever somewhere else!"

"Fair enough," the Doctor said calmly. He stood up and gestured to Donna. Then, in one swift movement, he bent over Nerys and whispered to her.

"Out! Now!" Tina sounded enraged.

"We'll help you, Nerys," Donna said softly as she turned to follow the Doctor.

But Alice was in front of her.

"I want a word with you," she said to the Doctor.

"Alice, he didn't mean..." Donna trailed off realising she hadn't a clue about what to say.

Alice ignored her. She took the Doctor's arm and before he could react, marched him outside. Donna stopped and stared out of the window at them. Instead of shouting, as she'd expected Alice to do, her friend was talking urgently to him. Once or twice, the Doctor glanced back at the house, his face expressionless. The wind was picking up again, she noticed.

Her whole world felt stranger than any planet she'd ever visited.

Nerys got up and stood beside her.

"Promise me you'll get her back?"

Donna hesitated and looked around. Tina was staring at her as if she'd transformed into something completely unknown to them all. Nerys, her best friend, stripped of everything except a frightening desperation.

"I promise," she said.