My eyes opened smoothly, dreamily. I was eerily calm and not at all worried about where or when I was for the first time since I'd met the Doctor.
The Doctor. Where was he? And what about Warren?
Thinking gave me a strong headache. I stopped letting my mind wander and focused on thinking of nothing other than that I was safe.
Or was I?
I chided myself for thinking again. Of course I was safe. I was-
Where?
I ignored the headache this time. I had to sort things out.
The calm feelings subsided, only to be replaced by confusion and fear.
I found that I couldn't move at all. Except for the rise and fall of my stomach that told me I was still breathing, the only movement I could make was to move my eyes and look around.
I couldn't make out exactly what color anything was. It all seemed to be iridescent, and where the wall started was indistinguishable from where the roof ended. It was every color and yet none at all. It was as confusing as anything else about this place.
I couldn't see a door or a window, but there had to be some opening; I could feel a breeze from somewhere.
I sighed and closed my eyes again. Once more I gave in to the calm feeling and thought of nothing.
"Fight it Lily, keep thinking for yourself."
My eyes snapped open, causing another headache that felt like a million jackhammers pounding away at my skull. I did my best to ignore this one too.
I had heard Warren's voice. I had heard it as clearly as any of my own thoughts. He had told me to keep thinking.
I looked around once more, this time searching for any sign of Warren or the Doctor. None was to be found.
I must've been imagining things.
I felt the calm start to rush back in as I began to relax.
"Don't. You can't give in to it. Stay awake."
So I hadn't been imagining after all. Warren's voice in my head was loud and unmistakable.
But should I listen to it?
It could be a trap.
No, Warren wouldn't deceive me.
Would he?
I decided to stay awake, if only to see what would happen.
My head throbbed, but after a few minutes of staying conscious I realized it wasn't the only pain I was feeling.
My arm was hurt too. I could feel it, if only distantly. I tried to remember what had happened, but something was blocking my memory.
I lay there for awhile, trying to get past the maddening blockage to no avail. I decided on a new tactic.
Warren? Can you hear me? I tried sending the telepathic message to him. Several minutes passed with no reply. It must've been a one way thing, then.
I tried again to move. I started with my toes, attempting to flex them one at a time, then up to my legs, and so on until I reached my head. Nothing. I was in a state of paralysis.
"Wouldn't you feel more comfortable if you relaxed and closed your eyes, dear?"
The voice was so soothing that for a moment I forgot to be startled by whoever had spoken.
"Come now, go to sleep. You'll feel so much better if you do."
It was a woman standing beside me. She had appeared out of nowhere. She seemed a giant until I realized that I was lying down and thus had to look up to see her.
Her voice was lulling, trying to coax me into sleeping. I wanted nothing more than to give in.
I felt my eyes start to become heavier.
"No."
Warren's voice cut through my tiredness.
"You cannot give in now, Lilly."
I felt stronger, and forced my eyes fully open.
The woman looked upset and scolded me as a school teacher would.
"That is not what I instructed," she said. "Please, go to sleep, dear."
I tried not to listen to the tone of her voice. It was hard, but I managed somehow.
"Why am I here?"
My own voice sounded harsh in contrast, and it felt weird in my throat.
She clicked her tongue. "Now this will not do," she said.
"Why am I here?" I repeated louder.
She pouted. Then smiled.
"You're here because we can help you," she said, sounding almost caring.
"I don't need any help," I said, knowing it was probably a lie.
She laughed pleasantly. "Maybe not now," she said. "But you were in quite a state when we found you."
I felt the pain in my arm again.
"Why can't I move?"
"We don't want you to feel hurt, or to hurt yourself again. Won't you go to sleep, dear?"
"Not until I can move," I answered.
She shook her head sadly.
"If that's what you want, dear," she said, walking past my line of vision toward my feet.
There was a high pitched hiss, and then she walked back to my side.
"Now don't panic, dear; it's bad for your health," she said.
Panic about what? I thought.
Slowly but surely I was regaining my ability to feel and to move.
I was finally able to stretch and wiggle my toes, then my legs, then my spine and my head.
Last to come were my arms.
And I wished they hadn't.
A searing pain ripped like fire through my arm, spreading from my forearm. I cried out and it echoed off the walls. The pain washed through my system relentlessly.
That was what it took to finally be able to remember.
It all came crashing back in a flurry of images.
I was fighting the Morte Nera when it bit into my arm.
Was that what was causing all this pain?
I was running from something I couldn't see, fleeing with a sense of urgency.
The Bug Plague. I vaguely remembered the events after we entered the bug-woman's house.
The bugs had bitten me too. I dropped to the ground. Warren was there, carrying me to the TARDIS.
But how had I gotten here?
When the images stopped, I was left still confused and very much frustrated.
I heard a sharp sound.
I didn't realize it was me screaming until I had stopped. The fire was still burning through me, feeling strongest in my injured arm. It wouldn't stop. I felt tears start to stream down my face.
The woman was muttering something about panic and health again, but I paid her no mind.
It seemed like the pain would go on endlessly, and I yelled for a release from it.
Like an answer to my request, a voice cut through the chaos in my head.
"Hang on, Lilly. We're coming to get you."
I couldn't think of anyone I'd have rather heard at that moment.
The woman left my side for a moment. When she returned, I could feel the fire start to subside.
I lay there once more, shaking. The headaches didn't seem as bad anymore.
"See now, dear? Wouldn't it be nice to just close your eyes and forget that?"
I glared at her insistence that I go to sleep.
She sighed. "Well then I'll just help you get nice and relaxed again," she said.
She bent down and stood back up holding a syringe.
The crazy witch was going to inject something into me.
I moved away, sensing with dread that my movements were getting slower.
I hoped Warren and the Doctor were really there, really going to barge in at any moment and save me.
"We're here, and we're not going to leave without you."
Warren's voice was just about angelic sounding now.
The woman lunged at me once more, the cold metal was just millimeters from my skin when there was a big crash.
"Stop that, nobody likes getting shots," I heard.
The Doctor.
The calming numb feeling was creeping up. It was going to be impossible to resist it this time.
She lunged at them this time, waving the syringe menacingly.
Warren was waiting, though, and he cleanly knocked it out of her hand and proceeded to knock her out with his fist.
I smiled at them, my rescuers.
"Told you," muttered Warren, grinning.
The high pitched hiss sounded again. Feeling returned to my limbs. It felt heavenly.
But then I remembered what was going to happen. The fire.
Warren must've seen the fear in my eyes, because he lifted me and carried me toward the door. "Let's get her to the TARDIS, Doctor," he said.
We went through the door that I hadn't seen.
We were standing then in the middle of space.
We were surrounded by stars. I was shocked. It was surreal, to say the least.
The Doctor and Warren looked completely unfazed.
We made it to the TARDIS, and I could feel the hint of pain in my arm that told me it would come soon.
"How'd I get there?" I asked, choosing from the millions of questions in my head.
The Doctor grinned. "Good ol' TARDIS always knows where to take us. She brought us to the only space medical facility in space for at least 5 billion miles. Good thing too, that bite is looking vicious as ever."
I glanced at my arm. He was right. The Nera bite was prominent, deep red and swollen. Then what must've been the bug bites had left their marks as well; a thousand bruises and stings.
"The Nera bite was affected when you were bitten by the Bugs," the Doctor went on. "It nearly killed you. Poison was in your system. Somehow the Keepers at the hospital kept you alive through it."
"By keeping me asleep and senseless?"
"Right. Now, I think we've found a solution to your problem," he clapped his hands together and held up some oddball contraption.
The pain was starting to spread. I took in a sharp breath.
"I must warn you though; there may be some slight side effects. Like nausea, stuff like that. Maybe some- er- exploding. But-"
"Just do it," I said through clenched teeth. My arm was unleashing the fire full blast now. Even the possibility of exploding was better than this.
He set the contraption on the collective spot of bites and pressed some buttons.
"Ready?" he said.
"Yes." I wasn't really sure if I was, but now was as good a time as ever.
He punched the contraption's main button.
It felt like tiny electric charges were being emitted through me. At first it tickled. Then they grew bigger. Finally it was like he had just zapped me with lightning.
Then it was over.
I was laying on the floor of the TARDIS, Warren and the Doctor standing over me.
They both grinned.
I didn't feel any pain in my arm. When I looked at it, all that was there were the two distinct marks of the fangs of the Morte Nera.
"Ready for a new adventure, then?" said the Doctor after Warren had helped me up.
We looked at each other and smiled.
"Yeah," I said.
"Let's go," said Warren.
So he pushed the button.
And off we went, into time and space toward something weird and awesome and crazy.