The Doctor was very sore when he awoke. He rubbed his temples softly, begging the pain behind his eyes to go away. It did not, so he laid down once again, pulling the plush blanket around himself. He shivered, though it was not cold. It was probably around one in the morning, he guessed, the sky was still dark, and now a soft rain was falling around the house. He liked listening to the tiny sound of the raindrops; it reminded him that he was not alone. And he knew that he wasn't. Just behind the wall slept a 19 year old girl, he knew. He was not alone. She was there. Something about her confused him. She had not asked him where he had come from, a question he was typically asked anywhere that he went. Was it normal for her to have strange men with strange names wandering into her bedroom? The thought troubled him, and he shook it away.
On the nightstand he noticed a glass of water and a packet of pain relievers. When they had been put there he was not sure of, but he was certain May had left them for him. He reached his arm out gingerly; his shoulder was healed and it felt much better but it still pained him to do simple motions. He grabbed the packet and opened it. There was probably close to 300 pills inside, how many was he supposed to take? He did not understand human treatments. Did they come with directions? He flipped the packet over, and to his amusement there was a small note taped to the back. "Take two" it said in flowing penmanship. She must have known he would wonder. He took two of the tiny pills out of his pocket and held them in his palm, briefly noting that this could be poison, people HAD tried to poison him before. Could he trust her? Did he trust her? He pondered on this for a second, and then decided that yes, he did. He picked up the glass of water and took the pills, praying for quick relief. His prayers were answered, the pain almost instantly retreated from his body. He relaxed, pulling the blanket around him once more, and gazing up to the stars. It was only a few minutes before he had drifted back into a deep sleep.

It was light outside the next time that he awoke. The rain was still falling, heavier now, and he could tell that the temperature had dropped several degrees. He was cold. He stood up, glad that the pain relievers were still in effect, and wandered through the door into May's bedroom. She was not there. But he could tell that she had been. The bathroom was steamy and he could smell some type of floral essence. She must have taken a shower or something of the likes. The steam from the bathroom warmed the room, and the Doctor could tell that the heating in the house had turned on. Humans. Brilliant, beautiful humans.
He hobbled out of her room and into the hall, but he did not see anyone. The house was completely silent. Could she have left him here alone?
"May?" He called out tentatively, wandering to the top of the staircase. "May?"
"I'm down here." Was her reply. His body relaxed.
"Is it safe for me to come down?"
"Of course it's safe, why wouldn't it be safe?" She scoffed.
"Trust me, in my day I've learned that thing that appear safe generally aren't. I didn't know if anyone else was here." He emerged at the bottom of the staircase, walking into the kitchen.
"No, they've all gone out for the week." She said. She was standing on the kitchen counter, replacing one of the bulbs in the ceiling fixture. Silly, beautiful humans.
"Out for the week? And left you here?"
"Yeah? What else were they supposed to do with me?"
"Oh I dunno, take you with them?"
"Why would they do that?" She laughed, as if the idea was completely out of the question.
"Because they're your parents!"
"They're not my real parents." With this the Doctor realized that he had stepped onto uneven territory. He saw the bright flash of pain behind her eyes as she said this. He doubted that this was a topic she was comfortable telling him about. And yet, he desperately wanted to ask. His naturally curious mind wondered at the possibilities. But he decided to save those questions for later, he had official business to attend to.
"Where am I right now?" He asked, gazing out the kitchen window.
"Bibury, England."
"Ah. Lovely place. Been here before. Can you tell me what year it is?"
"2367." This shocked him.
"That's impossible. This looks just like 2010!"
"Well of course it does, nothing has changed."
"Why?"
"Well, they told us in history class that in the 2150s technology got so advanced that people could barely do anything for themselves anymore. So the governments began banning technology and change so that people would have to do things on their own again. We progressed and regressed."
"Amazing!"
"You're not from around here, are you?"
"You could say that." He snickered. She looked at him, full of questions and curiosity. He appeared to be human...and yet, he couldn't possibly be.
"You came from the police box, didn't you?" He froze. His eyes flicked up to meet hers. Bright green into ever-changing hazel.
"How did you know about that?"
"I saw it. The train tracks are right outside my window. You were the man that jumped out of the police box on the train tracks, weren't you?"
"You saw that happen?"
"Yes."
"How could you be so sure that was me?" She moved over towards him, slipping her hand inside her pocket and pulled out his tiny sonic screwdriver. His brow furrowed.
"You were having a dream last night, and you kept asking for help so I went out to see you. You were asleep, but you handed me this and told me I needed to keep it safe. I can tell that it's not anything normal." She handed the screwdriver back to him, and he closed it in his palm, feeling the cool metal touch his skin.
"Is that when you brought me the pain medicine?"
She nodded. "You were running a temperature. It's not uncommon when dealing with fractures. That's why I left the aspirin. I figured you would want it when you woke up."
"Thank you." He wondered why she was so kind to him. Helpful, wonderful humans.
"How is it possible that you materialized right on top of the train tracks?"
"It's not any ordinary police box."
"I gathered that."
"It's a time machine." Her eyes searched his face for answers with this. She was not surprised. But she was curious. "I travel through time. In that box. Her name is the TARDIS."
"The TARDIS?" She rolled the word around in her mouth, adjusting to the feeling.
"Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It's an acronym."
"Oh. So are you stuck then?"
"What?"
"The TARDIS. Your time machine. It was destroyed. You're stuck here, aren't you?"
His heart sunk. "Yes, I suppose I am."
"Can you build another one?"
"No. The TARDIS rebuilds itself. But usually it's in one piece when that happens. I don't think it can heal itself now." The sadness in his voice was almost tangible.
"Can you put it back together?"
"Probably not, but I wouldn't know, I've never tried to rebuild it from scratch before."
"It could be worth a shot."
"It could." He knew it was almost impossible. He would be here forever. And yet. His heart leaped at the possibility. Maybe he could reassemble the TARDIS, if there was enough of it left, and then he could heal himself with regeneration energy. He could leave this peaceful countryside and continue his life. There could be galaxies being destroyed right now, and he was powerless to stop it. Yes, he needed to at least try to fix the TARDIS.
"Do you want me to take you down to the tracks?" May asked, as if she could read his mind. He nodded yes, and she grabbed her car keys. He followed her out the door.